American Hero Academia - (MHA American Settings) (Story Thread)

[Erien]

Hello and welcome to American Hero Academia, some of you may know me from A Fox in Paradise, others may be entirely new. My hope is to create a satisfying story that takes the world of MHA, and sees how it would affect American culture.

As for why this is here, just wanted to compile a story-thread.

For those in just reading the full story immediately, it can be found here.

American Hero Academia (My Hero Academia) (Complete)

- - -

"You have our numbers on your phone, right?"

"Yes, Mom."

"And your Aunt's?"

"Yes, Mom."

"And grand-"

"Yes, Mom!" You place a hand on her shoulder, "It's fine, I'll just be staying downtown, not the Moon."

Her eyes search your face for a moment, a faint trace of tears in her eyes. Mom is always a bit… clingy, but she always wanted the best for you. Her and father both.

"He'll be fine dear, I'm sure he'll visit us at least once a month… isn't that right, son?" You look over at him and nod. Your father and mother are both… less than enthused by your career choice. Your father is supportive to an extent, though he would prefer you use your quirk for labor, as he did. Your mother, on the other hand, is quirkless and has always been rather nervous about your chosen career path.

That doesn't mean they didn't support you, your father has trained you as best he could and he's even busted out his best and only suit for today. While your mother tried to be, if not comfortable, then at least understanding.

"Lilburn is only twenty miles from the school, I can take the train there without any problems mom." You say trying to soothe her worries… though when she gets this stressed it's usually rather hopeless to try to assuage her.

+Miss Veruvian train now arriving, direct route to Atlanta Academy.+

You glance back reflexively as the PA system announces your train. With a light blast of air overhead, you watch as it passes over you before coming to a complete stop. You've seen the mag-trains the school has used before, and they're a big step above the city's public transportation. Not that the subway is bad, but...

Well, it isn't quite as shiny, and can't really compare to the sleek and silver design of the college transport system. This one has a purple highlight that runs down its length before forming the familiar shape of the titular Miss Veruvian, one of the schools more well-known graduates. They're all like this; privately owned and used by the school, emblazoned with images of the schools most outstanding alumni.

"That's my train," you say, patting your mother once more on the shoulder before stepping back.

She briefly keeps her grip on your shoulder before reluctantly stepping back herself.

She nods, then raises a hand in a wave as your father wraps a comforting arm around her waist. They won't be allowed any farther than the first gate for security purposes. You've already seen another parent receive a rather stern lecture from a working hero to respect the warning lines. Security is tight around the ASH, though that should be expected from its reputation alone.

You toss them a final wave, then step into the gate. A chime sounds briefly before a working attendant gives you a brief nod, idly tapping on her pad even as she monitors a display on the gate itself. Around you are various other potential, or even fully-fledged, students ready to begin the year. It isn't particularly crowded, no more than fifty or so people on a fairly large platform, but the cast is diverse enough. You'd have expected more, but few get selected to even interview at the academy like you are doing. Only the cream of the crop gets this far, and then only the very best of those are actually enrolled.

…

Right, you're well past 'stressed enough,' it's probably best to think about something else.

You finish passing through the gate and enter the small crowd making their way into the train.

Its… well, nice is an understatement. The interior is very new and expensive looking. There are two rows of seats against each window, without that horrible middle seat that no-one could ever like. This is still more than enough, apparently, for all the students. The academy card that you flashed to enter the train itself is now displaying your assigned seat. Even the cards are fancy... then again, it's a R&D school.

This seems to be a theme of the ASH academy in general, behind high tech. The Atlanta State Hero Development Institute was formed as one of the latest government academies for hero services, with a major R&D focus. It has a HERO course, if it didn't you wouldn't have applied, but due to the school's focus it is a relatively small part of the facility. Given the sheer size of the school, this still gives the course more resources than many other decicated hero academies in this area.

You had originally planned to go to a school up in Norcross... but to your surprise, the ASH accepted your application and... well, here you are. You aren't sure how you got this opportunity, but if you actually get in then the government will loan you the money for your education. You figure your parents would appreciate that much, at least.

You glance down at the card again and try to match it to a seat, 18... 19... there; 21. You move across and slide awkwardly into the seat, the chairs are arranged almost like in a restaurant; two seats facing each other with a small table in the middle. A large rectangular window spans the seats with basic electronic overlays showing the weather and time to destination. In the seat across from you is a young man, probably no more than fourteen or fifteen, and isn't that a kicker. You had no idea what someone had to do to get this close to the ASH at his age, but you were pretty sure you couldn't have managed it.

He's wearing khakis and a t-shirt, a clear preference of comfort over style. You can't say you blame him with how uncomfortable this suit is, especially since he doesn't have any problems pulling the look off. He has spiky white hair and cool blue eyes, and is completely devoid of care for the world in favor of focusing on the game he's fiddling with, a pair of wireless buds in his ears serving to drown out any auditory distractions as well.

Other students are quickly finding their seats as well, a few others you'd peg as potential students right off the bat going by their dress. Either casual or dolled up like you, the ages vary from your age to what looks like the early thirties. The non-students are easier to pick out now that you are actually paying attention, a decent mass all sitting together are wearing the uniform of the academy itself, a black jumpsuit with twin white lines running down the front. Two more lines mark each wrist and ankle, the only decoration being a large badges sewn onto the shoulder of each student... though what they represent you honestly have no idea.

To be honest you hadn't exactly expected to make it this close to the ASH to begin with... so you didn't really do your research. You know everything you'd have needed to know as a new student at that Norcross College, but that was mostly useless to you here. You've been looking up what you can but to your frustration, there doesn't seem to be a lot to find, the majority of the goings on in the school itself are mostly kept quiet. That is true of quite a few schools that focus on heroes and hero development, but you couldn't find much beyond its star alumni and products.

With a slight lurch, the train begins moving away from the station. A faint pneumatic hiss fills the cabin briefly before you hear the doors close further down the cabin, at once all the windows go black, the lighting in the room dimming dramatically before you hear a little bell jingle play.

You hear the groaning of... wood? As the displays slowly come back to life, they are no longer showing the exterior. Instead a stylized 'A' appears on the screens spinning briefly before fading away again. The screens slowly brighten, the darkness inside the train fading away as they reveal an older black woman. She's dressed sharply in a nice suit with a flower pattern running across it, standing in front of a marble table in what appears to be a garden. Her bright red hair shines brightly in the sunlight.

"Greetings, prospective students. I am Aja, dean of the Atlanta State Hero Development institute. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to our prestigious academy." She smiles, and only when she does so do you notice that her face isn't fully... human: it's cracked and hardened in places, lending it a bark-like texture.

"Whether you are here for R&D, Engineering, General Studies, or our heroics program, we shall do our best to assist you in whatever goals you have set for yourself. This train shall be arriving at the academy shortly, whereupon you will begin your new life. I once again welcome each and every one of you."

She smiles, then the screen fades back to black, the school logo and motto appearing in gold and white lettering. "Progression and Service of Mankind."

The screens flick out, and at once natural sunlight refills the interior. You slump back in your chair. That sounded great, but you technically haven't even been accepted yet, and if the interview doesn't go well, then the entire speech meant nothing.

A quick glance reveals your table-mate still playing his game. You're not sure he even noticed the speech. Though it isn't like the other pairs are much for conversation either, and with little to say… or do, you return to looking out at the window.

The school is right in the center of Atlanta. It was apparently another college a long time ago but you don't know much about the previous one. It's probably the largest school in the south, and definitely the largest in this state. The grounds of the campus are huge, and the entirety of it is covered in a large dome made of what always looked to you like segmented glass panels… although you have no idea what they actually are made of. All you know is the only ways in and out of the school use these highly monitored and highly secure, trains. You always thought the whole thing was fascinating, though you never expected to see the inside of it. At most you had figured you might get a close look at the buildings through the dome, like you are now, and the sight is breathtaking.

You can see the school proper, many large brick and concrete buildings with a large forest in the center of it. It may be the only school you've ever heard of that had its own forest inside of it, open to the public or not. You can see additional entrances for other trains, larger ones that are probably made for cargo instead of people. You can't actually make out any people on the inside, but supposedly the campus houses tens of thousands.

There are more people in this campus than there are in your entire… town. That's a claustrophobic thought. Lilburn was never the biggest city around, but it's still much bigger than this campus. The thought of cramming people this close together never really occurred to anyone in Lilburn, but now you faced the choice of joining the sardine can.

… On top of that the Hero course is infamously small, you still have no idea why you are even being considered going by the amount of potential heroes on this train. You are one of fifty, maybe, who are arriving today alone, on this train alone. The competition is well, you don't know why you are even in the running.

Well, worst comes to worst you can say you saw the inside, not many get to do that.

Ahead you can see the large metal doors that sit around the rail entrance to the dome, with flashing blue lights are surrounding the frame. As the train approaches they blink green and slide open, allowing entrance into the campus itself.

The train is silent as it passes through, the train hardly making a sound beyond the clacking of the doors that rattle every so often.

+Welcome to the Atlanta State Hero Development Institute,+ a female voice announces over the trains intercom. Notably, it's not the dean or the same voice as on the train station. Also notably, it seems to have gotten your seatmate's attention, he glances one eye s up at the ceiling before he moves to pop the buds out of his ears. Once he has them tucked into his pocket he sits up to glance out the window, looking down at the campus below.

Large brick buildings sit connected by walkways and other tram tracks, the buildings are spread all over the campus and in different sections. In the center of it all is the large forest. Well, a 'large' forest, given it's in the middle of a city. You can see various pathways and platforms setup in the trees along with a lake in the center of it all.

By now, you're just above the treeline, and with a slight tug you feel the train going down an incline towards another platform.

Well the paths are open at least, and you think you can see maps on the platform, so you shouldn't really have to worry about getting lost.

- - -

You got lost so fast.

It was about the same size as the one you departed from, though this one had the addition s of several screens showing a local map and a directory. Several potential students stopped to glance at them, while others walked off in their own directions confident of where they were going.

You were supposed to be meeting a Miss… Praegus? Right, you hope you remembered how to spell that. Your first interview was to be with a school counselor so they could go over your application paperwork along with a few other things that you don't particularly recall from the email.

Well, you thought, she should hopefully be in the directory, right? You glanced back up from your phone towards them, seeing only a few students were left on the platform. One, a large… snake woman? You aren't quite sure how you hadn't noticed her in the crowd earlier. She had a large orange snake tail going back at least a dozen feet, coiling slightly as she flitted her finger over a directory. Her twin red serpentine eyes focused and unfocused as she looked over the names and mumbled to herself. "Nyet, nyet, nyet. Bespoleznyy."

… No help there probably, you had decided. Behind her was another student, a young man in what looked like a cowboy outfit from a western, his blonde hair sitting beneath a slightly tilted cowboy hat. His boots clinked slightly as he leaned to-and-fro while he studied the map. There was a cowboy hero phase a few years ago, though you didn't really pay attention to it. There was certainly never a movement for your type of quirk after all.

Turning away you looked back at the directory and walked towards it. It flashed white and refreshed itself as you approached, displaying all the names of the staff in alphabetical order. Right, you thought, so Praegus… and then you ran into the biggest issue yet.

The directory, barring a few exceptions, is full of real names, not hero ones. Which made sense, you suppose. The emails had both… but you only remembered her hero name. Once again you could have looked it up on your phone, but of course it wasn't working.

You let out a sigh as you watched the names scroll past once again. Well, you thought, the campus only has about thirty… thousand people living in it, how hard could it be? Truly?

- - -

You regret. So much. Right now.

You could have waited to hear back from Norcross, but no. You had to go for the dream shot, the hole in one, the god-damned half court shot into the rim that was on fire.

You lean farther back onto the bench and sigh. There was a gate surrounding the actual 'hero' complex, you could possibly have got past it but going by how high-tech everything here is you didn't really want to see what they do to trespassers. There weren't any obvious guards or a PA system either. So you kept going.

Then you wandered past what was apparently the student dorms, you weren't allowed in there either. From a distance they looked nice at least, though at this rate you doubt you will ever see the inside of them. With your luck today you doubt it.

This whole complex is already under a dome, do they really need the hi-tech fencing everywhere? You're in R&D now and frankly you're surprised how easy it was to get into the complex. You can't get into the buildings of course but so far nothing has attempted to shoot you either.

Though the dorms were fancy, and the train was hi-tech, the R&D area blows them both clean out of the water. The buildings here are a stark and clean white, some tall enough they nearly touch the glass dome. Steel… or some form of metal runs between them all, small trains and bursts of light passing between them every so often. Those viewscreens are all over the place, though what they are displaying beyond the odd map is honestly gibberish to you, data and various bits of code and acronym all over the place. Various scientists and students all move to and fro, though despite the expectations you may have about such a nerd convention it isn't actually quite that busy.

There's quite a lot of money invested here, that much is obvious even from a short glimpse. The Norcross school had… well... you mean... there's a lot you can do with government funding, obviously, but there are limits. At least, there are limits for other schools. Past the buildings are smaller domed areas, some with their own buildings… possibly test areas. Others look like oversized terrariums. You can't see in all of them, in some the normally clear glass is brassy, golden, and blocks all view inside.

Further to the south is a solitary standing structure. It's easily the widest building around, maybe a good hundred meters end to end. The banner of the school hangs from its edges along with dates, you assume that would be the football stadium as you know the school has such a program. With how shiny everything else is you wonder what the inside of that looks like… they probably still charge thirty bucks for a hot dog.

You glance back to your feet, while it may be nice… with the Hero area, Dorm area, and probably R&D area out, you aren't quite sure what you are going to d-

"Heightened pulse, slowed breathing. Perhaps the student is lacking in sleep?"

You jerk towards the sound of the voice, standing in front of you is a… girl? She's roughly your height but that's where the similarities end. Her legs, her arms, they are all metal. There's hints of flesh here and there; mostly the face and thighs. But her eyes, the color of velvet, stare at you lifelessly as she studies you. Various instruments and manipulators stick out from her sides and back.

"No, theory unfounded. Could be hormones, not detecting any heightened readings in testosterone. Perhaps... No, no estrogen above normal amounts."

Her eyes flash orange for a moment and you swear you can hear the winding of gears. "Student not in uniform, also not in database. Subject appears to be suffering from some form of mild anxiety, perhaps, yes. New student that is lost?"

You stare up at the odd… robot. Her voice is human enough, if quiet and very, very, precise in its diction. Her eyes stare back impassively, not moving as her question lingers in the air. You answer by nodding slowly. "I… er, that is, yes, I am lost. I'm here for my entrance interview with 'Praegus,' miss...?"

Her head tilts slightly. "I am the Experimental Multipurpose Biosimulatory Learning Android MK 2. But I am referred to as 'EMBLA'."

Her head snaps back into place, moving so fast you are afraid she'll break it. Her gaze turns towards the forest and the Hero complex beyond. Behind her several of her additional limbs shift, one in particularly unfolding to poke over her shoulder, a small radar dish jutting from it as she focuses off into the distance.

"Miss Praegus is in her office at present. It appears she has just recently finished another interview, thus you still have some time if you wish to meet her." She turns back to you, the arm folding back up again. "If, however, you have abandoned your decision to attend this school, then I can lead you from the premises."

"No!" You blink, apparently in the span of you saying that you've stood back up from the bench. You smile awkwardly. "I mean, no, I want to go to the interview, it's just that if she is at the Hero complex how do I get in? It was all fenced off when I was there earlier."

She tilts her head again, her lips slightly curving up into a smile. Her face is inexpressive but not doll-like, she seems more a girl who hardly emotes than a robot. She reaches over and taps the card sticking out from your shirt pocket, her cool metal digits curling up and plucking it out to show it to you.

"This is yours, correct? Dylan Evans?"

You nod slowly, ...staring at the card given to you by security. Despite its thinness, it's shown enough functions that it's almost like a small PDA.

She flips the card around and hands it to you. "This device is also your security badge. If you present it to the scanners at the gate they will open automatically for you. Did you not see any students go in?"

You pause, thinking back. No… you didn't, come to think of it. You shake your head.

"Most students travel via our tram system, however new students and prospects would have to walk through security." Her smile gets a little bit wider. "I have reviewed the security footage, if you had spent less time on the platform you would have been able to follow some of your fellow students in." Oh. Well. This isn't awkward at all. Embla ignores your embarrassment, pointing a finger back towards the path as she instructs you. "Miss Praegus isn't going to be available all morning. I would suggest hurrying if at all possible. She is in Office 227 in Building C."

You nod again. "Right, I will. Thank you uhm, ma'am. Er, Miss Embla."

She nods back and pats you on the shoulders. "Good luck, young man."

You grin and sprint off, your backpack slapping against your back as you run around the forest back towards the Hero Complex.

- - -

To your relief, Embla wasn't pulling your leg, with a simple flash of your card the large gate leading into the complex opens revealing the hero section of the campus. Large brick and steel buildings surround a large circular plaza. Each dedicated to different classes or set aside as office buildings, each are connected by covered walkways and have displays setup all around the place much like the ones outside.

In the center is a decorative garden, the flowers and plants arranged so that it forms an 'A.' Standing in front of it is a statue of a pair of heroes. The Man of Might and The Girl of Wonder, each in a suitably heroic pose on a shared plinth as they look over the buildings around them.

Students move about from building to building, nearly all in uniform. You can also see security wandering about as well, some regular campus police, others actual heroes on duty. Your eyes dart from structure to structure. At the end is what looks like a pyramid made of glass, white supports run up its edges to support it. Banners hang above its large glass doors, each displaying the logo of the school. Near it is a small tram station with the marker for a train above it, from there you can see a large escalator going down.

The campus is large, but you have to wonder who is so lazy they require a tram to get from section to section.

A few students are making use of it however, almost all in that jumpsuit style uniform you've seen the students on the trains wearing. It's certainly… a unique uniform, but then again such a thing is to be expected from a private school. You notice a few carry devices strapped to their wrists or ankles, one or two fiddling with them from time to time, so perhaps there is more to it than first meets the eye?

Other buildings near the large central building are obvious in their purpose, mostly due to the fact they have signs on them. There's a five story structure made of brick with circular windows that look over the plaza. Students move in and out of it constantly, carrying books or small bags, the sign above proclaiming it to be the library.

The building to the left is more interesting, the structure is only about two stories tall, but there is a large dome jutting out from middle of it that rises several more stories. The building as a whole is white and rounded with no apparent windows, and with the dome in place looks similar to a UFO. Several students are filing in... well, wannabe students, you haven't seen any students in actual uniform wander inside. Its exact purpose is unknown, but the sign above the door marks it as the 'Testing Chamber,' and that tells you enough.

… But back to your search. The main office buildings consist of taller and decidedly utilitarian designs, and it isn't too hard to find the one marked Building C. While very simple, you wouldn't say it isn't nice. They are smooth steel and glass designs, large windows allowing a view over the central plaza, but compared to everything else, well…

You clutch your bag and start to jog inside.

- - -

The interior may be one of the nicest waiting rooms you've ever been nervous in. A large interior lobby looms imposingly with a single receptions desk in the back. Twin elevators in the back lead to the upper floors, the clerk on station helpfully directing you to where you need to go; room 27 on floor 2. You aren't sure why you were expecting anything else.

There are still a few students out and about, that cowboy hero from before steps into the elevator just as you step out of it, apparently one of the last students to go in for the interview. The look on his face is one of… apprehension and concern? He has his hat in his hand as he hurries into the elevator.

Well… that's a good sign.

As you step out of the elevator the doors shut immediately and silently behind you. Ahead of you lies a long hallway with doors to the right hand side. To the left is a long series of windows that shows the building across from this one, above you can see the walkway that connects them. It's just like below; pleasant enough, with clean floors and yet more of those educational displays. It seems they hardly want students to get lost or be missing information, funny that.

You walk down the hallway noting the numbers, 25… 26... 27. There; a simple entrance, with her the name Annapurna next to it on a plaque, the name 'Praegues' underneath in hyphens.

The door is closed with no knob, like the rest of the doors. Instead a small scanner sits to its left waiting for someone to flash a card. You pull it from your pocket and hold it in front of the scanner.

*Beep*

A little light on the scanner flashes red and the door… doesn't open. Well, plan B then. You reach up to knock, but the door swings open before your knuckles make contact. It opens near silently, though to your surprise there is nobody behind it either, mechanical pulls at the top instead pulling it open.

Inside is a wooden interior, the first bit of wood you've seen outside of that forest, funnily enough. Tall bookshelves line the walls, filled with books on psychology and other subjects you aren't anywhere near well schooled enough to understand. Simple chairs are sat on a small rug in front of you, while off towards the right end of the room is a nice wooden desk. Behind it sits a woman with a smile on her face.

She's mature, probably in her mid-thirties. She's Indian, wearing a long black business dress with a peach shawl around her shoulders. It blends well with her brown skin and dark black hair. Her desk is covered in stacks of papers, though despite the amount it doesn't give off the air of being cluttered, with everything neatly stacked and in its place. In front of the desk is another chair, slightly off center, most likely because someone… the cowboy, was just sitting in it.

She gestures to the seat with that same slightly disturbing smile on her face, her eyes not leaving yours as she stares at you. Behind her on the wall a ticking clock sounds repeatedly, it's repetitive beat the only noise in the awkward stillness of the room.

"Right, uhm, thanks." You say awkwardly, moving forward and into the vacant seat.

She nods and leans forward on the desk a little, the smile still not leaving her face as she studies you.

You stare back, hands settling in your lap as you try to adjust yourself to a more comfortable position… there aren't really any comfortable positions. An awkward smile finds its way onto your face as you look back, though you can't manage to meet her eyes for very long due to the intensity of her gaze.

…

…

She's still staring at you.

You raise up a hand and cough into it. "Right, um, you are Miss Praegus?"

Your words seem to break the spell, she leans back in her seat as the smile relaxes a little. "Indeed, I am one of the school counselors." She glances down at a sheet of paper on the desk. "And you... are one of my last student interviews; Mister Dylan. Correct?"

You nod. "I, er, I mean. Yes. Dylan Evans."

"Wonderful." She smiles again, her tongue darting out to lick at her lips as she writes some notes on the paper in front of her. "Could you tell me what brought you here, to me, today?"

You lean forward in the seat a little. "Well, I applied and… was invited to the interview?" You rub your forearm idly as you think. "I was hoping to be a hero so this was a good school to apply for." You answer.

She giggles, licking her lips again as she makes more scribbles onto the paper… this is not exactly the most comfortable interview you've been in.

She taps the pen against the paper again, her eyes bright with amusement as she leans forward onto the desk again. "Now, can you confirm your quirk for me?"

"Yeah, it's-"

- - -

Votes are already tallied, this is just a story-only thread.

[x] [Jumping Spider] "I can jump far and high. In addition." Your four extra pairs of 'legs', pointed at the tips, fold out from under your clothes to hang around you. "I got these, I can stick to walls and I'm pretty good at holding people still."

[x] [Muscle Enhancement] "I can multiply the output of any of my muscles, arms, heart, you name it. Though it also increases the output of lactic acid." You pat your shoulder a grimace on your face, "it's not pleasant."

[x] [Healing] "I can stimulate the natural regeneration of the human body to an extent. From a distance, I can staunch blood flow or cause slow healing. But by touch, I can cause wounds to knit and bones to reassemble themselves. I've found it can also buff quirks… though only to a limited extent it seems."

[x] [Holograms] "I can create glass mirror images of myself at will, though they aren't much use in a fight by themselves… being made of glass. They are good distractions though, and I found they are really useful for blinding people if I get enough around light. I can also mimic other people and objects if I touch them."

[x] [Rainmaker] "I can draw water out of the air and use it, however, I see fit, from water-fight to rainstorm." You hold up a finger, a small bubble appearing above it. "Never had to pack a water bottle, though I tend to get rather sluggish if it is the dry season."

 

[Erien]

[X] [Healing]

- - -

"I can stimulate the natural regeneration of the human body. From a distance, I can staunch blood flow or cause slow healing. But by touch I can cause wounds to knit and bones to reassemble themselves. I've found it can also buff quirks… though only to a limited extent it seems."

"Oh? Now that is rare." The counselor leans forward, a look of curiosity on her face as she studies you. It changes back quickly to her, now familiar, look of amusement too quickly for you to make any sense of it. "I've interviewed hundreds of students; Yet I could count on one hand the number who claim to be healers. Quirk boosters are just as rare, and you're definitely the first person I've met who does both. It's very... interesting."

You nod slowly. "Well… I'm more focused on the healing bit; I haven't really had a chance to test the boosting effect"

She giggles. "And you have tested healing?"

You tap your foot on the floor, the hardwood clicking against your boots. "Well, I tried to volunteer at a hospital… but they didn't want me there until I knew the limits of my quirk."

"I can't say I blame them," she replies. Tongue darting out to lick at her lips again, "and nothing else besides that?"

"Not really." You shake your head, "It turns out major injuries are pretty rare. I've helped around the neighborhood; Timothy… er, a local kid got a compound fracture and I managed to get him all healed up before the mbulance got there, even killed the pain!" you're proud of that last bit, it took you a long time to learn how to dull the nerve endings.

She laughs then jots down some more notes, the smile taking on a more subdued tone as she does so. "This quirk; 'healing and quirk boosting,'' does it have a name?" She asks without glancing up.

You start to shake your head before realizing she isn't looking at you. "Just healing. I mean, there's not much else I could call it is there?"

The pen scratches stop and she looks up at you, "and how did you awaken this quirk?"

You pause in your tapping, thinking back to what your mother told you. "I don't know when it awakened, but… from what mom says, apparently I cut up my arm pretty bad as a kid, ran right through a window."

You chuckle awkwardly. You don't exactly remember the incident, just like you don't remember most of your childhood to be perfectly honest. "Apparently I went through it on the ground floor, so it was only cuts, but instead of crying or anything I just kind of… stared at my arm and the cuts healed themselves. For a while they thought it was regeneration until I healed a cut my mother got in the kitchen."

She stares at you for a few moments.

…

Quite a few moments, her eyes narrowing as you see her jaw move up and down like she was chewing. Finally she breaks the awkward silence herself, "so it works on yourself, any limitations when used on others?"

"None that I've found," you answer quickly, "I can deal with cuts, bruises, broken bones and things of that nature. I haven't had to do anything like fix a failing organ or regrow a limb thankfully, on myself or otherwise."

She nods and sets the pen and paper aside, "and how did you discover its boosting effects?"

You pause again, this incident was thankfully more recent. "Well, my father is a welder; That's his job and his quirk." You hold out your hands and wiggle them like he does to get the jets started, stopping quickly once you realize you look like an idiot. "Er, his quirk isn't welding that…" You pause again, drawing in a breath before continuing. "My father can superheat his fingers, so he has a job in welding. I noticed he had a cut on his shoulder while he was out working in the garage so I went to remove it, but when I touched his shoulders his fingers got hotter... It screwed up the weld and I got a time-out."

You shrug your shoulders. "My mom is quirkless, so I could only really test it on dad and a few willing kids at school, but it seems to be about a 10% increase."

"Any downsides of this? Limitations?"

You shake your head for a no.

She smiles then makes more notes on the pad, the gentle scratching of pen on paper filling the office for a few moments before she collects both into her lap. "Just a few more questions Mr. Evans. Why did you apply to this school in particular?"

You… don't really have a long answer for that one. "Well, the school is the best around here, and I wanted to be a hero, so it was worth trying at least." You still can't wrap your head around why you are here exactly, but you are just hoping you aren't bombing this interview.

She frowns for a moment, the first time she has done so. But it is quickly replaced by the same smile she has been wearing almost the entire interview. You also note she doesn't bother writing down your answer. "Do you believe you'll be a good fit here?"

"Hopefully? I mean, I'll do my best if I get in but I didn't really expect to hear back... at all really." You are definitely bombing this interview, the first thing they always told you was to be confident, and you are a mess!

If she is bothered by your answer she doesn't show it. Instead she holds up the notepad to reveal wavy lines written across it, either she writes in code or she was merely scratching the pen across the notepad for the fun of it. "I've never had a single student interview here that didn't have a purpose for their inclusion, even if you are not aware of it yourself, Mr. Evans." She places both it and the pen flat onto the table, before her expression flattens. "So let's be a little more direct with our last question."

You nod and lean forward.

"Tell me Dylan. Why do you wish to be a hero?"

Oh.

Well, that's...

- - -

Select Dylan's motivation and goals. This will affect his personality and outlook.

[x] [I want to help people for the sake of it, my quirk allows me to mend the broken and relieve the pain others suffer, why wouldn't I want to use it?]

[x] [While I could see about going into medicine, my family doesn't really have a lot of money. I grew up poor so I was hoping to find government work, helping people is a good bonus.]

[x] [Well, my quirk isn't exactly flashy so I was bullied… a lot in school actually. I know it can be used so I was hoping to show my power and its uses to the world.]

[x] [Because… I don't honestly know what to do with myself otherwise.]

---


"Well, to be perfectly honest." You trail off, staring at the floor as you try to figure out what to say. "My quirk is for helping people, there's not really any other way to look at it. I could always apply to work in medicine but the red tape is astronomical." Your 'combat' boots, as your dad always called them… little more than a pair of workman's shoes, good enough to survive rubble and the like but nothing particularly fancy, rub against each other as you think. "I didn't really have any other plans in life, I mean anything else would be a waste of a rare quirk."

You look back up at the counselor, "I don't know what else to do but become a hero because… I don't honestly know what to do with myself otherwise."

Miss Annapurna's smile gets a little wider, "you see your quirk as a tool for good, something to be used, and you wish to become a hero because of that. Not because of any noble goals or desires for fame and fortune."

You think on that summation of it… it's accurate. "Yeah, is that a bad reason?"

Annapurna shakes her head, the shawl she wears glinting in the light as she does so. "The motivation in itself is noble, an ability to do good and the only thing you can think of is to use it to its maximum potential?" She leans forward on the desk, eyes lit with amusement. "Heroes are made of such things." Her smile you note for the first time isn't creepy, the first time it hasn't been off-putting since you arrived here. "While you may believe you lack purpose, I do believe Dylan from what you have told me, and what is in your file, that you feel a strong sense of duty that compels you. While some with a great quirk or unique gift would seek to profit or better themselves, you instead wonder how you might best benefit the whole."

She grabs the pad and pen and scribbles a little A+ on it for you to see. "That is a very good mindset for a hero to have, and I do believe you would make a fine one."

You smile back. "Does this mean I pass the interview?"

She nods firmly. "You've done well, though of course you still must pass the second phase."

"Right, I had heard that there was an initiation but couldn't find anything about it really…I'm rather unprepared, unfortunately." You didn't expect to be here at all… but that still doesn't stop you from feeling like an idiot.

She titters a moment. "I had noticed, though we do keep the details about our entrance exam quiet. You shall undergo underground live training with other students."

"Like sparring matches?"

She smiles the creepy one again. "Not exactly."

- - -

The pair of large steel doors open with a pneumatic hiss in front of you. Not merely to the side, as a second pair opens vertically, followed by another set which opens diagonally. You imagine that the doors almost form an airlock, given their thickness.

You were lead to the large UFO-like structure you first noticed when you entered the HERO complex for the first time. The fact that it was meant to be the live training area explains why you saw so many new students heading into it when you first arrived. The interior is just as stark and white as the exterior is. Large white paneled floors with blindingly bright lighting set into the ceiling. On the walls are various electronic display panels, though all are blank at the moment.

You are the only student waiting by the door, and with your luck today you wouldn't be particularly surprised if you were the last one to arrive overall, here's hoping you aren't graded on punctuality.

With one final hiss, the door opens all the way to reveal a large circular room. It's paneled and patterned the same as the others, though this one appears to have no other exits beyond the door you came in, the sheer white walls going up a good dozen feet before stopping at a flat ceiling of, once again, sterile white. Did they spill bleach over an entire building somehow? The center of the room quickly reveals where the rest of the other potential students have gone, well over two to three dozen students of all shapes and sizes are gathered in the center.

They are motley, animal characteristics, exaggerated human, human and little else. Men, women, boys, and girls. Some in plain clothes, others in costume, professional or clearly homemade. It's an impressive sight, the only time you've seen so many wannabe heroes at once place was at the last hero convention you went down in Buckhead. Off to the side and keeping a healthy distance from the students are a myriad array of adults, you recognize the cyborg from before; Embla, but that's all. Around them are various other adults, many looking particularly non-heroic and… normal. No costumes, just relatively nice office clothes signifying that they are more than likely R&D. Past that, though, you can see the teachers, and if you thought the students were a motley collection then you hadn't seen any-

"THE LAST STUDENT HAS ARRIVED AT LAST!" A booming voice drowns out the murmured conversation, "BEGIN SOON, FOR DOOMWULF HAS GROWN TIRED OF WAITING."

You swear, you can hear the room breathing in the ensuing silence, and all eyes snap to the front of the student group; a dog-woman in black and white. She's dressed in what looks like a modified school uniform; A black blazer, a black and white plaid skirt, a black tie, and white fur lining on her blazer. Her eyes are mismatched gold and blue, and her hair is a salt and pepper mix that flows between light grey and white, capped off by twin dog ears and a tail of the same color.

But what she's wearing hardly mattered since you could have attracted less attention than she did if you walked in wearing a pink leotard and blasting the national anthem. Unlike her, You'd crumble under the attention; back straight, hands clenched, and a cocky grin on her face, she barely seems to notice that everyone is staring at her. She only slightly falters when a loud laugh fills the room.

One of the walls at the far end of the room opens, slowly swinging inwards to allow a familiar figure to walk through it. Aja, the dean from that message on the train, walks through, wearing a different floral patterned suit. As she walks her heels click against the white flooring, the sharp click of her steps echoing around the quiet chamber in an even beat. She stops a short distance away from the crowd, eyes looking over the assembled mass with more than a little amusement on her face. After a few moments where nobody makes so much as a sound she claps her hands together.

"Hello, applicants!" Her arms swing out to the side as if to reveal some great spectacle, "and welcome to the Atlanta State Hero Development Institute. I, as you already have been made aware, am your dean, it is my duty to help guide and lead you on whatever paths you have set for yourselves." Suddenly the lights fade, casting the room into pitch darkness, and heroic music begins the pulse from the ceiling.

The lights in the room abruptly fade, casting the room in darkness briefly before the walls around the room light up and display images. Various images of the school, some you've seen, most you haven't. Suitably heroic music playing as it flashes between images of classrooms, training, various hero alumni. The heads of many students swivel wildly, trying to catch them all, and you even hear the occasional applause for the heroes.

"The ASH Institute was founded with one goal in mind." Aja's voice cuts through the music, though the images keep changing. "To grow and prepare the heroes of these United States. Whether through Research & Development." The images show labs; costumes being worked on, gadgets being tested. "Or our Hero course."

"We were founded well over one century ago as part of a government effort, in that time we have made great strides in improving the heroes of our nation." The screen changes again to display heroes, some local, others national. Longarm, Cowgirl, Mustang, Electroman, the images change and go on. "These heroes are not mere symbols of peace, they are the unifying force tying our country together."

The screen changes once again, showing various students as she continues with her speech. "Our students are our future, and we shall assist you in all of our capacity. Many potential students apply to this academy, few are accepted for interviews and testing, we only accept the best and brightest, the most gifted."

… Yeah, about that.

"We shall soon begin the final phase of your interview. This test will not be easy, and you will need to push yourself to your limits, but the best among you shall enter these hallowed halls, and we will prepare you to change the world." The images fade out as the lights fade in, and with a heavy rumble, the floor moves. Every student in the room looks around in surprise as the walls go down, revealing the entire floor to be an exceptionally large elevator.

It travels upwards a large distance before grinding to a halt. The tall white walls are still there, but now there are additionally large metal doors set within them. They are about half as tall as the wall itself, easily tall enough to let anything short of a titan in comfortably. Above each is a display with a number in bright yellow.

"Good luck applicants!" Dean Aja's voice crackles over the loudspeakers, drawing attention to the fact that, somehow, she had disappeared, "I'll leave you in the capable hands of our R&D department." taking this as her cue, Embla steps forward.

"Attention applicants." She calls, her voice impressively loud. "Please check your provided cards for your room number. Once you have located your correct room, enter and await further instructions. I repeat, please wait for further instructions after entering your assigned room."

Almost immediately, the entire crowd begins bustling towards the doors, drowning you in a sea of excited whispers. You almost lose your own card when an eager student jostles your hand, but are barely able to catch it, and see that is given you the number… 11. A glance up shows that the rooms are in numerical order, and with some amount of jostling you make your way to your assigned room.

- - -

The metal door opened as you as you drew near it, a decent chunk of the students have already entered their rooms… though they were in considerably more of a hurry than you were, you noticed. The door slides away to reveal another room, where the color scheme and decoration shock you to your core...

… Just kidding, it's white and almost completely empty.

It's not a particularly large room, maybe about the size of your bedroom back home. You step through onto the white floor and it isn't hard like you are expecting. Your foot sinks ever so slightly like you were stepping onto a sparring mat... It's a giant white cube with padded walls and floors. The only thing that makes you think you haven't just been locked in an asylum is the small plinth in the center of the room. A pair of what looks like a pair of fancy swimming goggles on top of it; black, with little flashing blue and red LEDs along the edges. Beyond that, there is nothing else in the room, and with a hiss, the metal door slides shut behind you again.

Then, there is silence.

Awkward, awkward silence.

You stand there for several minutes before Embla's voice speaks up again.

"Student Dylan, please put on the goggles and stand still."

Yes, odd robot voice that speaks to me from the ether, your wish is my command, your command is my doctrine. You step forward to the plinth and grab the goggles. They are heavier than they look, made of metal instead of plastic as you expected. Following the instructions, you stretch the band back and pull it over your eyes.

At once everything gets a lot blurrier, the lenses of the goggles are serving as a sort of fisheye lens. Everything in your vision is distorted and stretched out, thankfully the headache is killed before it can start as, without warning, the fish-eye lense goes blank. Or at least, you can't see anything; all the lights in the room shut off, leaving you in total darkness. Any hopes of your night vision… the normal kind, you aren't that lucky, kicking in are dashed as the lens darkens as well.

You feel a rush of air and heat was over you like you had just walked into a steamy shower room. Your skin tickles and you feel little pin pricks all over like your limbs were all falling asleep, then all at once...

"Inserting."

Everything changes.

- - -



You feel the heat of the sun beating against you and you open your eyes blearily… oh. You stare up at the sky and sun above you, you appear to be back outside. There's the sun, the clouds, the burning buildings, jet fighters, and it seems that it'll still be warm enough for summer clothes for a few more weeks...

… Wait, what!?

You catapult yourself upwards from your sitting position, or try to anyway. You're partially weighed down by rubble and have to struggle to free yourself. You are at the edge of a street going down what looks like… what used to be Clark Davis Boulevard.

You are a good hundred yards or so from the intersection before the park and are currently halfway buried into the side of a collapsed bank. Cars are burning all around you, and the sounds of explosions carry through the air. The smell of smoke burns in your nose and waters your eyes as you move to free the rest of yourself.

"Hey man! Y'aight!?" Two figures spring into view, both coming to a stop a few feet in front of you on the street. The older of the two is a guy in a half-finished pirate costume, a black loose shirt completely unbuttoned with a long red bandana wrapped around his white hair. Besides him is a blonde guy in a tank top and blue jeans, his arms are bright red and, if you're not mistaken, badly bruised, though rather ridiculously muscled.

You nod. "I'd wave but I'm rather…" You pull at your limbs for emphasis, hoping they get a general idea.

Pirate hisses then glances back down the street in the direction they came. "Get em outta dere biceps, we gon' get comp'ny soon!"

"I told ya my name was Kevin!" 'Biceps' growls. Fortunately for you, this isn't an argument, as Pirate completely ignores Kevin's correction. He steps forward and violently rips the shattered masonry and stone off of you. The remains flying several feet back onto the street before slamming into the side of an abandoned car. He then grabs you by the scruff of your shirt and pulls you forward as well.

Kevin drops you not particularly gently on the street, but it definitely beats being stuck under the better half of a building. "You alright?" He asks while looking you over.

"Yeah… I'm fine, the hell is going on?"

"That," Kevin answers simply, pointing to the left and down the street away from the park. You turn your head and look left down the street, the rubble was blocking your view before but what could be goi-

Oh.

Oh, so that's what is going on.

You'd call it gargantuan, but somehow that word doesn't quite do the SPACESHIP that is currently flying over downtown justice. And yes, you do mean over downtown; It's that big... It's almost stonelike in appearance, the various plates that make it up looking more like sections of a mountain than any metal. Raining down from it are green bolts of energy. Given that none of the bolts are lining up with the time you're hearing them they're all miles away, but they rumble like thunder in your chest. These would have been the source of the explosions you had heard earlier.

Below and around it are smaller explosions, small craft, some you recognize as jets. Other… far more alien craft are chasing each other around between the buildings and through the sky. Intermittent bursts of fire popping in the air as apparently, things are not going so well against the small country that has decided to appear above South Atlanta.

"We… we're in VR right?" You ask, hoping rather desperately for an answer in the affirmative.

Pirate turns back to you with a somewhat shaky grin. "Hope so! Me 'n Biceps 'ere woke up right next to ea-"

Any further sound is eclipsed by the deafening roar of a jet speeding overheat, explosions following in its wake sending rubble down onto the street as an alien craft of similar size chases after it. Green pulses of energy trailing after the jet as they both pull back up into the sky.

You place a hand on your head and rub it, your quirk kicking in as your hearing recovers.

"IS THIS ALL YOU CAN DO? DOOMWULF IS UNIMPRESSED!"

You head jerks towards the source of the shout. Further down the street, it looks like the loud dog-woman and several of the other students are fighting near the intersection. Beams of light and the crack of gunfire erupt from around them as they fight off… something from behind a police barricade.

They look like the bugs from that movie you watched for cultural history; 'Starship Troopers,' all angled and pointy as they skitter along the ground like spiders. Most of the students you saw earlier are fighting them, balls of energy, statues of glass, scythes of water. All erupting behind the barrier as they fight off the aliens on either sides of them. Further beyond in the park you can see the military, tanks and artillery pieces firing on and fighting even larger strands of the aliens, larger beetle looking things that are shrugging off tank rounds like one would a mosquito bite.

Well, today is just going lovely, the apocalypse is happening in Olympic Park.

You turn back to Pirate and Kevin, both are rubbing at their ears from the sudden burst of noise. You grab each by the shoulder, your quirk kicking into effect immediately, both gaining their hearing back while healing the various bruises and scratches they've obtained already.

"Come on!" You shout, pointing down the street. Thankfully they need no further prompting than that, and you all start sprinting down the street together.

"You can heal, dude!?" Kevin… no, Biceps is better, shouts as he runs alongside you and Pirate.

"Yeah!" You shout. You begin to put some focus on his forearms, and see the relief on his face as the bruising begins to fade.

"Right on!" He says, jumping over a fallen streetlight as you all run to the barricade. As you get closer you can make out more and more of the battle. Students are either perched behind or standing in front of, parked police cars, beating back waves of attackers. Various civilians are huddled in the middle as well, and you can see more students sprinting in carrying more; a blue haired girl with wings is even flying, nimbly dodging bolts of energy while carrying two children.

"Heroes! Help!" You skid to a stop, your head snapping to the right as you other two stop shortly afterward. A young boy, the one who cried out, is kneeling next to an older man, his father, you presume. A sedan is overturned and halfway pressed into a building, the man's leg between it and the wall, his head slumped against the against the concrete facade of the office block. You can barely see a trail of blood running down from the wall and underneath the car.

You turn on the spot, sprinting over to the car as fast as you can while pirate and biceps move to catch up with you.

You slide to a stop by the older man, knees scraping across the pavement as you nearly collide with the wall yourself. Right. You trained for this.

You reach up and move his head forward gently and look behind the skull, head… open fracture but you don't see any indication that it domed inward, good. You focus on the area, and the bones begin to slowly knit back together. Once skull is repaired the skin will be easy, you can't do anything for the blood but at the very least he may not suffer brain damage. You nearly lose your grip when he is tugged forward as with a loud grunt the sedan is lifted off the ground and moved back by Biceps.

"Careful!" You shout angrily, "I'm doing surgery here!"

"Sorry, dude." He drops the car behind you, and jumps over the top of it to face the street.

You turn back to glare as the flesh finishes reknitting. Bicep's arm is red again, and twice the size of what it used to be, every few moments it pulses as the muscles flex and unflex themselves. A muscle enhancement quirk clearly. He's also looking rather pale in the face as he stares down at you. What could possibly be so…

Oh.

Where the car landed on the leg, Grade IIIB fracture, his fibula has broken through the skin and he is currently bleeding profusely through the open wound. You gently pull the man the rest of the way forward and and lay him flat on the ground.

"We got compn'y comin'!" Pirate shouts, turning back down the street towards the direction of the ship.

You don't bother looking up as you focus on the new wound. It's a miracle the car didn't do more damage, it must have flipped over while it was moving and landing on his leg while they were going past. Though you didn't see any evidence of a driver in the vehicle when you ran by. No matter.

"Can you move him?!" Biceps shouts, voice tinged in a bit of panic, the other arm growing in size to match the other as he turns to look down the street as well.

You study the wound a moment. "No, that'll make the wound worse. I can fix it if you give me a minute."

"Ya got'all time ya need, just be quick!" With that conflicting statement, Pirate snaps his fingers and a large black cannonball appears in his hand. Before you have time to wonder where it came from, he dropkicks it down the street, an explosion following soon after.

Fascinating….

You turn back to the wound and place your hands on either side of it. With a brief tug upon your body you feel the quirk begin to work again, the bleeding stops first, though it still leaves a broken and disfigured mess. If you do actually ever become a hero you will need to keep bandages around to clean the residue… focus. You focus on the bone next, the two broken pieces of his fibula lowering back into the open wound and starting to reconnect, the leg getting tauter as it moves back into place.

More explosions behind you, you can hear a loud screeching nearby as more explosions light up, presumably Pirate's. A moment later you can hear the shout… battle-cry of Bicep joining the mix as an apparent brawl erupts behind you. Focus. The bone is reknit and the skin is putting itself back together, the regeneration can handle the rest.

You reach underneath him and gently flip him over onto his stomach, then haul him up your chest and onto your shoulders with a grunt. The guy is surprisingly light all things considered, you position him correctly and turn back to the group, dead aliens litter the ground while Pirate and Biceps look none the worse for wear, slight fatigue aside.

"I'm good, let's go!" Biceps and pirate both seem relieved to hear that, and biceps scoops up the child as you get moving.

Burdened by the weight of a full-grown man, you're reduced to a slow jog. Biceps, while not slowed down, can't fight either, since he's carrying the child in one arm. Pirate covers the rear of your retreat, looking back every few second to make sure you aren't being chased. By the somewhat frantic look in his eyes it looks like you might be dealing with the company soon, but the fact he hasn't started kicking cannonballs either speaks to the trust in his legs and your ability to haul a fully grown adult. Or the very real worry that if he gets started he may get cut off from the rest of you.

You've rehealed the bruises that biceps got from fighting, but you can't force his muscles to relax. It appears the more he strains his muscles with the quirk the more it builds up bruises and muscle tension. It's not debilitating yet, but if he doesn't relax he is going to be sore for a very long time, and if he has to fight too much then he'll paralyze himself, with his own muscles holding him in place until he slows down.

A bolt of white energy passes overhead from the barricade, clearing maybe a good two to three feet above you as it sails down the street.

"Friendly! We're friendly!" Bicep shouts, waving his currently nonbusy hand for good measure.

Another bolt of energy sails overhead followed quickly by actual gunfire to your sides. A load roar sounds out behind you, the sound a mix between that of a screaming T-Rex and the revving of a chainsaw. You're a good thirty feet from the barrier at this point, several students and police officers are behind strategically placed cards and sandbags as they fire down the street at whatever is behind you. A white-haired student is firing a Scifi blaster, which he has braced against his shoulder. Bolt after bolt of white energy shoots out of it and overhead. To his left is an older Latino man firing what appears to be a paintball gun on full auto, the rounds whistling as they go sailing behind you.

In the center of the barricade and waving you on is a young man with blonde hair and a cowboy getup, the same man you saw leave the counselors office before you. "Come on! Ya can make it!"

Your legs are burning, you'd do something about it but you are a bit distracted at the moment. The further you run the heavier this man gets, the other two are pulling ahead quickly. Nearly… Another loud roar behind you, close enough that you can feel the heat of the alien's breath upon your back as you drive forward.

You feel your collar bunch up as Cowboy grabs you in midair, tossing you to move just a little bit further, and sending you skidding across the ground. Before you can even turn back around a brilliant flash of blue light illuminates the area, and Cowboy is sent sailing across the scene to land beside you as well. He's laying on his side, his wrist bent back at an unnatural angle as he flops onto the floor with a groan. You spin back to face the monster, shifting the man on your shoulder for movement.

Barely ten feet away, you see the monster, one of the larger aliens you saw in the distance at the park. It's dislodged part of the sandbags and has pushed two cop cards clear out of the way, and an errant twitch rips apart one of the sandbags it was pushed up against. In any other situation you'd have thought it unstoppable, but seeing the sky through the hole in its head is more than enough to remove that notion.

"Dad!" The scampering of feet marks the entrance of the kid, running to check up on his dad. You lay the unconscious man on the ground, and turn to Cowboy while the Biceps and Pirate get to work manning the barricade, now strengthened by a sturdy alien corpse. You flip him onto his back and take a look at the damage to his hand… focus. You lift up the limb; broken carpal, probably cracked his radius and ulna if he was unlucky. It was nowhere near as bad as what happened to the older man, but it couldn't be comfortable.

"What're ya doin?" Cowboy groans, having apparently recovered from his flight.

You don't answer, focusing your quirk to dull the pain and mend the bones. There's a brief hiss from him before the effects kick in, and with a series of quiet cracks, the bones return to their correct position.

"You're fine, any other injured?" You ask.

He rubs the wrist momentarily before apparently catching up with your question, head jerking to the side to look at the center of the blockade. Your eyes follow, there in the center resting around a group of parked cars are several civilians, all injured though none are severe.

A snake woman, the same one you saw outside the train is working at bandaging their wounds, her long tail resting around the group to form a protective barrier as she works with a clear look of consternation on her face. As you watch the blue bird that was flitting around the office buildings dives down, dropping another injured civilian into the group before taking off again.

You don't need further directions, you take off before Cowboy can say anything further. You run through the intersection until you reach the medical area, taking a flying leap over the snake tail before landing beside her, causing her to yelp in surprise.

"Who's the most injured?" You ask eyes darting from figure to figure.

"Schto?" She utters confused before shaking her head. "Yes! Yes, this one." She points a finger towards one on the far right, a red bandage is wrapped around his shoulder, the white linen already stained a deep red. A good chunk of his clothes are missing on his right side, accompanied by faint marks of acid burn.

You nod. Focus, there's work to do.

- - -

You step back with a sigh, breathing in deeply as the woman leans back against the cop car more comfortably. Your hand reaches up to wipe at the nonstop sweat at your forehead, the effort hampered by how wet your hands are already. It hasn't been more than three minutes, the battle still going without any pause in sight, and you've used your quirk more than you had in the week leading up to this.

The sound of crackling electricity is the first thing to get your attention since you started healing. A look towards the sound shows the boy from the train standing at the southern end of the barricade, standing on top of the bug that was annihilated by Cowboy. Arcs of electricity from the streetlights and wrecked cards shoot through the air and into his hands, leaving his hair wild and jagged, and sparks dancing along his body.

He throws his hand forward, lightning shooting out of it like the wrath of an angry god, crashing into the horde of aliens making their way down the boulevard towards the barricade. The electricity splits from one to the other, quickly spreading through the attacking force. Cheers erupt at the sight as the horde starts getting turned into little more than charcoal and burning refuse.

"Kros!" Another voice draws your attention away, with the sound of flapping wings the bird woman lands next to you. Her feathers are slightly singed around the edges and she has a lot of soot and dirt in her hair but her golden eyes are determined as she hops up and down on her clawed feet. "I found some civvies trapped in an elevator, how strong is your tail?"

The tail uncoils for the first time since you've gotten here, a good dozen feet or so pulling up. "Strong enough." 'Kros' answers.

"Good! Help me force it open!"

Before you can question them on their decision both go runni-... slithering and flying, off towards an office building further down the street to the west. Another student quickly follows the three insectoid appendages on his back launching him after them in an enormous leap.

Over to the west, you can see Cowboy pushing a gunline forward past the barricade, the guy with the energy gun standing back and drawing on a sketchpad as he sticks behind cover. To Cowboy's right is a woman in full armor, in a style harkening back the medieval ages. A car door is held in on hand, like a giant shield as she shoves back an alien for the police to shoot at.

Keeping behind is another man standing by a fire hydrant, besides it is a young woman pressing her hands against it. With a loud sound of tearing concrete, the fire hydrants snaps out of the ground, the woman throwing her hand forward to send it colliding with a charging bug further down the street. The man beside her raises his hand and the water from the fire hydrant bends through the air and starts shooting forward into the oncoming crowd, hitting with enough speed that you can see the carapace of the horde cracking.

"MOVE IT!" You turn towards a voice you haven't heard since that jet flew by. The street to the east is absolutely trashed. The asphalt is missing entire chunks and cars are left burning or buried in rubble. A good hundred yards down is the Dog-woman with several other students and civilians. To her right is a young man with a white mask on his face, with every jerky motion a copy of him appear further down the street, rushing into the aliens behind him. They match his movements one to one, but obviously don't bother the aliens, as they are quickly shattered in combat. They don't stop the aliens, but the distraction does manage to slow them down.

Another student is wearing a plague mask, her expression unknown to you as she produces blood-red potions from the inside of her long robes. Laying them in the path as they run towards the barricade.

Their progress is slowed by the civilians they are escorting, a small group of adults and children mixed between them.

The dog-woman is injured, one arm hanging limply at her side as blood runs down one side of her face. In her functioning hand is the better half of one of the aliens, still in her grip as she drags it along as she runs.

Focus.

- - -

What do you do?

[x] [Help Cowboy] The further the police move the barricade the more civilians you can potentially rescue, they are pushing forward but the harder they push the more injured they get. With your support they wouldn't need to worry about injury anywhere near as much.

[x] [Help Lightning-lad] He is carving swathes through the horde. While he isn't injured, at least not from first glance, he is insanely powerful, and your boosting effect, combined with that kind of power, could make a huge difference in this fight.

[x] [Help Doomwulf] She's injured and is leading a group of civilians towards the barricades. You can't see any obstacle between them and the barricades, and if you can make it over there to heal the basic injuries then you could speed them up.

[x] [Help Kros] If anyone in need of rescue was critically injured you could assist them immediately instead of taking the risk of them being carried back. Your main purpose here is to assist the wounded so it is worth seeking.

---

[x] [Help Doomwulf] She's injured and is leading a group of civilians towards the barricades. You can't see any obstacle between them and the barricades, and if you can make it over there to heal the basic injuries then you could speed them up.

- - -

You don't have time to debate your options, and only one needs your immediate help right now. You breath out, debating the merit of your choice as a stream of energy passes overhead to crash into one of the corner office buildings. They are being chased by a lot of the aliens.

… But they're injured.

"Watch the civilians!" You shout, sprinting past the barricade and the police stationed there. The bolts of energy intensify with every step you take. They whiz overhead, sounding like rockets and reeking of burnt rubber, and you almost gag when one sizzles past your head; the smell filling your nose. You try to balance careful step with fast movement, and are rewarded by the distance being quickly eaten away. While the road is covered in craters, they are easy to avoid, with very little loose rubble to trip on. The cars are mostly off towards the sides instead of burning in the street. This makes it far easier to move and run, but provides little in the way of cover.

This was a phenomenally stupid idea, but as you see the wounds on some of the civilians and heroes you know it is the right one.

The group is hobbling towards the barricade and they still have a ways to go, but now they're almost within range, and you can see them far more clearly. Deep breath, focus, and diagnose; the Dog-woman appears to be to be the only one injured beyond superficial lacerations and bruising. She also is the first one to notice your approach, waving you off with her good hand, the dead alien in her grip flying out to land onto the sidewalk. Before she was wearing thick white gloves, now both arms are bare, revealing sharp black nails glinting in the sunlight on the good hand, shattered and broken on the other.

"TURN BACK, IDIOT! THIS AREA IS NOT SAFE!" She shouts, her voice raspy and a little hoarse.

You ignore the warning and keep moving forward, at this point you are only two dozen feet away or so, they were so distracted by the swarm chasing them they didn't notice your approach.

"THE BIG ONE IS UND-" a loud rumbling drowns out even her voice, though what she was saying quickly becomes apparent as the asphalt beneath your feet begins to rise. You try to throw yourself away, but it is too late; the road ruptures, sending you falling as a huge monster bursts from the pavement. You tuck your head against your chin as you fall, but you're still sent sprawling almost to the sidewalk. You're already pumping yourself with your healing, even as you land, but you can't afford to focus on it. You shakily get to your feet, and get ready to face… the… Monster...

This one is bigger than the one that cowboy killed, a lot bigger, and it rips its way from the ground as if the asphalt were little more than styrofoam. As it climbs up (and up and up) from the hole, it's full size is revealed; easily a dozen feet long, and half as wide, and it's staring right at Dog-woman and her group.

Dog-woman come to life, shouting orders at a rapid pace. Her good hand closing into a fist as she walks forwards towards the monster.

"Holograms, keep the swarms busy and get the civilians clear." The masked man needs no further encouragement as he starts guiding the civilians to the sidewalk. When they are clear the while the dog-woman take a deep breath…

And howls!

The noise seems to reverberate in your chest and fill your head, and the alien snaps it's attention to her; two large green eyes focussing on her as the civilians are moved out of the way. The swarm of aliens are still moving, but the glass statues seem to distract them well enough, and they're still far away. If you can sort this out quickly, you can still get away.

"Young man!" The one with the plague mask shouts out, before reaching into her robes and producing a large vial of red liquid. "Use it on the beastie!" Her voice through the mask is muffled, but has a heavy french accent. She gently deposits the vial onto the sidewalk before going running after the civilians.

Leaving just you on one side of the street, a giant alien and the dogwoman in the middle, and the vial on the other side… how did you get in this mess again? The dogwoman grasps her limp arm and glares up at the beast, fangs bared as she dares it to come at her.

… Right; that's why; you make poor life choices.

You pull yourself out of the rubble of the street as the beast goes barreling past, head bowed low in an attempt to gore Dog-woman on its spiky head. The ground shakes with its movement, and bits of rubble and road fly off of it as it charges forward. The last of the civilians dives out of the way as it goes past, attention fully on the dogwoman.

She crouches a little lower, knees bending and ankles flexing forward, but not moving, even as the monster barrels closer. Closer. Closer! At the last moment, she moves, leaping upwards and slashing downwards with her claws as the beast passes. You can barely see her claws make contact, tearing through the beast's carapace, before it reacts; its head bucks upwards, clipping her legs. The hit sends her tumbling through the air with a cry of pain.

The alien goes further down the street in its charge, the momentum carrying it forward long past the dogwoman's leap. She lands face first into the asphalt with a loud smack, a deep groan coming from her as slumps the rest of the way to the ground.

You're moving in an instant, sprinting forward and diving to a step next to the prone woman. Focus. The hit tore up her leg, but it's all superficial, she's got worse stuff to deal with. Severe abrasions over hands, lower arms, and face. Right shoulder, anterior dislocation with several lacerations across. Several clear cuts on the torso where she was clawed at by other aliens at some point.

You flip her over, eyes are bleary, dilated; possible concussion. You place one hand on her forehead and the other on her dislocated shoulder. "This may hurt slightly."

The only response you get is a groan and the roar of the beast behind you.

You push the shoulder upwards, evoking a sharp hiss of pain that is quickly dulled by your quirk taking effect. The joints aligning the rest of the way and popping back into position, a glenohumeral dislocation normally requires surgery, and it takes an effort to fix up. If she could just stop shaking then it might be easier. The fogginess clears from her eyes and her pupils shrink as the abrasions clear from her face, the reddened and bleeding skin closing itself as she focuses on you.

"I… wha-"

She starts to push herself upwards but you force her head back down. "Don't move, I heal by touch." You can't fix the claws, they're too far outside standard human biology, so you don't bother. Her hand, however, is pretty torn up around them, so you quickly repair tha-oof!

She is torn from your grip, and you briefly feel the sensation of flight before you land on the sidewalk, the beast barreling past and narrowly missing you. You steady yourself on your feet and look up at your patient, standing on the opposite sidewalk. She rolls her newly heal shoulder, and stretches out. "What's your name?" She asks, not turning towards you.

"Dylan." You answer simply.

Her mouth curls up in a smirk, and she starts walking back into the street. "Well, thank you Dylan, could you get the potion while I keep it distracted?" She asks, her voice remarkably calm compared to the shouting you've heard from her earlier.

As if on cue the the beast rears back around, the scything claws it calls feet scraping against the ground as if to mimic a bull about to charge. In response Doomwulf lowers herself to the ground, both ankles bent, one hand back while the other is placed on the ground in front of her. Claws digging into the asphalt as she growls, her lips pulling back to display more of her teeth.

"I AM DOOMWULF," she shouts at the monster, "AND AS LONG AS DOOMWULF STANDS, YOU SHALL NOT HARM AN INNOCENT!"

With that cry she launches forwards, both hands rearing back to stab at the beast even as it charges forward in response. You take the time to act, sprinting across the street and diving for the potion. You grab it, looking at the contents briefly before turning back towards the battl-

"LOOK OUT!" Doomwulfs voice shouts, and that is the only warning you get before the back legs of the beast slam into you. Everything goes red and white, your vision lost as you feel yourself flying forward before colliding with something solid. Everything going black moments after.

- - -

You let out a gasp, eyes snapping open as you regain consciousness. The first thing you can see is red, red covers your arms and hands. This isn't the blood of the people you were working on, this is wet and fresh. One of your legs is bent at an unnatural angle, while every shuddered breath whistles.

Bro-... broken tibia, compound fracture. Focus. Pneumothorax, difficulty breathing, blood filling lungs.

Your eyes water as the shock wears off and the pain kicks in, every slight shift of your body moves the broken rib, the bone currently puncturing your left lung.

You're going to die.

You raise up a hand and place it on your chest, your fingers digging into the shirt before you feel your grip wane, the taste of iron filling your mouth as it starts to slump to the side.

A hand grabs it and places it back onto your chest. "Come on band-aid, we're gonna need you!"

Your eyes dart up to look at the stern looking face of Doomwulf. One hand holding yours to your chest while the other still has the claws extended, green ichor dripping off of them onto the pavement. With a delightful rush of endorphins, you feel the pain fading away. You feel your rib re-attach, and you spit out the blood that was left behind.

There's the roar against further down the street towards where Doomwulf and her group where coming from. A good block or so down is the beast, one of its forelegs missing as it scrambles to regain a position to charge from.

"Did you get the potion?" Doomwulf asks, arresting your attention back to her and your healing.

Your head jerks around, a deep shuddering breath filling you as your rib extracts itself from your lung. There, sitting just behind you from where you slammed into the wall, is the potion, the glass scratched but unbroken. With your free hand, you reach down and grab it, pulling it onto your lap before offering it to her.

She grabs it, looking at its contents curiously a moment before grinning. "Good work." When she isn't shouting she sounds almost normal, and her accent speaks of a southerner. "Good thing you didn't break it, these things are nasty."

As if to punctuate the statement a series of loud explosions rocks the ground, tall raging fireballs like napalm rising inside the alien swarm. Screeches and screams fill the air as a large fire fills the road behind the beast. It roars in defiance, stumbling forward, it's stump of a foreleg dragging against the ground as it gains speed.

With a flick of her wrist, she changes her grip on the bottle. Rearing back she lets out a bark and tosses it forward, the bottle spinning through the air before shattering on the beasts carapace. It's scythe-legs dig into the ground as it grinds to a stop. Green eyes staring at the two of you, unblinking and unshifting.

Then you start to hear snapping sounds as it lets out a pained shriek. It's legs and body folding into itself. Green ichor splashes across the street as it desperately struggles… briefly. It stops in moments, and then keeps folding. Every crunch, every fold, sounds wetter than the last, until all that remains is a green clump of chitin and… ooze. It's barely the size of a beach ball.

...

"Just… what exactly was in that vial?" You ask carefully.

"Doomwulf does not wish to know," she answers, a look of disgust flitting across her face before she looks back down at you. "Has your leg healed?"

You glance down and stretch the limb experimentally, no pain and full motion. "Yes."

Her rough hand grabs you by the front of your shredded shirt and drags you upwards onto your feet, your balance unsteady for a moment before you right yourself.

"Doomwulf suggests we begin running now." She announces, pointing down the street and you look to where she is pointing. The fire is dieing, revealing hundreds of the bugs pushing past. Knocking their charred brethren out of the way as they scuttle down the street towards you and the barricade.

Before you can agree with her assessment she grabs you by the shoulder, violently tugging you forward as she goes sprinting down the street at roughly twice the speed you can run on a good day.

...When you are pumped full of Adrenaline and have a tailwind.

The barricade has become more desperate since you left, Cowboy and the others have been pushed back while the military has lost control of the park. Allowing more aliens and beasts to come in from the north.

You are roughly deposited back in the center of the barricade while the police open fire behind you onto the road you just came from. Other heroes joining in to lay down a barrage on the neverending alien hoard. You are grabbed almost immediately, a rather desperate looking Kros shaking you.

"Alliluyya! You have returned, come quick!" Her voice is panicked, and her Russian accent thicker than ever as she leads you towards the injured civilians. There are more than there were last time, much more.

Right. Focus.

- - -

"Keep her head still!" You shout over the noise, the gunfire and rippling energy only getting closer and louder as the battle gets more desperate.

Kros presses the woman's head down against the asphalt while laying her tail across her chest to keep her from shifting. Laceration of the throat down to the trachea, your fingers are stained red as you place your hands on either side of her neck, the wound sealing itself as she ceases to struggle.

You pull back a moment later, the woman having fallen blissfully unconscious. The respite is short lived, as soon as you fix one you find another placed in front of you by the bird-woman, you've been too busy to get her name. The patient, male, teenager. You clinically note him as being one of your fellow students; a young black man in what looks like a modified postman's uniform.

Focus.

Traumatic amputation of the left foot, already cauterized, most likely due to the source of the wound. No other apparent injuries. You can't regrow the foo, but you can clean the wound and prevent further damage, with a deep breath you lean forward and get to work as the sun begins to set.

… Wait a minute.

You keep your grip on the foot as you look upwards, several loud gasps and a lull of the gunfire following as you all stare up at the alien ship looming overhead. You can hear the aliens running away, but you know it's not a good thing. A tingling sensation covers your body and your hair stands on end as the underside of the ship begins to glow green.

Then all at once, there is a bright flash, a bolt of energy rocketing down from the ship towards the center of the barricade. Everything seems to slow down as you watch it fall. You can't move, you can't run, there's no point really, you're not fast enough. Arcs of energy shoot out of it as it falls down towards you and everyone else. The world gets slower and slower as it gets closer, and you're powerless to move. You can only stare as it… stops completely. It sits above your heads, unmoving, streams of deadly power flying away from it and bending in the air, all towards the same spot.

The kid from the train; he's still standing on top of the bug, every stream rushing into him, his hair sparks wildly, like a mane of pure power. His arms shake violently and you can see smoke beginning to rise from his hands. His teeth are grit so hard you see traces of blood running from his mouth.

"AAAGGGGHHHH!" He shoves the air and the lightning obeys, jumping into the park where it detonates. You're sure that, if you looked, you'd see an empty crater where it landed, but you can't bring yourself to look away. Nobody can, and silence settles over the camp for a few seconds anything for a few seconds. The aliens aren't attacking, and for a brief few seconds, nobody moves.

The first one to break that silence is the kid. He groans, before slumping forward, tumbling off of the bug to land on the street below. His arms spasming and residual sparks of green energy shooting out of them. You rush over to check on him when you feel your hair start to stand on end again. The underside of the ship begins to glow again, much brighter this time. A quick look confirms your fears; the kid is out cold. The twitches are being caused by residual current, not him, and you don't think anyone can repeat his performance. You can see the light grow stronger as the attack is launched.

You throw yourself over the kid, and everything disappears in a flash of white.

- - -

"Welcome back students." The voice of Embla fills your ears and your eyes snap open. You are hunched over, knees dug into the spongy floor as you lean over a person that no longer exists. Your entire body hurts and you can feel a sharp headache that you didn't quite notice before.

Your hands reach up and rip off the goggles, tossing them onto the floor as you feel sick to your stomach.

"Please step out of the testing chamber at your earliest convenience." Her voice speaks up again before allowing the chamber to fall back into silence. It smells of smoke, blood, that familiar ichor of the alien. Though now much more muted.

You have to fight down the urge to retch as your body attempts to process the sudden change in environment and the sudden amount of adrenaline you no longer need. You place a shaking hand to your temple to ward off the headache.

That…

Just fuck all of that.

- - -

You step out in the main room again, the students are all filing in, some looking sicker than others. Most you recognize from the simulation at this point, Doomwulf, the bird girl and snake girl, holograms, that woman with the insane potions.

None look particularly healthy at the moment, all looking as tired and as bedraggled as you feel currently. You wait for the rest to file in before realising there are far less in general… roughly twenty, maybe a little less.

"Welcome back, students!"

You look up at the source of the sound. Aja is back, apparently having snuck up to her podium when you weren't paying attention. Though you are having a hard time paying attention to anything at the moment, no matter how much you try to heal it you can't seem to get rid of this headache… nor stop this twitching in your hands. She looks over all of you with a wide smile.

"You all did well," she tells you, "rest assured, we were watching everything." You hear a faint snore and glance to the side to see one of the students has fallen asleep standing up. The guy with white hair with the energy weapons from earlier. A pad and pencil hangs limply from his hands as he hangs his head down.

"You may notice there are far less of you now than those that entered originally." An awkward silence fills the room as most of you process that information. More importantly, they try to figure out what it means. Was this the room for the failed students? What were they testing? Every ear is tuned to her words.

"Snoooort… Zzzzzzzz…" almost every ear.

"If you are standing in this room you have been officially accepted into the university."

At that there are several loud cheers, a few of the students having apparently found their energy again at that announcement.

"You have all done well, and we are pleased to accept you to our institution. Your dorms are prepared and we shall have our faculty guide you there. But first we have one more announcement."

The lights dim and the dome goes completely black, you all looking up as a soft chime plays from above your heads. "It is time to assign you your partners."

Right, this one you actually know about, mostly because almost every school does it. In an effort to promote teamwork and to allow more natural power growth and training students are assigned a partner they will work with throughout the entirety of their education. It's such a fundamental part of the heroic education system that many partners will still work together even after beginning their careers. You will be helping each other on assignments and training together. Nothing too extreme, just a way to get students used to-...

"Partners will cooperate in all things; You shall share a dorm together, and if you cannot work with your partner you cannot work within this school."

...Nevermind then.

"Now then, if our lovely R&D staff would take over?"

A small light shines down from the ceiling to reveal Embla standing on a podium of her own. Her 'hands' tapping at a display you cannot see in front of her. As she does so the dome lights up a brilliant blue for a moment before two golden boxes appear side by side.

"We have compared student abilities, compatibility, emotional stability, and other variables." She looks up from the podium. "Once you are paired you shall be guided out by a member of our faculty to your dorms and shown the facilities therein."

She stares at you all a moment before speaking again.

"That is all."

She taps another bottom and the screens come to life, displaying a portrait on the left. The pirate themed hero from before, white lettering underneath naming him as 'Captain Jonesby'. A few moments later the panel on the right fills up. Biceps… or rather 'Strongman.'

Jonesby lets out a cheer before wrapping his arm around Strongman's shoulder. "We made it man!" They are both lead out by a teacher soon afterwards, a tall man in a fancy suit. Slicked back blair hair and a rose in the breast pocket. As he turns around to lead both of the students on you realize his suit has tails. That hasn't been a thing in three hundred years.

The next few partnerships are mostly the same, the sleeping student next to you; 'blueprint' and the postman, who thankfully has grown his foot back; 'delivery'. The man with the paintball gun 'Paintball'... incredibly imaginative, and the woman in armor you saw beating aliens with a car door. 'Cavalier.'

The names go on and on until eventually your portrait pops up. Your hero name underneath for all the room to see as you suddenly feel a pit in the bottom of your stomach. The box next to yours blank as time seems to slow down. There's still plenty of students left… who are they going to assign to be your partner?

- - -

Vote for your partner, this decision is final. You will be living with this person the entirety of your stay here.

[Cowboy - (Hero name - Ranger)]

[Doomwulf]

[Kros - (Hero name - Kroschnyy)]

[Lightning-boy - (Hero name - Astrapios)]

---

[Dylan's Hero-name] - Writein

 

[Erien]

[X] [Doomwulf]
[X] [Dylan's Hero-name] - Gauze

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

- - -

Your portrait pops up, the same one you sent to the school along with your paperwork… it's admittedly one of the few that is particularly professional. There's a long moment before the other lights up, another familiar pit in your stomach as you wait to see which student you will be partnered with for the next several years.

The moment lasts forever, an nearly eternal second, but your partner does appear:

Doomwulf, the girl you assisted during the initiation. Given who you worked with you had figured it would be her, Kros, or the pirate guy. If they were judging by who you worked the most with anyway. She's certainly… dynamic, but she's strong, you saw that quite clearly. You don't exactly have much in the strength department so she can shore you up there while you focus on your own abilities. If they even expect you to be doing a lot of combat anyway, you've picked your courses, and going into this it is going to be mostly General Education for awhile. Though at least you were allowed to pick from some more interesting courses as well.

Your mental rambling is interrupted by a hand clapping you on a shoulder, a familiar white glove attached to a grinning Doomwulf, her tail wagging slowly as she smiles as you. "Doomwulf thanks you for the assistance in the trial, Doomwulf believes we shall make a good team!" she booms.

You nod, smiling awkwardly… the third person talking is going to take a bit getting used to.

"Ms. Clarkson? Mr. Evans?" A soft female voice speaks up causing you both to look towards the speaker… the voice does not match the body. Or rather the lack of one, a golden butterfly about the size of your fist flaps its wings as it hovers in the air in front of you both. By golden you mean golden; it shimmers with a yellow light to the point of being bioluminescent, small motes of light flaking off to dissipate in the air.

"That is us." Doomwulf answers for you.

The butterfly flaps its wings a bit more rapidly briefly before returning to normal flight. "Wonderful!" It's voice comes from no mouth, but from her general area itself. Her voice is light like a wind-chime and has the faintest hint of an accent you can't quite place. It spins on the spot, wings flapping as it moves through the crowd, "if you would just follow me I shall lead you to your dorms."

As it moves you can see the shadow underneath 'her' cast by the lightning does not match the outline. Instead of a butterfly her shadow is that of a woman in what appears to be a frilly ball gown of sorts, it is hard to make up the outline but it is definitely old fashioned. You can see her arms as she 'walks', the shadow keeping pace with the butterfly yet… this quirk is an odd one to say the least.

You follow her through the crowd and out the front entrance back out into the main plaza of the Hero Complex.

"The dorms are between the Hero Complex and the R&D areas for practicality," the butterfly explains as you walk. "Once you are there and have been given your tour you are free to relax the rest of the day until the evening. Are either of you feeling particular side effects from the initiation that I should be made aware of? Headaches, nauseousness, sense of soul drain or your humours being misaligned?"

… You know you never really looked up Humorism, then again in the time it was made you would be hanged for being a witch so what's the point really. "I'm fine," you reply before glancing over at Doomwulf. The girl has her hands in her pockets, the white gloves and her hands out of sight as she looks around the campus curiously as you walk. It seemingly takes a moment before she realises she was asked a question.

"Doomwulf is fine." She utters, focusing her attention back to the golden butterfly.

"Good, good! Now come, right this way." a nearby panel of the wall moves, and reveals an elevator, which the butterfly flitters through.

- - -

You follow her out of the Hero Complex and down the same path you walked down earlier. There are plenty of buildings around the campus in general, most branching off from this main walkway, though the only one you wandered into was R&D… because you went around the school in the round direction.

"Over on our left is the faculty office. This is where you shall be going if you need to do any legal work, otherwise it shall be your least visited building on campus." You look over down the jutting path to see a small grouping of office buildings spread around a small plaza. It's sequestered though still visible through the trees that dot this entire campus.

"Weren't the office buildings in the complex for that?" It seemed strange to have two buildings by the same name.

The butterfly does a twirl through the air, "those are the office buildings specifically for the Hero Course and complex, these are more generalized office buildings. The R&D, Business, and Sports sections have their own as well."

Right, the sport section. That may be what that domed building with the banners you saw earlier was. You only have a passive interest in baseball, but football always interested you, though your actual power didn't actually lead to much use in the sport itself so you never had a chance for the highschool leagues. You could of course heal or enhance injured players, but they would have to put you on the active roster for that, a tradeoff no coach you ever found was willing to deal with. Beyond your healing you are basically a normal human, so not a lot of help when there is a tank with a football running for the redzone.

"Now if you look just ahead to your right you will see the dorms! These service all students on campus."

You and Doomwulf both look over to the right, the path cuts partially into the woods before stopping at a gate leading to another complex, one you didn't pay attention to earlier. The gate is the same kind used at the Hero Complex, and you watch it slide open as two other students step through it along with another teacher. The teacher is… a bad scifi movie. Tall, with slicked back black hair that shines even at this distance, he's wearing a black leather trench coat that can be in no way comfortable in the summer heat. He's also wearing a pair of black sunglasses with no divider in the middle, the glass covering both his eyes and upper face.

With a wave of his hand he leads the students through, the armored woman you saw beating aliens to death with a car door earlier and the man with a paintball gun and bad name go through the gate.

Beyond it is what appears to be a small town, tall white buildings are spread around a large central plaza. A reoccuring theme you are finding so far, but unlike the office buildings these at least have some semblance of style. Rounded instead of square, each building takes up a corner of the plaza, there are four 'sides' of each tower, each allowing a balcony as it seems every floor is either it's own room, or four broke into fourths. On the balconies are chairs and other amenities, so most likely extensions of the dorm rooms proper.

The plaza proper is mostly a park with a fountain in the center, the pathways are brick with tables dotted throughout to serve as meeting and eating areas, while the between the four towers are various smaller buildings. At least some serving food from the appearance, you're hungrier than expected with how much you 'used' your quirk so far today.

You walk forward and the gate opens for you as well once the butterfly gets next to it.

"Heroes in training are roomed in tower C."

You glance between them, each tower is marked on the side by large black lettering, which would make C… the one in the back left corner, towards the forest.

"Doomwulf was told these were two person rooms correct?"

The butterfly bobs through the air. "Indeed, it was believed such accommodations would allow for faster bonding between partners. Every branch of our school works on such a system whether they be Heroes, Research and Development, or Business."

Doomwulf nods, looking up at the tower curiously.

"Oh!" The butterflies voice raises in pitch as she stops flapping her wings for a moment, falling briefly before getting back up to speed again. "I was so caught up in the excitement that I forgot, I am 'The Morrigan', Professor of Hero History and Heroic Application, along with some more advanced courses you shall not worry about until later in the year. It is, once again, a pleasure to meet you both!"

Well at least the magic butterfly is friendly... That is not a sentence you expected to ever say.

She leads you through the small park area and towards dorm C, the automatic glass doors sliding automatically open as you approach to reveal a small lobby. An elevator sits in the center of the room while off to the right is a desk with a clerk behind it. Surprisingly the place is also guarded, not just by security cameras but by an actual pair of guards as well. Two older gentlemen each dressed up the familiar getup of campus security stand near the back, one leaning against the wall while the other stands near perfectly still.

The first actual security you've seen since you entered come to think of it, besides the locked gates that is.

"Your rooms are on floor eleven I believe, please just wait here a moment while I get your room keys."

Morrigan flies over to the counter and begins speaking with the clerk, the shadow shifting to reveal the figure leaning over the desk, one foot lifting into the air as she seeks balance… you aren't quite sure how that works.

"Our history teacher is interesting." Doomwulf says quietly, looking around the lobby with what looks to be curiosity.

"This whole school is so far, I'm not entirely sure if it's good…. To be honest I'm still kind of shocked they let me in to begin with."

Doomwulf ceases looking around to focus on you, her blue and gold eyes glinting softly in the incandescent lighting. "The ability to heal is a rare gift, Doomwulf is not surprised, though perhaps you should work on your combat abilities, were Doomwulf not there things would have gone poorly for you."

"I don't think things were going particularly well for you either," you reply, not enjoying remembering your broken ribs. "It would have been worse had you walked straight into that thing."

She shakes her head. "You misunderstand what Doomwulf is saying! Your abilities served Doomwulf just as it served others, yet you lack in combat abilities. Thus, by all accounts you being partnered with Doomwulf is logical." She raises a hand and removed the glove, black, razor sharp, claws glinting in the light. "Doomwulf has no gift to saving lives beyond combat, of which there are few better than Doomwulf, therefore having a partner on the other spectrum makes pure logical sense."

Well, you suppose that does make some degree of sense, though it still doesn't answer why you got accepted to this school. If it is purely due to the rarity of your quirk you suppose you could live with that, even if it makes you feel like you haven't truly earned it.

Your self musings are interrupted by a sudden butterfly in your vision.

"Your personal cards have been updated!" she chirps, "You can use it on the sensor to use the elevator and access your dorm room."

You fish the card out of your pocket, the semi transparent blue rectangle glowing golden around the edges a moment before returning back to normal. It's changed a bit as well since you last looked at it… frankly you are surprised with how thin it is that it survived the test with how much you must have been moving around. It displays your picture in the top right corner along with the time, while several little apps fill the screen, including a map and a general directory. You doubt it is going to be replacing your phone anytime soon but it is definitely a nice thing to have.

"If you could just follow me right this way?" the butterfly makes a dipping curve to the left You will be on the eleventh floor in room two."

- - -

You step out of the elevator onto the aforementioned floor. It's a square room with a door on each wall, next to each is a small card sensor and a number plaque. In the corners are small potted plants and… not much else really.

A relatively spartan design all things considered, something you hope that doesn't carry over to the dorm rooms proper. Morrigan 'walks' through the room towards the room marked two, the door sliding open automatically as she approaches it. So... what? Does the butterfly have automatic access, or does she have a magical butterfly card that you can't quite see because you haven't been a good boy lately? How does this door work?!

While you are growing steadily more confused by your history teacher, the door opens to reveal a short hallway that quickly turns to the right, faint natural light bouncing off of the wall from further inside. Morrigan pulls out of the way and Doomwulf steps forward and through, you following after moments later. You round the corner and it's… nice. Hardwood floors leading into a carpeted central living area. A sofa and a table sit before an entertainment set built into the wall. The wall has a large window and the balcony overlooks the forest.to the left are three doors, while beyond them is a small open space that holds the kitchen.

"Our dorm rooms are state of the art facilities specifically designed with the needs of our students in mind." Morrigan begins to explain, the butterfly moving into the main living area as you and Doomwulf both look around. "You have two bedrooms and one bathroom. The bedrooms are not assigned so please discuss amongst yourselves which you would prefer to use. The kitchen is stocked with basic necessities and tools."

You hear a creak of springs and watch as the butterfly hovers over the couch, the television flicking on moments later to display the weather. "You also have full television and universal wi-fi, go to channel four to recieve school news and information."

You open the door to one of the bedrooms and glance inside, a decently sized bed sits against the wall, a flat panel monitor display built into the wall just above it. Next to it is a simple wooden nightstand while against the opposite wall is a dresser and floor mirror.

Enough to be comfortable to start with and enough room to customize and decorate, you suppose. You pull back out to see Doomwulf looking into the bathroom, her tail wagging as she sticks her head into the middle room.

A glance inside shows why, an expansive shower/bath, easily twice the size of the one in your house is the centerpiece of a sleek and clean bathing room. A large sink with plenty of cabinet space sits with the rest of the general bathroom standards. It should be enough space for you both to keep your own little sections easily enough.

"I shall be returning later on this evening to give you the general tour of the campus, in the meantime I would suggest you rest up and get to know each other." The butterfly moves from its position of floating above the couch before slowly making its way over to the hallway. "If you are feeling peckish after training we have water and healthy snacks already stocked in the kitchen, otherwise we shall be having dinner in the cafeteria tonight after the tour is over."

You watch the shadow silhouette make a theatrical bow, one hand at her breast while the other is flung to the side. The butterfly doesn't match the movements at all. "Please do relax, your trials are over for now."

With that it...she flies the rest of the way down the hallway and around the corner out of sight.

With the sound of the door sliding open then closed again it leaves you in a slightly awkward silence. Doomwulf is wandering about the dorm room, poking her head into the different rooms curiously. As far as you can see both dorm rooms are identical so it is just personal preference there. The entertainment system thankfully has a charger with it so you should be able to call your parents in just a bit. You just hope Doomwulf will be… easy to get to know, you expect a lot of loud third person shouting and generally over-the-top hammine-

"Oh lordy today was exhausting wasn't it?" Doomwulf steps out of the kitchen, arms stretching above her head before she allows them to fall to her sides as she turns to look at you. The first thing you notice different is both of her eyes are blue instead of the heterochromatic pigmentation she had earlier. The second is she just seems far more relaxed, her ears droop slightly and her tail hangs limply behind her, the appengage long enough to almost touch the floor as she walks into the living area and slumps on the couch. Her accent is now there in full force as well, southern Georgian from the sound of things, one of the few places in Georgia left with a recognizable accent.

"It was," you set your phone next to the wireless charger built into the entertainment center and turn to face her, giving her a suspicious look, "but luckily the injuries were fake."

She grimaces, "tell me 'bout it." She pulls the gloves off both of her hands and sets them down onto the couch. She flexes her fingers experimentally, rubbing at the joints as the small claws glint in the light. They were noticeably longer in the simulation. "It takes awhile to regrow these things, so nice that was simulated at least. I'm just hopin' the tour is over quickly so ah can relax. Ya mind if ah call first dibs on the shower?"

You blink, well this is a… personality change. "Yeah, yeah go ahead."

Doomwulf grins and hops off the couch, leaving her gloves there as she walks past you and into the bathroom. A short time later you can hear the overhead exhaust fan kick on and the sounds of running water.

That's one thing you are looking forward to at least, there isn't a bathtub in your entire house. Turning away from that you return to your phone, it's charging slowly but you should still be able to call your parents without breaking the wireless charging. A swipe of your hand powers on the device and it is at the home screen in moments, with another tap of your finger you are dialing the house.

It rings… once, before you hear it answered. There's a cacaphony of things being knocked over in the background and you can hear the phone being knocked around a bit. You lean against the wall patiently until your father's voice comes over the line. "Dylan?"

You grin. "No. I stole his phone and am currently holding your son hostage, if you don't send his luggage you shall never see him again."

You hear a happy shout in the background and the clapping of feet on floor. "You made it in?!" Your mother's happy voice cuts over the line.

"So they tell me," you walk over to sit on the couch as you talk. "Weren't you the one going nuts about me having to stay here anyway? You seemed fairly sure I was going to make it in."

"How'd you do in the exams?" Your father cuts in before your mother can respond.

"Well enough to get in, I don't know if they really want me talking about them though. I'm fine and have already been assigned a partner and a dorm room."

"Did you get hurt?" Your mother asks, the apparent tussle for the phone is apparently still ongoing in the background going by the noise, why they don't just switch it to speaker phone is beyond you.

"Nothing that my quirk couldn't fix, right now I'm just relaxing until they take us on a tour of the campus later."

You hear the tussling stop for a moment and hear the phone clink as it is set down on something, a moment later you hear the springs of the old couch before dad speaks up again. "As long as everything is alright, you know your mother was worried sick about you. Who's your partner?"

You glance towards the door to the bathroom, "an interesting person, goes by Doomwulf; A strong fighter, too, based on the exams." You are being very careful not to mention her gender, less you open a whole new can of worms.

"Well as long as you are okay," your mother says after a moment. "We'll see how the school wants us to handle your luggage, just remember to call us?"

"Of course I will," you say earnestly, a smile on your face, "So, they cover living space here. Do you think they'll give me an allowance too?"

- - -

You set the phone down with a sigh, mom's always find a way to keep a conversation running quite a bit longer than they possible should. But you suppose you can't begrudge her that, and you'll probably be doing the same for your baby brother when he finally gets to this age… though his quirk hasn't shown up yet.

The water stopped running a few minutes ago, but you haven't seen any sign of Doomwulf. So there is a dangerously high chance she drowned. Turning away from that possible disaster… and the noted smell of wet dog wafting through the door you reach for the remote and turn on the television.

It pulls up to show an interactive display with four options, a map, the weather, ongoing activities on the campus, and regular television. It's the same thing you have on the little electronic card they gave you, barring the television signal. Switching to that pulls up the local news and the regular stations, about the same you had at the house unsurprisingly, you are about to pick something particularly brain melting when the door to the bathroom opens.

She steps out in the same getup she entered in, though her hair is now notably flatter. The black and white highlights less dramatic without her usual hairstyle being in place, though the ends are already starting to curl back up again. "Thanks for allowin' me to take the first shower. It's yours if ya want it."

You shake your head. "I'm good for now, was planning on just relaxing until it was time for the tour."

She shrugs her shoulders before walking over to plop herself onto the couch. She nearly melts into it, falling into the cushions with a deep sigh, her tail swinging around to rest in her lap as she stares at the television.

"Good shower I take it?"

She nods, pulling herself up to look at you. "Much bigger than the one back home, home didn' have a bath neither."

"Small town? I noticed you got a bit of an accent; never heard one that gets louder the more people are listening."

She grins. "The mighty Doomwulf's accent is that of power itself." She slips on her gloves and walks over to you, offering a hand to shake. "But Stephanie Clarkson is from Valdosta, or near it whereabouts." You accept it, her grip is quite strong as she rackets your arm up and done.

"Nice to know." Your voice warbles from the shaking of your arm, "my name's Dylan Evans. Same accent for both names." She drops your hand and tosses the gloves back onto the couch.

"Doomwulf is my hero persona, ah'm not a particularly boisterous person normally so ah adopt that personality when ah let all ma' powers out. They make me more aggressive anyway."

She slaps a closed fist into her palm. "Oh, yeah, that reminds me. My quirk is Wolfwoman, my abilities are the enhanced senses of the wolf; sight, scent, and hearing. I also have enhanced strength…" She bends an arm in the classic muscle man pose, "though you saw that already. Got claws too, they extend when I need them but are rather fragile so I keep them in gloves, that and I don't want to accidentally cut things."

So… something she puts on then, at least you won't have to deal with sleep shouting like you had originally feared, "If I can ask; why, exactly"

"Ah feel it helps keep me focused," she says before plopping back down onto the opposite couch. "Doomwulf isn't really another half of me, though ah do feel remarkably more aggressive when I go into full wolf."

"Is that when your eyes go heterochromatic?"

She nods. "Claws grow longer and ah get even stronger, though does get'a bit hard to think at times. As ah mentioned if ya are to be my partner ya should perhaps seek out some regular combat training, ah have signed up for the general field hero course so ah can expect to be sent into zones of active crisis."

She lifts up a gloved hand, wiggling her fingers. "While ah can do search and rescue work I am far more suited to using my claws. But ah do believe with our respective power sets we should make a good team."

"Fair enough, after getting manhandled I was planning on making a few updates to my hero costume design anyway. Maybe a helmet and some padding."

"Couldn't hurt," she agrees, "whatcha focusin' on course wise anyways?"

"Oh, I was thinking…"

- - -

Choose which subjects you are most interested in.

[S&R, to help the people who need it most. - Possible Field Work]

[R&D, to learn the ins and outs of your quirk to help people better. - Possible Quirk Enhancement]

[General Hero Work, to fight crime and save lives - Possible Internships]

[You aren't fully sure yet - You match Doomwulf's choices for now, can shift later]

---

[X] [R&D, to learn the ins and outs of your quirk to help people better. - Possible Quirk Enhancement]

By the power of science! Thanks to Armoury for the beta.

Sorry for the delay, life kicked my ass this week. There will be two updates this week instead of one.

- - -

"I think I'm going to be focusing on R&D… at least for now. I still need to learn about my quirk, and this is my first real chance. The quirk development courses in high-school couldn't really test it properly, but the ASH is famous for its R&D." You look down at your hands, flexing the fingers experimentally. "I would like to see how far I could take it, and I need to learn how to heal more than just humans. I couldn't heal your claws for instance… which, by the way, are decidedly not wolf-like."

You look up over at Stephanie, the wolf woman staring back before looking down at her hands. "So it only works on humans?"

You pause as the realization hits you. "I haven't actually fully explained my quirk, have I?" You take a second to try and think of a way to explain it, "I can heal people by touch and regenerate from a distance, with the effect tapering off the farther I am away from the person I am focusing on. It only works on things I biologically understand… you'll figure out what I mean by that once my parents send my books over, but generally, it only works on humans at the moment because I understand them most."

You shrug non-committedly. "At least on a broad level, I could probably heal a rabbit if it cut its skin, but stuff like your claws? The structure and systems involved are too different to be fixed by the same actions."

"So ya brain is full ah medical nerd stuff so ya can work ya quirk better."

"That would be the long and short of it, yes. I'll probably be studying for a long time to come, so R&D is a good fit. At least for now anyway."

"Does it do anythin' else?" She asks, her focus fully pulled away from the television to focus on you. "Ah noticed when ya healed me my claws got a bit longer, maybe a little stronger as well."

You nod. "That's another part of my quirk, I can slightly boost the quirks of others… I don't have any hard and fast numbers for it, ten percent maybe. But it is by far the aspect of my quirk I know the least about."

"So like a buff in a game." Doomwulf compares simply.

"I…that's... yeah. that's a good way to put it I suppose, though it only seems to work by touch, unlike healing which I can do from a distance. I can't control when it happens either, though the effect itself is only temporary." You explain, with her nodding along.

"Any limitations on biology for that one?" She asks with what seems to be genuine curiosity.

"Not that I've noticed, though I haven't had a ton of test subjects lining up either… either for that or healing. In the simulation, I just kinda slipped away into my knowledge from studies and went to work." You aren't particularly proud of that either, you could have been more effective if you had actually had experience in it. It was all academic.

She smiles broadly. "Ah got an overpowered partner, things are looking good for Doomwulf."

"Overpowered is a… strong word." You reply slowly, you've never thought of your ability as overpowered at all, to be honest. It's definitely rare, but at the end of the day you are just a supplement.

"It's the right word," she insists "every DPS needs a healbot."

"I would much prefer a tank to be honest, but either way… you are going straight into general hero work?"

"Ah am, always wanted to be a hero growin' up. When ah got my quirk ah was ecstatic ah could seek it out. Still surprised ah made it in though, hitting people hard or being quick ain't 'xactly rare." She brows furrow as she looks down at her gloves hands, apparently it is something that bothers her.

"I'm surprised I got in myself." you admit, "Not that I don't want to be here, but I didn't take any advance courses in school, and no hospital would let me volunteer. Nobody could figure out if my quirk had downsides, and nobody could trust a solution with no problems." The frustration of the repeated attempts creeps into your voice, but you push it away. You pause in your speech and look back, the curtains on the balcony shifting slightly due to the air conditioning. "Beyond my quirk I'm nothing special."

"It's more special than punching," Doomwulf comments tonelessly.

You look back at her with a smile. "Are we having a mope off?"

She smiles back. "Depends, am ah winning?"

"Dunno, haven't been keeping score."

"Too bad." her nose wrinkles. "Can ya take a shower now? Ah have a heightened sense ah smell and ya reek of sweat. Ah'm used to the gym but ah'd rather not live in one, ya know?"

…

Okay then.

You raise up your hands and stand up from the couch, awkwardly moving towards the bathroom to get the sweat off. Having a partner with enhanced senses may be a bit awkward outside the field, then again you are also walking into a bathroom that smells like wet dog.

… How does that even work anyway? You know from what little you studied that it is caused by bacteria that dogs have on their skin, but she isn't exactly a full dog or wolf. Maybe she keeps a little spritzer bottle around to make the smell authentic.

You close the door behind you and wash the mornings work away, thinking on all that has happened so far and everyone you have met, it has been a particularly… long morning.

- - -

You step back out a good ten minutes later feeling remarkably more fresh, though you wish you had a spare change of clothes. At least you don't have to share soap, they had it included and separate already, little bags for you to keep your toiletries in. At least until you can customize anyway. Stephanie isn't on the couch anymore, a silhouette through the curtains of the balcony reveals her to be outside talking on the phone… or you have a ninja on your balcony. Either-or, really.

You take a sharp turn to the right and enter into your bedroom. It's… plain but still nice, a comfy enough looking bed with a nightstand beside it. Set into the headrest of the bed right behind where the pillows are is a small black screen. On it a little display shows the current date and time in cyan lettering. A few experimental taps show it both keeps a calendar for you… which has notably nothing on it at present, and an alarm clock. An interesting little touch screen display all around, here's hoping Doomwulf doesn't smash the thing when it goes off in the morning.

Stepping away from the bed there is a small empty desk in the corner with a little shelf above it to keep books, while the closet in the corner is decently sized and hold nothing more than a few hangers.

You'll need to get your tablet set up when it arrives along with your clothes. A faint chime comes from the main living area and you stick your head out curiously. Doomwulf is stepping through the door of the balcony and back into the living room.

"Have a good talk?" You ask.

Stephanie shrugs her shoulders. "Mom was more than a little happy I got in. You mind if I take over the television for a bit?" You nod, walking across the living room to step out onto the balcony yourself as she moves over to the couch.

You had noticed before that your balcony would overlook the forest, but this is till your first time seeing the forest from above. The trees are tall so even from here you can't see that well, but within it appear to be fenced in areas and smaller buildings you can't quite discern the purpose off. Beyond it is the lake, upon which a small pier goes out onto the water from the shore, but besides that it is unremarkable. Honestly, after magic butterflies and alien invasions, this seems a little underwhelming.

Past that and branching off from the circular path that goes around the entire complex is another series of buildings. Far more utilitarian than the Hero Complex, these are tall white buildings with more in common to the faculty buildings than anything else. From here you can't exactly see what they are for, but much like the Hero Complex, it is gated off… which does raise questions about why R&D wasn't.

The balcony itself is empty, but at least it has a nice view. You may read out here when it comes time to study. You step back into the room, the chime from before going off again as you step through.

… You wonder why there is a motion chime for the balcony and not the front door. Then again, magical butterflies and alien invasions. Stephanie is watching the news with rapt attention, and you turn to see what is so inters-

--"We return to you on channel two news at the site of the foiled robbery. The Federal Reserve Bank was the site earlier this morning of an attempted robbery but was foiled via the timely intervention of the hero Longarm. The perpetrators were quickly apprehended, however, Longarm could not be reached for comment."--

The newswoman is not one you are familiar with, though you don't really watch the local news either. Behind her is an array of cop cars with the familiar tall white marble of the reserve bank in the back of the shot. Several masked men with blurry faces are being handcuffed and led to the cars while watched over by professional heroes… no sign of Longarm though.

--"The bank is reporting nothing has been stolen and there are no reported injuries. The hero left immediately afterwards, as the heroes main base of operation is in Newark it is currently unknown as to why he was present in Atlanta. More news as it develops."--

"Do ya think we're going to meet him?" Doomwulf asks, her voice is level and even. But her tail is whapping against the couch cushions like an excited puppy.

"Big fan of Longarm?"

"Of course!" She nods excitedly, "Ah want to be a hero so why wouldn't ah like our best one? He's not my favorite but that would be awesome!"

You sit down on the couch, leaning back into it while she speaks. "I don't know if we'd meet him, unless you think he's speaking for orientation or something. The man's a government employee, he could be anywhere in the country for any reason."

She frowns. "Well, ya, but this academy is big ya know? Maybe he could be swinging by for that."

"Maybe, anything else on?" You ask, leaning back further into the couch. Doomwulf crosses her arms and glares at you.

"Ya could at least act a little excited."

- - -

*Knock Knock*

You look up from your phone, a distant knock sounds on your door before the familiar voice of Morrigan speaks up through the door. "Coming in!"

It's been about two hours or so, and both you and Doomwulf have had a fair amount of time to rest… though you will admit you are rather hungry at this point, the snacks in the kitchen are rather military, with the most enjoyable food you could find being a bowl of apples. You hear the door open and in moments you see the butterfly flitting around the corner to stop at a hover in the living room.

… How did she knock?

"I do hope you two were able to rest, are you both ready for the tour of the campus?"

"Doomwulf is always prepared!" the entire couch moves a little as Stephanie leaps out of it, "Let us begin!"

- - -

"So the first stop on our tour will be the R&D campus, we shall be moving counterclockwise around the academy as I introduce you to all of the locations. No matter what course you choose you shall use buildings in each division to some extent, so it would be good if you remember where everything is!"

You'd argue the campus is a circle and therefore finding everything is easy. Except that obviously isn't true, based on your first hour inside its walls, so you resign yourself to the full tour.

You follow the magic knocking butterfly out the gates of the dorm area and back down the path. Doomwulf is walking close beside you, looking up at the dome as she walks. The afternoon sun is doing interesting things to the paneled glass, where the sun hits the spots in between you it bleeds like through in myriad colors like a rainbow… it's an odd effect, and also means there is probably more to that than just plain glass.

You are not the only student on the paths, you don't see anyone from initiation, but a lot of people in the school uniform move either towards the dorms past you or around the campus.

The campus as a whole houses several thousand people, you can tell as much just from the myriad buildings spread across the entire area. The only one you know about for sure is the Hero Complex and R&D area, though even those you haven't seen anywhere near all of. The place is gargantuan, as is the property it sits on. Your high school was maybe the size of a farmers market, but this feels like more like the small town you grew up in before moving to Atlanta.

"Now, of course there is a shuttle system that will take you between the campuses and our satellite locations outside of the school itself, however, I feel on your first day you can learn the most from a good old fashioned walk." Morrigan explains, the butterfly moving side to side along the path as it flies. "Now just up ahead is our R&D complex, the pride of the school. All courses require time spent here so I would recommend getting familiar with it!"

You look up at the assembled buildings you had wound up at earlier, tall buildings, all stark and white. Tubes run between them all, some small enough you doubt anything larger than a mouse could move through while others are sized to accommodate foot traffic. The bench of destiny is still in its rightful place, along with a viewscreen next to it displaying the time and ongoing events… of which there aren't any it seems. The rest are of course still gibberish to you, which admittedly doesn't seem wholly practical, but not a ton has made sense so far so why start now really?

"So if you look juuuust towards the back you will see four arched towers, we call those the diamonds!" You follow her directions and sure enough towards the back of the complex four towers stand out from the rest, they are as necessarily tall as some of those around them but they are all built in a rather unorthodox fashion. The white straight-out-of-Star-Trek look has been replaced by slightly arched metal. Four raise up around a central plaza, each a good twenty stories high. The backs of the buildings are made up of what appears to be solid planes of glass, each easily a hundred feet high and would allow for a view inside were they not seemingly fogged up. As they rise higher the amount of space decreases until they stop at a single room; running from which is more of those tubes… the ones people travel through specifically.

"Now each building has a different focus, in order we have Quirk Development, Equipment Development, Virtual Reality and training, and the last is our regular classrooms. Not all are available to you, in fact most of the time spent here will be in the classrooms unless on special assignment, but that doesn't mean we can't explore a little!"

- - -

You step through the sliding glass doors that make up Diamond Building D; the regular classroom building. The interior is as white on the inside as it is on the outside. A white drop ceiling with white tile floors, all so clean that if it started snowing in here you may not honestly be able to tell. At the far end of the room is an elevator, while along the side are various doorways.

This building, like the dormitory, is apparently guarded as well, though this time by little bots instead of flesh and blood armed guards. They look like those automated vacuum machines, and just like them you have no idea how they're going to move. Their patrol routes are a mystery to you, and you try to put them out of your mind.

Spread around are little workspaces, small tables with chairs set out. Students in uniform sit around them, working on spread about books in study groups an-

No. No that group in the corner is playing a wargame. Doomwulf's head tracks them with curiosity as you walk past, her eyes on the board before returning to looking ahead.

"Out first stop will be the fifth floor, the Quirk Research and Development classrooms."

- - -

You step out of the elevator, Doomwulf and Morrigan both in front of you as you step into the hallway. To the right is a series of large glass panes with the odd door in between that reveals a very large and open classroom. It's not particularly crowded from what you can see, a few adults work at stations set along the walls. While a younger group (students going by the uniform) sits at desks and listen to their instructor. Against the far back wall is a large blue display screen that spans the entirety of the wall, broken up into parts every dozen feet or so. That entire section of the room is split apart from the rest by another see-through glass wall. To the left are closed doors with engraved nameplates, most likely housing the teachers' offices.

Morrigan leads you on and through one of the glass doors into the giant classroom, where you are assaulted by a cacophony of mechanical sounds. Beeps, clicks, snaps and more fill the air as the glass doors close to a shut behind you.

"This is… impressive." Doomwulf says as she stops in her tracks besides you, and you can't help but agree.

In the center of the room is a large pillar, more computers set up around it. Their displays are holographic, blue displays that are cast onto the pillar itself, bits of data and images flash by at incredibly speed as a single girl works at them.

She reminds you of Embla in a way, but even less… human. Blue metal is shaped and formed to be like hair on an all too pale face. A white beret sits atop her head, while a little red cloak around her back serves as the only other form of clothing on her entirely robotic body. Her hands move faster them you can track them on the holographic display. The information changing at a rapid pace as she studies it all.

"Good afternoon Alva, how is the research turning out today?" Morrigan flies forward to hover next to the working figure.

At once the typing stops, 'Alva' turning her head almost 180 degrees to look at Morrigan, the butterfly only briefly before glancing downwards to stare at the shadow. Her eyes are a golden yellow, glowing like a lamp light. Her lips turn up into a smile and she turns the rest of her body to face the shadow as she speaks in an artificial tone slightly lighter and higher than Embla's.

"Good afternoon Morrigan, it is rare you visit. What assignment brings you to the lab?"

"No assignment today, Alva. I'm actually showing two new students around." The shadow shifts, one arm stretched out as if you introduce you both. "This would be Stephanie and Dylan, two hopefuls." Morrigan introduces cheerfully.

Alva turns from the butterfly to look at you both, she studies Doomwulf a moment, then yourself before nodding. "Welcome Miss Clarkson, Mr Dylan. I am Alva, head of Quirk Development." Her hand raises in a crisp salute, metal fingers clanking against her skull with a dull clang even as her smile gets wider. Her actions are definitely perky, a sharp contrast to her unemotional her voice. "I didn't expect to be meeting any new students today, a tour is most unusual!"

Her arms wave at her sides dramatically before she hops on the spot to stare at Morrigan again. The movements are so fast you worry she'd take off like a bird were it not for her metallic form.

"Apologies Alva, these students were placed under my care for the day and I was hoping to use the opportunity to give them a look around, besides… one of these students may interest you!

The shadow gestures back to the both of you again, and Alva turns to look at you both curiously. Her golden eyes glow even brighter for a moment before she locks on you much like a cat would a fish in a tank. She hops forward, her metal feet clanking against the floor as she lands in front of you. Both of her arms stretch out wide then clap together, catching both of your hands in her grip in the process.

Her hands are cold… and strong.

"Dylan Evans? Quirk 3085.11 - Healing and Quirk Invigoration?" She asks, yet even through her emotionless tone you can tell it isn't really a question.

A shuffle of feet to your side shows Doomwulf intelligently backing up from the hyperactive robot. Having already accepted your fate you nod your head. "Yes, that would be me."

She steps forward a little more, her head just an inch or so away from your chest as she stares up into your face. Her smile widens as well, taking a touch more towards the decidedly manic. "We shall perform wonderful science together!"

"I… yes? Please?" You take a step back, freeing some space between you and the robot. "I was hoping to investigate the ins and outs of my quirk yes. I had already signed up for this class."

She steps forward again, taking the space right back. The tops of her metallic feet press against the top of your shoes, the weight of them not allowing you to move backwards anymore. "I thank you for your foresight Mr.Evans, it shall greatly ease the process." She then stretches her arms and wraps your sides up in a hug, the air being forced out of your chest rather violently as she treats you like a plush toy. You shoot a desperate look towards your partner who thankfully gets the message rather quickly. Or it may be because you are turning blue.

She only takes a step forward before Morrigan interrupts. "Alva sweety, you are crushing him!"

At once the pressure releases, Alva hopping backwards to look at you with a worried expression. "Is student Evans harmed?" The worried expression is rather hard to take seriously with the toneless quality of her voice.

You raise a hand to your side experimentally, no, no your ribs aren't broken. Again. "Student Evans is fine. No more hugs please."

Alva tilts her head to the side and nods, the beret on the top of her head flopping around a little as she does so.

"We best leave you to your work Alva dear, tell me, has your sister returned yet?" Morrigan asks.

"Embla last reported her position as being in her lab," Alva replies as she turns back to the magic butterfly.

"Wonderful we can go there and continue the to-" Morrigan stops talking abruptly, the butterfly pausing mid-motion before it continues to flap lazily. The shadow digging through its… pockets a moment before raising one hand to its head.

"Unfortunate," Morrigan says before the butterfly floats over to the both of you. "I have been assigned a quick afternoon class, I will still be available to guide you to the cafeteria tonight but I am afraid that we will only have time for one more stop. We could take a brief lookover the Hero Complex, the Business Complex, or we can finish up our tour of R&D. Which would you prefer?"

Doomwulf raises a hand to her chin as she thinks on the question.

- - -

[Continue the tour of R&D]

[Tour the Business Complex]

[Tour the Hero Complex]

---

[X][Tour the Hero Complex]

Thanks to Armoury for the beta.

- - -

Well, you are curious what the other complexes have in them, and you'll be spending some time in each of them anyway, and you'll be familiarising yourself with R&D no matter what thanks to your course selection. You don't have anything to lose, and so far the whole tour has been about your part of school. You'd rather Doomwulf got her own part of the tour.

"Could we see the Hero Complex next? I…" You glance at the little girl-bot, who smiles brightly. Literally, her eyes actually get brighter, it's makes it harder to see the rest of her face. "...Like this place, but I wouldn't want to hog the tour." Doomwulf's hand lowers from her chin as she looks at you. You give her a nod and a small smile, the latter of which she returns.

"Sounds lovely!" Morrigan says, "I do thank you for your time Alva, Dylan will be back at a later point to develop his quirk."

"I will look forward to it with much eagerness!" Alva responds, her arm and hand raising in a thumbs up.

- - -

You step back out of the room, patting your side experimentally. Girls got strength, well, 'girl' may be a strong word. If it look like a duck, walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, it may just be a killbot. At least she is excited about your quirk, and if she cares then she'll be willing to put in an effort to help you learn more about it; and with how little you could actually train before coming here you will need all the help you can get.

"Is she always that excited?" you ask, looking over at the magical butterfly of hopes and dreams.

"Alva can be… eager," Morrigan says after taking a moment to find the correct word. "But despite her young age she is a master of her craft. Between her mind and her sisters abilities in training you shall be in good hands, Mr. Evans. Much like our combat instructors shall make a fine hero out of you and Ms. Clarkson here."

Stephanie grins cheekily, tail wagging happily as she claps her fist and hand together. Well, as long as she is having fun.

… Maybe she could help with combat training at some point, she's clearly better at it than you are, as your ribs can attest. Admittedly your ribs have been in critical danger twice today but only the first is truly relevant.

Does it count as practice when it is your own body getting the crap beaten out of it for healing purposes? You'll need to check.

You leave the building, then the R&D area entirely, as the summers sun just begins to ebb away. You probably only have about another hour or so until the sun has completely set. Of course by then you would still have plenty of evening left… but you doubt your ability to stay awake after eating with how crazy it has been today.

You've been feeling more sluggish ever since this morning, whether that is from all the adrenaline or the overuse of your quirk you aren't quite sure yet. It will need to be studied later, but right now you don't particularly care.

It does surprise you, how many students you see out and about despite class not starting till tomorrow. Perhaps they require them to arrive a bit before it actually starts so they can get settled back in, closed environment and all that. Though you did note some students actually seemed to be in class in the R&D area, so maybe they have a special program of some sort… or summer classes.

… You really need to study all you can about the school once you actually get your tablet back so you feel like less of an idiot. You'll still feel like an idiot, but at least you will be an informed idiot.

"Now our Hero Complex is the smallest of the three, but that does not mean it is any less advanced!" With a chime the gate to the Hero Complex opens and Morrigan zips through. You and your partner follow quickly, as it doesn't seem like she's going to let you take this slowly.

She leads you onwards until you are standing just before the large statue of Man of Might and Girl of Wonder, with her shadow splayed across the two of them and gesturing broadly at the surroundings. "This school was of course founded with the goal of making our heroes the best they could be, while our primary focus is and always shall be Hero Development, we are also proud of our Hero Creation course."

The phrase 'Hero Creation' makes you think of being strapped to a table while a mad scientist laughs maniacally. Which, going by the VR training, may be more accurate than you want.

"Now you've already been to an office when you spoke to the counselor, and you'll probably be to a similar one in that same building. My office is in there as well, along with most of the Hero Complex teachers." She then spins on the spot, facing away from both of you to face the large brick library. "Our first stop will be the library, do not worry about library cards, the security card you were given stores all of that for you."

She leads you on and through the automatic glass doors of the library to reveal the interior. It's definitely an older building compared to all the others you've been into so far. In fact going by the wear on some of the bricks it may be one of the original buildings that belonged on the campus, which would make it remarkably old by Atlanta standards.

A long curved desk is immediately to your right, staffed by several members of the school. Behind them is a large table filled with various electronic devices, laptops and tablets mostly. The library itself is made up of multiple floors, each slightly smaller than the last. A staircase just to your left leads up to the second floor, and you assume that you can follow it up to the third and fourth, with each cutting off in a balcony instead of reaching the wall.

Each floor above is filled with shelf upon shelf of books, the building going quite a ways back. The floors starting from the bottom going up seem to increase is difficulty as well, the lower level courses and general non-school reading is down here, but when you see some students descending from the upper floors you note advanced course material and 'Can-beat-you-to-death-with-this-book' level tomes.

To your left past the staircase is a long array of computer desks, each setup to assist in studying and general amusement besides. A few are in use at present, all by students in uniform. It appears from the looks of things they are studying physics; specifically gravity, and how it affects cats on shelves.

"Is James in?" Morrigan flaps her way over to the desk to ask one of the clerks stationed there.

The clerk nods. "He's shelving some books on the fourth floor," the clerks says before looking at the two of you. "New students?"

"Indeed! This is Miss Clarkson and Mister Evans, I'm touring them about today."

The clerk smiles at the two of you. "If you need any help in the library feel free to ask our staff."

You and Doomwulf both nod, then follow Morrigan up the stairs to the fourth floor. The back of the building has several large windows that run from the top floor down, allowing a view of the forest behind the library and the city beyond. The books are arrayed in shelves and ordered by subject like you'd expect to the left, while off to the right are several tables setup for studying.

The only person up here is an older gentlemen, you'd guess late seventies to early eighties by posture. Thick glasses rest on his nose as he pulls out books from a cart to place on a rack. He's wearing a rather thick sweater despite the warm weather, he's even wearing a pair of gloves as he handles the books.

"Good afternoon James!" Morrigan flies over to the man, the butterfly bobbing through the air in apparent happiness as it moves.
The man looks up from his work, eyes narrowing slightly before a soft smile comes onto his face. "Good afternoon Morrigan, looking for a book?"

"Not exactly, I'm guiding two new students around and thought it would be good for them to meet our best student assistant!" If the top floor here wasn't so deserted she may have had to lower her voice a little. The man smiles at the compliment, a light chuckle coming from him as he shakes his head.

"You flatter me," he adjusts the glasses on his face and looks past Morrigan to both of you. "Ah… yes, I remember them from the student files. You would would be Stephanie and Dylan I believe, welcome you two, congratulations on passing your exam."

"Thank you," you and Doomwulf chirp in sync.

He steps past Morrigan and offers a hand for you both to shake. "Well good afternoon you two, I'm Bibliothec, though most just call me James." His voice is strong despite his advanced age. While modern medicine can keep people alive into their 100's the wear and tear on the body remains the same, something you can't really fix either. At least, not in any way you've figured out.

You accept the offered hand and shake it. Doomwulf doing the same, "you would be the head librarian?" She asks.

"Ooh, among other things yes, I also assist in research and helping out with the more technical side of things." He gestures to all the books, "if you ever need assistance I'll be here among my books." He taps a finger to his skull, the smile taking on a bit more mirth. "I'm afraid my mind isn't quite what it used to be, but I can still find something to help you out."

"Oh, please James. Nobody has ever known this library like you do." The butterfly flies over, "now we have a few more things in the Hero Complex to show off as well before I have to get started on class~"

- - -

The next building is the large pyramid you noticed when you first approached, though calling it a pyramid is perhaps a bit… unspecific. It's a mix between a coliseum of old and a pyramid of even older. The building has a sort of wall around it made of brick that is also the majority of the building proper. A horseshoe type shape that seems to house the actual majority of the space. While in the center of this horseshoe is a large glass pyramid that runs all the way to the brick, giving the whole structure a sort of… mishmash look. The upper floors of it are nonexistent. The dome is empty barring metal supports, allowing quite a bit of light and open space. The brick section by comparison is about four stories.

The doors to the 'pyramid' open automatically as Morrigan approaches and she leads you into it. The interior is… really nice actually, there are higher levels but you could not see them from outside. A staircase to the right and left on either end leads up to a second, then third landing. None are particularly wide but all have tables and a small little snack shop on each floor. It's nothing too fancy, but simply appears to be mostly a studying and in-between place for all the classrooms set into the more normal brick structure.

This one actually has some of your 'applicants', two anyway. Blueprint… that kid with white hair from earlier who was drawing on the sketchpad, and Hologram, the guy in the mask who was throwing up all those glass sculptures. He's sans mask at the moment, a look of boredom on his face as Blueprint sketches madly on his pad while they sit at a table together.

Those viewscreens are all about the place as well, once again blank except for a brief message welcoming the new students.

"This is our main class building, the majority of your school work will be done here, as long as it is pertaining to the Hero Course, that is! Now I'm afraid I cannot allow you in the classrooms at present… security if you would believe it. But you are free to come and go from the main hall as you see fit."

Doomwulf raises a hand. "Do we use this building for anything else or is it just for studying? This… pyramid that is."

"Well as you can see it is mostly used for relaxation and studying, we believe that keeping a healthy environment to work in is good for our students. Due to the class sizes we frequently host classes out here instead of in those stuffy classrooms, students are also free to host whatever they like in this space… as long as it isn't dangerous!"

With that she leads back back outside the building again and to your last destination.

- - -

The last building is different from all the others just from how utilitarian it is from the outside. No pyramid, no church, no arched 'diamond.' Just a large concrete… cube. The building doesn't even have windows. It looks like one of the playing blocks you had as a toy, which is also probably why you didn't really take note of it on first look through the area. Among other far more distracted reasons at the time.

… Seriously, this entire morning was stress you did not need.

"This is our main training area, while the VR simulations help you get acclimated to the various hazards and more real to life dangers, this is what we prefer to use for more general sparring and training." Morrigan explains.

"Why is that?" Doomwulf asks.

You step through the doors of the complex and transition from a floor made of asphalt to one made of concrete.

"While the VR is fantastic at exposing students to the rigours of a dangerous situation, we find it doesn't always translate to muscle memory that well."

Paint on the floor marks little arenas, while spread about every dozen feet or so is a wide pillar to support the ceiling above. The floor is pristine and appears rather new, while the walls show what appears to be pocks of damage and scorch marks… probably why they didn't go all out with the decoration compared to everything else.

"On top of that despite the advancements we find that artificial intelligence cannot match the… creativity of humans in combat. We experimented a bit with Embla taking over the simulations in a more direct role but found they became rather impossible."

You swear the butterfly just shivered, and you aren't quite sure how that is possible.

"So we use this floor here for general sparring and training along with a few physical exercises. While on the upper floors we have various spaces setup for search and rescue training and calamity, artificial environments to allow students to encounter the most life like scenario possible."

"Ah prefer sparring in real life to the VR training… no offence but somethin' about that trainin' left me with a headache." Doomwulf says.

Morrigan makes a sympathetic sound. "Sorry to hear that, the VR can cause that at times, I'll let Embla know about it so she can tweak yours a bit to adjust. It does tend to affect those with advanced senses poorly."

Doomwulf raps her gloves fist against her temple. "Ah've already recovered, thick skull 'n all that."

Morrigan giggles then floats backwards. "Well that is good to hear! Unfortunately I do have another class to manage on the upper floor, will you two be alright waiting about an hour?"

You look over to Doomwulf, she shrugs. You shrug back, it is a rather fulfilling conversation.

"Wonderful! I will message you when it is time for dinner if you could just stay around the Hero Complex? I'll take you to the cafeteria afterwards."

You nod, you suppose you could just wander around a bit or check out the library. Though notably you haven't noticed the cafeteria anywhere.

Morrigan then flutters off to the other end of the room. Her shadow splitting and shifting as she passes under the high ceiling lights.

"Ah was hoping to check out the library," Stephanie says as she turns to look at you.

"Fine by me, we don't haven't else in particular to do anyway."

She smiles a places a hand on her hip. "Ya already get yer textbooks?"

"...No, to be honest I had no idea what I was going to need and they didn't give me a syllabus."

"Oh…" Doomwulf raises her hand to her chin, a habit of hers you've come to notice already in the short time you've known her. "Ah think ah can fix that."

- - -

You sigh and readjust the bag on your shoulders. James was only happy to give you the 101 in… everything. Stephanie in comparison is whistling a happy little tune as she carries a far lighter bag on her shoulders.

You still have your books from high school but you didn't particularly think about bringing them. You weren't told of any required reading but it can't hurt to be prepared you suppose.

"Hello again! Was everything in the library to your liking?"

You jump slightly at the familiar high pitched voice yelling right next to your ear. Morrigan… the evil butterfly is flapping just a foot away from your ear, she was apparently waiting right by the doors for the two of you to get out.

"Good afternoon teacher." Doomwulf readjusts the bag in her grip to hang at her side, "it is well stocked."

"That is good to hear, are you two ready for dinner?"

As if to answer the question your stomach rumbles quietly, neither seems to notice but it serves as a reminder that you have yet to have anything really solid besides breakfast, and that was quite a while ago.

"Doomwulf is ready to eat."

"Yourself, Dylan?" Morrigan asks.

You nod. "I'm more than a little hungry yes."

"Wonderful, well, each complex has its own eating area, but why don't I go ahead and show you the main cafeteria for all the campuses. It's just under the dorms and that was our last stop after dinner so… save some time!"

Her cheerful voice is almost enough to make your forget the crushing weight on the back and hunger pangs in your stomach. Almost.

"We can take the tram there if you would just follow me?"

- - -

You step off of the escalator and onto the tile flooring that makes up the schools 'underground'. It looks like Atlanta's subway, except clean and nice. So basically nothing like Atlanta's subway system. The same style of tram you saw early rests of the tracks about a dozen feet of you. But the whole place is deserted. The faint ebbs of sunset pour in behind you before it is erased and overcome by the rather harsh fluorescent lighting of the ceiling.

Just to the left is a static display listing all the destinations of the train, the three complexes and the dorms and a few satellite locations including one all the way in… "Mountain city?"

That gets the attention of the two in front of you, both looking over curiously. Morrigan speaks up.

"Oh yes, our nothernmost facility right on the border. We use that for wilderness and survival training."

"Survival training, like military survival training?" Doomwulf asks and steps closer to look at the display.

"Some students, especially those in the Search and Rescue divisions will be working far away from civilization so it is helpful they learn to live off the land, and so they can teach others as well." Morrigan explains.

Well, you suppose that makes sense.

"What's this?"

You look over to see Doomwulf pointing at a sheet of paper attached to a tack board.

Morrigan looks curiously as well before fluttering back with alarm. "Oh! I didn't know they put those up yet!"

It… looks like an ad. A large image at the top of I-Island with description of some form of contest below.

"Our best students for the next semester will get to visit I-Island during spring break. We have permission to send four juniors and four seniors. Good luck if you want to try for it, the competition is fierce!" To punctuate it the shadow raises an arm in a cheer. It somehow isn't quite as effective when it is only a shadow though.

With that she turns back and leads you to the trams. The interiors are the same as before, and in a few moments the doors slide shut behind you. You find a seat across from Doomwulf while Morrigan takes a spot on the other side of the train. You feel the floor shift underneath you as the tram lifts up, and settle in fo- oof!

The train accelerates, shoving you in your seat as it kicks itself forward. The flashes of light outside the tunnel go by faster and faster until they become little more than shooting stars past the window. The whole trip takes, at most, a minute, and by the time it stops you are somewhere altogether different.

This underground, compared to the last, is expansive. Not shopping mall level, but definitely "extra-large food court." This whole area underneath the dorm seems suited to deal with whatever needs a student may have. Various small shops sell books, entertainment and other more 'touristy' items. Seeing as how basically nobody can get on campus besides students and staff those must be more for sending to the relatives.

Quite a lot of students are down here along with a few of the initiates. It's definitely the busiest it has been since this morning. An escalator at the end will take you back to the surface while the space around you is set aside for everything else. The scent of food attracts your attention instantly, a large set of open doors off to the left reveals a large room with set tables.

Small fast food places like you could find in a food court are set into the walls, the usual stuff you could find around town mostly, and going by the lines it appears to be staying quite busy as well. At the far back of it is a regular cafeteria line, you wonder if this is the kind of school you have to pay or whether the meals are provided for you.

- - -

So the answer to that question is a resounding yes. Well, the fast food anyway, the school provided food is both free and what you are currently eating, it isn't bad, though frankly with how hungry you are at this point just about anything would be delicious.

You stuff another bit of chicken into your mouth and glance around the table. Doomwulf is… wulfing down her food. While Morrigan is eating at a rather more sedate pace, by that you mean she isn't eating at all. The salad on her plate is slowly disappearing in front of you, quite literally. Every few seconds a piece of spinach and tomato suddenly disappears from the plate, going into the void that is the magical butterfly realm as it hovers there.

"So what's goin' on with the tour? Not that ah ain't grateful just ah ain't seen other students on 'em," Doomwulf pauses in her eating enough to ask.

"Meeting new students is one of my favorite aspects of this job, every few months I get to meet the next hopeful group who wants to help the world." Her voice lowers in pitch a little, her tone more wistful, "starting tomorrow I am your history teacher, but I was given the opportunity to show you around so why wouldn't I?"

"Well I appreciate it." You say honestly.

With that you finish dinner in peace, and Morrigan allows you both to return to your dorms and, more importantly, your beds. It's only seven in the evening or so but neither you or Doomwulf were much in the mood for staying up any longer.

You step back into your room and flick on the light, you don't bother to take your top off as you flop onto the bed with a groan, the delicious cushion doing wonders for your fed and tired body. With another groan you manage to actually get undressed and lay back on the bed properly, phone in your hand as you think on the day tomorrow. You'll have orientation then… school begins for real.

You still have general education to worry about, but you are only worried about every single subject that isn't biology.

Well you know you are going to have orientation tomorrow, but going forward you need to figure out what your going for. At least for now your schedule is mostly General Education, Math, the Sciences and the like before you start my R&D classes later in the second half of the week... So now the question remains what to focus on.

Call you mono-focused but your quirk is rather specific. Still, you'll need to figure out what you need to do going forward and as your eyelids grow heavy you make up your mind, for the first half of the week at least.

 

[Erien]

[X] [Go to Orientation]
[X] [I should try to get to know my partner better]
[X] [I should take the time and setup my dorm exactly as I like it, I know this week is going to be crazy but I should be able to make enough time for it.]
Thanks to @Armoury for the beta.

- - -

Your eyes open the moment the alarm on your phone starts going off. A quiet but distinct beeping that is juuuust obnoxious enough that it turns your brain on in order to smash it. You pause as you stare up at the ceiling…

Where the hell is thi- wait, right; the dorm. You're in your dorm room.

You debate the merits of getting off of the bed a moment before your better nature gets the best of you. With a grunt your swing your legs over the side and stand up, your limbs popping and protesting the action. You basically fell asleep as soon as you hit the pillow last night, the days actions doing their best to wear you down. Hopefully today will be simpler… it is almost entirely orientation from what you gathered.

You glance back and pull the card they gave to you off of the nightstand, it has a little calendar app so lets see.

Ah, so you have a mandatory Hero Introduction course this afternoon after orientation. Fair enough and...Orientation is three hours… why is orientation three hours? What cruel society would allow such a thing to occur?

You stare at it, suddenly feeling the slightest pangs of regret that you decided to be a good student and actually go to orientation. Well, here's hoping they serve food.

- - -

You step out of your room and glance about, all the lights are off with no sign of your partner. It's… quiet. You are used to hearing the sounds of traffic or just general noise, but it's actually quite quiet. The television is black, Doomwulf having managed to turn it off before she dragged herself to bed last night, apparently.

It's only six in the morning, early enough that the sun hasn't even risen yet, but orientation is at eight. Enough time to wake up, shower, and eat some breakfast… speaking of which, either Doomwulf went shopping last night or you received some deliveries. Two cardboard boxes and several paper bags are setup on the kitchen counter, and you wander over curiously.
Neither of the bags are marked, but the boxes are. One has your name, the other has Stephanie's. You doubt it's your luggage, you'd both have a lot more and your mother would never send something in plain packaging like this. Some quick work with a knife and the box with your name on it is opened revealing… plastic wrapped uniforms. It's the same kind you've seen on the regular students, a black jumpsuit with two white lines running down the front from neck to ankle. Two more lines mark each wrist and near the top of the foot, with the only decoration being a large badge sewn onto the shoulder, a large embossed 'A' specifically.

The material is… rather nice actually. Some form of nylon, both sturdy and breathable. To be honest even if it was made of pleather you would be grateful, you don't exactly have a change of clothes. The bags on the other hand are filled with some groceries, bottles of water, a few food mixes. A little note as well.

'Apologies for cutting the tour short, please let me or any of the staff know if you run into any issues with your room!' - Morrigan

… You'd ask how she wrote that but you are quite done asking questions about the magical golden butterfly. Besides, she also brought you groceries, and you don't plan on thinking too hard about that.

You set them aside and grab both boxes, setting Stephanie's in front of her door while placing yours on top of your bed. You grab one and pull it all the way out of the plastic, tossing in over your shoulder as you move into the bathroom to really start your day.

- - -

You step out a good fifteen minutes later, shifting rather uncomfortably as you get used to this suit they've given you. It's… well, the fabric is nice. Just you aren't used to wearing a jumpsuit, or anything quite this... huggy. The closest you've gotten is the mechanics suit your father gave you whenever you had to help him when he was welding, and that was extremely baggy in comparison. Still, the freedom of movement is good and it isn't particularly hot or anything.

The door to Doomwulf's room is still closed, and the box is still sitting there in front of her door where you left it.

Wandering back into the kitchen you start going through the food mixes, may as well get started on breakfast so you don't have to pay for food in the cafeteria. Let's see… waffles, powered eggs, a pancake mix, those little snack packs you ate in grade school.

… Let's just go with pancakes.

You start to dig for a pan when you hear a door open then another rapidly close, a glance up and around the counter shows the box gone from the front of Doomwulf's door, and a moment later the ventilation fan in the bathroom kicks on.

Well she's up, you should probably see about getting coffee started as well.

- - -

You aren't the best cook in the world but you knew enough to cook when your parents weren't around, so you know that the pancakes will at least be edible. Just as you are start to flip the second batch of them you hear the door to the bathroom open again. A glance around the corner showing a rather tired looking Doomwulf. Her uniform is slightly modified compared to yours, at least, in small aspects. She is wearing her gloves still, and as she walks by you note a cutout in the back that allows her tail to go free, so they must have made it custom made for some students… when knowing how crazy body modifications with quirks can be you suppose it makes sense.

You, however, are boring, and you got a suitably boring jumpsuit. But you suppose that fits you well enough.

"Morning partner, pancakes? Coffee?"

She walks over and slumps onto the couch, head falling back into the cushions with a groan. "Yes and fuck yes."

"Sugar… cream…?"

"Black as can be, if it can't kill me it ain't strong enough."

You set the first batch of pancakes onto a plate and fill a mug from the coffee machine, walking over and handing both over to the wolfgirl. She gingerly places the plate onto the couch besides her before eagerly drinking the coffee. She downs half the cup before lowering it down to her lap with a sigh before looking at you with a grin. "Yer coffee tastes like shit."

"You wanted it black." You shrug. "And they didn't exactly give me beans from Gran Colombia."

"Mm, it has caffeine, therefore Doomwulf is willing to forgive you."

"A most magnanimous partner indeed, now please excuse me while I make my own breakfast." With a mock bow you step back into the kitchen and continue work on your own plate, at the very least you can make her breakfast, she 'saved' your life yesterday.

"Ya see our schedule today?" You look over from the stove to see Doomwulf flicking on the television as she speaks.

"Yeah, three hours of orientation then a short mandatory class before they set us loose. I imagine they want us to meet the rest of our teachers as well."

"Sounds 'bout right from what ah read."

You remove the pancake from the pan and set it onto your plate, joining her moments later.

- - -

You step outside into the coolish air of the morning. It's nearing the end of summer but it isn't quite there yet. Though you aren't sure how much of what you are feeling is the actual temperature versus the climate control of the giant glass dome. It's about seven in the morning and you are far and away not the only student making your way out of the dorms. Near everyone you saw in initiation and many more besides are making their way out of the gates.

You wind up walking in a group mostly made up of initiates either way, you'd imagine it mostly stems from you all being vaguely familiar with each other, but it isn't enough that any real conversations develop. Not with you anyway, and if Doomwulf has anything to say then it doesn't seem important enough for her to shout it in the middle of this herd of awkwardness.

The instructions stated it was going to be in the main building of the hero complex, that pyramid… thing from yesterday. About half the students are going for the tram but frankly you would rather walk than fight through the crowd. Doomwulf seems to agree, though she is the one leading you on either way. It seems that while she needs her morning coffee once she gets it she's fine from then on. You yourself have never much needed the stuff either way.

- - -

You know many ways to die, at least dozens, if not hundreds. Natural and unnatural, common and exotic. As you sit here on this folding chair in the lobby of the pyramid you are currently trying to decide which one is most available to you, and how to do it to yourself in the most expedient manner possible.

Your partner isn't faring much better, she's slumped back in her seat, and her eyes closed long ago. From her levelled breathing she may just be asleep, but you could swear that her breathing is getting fainter by the second, and your scared to touch her. Scared to learn if this could truly end someone like her.

"Now as we stated we will be checking all submitted papers for any sign of plagiarism, and any evidence of such will be immediate grounds for punishment."

You look back to the stage where 'Amelie' is still going strong. You hadn't seen her before now, older, probably in her early 70's with a voice to match. There is nothing particularly remarkable about her, except her quirk is the ability to speak for two hours and counting without pause. At first it was the usual rah-rah heroism stuff you expected with Aja. Hell, it was even kind of inspiring... then this started. It's the same speech you got in high school, except the one in high school was over in thirty minutes.

You've considered leaving as well, but then you'd be the one student in about a hundred that wasn't brave enough to sit through this. Weakling you may be you are not a quitter, and you have learned some things. For starters how well you do academically allows certain 'benefits' and 'perks' in regards to your courses, they didn't really go into more detail beyond vague hints of internships and access to experimental equipment and advanced programs. So the usual, but still interesting.

"Remember, you are the face of our academy, and it's important to always show our school's core values. I'll say them again, they're that important..."

… Mercy.

- - -

You still have afternoon class, Introductory Heroics is a mandatory class no matter what you've focused on. Though it's also apparently a rather short class from the sounds of things. Also the fact that literally every single new student is going into it would make it more than unmanageable unless it was short. And right now you have more important things to focus on. You can figure out how it'll work after lunch.

You are at the cafeteria of the hero complex, not as large as the one under the dorms but it has basically the same food. It's definitely more of a cafeteria than a mini-mall like that one was however.

"So why are ya doing this?"

You take a second to wrap your head around the question, and finally pay your partner some attention. She's already finished eating, one hand has her soda while the other is supporting her chin as she stares at you. "Doing what exactly?"

"Hero business?" she clarifies. "Why ya want to be a hero?"

You blink, thinking on the question.

Do… should you want to give her the same answer you gave Annapurna?

- - -

[Tell her the truth - Aimless]

[Why are you/any of us doing this?]

[Lie]

- - -

Your first class is simple enough by description, though crowded since literally every new student no matter what their course is has it. Most of the faces you see here, barring those who went into the VR training with you are those you've never seen before. The only thing you all have in common is that you are all wearing the same uniform. Well, mostly. A few students have tweaked the design a little or are keeping their accessories. Doomwulf is wearing her gloves for instance, and Ranger is still wearing that cowboy hat he seems so fond of… along with the boots.

The classroom is about what you expected, an auditorium to house all of the students gathered. Small little touchscreen displays are built into the stands in front of you, allowing you to work interactively with the class you imagine, though they are all off at present. At the far end of the room is a large stage with a gigantic black screen behind it.

Supposedly the course is mostly to introduce you to the concept of 'heroics' and the general essence of the act itself. The room is filled with quiet conversation that quickly dies down as the monitor at the end of the room flicks to life.

"Good afternoon students." Aja appears on the screen in what you guess to be her office. It's an old fashioned workspace if you've ever seen one, all wood furniture with a large window behind her overlooking a garden. Though notably not the same one you saw in the train video yesterday. How many gardens does she use as scenery for these videos?

"Welcome to your first day of Introductory Heroics, the purpose of this class is to allow you to be familiar with the role you shall play in society, no matter what course you end up focusing on. It will additionally allow you to understand what is expected of you, both from the general republic and the ASH academy." She leans forward in her seat, a smile playing across her face. Her eyes look around the crowd for a long moment, unlike the last video this one is probably playing live. "To help us in this endeavor I have reached out and invited in to speak a favored alumni of ours!"

With that the video cuts out and the lights go black. Whispered conversation begins immediately, and Stephanie leans forward curiously in her seat. This only lasts a moment, as with a flash of purple light a figure appears on the stage, the figure is in black armor with blue highlights, no inch of flesh revealed as they wave happily towards the assembled crowd.

"Greetings student, I am a former student of this academy, but you of course know me as-"

"LONGARM!" A chorus of voices answers for him, cheering and whoops of joy sounding through the auditorium. It affects your partner as well, going by the speed her tail is currently slamming into your chair repeatedly.

Well, you suppose it is interesting they got him, though you've never been crazy about him.

… Why is that again?

- - -

[You don't see the purpose of being famous, you have a job to do. You don't pay attention to people just because they're on the global hero list.]

[You aren't really fascinated by heroes in general, you became one yourself out of duty.]

[It's not heroes, it's Longarm specifically.]

[Write-in]

- - -

You push the last of the boxes into your room with a grunt, some are clothes, others…well, honestly more are books, various electronic bits, and school materials. You'd wager you mother sent at least half the contents of your room, and when you go back you'll find out that your father has turned it into another workshop.

You start setting up your clothes on the rack, thankfully she didn't send you the entire contents of your closet. Between that and your new uniforms you doubt they would fit. Your books and tablet are however far easier, namely dump them on and besides the desk. You have reading to catch up on as usual, if you forget anything you will be far less effective in the field.

"That's… a lot of books." You look up from your stack of textbooks to look over at Doomwulf, she's leaning against the doorframe and looking into the room curiously. You shrug your shoulders in response.

"The more I understand biology the better my quirk works, I've barely even scratched the surface. After I've figured out all I can I will have to branch out into non-human biology, things like your nails or plenty of other animal like quirks will more than likely cause issues for me."

She whistles appreciatively. "Well let nobody say ya ain't dedicated, just don't forget ya gotta set time for yer regular schoolwork too. On top of, ya know, having fun."

"I have yet to decide what people do for fun around here beyond sports or television, though I haven't really had a look around either."

Your partner chuckles before turning back to the main room. "Ah checked out the map, there's supposed ta be an arcade 'round here somewhere. Wanna check that out tonight? Since we got an early evenin' and all."

You pause in your stacking. That… is a possibility you suppose. Though on the other hand you do have a free evening, something that will probably get rarer as the classes get started. You turn back to her and answer.

[Sure, why not.] - Locks in the evening of the first day.

[I'm not really for it at the moment] - Gain an additional action.] (What are you going to do instead? Refer to actions from previous chapter.)

---

[X][Tell her the truth - Aimless]
[X][You don't see the purpose of being famous, you have a job to do. You don't pay attention to people just because they're on the global hero list.]
[X][Sure, why not.]
- - -

"So why are ya doing this?"

You take a second to wrap your head around the question, and finally, pay your partner some attention. She's already finished eating, one hand has her soda while the other is supporting her chin as she stares at you. "Doing what exactly?"

"Hero business." she clarifies. "Why do ya want to be a hero?"

You barely pause, after all, you've already answered this question once this week. "I can heal people and being a hero allows me to use that in the most effective manner possible. That's why I've focused on it. My quirk is rare and helpful, and it would be a waste not to use it." You set your burger back onto the plate, the noise of the cafeteria loud but not loud enough that you need to raise your voice as you speak. You look down at the plate a moment before shrugging. "I can't get into proper medicine due to all the regulations and red tape involved, they can't tell if my quirk has any side effects so no place was willing to try. So all I know is from my own studies… I still wanted to help people though, so here I am."

Stephanie tilts her head a little, her hand pushing up her cheek as she does so. "Neither of yer parents were heroes?"

You shake your head. "Mom's quirkless, and my dad does blue collar work with his. Neither were interested but they were at least supportive of it, for the most part."

"Yer dad has the healing quirk then?"

You shake your head again before reaching down and grabbing at your food. "My dad can superheat his fingers, his father could do the same as well. Nobody on either side of the family could heal. So… just a random mutation, I guess. How about you?" You resume your eating as you ask.

Stephanie shrugs her shoulders. "Ma' has the same quirk ah do an' dad can bend and join wood from ah distance, seems to work better the more he got mad, too. Wasn't very strong so he didn't become ah hero. Ma' was apparently a hero for a bit but she never talked 'bout it much. Both were all for me tryin' out though." She smiles, placing both of her hands back onto the table. "Ah mostly wanna be able to support 'em back on the farm. Not havin' ta pay for school is pretty nice, and we'll be gettin' government pay if we graduate." She then leans back in the seat, stretching out both of her arms and closing her eyes and she lets out a groan. "Ah suppose yer reason is as good as any, duty an' all. Frankly all ah know is ah'm still sore from yesterday. Ain't had to move like that in a long while."

… Huh, your healing should have worked for that. Maybe she has more canine in her than you thought? That shouldn't really change nerve endings all too much but you haven't really had a test subject in that regard. "Where?"

She pops an eye open to look at you curiously. "Hm?"

"Where are you sore? I could take a look."

She pulls her right arm back and taps her left shoulder. "One of the larger ones knocked my shoulder and hurt it pretty bad, you fixed it yesterday but it's still sore."

You are more than a little curious how that works considering the aliens weren't real, but then again the blood you bled was disturbingly lifelike so perhaps it is best that you don't ask questions. "You mind if I…"

She nods and leans forward with her elbows on the table. You reach across and place your fingers on to her wrist and focus. Any residual soreness would be explained by possible nerve injuries, actual cuts doubtful. Muscle strain most likely but would need to verify. "Is it your supraspinatus or your teres minor?"

"... My what or my what?"

You glance up from her wrist and… oh. "Point out on our shoulder where it hurts."

She acquiesces, reaching up with her right arm twisting her body so you can see her upper back. She then reaches around and pokes a spot right above her teres minor. Infraspinatus then, yes, would fit with how damaged the joint was. You narrow your eyes and think about the muscle. She shouldn't have any bone damage at least, and after a few moments you pull your hand away. "Try now please."

She pulls her arms back and rotates it experimentally. She stretches and twists it, bending it at multiple angles as her eyes widen. "Not bad partner!" she looks back at you with a grin, her tail wagging slowly behind her. "Ah think ah'll have you come with me to the gym next time, may be able to get a few extra reps in."

You shake your head. "Bad idea, lactic acid builds up as a natural defense mechanism to prevent damage. My quirk kills pain, so you won't realize your limits and risk doing permanent damage to the muscle. I have no problem with healing injuries, but I won't assist someone in overworking their body just so they can exercise a little longer."

Her tail freezes mid-wag. "Ah… meant for soreness problems later, ah don't particularly want my biceps to explode."

Oh. "That's fine then," you lower your head back to your plate and continue eating. A slightly awkward silence replacing the conversation as you eat.

- - -

"LONGARM!" A chorus of voices answers for him, cheering and whoops of joy sounding through the auditorium. You are nearly drowned in the applause, part of which is made by the enthusiastic thumping of your partner's tail beside you.

Well, you suppose it is interesting they got him, though you've never been crazy about him or other heroes like him. The man does good work, which you can easily respect, it's just… you aren't interested in being a hero to be famous. That would work against you, that last thing you need is some rich person demanding you be their personal physician, or people decrying you for doing triage. The problem with being a one man panacea is that you're only one man, and you need to be able to use your quirk efficiently.

More than that it's… just a distraction. You have a duty with your quirk and spending time chasing after a ranking would just be nothing more than a wasteful distraction.

Those thoughts never exactly made you the most popular kid around either, though you mostly stayed quiet about it. People do love to fawn over their heroes, you'll just be happy enough trying to save all the lives you can.

"Thank you for the warm welcome." Longarm continues, "what a fine group of students they have put in front of me this afternoon. Good work on passing initiation, I remember how hazardous it was when I first went through it. You should be proud of yourselves."

Longarm has been an active hero for six years, so you have to wonder if his training was in any way similar to yours to be honest.

"By graduating from this school you shall be serving your fellow man and your country."

… This is just the speech from orientation again isn't it?

"The school is built onto a basis of principles that you should learn and hold near and dear to your heart."

Yep.

You turn away from the speech and pull out your PDA, your schedule after this is free for the most part. So you'll have some time to kill, hopefully your luggage will have arrived by now so you can get set up. Your little event manager shows a full day tomorrow and Wednesday though, you have at least eight teachers to meet. Though thankfully you've already met three already, History, in this case, taught by Morrigan. While Quirk Development and Quirk Research are taught by Alva and Embla respectively. The rest are all names you are unfamiliar with… Planck, Omnilinguist, Mass Reaction, Face and… Second-hand-fast…

It's going to be hectic, but at least it is just the standard introduction schtick you had in high school, hopefully anyway.

You glance back up at Longarm, every student watching him with rapt attention as he walks around the stage. Faint purple trails of light wafting out from the diodes of his suit as a sort of afterimage as he moves before fading away completely.

It's the same speech, but the costume is neat at least.

- - -

Your partner chuckles before turning back to the main room. "Ah checked out the map, there's supposed ta be an arcade 'round here somewhere. Wanna check that out tonight? Since we got an early evenin' and all."

You pause in your stacking. That… is a possibility you suppose. Though on the other hand you do have a free evening, something that will probably get rarer as the classes get started. You turn back to her. "Sure, I was just going to unpack and that can honestly wait."

Doomwulf grins, her tail wagging behind her as she jerks her thumb towards the door. "Well come-on then, we have ten-thousand teachers ta listen drone tomorrow, might as well get some fun in while we can… ya got money right?"

You tap the side of your pocket. "Allowance secured."

- - -

You step into the dimly lit room that makes up the arcade. It's not far from the cafeteria underneath the dorms, though it is further along to the point you didn't notice it when you were down there the first time.

It's… like something straight out of the 80's, the old old 80's, back before quirks, which may be part of the aesthetic. You step onto soft purple carpeting with little silhouettes of stars dancing across it, the faint blue light of the dim neon serving to give it an old school feel. The place itself is decently crowded but not to what you consider an extreme, though that may be in part due to the fact that plenty of students are actually at class today.

While the decor and the lighting are certainly old-fashioned to the point some may describe it as kitsch, the actual entertainment is decidedly not. You aren't unfamiliar with arcades as there is plenty around your area alone. Mom always said that they didn't have around when she was a kid but they exploded in popularity a good twenty years back or so apparently. Now it is odd if a town doesn't have at least one.

Soft EDM plays in the background that is almost-but-not-quite drowned out by the sounds of the machines around you. Fighting games, racing games, VR, FPS, claw machines, tabletop machines and even those old skeeball things. It's a mishmash of the latest and greatest and some of the oldies.

You hear a low chuckle and look to your partner, she is chuckling while smacking her fist into her hand repeatedly, the grin on her face positively feral. "Doomwulf shall destroy all high scores."

Yeah, you have fun with that Doomwulf, you meanwhile have a date with Cruis'n' North America. You step forward, then quickly find yourself being dragged away from the racing machines by your eager partner. "Come, you shall duel Doomwulf in Extreme Pacman."

… Well, you did sign up for this.

- - -

"Hello Students, I am Planck. Or Mr. Stephenson if you prefer, your math teacher for this semester." The man is… diminutive to say the least. He's roughly a foot tall, maybe even a bit shorter than that. He's dressed in what you would struggle to see if this was not such a small classroom is the standard old-man sweater vest

He is standing on his desk as he looks around the classroom. "A fine group, yes a fine group of students indeed. Today we shall be going over the syllabus and a few basic useful practices, so I do hope you haven't forgotten too much since high school." With a wave of his hand, the 'blackboard' behind him flicks to life to display a bulleted list. Algebra, precalc… other things you had honestly sucked at.

… Well, this is going to take some studying. The other students around you are looking at the syllabus with expressions ranging from bored acceptance to genuine terror. To her credit Doomwulf merely looks bored.

The rest of the 'class' passes much the same way, going over your syllabus and just getting to know the teacher.

- - -

"Good morning students, I am Omnilinguist."

Less than thirty minutes pass between your first class and your second. Barely enough for a bathroom break and a snack, but at least both are in the same building, and once you get done with this one you only have one class in the afternoon.

Omnilinguist is an older woman, distinctly Asian with long black hair that goes down to her back. Probably in her mid to late forties give or take. "I shall be your English teacher, and serve as your language instructor for any advanced courses you wish to take as well."

She smiles and taps a sizable stack of bound papers on her desk. "I shall be handing out this semesters syllabus on recyclable paper. Whilst I have no qualms about you submitted work electronically I do feel nothing can quite beat a good physical reference."

The stack is… quite tall, and the bound syllabus makes a rather disconcerting smack as she drops it on peoples desks as she walks by. You have this class for one hour so it is a rather large syllabus for how long it is going to take to get through this class.

"Now then, if you would open your syllabus to page one."

- - -

"Ah write like ah talk so ah have a feelin' me an' 'er won't be gettin' along much." Doomwulf groans, head resting on her hand as she stares at the steak sandwich in front of her.

You aren't much better, that hour was… one of the longer hours of your life. You are surprised by how much she managed to cram into those long sixty minutes. She even managed to cram in a short writing exercise that you failed miserably at, and going by Doomwulf's face she didn't do much better.

Though few could match the sheer look of fear that was on Kros's face. Going by her accent and speech patterns you have a feeling she isn't the most accustomed to English.

You let out a sigh, poking at the rice in front of you with your fork. "Non-toxic periplasmic epidemiology gene therapy usually requires a Von-Wille repair pump lest you risk creating a basal wild-type retroposon."

Her head slips in her hand nearly sending her face into the food. She jerks back and looks at you with narrowed eyes. "The what did the what to what?"

You shrug your shoulders. "Random medical gibberish. What I'm tempted to fill my writings with after that stint."

Seriously, the door is red because the owner of the house liked the color, not due to missing the sight of blood after the war… nonsense. There's such a thing as over-analyzing a poem and you refuse to do it.

"You're weird, ya know that?"

You nod, stabbing your fork into the rice and coming out with a glob of the stuff. "Of course I am, all the best doctors are insane, I just happen to be very efficient."

"Pfft, if ya say so." Doomwulf grins and picks up her sandwich, her gloves off and set to the side allowing her claws to glint in the fluorescent light. You suppose if she didn't want them dirty she should pick a different color than white. But… it matches the school uniform well enough you suppose. "What we got after this anyway?" She thankfully asks before she takes a massive bite out of the sandwich, looking at you curiously as she chews.

"Well according to our schedule…" You fish the card out of your pocket and open up your schedule app. "We have..." You blink, looking at the last class of the day. "Three hours of science class."

Her chewing stops, her eyes closing as she lets out a deep breath through her nose. Then after a moment, she starts chewing again faster than before, seeing fit to distract herself with her meal.

… You should probably do the same.

- - -

"Good afternoon students, my name is David." Oh, thank god he spoke. The man in front of you is rather… generic, if slightly dorky looking, with his square frame glasses and pen lined pockets. He has been sitting there unspeaking ever since you first arrived at class. His short blond hair is matched by his blonde goatee and both clash rather badly with his bright orange shirt. "No hero name, I shall be your teacher for the principles of natural science along with chemistry and biology."

This classroom is different than the rest, being a proper science 'lab' like you had in high school versus the classrooms of the English and Math course. Long flat metal tables with two seats behind each, meaning every one of them is taken up by a different student pair. They are all polished to a sheen, though none have anything on them.

"Now if you'll pay attention to the screen we can begin."

- - -

You open your eyes, this time without the brief jolt as you recognize your new ceiling. Yesterday was a full day of class orientation, and so is today as well. At least now you know your schedule. This week is just a little preview of what it will be the next.

… You best get a shower before it smells like wet dog.

- - -

"Good morning students! I am The Morrigan." A familiar butterfly flaps into the classroom the door closing behind her as she flies in and takes a position behind the desk. You watch as the chair pushes itself backward and the cushions sink in slightly, the butterfly landing on the desk. Little motes of golden light flit off of the sitting butterfly and land on the desk, fading away near immediately as the light impacts the hardwood.

"I shall be your general history teacher for this year, along with your teacher for a few more advanced courses you may qualify for. It is lovely to meet you all~"

A few students, not familiar with the magical talking butterfly of purity stare, openly slack-jawed at the sight. Frankly, at this point you doubt the school really has much to surprise you with. Then again, third day, so who even knows really. You aren't even scheduled to see the R&D section until the weekend.

"I've already deposited the syllabus on your desks… if you would please open it to the first page?"

You blink and glance down, your previously empty desk beyond the history textbook you brought now has a small leather journal sitting on top of it. That… wasn't there a moment ago, curiously you reach down and flip it open to the first page. It's just an index that lists the chapters, Dawn of Man, Age of Discovery, the Age of Quirks and so on.

"Today we shall be going over the introduction and introducing ourselves. Now, why don't we start with the first row here~"

- - -

"Ah'm still not used ta the whole butterfly thing."

You glance over at Stephanie as she walks beside you, stuffing the syllabus into her pack to go with the rest. "At the very least she is friendly, maybe one of the friendliest teachers I've had that wasn't also a grandmother… in appearance at least. I've yet to decide whether she is the shadow or the butterfly."

Doomwulf zips the bag up and looks at you. "She has no scent, it's… weird."

Hmm? "No scent, like, not even the butterfly?"

She shakes her head. "Nothing, ah noticed it when she was leadin' us around. Ah can't tell where she is if ah look away from her. it's freaky."

Well, you suppose that would make something or someone with heightened senses uncomfortable.

"What's next? Ah'd check but ah would have ta take my gloves off ta work the touchscreen."

You pull it out of your pocket and glance at it. "Free morning now until shortly after lunch, so about one free hour before we have Hero Law and PE in the afternoon."

Stephanie nods at that before looking out the window towards the forest outside. "Think we could swing by the library? Gotta pick up a history book for the class."

You shrug your shoulders, having nothing to do yourself. "Lead the way."

- - -

The afternoon was spent with Hero Law taught by a very gorgeous woman who called herself 'face'... if only the subject was near as interesting. Doomwulf for her part at least kept rapt attention for the first hour and a half, taking careful notes of the syllabus and the few basics the teacher was willing to give you.

The other hour and a half seems to have taken its toll on her, as did lunch, as by the two hours mark she was having more difficulties paying attention. You, for your part, were just studying the syllabus to see if anything really applied to you. You aren't going into a combat position more than likely, so you won't be fighting villains unless there is an emergency. Which, to be fair hero work leads to a lot of emergencies, but it isn't a situation you should find yourself in near as much.

After that, it was two hours of PE. Which was about what you expected really, pushups, situps, a jog around campus. Basic things to get your blood flowing while also showing you useful exercises. Neither you or your partner had any particular difficulties with it. While you did indeed feel a burn after some time it wasn't like some members of your class who looked ready to pass out either. Helping out with your dad's work so much, along with just generally trying to stay in shape to do hero work has kept you healthy.

Meanwhile, Stephanie is just Stephanie, her enhanced physique allowed her to keep up with all the exercises handily, so you are both good there, at least for now.

You step back into your dorm room with a sigh, sliding the bag off of your back to drop on the floor perhaps a bit rougher than strictly necessary before you stretch your arms. That's the third day… you still have classes going up to Saturday, though at least Saturday is only two hours. Your eyes glance around the room, spartan and simple, quite a bit less decorated than back at home. Though you didn't know how much space you were going to have to be honest.

Your books are set up on the desk, both new and old, the less used tomes laying on the floor beside it to save space. You may have to get another shelf at some point to hold them. Beyond that, the bed is the same way it was when you arrived. Plain white sheets that will be due for a wash by the time the week is over. You can hear the shower kick out through the wall, Doomwulf having wanted to get the sweat off from the run, you imagine with her enhanced sense of smell gym class must have been pleasant.

This also means that when she is out she will probably ask you to hop in as well, for her sanity if nothing else. You don't begrudge her for that, everyone's quirk has a downside, even if you haven't quite figured out yours yet.

Still, it's good that you have gotten set up, barebones as it is, and as you wander back out into the living room you think about the upcoming week.

 

[Erien]

[X] [I should focus on studying, I have those syllabuses to go through, at least in part to know what is coming and I am… bad at math
[X] [Ask Stephanie about sparring.]

Thanks to Armoury for the beta!

- - -

You lay back in the seat with your hands behind your head as you stare at the ceiling. Pencil in your mouth flicking about as you think. The rest of the week will be just seeing the rest of your classes, along with a repeat on English, Science, Math and Hero Law. Along with the compulsory PE. Then on Friday and Saturday you have your two R&D classes, both short, but both are things you are honestly looking forward to.

Your eyes dart back down to your desk and the stacks of books on it. At least the benefit of being a fulltime student is that you will have help with your actual schoolwork going forward, assuming you can pay enough attention in class anyway.

Math… you suck at. Calc is not your strong suit, hell long division is barely your strong suit. But it's something you will have to deal with going forwards. English is alright, and science you are perfectly comfortable with. Hero Law is boring, but manageable, but going by the later syllabus is going to take some serious study and memorization to get down. Thankfully your parents sent you your stack of flashcards.

You still don't have the syllabus for the two R&D classes, but you aren't going to get those until Friday and Saturday more than likely.

You pull the textbook open again and groan as you see the problem.

Picassa can paint at v(t) = 150 -4t square feet per minute, where t is the number of minutes since she started painting…

Kill me.

- - -

Your eyes snap open to stare at the ceiling, you feel more tired than when you fell asleep, which you choose to blame on precisely how long you stayed up to make sure you had a handle on everything in front of you. A familiar weight lays across your chest, and with a chuckle you reach down and pick up the furbal-

Oh.

That's not your cat, that's the precalc book. You debate throwing it off the bed a moment before coming to the conclusion that it is both A: Expensive, and B: big enough that it would go through the wall if it hit. Instead, you close it up and drop it off the side, the book hitting the carpet with a satisfying thump as you let out another yawn.

A glance at the alarm clock shows it to be still rather early, the class isn't for another two hours, more than enough time for you to get up and make a shower before breakfast.

As soon as you make your legs move.

…

You can do it guys.

- - -

You hear the door to the bathroom slam open and glance up from your cooking to see Doomwulf flop face first onto the couch. Her tail a frizzy mess as she attempts to apparently suffocate herself in pleather.

"Does the mighty Doomwulf require coffee?"

She doesn't respond to you in words, such things are below the mighty and all all-powerful Doomwulf, instead, she merely gives you a thumbs-up.

"Black as the midnight sun?"

The thumb transitions to the OK gesture, and you walk over to place it on the small table next to the couch. "I'm not going to feed it to you, so I would suggest you start drinking."

With a groan your partner flips over, reaching over to the coffee with her left hand while she leans back against the couch. She holds the cup to her nose and takes a deep sniff before drinking from it greedily.

You turn to the kitchen and continue working on the eggs, Stephanie is not the best early riser by a long shot. Luckily for the both of, you you are used to waking up early to help your dad out so you are rather better about it.

"Your coffee sucks."

You glance up to see Doomwulf flicking on the television. Tail hanging lifelessly on her lap as she holds the coffee cup in both hands.

"Would you like to get up at six in the morning to make it instead of me?"

She glances down at the cup before taking another sip. "Doomwulf is fine with the current arrangement."

Yeah that's what you thought. You return to making breakfast as the news filters in.

'We return you now to the pre-season analysis of the Atlanta fi-'

*Click*

'For just 89-'

*Click*

'Local Hero Deathwatch nabbed two villains last night during an attempted carjacking, he was seen on the I85, restraining the two perpetrators before heading back north towards Dahlonega.'

"Ugh, ah hate that guy."

You look up from your cooking to see the news report, a newswoman stands in front of an overturned car. A pair of 'villains' are tied to a tree in the back of the scene, police working to free them from the thick steel bindings that keep them there.

"Oh? Also how do you like your eggs."

"He's too brutal, an' too antihero...y."

She narrows her eyes, trying to find the right word. "Seems like ah jackass. Also scrambled."

"I don't follow him, or much of any hero so I don't really have an opinion. Binding people with steel pipes does seem rather dangerous from a medical perspective however, could restrict blood flow or even dangerously stick to skin in colder months. Also if there was an accident they would be trapped."

Doomwulf turns her head and gives you a tired look. "Ah more meant he is just rough on 'em in general."

You shrug, pulled at the eggs with the spatula so they scramble. "Either way, he's mostly based out of Virginia from what I know. Wonder what he was doing around here?"

"Maybe for the same reason Longarm was? Er, ah mean, ah doubt they flew Longarm all the way down 'ere just for a thirty minute pep talk."

"Maybe, though they said he was heading north." You set the spatula down and start to work on the toast as you talk. "Doesn't really matter anyway, I'm more thinking about the classes we have today."

"Ain't it just ah rerun today?"

"Math, English, and Science today."

Doomwulf looks down at the coffee in her hands, her tail shifting slightly to rest besides her. "Probably means we got regular classes today, least in part."

"Probably, breakfast's ready."

- - -

It appears that fall isn't that far off, the warm muggy mornings are starting to die down in favor of cooler and dry weather early in the morning. It's still comfortable, you still hardly need anything more than your uniform, but how long that will last is anyone's guess.

Doomwulf doesn't seem bothered.

… Kros on the other hand.

The snake woman has a sweater on over the top of her uniform along with a short beanie. Her blonde hair is done up in a bun as she taps on her phone while walki-... Slithering along. Her partner is dressed far more conservatively, by that it's just the uniform but missing the sleeves. Mostly due to the fact she doesn't have full 'arms' to speak of.

You wouldn't normally pay them any attention, but it's hard not to notice the dozen foot long snake woman. You haven't seen much of her in general since you started your schoolwork, which is impressive given how much she sticks out. She may have gone into a different course, though it raises questions about the general education you are doing.

Though given her apparent difficulties with the language she may be in special classes as well, frankly at the moment you don't know and are more worried about the metric shit ton of math heading your general direction. At least science is peaceful and English is English. The bag on your back weighs heavy with the textbooks crammed into it.

Still, at the very least it is free, and you are in training to be a hero, that's a good thing right?

- - -

"Hello again students!" The diminutive form of Planck greets you once you are all seated. "Today we shall be going over some basic work to test your knowledge and to gauge where you need assistance. To that end I have prepared a short, one-hundred question quiz that I will need you all to fill out."

He taps on the stack of papers with a wide smile. "Textbooks are allowed, though please do not use your phones during the test. Thank you!"

… Mercy.

- - -

Science was more of the same, it seems it is sticking to general education like you expected. Easy work, and unlike Math it didn't throw a test at you immediately either. The teacher doesn't seem particularly interested however, though to be fair, neither does your partner.

- - -

"Today, students, I shall require a small written paper describing how you feel about a poem I've written. It is filled with careful application of subtext, so please do your best in analyzing and diagnosing the underlying theme of my work."

The poem she has placed in front of you is about five hundred words, and seems to be partially in greek at the bottom.

Your hear a whimper next to you, and you aren't quite sure if that is Stephanie or the dog half making that noise.

- - -

Omnilinguist was also kind enough to assign you some homework, the first you've gotten so far. In an effort to help 'develop and enrich your minds.' It is unfortunately more poetry, but thankfully not her poetry. Not that her poetry is particularly… bad. It just reads like a thesaurus mated with a dictionary, and the kid turned into that one emo that insists on being grandiose while pretending not to care about it. Simple words are too good for such art, nay, every single noun was its own song and every verb a grand performance that Shakespeare could do naught but weep at the sight of.

At least there was possibly some weeping in your class anyway, Doomwulf didn't seem particularly happy. Though with her gloves she isn't great at handwriting in general. An unfortunate disadvantage, though she isn't too great at touch screens either.

You both sit on the couch while the TV drones on in the background, pen in your hand as you go over the paper assignment. You weren't assigned anything to do this evening so… you might as well do it while you have free time to be honest.

The school is remarkably generous with it, though you suppose in highschool when you were done with school you went home. Here it is all around you, which makes it remarkably easy to focus to be honest.

Doomwulf lets out a groan and lays back against the couchs cushion, the pen falling limp in her grip as she stares at the ceiling.

"That bad?"

She nods, her ears flattening against her head as she closes her eyes. "Ma handwritin' is crap an ah don't get the poem."

You set your own pen in the crease of the pages and close the notebook around it. "Seems fairly simple to me, what has you hung up?"

She holds up worksheet, eyes opening only to glare at it. "Question three. What is the meaning of the flowers in the windowsill?"

You open up the worksheet and the poem again. "My lady, hair golden and fair, matched only in beauty by the flowers left in the windows open air."

You pause as you open your own notes. "Probably marigolds. Gold in color and a popular enough flower, they signify the loss of a loved one in flower language. Seeing as how he mentions burying her at the end of the poem that is probably what he is going for."

There's a palpable silence before Doomwulf replies. "How'd ya know that?"

"Mom was a florist." You say before opening the book back up again. "I may need a favor from you by the way."

"What'd that be?"

"You have combat classes and I don't, which makes sense as I focused on R&D, but I was hoping you could teach me how to, you know, actually fight. I got beaten up rather badly during that simulation."

You move onto the next question. Diagram the third sentence of verse four… "I will probably never be a frontline fighter, but being able to hold my own would be useful."

"Er… ah mean, ya if ya want. Most of my fightin' style revolves 'round using my own strength an' agility though. Don't exactly have much in the way of formal trainin'. But if ya want we can try some things out Sunday mornin'. Was hoping to use Saturday for shopping and exploration to be honest with ya."

You nod your head, focusing on the schoolwork again. "Works for me."

- - -

Friday is more of the same.

The Hero Law class is… well, boring would be the wrong term. It's important, and you have to know it, and frankly the existence of quirks as a whole turned the entire legal system on it's screaming, noncompliant, head. But that doesn't change the fact that the class is three hours long.

At least she didn't assign a paper, you don't have faith in your retention abilities for that particular subject. Doomwulf didn't fare much better, while the first go around she was eager and taking notes, it appears the rerun doesn't do nearly so well on the ratings board that is her attention span.

"Now as stated the laws differ from state to state, for the next half hour we shall be focusing on Kentucky, please take careful notes."

… Joy.

- - -

The class afterwards is the first time you've actually split up from Doomwulf for class, she has her first session of Media Relations class, while you have your first class of quirk research with Embla.

You will admit at being more than a little excited for this.

Embla's lab is one stop above Alva's, and you step out into a remarkably similar hallway as you did on that tour, the main difference being that this floor is notable smaller than the one below it due to the decreasing space as the building gets higher. There is an office to your left and a large classroom to the right, though this one at least seems to be a normal classroom, not an auditorium or lab. The centre of the room is occupied by a short row of desks, and a presentations board. The area around it is dedicated to computers and other devices that you… honestly do not know the purpose of.

Embla is there already, idly fiddling with a tablet held in her grip. The desks are empty barring one student, Cavalier. Whom you hardly recognise out of her armor, and Paintball sitting next to her. Both are talking to each other, though paintball looks to be on the verge of falling asleep. The last two spots are empty. You walk forward and through the door, the automatic glass opening for you with a pneumatic hiss as you approach.

"Student Dylan, welcome." Embla raises one of her hands in a jerky wave then gestures to the seat at that far end of the row. "You are the last scheduled student to arrive, please make yourself comfortable. Class shall be starting shortly."

You nod and walk over to the seat, setting your bag against the side of the desk before sitting down. The desk has a large touchscreen in the center like the one you saw in the previous classes, though unlike the others this one is actually on. A small display showed several text files on a desktop, while your name is in the corner. In the center is the stylized 'A' that makes up the logo of the school.

"Welcome students to the Quirk Research course, the purpose is to look into the many applications and history of quirk genealogy. Our goal, and the goal of our department, is to discover both the secrets of the quirk gene and to predict its immediate future."

She turns away from you all as the lights dim, the display board at the end of the room flicking to life. It is blue for a moment before abruptly cutting to the school logo. "The ASH academy was founded with the goal of research and development in mind. We seek to unlock the secrets of quirks and their potential for the benefit of mankind."

The screen fades out before a title card appears on it. 'History of Quirks and Theorized Origins.'

- - -

The class is mostly doing studies and writing papers, nothing incredibly practical but still interesting. You hope it will tell you where your quirk actually came from, which is part of the reason why you picked this R&D class to begin with. You never quite figured out the history of your quirk. You don't have anything inherited from your dad… except that your quirk is activated by your hands maybe. Your mom is quirkless, always has been, and neither side has anything similar to healing.

At least that's what mother always told you anyway, the only thing she ever did of note was being the most popular florist in your hometown before the business was taken over by someone with a botany quirk. Dad has been able to support you but mother has never been the biggest fan of heroes either, not that she was against your chosen profession… besides the standard parent worries, anyway.

Either way, your quirk is completely unknown in your family. It could be a mutation… but you've always been curious about it.

"ALRIGHT YOU MAGGOTS, TIME FOR ANOTHER LAP!"

You blink and focus again, you started daydreaming while jogging again. You let out a deep breath as your sneakers hit the pavement that surrounds the school. The PE teacher, a rather… built woman with a sharp blue mohawk, barks 'encouragements' as the students run by her.

PE is definitely the most 'intensive' class you have, but the teacher has yet to have any real problems with you. Mostly because you are actually in shape unlike a surprising amount of your class. Though some of your classmates have rather… understandable problems.

Doomwulf's mutations make it easy. Kros's make things harder, Mountain Blue required a fair amount of complaining to allow her to fly. Apparently, standard bird legs don't allow much for long distance jogging.

Still, it's a relatively peaceful way to end the evening all things considered.

… Now if only Cavalier would take off her armor, it's more than a little loud.

- - -

"3085!"

You raise your hands on instinct and close your eyes. But to your surprise you aren't met by 300 pounds of killer hug robot, instead, you hear mechanical whirring as a metal hand pats you on the shoulder repeatedly.

You crack open an eye experimentally to see Alva looking at you with a bright smile, her amber eyes lit up in joy. Literally. The 'pupil' is glowing to a near sun yellow as she stares up at you.

"Alva thanks you for arriving on time, is student Dylan ready to begin studies?"

Well, at least she didn't crush you like a grape.

"I am, yes… am I the only person in this class?"

You notice to your slight alarm that you are the only person in her lab, in fact you seem to be the only person on the floor. Admittedly you are here at seven in the morning but still. Slightly worrisome.

"Not class, no! But this session yes!"

"She nods mechanically before spinning on the spot. "Alva teaches many classes, but mostly for second years. Alva will be teaching later today, but the special first year class only had one subject."

"You mean… student, right?"

Alva walk over to work on the same computer she was at when you met her a few days ago. A barrage of data flashing across the screen, far too fast for you to track.

"You meant stu-"

You hear a creak as she rotates her entire arm around to hold up a finger in the familiar 'one moment' gesture.

Your mouth hangs open like a fish for a moment before you close with, suddenly feeling rather poor about your life decisions as to this moment. It's a few long awkward minutes before she turns around again, with a loud click a small tray sticks out of the side of the pillar and she retrieves a small box from it.

Spinning on the spot once again she holds it out with both hands, a wide smile on her face. "Please take and open 3085!"

"My name is Dylan but… thanks." You accept the box and pop the top off revealing a small usb stick set into protective foam.

"Evolution training module v4.87. Universal Serial Bus edition!" She raises both of her hands in a cheering motion, though the pitch of her voice doesn't change at all to match the exuberant motion. "Inside that interface is the class syllabus along with a few practical exercises you can use to test and train your quirk. I would like to work with you on Saturday mornings to go over your quirks limitations along with any potential drawbacks."

She places a hand at her hip, the digits slapping at her side with a metal clank. The other hand raises in a thumbs up. "I shall teach you to the best of my ability and shall make you the best user of your quirk student Dylan can be."

You can't help but smile at her eagerness. "Thanks, what's first?"

"What is student Dylan's tolerance for pain?"

You blink. "I'm sorr-"

"Does student Dylan find his quirk works better on himself or others?"

"Er, generally I find tha-"

"Does 3085 feel any genocidal urges when using his quirk?"

"I don't really think that could be a side eff-"

…

This went on for awhile.

- - -

It really did too, the class went on a good half hour passed its schedule end time before she realised she was holding you up. Eagerness is a good thing but the girl… bot. Had questions, many, many questions.

Still, hopefully she can harness that energy in finding out your limitations and how to fuel growth.

You step back into the dorm to see Doomwulf lounging on the couch, a pair of plastic cutters in her hands as she clips off one of the models from the holder. She looks up as you walk in, a smile coming across her face. Something that clashes rather badly with her black eye. "Welcome back." She says.

You set your bag to the side and look her over. Her clothes aren't damaged, but there's definite bruising on her lower arms, revealed by her rolled up sleeves, and of course the obvious black eye. "What happened to you?"

She blinks, apparently not understanding the question before she chuckles. "Combat class, the instructor was rough, learned some useful tricks though."

You walk over and place your hand on the top of her head. Doomwulf going slightly cross eyed to track the hand. Focus. Light abrasions, periorbital hematoma, some… of what appears to be road burn. Did someone throw her into concrete repeatedly? Entirely possible you suppose.

By the time you finish figuring it out the bruises are already washing away, the black eye being the last thing to go. Her mismatched eyes looking up at you curiously.

"Didn't really hurt but thank ya. How was yours?"

You shrug. "Alva was… eager, but nothing too bad. If I don't come back in the future assume she performed a vivisection on me."

"That creepy?"

"Just… very eager as I said. Like a child, but she seems skilled either way so hopefully something good will come out of it. Anything interesting since I left?"

To your surprise she nods, gesturing off to the kitchen. You look over to see an open letter on the counter with two… what looks to be tickets sticking out of it.

"Found 'em sitting on the counter when ah got back from class. 'pparently college football's starting up Sunday and we're invited. Optional though, ah'm gonna go cause ain't much in the way of sports where I lived an' frankly ah got nothin' better to do." She shrugs and returns to cutting out the plastic figure, one eye closing as she tries to cut one at just the right angle as to not destroy more than needed. "Ain't till the afternoon so ah'd figure we'd do the sparrin' in the morning, 'ssuming you are still up for that."

Yeah… maybe, you still haven't really planned out your weekend to be honest. It has been a rather hectic week.

- - -

[X] [Call Mom and Dad]
[X] [Pick up some personal effects for your Dorm Room, creature comforts and decoration.]
[X] [Go to the Football Game]


- - -

"Yeah, why not." Your answer is somewhat flippant, but you don't really have anything better to do. Too much studying would probably drive you insane, and trying to adapt to this place is already making you feel somewhat crazy already.

You mean, the school is nice. But you rather miss the 'normalcy' of high school, you were never the most popular kid admittedly. Your quirk may be useful, but it wasn't flashy, and being the kid who had to spend all his time studying left you without any real friends. Then again you didn't aim for this line of work to be fancy, and unlike any of the showoffs in your old class, you were the only one who actually got into this school. Or even made it to initiation, which counts for something at least.

Still, in the past week you've been crushed by a robot, had several ribs and part of your hand broken, nearly bled out, and gained a dog for a roommate.

College is weird.

The snip of plastic breaking draw your attention back to Doomwulf. "You have anything special planned this weekend besides the game then?"

"Relaxation an' more relaxation, probably gonna explore the little 'mall' we got underground and see if there's anythin' interestin'."

"Me too, probably just call my parents then pick up some things for my room, if I'm gonna be stuck in there for four years I may as well have a little decoration."

Doomwulf snickers and pops off one of the models, she picks up a little nail file looking tool and starts scraping at the edges for some reason you can't discern. "Yer room is boring I'll give ya that. Pick up some groceries while yer at it."

You lean back against the counter to face your partner fully. "I had planned on going by what they gave us. You planning on paying for said groceries?"

She tilts her head, still not facing you as her tail wags a little against the couch. "Ah dunno, ah mean, ah did save yer life during the initiation and all that. Figured ya owe me one."

"And I put your arm back into its socket so you could actually fight, figured we are even on that particular subject. Besides, I had the bug running scared."

The file almost goes flying out of her grip as she lurches forward with a snort. "Yeah. It was running so scared it didn't even realize it ran you over."

"Precisely, poor thing was terrified. I could see the fear in its eyes and acted accordingly. Now, what exactly is it that you were looking for?"

- - -

You knew the place was expansive, but the shopping area down here is actually quite impressive. I mean, on one hand, it makes sense considering they don't really offer many opportunities to leave. Sure, you can just get on the train and arrive back in Downtown Atlanta, but frankly, that would be a pain in the ass to get groceries back and forth, especially with security.

Among the myriad shops down here is a Ridgeway market for groceries, and other smaller chains of various interests. A game shop, a bookstore (both school and pleasure you note) a small theater along with a myriad of other shops. Basically, just about anything you would expect to find in a mall, just more compact.

You don't go all out for decorating, you never have. Not that your room is undecorated back home, just it's not a talent you have. Still, some new sheets, your own towel, the detergent you like. They have thankfully free washing machines on the bottom floor, but the product they used smells… well, generic.

As for actual decorating, there isn't much that comes to mind immediat-

"Dude!"

You glance up from your shopping to see a pair of familiar faces. Pirate and Biceps, or rather Julien and Kevin, Kevin is waving to you to get your attention while Julien is looking over a shell full of video games.

"Morning, you two doing okay?... And It's Dylan."

"Yeah dude, pretty easy first week." Kevin looks back and slugs Julien in the shoulder, the pirate theme hero stumbling briefly before turning to look at you both. His glare at Kevin quickly subsides as he notices you standing there as well.

"Awrite! Dylan man, how'ya doin'?"

You shrug your shoulders. "Fine, just picking up some stuff for my room. How's the partner life treating you?"

Pirate grins broadly before turning around fully. A basket is hanging from his arm full of house goods, shampoo, shaving equipment, that sort of thing. "Ah was raised in a house ah eight kids. Just splittin' two a bat'room is nice brother."

"I'm afraid I only have a much younger brother, though my parents and I had to share a bathroom in the old house. You just picking up stuff for your dorm?"

He adjusts the basket on his arm but Kevin answers before he can. "Yeah dude, we've been running from class to class, ain't had a chance to get much of anything done. What about you? Doomwulf seemed rather punchy."

She's… actually been remarkably relaxed. But you don't know how much she cares about that image so you don't answer one way or another. "It's a thing, you both are in the General Hero course I take it?

They both nod, Kevin speaking up first. "Yeah, though we have more combat training on Sunday the coach for that is a bit of a slave driver."

That… raises questions of why Doomwulf is around on Sunday. But then again maybe the class is full. "That bad?"

They both share a brief look at each other before Julien gulps audibly. "We ain't 'llowed to talk 'bout it, but ya."

… Well that's promising. You only have to deal with a psychotic tiny robot, not a beating you aren't allowed to talk about. "Well sorry to hear that, you two going to the football game tomorrow?"

"Nah, we're gonna catch up on studying before combat training. We haven't had much of a chance to do it." Kevin doesn't actually sound that disappointed about it, then again sports aren't for everybody… or maybe he just like studying.

"Fair enough, you know if they have peaches around here by the way?"

- - -

You step back into your dorm room, shopping bags looped under your arms as you step inside and close the door with your foot. The television is on, but the couch is empty with no immediate sign of your partner around. A glance into her room as you walk by the open door shows her lounging on the bed with her phone.

You walk past it, setting your own bags at the entrance to your room while placing the rest onto the counter. You dig briefly in one of them a moment before producing the 'request', walking back to the entrance of her room you whistle and snap your wrist.

The peach goes sailing through the air and she deftly reaches up and grabs it. She blinks, having done the catch nearly on instinct before turning the fruit around in her hands, a wide smile coming across her face. "Well thank ya kindly." She pulls off one of the gloves with her teeth before sitting up onto the edge of the bed, taking a large bite out of the peach in the process.

"You couldn't get more Georgian if you tried."

She sticks out her tongue at you and makes a shooing motion. You acquiesce, leaving her to snack while you put the rest of the groceries away. With the food sorted you move onto your personal amenities… eh, you toss it onto your bed. They can be sorted out later.

You step back through the living room and out onto the balcony, the warm early fall sun making a sharp contrast to the far cooler insides. Plenty of students are out and about today in the little 'park' the dorms share. Though only a few you recognize, and most of those you don't really know the name of. Off towards the forest, there is some form of event going on, either a class or just a game you aren't quite sure. You can see students sprinting through the underbrush, blasting away with their powers at some unseen assailant. Combat training?

Or maybe Alva is out for hugs, either is a possibility really. You turn away from the training and pull out your phone. A quick spin through the single contact. and you land on your mother's number.

It takes approximately two rings before she picks up. "Dylan?"

"Nope, still kidnapped, your gift of luggage was accepted but now we require money and liquor. How's Jeremy doing?"

You hear some shuffling in the background. "Sleeping, he has been running around all morning. How's school?"

You start to shrug your shoulders before realizing she cannot see you. "Well, for the most part, I've experienced all of my classes, none are bad… even if some of the teachers are rather eccentric. I just finished getting some things for my room so I'm just relaxing for the Saturday."

"Need anything else? How are they feeding you?"

"Not at the moment, the rooms aren't cramped but it's mostly taken up by textbooks. I've got all the necessities though, and the food is pretty good all things considered. We actually have a whole shopping area and everything around the dorms so I'm pretty set there."

"That's good, can you tell me about your teachers?"

[X] - [Tell her about a teacher - Morrigan]


- - -

The sun had moved near the edge of the horizon by the time the conversation has wound down, and the training in the forest has ended. The last of the students you saw headed north, towards the business complex, before leaving your sight, but the dorms are as busy as ever. Your class may be small, but you are just the first years of the Hero course. The business course dwarves yours in size, and R&D, fitting the school's design, makes up the majority of the students walking on the grounds beneath you. Which also means you aren't going to be recognizing everyone anytime soon.

It does make you feel a certain pride… but also makes you feel rather out of your depth as well. Your quirk is useful, but one of only twenty students? Against hundreds of other applicants? You're pretty sure you'd be feeling less pressure at the bottom of the ocean. It's something you've been thinking about for days, and it is probably something you will be thinking about for some time to come.

You walk back inside to see Doomwulf idly flicking through the channels of the television. An impressive feat considering she is also flicking through her phone with the other hand.

"Anything good on?"

'-eturn you to-'

'The Colt-

'-o what you are saying i-'

She flicks through each channel so fast you can hardly track what it is that is popping up on the screen. Is this her real quirk? Extreme channel surfing? Are the dog features just a neat bonus?

"Don't know, ah'm just using it as background noise while ah waited for you to finish."

"Oh, sorry about that, had to call home. Did you need me for something?"

She flips the phone around in her hand and drops it onto her lap, the hand with the remote bending off to the side as she looks at you. "Well ya said ya wanted to spar, an' ah've been thinkin' 'bout that all mornin' and afternoon." She turns the phone around to face you, revealing what looks like a paused video on martial arts. "Ah've been thinkin', yer my partner an' all so ah expect ya'll be gettin' into some scraps. But frankly, ah don't know any martial arts. My power is all ah've ever needed and it doesn't really work with any of that fancy crap, ah do know ways to take down people nonlethally, and how ta' get outta grabs though."

Well, you do suppose something like a Judo throw would be excessive when you are just as likely to rip the arm completely out of the socket. "So what is the plan then?"

"Figured we get up before the game tomorrow, see what ya actually know, an' work from there."

"Works for me I suppose, thanks for the effort." You settle onto the couch next to her. "Now then… mind tossing me the remote?"

- - -

Doomwulf's training is… basic to say the least, she wasn't kidding when she said she didn't know any forms. You weren't ever much one for martial arts, but at the very least it is something. Doomwulf is a brawler, and you decidedly aren't. Your main job will be staying alive so you can keep others alive, not punching villains in the face. Still, as you stand in the forest on the warm Georgian morning at the very least you feel this is exercise, and is possibly helping you work as a team better.

"Right, now the guide said ya gotta stand like this."

The forest is lovely; tall Georgia pines with little garden areas spread throughout. Plenty of students are out and about, some walking, some training, some just enjoying nature and studying. Yet as you stand there with your hand outstretched in some form of palm strike you can't help but feel like an idiot.

Still, she has taught you some useful things. The basics of restraints and a bit of incapacitation, though you don't have much in the way of upper body strength, at least not to the amount she does. She does at least know some methods so that she can restrain someone without breaking or shredding their neck.

Case in point…

"Right, so ah begin by placing ma' arm here." She places her right arm around the side of your neck, just lightly pressing against the side. "Now pay attention to my leg." Like a rocket, her leg shoots between yours and crooks around your left ankle. With a sharp tug she pulls forward, knocking the leg out from under you. In the same motion she pushes forward, the hand grasping at your neck and slamming you back into the ground.

You have to say, the grass here makes up for its poor taste with excellent health. Just like the grass in the last five spots you've tasted it.

"Ya okay down there?"

"Yeah, pretty good, but could the three of you help me up?"

Stephanie snorts. "Ya asked for this. Now come on, it's your turn."

… Sparring sucks.

- - -

The 'big game' is, unsurprisingly, big. The stadium is easily one of the larger buildings in the dome, which… is honestly saying something. It's made of mostly brick and concrete, through the former is so white and clean you could almost mistake it for marble at first glance. There's a tram line running from the outside directly into the stadium, which you suppose does make sense as far as visitors and fans are concerned. This does also mean that security is especially heavy. The entire sports complex is gated off and you are badged before going in, though thankfully they don't go as far as frisk you or anything that egregious. It appears looking like your badge is enough to get in for the most part.

Though the civilians are getting their bags checked, that's just normal for just about any sporting event you have ever been to. Once you get through the gates it's just a short walk into the stadium proper. It's basically a giant multi-tiered oval. Aka, exactly the same as every other football stadium built in the past half-century. Tall banners hang from the rafters announcing victories, some divisional, some state, and notably not all for football. It appears the stadium can also be used for baseball if celebratory banners are anything to go by, though you aren't seeing a pitcher's mound… or any bases.

Other than that though, it's just a sports stadium. Gift shops, overpriced food. Extremely overpriced booze. Nothing that particularly interests you or your partner as you make your way through the field towards the student section. It's the lower left section at near ground-level, so you are just at the bottom half of the home team's goalposts. Not bad seats, though seeing the far end of the field would be tricky. At least it would be if not for the giant video displays showing various angles of the field above your head hanging from the scoreboard. It's a bright and sunny day out, but the power of technology and disgustingly bright LEDs hold no mercy for such things.

"So, you a big football fan?"

Doomwulf shrugs her shoulders, sitting back in her seat and looking over the stadium curiously. "Ah like to watch and play sports in general, though ma' hometown didn't have much ta offer, that and ma' quirk didn't make things exactly fair."

Ah, true, you suppose she is rather unbalanced in that regards. You don't know the balancing of the ASH team come to think of it. Quirk-football works on a weight class system from what you remember, basically you are sent through a series of qualifying matches and using that in addition to an algorithm you are placed in a 'weight class' in regards to how strong your team is. Then you face off against teams in a similar class.

It's not something you ever paid an incredible amount of attention to, but free entertainment is free entertainment at the end of the day. You relax and look about the stadium as people file in, there's a good crowd, though you suppose that is to be expected for the first game of the year. The field is already crowded, ground crews working to make sure everything is ready while the cheerleaders get their reps down.

A booming voice comes over the stadium's PA system a few minutes later to answer your question as to their weight class. "PLEAAAASE WELCOOOOME. Your Heavyweight Divisional Champions, the Ashen Stingers!

With a raucous cheer and more than a little fireworks the team comes running out of their tunnel onto the field. You don't recognize a single one of them, though they are all higher years so that is to be expected.

"Ain't that the knight chick?" Doomwulf asks before pointing to a figure jogging in the back. She's notable shorter than the rest of the team and you don't remember her actual name well enough to know if the name printed on the back is the same. But the general build and hair is the same, though the armor is missing, it looks like Cavalier.

"Maybe?"

You watch as they all jog onto the field and go into a series of warm-ups. "Maybe she joined up with the team? Or was invited before she joined? Weird that she was in the Hero Training though if that was the case."

"Dunno, maybe she's doing both?"

You lean forward as you watch their practice, who knows. Though you sincerely doubt her partner, Blueprint, is playing football.

The second team is introduced a good five minutes later, and both teams practice and stretch before the game begins with another massive show of pyrotechnics. It's Charlotte's ball first, and they get into formation after the kickoff. It's quite a myriad display of quirks down there. Long arms, animal legs, large bulky frames that looks like they belong more on a truck than on a man.

"What's she doin'?"

Doomwulf points off to the backfield where Cavalier is crouched in a sprinters pose, a good twenty to thirty yards behind the defensive line.

"I… have honestly no idea."

Her head is bowed, the golden helmet gleaming in the sun. With every shout on the field her stance gets more rigid until.

"HUTT!"

Two things happen at once, for starters, the defensive line clears out of the way to open a path to the center, the center defensemen standing there looking rather awkward as he realizes he has nobody to block. The second is with the sound of a thunderclap she takes off, her rigid stance unwinding like a coiled spring. She leaves a streak of golden embers trails in her wake as she collides with and goes straight through the offensive lineman. Sending him tumbling through the air and into the quarterback.

If she was bothered at all by the collision she doesn't show it, Cavalier sprints down the field until she comes to a skidding stop just in front of the end zone, the golden light fading as she kneels down once again.

You… suppose that's one way to get a sack.

Stephanie lets out a cheer and elbows you in the ribs with a cheeky grin. "Bet'ya the English homework that the Stingers win."

You look at her, then back to the quarterback that is currently about twenty yards behind the line of scrimmage.

---

[Accept the Bet]


---

[Tell her about a teacher - Morrigan]

"That's good, can you tell me about your teachers?"

You lean over the railing and watch the students below. "I've got quite a few, though all are rather… eccentric. Well, that's unfair. Some are boring, but those who are eccentric are *really* eccentric."

You feel a smile coming to your face as you decide which teacher to tell her about. "Like the magical talking butterfly that lives in shadows and leaves me presents."

"Son?"

"Yeah, a being of magic and darkness. The only hint of her existence being faint shadow and the wisps of ephemeral golden light that liken to the lantern of the lampad."

"Dylan?"

You push back from the railing and step over to the wall, looking over the forest in the process. "She speaks to me telepathically from what I gather, but she is quite friendly, and she teaches the darkest and most forbidden of all arts."

There's dead silence on the line as you pause. You wait it out a few moments. "History."

…

"Dylan, just because you are eighteen and in college does not mean I've lost my right as your mother to whip your ass."

"Love you too mom. I'll visit by the end of the month, I know little Josh is missing me."

You hear a familiar wailing in the background, the scream of the damned and soon to be. Or the cry of a baby that just filled its diaper. The only real difference is that in one of those situations 'the damned' describes your parent.

"He's not the only one, keep calling, okay sweetie?"

"Of course. How's dad?"

The conversation from there devolves into 'how's the house' talk. Your mother can be… clingy, but she's still the best mother you could ask for. She will probably bug the crap out of you if you don't visit every so often, though.

- - -

"Right, my turn?"

Doomwulf nods, standing across from you with her hand on her hip. "Just do what ah did."

You take a deep breath and step forward, one hand moves around to grasp at the side of her neck while you move your left leg forward. Then as fast as you can you kick your right leg ahead and through the gap, hooking it to pull at her left ankle th-

Doomwulf twists on the spot, her legs closing around yours and twisting you to the side. Her neck bends away and two gloves hands wrap around your arm, with a fierce tug she sends you sailing off balance and into the tasty dirt for the eighth time today.

"Ah feel ah should also teach ya how ta' counter restraining moves."

As you lay there face first in the grass and think over her betrayal, only one thing comes to mind. "You are an *awful* partner."

Stephanie snorts. "Probably, but ya did ask fer this. Now try again, yer getting better."

You did not, in fact, get better.

- - -

[Accept the Bet] - (71) Failure

You shrug your shoulders. "Sure why not." Frankly, you don't know enough about football to tell which team is better, I mean, one quarterback nearly got thrown through the uprights but violence is the order of the day really.

You turn back to the field, watching as the teams line back up. You note that Cavalier is lined up well behind the rest of the defense again.

"HUTT!"

BOOM

...

The rest of the game went about as well for Charlotte, in that they were smacked around like a preschool team. Football is gloriously violent, and unfortunately for the opposing team it seems the Stingers are quite adept at violence in all forms. At the very least nobody got seriously injured, though you *do* wonder if your quirk is any good at healing concussions.

"Well, that was a spectacle." You say as you push the door to the dorm room open. You lean to the side as Doomwulf pushes past you with the large box in her arms. The school saw fit to give you some 'gifts' for coming to the first game of the season. Jerseys, pennants, a poster, basically they gave you propaganda so you would think fondly of the team.

… At the very least you have some stuff to put on your walls.

"Was fun ta' watch at least, don't think ah've ever seen a field implode like that, and now ah don't have ta' do that awful English homework."

Indeed, it appears you chose the losing horse. Not like you had much in the way of anything else to do however.

You step in after her and walk into the living room, Doomwulf dumps the box onto the couch and starts to pull out the contents curiously. The sun is now halfway done setting. The game, as expected, having taken up the majority of your day. Still, it was entertaining and might be worth doing again in the future if it comes up.

You are just beginning to look at one of your posters when your card dings you with an alert. Both of yours do in fact. You pop it out of your pocket and take a look, flashing across the screen is a single message.

*'Greetings students, please prepare for your first partner based test tomorrow at 7PM. Attendance is Mandatory'*

…

"What's that about?"

Doomwulf stares a moment longer before stuffing the card back into her pocket. "No idea, though ah think we just lost our evenin' tomorrow. Now help me out, 'bout half this crap is yours."

The rest of your evening is spent packing away the stuff, you don't particularly care to, or have, the energy to hang all this crap up. But at the very least now you have some shirts to wear when you know you're going to be ruining some clothes, though you're sure your other shirts will be envious of all the grass stains.

Stephanie already had the same idea, she spends the rest of the evening wearing one of the jerseys while painting in her room, having apparently decided damaging the free shirt by accident is far better than hurting anything actually nice. Or, god forbid, the school uniform, you've already had fun trying to figure out how to clean that thing.

For your part you spend the evening relaxing on the couch with a book, not studying, just reading for pleasure. Yet even as you do so you can't help but think of the week past, and the week to come. This marks the end of your first official week at the ASH and you can honestly say it is… manageable. It's pleasant and comfortable, even if you still have no idea what you are actually doing here.

Though you are still rather curious about that test tomorrow. You know they push the partner angle rather hard, but you didn't expect them to test you on it. Well, you did, just not so soon. You are more than a little curious as to what that is about.

As you relax on the couch you find your mind wandering mostly onto the upcoming week, test besides, and you plan out what you want to do.

 

[Erien]

[X] [Do Doomwulf's Homework] (One week time limit, Aka: Two Phases)

[X] [Look into this partner test]

[X] [Attend Partner Test]

Thanks to Armoury for the beta!

- - -

Right… time to work on Doomwulf's and your own homework. "Bring out your homework, though if you think you won't be doing at least some of this yourself you are wrong. I'll do the writing but you need to learn this, I don't need you to get dependant on me."

"Ah didn't plan on ya doin' all of it. The teacher ain't no big fan of my penmanship or vernacular." Stephanie steps out, the jersey she was gifted already a bit stained with what looks to be blue paint. One hand rest on her hips while the other is carrying the rather large imposing book you recognize immediately to be your English textbook.

"Not a fan of your dulcet southern tones?"

"More like she has a stick up 'er ass the size of a thesaurus." Stephanie walks across the room and flops down across from you. The lamp is still on in her room over the desk, with several models atop it. Left there to dry you imagine.

"She's… dedicated." The words sound like a lie even to yourself even as you utter them.

"To drivin' me crazy ya, ah've barely known her a week an' already she ticked me off. I write perfectly fine English, ah just use contractions more than she likes."

"Maybe try a triple contraction or two? She may explode from the sheer perversity of it all."

Doomwulf pauses, tapping the end of the pen against her cheek. "Ya know, that ain't a bad idea. Maybe for the first paper, ya know, before we really get started, ah should make an effort to be as southern as possible. See if it makes her explode in a fireball or somethin' equally dramatic."

"But can you fire a professor with tenure? Even if they explode?"

Doomwulf shrugs her shoulders, a grin you have grown quite familiar with coming across her face. "Ah dunno, worth a try. What's the homework about? Only had a chance glance at it. Been mostly gettin' the Math and Science work done."

"Well…" You crack open the book and take a look. Hmm, it's a thankfully short assignment actually. "Diagramming sentences, the same thing we've… or I've been doing since middle school."

"Seriously? More writin' analysis?"

You set the book onto the lap and grab your pencil. "Well it is general education, there isn't a whole lot else it could be beside composition and rhetoric. Though we'll probably have a research paper by the end of the course."

Doomwulf slams her head back into the couch with a groan and stares up at the ceiling as if it could tell her lost and forgotten wisdom. Unfortunately, the off-white ceiling tells no such secrets, merely staring back at her with all the force plaster can summon. Truly, it is a battle of wills, one that your partner loses if the shaking of her head is any indication.

"At least it is free?"

She closes her eyes a moment and draws in a deep breath. "Least it is free yeah, ah'll get to work on finishin' up the math homework."

"Still simple work at least, though if you are worried about your 'vernacular' wouldn't the teacher notice if I'm the one writing it anyway?"

Your partner starts to jot down some notes on the pad besides her, the same giant one she takes to every class. "Doubt it, not for diagramming if that's all we got, 'sides ah won't ever have ya write a paper. Even if ah doubt she is really paying attention' all that much it wouldn't be proper." She pops the tip of the pen in her mouth and grins cheekily, her tail whipping against the pillows of the couch. "'Sides, if the teacher notices anything ah'll say a human ate my homework."

"Your magnanimity is only matched by your humbleness and subtlety, truly I am blessed to have such a partner."

"Ah know, right? Yer so lucky ah dragged you out of the fire during that test, must've made 'em think we were a match." There's a bit of 'DOOMWULF' bleeding into her tone there, and a huge grin splitting her face in two.

"I assume you were just going to slap the aliens to death with your dislocated ar-..." You blink slowly, looking down at the schoolwork, then at her. "I swear we've had this exact conversation before."

She sticks out her tongue then gets back to writing on her notepad. "Yep, an' ah won last time. Much like ah won the bet, so get to work over there."

… Yes, your wolfness.

- - -

"You know, you are just about the slowest riser I've ever seen in a farm girl."

Doomwulf, or rather, Stephanie is nursing the cup of black coffee like it is her only lifeline on a sinking ship. The glare she shoots you is remarkably ineffective, as at the moment she reminds you more of a tired puppy than an angry teenager. "Aaah had to getup at four in the mornin' to let the animals out. Then ah gotta start the chores. I can an' will abuse this chance for sleep whenever ah get it, fuck ya very much."

"Is that why I heard your phone going off until one in the morning last night?"

Her eyes narrow further to the point they appear almost fully closed. "Ya heard nothing."

"False, I heard a lot of things. Now, what do you want in your breakfast burrito?"

- - -

The first class of the day is English, and so far the teacher has spent the majority of the time going over the weekend's homework instead of… you know, actually bothering to teach anything. She makes a show of using a fine quill pen dipped in red ink, an actual feather pen. The tip of it scratching on the page as you and the rest of the class sit there awkwardly.

You didn't even know they still made those. Much less that they were practical.

"Mr. Gramslaw?" the teacher calls out and looks over the assembled class before pointing him out with a figure. Gramslaw, or as you know him, Ranger, stands up from his desk with a remarkably worried expression. You haven't seen much of him since the initiation was over, not that he wasn't around just… he doesn't honestly stand out near as much without the cowboy hat. He at least, however, is not alone in looking nervous. Poor Kros in the back looks damn near ready for a panic attack, though you suppose with her grasp on the language that is to be expected. That isn't true for all, however, Mountebank…Florence, looks rather bored, as does Astrapios… Alexios... Lightning Lad, wait, which one was his hero name again?

"You used the wrong punctuation here and frankly your use of commas is simply disgusting. I'm not sure how you managed to get a simple sentence analysis this wrong." She is speaking far louder than she probably needs to, and if the blush on Ranger's face is any indication he's not particularly enjoying the treatment.

She eventually releases him from his torment with his paper in hand, her eyes scanning the room before landing on her next vict- student. "Ms. Clarkson?"

Her tail is as still as a scolded dogs and her ears are folded much the same as Stephanie walks the tile mile to the teacher's desk. Of course, that's just her animal bits, beyond that she makes a show of looking remarkably calm. The Doomwulf persona at work, you suppose. The teacher takes the papers out of her hands and lays them across the desk, critical eyes going over them in turn.

"It seems your grammar at least has shown signs of improvement, minuscule but it is there. Fine work, I shall assign you with work better fitting of your improved skills in the future, Ms. Clarkson." Any happiness that the passing mark may have given Doomwulf is quickly and particularly cruelly ripped away by the announcement of more challenging work in the future. You admittedly aren't the best at reading people, but as Stephanie walks past your desk you can see a clear message of 'help me you fucker' in her eyes. You'll have to think about it, gambling is wrong after all.

A good half dozen students later…

"Mr. Evans?"

You step away from your own desk and carry the papers over, the teacher going over them in short order. "Hmm, passing. Though your work is rather… vanilla. I'm afraid I lack a word that suits you."

The fact that your work is near identical to Doomwulf yet you are the one getting complained about is amusing. Yet you cannot still help but hate this woman.

- - -

History in comparison is far more peaceful.

"And that will conclude today's lessons, I'm afraid there will not be any homework tonight due to the partner test, good luck. I'm also proud to announce there is a special program coming up!"

Morrigan is as happy as ever. Flitting from one of the room to the other as she teaches. She's probably your favorite teacher, at least so far. More due to the fact of how helpful she is and how nice she is as a teacher. None of them are particularly… bad. Well, Alva is too excitable and Omnilinguist clearly just does not give a single shit about her student's happiness. But Morrigan is just frankly pleasant to be around.

"The most successful students in this class will accompany me on a field trip to the quirk rights monument in Virginia, this will be a multiple day excursion where you are excused from schoolwork. Study hard!"

You watch the students file out of class, Doomwulf not bothering to wait for you as this is where your Monday splits. You in Quirk Research, her in Media Relations. Morrigan is setting some papers aside on her desk. By that, you mean that some papers are seemingly floating on the desk, a faint crinkle in the paper the only sign they are being handled at all as students walk by, at this point numb to her butterfly shenanigans.

Once the last one has walked out you approach the desk, adjusting your bookbag on your shoulders as you do so. "Morning." Your tone is awkward, but then again talking to teachers is always awkward, even to one as friendly as Morrigan.

The papers stop moving and the butterfly pauses in its movements, then like someone hit the play button the process continues. "Oh good morning Mr. Evans, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I was just hoping if I could ask you a question or two?"

The butterfly flaps in the air a moment before landing onto the desk. The chair behind the desk creaking a little as weight is shifted on it. "Oh? Would this be about the partner test?"

"... Yes."

She giggles, the sound remarkably similar to a tiny bell ringing. "Oh don't be so surprised, students approach me about them all the time. I'm afraid I cannot tell you too much, but for your first partner test, I wouldn't be too worried. After all, you are still getting to know each other!"

Ah, you suppose that would make sense, still… hopefully, she can answer some questions. "Can you still talk about them though?"

"Unfortunately I cannot say much, but what would you like to ask?

- - -

Choose One, questions vary in difficulty.

[X] [How often do these tests happen?]

[X] [How important are they?]

[X] [Any advice?]

- - -

Today is actually the first day you've gotten lunch without your partner, in the interests of time you both agree to split up since you were going to two different complexes. Luckily they all have places to eat, even if none are quite as nice as the cafeteria under the dorm. The R&D cafeteria is… well, boring, compared to the rest of it. It fits the standards of 'cafeteria' and little else.

Still, it serves the same food as under the dorm, if more basic in choice, and you eat your fill before heading to your quirk research class.

- - -

Even with traveling for lunch you are apparently in class a bit early if the lack of participation is anything to go by. Only Paintball is there, Embla is apparently not here yet. The older student tosses you a brief wave before turning his head back to his textbook, apparently not much one for talking. He notably isn't wearing the uniform, instead just a pair of black pants and t-shirt revealing a long series of tattoos running down his arm, all military themed. You suppose he could be ex-military going by his age.

You are… surprised by the fact that he is so much older than you or the rest of the students, and he isn't the only one either. Admittedly he is only in his late twenties by appearance, but generally, for Hero Training they start as young as possible. So either he had been training for a while before the military, or he is here because of the military. Then again you basically tripped your way into here so who are you to judge.

He seems to care little for the standard uniform, but nothing in the regulations actually stated it was required so you suppose it's not so much being a delinquent as it is being comfortable. Frankly, you like the thing, it is something you can ruin without having to pay for it.

It's a few minutes lather that Cavalier, otherwise known as Joan, and Hologram… who you don't actually know the name of. He hadn't been picked by the time you were led out of the hall with Morrigan and frankly, you have never spoken to the guy. The few times you've seen him he's been with Blueprint, who you are sad to say, you don't know the name of either. They both take seats at the far end, Cavalier looks remarkably tired and Hologram looks rather bored.

He isn't bored for very long, however, as you all experience some form of cardiac disruption as a distressingly loud pneumatic hiss makes itself known as the wailing of a dying machine. The 'pillar' that the laboratory computers are planted on vibrates momentarily before the back of it swings open vertically, the top raising just high enough that it hits the roof and bounces slightly.

You hear a loud series of whirs and pops before a familiar figure steps out of it. You watch as Embla steps forward out of the various cords popping out of the back of her body before her 'skin' closes around it, some cables so thick you would mistake them for bore tubing, others merely bare wires, and one you swear is just an ethernet cable… you wonder what the WiFi standard is on robot girls.

The 'skin' finishes closing up her upper neck and lower shoulders before she turns around with a light smile on her face. "Welcome students, I am pleased to see you have all arrived on time."

"Today we shall be focusing on the most common form of quirk today, even if it is the most easily forgotten and ignored. Advanced Biokinesis. The act of the mutating human body being able to use their new abilities much like you would a limb or sensory organ." She steps around the pillar to stand in front of your desks, all of her arms resting in front of her clasped. Her voice is as unemotional as always, but the smile hasn't left her face. It's surprisingly natural, given how… unnatural the rest of her is. "While it may seem simple it is still a mystery how the body adapts to something that has no genetic history for them as a species."

She raises a hand and points at Hologram. "Student Demetrius, please explain the process of your quirk. How you deploy it."

His eyes widen a bit at being put on the spot. "Er… I. I just think of where I want my holograms to appear in my head and they do? I can tweak them the same way?" His accent is… difficult to place. It's American, that much is clear. But it is too American. It's the same style of speaking you would run into in older movies where Brits put on an American accent. Generic, painfully generic. Yankee?

Embla nods her head. "A knowledge of spatial awareness and design, and you can do this almost instinctively?"

"Ya." He says with a wave of his hand, a small figurine appearing on his desk as he does so.

Embla gestures behind her and one of the monitors come to life. It shows an older gentleman in profile, his arms covered in scales running down from his shoulder to his wrist. There's a decent mass of the missing in the center near the elbow, a large bloody welt showing where they aren't present. "This is Dominick Edwards, fifty-seven years old. He was believed to be quirkless until he was involved in a construction accident."

The display changes again to show a broken concrete wall, a large piece of metal jutting out of it.

"He was working when there a large piece of rebar fell off of an upper floor and went through this concrete wall that he was working behind. The blow by all accounts should have ended his life. Instead, per witness accounts, moments before impact he grew scales over 90% of his body and survived the blow."

The monitors cut to black as she turns to face the class again. "There was no evidence of Mr. Edwards having a quirk before this point, nor has he been able to manifest it since. It, while rare, is not unheard of for quirks to manifest themselves much later in life. However, this quirk activated almost instinctively and saved his life." The smile on her face fades to a flat expression. "Since the introduction of quirks we have witnessed a growth in human adaptability never before seen, while it is true that there are those who simply cannot control their quirks at all, they are few and far between. The goal of this class as stated is to understand what a quirk truly is. Now, please open to the first page of your booklet.

- - -

You step back into the dorm, evening PE was canceled… which means the R&D class ran overtime to use it. Whatever the test is this evening they don't want you to be overly tired before it, at least. That was what Embla was hinting at.

You drop your bags by the door to your room and look up to see Doomwulf shadow boxing near the window. Her feet shift back and forth rapidly as she throws a series of quick jabs at her imaginary opponent. "Is that boredom, pent up energy, or was the Media Relations class really that bad?"

She grins and throws another punch, the haymaker sending the ghost she was boxing to never-never land going by the speed behind it. "Neither. Ah mean, the class was boring, but ah'm just getting some work in since PE was canceled, wanna join me?"

… It appears Doomwulf is restless without her evening walkies.

Well, you got another hour until it's time for the partner test, and you have been sparring with her already.

[Prerequisite - Spar and Learn about Doomwulf - Pass]

With a grin you walk over and join her in her routine, not actually boxing her. She'd throw you around the room and destroy it in the process, but shadow boxing is just as good. Well, sort of as good. The point is you are exercising.

You exercised together for about half an hour before you both head out of the dorm in a spare uniform. There's a pleasant warmth in your muscles, not near enough for you to be sore, but enough that it won't suck going from 'sitting at a desk all day' to 'fighting giant alien bugs' or whatever they have you doing.

You head out of the room and into the elevator to make your way to the trams back to the Hero Complex. "I wonder when we will get an actual hero outfit?" You wonder aloud.

"Soon probably, every school I read about got it out of the way early. Though it ain't something ah've put much thought into to be honest."

The doors to the elevator open with a hiss and you both step out of it. "Really? Going by the whole 'Doomwulf' thing I expected a cape and an electric guitar."

She sniggers and punches you in the shoulder. "Doomwulf needs no flashy costume for hype. Doomwulf is the hype."

You both board the tram and head off to the Hero Complex.

- - -

You and the rest of the students enter the large white building to find it suspiciously empty. It's… different than the last time you were here as well. The general build is the same. Tall white walls with a domed ceiling, the whole thing feels honestly unstable ever since you realized it was an elevator. But instead of being entirely blank the walls house a series of large metal doors. Above them are black screens with two rows of text. Specifically, they display students names, partner sets. Yours isn't hard to find, room 13. Though seeing as how there are only ten of them it isn't a real challenge to begin with.

Nobody makes a move for the doors however, each student being at least disciplined enough to wait for further instructions.

… Those instructions being 'at 7 PM go to the VR simulation chamber and wait for further instruction.'

Once the last student arrives. (Doomwulf notable not feeling the urge to announce their arrival this time. Thank you.) A loud voice that… you don't recognize comes over the PA. It is young and deep, with a definite californian accent to it. "Students, this is Technomancer, I shall be overseeing your training today. Please report to your assigned rooms."

The crowd needs little more in the name of instruction and you follow your partner through the thick metal doors. You enter into a blank white chamber, very similar to the one you were in previously, though this one has two plinths with VR headsets on them. You feel a pit start to form in your stomach as you stare at them, a slight growing sense of queasiness and dread. Yeah, the injuries weren't permanent but that still doesn't mean it felt pleasant in any regard.

They are both set at opposite ends of the room with nothing else interesting to speak of.

The PA system, or rather Technomancer, shows no mercy to your plight. "Students please put on your headsets."

You glance over at your partner who has taken up position the other plinth. She gives you a thumbs up and smile and puts it over her head, well, you suppose you don't really have a choice in the matter. You take a position by your plinth and grab the headset, putting it over your head and surrendering your vision to darkness. In the background, you can hear the winding of gears and a faint hiss of gas before…

You are somewhere else.

- - -

Your vision returns almost violently, the bright white of the room returning to an almost painful degree. You don't know how long you were staring at the darkness. You shake your head, looking around. Wait, no, this… is the same room. Well, to an extent. The plinths are gone, as are notably the goggles on both of your faces. There's a thick plane of glass separating you both with a little concrete wall about two feet tall to support it.

Doomwulf is on the other side, her nose twitching as she looks around the room. It's… empty. The door is gone, along with anything else of note besides the lights. The PA speaks up again before you have a proper chance to panic or worry however. The voice is not Technomancer's this is fully synthesized and… disturbingly cheery sounding. "Welcome to test seventeen, you have approximately five minutes to escape the room into the next part of the test. Gas will now begin to enter the chamber. Good luck."

It's not Alva or Embla, and you aren't sure if that makes you feel better. You hear a faint hiss and small tubes jut out of the ceiling, a faint pink mist coming out of them. Out of the corner of your vision, you can see Doomwulf cough and cover her mouth, whatever it is clearly not playing well with her senses.

Right… no obvious exits. A very faint thump makes you turn around to see Doomwulf hitting the glass experimentally. Between her punching and the coughing, It's apparently thick enough that you can't even hear through it. Behind her, apparently beyond her notice is a small panel of buttons folding out from the wall upon which sit three buttons. Red, Green, and Blue.

What do you do?

- - -

Choose One.

[X] Check the padded floor.

[X] Gesture to the buttons.

[X] Attempt to break the glass.

[X] Try to stop the vents.

---

[X] How important are they?

[X] Gesture to the buttons.

- - -

[Pass]

"Unfortunately I cannot say much, but what would you like to ask?

You shift a bit uncomfortably as you find the best way to word this. "Well, this came up rather suddenly. My partner and I have thankfully settled in but this still took us by surprise, how… important to our grades and standings are these tests?"

The chair leans back a little, a faint creak coming from it as the shadow leans back into it. To be honest, you've figured at this point she is probably the shadow instead of the butterfly. But you still aren't entirely sure which of the two you should be looking at when having a conversation with her.

"I would not fret, while these tests are important, this is only your first one. These are meant to teach and assess your cooperation, teamwork, and trust. We do not expect you to have perfect camaraderie with your partner in the first week, but this will be a good gauge on what you need to work on."

You smile, no small amount of relief filling you. "So no getting kicked out of school if we fail?"

Morrigan giggles again. "Mr. Evans, if we kicked out every student who failed their early classwork we would hardly have a Hero Program at all, much less an R&D class. The first test for R&D is a joint project or invention, I've seen plenty killer toasters since I started working here and nobody gets kicked out for those."

"Killer… toaster?"

"Oh yes, killer toaster, a robotic washing machine. One poor student made a pair of jet-powered legs that he didn't manage to turn off until he hit Louisiana. It's always a fun day."

… Right so… do you want to watch that test? A question for later. "Right, well, I'd best be going to R&D myself for my classes. That first test of theirs isn't today is it?"

"Oh, no, not for another month at least, and they have their own grounds outside the campus for that."

Oh, good, your toaster and microwave is your only safe haven in the morning. You don't know what you would do if it attempted to eat you. Bidding goodbye to Morrigan you step outside the classroom and head to lunch.

- - -

Right… no obvious exits. A very faint thump makes you turn around to see Doomwulf hitting the glass experimentally. Between her punching and the coughing, It's apparently thick enough that you can't even hear through it. Behind her, apparently beyond her notice is a small panel of buttons folding out from the wall, upon which sit three buttons; Red, Green, and Blue.


Right, think. Blocking the vents would take too much time and you don't know how to filter out toxins from a system to begin with… if it even is a toxin. The padding may contain some secrets, but first you would rather go with the obvious option.

You slap your hand on the glass where Doomwulf is hitting it and point behind her with your other hand. You stab the finger against the glass repeatedly and make a point of looking behind her. She thankfully gets the hint, covering her mouth with her hand and turning around. She spots the buttons immediately thankfully and she runs over to them… it's at this moment you hope your wolf partner isn't colorblind.

She stabs a finger on the first button, red, and the hissing gets louder. The pink mist grows in intensity, the pink transitioning more to a dark and bloody red as a sickeningly sweet smell starts to fill the room. It reminds you of being dragged through the perfume aisle at the local mall when you were six, an overpowering smell that is hell on all the senses. Doomwulf isn't particularly enjoying it either, through the glass you can see her wracked by coughs as she holds onto the panel for support.

Then, you hear another hiss and part of the 'wall' below the glass flips around revealing a small digital display. It's at knee height, and on it are three colored squares, one Red, one Green, and one Blue. Below each are the numbers one through three.

Blue 1.

Green 2.

Red 3.

Alright, that's… an order, that much is obvious, what it will do is anybody's guess, but you don't have a ton of options at the moment. You glance from them to Doomwulf who is looking around the room somewhat frantically while covering her mouth.

If you could get the order to her she could try it…

- - -


*Four minutes remaining.*

---

You need to find some way to write and write quickly. But… there is nothing readily available for you to write with. You do not have your phone in the simulation, and they didn't leave a marker or pen for you around.

You could try to scratch the glass, but your partner is being more affected by the gas than you are. You clench your eyes shut and bite down as hard as you can on your thumb, a sharp stabbing pain almost makes you recoil immediately before the taste of warm iron fills you mouth.

You pull your mouth back with a hiss, a disgusting taste lingering as the bright red liquid starts flowing out of the middle of your thumb. You pound your right hand on the glass to get your partners attention. Then press your ring and thumb together to spread the blood around before you start writing with the ring finger.

It's slow going, the glass is a deceptively difficult writing surface. But thankfully you don't have a lot to write.

B1… G2… R3. You then point to the buttons behind her. At first, her face is aghast, mostly trying to figure out how in the hell you got injured, you imagine. Then she gets the hint, she turns on the spot and enters in the sequence quickly, the buttons lighting up before a soft chime sounds throughout the PA system.

The hissing stops and a loud fan juts out of the walls on either side of the chamber and blows the mist away, much to the obvious relief of your partner. You barely notice that instead focusing on your thumb, and healing away the superficial cut. With the sound of winding gears the wall in between you both starts to lower into the floor, Doomwulf hops over it just when it gets to chest height to land on your side. "Ya injured?"

You shake your head before holding up your bloody but healed thumb. "There was a display on my side that showed the combination but I had nothing to write with. I went with the quickest option."

Your partner grins. "Doomwulf is impressed, though perhaps be less rash next TII-" Her words raise drastically in pitch as the floor falls out from underneath you. The padded floor swinging away to reveal two large chutes between you both. The pull of gravity hits you immediately and you slam into the side of the chute before sliding down it. You are enveloped in darkness, your only company being the repeated thumbs of you hitting the side as it moves and curves around, then, what feels like minutes later you are dumped out again.

You land on another padded floor… and that's about the only thing this room you find yourself in has in common with the one you just left. You've fallen into a large expansive chamber, easily a hundred meters across in every direction. Ahead of you is a gaping pit that at least goes about half as far down, the bottom of it covered in sharp spikes. Across the other side of the pit, another good hundred meters or so away is the other end of the chamber, a large expanse of nothing in between… except for one route.

There's an obstacle course in between your side and the other. Jumps, a climbing wall, hanging ladders. The works. One slip and you are falling down onto the spikes and what you imagine to be the end of the test. On the other side is Doomwulf. The chute hanging from the… nothing a good dozen feet above her. Your paths must have diverged wildly while you were sliding down. Still, this should be simple enoug-

"Three minutes remaining students, don't fail me now!" Technomancer's voice booms over the chasm. Wait… they are still counting down? You look over at the obstacle course, it's not particularly difficult, but it will be awkward, will probably take at least two minutes. Enough time, but you'll have to hurry.

"Come on, we ain't got a lotta time!"

You nod, not responding as you run over to the obstacle course. You line up at the edge and prepare to jump the gap to the start… a good three-foot leap. Before you hear your partner's voice calling out again.

"What're ya doin!? Take the straight path ya idiot!"

You blink, looking over at Doomwulf. She's pointing widely a good twenty meters to the left of the obstacle course. To… empty space and spikes.

"What straight path?!"

She jogs to the edge and points directly across. Towards the opposite wall. "It's a straight shot, why are ya botherin' with the obstacle course?"

You stare at her, then down at the pit. You carefully kneel down and pat at the air where she is pointing, only to meet that… nothing. "There's nothing here!"

Doomwulf lets out a growl of frustration. "That's because your patting air ya idgit, it's a jump from the platform to the path. Come on!"

You look back up at her. Behind her is a large metal door that you can only imagine leads to the next area, on either side of it are two buttons… you would guess they both need to be pressed at the same time to open the door. Above the door is a large red digital timer.

2:45

You have to make a decision.

---

Well… you suppose she trusted you the last time. I mean, if she's wrong you fall onto a giant pit of spikes, are impaled repeatedly, and if you are extremely unlucky you bleed to death slowly. If she's right you move on to the next part of this test.

… Choices.

"Point it out for me, I can't see it!"

Doomwulf stands as close to the lip as she dares and points her arm straight across. "Ya got a jump between the platform and the path. 'Bout the same length as from you to the obstacle course!"

Alright, a literal leap of faith. You can do that.

You step back a good three to four feet, then take off. Your shoes clap against the floor and you leap the moment you hit the edge. You jump as far as you can, time seemingly slowly down as you sail over the pit of spikes and painful death. You reach your apex, then…

click

You stumble and fall forward, you feet landing on a hard surface. You stretch your hand forward automatically and scrape against hard flooring. It's rough and scrapes your hand as it skids across it, but you don't really care because you are currently *not* falling into a giant pit of spikes. You recover your footing carefully, then start running down the path.

"It's straight all the way across, try not ta' weave!"

"Oh, no. I was planning on ballet dancing across this thing!"

"Less talkin' more running, ya got another gap between the edge and where ah am, jump when I tell ya!"

You sprint down the invisible path, every contact of your foot to it a blessing in a way you never thought about before. When you get about five meters away Doomwulf leans forward then outstretches her hand.

"Now when ah say…. JUMP!"

You take off the moment she says the word. For a single heart-stopping moment you feel your foot curl over the lip of the path, before pushing off and sailing forward. You have more than enough momentum from the sprint to land a good foot onto the platform and stumble forward. Doomwulf catching and steadying you before you can faceplant onto the floor. "Ya alright?"

You nod, taking in a deep breath. "Yeah, just thankful I didn't turn into a human pincushion."

"Ah wouldn't do that to ya, need ya to help me open the door." She jerks a thumb behind her to the two panels.

"How very kind, now let's get moving before we run out of time."

You both run to either side of the door and slam your hands onto the buttons on either side of the door. There is a loud hiss and the clanking of metal, before the door opens sideways, the two large metal blocks that make up the door sliding back into the wall. It reveals a large circular chamber, probably a good fifteen meters all around with a tall domed ceiling. It's a lot like the chamber you first walked into before you walked into your little VR rooms… though about half as big maybe.

"Two minutes remaining students!"

You glance up at the timer, 1:59… not a lot left.

"Come on, let's see what they got fer us." Doomwulf steps into the chamber and you follow after. Your feet echo in the expansive chamber as you walk, your head turning this way and that as you try to figure out what they have left for you after the previous two showings.

You both stop once you reach the center, there are no other doors… or anything else of note really. "What, they forget the rest of the tes-"

Stephanie's comment is cut off when the floor starts shaking. It's like when the floor started rising to take you to the VR chambers, but this is… heavier. More violent. And less of a rumble, more of a-

*Thump-thump-thump-thump, CRASH*

The wall across from you explodes in fragments of broken concrete and drywall. A large metal fist jutting out of it that crushes its way down to the floor. It withdraws, then two large robotic hands shoot out and smash the wall open wider on either side. A large head poking through moments later.

You both watch as a giant humanoid robot pulls itself into the chamber, it towers at more than a dozen feet tall, the concrete falling off it like styrofoam as it moves. You shoot a glance over to your partner. "Why would you say that?"

Doomwulf shrugs and knocks her fists together. She hunches forward a little, and between blinks, her eye shines golden. "Doomwulf was hoping a fight would be part of this test."

The robot pulls itself the rest of the way into the arena. It's vaguely human looking, it's arms are a series of pistons ending in two large metal fists, while its head is little more than a tall cylinder with a single red flashing light in the center.

It stands there motionless, then you hear a loud beep as it's 'eye' briefly flashes an even brighter red. Doomwulf for her part takes that to be the start gun, she launches herself forward, her claws outstretched and slicing at it's metal legs as she slides underneath it. The sound of tearing metal sounds out as she tears straight through a piston and slices through several cables. The robot bends to the side, the metal shifting and tearing as it loses the support of that leg. Doomwulf leaps back, her claws dripping with black fluid as she stares at the giant.

It doesn't move, at least not for several moments. Then with the sound of snapping cables and bending metal, it starts to right itself. The metal she cut through regrowing before your eyes as it regenerates. Mid-motion it spins its entire torso on the spot, it's right fist rocketing out towards your partner and forcing her to dodge out of the way. A large crater left behind in the floor where its metal fists impacted. The robot's head snaps to Doomwulf, its single eye glowing brighter as Doomwulf's hackles raise.

"Is that all you have!? Doomwulf is unimpress-"

You hear a bang like a gunshot and the left fists rockets forward with an explosion of fire, it impacts Doomwulf dead on and sends her flying across the arena with a yelp. She bounces several times before landing on the floor in a heap of crooked limbs. Is… is she?

She glows blue briefly, then fades away.

There's another beep as the eyes flashes again before the head turns towards you.

… Oh dear.

It turns it's torso back around before rising the rest of the way up. You barely have time to raise your hands before the fist collides with you as well, you have little in the way of agility that Doomwulf does. At the very least the death is quick… and notably temporary. The pain, what little there was of it due to how fast the blow was, fades quickly, and you blink as you find yourself at the door to the 'arena' again. The robot is standing at the far end near the hole it made, its left arm reattaching before your very eyes, while Doomwulf is standing beside you.

"Did… we just respawn?"

Doomwulf nods, looking around the room a moment before focusing on the robot. "It would seem to Doomwulf that we have multiple chances, I would recommend staying clear, it is fast."

I… don't.

She growls and launches herself forwards, a familiar beep sounding from the robot as the fight begins again.

---

Right… think.

With a loud crash Doomwulf collides with the robot again, drawing it away as she transitions from her usual 'break the shit out of it' to 'hit and run' tactics. Despite its size, the robot moves swiftly, enough so to keep up with Doomwulf. Each blow of its fists is only being dodged by the narrowest of margins by Stephanie once it really gets going. Still, it doesn't seem like it is going together with the rocket fist again, she is able to move too freely on the ground for that to happen.

The arena is barren, the doors are gone and there is nothing laid about except the rubble of the 'entrance' it made. The hole beyond is pitch black and you cannot see through it. By game logic that whole section is probably out of bounds. You are in the boss battle after all.

"Doomwulf shall not fall so easily this time!"

You look back to the fight to see Doomwulf crouched low before the wall. The robot raises both hands, firing them with a 'bang' that rings in your ears. With a growl Doomwulf leaps forward as well, diving over the deadly barrage and transitioning into a slide between her opponent's legs. Black mechanical ichor and electrical sparks come out with her as she rolls back up onto her knees.

If the robot is bothered by the damage it doesn't show it. Cut wiring and tubing pulls back into the machine as it reels its fists back in. It's 'guts' repairing themselves as it turns around to face your partner again. It's red eye flashes briefly before the fists shoot forward again.

*Bang Bang BANG BANG*

It punches rapidly, leaving small craters in the ground each time as Doomwulf jerks and dodges to the side of each blow that rains upon her. She is pushed back by every near miss and the robot presses the advantage. It's heavy steps advanced towards her and by extension you.

You take off, sprinting to the right side of the arena as Doomwulf is pushed back. You would like to help your partner, but you are nowhere near as skilled in combat as she is, nor do you think any of the restraining techniques Doomwulf taught you will be of help here.

Doomwulf leaps back and finds herself pressed against the metal door. She jerks her head from side to side, then dives to the right as another fist comes sailing down to collide with the metal door, denting it dramatically.

"Is that all you GO-"

Doomwulf yelps and ducks to the side as it spins in place, the fist sliding against the wall and smacking her in the side. Your partner goes tumbling across the ground, the force of the blow enough to send her bouncing across the ground like a rock across a lake. When she finally comes to a stop she lays there motionlessly. Her tail twitches once, twice, then another fist come down to impact the floor. She thankfully fades away before it hits, whether that is design feature of mercy, or whether the robots smack is *really* that dangerous is anyone's guess. Nor is it something you particularly care about finding out.

Satisfied with its squishing of your partner the robot turns around to face you.

… Oh dear.

- - -

*One Minute Remaining*

Alright… there's nothing useful in the arena. You watch as with a clash of claws upon steel Doomwulf duels with the doom-bot. You feel remarkably useless, but combat isn't your specialty.

So… if there is nothing that can help in the arena, what about the robot itself.

Focus. It isn't human, you know nothing about machines. But is it humanoid, and that means that it shares structural weaknesses. Pistols and hydraulic cables support the legs and arms respectively, While it's back is covered by a large white plate. You can make out hints of cables and more underneath it.

Well, the main components are probably in the most protected area, as it is with most important machines. Of course, you have no way of getting to that yourself. Its main strengths are its speed and regenerative capabilities. Doomwulf can certainly hit hard, but she cannot seem to damage it permanently. So you are either going to need to find a way around the robot, or find a way to do enough damage that it cannot regenerate… or turn off its regeneration to begin with.

It launches its fist again at her, a jet of flame shooting out of the back that drives it forward into the ground where Doomwulf was standing. Thick cables hang from it to the arm, with a rapid winding it pulls it back. It's too fast for Doomwulf to cut through without getting whacked by the returning appendage face. If she could cut through it.

It's times like this when you wish you had more options for combat. Still, you owe your partner an effort.

---

Right, you have a plan. It's quite possibly a *stupid* plan. But it is a plan nonetheless. "Doomwulf!"

Your partner looks over to you and you wave your hand to beckon her over. Nodding she leaps back a good dozen feet, another fist crashing in front of her as she narrowly dodges out of the way before she leaps again over to you. The doombot apparently does not feel like chasing her. The fist pulling back as it stands at the far end of the arena. The only sound coming from it is the faint rumbling of an engine and the whirring of gears you cannot see through its upper armor. Faint scratches in its armor are the only marks of Doomwulf's attack… though to be fair she's been wary of its speed since their first clash. She's yet to go for another big attack like she did the first time around. Unfortunately, if you want to work around that regeneration, you're going to need a big hit.

It repairs quickly, and the damn thing is *fast*. So you'll need to work together to actually take a chunk out of it… and you think you have a plan.

Doomwulf skids to a stop beside you. "Ready for your turn?" Her voice is rougher and has lost most of its accent, as is the case when she goes full 'Doomwulf.'

"Not even slightly, but I do have an idea."

Doomwulf grins and looks back at the robot. "Finally, Doomwulf was curious as to when you would get involved."

"Sorry, I was having too much fun watching you get your ass ki-"

"45 SECONDS REMAINING, STUDENTS!" The sharp voice of the PA interrupts you mid-snark. You almost comment on its rudeness before realizing there's something else you should be focusing on right now.

You reach out and grab Doomwulf's arm. Your quirk, already healing her minor scrapes, automatically kicks into overdrive. Even when it misses, the robot it kicks up enough rubble to litter her body with small cuts, but healing is not the goal this time. "I am buffing you." $Focus$. The effects are not visible, but you know from initiation that they work.

"The robot, when throwing its fist its eye glows red briefly. If you were to attack during this time you would be turned into paste. Inadvisable."

"Doomwulf has noticed, but hasn't been able to get close eno-

"I will be your distraction. If you can assault its knee we can take out a form of movement, giving us at least some small advantage. I don't fully know how my buff works, but with my distracting it you should be able to get a good hit in." You glance up at the clock. Thirty-seven seconds. "Go." You sprint forwards, your partner pausing only momentarily before running off to the right. The robot stands motionlessly, at least for a few moments.

"Come on, you overgrown calculator!" You grab a piece of rubble and throw it as hard as you can, the rock spinning several times in the air before bouncing off of its front armor with a pathetic clink. With a loud whir the robot steps forward and rears back its arm, its eye beginning to glow. If you're right then you need to dodge…

Now! With the sound of a gunshot it slams forward, the fist impacting the ground just a foot in front of you. Your training was only enough to give you the instinct to leap backwards.

Yet the air is not your domain. You hear the pop of a rocket and the second fist shoots forward. You twist to the best of your ability, turning just enough see Doomwulf running in on all fours. Her feet hands and feet bounding against the ground like a sprinting horse. That's the last thing you see before the fist collides with your legs and sends you tumbling through the air. Your flight is short lived and you bounce against the flooring several times before landing in a heap.

...Ow.

- - -

You open your eyes again, only to see a blue flash of light as Doomwulf forms in front of you. "You as well?"

Your partner grunts and pulls herself up. "Doomwulf has grown tired of this bucket of bolts."

The robot is… actually damaged. Sparks and oil spurt out of its right knee. It's hunched over and you watch the metal attempt to form back to shape before falling away again. It's hurt, but who knows how long that will last for.

Doomwulf grins before wincing and rubbing her jaw. "Doomwulf sliced along its joints while you took the blow. It is now crippled, though for how long Doomwulf cannot say."

Well, at least that's some advantage.

---

[X]

Plan Double team v. 2
-[X] No time for anything fancy; you buff Doomwulf, then distract the robot by running around it and veering toward it. Keep moving and shift the robot's view away from Doomwulf as she attacks its knee before you get splatted. Throw a rock as you approach it when she does this. Then you double team it to finish it off.


- - -

"Well, I'm officially out of ideas. Buff and smash?"

Stephanie cracks her neck and smashes her fists together before holding out her hand to you. "Same plan, go for broke."

18

You grab her hand, the buff taking effect quickly, her posture grows more hunched and her breathing deep. As she flexes her wrists you can see the claws grow longer

"GO!"

You both take off in a sprint, you straight ahead, Doomwulf running off to the right. It is still down at least part of a leg, that should hopefully give you at least some slim advantage. Slim but workable.

16

You lean forward as you run, scooping up a stone in the process. You slam your feet into the ground, your feet sliding on the smooth ground before you launch your arm forward, the rock sails through the air before bouncing off its torso with a clink.

"Well, come on already!" you shout, crouching in preparation. "Let's see if you've got the sprockets for another round!"

A loud whirring fills the arena as it swivels to face you. It's red eye flashing as it attempts to stand, sparks shooting out of its leg in the process. It's fist rears back… alright, so as long as you keep at least some form of distance you can only worry about one.

14

With a loud bang the fist rockets forward. It weaves through the air, cables twisting behind it as it homes in on your location. Alright, it gets just a bit faster right before...it… hits… NOW. You leap to the side and are sent spinning through the air for your efforts. The fist flies past you with some force, the wave of air alone is enough to send you tumbling out of control.

"DOOMWULF HAS HAD ENOUGH!"

You roll as you land and force yourself back up into a kneel.

10

With a heavy slash, Doomwulf lashes through yet more of the thick joint, like a woodsman bringing down a tree. She slices through tubes and joint alike, prompting a spray of oil. Doomwulf grins madly at this, before shoving a severed wire into the oily mess, sparks flying from the highly electrified wire. The result is as destructive as it is awesome, catching in the oil that coats the robots knee, and alighting in a brilliant patella pyre. Doomwulf leaps away as the fire melts through the tubes that pump the oil.

Bereft of piston fluid, its knee a slashed up mess, and, oh yeah, on fire, the robot's leg finally give out, sending it teetering downward.

With a growl Doomwulf re-takes the initiative, her claws scraping against the floor before she charges forward again.

A loud whir attracts your attention and the cables of the fist start pulling back.

"Oh no you don't!"

5

You dive forward and grab the cables, the machinery whining slightly as you dig your feet into the ground. It's a wasted effort, you are only slowing it and then only partially. But you… have to...give your....partner… time! "GRHAAAAAAAA!"

The last thing you see is Doomwulf sailing through the air, claws outstretched as she leaps for the leg again, then… everything goes white.

0.

- - -

Your vision fades back in, along with no small amount of pain. You, are back in the VR chamber laying on your back. The room smells of oil and pungent sweat, your suit is damp and you can feel phantom pain running up and down each one of your limbs. You draw in a deep breath, spots in your vision fading away as you remember to breath, the action is mimicked seconds later by your partner who is in the same position on the other side of the room.

You press your elbow into the padded floor, forcing yourself up at least partially. Your vision swims. "'What happened? Did we win?" Your voice sounds groggy even to you.

Doomwulf raises a hand in a thumbs up, not bothering to get up herself. "Ah think we did"

"Good." You reply, feeling a rather sickening pull at the bottom of your stomach. "I knew we could take him."

With a loud hiss you hear the door behind you opens, though for some reason you are in no great hurry to walk through it. Instead, you feel the urge to make good friends with this floor as you feel another wave of nausea run through you.

Your partner groans off to your right and struggles up to her feet. The monster, she is attempting to set some form of example, how dare she, doesn't she know her partner is dying? She gets up onto her knees before shakily rising up to your feet. One hand goes up to rub at her head as she looks around. "Did ya get the number of the truck that ran me over?"

"It was some form of killbot actually." You hold out your hand and she grasps it before tugging you up with a sharp yank an- ohgodyourstomach!

Nope nope nope, bad dinner, you stay in there, we do not need you visiting right now.

"Coooome on out students!" A familiar voice sounds through the open doorway, Technomancer. You glance up at your partner and nod, causing her to loosen her grip on your hand. You both turn around and hobble out of the door.

You enter a room different than before, something you are rather tired of to be honest. It looks like some form of tech lab; monitors line the walls, each displaying video footage of the test you were just in… and a few places you weren't. Standing in front of them and leaning back against a desk is a tall man in a long black trench coat and sunglasses. He is still dressed like a bad science fiction movie, the black hair slicked back on top of his head is at odds with the scruffy white beard that starts at his chin and goes a good distance down his neck.

"Weeeelcome students." He says with a grin before clapping his hands. All the monitors flash to static briefly before returning to video recordings of your test in particular. The gas room, the pit, the robot fight. "I must say congratulations, you are one of eight teams that made it to the robot, and one of three that actually managed to hurt it!" He makes a show of raising his hands and clapping them together, leather fingerless gloves making the sound more annoying than congratulatory.

His smile turns to sardonic as he continues. "You both failed miserably."

Wait… what?

He jerks a thumb behind him and one of the video displays starts to play audio.

"Well, come on already! Let's see if you've got the sprockets for another round!" Your voice comes out of the display, a recording of what you said no more than a few minutes ago. He clasps both of his hands together then shoves them forwards towards Stephanie. "Your partner is not a combat specialist, why is he throwing himself in harm's way?"

Doomwulf blinks. "Er… we agreed that he should distract the robo-"

"Nooope! That's the wrong answer, I am afraid you have lost the final round of Jeopardy, would you like to try again?" Your partner jerks back like she has been slapped, but the teacher continues.

"Your partner came up with that plan on his own and you went with it, both horrible mistakes. if this was a real life scenario he would not get to come back, he died four times, and you would have never beaten that machine without the injuries that you both died in order to deal to it." He un-clasps his hands to lean back against the desk again. "That is not his job, nor is it yours to go into mindless rampages instead of looking for alternate solutions."

"She was not going into a mindless rampage, we weren't exactly prepared or had time to make a pla-" Every screen in the rooms blanks out, and you are drowned out by a wave of static hissing. Technomancer glares at you as the noise fades away and clips of your fight reappear.

"Tough shit." The screens behind him change, each showing a different moment of your death. "You want to be heroes? You think on your feet. Investigate, learn, plan, and stay alive. You abused the respawn system, and you would both be dead now if it wasn't for that. Every student will be having mandatory combat classes this weekend. Dismissed."

He then turns back to the displays, seeing fit to completely ignore you.

Your partner turns on the spot and walks out of the room in a huff, and after a moment of staring at his back you follow her.

… Dick.

- - -

You open your eyes and stare at the white ceiling, your body is still sore. You aren't sure why, but it is. VR training was just that; VR, yet the muscle strain and beatings are apparently quite real even if you don't have the bruises to show for it.

You pull yourself out of bed with a groan and slink off into the showe- Huh.

The light is on in the main room, well, a floor lamp anyway. Across the couch are several textbooks, your partner must have gotten up a bit earlier than you to catch up on studying. Both of you crashed as soon as you got back to the dorm last night. "Stephanie?"

You reach up and knock on the door to the bathroom and get no response, you don't feel any humidity either. You carefully open the door to face… a dry bathroom. Well alright then. You head inside and take a shower. First thing on today's agenda is Math, which is already enough for you to want a rematch with old punchy. The scent of oil still covers you no matter how much you scrub at your skin, you aren't sure what they are using to simulate that but it is pervasive.

You step back out of the bathroom with a sigh and move to the kitchen to start breakfast. Right, today will probably be just some toast and eg-

There's a note on the microwave, a little sticky note to be specific with writing you immediately recognize to be your partner's.

`Going out this morning, will see you in class.
-Stephanie.'

… Well alright then, you can get away with much smaller portions.

- - -

It appears from the look of class that you weren't the only one who feels a bit broken this morning. Half the class looks clobbered, and a few are barely awake at all. Though at least they are all here… save your partner. Her desk is conspicuously empty, though the class has only been going on for a few minutes at most.

If Planck cares he hardly shows it, he is going over a rather overly long word problem in an attempt to explain precalc. Truly the most exciting thing to be doing first thing in the morning. You are having difficulty concentrating admittedly, it is also only this morning you realised you don't actually have your partner's phone number.

Luckily you don't have to wait particularly long, the door at the far end of the room slides open to reveal a rather tired looking Doomwulf. She looks about the classroom a bit before silently making her way up the rows to her desk.

She slides into the desk with a grunt and leans her head back against the rest of the seat. Once again, if Planck is bothered by the interruption he doesn't show it, the class continuing on like normal. Though truthfully the man hardly ever seems bothered by anything, he always has that small smile on his face.

"You okay?"

Your partner doesn't answer, merely staring at her desk a long moment before apparently realizing you spoke. "Oh? Oh… yeah, sorry, ah just had somethin' to do this mornin'. What's the class about?"

"Just expanding on the stuff from last week." You glance at your partner… who is bereft of her bag. "Do you have your books?"

Stephanie blinks then reaches behind her back, her hand tapping at her shoulder a few times only to discover that no, she does not in fact have her backpack. "Ah."

You produce your book and drop it onto her desk. "Here, I'll just keep notes today. You alright?"

Doomwulf slowly opens the book. "Ah'll be fine, 'long as this class doesn't put me to sleep."

Fair enough, you turn back to the class and listen to the teacher continue droning on.

- - -

The rest of the day goes much of the same, English and Science pass by relatively quickly. None of the teachers go particularly hard on you today, including Omnilinguist, surprisingly. It seems college professors do in fact have at least some understanding of mercy, and Omnilinguist knows about thirty synonyms for it. She is, however, still a massive hardass.

Stepping back into the dorm you drop your bags off onto the couch with a sigh, rubbing your shoulder as the weight is relieved off of it. Still sore and your healing is seemingly doing nothing for it.

You look back at your partner who is doing much the same, she ran to get her bags during lunch and has been carrying it the rest of the day. "You still sore?" She doesn't seem to hear the question, staring down at the bag resting on the couch. "Stephanie?"

She blinks. "Oh… no, I'm fine. I'm… going out to train, I'll be back later this tonight."

With that, she turns away and walks down the hallway and out the door… alright. Putting your partner to the back of your mind, you do your best to melt into the couch. You'll do the homework in a few minutes, but first, you just need a second to decompress.

You're not even halfway through this week, aren't you?

 

[Erien]

[X] [Check up on your partner]

Thanks to Armoury for the beta!

- - -

You stare at the books a moment longer before slamming your head back into the couch with a sigh. Something is bothering your partner, and as much as you would like her to cool off on it it's your job to check up on her, just like she might eventually need to do for you. You'll be together for four years, for good and ill, and quite possible for your hero career beyond if you still enjoy each others company after living together for four years.

She's been quiet and dodgy all day, and you can tell even without doing an examination that she is wearing herself out. With a clap of paper on paper, you close the book shut and toss it back onto the couch. The moon is just starting to rise, the warm orange of the evening being slowly replaced by the dark blue of the night, twilight has passed. Here's hoping 'werewolf by moonlight' isn't on the list of things your partner does.

- - -

You step out of the elevator, the clerk barely glancing up at you as you walk by. The two guards by the back wall don't pay much attention either, though unlike highschool you highly doubt that college has a curfew. Stepping out in the cool night air you can see the little park is only a little less popular at night. It's cold, true, but that doesn't stop people walking around and enjoying each others company, even on a Tuesday night.

Your partner said she wanted to train… and there is only one place she regularly *does* due to her preference for rapid movements and collateral damage. The forest. The forest at night. The forest at night that has a werewolf in it.

You know, maybe you should have chipped your dog.

- - -

Your feet crunch against the fall leaves as you walk through the forest. The moonlight, what little can penetrate the thick forest canopy, serves to faintly light the path you are walking on. Well, 'path'' is a strong word. More like the course that has the least chance of your tripping on a root and breaking your nose.

There are very few people in the forest, though you suppose that shouldn't really surprise you. Your sure deeper in is some form of college cult dedicated to witchcraft and foul potents… but for now, it's been mostly peace and quiet. That is until you get close to your partner.

She's in a small clearing, no more than ten feet or so across in any direction. It's not the same one you and her 'sparred' in. This is far smaller, before you were worried you would have trouble finding her, but she is letting out growls and barks as she shadowboxes a tree. A tree that is most definitely losing the battle at present, each impact of her fist or leg sending bark flying. Her sleeves and the pants legs of the tracksuit are pulled up, and you can see dark spots on her skin that mark where she's been hitting the tree

You step forward, the leaves crunching underfoot. You get close, only a few short yards away, before she finally notices your presence, a feat considering her enhanced hearing. Her eyes widen as she notices you standing there, her mouth opening slightly as if to say something before she closes it again. Choosing instead to stare at the tree and seemingly ignore your presence, as if not acknowledging you would make you go away.

She's clearly not going to make the first move, but if she thinks you're going to walk away, then she's got another thing coming.

Her breathing comes out in light pants as her fists start moving again, short jabs at the tree follow up by another kick against the bark. You can't see well enough in the dark to tell if her ankle is actually bleeding, but the abrasions alone are clear enough to see.

"Would you like me to heal that?" You step forward further into the clearing until you are no more than two to three feet behind her. She throws another punch, her first stopping just an inch or so away from the hard wood before she lets out a deep breath you hadn't even realized she was holding.

"Ah'm fine."

Even as she says that your regeneration kicks in, the abrasions very slowly ebbing away whether she, wants them to or not. You... aren't exactly a people person; you've practiced bedside manner but you are notorious around your household for snark. That, and you've always had trouble reading people, but even you can tell she is most definitely not fine.

"Pardon if I'm wrong, but this is about the test isn't it?"

Doomwulf turns her head slightly to look at you a moment before she starts punching at the tree again. Her fists slamming into the wood and sending splinters of bark flying backwards. "Ah'm training."

No partner, you are in a beatdown with a Loblolly pine, and going by the abrasions you might be losing.

"... I think we should probably talk about the test. Remember when we saw things the other didn't? That seems to be happening again."

Doomwulf chooses not to respond to your offer, instead her foot lashes out and actually collides with the side of the tree proper. There's a loud crack as she gouges out some wood, the splinters turning into little more than sawdust before she loses balances and takes a far step forward.

You continue as she pulls back, a brief hiss sounding from her lips as she puts weight on that ankle.

"Don't let what Technomancer says get to you, we operated with what we had. We learned we would respawn so I used that to help the only way I could, buff you then distract the robot long enough so you could get hits in while it lasted. If it were real life I would have tried to think of another way to go about thin-

"That's not what ah'm upset about." Doomwulf interrupts, her voice betraying frustration. She turns all the way around, her eyes currently mismatch in color staring into yours. "Ya distracted the robot, ya figured out the code. Hell, fer the pit ah was already on the other side and was just lucky ya trusted me."

She holds a hand in front of her, black claws glinting in the moonlight as she stares at them. Her hand closes into a fist and she shakes her head. "Ah can hit hard, ah've got good enough combat instincts. Ah… don't know why I'm here."

"Pardon?"

She shakes her head. "My grades were good, ah did well enough in the exam, but… ah hit things. Thousands of people applied, a lot ah them could hit harder, and ah don't know what ah did to get in here." She drops the fist, the hand falling to her side limply. "Ya said it yerself. Ya can't fight, but ya can heal, a rare quirk if there ever was one."

"Ah… just hit hard, and frankly that ain't gonna work for too long, 'specially if ah want to try helpin' people. Ah want to be a hero, ah do, ah just don't know what I did to make it where I am now, and Tech's got me wonderin' what I'll do to get through it." She looks down towards the ground. "Ah aint ever been the most capable, as people liked to tell me."

Well… you suppose you've had the same thoughts yourself recently. Plenty of times in fact, but you hadn't expected your partner to be insecure about it as well.

Well… you suppose you've had the same thoughts yourself recently. Plenty of times in fact, but you hadn't expected your partner to be insecure about it as well. But, you suppose everyone has their own things that make them nervous.

Stephanie is still staring down at the ground, her expression blank, though it's clear from her stance alone that this is bothering her greatly.

"I…" The words catch in your throat as you try to figure out how to word this. Okay, so practiced bedside manner might be an exaggeration; you failed terribly. "The reasons for you getting in seem fairly obvious to me. Even from that first VR test we had." You step forward, your feet crunching against the leaves as you walk through the clearing. As you get closer the welts and abrasions on her limbs become more pronounced as ugly red marks. Faint hints of blood are around them, she was kicking the tree hard enough to break the skin, you don't know whether you should be impressed or whether you should whap her upside the head.

Probably neither. "You went off from the group to lead civilians to safety, I didn't do that, hell I didn't even think about going after civilians until I saw you coming back with them. You took charge and lead a group of strangers to safety. Whether they were virtual or not the other students certainly weren't." You smile a little as you remember the shouting. Your partner is quite… impressively loud when she wants to be. As you approach the welts start to ebb away a little, nothing major and nothing rapid, but just getting closer is allowing the wounds to heal. A while back you wondered if your regeneration was an invasion of privacy or 'free will,' but you can't exactly turn it off, so you stopped worrying about it.
"You lead them to safety like a guide dog."

You hear a loud snort from your partner and her tail flaps against the ground. "Ah am not a guide dog."

You shrug your shoulders. "First thing that came to mind, but still. You hit things devastatingly hard, this is true. But you also adopt this… persona that people can follow. Fear, doubt, things of that nature. You lead an entire group through them and saved my sorry ass when I decided to 'help.'" You step the rest of the way forward and place a hand on your shoulder. Your partner looks at it quizzically before looking up at her, her mismatched eyes looking at you with an expression you frankly don't know how to read.

"It's not how you adapt, or how you get through things either. We're partners, and frankly, I have no idea what that actually means. But I have no fucking idea what I'm doing here either, so let's figure it out together."

Silence is the response to your statement as Stephanie continues to stare at you. Then, a small smile starts to find its way onto her face. "Ya suck at this motivational speech crap."

"And you suck at fighting trees, they didn't pick me for my bedside manner, they picked me because I can heal people with my magic fingers, probably." You shake your head. "I… have no idea why they picked me either."

Stephanie tilts her head slightly. "Well, ya ain't worth shit inna fight."

Ow.

"Ain't the nicest person."

Ow.

"Yer min-maxed for biology, and suck at everything else."

Well, goodbye pride, it was nice knowing you.

"But ya managed to throw aside any nervousness and throw yourself directly to the aid of people that needed yer help, danger be damned. Ain't exactly a hero complex, more that ya see it as a job ya need ta' do and ya do it." She grins a bit wider. "Probably gonna get ya killed, but it's amusing."

"Well as long as I amuse you everything works out. You about ready to head back to the dorm? We still got the whole week ahead of us… and have a new class on the weekend."

Stephanie scowls briefly at that, apparently about as much a fan of the idea as you are. "That teacher had a point, but he didn't have to be such a prick about it."

You shrug your shoulders again and turn back towards the dorm. "We seem to be on a good ratio of good-teacher/prick. Only other one that causes problems is Omnilinguist, so I'd say we lucked out."

"Ya but we ain't had his class yet, of whatever he teaches."

You start walking forward and your partner follows close behind. "Well, he isn't involved in R&D, at least not in my classes. But for now let's just get going to bed, eh partner?"

Doomwulf snickers. "Ah suppose yer weaker human form requires that more than the mighty Doomwulf."

Ow.

- - -

And I've fixed up your clearly stronger wolf form how many times?

Yeah, that's what you should have said in response. That would have been a great comeback, especially if you weren't in the middle of class right now.

Your dear partner is currently doing her best not to fall asleep beside you, one hand under her chin while the other taps idly on the desk. Her textbook has been completely ignored almost the entirety of this class so far. You aren't honestly sure how much of her exhaustion is due to staying up last night punching trees, or how much of it is the fact that you are starting the morning off with Hero Law.

If it's so important why is it so hard to focus, and why is the name of everything holy is it three hours long?! Face, bless her heart, is bright and peppy, a stark contrast to the sheer dryness of her subject matter. You haven't really paid much attention to this class since you started it, it's mandatory for every student in the hero course, but the length is the main detriment.

"Now, back to our main subject. Citizen's arrest versus Hero's arrest, the legal differences of both."

Sigh.

- - -

"Stay strong, you can survive this."

Your partner is staring down at the textbook like it is her greatest enemy. Which, to be fair, having Hero Law AND English homework in the same night may be a bit much for her.

"If ah ask ya nice-"

No.

Your partner puts on the puppy dog eyes but you stay firm. "The bet was one thing, but you need to do your own coursework. Especially when I have my own to do on top of studying."

Stephanie sticks out her tongue at you and returns to her textbook. At least there isn't much homework. whether that is because they both knew they were giving out homework, or they have discovered the true value in mercy, is up in the air.

Your English homework is already done, it was nothing more than writing out some test sentences given a subject. Hero Law is the more interesting one, and it is also the first bit of homework you've ever gotten for that class.

It gives a court case from several years back, some guy you never heard of used his quirk to save somebody but five died in the process. It leads to some apparent legal ramifications you honestly weren't aware of in terms of collateral damage and hero work. To be fair your quirk doesn't exactly cause collateral damage so you've never really had to think about it. For someone like your partner, however, you could see why such a thing would exist.

God forbid crazy potion lady or zappy have to go all out. Both seem like things that could get out of control very quickly. Still, homework is homework, and once you get this done you are going to spend the rest of the evening studying in your room.

"... Think she'd get mad if I just filled this with as many contractions as possible?"

You glance up from your work to see your partner giving you a smirk. "While personally, I think it would be amusing for you add as many triple and double contractions, I do believe our English teacher would attempt to beat you to death with the textbook."

Her tail whips against the cushion a few times as her smirk gets a touch of bloodlust to it. She… hasn't been a fan of that teacher and you doubt she ever will. "Doomwulf can take her."

You nod in your best impression of a wise sage. "The mighty Dylan does believe you could take her, but assaulting a teacher is a bad idea no matter how justified. Now do your damn homework."

Your mature and elegant partner sticks out her tongue at you before returning to the paper, truly, the most dignified of potential heroes.

- - -

So far as it stands you are doing well enough in most subjects. Sure, math is still your weakest subject but you are working on it. Your main worry right now is you are on the beginner version of all courses, God help you once it actually gets to the point they throw the advanced stuff at you. It's a welcome reprieve, of course, it just feels like the calm before the storm.

Still, as long as you are diligent you are… fine, though you wonder if you have a shot at that field trip, either Morrigan's or the big one to I-Island, you don't know how the rest of your class is doing in their subjects. Something to work on you suppose, though at the moment you are still getting acclimated to it all.

Well, at the moment you are idly reading your math textbook while the omelets cook on the pan beside you. Your partner is currently undertaking her morning ritual, that being attempting to enter a form of symbiotic relationship with the couch while idly flipping through the television channels.

"How many pieces of bacon do you want?"

Two fingers.

"Eggs?"

Closed fist.

"Orange Juice?"

Closed fist.

"... Coffee as black as the eyeliner of a Finnish metal singer?"

Thumbs up.

It's an interesting conversational system you've developed, truly you are the envy of all other two-man teams in your class so far. You debate the merits of spiking her coffee with orange juice but you have yet to see what your partner is like when someone denies her witch's brew, and you are not going to be the one to volunteer and find out either.

Your schedule for Friday is Hero Law, Quirk Research, and PE. Though PE once again has been canceled. It was canceled on Monday as well, and at the time you had thought that to be due to the partner test. But with it being canceled twice in the same week you have honestly no idea. Still, it will give you time to try out the training list Alva gave you. You'd invite your partner but she has decided that she needed to catch up on studying when you offered. Though perhaps some of that has to do with the fact Alva creeps you out.

To be fair, Alva creeps you out as well, but at least the tiny doombot is friendly.

"Breakfast is ready, I don't deliver so you either get up off of that couch or you miss it."

The grumble that comes from her you decide to translate as - "You are so lucky you are such an amazing, generous and handsome chef." Or something like that, your specialty is medicine, not linguistics.

- - -

"Good evening, student Dylan."

You offer a wave to Embla as you set your bag down beside the desk. "Evening, I'm… the only one here right now?"

Indeed, there are a few people working around the lab but at the desks that are laid out you are the only one present. Though admittedly you got here early due to not having much in the way to do between classes.

"At present time yes, they shall arrive or shall fare poorly in the future." Embla is currently working on a tablet roughly the size of her torso. It is perched rather precariously in the crook of her arm as she types on it. You aren't quite sure what she needs with a tablet roughly the size of a computer monitor but you aren't in any particular shape to argue with the robot girl.

"Is… class going well?"

You blink and look up from the textbook. "Er… yes, classes are going well. Some subjects take more effort than others, but no real issues."

Embla noticeably fidgets a moment before she fully turns her attention from the tablet to you. "What of Alva's classes?"

Ah, she must be wondering how her sister is doing. "Well enough, she can be rather excitable at times but she gave me some helpful information I was planning on trying out later today. Quirk exercises mostly."

Embla smiles lightly and nods. "That is good to hear, this is her first year officially teaching." There's warmth, even in her artificial tone.

"No she's fine, none of the other classmates had any problems either. Though I've only just started admittedly. Want me to keep you updated on it?"

She nods slightly then turns back to her tablet. She's back to full teacher mode, though she doesn't bother to hide the smile. "That would be appreciated student Dylan."

- - -

You stare at the sheet in front of you. Well… it amuses you greatly that Alva's handwriting looks exactly like a typewriter. Still, it gives you some basic things to try, more basic than you were honestly hoping for when you first got the list.

Breathing exercises, recommended books for study, things of that nature. You suppose until you know the actual limits of your quirk and how it can truly be used you are both rather limited when it comes to playing around with it. You aren't going to start cutting yourself to see how the wounds heal, while possibly effective you would just really rather not.

Still, that is how you find yourself breathing out via your mouth and breathing in via your nose as you focus on the small plant in front of you. Alva recommended you do some tests on plant life at first, while she had doubts your quirk could actually affect anything it would at least help you focus.

In, and out. The small, caterpillar bitten plant sways slightly in the breeze.

In, and -

"Oh hey, healguy!"

You jerk backward as with a flap of wings another figure lands in front of you. Mountain blue, her blue wing… arms, curl at her sides as her amber eyes look at you curiously. "Whatcha doin'?"

… You know this may be the first time you've spoken to her since the VR Initiation, and even then it was only to tell her where to drop patients. You don't usually enjoy reintroductions to include heart attacks, but who cares what you want really.

"Training, yourself?"

She shrugs her… wings. "Doing Search and Rescue exercises, they hid these little bag things throughout the woods and I have to find them."

"Ah, I haven't seen any. You on a timer?"

She shakes her head. "Not really, it's more finding and diagnosing, I used to do this back north so it's… really easy actually. This forest is a lot simpler to find things in than the Catskills."

Ah, so the birdgirl is migratory, noted.

"Well good luck, they are just having me practice my quirk use in R&D."

She looks around the clearing a moment before tilting her head quizzically. "I don't see any sick people?"

You gesture to the small plant at your feet. "They want me to learn to focus mostly, I can't heal plant matter but… they want me to learn how to focus my quirk, whatever that means."

She looks down at the plant a moment before shrugging her wings again. "Fair enough, I better get back to searching, just wanted to see what you were up to."

She starts to turn around before glancing back at you. She looks down at her feet a moment, the little yellow claws shifting slightly in the dirt before she raises one up to wipe at the side of her jumpsuit. Satisfied, she then offers it to you in a rough approximation of a handshake. "Nora."

You stare at the proffered limb a moment before gingerly accepting the claw. "Dylan."

She giggles and shakes the limb briefly before extracting it from your grip. "Well, good luck with... whatever it is your doing?"

You raise a hand in a wave before returning to staring at the… plant.

… What are you doing with your life again?

- - -

You look up from the books on your desk with a sigh, one hand moving up to rub at your eyelids. Friday night… which means more studying. Though at the very least you are almost done with it until the weekend. Who knows whether you'll decide to study then.

You glance over at the clock you have sitting at the corner of the desk; 10:14. Not very late, but it's been a long day. Tomorrow is Quirk Development and Combat Training that afternoon, it's going to eat up your entire day for the most part.

You don't know how permanent that class is going to be, but probably for a while at this rate.

You close the book with a sigh, your last thoughts before shutting your brain off being what you want to do on the weekend.

---

Left, right, left, right. Your feet clap against the concrete as you run a light jog. It's the only sound beyond the birds in the forest beside the path. The lake is polished to a mirror sheen; with nothing feeding into it or letting it flow, the only thing even remotely disturbing it is a light breeze. Though it looks remarkably fresh despite this. The morning sun diffused through the glass makes the lake appear to be made of polished silver, little flecks of light sparkling as you run by it.

There has been precious few people out, though you imagine most students are taking the chance to sleep in on a Saturday morning. More to your benefit really, you enjoy the quiet and peace of simply just running and having time to just let your thoughts wander and unwind...

… Lateralis, medialis, intermedius, femoris. B-Femoris, semimembranosus, semitendinosus. Gastrocnemius, soleus, plataris, peroneus. Gluteus, f-hallucis, politeus, digitorus, quadratus lumboru-

"Student!"

You look up from the path to see a group of adults no more than four feet in front of you, and on instinct, you press your feet into the ground to come to a rather abrupt halt in fear of running straight into them.

You've… never seen any of them before. Though out of the three of them only one screams 'teacher' at you. The one in the middle is a younger man, probably in his mid-thirties going by facial features. His hair is brown and kept tight and neat, it shines faintly in the morning light like he was using some form of pomade. He is wearing a full black business suit complete with tie and just about the only part of him that doesn't scream 'uptight' is the look of concern on his face.

Besides him are two heroes, though you don't honestly recognize either of them. A man and a woman, both are wearing the security uniform that the rest of the guards wear. The only thing making them stand out as heroes being the patches on their shoulders marking them as being here on duty. You've seen several heroes on guard duty since you've arrived, though honestly never quite this close. It does make you feel rather safe at least, between them and the glass and security you feel fairly secure.

Not that Atlanta has much of a crime problem anymore.

The man is a giant; easily nine feet tall, and even proportionately he's almost comically muscular, with his uniform struggling to hold him in. His hair, black, is cropped in a military style, and he has a pair of tusks jutting out from his lips that extent to just below his nose. Yet despite all that he doesn't appear unfriendly, his light eyes amber look at you with amusement, and his mouth is curled into a grin…well as curled as it can get around the tusks.

The woman is, on the other hand, a far more manageable five foot six or so. She has blonde hair going down to her shoulders and a pair of black horns curling around the side of her head like a bull. Her ears are pointed, both jutting out near horizontal from her head. She's far less 'uniform' than her partner, what with the earing in her ear, cowboy hat, and leather boots complete with spurs. An easy going smile is on her face, her blue eyes looking at you with curiosity.

… You were so lost in your thoughts you nearly ran into then, the slight twinge of pain in your ankle from your sudden stop a rather annoying reminder of that.

"Everything alright?" The man in the middle asks.

"Er… I mean, yes. Sorry, was kind of lost in my thoughts."

"Could tell." The blond woman snorts. "Could hear you mumbling all the way back down the path." She reaches up and flicks one of her ears for good measure.

"... Sorry."

The man in the middle shrugs his shoulders then offers you a hand to shake, you stare at the offered hand for a moment before grasping it with your own. "Benjamin Mason, professor of Law. I do not believe we've met."

"Dylan Evans, student."

His look of concern turns into a smile. "I gathered, getting in some morning exercise?"

You nod. "We missed a day of PE this week so I thought I would catch up on it."

"How very responsible of you." He makes a show of stepping to the side to open up the path. "Far be it from me to keep you from your exercise."

You nod again and walk through the group, once out the other side you kick your feet against the ground and start up your jog again. Just one more lap, then back to the dorm for a morning shower before heading to R&D for the morning class with Alva.

- - -

"3085.11!" Alva greets you with the 'pet name' she has given you. Both of her arms wave rapidly at her side in what you have learned is her 'happy spasm', or rather, that is what you call it. She does it damn near every time she gets excited. You aren't sure why she's excited since you show up here every Saturday and all you do is spend an hour talking about your quirk. Still, it's at least a little nice to see her happy, if only because you don't want to know what she looks like when she's angry.

"Dylan, and good morning."

You drop your bag onto your desk with a smile, it appears you are… not alone for once. Last time you checked you are the only student that signed up for this course. At least from what Alva told you, but nonetheless sitting at the desk next to your is a face you haven't seen since initiation.

Well, face is a strong word. You've never actually seen her face before, but you recognize the getup. A young woman with auburn hair and a scar that runs across her face, she's wearing a short black hat along with a small cloak that runs down her back. The plague mask you saw her wearing during initiation is clipped to her belt, along with several vials of colorful liquid. The colorful liquid that makes you rather nervous after what it did to that giant alien.

Her eye, singular since the other is closed and has scar tissue running across it, is a blue with bright golden sclera. It's odd, but not the oddest thing about her, that would definitely go to the extra pair of arms currently resting in her lap.

She smirks when she sees you looking at her, her eye winking.

… Is it a wink when they only have one eye or is it a blink? Your medical study never prepared you to answer that question. You smile back then get your notes in order as Alva claps her hands together, the clap of metal of metal sounding remarkably like a hammer hitting an anvil.

"I thank you for coming Dylan, today we shall be going over some more testing. Have you had a chance to use some of the training guides I gave you?"

You nod. "A bit yes, though I've only gotten started on them."

"That is wonderful news." Alva smiles widely. "Today I have a special assignment for you."

She gestures both of her hands out towards the woman sitting next to you. "14847 will be using some of her inventions to test some limits of your quirk."

You hear a loud click and look over to see the woman unclipping the mask from her belt, when your eyes meet hers she smiles again. "Caressa."

… "Dylan." You know, for some reason you feel incredibly nervous and you cannot explain why.

With a giggle she lifts the mask up over her face, a pair of arms holding up it while two others snap some clips in the back. Then, in one motion she sits up, revealing a small bag that was sitting next to her that you couldn't see previously.

"Caressa is an advanced student of ours that came in on transfer, and has proven committed to her extracurricular activities. She kindly volunteered to assist you when I ordered her to!"

"It is not a problem." Caressa's already difficult french accent is made even more difficult by the muffling of her mask. She then pulls off a small vial from her pouch and holds it out for you. "Mild hallucinogen. Completely safe, though if necessary I have the antidote, compris?"

"We wish to test and see if you can remove foreign chemicals from your system!" Alva helpfully explains, the little robot's eyes glowing in her excitement.

Your eyes dart to the vial nervously, suddenly wondering if perhaps you should have faked illness this morning. Still, your mind thinks back to that gas that filled the chamber during the test. If you had the ability to nullify its effects…

Your hand reaches out and you gingerly take the vial. Her hand pulls back the moment you take it, one pair of arms folding underneath her breasts while the other two prop up her chin.

You pop off the cork and smell… strawberries actually, strawberries with the distinct after effect on your nose of bleach. Pleasant but unsettling.

You stare at it a moment longer before glancing at Alva, who hasn't moved an inch, staring at you intently. With a sigh, you down the fluid.

The taste is… not that awful actually. Definitely unpleasant but nothing outright horrible. It does indeed taste like strawberries, but also leaves an aftertaste like iron. You stare at the vial a moment then up at the herd of Caressa.

It doesn't seem to have done anythi-

You blink. You don't remember there being five Caressas. You look down at the floor, the gaping chasm of the eternal hellscape that has replaced the floor looking back up at you. Infinite eyes that stretch for infinite miles stare back at you, each bubbling as if boiling as they stare at you with pure hate.

Writhing masses of tentacles reach out from the depths, the only thing saving you being the lone tile your desk is perched upon.

"Student Dylan?"

A voice that is everywhere and nowhere speaks to you, and you look up to see Alva staring at you. She is the same as she was a moment ago, barring the fact that she is seemingly floating in midair. Just a foot or so behind her is a giant eye set within an equally giant membrane that has replaced the pillar. It stares at you, red iris glowing as is aflame, the pupil reveals in its interminable black depths another universe that is the same, yet different.

It blinks first.

- - -

You lay back onto the couch with a groan, one hand rubbing idly at your head as you fight off the headache your quirk can apparently do nothing about. You let out a groan despite yourself, causing your partner to look up at your phone with something approaching concern.

"Ya okay over there?"

You shake your head slowly. "I'm apparently not allowed to talk about it, but if anyone on campus offers you a magical liquid that takes you to a nightmare hellscape dimension just say no."

"... The hell they teaching ya in R&D?"

You give her a look that hopefully conveys the sheer agony your soul is going through. For you have seen the abyss, and unfortunately, your quirk cannot remove it. Or rather, you do not seem to be able to remove outside chemical effects, at least, not yet.

- - -

"So what's combat training like? You have that class on Saturdays."

Doomwulf shrugs her shoulders, "guy's a hardass but fine for the most part. But ah asked and he's not the one doing our trainin' this afternoon."

You look at her questioningly but she looks just as confused as you are.

"Dunno, ah asked. What were doing was mostly practicin' martial arts and doin' drills. So ah don't know what we'll be doing today."

You swing your arms behind your back, two satisfying pops sounding out as you finish your stretches. Your feet bounce a little on the ground before you raise your hands in a rough approximation of the stance Doomwulf has literally beaten into you. "I suppose we'll just need to wait and see then. Now… what are we working on this morning?"

Doomwulf grins and rolls up her sleeve to the upper elbow. She then flexes it, the muscles in her arms becoming more pronounced. "Doomwulf has noticed your weak noodle arms and has decided to take it upon herself to fix them."

You give her your most devastating glare. "My arms save lives, yours merely scrapes armor off of giant robots."

She glares back. "Least ah had a plan beyond throwin' rocks at it."

"Least I tried to help my partner."

"Least ah didn't get squished fifteen times."

"Least I don't make a habit of dislocating my shoulder blades!"

"Least ah don't need to whine about 'em!"

You glare at each other. A smile comes over Doomwulfs face, mirroring your own. Then she charges at you with her fist cocked back.

Sparring went well that morning.

- - -

You look around the training room curiously as you walk in.

The concrete cube that Morrigan showed you behind the main pyramid, that you have since learned is called the 'ice cube,' has been set up for class. Paint on the floor marks little sparring arenas, while spread about every dozen feet or so is a wide pillar to support the ceiling above. It's almost as bare as the last time you were here, with the only change being mats set out around the arenas.

You're pretty sure every student in your grade is here, barring Caressa. Though, since she is a transfer student she may not be in the same year. Or have the same tests. Either way, only one thing could explain the sheer number of people at this remedial class. Technomancer is a dick.

Further down the room is another group of students, a good several dozen feet from where you and the rest of your 'group' are. None of which you recognize, they appear to all be later years.

Standing in front of you all is an older gentlemen, late forties if you had to guess. His hair is a greying buzzcut. Faint hints of blond being the only color left. His face, however, is remarkably young, a strong jaw and tight features highlighted by silver eyes. He's dressed in a grey shirt with the words 'ARMY' blazoned across it along with a pair of blue shirts, a small smile is on his face as you all file in before he claps his hands together.

"Welcome students! Welcome to the first day of sparring. I do hope you all enjoyed taking your time to get here." He smiles takes a remarkable turn for the cold and mocking as he continues. "My name is Gunnery Sergeant Lawrence, you may call my Sergeant or Sir. If any of you calls me anything else I will be using you* as a sparring partner. Me and my associates…" He gestures a hand and only now do you notice that there is in fact another person standing at every arena. They are dressed in the same getup he is, and they manage to look so drab that they apparently avoided your notice entirely. "Will be assisting you today."

He produces a small notepad from his pocket and flips it open. "I will be calling out names, when I call yours you will step forward and be assigned a mat, I will explain the rules once all students are selected."

He glances down at the sheet. "Jeremias Ramirez, Demetrius Glas." Paintball and Hologram both step forward. "Arena one." He gestures off to his left without bothering to look up from the pad. All arena's are numbered one through twenty, and without further word both students walk off together.

This continues on some time until…

"Timothy Williams, Dylan Evans. Arena eight."

You step forward, one of the very last to be called, stepping out as well is a familiar man with stark white hair… well, now you finally know what Blueprint's name is. You walk forward past the instructor towards the arena, blueprint walking ahead of you. He's dressed in the jumpsuit, same as you are. Though he is also carrying his drawing pad at the moment… you suppose going by what you have seen of his quirk he would hardly ever want to be without it.

You step into the small marking on one edge of the arena while Blueprint takes up position on the other. Your partner is further down to your left, she's standing across from Strongman… which is honestly a worse name than Biceps.

"TEN-HUT!"

All heads look over at Sergeant Lawrence, his notepad is held to his side in favor of a whistle he is now holding up. "Once I blow this whistle you may begin. Your job is to get your opponent out of the arena or pin them. You are allowed to punch, kick, throw and tackle.You may use your quirk non-lethally, however you see fit."

You look back at your sparring partner, Blueprint is not exactly built… nor is he particularly tall. He also looks damn near unconscious, but that is normal for the guy from what you've gathered. Still, he pulled out some nasty gear from initiation.

A shrill whistle sounds through the air, and in that second, chaos erupts around you.

You move the moment the whistle goes off, dashing forward with your fist reared back. You are not a close combat specialist. Hell, you aren't any kind of combat specialist, but you do have an incredibly aggressive partner who has managed to teach you a few things.

Blueprint's eyes widen momentarily before he yelps and dives out of the way. Sheets of paper flying through the air as he tumbles across the mat.

"HeyHeyTimeoutNoRushingComeOn!" His words come out in a jumbled mess, nearly too fast to understand. His rolling comes to a stop and he slams his hand down onto his drawing pad, it glows briefly before he lifts up a wireframe model of a pistol, its glowing tip pointed squarely at you.

You pivot on the spot, heel digging into the mat as you force your momentum to shift and carry you around, you lower your body mass ducking forward as you charge him again.

He screams, his eyes wide and manic as he pulls the trigger. Bullets of bight blue energy whizz by, your speed of approach and suddenness of action throwing off his aim. He adjusts his aim at the last moment, the pistol lowered to hit you clear in the head.

Too late.

You duck down as low as you can and wrap an arm around his right leg, with a tug his body shifts, the limb flying up even as his body flies black. You release the leg and he goes tumbling across the mat, more papers and designs flying all over the place as he attempts to recover.

To his credit, he does so, his hand dragging against the matting to slow his progress as he inches dangerous close to the edge. He stops his momentum then tears open his bag, his movements jittery.

"Oh no you don't!" You kick off again, your foot pressing against the ground before you start sprinting across the mat after him.

Too late.

You see a faint glow from the backpack before the entire bag tears open in a storm of sketch paper. From the paper bomb rises a gigantic cannon made of steel and wireframe. His hands dive to catch it, struggling to hold and aim something is as long as he is, and probably twice as heavy. The entire device glows faintly blue, lines of energy running up and down its length alongside the wireframe, collecting in the muzzle, and glowing an alarming red. A manic smile splits his face as you close in, but you're already in his space. Your fist is on course with his jaw, and you feel a solid impact that has been missing from your spars with Doomwulf. This is what it feels like to land a hit? No wonder Stephanie enjoyed this so much!

You are distracted from your musing when you hear the click of a pulled trigger.

BOOM

A white flash fills your vision as a searing heat impacts your chest. A ball of energy slams into you and sends you hurtling in the air, you are only briefly aware of pain before you are sent flying off to the other end of the arena and off of the mat, your body colliding roughly with the floor and sliding across it.

ow.

"Winner by ringout, Dylan Evans!"

… What?

You bring your head up, your jumpsuit is… fine actually, there is some brown where it looks slightly burnt but it appears to have weathered the attack perfectly fine. You are a good dozen feet away from the arena, but so is Blueprint. He lays on his side halfway between your arena and the other classes, the gigantic cannon turning into a wireframe and unraveling beside him. He doesn't appear injured, in fact, he appears to be… asleep.

You look to the proctor who is already paying attention to the fight in the arena next to yours, where Doomwulf is running circles around Biceps. You can remember that his strength was immense during the exam, but she is far more agile.

…

Well, that ended quickly.

- - -

"Ten-Hut!"

You all snap to attention, well, everyone except Blueprint, who nobody has yet been able to wake despite the best efforts of the proctors. He is currently parked in a folding chair, drool coming out one corner of his mouth as his partner, Glass, attempts to wake him.

The Sergeant looks up and down the row of you, a frown on his face. "Awful work the lot of you, sloppy grabs, punches and throws." He then grins, a particularly bloodthirst grin at that… you miss the frown. "I do believe we have something to work with!"

The proctors move through the ranks, each carrying a small stack of tablets, which they hand out to a good chunk of you. Some students are skipped, like Paintball and Blueprint, but you and Doomwulf both get one.

The symbol of the school flashes briefly on the screen before it pulls up a list of… weapons?

"We seek to train capable heroes, and in your line of work a specialist is just a poor sap waiting to be torn out of his field. Some of you have no offensive capabilities, others have no ranged capabilities, and neither or these will be tolerated by ASH, or by me. We have assembled a customized list based on your test results and practice session, your selection from this list will determine the weapon you will train with for your career as a hero." The sergeant claps his hands together, and all heads turn to him. "You will also be assigned your hero outfit after this, based upon your specifications and talents."

Excited murmurs fill the room as the students look back down at their tablets, and you can't help but feel a brief touch of excitement yourself. You aren't the best at the whole punching business, so it would be nice to have a second option.

The list finishes loading and presents you with seven options, a brief blurb of text below instructs you on the selection process (not a real brain bender, that one) and informs you that the finished product will be finished and delivered by the next weekend. Your uniform, on the other hand, is already finished and will be delivered after the test.

Your eyes trail up and down the list… the net gun is right out, you can't think of any practical uses for it. The stun gun is a maybe, and you might have even taken it in a different time. The shotgun is, perhaps, the most tempting of the options, because, at the end of the day, there are few things more beautiful than a shotgun, but right now you know what you are missing.

Even if the combination is a little unorthodox.

You tap the icons and a small chime comes out of the tablet, it is joined in the chorus by your classmates doing the same. The screen briefly turns white before returning to display a number… 17.

You look up from the pad towards the sergeant, but he merely looks over the assembled students, unmoving and almost stone-like. The only sounds are the faint chimes from the last remaining tablets and the sound of bodies hitting the mats from the other side of the room. The later years are still going at it, though none seem to be using quirks from what you see.

After a short minute the last of the chimes ring out, and the sergeant speaks up again.

"I thank you once again for taking your time. On your tablets is a room number on the sixth floor, go to it and get changed, leave the tablets on the ground here." He points at a spot in front of him and you all file forward to do what he says, gently placing the tablets onto the floor before walking towards your assigned room.

You're quickly confronted by a small problem; the inside of the elevator. It could only fit half a dozen students if they were crammed in like sardines, and that's not counting people like the snake girl, who would probably fill it up by themselves. The doors are already closing with the first batch to go meet their new look, and the rest of the students are clustered around the doors, waiting their turn.

You know what? A few flights of stairs don't sound so bad right now.

The first flight you jog up two at a time, admittedly excited by the prospect of seeing your personal heroic look. You had to send in a design when you applied, it's one you've been working on for a while. Perhaps a bit inspired by the family history… what little is still passed along these days. The design you came up with is thick and protective, and really the best way you can imagine advertising your abilities. You pause for a bit, catching your breath beside a door. You glance at the floor number beside it.

2?! God, how many more steps did this building have? You set yourself going again

The next few floors pass by much quicker, apparently, the first floor just had a higher ceiling or something. Still, by the end of the ordeal your legs feel a little heavier, and your head a little light, but you finally make it to floor 6-

*ding*

-Just in time for the elevator to slide open, letting out the last student to arrive on the floor. The snake woman gives you an odd look, but ignores you in favour of slithering to her room.

Whatever it is, this floor definitely isn't a training area. It smells like a locker room, and possible is ne, going by the team banners hanging down from the ceiling. Against the far wall are wooden doors, each has a temporary sign on it with numbers written.

Seventeen is down near the end to the right and you make your way down to it and open the door. It's…

Okay, yeah. This was a locker room at some point.

A small changing room greets you, a shower in the corner with several racks and doorless cabinets hanging from the wall. In the center of the room is a large mannequin, upon which sits your hero outfit.



It's… just about the same design you submitted. The fabric is thick and heavy, the boots are utilitarian and rugged. The gloves are fingerless and made of fine leather to help support the extremity. Four bags are attached to the belt that hold the coat closed. Two in the back, two in the front, along with a larger musette bag hanging down from the front that is decorated with a golden caduceus.

On top of the mannequin is a Brodie helmet, specifically designed to project your noggin when you are kneeling over patients in the field. It is marked, much like the shoulder, with a bright red cross. It's definitely much finer material than you could ever make yourself, but it's near 1:1 to what you submitted.

You gently lift the bag off and unclip the belt before pulling the overcoat off of the mannequin and revealing the padding underneath.

… Right. This is going to take some finagling.

- - -

You pat yourself down as you make sure everything is adjusted properly. You had forgotten how many layers there was to this design.

There is padding underneath the overcoat, not as thick as a bulletproof vest, and by no means a substitute for one, but it will definitely soften any blows that come your way. Basically amounting to a modern gambeson. The coat itself is definitely weighty, but thankfully breaths rather well. You've left it only half buttoned as to not restrict the movement of your legs.

The collar is popped by design, though you won't deny the aesthetic. Padding within the collar itself will help keep shrapnel and debris from your face. This means it isn't so much 'popped' as it is 'stuck,' the fabric filled so much the collar can't really be moved when it is buttoned together. The kneepads are good material if a bit… tighter than you'd like. You'll need to make some adjustments on the strapping before everything is really comfortable. Perhaps a jog or two to break it in.

The bags are all empty, leaving you to fill them out for yourself. The main thing you need is things you can't supply on your own. Bandages for patients you don't have time to fully work on, salt tablets, water, maybe plasma bags and the like. Between R&D and plain experience, you'll figure it out.

With a click the helmet snaps under your chin, and you tilt your head this way and that as you look over your costume. You admittedly can't see down very well over the collar, there's a blindspot about a foot in front of you… though given that most of your work will be done kneeling you aren't particularly worried about it. You can't really see straight up as well due to the helmet, but that's why the neck was invented.

Satisfied, you nod to yourself and step out of the room.

- - -

The assembled group is… esoteric. You've got your cyberpunk cowboy, your combat vested lamia, a decked-in-tech harpy, and a t-shirt and jeans Strongman. (You are eternally grateful he didn't take inspiration from the "classics.")

Your partner, one of the last to leave, is in an outfit you didn't honestly expect from her. You had honestly expected not a large difference from the outfit you first met her in… but it seems you were wrong.

The first thing that gets your attention is that the only exposed part of her body is her upper face and the very tips of her fingers. While your gloves are properly fingerless, hers only allow the very tip of the finger and the nail to stick out. They aren't just gloves either, instead your partner seems to be wearing almost a full body suit. It reminds you of a onesie for skiing in a way, form-fitting but also slightly padded. The entire outfit is black with gray plates of armor on her chest, arms, and running up and down her legs.

Each piece is spread out, to allow maximum movement and flexibility. About the only piece that looks like it would restrict movement are the pair of shoulder pads on each shoulder. Not massive pauldrons like the little figures she enjoys painting, these are rather sturdy looking pieces of metal that are tied around the upper arm

… Hell, if you set it up right you may stop her from dislocating a shoulder again.

The entire outfit, from the black suit to the gray/white armor, maintains the same color scheme as her hair and usual outfit. Yet none of that is the 'Doomwulf' part of the costume. No, that has to go to the mask.

She's wearing a half-mask that covers up to the bridge of her nose, her eyes and forehead the only parts of her face that are still visible. The entire thing juts out a good quarter-foot away from her face to form a wolf's snout. Bright white teeth running up and down the mask to form a grinning maw. A pair of sharp looking metal fangs jut up near the edges, white metal glistening as she moves through the hallway.

The mask continues up to her ear, one part of it going below the ear before attaching to a strap that runs around the back of her head, the other curves straight up to form a sort of 'horn' that is carved to look like a wolf's eye.

It's flashy, it's combat effective, and it is… surprisingly practical. All in all, it's very Doomwulf.

She raises her hand in greeting when she gets about three feet away, her voice is rather heavily filtered. It's still perfectly understandable, but it sounds like she is speaking through a voice box. Which, to be fair, she probably is. "Doomulf believes you should be able to handle at least a small mosquito in that costume."

You start to grin before realizing she can't see your mouth under the collar. "And you look like you may break marginally fewer bones."

Your partner tilts her head slightly, and you realize you can't tell if she is grinning either.

Just as you are about to start speaking again you hear a chime from overhead before the voice of the Sergeant rings out. "Students that have changed may return to their dorms, DISMISSED."

The intercom whines at his shout and several students, you and your partner included, cup your ears as the system lets out a shrill whistle.

That is entirely unnecessary.

- - -

Doomwulf unclips the mask as you step through the door, revealing a wide grin and a slightly red face. Apparently, she had it on too tight, though you can't really say much in that regard due to how much the kneepads are currently cutting into your knees.

It falls to hang from her neck, revealing a heavy filtration system built into it. From what she told you on the walk back it functions like a gasmask, useful, considering how sensitive her nose is. The rest is standard armor and limb protection, none of which you don't appreciate given how aggressive she is.

"You look like you just got your birthday present." You say as you unclip the helmet, walking to the couch you set it carefully onto the pillow before lifting up the musette bag and setting that down as well.

"Well, ah mean…" You look back to see Doomwulf scratching at her cheek, a slight blush on her face as she looks towards the closed window. "Ah've wanted to be ah hero for awhile, and having a professional costume is ah big part of that."

You suppose the clothes make the man, or wolfgirl in this case. You won't lie about feeling more than a little excitement yourself, it's a very interesting feeling to see years of doodling in a notepad while you sit through a biology lecture turn into something.

With the sound of sliding fabric you pull the gloves off, the cool air tickling your hand as you toss the gloves onto the top of the helmet.

Doomwulf tugs slightly at the zipper at her collar before a look of brief panic comes across her face. She shakes her head before jerking a finger towards the door to her room. "Ah'm gonna go get changed back into my regular gear. Figure out a place ah can store this."

Look up the outfit up and down, it's probably weighty with the armor, but it is still just a one-piece suit. "You can probably just hang it up, I'm going to have to build a new closet."

Doomwulf smiles awkwardly before walking into her bedroom and closing the door behind her.

… Wonder what that was about.

With a sigh you bend down and pick up the helmet again, you stick it under the crook of your arm along with the gloves before you make your way into your bedroom. Depositing both articles onto the bed, you spend the next few hours figuring out the best way to pack this all away, and you plan out your next few days in your head while you do so.

---

In the original chapter she was supposed to accidentally flash Dylan, but uh, that doesn't work on SB or SV.

 

[Erien]

[X] [Talk to another student? - Timothy]
-[x] make sure that he's alright after our spar and find out what happened to him
[X] [Continue training your quirk using Alva's list]

- - -

You pack away the rest of your uniform as best you can. It was… difficult finding a clothes hanger strong enough for the coat, the heavy lining making it, well, heavy. Still, two hangers in the neck managed well enough. While the hat is sitting off next to your desk beside the boot and bags. You'll probably have to get a mannequin or the like if you want to keep that stored easily.

… Though you expect it to get torn to pieces before long, especially if they want you to wear it more often. Given what training has consisted of so far you'd be shocked if it lasted a month. There's a pleasant warmness to your muscles as you move, the sparring wasn't great exercise but it at least got you moving. Enough that you still have enough excess energy to make a good dinner.

Slipping your shirt back on you step back into the living room before making your way over to the kitchen. Tonight you are thinking… tacos.

- - -

"Good morning, students!" The happy voice of Morrigan calls out over the assembled class, a scattering of 'hellos' back seems to mollify her as she… flaps down onto the desk. The seat behind it rolls back a little before settling into place as well. "I hope everyone had a good weekend, today we shall be examining the next assignment and starting the quirk history course in earnest. Now this will be on the test so do pay attention!"

The lights start to dim, the butterfly glowing a bit more golden in response. "Now as you are all aware America is a 'free quirk' nation. That means as long as it is not overtly dangerous or done to harm a fellow citizen or their possessions you are freely allowed to use your quirk both in public and private, within the limits of the law of course."

You hear a little pop and the screen behind the teacher lights up, it is a bright white before fading to a deep blue. A little 'video' icon flashes in the top right a moment before the logo of the school appears in the center. The bright red 'A' obnoxiously hard to focus on in contrast to the blue background.

"But that was not always the case."

It thankfully fades away before suitably heroic and bombastic music plays out of the ceiling mounted speakers. Text appears on the screen in a gigantic white font. 'The History of Our Heroes - Lightning'

It cuts to a view of a statue of fine marble, the camera pans around it to fully reveal a figure. Tall in a skin-tight bodysuit with a lightning bolt motif throughout, lightning bolt on the chest, lightning crashing from the gloves, a single bolt running down the mask.

Lightning, to no surprise, had a massive lightning motif.

The statue stands in front of the capitol building, the large reflecting pool sits behind him along with the statue of Grant. Around him, you can see statues of other heroes, but the camera focuses entirely on Lightning.

A male voice starts speaking, old and stately. "Lighting, the first modern American hero."

It then cuts away to a series of photos and video stills, bank robberies, murders, car chases. "America was a place of failing laws and ideals, as they became more common quirks were used to ill more than good. That is… until one man-"

- - -

Compared to history, English is far less entertaining.

Well, admittedly you know the tale of Lightning and the Society of Freedom like you know your ABC's. But that doesn't mean you don't enjoy the opportunity to sit in class and watch a movie.

"This, students," the voice of Omnilinguist interrupts your thoughts as a heavy book slaps against a desk. "Is Cien años de Soledad, or 'One Hundred Years of Solitude', our next two months will be spent studying this book and interpreting its themes. The text is in the original Spanish but includes a translation on the opposite page. I expect you to compare the differences and pay attention to the translation notes."

You hear a whimper, and you don't need to look to tell it was your partner. The class didn't get better from there, and as expected you were assigned your first homework of the week. Namely, read the first two chapters and compare the translation differences of the name 'Macondo'.

Something your partner is none too enthusiastic about.

- - -

"Student Dylan, early today?" You look across the classroom to see Embla standing by the computer 'pillar' both her and her sister congregate around. A small smile is on her face as she sees you enter.

You nod and set your bags down on your desk. "English let us out early with some homework, well... 'some' homework."

Embla nods her head understandingly and returns to typing away at her workstation. What is on the screen at the moment you cannot see, her fingers tap on a holographic keyboard that is on the right-hand side of the pillar, the screen just out of view at an angle away from you.

"I am not permitted to give an improved grade for punctuality, but your attempts to get here on time are appreciated."

"... Good to be here, what are we working on today?"

"Mendelian inheritance and the resulting osmosis of mutations and abilities throughout a family history."

You set your notebook down. "So quirk genetics?"

The typing stops, and you look up to see Embla staring at you. A look of surprise on her face, well. What appears to be a look of surprise, it is… difficult to tell what the two robot girls are actually feeling. Still, it seems you surprised her.

You shrug your shoulders. "I study biology far more than is actually healthy, probably more than my quirk needs sometimes, but it interests me."

Embla stares at you a moment longer before the smile returns to her face. "Yes, that would be correct. I had been meaning to speak to you about yours in greater detail."

"Oh?"

She steps back from the computer and the interface folds back up into the pillar. She then turns full towards you and takes a step forward. "Indeed, from your records and history, you have no prior family history of healing, correct?"

Your eyes dart around the room, suddenly feeling rather nervous for reasons you aren't quite sure. "Yes...?"

Embla nods and makes some small notes in a pad you didn't even realize she was carrying, two of her arms rest at her side while the other two write. "While a mutation like yours isn't unheard of, it is exceedingly rare. Neither of your parent's backgrounds have any link to yours, nor does your background match any other healers we have on record. They are generally a mutation off of regeneration powers."

You shrug your shoulders. "I'm aberrant, I'm already aware of this."

"Indeed, I would wish to study your quirk background for cataloging, much like Alva is looking into its applications. Would that be alright?"

You… don't really see why not, you are only in this to help people, and if figuring out how your quirk works helps people, you don't see any reason why you wouldn't assist.

"Sure."

Embla claps her hands together, the clank of metal against metal awkwardly loud even in the large classroom. "Excellent student Dylan, I thank you for your cooperation."

You nod your head. "Anything you need from me on this or…?"

She waves her hand. "We have your history on file, I am just required to ask for permission before doing any deep research."

"Go wild, I'm curious about it myself."

She smiles, and the door behind you opening signals that class is about to actually begin.

- - -

You step through the busy cafeteria, a plate of food held somewhat awkwardly held in your grip as you look around. Doomwulf has an extra assignment with Media Relations tonight, which also means you didn't feel like raiding the pantry.

… It also gives you an opportunity to meet one of your classmates, and one, in particular, is being searched for at the moment. There. Blueprint and Mirror are eating together near the far wall, Blueprint is in the process of eating a rather healthy looking salad while Mirror is chomping down on a hot dog.

You walk through the cafeteria, having to lift up your tray in places in order to not bathe another student in it as you move. There are only twenty people in your course, but the school as a whole is massive. It frequently surprises you how many are out and about compared to how many you actually work with on a daily basis.

When you approach you get more of the situation, Mirror is only idly eating while paying attention to his phone. While Blueprint is about halfway falling into his salad, the fork against the plate serving as a weak but effective crutch for holding him up.

He is still exhausted?

You come to a stop by the table, suddenly realizing that while you made the plan to approach you don't actually know what you are supposed to be doing.

Thankfully rescue does arrive as Mirror turns to look at you, white eyes… completely white eyes, staring up at you. The man has no pupils, and you aren't quite sure if that terrifies you or not. "... Yes? Embla have more assignments to hand out?"

You break from your stupor, trying to put on your best friendly smile you look at Mirror. "No… I was hoping to check up on Timothy, he took a rather nasty blast at the spar then passed out. That, and I wanted to introduce myself."

Mirror looks you up and down a moment before he sticks out his free hand for you to shake.

You stare at it, weight your options, then carefully adjust the tray so that you can shake his hand. He grips it firmly, shaking it hard enough you worry about the balance of the tray before he gently lifts it out of your arms and sets it onto the table.

He then slowly raises a finger to his lips before jerking his head over towards blueprint. The fork is making a valiant effort, but it will not keep him from slamming his head into the table much longer.

Mirror leans forward until he gets just a few inches away from Timothy's face. He cups his hands over his mouth, then shouts. "The teacher wants you to fill out an engineering journal!"

Timothy jerks back violently, the fork getting dangerously close to taking out one of Mirror's eyes in the process. "Grah! I finished high school you fucks! You can't do this to me, I have rights as a basic citiz-" He suddenly gains clarity, the syllable trailing off as he realizes that he is about one step away from assaulting his partner. "Ah…"

His eyes are notably less bloodshot, they still have heavy bags but he seems more… normal, less jittery. His iris is silver, while his sclera has sort of gridlines running across them. Faint black lines running up and down on each eye. "What's going on?" His words are lethargic and his voice is, in general, much lower than you've heard from him previously.

In response, Mirror jerks his head towards you.

You, now free of the tray, offer a handshake towards Timothy. "I wanted to check up on you… and say hello in general."

He shakes your hand before popping a bit of the salad into his mouth. "'Thanks I'm fine, just catching up on some sleep."

Mirror chuckles and leans back again. "I took away his coffee ration, forcing him to sleep."

"Coffee ration?"

Timothy nods, a slow and deliberate movement. "My quirk is fueled by caffeine, the more I drink, the stronger it gets."

"Which means he stays up all night." Mirror grouses.

Timothy has the sense to look a little guilty, seemingly remembering he has food in front of him. His movements get more rapid, he scarfs lettuce into his mouth like a man who hasn't eaten in days. Then again given what you've seen his caffeine to blood level must have been insane. There isn't a legal limit for that, but perhaps there should be.

"How long… were you awake exactly?"

Timothy pauses, fork halfway to his mouth as he stares at you. His eyes then dart over to Mirror who answers for him. "Three days, six hours and thirty-seven minutes."

Your gaze slowly turns to Mirror who merely shrugs. "Because of how my quirk works I have to keep a very careful track of time."

"... Fair enough, mind if I eat here?"

Mirror nods. "Dig in, and I'm Nathan by the way."

"Dylan."

- - -

[How the team going?]

- - -

You stare that the list Alva provided to you, what in god's name does she mean by 'focus your inner hero?' She's a robot, doesn't that mean she is supposed to rely on logic? It looks to be… meditation of some form. More breathing exercises along with attempting to control the rate at which your blood flows.

You don't even know how to start with that. But that's why you find yourself sitting on your bed like an idiot, one step away from chanting a sutra.

… There are worse ways to spend an evening.

- - -

Hero Law is Hero Law; incredibly boring. Though at the very least you have moved on from dry text reading onto actual case studies. So far you are happy to note the only homework you have gotten is from English class… and there is almost always homework from English class.

Meanwhile, PE is just PE, easy and relaxing. You and your partner jog around the campus until you are both dismissed and head back to the dorms.

- - -

You flop onto the couch with a sigh, the oven is warming up so that gives you time to relax and read a bit. "You know, you could cook every once in awhile."

Doomwulf chuckles, nothing bothering to look away from her phone as she replies. The television is idly playing some form of animal program that she isn't even slightly paying attention to. "Ah could, but that's why ah have you around."

"Such a kind and understanding partner I have, how's your week been so far?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "Gonna tackle that English Homework tonight actually managed to get a bit of readin' of it done during the relations class. They were doing little mock interviews so there was some downtime."

"They are having you do interviews?"

She nods, still not bothering to look away from her phone. "Mock interviews with media, questionnaires, dos and don'ts, that kinda thing."

"Exciting at all?"

"Eh, it's an easy class. Teacher ain't a big fan of my accent though so ah have to sharpen it up in interviews."

You chuckle, popping open the book and finding the spot you left off. You've had this one for years, bookmarks and crinkled pages abound. "Just use your Doomwulf persona, I'm sure they would appreciate it."

Doomwulf snorts. "While the mighty Doomwulf can ace any interview given, it would not be best for the mighty Doomwulf to interview in this tone."

"Perhaps not, is the mighty Doomwulf excited about getting her weapon along with the new costume?"

At that question, your partner grins widely. "Sure am! Been designin' it for sooo long, it's nice ta' get it." She taps a few buttons then flips the phone around for you to look at it, clear excitement in her eyes.



It's a picture collage, several sketches of the suit along with prototypes and designs for weapons and the like. Some simple, some incredibly advanced with full diagrams and measurements. Your partner can draw rather well, given her hobby, this doesn't surprise you.

"What about yers?"

You shrug your shoulders. "It was just something I had an idea for from going through old family belongings, protection is more paramount than style. I'll make it 'tacticool' like yours later.

Stephanie growls playfully. "My design is practical an' awesome, not 'tacticool'.

"I'm surprised you didn't ask for spikes and a chainsaw sword."

She blinks, then quickly pulls the phone back to press against her chest.

… "Oh, you didn't."

Her eyes dart to the side. "Well, ah mean, when I was younger."

"You asked for spikes?"

She shakes her head vehemently. "Not with this costume! Just uh, when ah was younger ah thought dual chainsaw swords would be great. Good for hero work and farm work."

You start laughing, only to be met by a sharp slap across the back from your partner.

"Oh like ya've never done anything embarrasin' as a kid, ah've told ya mine. You tell me yers!"

You blink, well, you suppose that's only fair.

- - -

[Heal-o man]



---



[How's the team going?]

You finish setting your little tray of food up before turning to the two of them again. Mirror, or rather Nathan, seems remarkably relaxed in general. You've seen him more than most since he shares your R&D class, but this is the first time you've really interacted with him. He seems to operate at a level of zen you haven't really seen since you ran into the philosophy students back in highschool, and you were pretty sure they were just... sampling the taste of old Greece.

Timothy is rather sluggish in comparison, his pace of eating has slowed down to a crawl and he seems perfectly content with simply enjoying the moment he is in. Whether this is the effects of the 'crash' or what he is like normally you can't say. Your quirk can do many things, reversing caffeine based blood poisoning is not currently one of them.

"How's the team going?" you ask as you set the napkin in your lap and start eating.

Nathan looks over at Timothy and shrugs his shoulders, if Timothy was expected to reply to the gesture he doesn't. Instead, the decaffeinated wonder is currently too busy focusing on his food. His pace may be lethargic and halfway instinctive, but he is surprisingly driven on eating.

With a sigh that reveals no small amount of patience, Nathan looks over at you. "Fine. We didn't really match at first, didn't really have anything to do with each other in initiation either, but it's worked out so far. I keep things busy while he does the whole 'ranged support' schtick."

You nod and look over at Timothy. "Getting along alright, then? My partner and I took some adjusting."

Timothy's eyes look up to meet yours, a large chunk of spinach currently sticking out his mouth. He looks down at it, then at one. Slowly he raises a hand to raise a finger in the universal 'please wait a moment kind sir' gesture. Before he quickly chews and swallows the vegetable. "Doomwulf right?"

You nod.

Timothy has a brief look of fear flit across his face before he shakes his head. "I… can't imagine being paired with someone that aggressive, we are working good as a team so far. Long as we keep to each other's blends of coffee anyway."

"He goes through an entire pot in the morning, and it's strong." Nathan adds, a small grin on his face. "It's a wonder he hasn't had a heart attack."

"Uh-huh." You nod sagely, hand rising to cup your chin as you think. "Might I see your hand a moment, Timothy? Medical reasons, I assure you."

The white-haired neurotic looks at you nervously a moment before places his hand on the table a foot in front of you. Leaning forward you reach out and grab it, gently lifting the hand off the table as you cup it. Your left-hand moves to rest on top of his, while the right keeps the limb aloft by holding the wrist. You make a show of narrowing your eyes, staring hard and shifting the extremity around in your grip to look at it from multiple angles.

You tsk, carefully placing the hand back onto the table before looking at Timothy with all the sympathy you can muster. "You have Kuru."

"W… what?" Timothy's hand rockets back from the table at a speed that would make Lightning jealous. He looks from it to you repeatedly, clear worry in his eyes.

"Part of my quirk," you explain, leaning back to grab your first bite of lunch. "I can see what is wrong with the body as part of healing it." A bald-faced lie of course, but nobody here knows what the extent of your abilities is. Which is fair, as you're still figuring them out yourself.

You shake your head, letting out a deep sigh in the process. "It's an infectious prion within your brain caused by drinking too much coffee. You have, at most, another year to live without treatment."

"A… a year?! You're kidding right?!" Timothy's screech is almost loud enough to cover up Nathan failing to suppress a laugh besides you.

You shake your head sadly before taking another bite out of your lunch. "Unfortunately not, we do have treatment but… it's difficult. Before blasting people with that big cannon of yours, you'll need to consider a few basic factors, like 'Is it worth the caffeine?' 'Can I use something smaller instead?' And most importantly, 'Could he convince me I've contracted a terminal illness as revenge?'"

Timothy stares at you wide-eyed, unmoving as he processes what you said to him. This lasts all of two seconds before Nathan slams his hand into the table, no longer even trying to contain his laughter.

"Not funny, man!"

"Oh, I assure you, as someone who knows how you actually contract Kuru, it's hilarious."

- - -

[Heal-o man]

You close the book and lean back against the couch. Eyes trailing up to the ceiling as you think. "Well… I suppose."

Doomwulf rubs her hands together and leans forward. "Whatcha got for me?"

You smile and glance for a moment at the television before turning your gaze fully on your partner. "Well, when I discovered my quirk I had all sorts of ideas of being a hero for awhile before I got practical about the whole situation anyway." You hold up the book to emphasize your point before allowing it to drop on the cushions with a satisfying thump.

"I was going to be the great Heal-o man, solver of all the world's ills. Literally and figuratively."

"Ya serious?"

You nod, puffing out your chest and crooking your arms into a suitably heroic pose. "Heal-o man, fighting an endless war on all things bruise and flesh wound."

Stephanie's face scrunches up, her nose twisting and the faintest hint of tears forming in her eyes before she falls forward clutching her stomach. "Oh god! Yer boring ass doin' the whole 'Man of Might' thing!"

"Yeah, yuck it up, I'm sure your early name ideas weren't much better."

Doomwulf lets out a few snickering breaths before she raises herself back up. Her arms are crossed underneath her chest as she smiles widely at you. "Ah'll have you know I started an' ended with Doomwulf thank ya!"

You shrug your shoulders dismissively, reaching down to pick up the book again. "Unfortunately most of us mere mortals cannot be as talented as Doomwulf. So for a while, I was destined to be Heal-o man."

She snickers again, her phone forgotten amongst the cushions as she leans back across the couch. "Ah'm glad you figured out so fast how amazin' ah am. But nah, probably half the school was like that at some point."

"Least I didn't plan on putting spikes everywhere."

Doomwulf moves her elbow to jab you before stopping mid-motion. Her eyes widen and her tail which was previously still now starts wagging furiously. "Hold that thought."

With that she jumps off of the couch and runs into her room, the door closes behind her as she enters and you can hear the slam of drawers being opened and closed. Either she has something to show you or she is about to kill you, you aren't sure which.

A good minute passes before she runs back out again, she runs out before coming to a sliding stop in front of you. Her hands, cupped, open to reveal a model about as tall as one of your fingers. The model is a rather… vile looking sort, black and heavy armor with tubes of green chemicals running throughout. His or her face is covered by what appears to be some form of armored plague doctor's mask from antiquity.

He is also covered in spikes, many many pointy spikes.

"This 'ere!" Doomwulf carefully pokes the forearm of the model, whereupon sits a little… crossbow style launcher? It has what appears to be an oversize and serrated syringe resting on it. "We could get ya one of these! It would be awesome!"

You stare at the nightmare of small children a moment before looking your partner dead in the eyes.

"No."



---



Words, math, word math, math words. Word problems with math, math problems that someone decided they needed to be written out like the Iliad… or that damn Spanish book sitting on your desk.

… You'll get to that homework soon. Probably.

You haven't heard any sobbing from Stephanie these last few days, so you doubt she has started on it either. No, your partner is currently going with a less stressful course of action, faint bursts of air reveal she is currently airbrushing some models out on the balcony, the light on the balcony along with her somewhat enhanced vision allowing her to work even in the dimming rays of the evening sun.

Meanwhile, you are busy trying to figure out who Leibniz is and whether or not he really deserved to live. Your quirk might be healing, but you do not follow the Hippocratic oath, and sometimes people need to die.

… Especially when they write this: "The length of a rectangular is three times as its width. If the width were 6m greater and the length were 10m shorter, it would be a square, what are the original dimensions?" Nobody has ever measured a rectangle this way. First you measure the length, then you measure the width, then you write them both down; problem solved. And what language's grammar are you using?!

You reach up and rub your eyes, the numbers dancing through your vision even with them closed. It was bad enough when there weren't letters in there too…

With a sigh you open them again, your vision taking in the stack of books in front of you. You need something else to read. Maybe a visit to the library is in order at some point.

*sigh*

- - -

"Gooood morning students!" Planck shouts as he hops onto the desk, or you think he shouts anyway. With how small the man is it is hard to tell. It seems every time you meet the man his height changes… he has never been the size of the desk but he has varied between being a half foot tall to four feet at his highest. If you had to guess by how the books keeps changing size as well you would theorize he can control the size of things, though how, or if that quirk is related to mathematics is anyone's guess.

Then again your history teacher is a butterfly and your English teacher has the quirk of being a massive jackass so you suppose it doesn't need to be.

"Today we shall be going over some new formulas, and shall start our first group project." He is far too excited by the words 'group project.' "You shall be paired with another student for this class, and together you shall challenge the particularly devilish problem I have placed before you."

He fishes through his pocket a moment before producing a tiny hat. His hands glow green a moment before, with a loud pop, the hat grows to a normal size. He grins at the class like he just performed a feat of magic before dropping it onto the table.

"Well come on down then! Inside the hat is a series of numbered sticks, find the person that you match and they will be your partner for the remainder of the class."

The sound of chairs scratching against the floor fills the hall as everyone gets up to take a number. You are one of the last, mostly because you aren't going to fight your way to the magical size-changing hat and its magical size-changing teacher.

When you do finally draw it you get the number… 12. Murmuring fills the hall as the students compare numbers.

You feel a tap on your shoulder and glance over to see Doomwulf grinning at you her number hidden by her hand. "Who'd ya get?"

- - -

[Stephanie's number]

[Another student - Random]

- - -

Right… you carefully stare at the 'potion' in front of you. After your last attempt, Alva noted some interesting effects of your quirk on your bodies ability to process toxins. Deciding the follow this route, she supplied you with a few of these vials to train your toxin purging (the actual stuff, not that stupid pseudoscience). You don't really trust anything made by the mad doctor after your last… encounter. Sure you're a fan of horror, you prefer to read Lovecraft, not live it.

The red liquid inside reminds you uncomfortably of blood. Though at the very least it isn't the same shade of madness the previous one turned out to be… the exercises she recommended to you haven't done much so far, but she gave you this as a supplement.

Popping off the top, you wave the scent into your nose. It smells of death, fire, the end of times... cherry. With a sigh and one last prayer to all that you hold near and dear in your life, you down the concoction.

It…

It…

It tastes like cherry and goes down like molasses. You smack your lips to clear the taste, but nothing else happens. You narrow your eyes, staring at the bottle suspiciously. The birds are still flying in the air, the air isn't on fire, the wind is still whistling through the trees, the trees don't have hands. It's still a calm and peaceful evening, with no sign of dangers or anything particularly out of the ordinary.

Isn't that right, C̷̷̶̛͜t̶̛͝h̴̢ơ̧ģg҉̴̧á͜l͏̷̨̨̀b̧͡h҉͜?

ROAR

Preach it, brother.

- - -

[X] [So, that anterolateral ridge looks new, where'd you get it?]

- - -

"Good morning students, I do hope you have all been reading the book I assigned to you!"

A very awkward silence fills the classroom at Omnilinguists pronouncement. She smiles sweetly, her fingers rapping at the book sitting on her desk. It's the same book; very very old, and in the original Spanish.

It's a small mercy you don't need to read that version, but still you fear the future. You have at least another year of this class and she already sees fit to make her assignments hellish.

- - -

Science is science, that is; boring and not much to talk about. Of all your classes so far it is the most… vanilla. The most like highschool was. A normal teacher with no extravagant quirk, his assignments are middling and he doesn't really get in anybody's way. Honestly with what your other classes are like you kind of appreciate that.

You know Doomwulf does, given by the fact her tail is wagging for the first time since English class. Admittedly slowly, but you have learned that is the 'relaxed' wag, so far you have born witness to the 'thrilled' wag the 'coffee' wag and the 'bundle of violence that is shaped like wolfgirl' wag. This is the 'sedate and looking forward to heading back to the dorm' wag. If she ever wants to bet you again, you should try and get her into a game of poker.

You walk amongst the throng of students now having exited the tram station. They all split apart once you get up the escalators, some going to have dinner in the cafeteria, others going to the dorms. You recently just picked up groceries so you are going to be cooking instead of paying for junk food, Doomwulf is coming along because you threatened to cut off her coffee ration.

It's an ineffective threat, though if you actually did such a thing she would probably just throw you so far off the balcony you'd bounce off the glass dome. But it's the threat that counts. (I make the damn food in this house… dorm...hold, eat it.)

Besides Friday nights are now pizza nights, not Thursday.

You lean against the wall of the elevator as it carries you upwards, your partner idly tapping away at her phone as you travel up to your floor. With a faint ding the door slides open and Doomwulf steps through. You follow closely behind and into the dorm room itself once she opens it.

You are just setting your bags down onto the couch when she speaks up. "Ya got a second to talk?"

You step past the couch and move into the kitchen. "Just gonna start making dinner, something going on?"

You hear the sound of her backpack hitting the couch, then her shoes clapping against the floor before she leans over the counter. "Ah gotta call from ma' parents this mornin'. They can't come 'ere obviously. But they wanted me to come to visit next month over ah weekend."

Nodding idly you start to pick through your selection of pans. It's a relief you didn't have to buy your own. "Alright, don't think the school would have anything against it."

"Well, probably not. But ah was gonna ask if you can come."

*CLANG*

You pull back, ignoring the pan you just dropped, to look at your partner. "They wanna meet ma' partner. Since so many heroes stick with their partners through their careers they wanted to meet ya early."

… Oh.



---



[Another Student - Random]

You shrug your shoulders and show her the number, a brief look of disappointment crossing her face before she reveals hers, fifteen.

Alright, so you didn't get your partner. So who then did you get? Your eyes look over the crowd, the student are already picking each other out. Timothy with … Delivery, it comes to mind you still don't know the names of roughly half your class. Nora is paired up with Tidal Wave, and the others are pairing off even as you speak, leaving you with fewer and fewer options. Soon, you are standing alone in the room, everyone else seeming to have paired up.


You are about to turn to the teacher for clarification, when a light tap on your shoulder alerts you to a student that you must have missed. Thank god, you really didn't want to have to talk to the teacher abo-

Oh, fuck no.

Four familiar arms, one familiar eye, and an entirely too familia grin greet your view, holding the number, and smirking lightly.

… Help.

- - -

[So, that anterolateral ridge looks new, where'd you get it?]

You smile, leaning back against the tree, sandwich in your hand as you talk to your new best friend in the worlds.

Growl

"Huh? Is that how it works? I thought the tailbone was fo-"

Hiss

"No, no! I believe you buddy. It's just, this completely overwrites our understanding of human anatomy and evolution. What's this about anyway?"

Burble Dgly

"Huh, I suppose you're right. I would make a great prophet. Maybe even the great prophe-"

"You're telling me you are the predecessor species? The beings from which all light and darkness is spawned in the universe, and you are telling me your dark secrets so I can be your great prophet?"

Dlygn!

"Wait, what was that?"

"Ah said 'Dylan!' stop freaking out!" Your squishy new friend fades away, the dark howls and screams of the night being pulled back to the endless abyss between the planes of reality. In its place is your partner, a somewhat panicked expression on her face.

"... When'd you get here, and where'd Cthoggal-." You frown, opening your mouth several times and readjust your tongue. "C*thogg*albh, go?"

Doomwulf's face scrunches up. "Ctho-what-now? I got here and you were eating a handkerchief!"

Your eyes trail down from her face to a soggy chewed up handkerchief in your hand, huh, well you thought his cooking was bland. You shrug your shoulders, giving her your best winning smile. "R&D class."

Her hand slowly raises to palm her face. "Ah know ah've asked this before, but WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY TEACHING YOU IN THAT CLASS?!"

- - -

[Agree]

You… don't really see a reason much reason not to. You'll be losing a weekend if not more, but you'll be with Stephanie for quite some time if the whole partners thing works out. That, and you are rather curious as to who the *hell* could have created her.

"Sure, I can clear my schedule around then."

Her tail wagging so hard she nearly gains altitude tells you what she thinks of your answer.

 

[Erien]

[X] [Visit Mom and Dad]

[X] [Go to the Library]

-[X] Look for books on animal biology, specifically dogs, reptiles (snakes) and birds. You can't heal animal biology right now, time to start fixing that.

[X] Combat Training - Mandatory

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

- - -

You wave to your partner before stepping outside onto the balcony, the cool morning air of the Saturday washing over you. You suppose you don't need to worry about snow in the dorm but that doesn't stop the Georgia cold any. Fall is rapidly approaching, and with that the rapid shift in temperatures as well.

From the perch, you can see several students are already out and about, few in their actual school uniforms. Instead, they're dressed in cooler weather gear to head to breakfast. Those that are dressed already are heading out the gates towards weekend classes… much like you will be in an hour.

You press the button on the side of the phone and move to contacts, the first image that greets you is three smiling faces. Your father (how mother convinced him to get into a swimsuit is a mystery) along with your mother and yourself, smiling into the camera, a bright sunset behind you showing the pristine beach of Tybee Island.

Your finger hovers over the call button a moment before you press it.

*Ring*

*Ring*

*Ri-*

"Good morning, sweetie!" chirps a bright and chipper voice. It shows no sign of being tired or having just awoken, which fits. Mom was just about the only person you knew of that would reliably get up at four in the morning, which is also the reason you don't have any problem with it either.

"Morning mom, anything interesting going on at the house?" You hear the sound of a heavy bag being torn open and something rather heavy hitting the ground… she's probably laying some new soil in the backyard.

"Mmm, just planting some dusty millers for the fall season, your dad's still getting ready for work. Hmm, oh! Your aunt came by yesterday, she had a lot of questions for how school was going."

You frown. "That's… good to hear she cares, I guess."

"You know she cares Dylan, just because you can't get along with her doesn't me-... oh forget it. How's school going?"

You start to shrug before realizing she can't see the gesture, instead you shift to lean against the wall as you talk. The morning sun diffusing light through the glass in a series of rainbow projections. Rather pretty actually, though it makes you wonder how they manage to keep the glass clean. "Fairly well, I actually got my costume last weekend. It's nearly the same design you helped me submit actually."

"Oooh! Bring it around when you come to visit." Nice to know she's excited. "You are visiting, right?" You chuckle at the 'hint'.

"Was planning on coming by tonight if you'd have me. Have a bit of schoolwork this morning then was going to get some books at the library before hitching the tram over to ya'll."

"Oh, I'll make a big dinner! I'll tell your father not to work late tonight."

Your mothers 'big' dinners could easily feed a family of eight, when she wasn't gardening she was cooking, it's how you learned.

… You've only just now realized how much you got from your mother.

"I'm going to ask my partner if she wants to come if that's alright?"

"... She?"

You pause, then slide the door to the balcony open and stick your head inside. Stephanie looks up from her phone curiously. "You're still a girl right?"

Your partner narrows her eyes. "Last time ah took a' shower ah was yeah."

You give her a thumbs up and slide the door closed again. "She confirms she is a she."

"You didn't tell us your partner was a girl." You hear her let out a huff followed by the sound of another bag being torn open.

"I didn't tell you she was a man either, so I was just being purposely evasive and you aren't allowed to be mad at me for that."

You hear her laugh over the phone, "I fail to see why you would be, your aunt has a male partner."

"Considering the fact that dad nearly had to drag you off of me before I boarded the tram I figured it was better to be safe than sorry." Silence fills the line for several long moments before you hear dirt pouring out of a bag.

"So… six?"

"Sounds fine sweetie, I'll pick you up from the station, anything I should know about your partner before I meet her?"

You glance back inside where she is currently lounging on the couch and watching the television, half a piece of bacon sticking out of her mouth that she is chewing idly.

"... She's better experienced than explained."

- - -

You step out of the room together, her class starts at the same time as yours on Saturdays, and with combat class being at the same time you have identical schedules on the weekends for the most part. What Stephanie plans on doing after Media Relations you haven't the foggiest… but while you have her attention.

"I'm heading over to my parents tonight for dinner, want to come? It'd just be the evening."

Doomwulf looks over at you curiously, the bookbag on her shoulder shifting as you both wait for the elevator. "That who ya were talkin' to earlier?"

"Mom yeah, had to explain to her your were of the female persuasion."

Doomwulf chuckles, then her eyes get wide. "Ah… shit, ah fergot to tell my dad my partner was ah guy."

… Considering you are fairly at least one of her parents is a werewolf, this worries you more than a little.

"Well I'd suggest you get on that before some overprotective parent skins me alive, you want to come tonight?"

She nods before slowly reaching for her phone, a few taps later. "Hey… dad?"

- - -

"Good morning 3085.11!"

"Dylan," you idly correct, "and good morning yourself, how goes the research?"

Alva is currently sitting on a 'desk', a large table made of metal and plastic with all sorts of pretty colored buttons that wouldn't look out of place in a children's cartoon. A series of wires run from the back of it into Alva's back and arms, which is the sole reason why she isn't doing the 'happy robot wave' she is so fond of.

Her golden eyes stare at you, literal light shining behind them along with text far to fast to read going up into her… skull. Data and information is passing by her eyes and disappearing from view, though given that she is entirely focused on your it appears she isn't really paying attention to it. Or, she doesn't need to actually read it to understand it, which is the far more likely option to be honest. "Research is going well, I am currently testing an experiment from the Texas Medical Center, they are seeing how various antibiotics and experimental medicines react to quirks."

There's a loud beep from the machine and several vials slide out of covered holes in the top. There's three, one red, one green, one blue. Each is noticeably bubbling ever so slightly. "Are you interacting with it with… your… quirk?"

Alva shakes her head, or rather mimics a rough approximation, what with her head turning a full 90 degrees left and right. "I do not have a quirk, but I can feed information for testing. Would you like to give it a try?"

A small panel on the front of the machine lights up, what was once a black display now shows a wireframe of a hand. "It reacts to quirks, and along with a blood sample it will allow us to see how those with altered biologies react more to modern medicine!"

…

[Yes]


- - -

Right… biology, biology. Specifically animal biology. You can heal humans just fine, but things like Stephanie's nails still give you problems, and you will be damned if you don't find some way to fix that.

Luckily this school is very well stocked, reptiles, birds, fish, more and more and more. You are honestly surprised how many they have, considering you doubt this school offers a veterinarian course. Then again given how common animal-based quirks and mutations can be you suppose it isn't that surprising.

You are just reaching for a book on reptiles when another hand meets your own in the way.

"Ah!" you turn your head to see… Kros?

The snakewoman 'stands' there with a emanarrassed look upon her face. She's dressed in a heavy sweater that goes down well to where her knees would be, while the snake tail trails almost all the way to the end of the row. Which raises the question of how the hell she snuck up on you.

"Er… good afternoon, you're Nora's partner right?" She pulls back a little, the embarrassed look changing to a small smile.

"Yes, Valeria." She offers a hand for you to shake.

"Dylan. Apologies, didn't realise you were there."

She giggles. "Is okay, despite length I can be remarkably quiet, no?"

You nod and turn back to the shelf, the school so far has kept multiple copies of every book, and this is not the exception either. Picking up both you offer one to Valeria who accepts it gratefully.

"Thank you, but if I may ask why book on reptiles?"

You look down at the book then nudge your pack around revealing the rest. "My quirk is based on the understanding of biology, and while I can heal humans fairly well… those with non human forms present a rather unique problem to me."

She nods. "So… no healing those of snake features?"

"No, I tried when you got cut during the simulation. I can heal your human half fine."

She frowns, causing you to wonder if you just stuck your foot in your mouth.. "I have no halves, Valeria is Valeria." She then giggles and smiles again. "But I understand yes, is good to study. Your partner is animal too yes?"

"Yeah, Doomwulf is, well, wolf-like. So I got a book on canine biology."

"I see yes," Her tail slithers forward and she 'stands' up higher, she lifts to a good eight feet and peers over into the book bag, "Nora mentioned seeing you train in the forest."

Ah… "Thats, something else. Something I'm working on for R&D, this is mostly going to be self study."

She nods and pulls back, a hand raising to her cheek as she stares at you. "Dylan? I have proposition."

You carefully put the book into the bag then face her again, having to look up to meet her in the eyes noticeably. The girl is tall, even if she gets up there by cheating, compared to the full head of height you have on Doomwulf it's a rather stark contrast.

"You helped in the month ago test, was great help would you like to… best way to word… learn biology with partner and myself? I thought you would already be doing so with partner, we can help learn for healing non-human features no?"

… You know, it does come to mind you've never asked Doomwulf about it, but you never really thought of a way of testing beyond her deliberately breaking a claw.

- - -

[Agree] - (Will become a new action.)

- - -

The train kicks off with a loud hiss and a sudden lurching motion forward. There was a decent amount of students heading out of the school this evening, though Stephanie and yourself are the only ones from your class.

The evening sun passes through the windows as it starts moving, what was once diffused and gentle becomes noticeably brighter and harsher, forcing you to hit the button next to the window to drop a shade.

You haven't had direct sunlight in a month, sometimes that is rather easy to forget. Doomwulf doesn't seem bothered either way, her tail is pulled around to sit in her lap while she idly reads a comic; a hero comic, of course.

The city of Atlanta passes by rather quickly all things considered, without having to worry about traffic downtown passes by remarkably fast. Though it also helps you are travelling at a good eighty miles an hour or so.

It's only a thirty minute ride with a few stops before it pulls up at your station. With another hiss, you hear the doors slide open, and you tap your partner on the shoulder before stepping out the door into the waning sunlight.

Lilburn is not the… biggest town, bigger than most further south but still, compared to its neighbours it is little more than a dot on a map. Still, you missed it, the concrete wafts up heat despite the cooler fall weather and it isn't more than half a minute before the doors to the train close and it speeds off again further north.

Tall buildings surround the station, well, tall by Lilburn standards. The line runs straight through the heart of downtown, you'd have used it to get into the school itself but… they do all their clearance at the entrance.

… Rather inconvenient in your opinion.

"Ah think Valdosta's bigger than this place."

"By a factor of four, last time I checked."

Doomwulf looks about at the buildings curiously, her tail wagging slowly behind her as she does so. "And they call me ah hick."

"Oh, don't you even fuckin-"

A loud voice interrupts you. "Dylan!"

Both of you turn your heads to see a middle aged woman waving at the two of you. She's roughly your height with long brown hair tied up in a ponytail. Her green eyes are happy and kind and the smile on her face is genuine… as are the smudges of dirt on her face. Your mother can dress up all she likes, she will never get all the dirt off from gardening, no matter much she tries.

She's standing in front of the family truck, said truck looks suspiciously clean… and a little wet.

You wave back and make your way out of the station to her. Her eyes lock on Stephanie almost immediately as you step her, her smile getting wider by the moment.

"Stephanie… Delilah, my mother." You introduce. Stephanie, master of offensive combat and one of the most aggressive people you've ever met in your life… falls rather easily under the 'curious mother' blitz.

"Hello sweetie! My Dylan has been rather tight-lipped about you and school life, I do hope he has been a model student and partner for you."

Doomwulf has a brief look of panic as your mother closed the distance to stand in front of your partner. "He… uh, er, he's been fine ma'am."

Oh thank god she's not falling back on the DOOMWULF persona.

"Wonderful to hear it! Come, you can sit in the passenger seat, Dylan can sit in the back."

… Well jokes on you, you like the backseat, it has the best leg room in that giant truck.

- - -

Your mother positively grilled your partner during the fifteen minute drive between downtown Lilburn and the suburbs. No hard questions thankfully, but it seems she is actually trying to get more information about you than your partner.

It's a welcome relief when the door to the garage opens and you and your partner escape the pickup-prison. The garage is the same as the last time you were in it; filled with scrap metal that piles up to the ceiling. The truck has to park in the very front of the garage, but you could easily fit another full sized truck in here if dad moved his workplace to another location.

"I'm going to go check on Kelly, can you show her around the house Dylan?"

You nod and she passes by you both to enter the house, Dad's here already going by the fact his jeep is parked out in the yard.

"Well it's bigger than the farm house."

You chuckle and walk past her. "They let you sleep in the house?"

The foot you get in the back for that is probably deserved.

- - -

It's a small house, hell your bedroom here is smaller than the one back in the dorm, but it's comfortable, and in no time at all Doomwulf is sitting, notably nervous, on the couch as she looks around the place. Your mother is still taking care of Kelly while dad is taking a shower.

No it isn't the biggest, but you will admit some small amount of happiness from being home after being gone a month. You didn't exactly get homesick but… home is home.

Doomwulf's head is on a swivel as she takes everything in, her nose twitching at the unfamiliar scents. Flowers abound, some set in large vases by doorways, others in little hanging pots attached to the wall and decorating the kitchen island.

Photos are all about the place as well. Family, both past and present, all over the place, a particularly grouping on the eastern wall gets her attention and… ah, shit.

"Yer family a big fan of Lady Luck?"

You frown as you look at the pictures plastering the wall. Memorabilia and framed (and signed) photographs of the female hero. Including more than a few with your family, without you in any of them thankfully. "You've heard of her?"

Doomwulf sputters. "Heard of 'er? Last time ah checked she's in the top five of heroes in the state! Lady Luck, changer ah fortune and all that. Thought ya weren't big on pro heroes yerself, what's with all the pictures?"

- - -

[She's my aunt.]

- - -

You shift in your gear, the heavy weight of the plates taking a bit to adjust to. You'll probably need to exercise in this thing long term to adjust to it… the weight is balanced so no one part of your body is overloaded, but it still has a noticeable effect on your dexterity.

Then again this whole hero costume is about defense, so who are you to complain.

Your sparring partner stands across from you, looking remarkably similar to when you last met him in initiation. Ranger stands there with his hands on his hips, the leather vest now looking far thicker and sturdier. That and it is now black rather than a light brown, his boots haven't changed at all, the pair of spurs clicking slightly as he adjusts his posture.

You haven't spoken to the man since initiation, so frankly you don't know that much about him or his powers beyond the fact he can launch energy from his hands, and can get enough power to deal a scary amount of damage. He grins as he stares at you, the toothpick in his mouth shifting as he waits for the proctor to call the start of the match.

Right… how do you want to do this.

- - -

[Dylan Style] Fight defensive.

---

[Agree to the Experiment]

You press your hand against the glass so fast you momentarily fear you may shatter it. But the glass… gives. What was for all appearances glass is some form of rubber-like substance, the panel pushing in slightly and molding around your hand before unflexing a moment later. The surface itself is soft to the touch and you can feel it sticking to your hand ever so slightly.

With a loud beep, the pad glows a bright white, the wireframe replaced by a large progress bar going across the top.

5%, 10.3%, 12%.

…

12%.

…

12.1%

...

11.5%

"How long is this going to take exactly?"

"Machine experimental, never used on a student." Alva looks towards the display. "Analysis, three seconds estimated."

You hear another beep and glance back at the display.

100%.

"Correction, two seconds."

All at once you feel the suction pull away, the screen releasing the loose grip it had on your hand and you pull it back. Along the screen is a digital recreation the front of your hand, the veins within are glowing a bright blue and are visible through the skin, they pulse and pump as you would expect veins to do so.

With a faint sliding sound, a small panel on the front of the machine opens, revealing a hole about the size of your arm. Within is an indentation to lay your arm, above which sits a capped needle.

… You aren't scared of needles but. "Pinch me."

"Simply insert your arm into the recept-." You hear another whirring sound and glance over to see Alva tilting her head. "Pinch?"

"If I know the needle is coming my quirk will react as soon as it breaks the dermis, I can't stop it from penetrating but I have, would, and will cause the skin to close around the needle getting it stuck there until it is ripped out." You frown, rather… unpleasant younger memories surfacing. "Therefore; pinch me as a distraction or this is going to suck."

Her eyes dart between you and the machine a moment, the sound not dissimilar to a camera lens extending sounding out from her head. She then raises her left hand and places it onto your shoulder.

Nodding you roll up the sleeve of your uniform and place your arm into the receptacle, with a beep you feel the needle descend an- FUCK! Any potential pain from the needle is completely overridden by the small robot twisting the skin on your arm hard enough that she threatens to tear it off.

"Too hard! too hard!" she relents immediately, a stinging sensation running up and down your arm as she releases her grip. Another far fainter stinging sensation throbs from your finger as you feel the needle pull itself out of the digit, and a second later you carefully extricate the limb. A light dot of red tips your pointer finger, and with barely any conscious thought the wound closes underneath it. The dull throbbing running up and down your arm does as well a mercifully short second later.

You smile despite yourself, looking over and down at the child-sized killbot. "You have one hell of a grip you know that?"

Alva grins. "This unit's hands are rated to a Newton force of 2750!"

… She could crush your skull like an apple. Wait.

"Unit? There are multiple of you?"

Alva hops back, her arms waving emphatically. "Alva is Alva!" she spins around the spot, causing you to lean back less you get clocked in the face by one of her metal limbs. "Embla made me, but me and big sister share a design chassis!"

You glance around the lab a moment, nobody is here beyond a technician in the corner, and he seems more preoccupied with his phone than work at the moment. Seeing the coast is clear you turn back to the little doombot. "How did that all happen anyway? You never said who made you or the… purpose really before." Alva tilts her head before raising a fist to… clank… against the side of her cheek.

"Embla made Alva, and…" Alva pauses, her eyes narrowing to slits. "Embla made Alva, and Embla made Embla."

"Embla built herself?" you don't exactly dismiss her claim, but based on what you know it can't be possible, so there's obviously more to know. Alva doesn't seem to see it that way and does something you've never seen her do before; dismissing a question and shrugging.

"Embla made Embla."

Well, if that isn't weird then yo- wait, so there could be an army of tiny Alva's someday. You 're pretty sure you saw that in Terminator 17, but this would be far worse. An infinite army of self-replicating hugging machines that care not for how the science is achieved, only that it happens, damn the consequences. That, or they may give a give humanity a tipsheet full of yoga positions to practice in the woods.

The list gets weird.

"Why did she make you, though?"

"Alva's purpose is to teach at this academy."

You glance back over at the robot again, she is beside a pillar, typing away at a holographic keyboard attached to it. "That's it? No grander plans?"

The typing continues, and at first, you don't think she noticed your question as she works away. With a pneumatic hiss, a large panel on the front of the pillar opens up like a double door revealing a large computer mainframe hidden inside of the pillar itself. Crisscrossing network and data wires run up and down through the floor and up further into the pillar beyond what you can see, inside is a large rack of servers stacked on top of each other in a rack. Clear tubes of red fluid running through them, the liquid inside bubbling from the obvious heat they are giving off. It's lit up like a Christmas tree, various status displays, message logs, running screens of text… the works.

You hear a robotic giggle and glance back over at Alva. "Alva wishes to make the world better, much like Embla made it better for Alva." The keyboard slides back into the wall, then steps around it herself. Her eyes trail over the machine eyes alight in wonder before she stretches out her hand to run over a small plate on the front of the machine. You missed it before, it's a small golden plaque with a name on it. 'E.M.B.L.A'

- - -

[x][Agree] - (Will become a new action.)

You nod. "I don't see any reason to refuse, it's a barred gate for me… so any help you could offer would be appreciated."

Kros smiles broadly, a pair of twin fangs jutting out underneath her lip as she does so. "Nyet problem was hoping to speak since initiation." She pulls herself up higher to look over your head, then turns to look the other direction, once down she looks down at you, smiling impishly. "Partner and I went into hero work to help people, is good to meet others doing same, no?"

You nod with a smile, carefully stuffing the book into your bag in the process. "Well I didn't exactly go into this line of work to be famous, so I agree with you there… though I don't really know what I can offer in return."

Kros giggles, her face flushing as she does so. "Nyet, no need repayment. You helped partner and myself during initiation, is good to return the favor. Besides, we are heroes, no? We help people."

"That we do," you find yourself nodding along with her, "thanks for the offer Valeria."

She nods, then looks to the left and right. "Ah… well, perhaps you can help me with one small thing."

"What would that be?"

She blushes slightly, fidgeting a little as she suddenly looks rather embarrassed. "My English isn't best, I was raised around other Russians, I have books I need to find but… titles hard. Help?"

You smile. "Sure, just tell me what you need."

- - -

You slam your head back into the couch, suddenly feeling a fresh pang of regret wash over you. You don't like talking about her, hell, you don't like thinking about her, but you aren't going to lie about it.

"She's my aunt."

"Yer kiddin'?"

"I kid a lot of things," a sigh escapes your lips involuntarily. "But not this. Lady Luck is my aunt."

Doomwulf gasps excitedly. "That's cool! Most we got in ma' family is a few outlier heroes, and none directly related. But a top tenner? That's awesome!"

"Yes… awesome."

Doomwulf's mouth shuts so fast you can hear her teeth click. "... She the reason you're so grumpy about professional heroes?"

Your turn your attention away from your partner to look at the pictures again. "Yeah, let's go with that." A rather awkward silence fills the air as you stare at the pictures, the only sound being the ticket clock hanging above the fireplace and the heavy footste-

"So is this the partner I've heard so much about?"

An absolute bear of a man stares down at your partner. He is dressed in an orange shirt with bands of reflective material around it, on top of that and a pair of bluejeans is a pair of suspenders that have clearly seen better days, going by all the burn marks running across it, little pockmarks of errant spark and flame marking it like someone set the moon on fire.

He towers over Stephanie with a rather serious frown on his face. It is only accentuated by the rough beard and missing eye, a jagged scar running down his face from his hairline down to his upper lip. The hole is thankfully covered by an eyepatch, but it doesn't serve to make him any less intimidating to stare at. His hair is a deep brown, same color as yours, and it's tied back in a ponytail that runs down to his shoulders, still damp from his recent shower. And he still has some soot on his cheek. God, him and mom were made for each other.

You hear a faint whimper and her tail flattens through the hole in the back of her dress. She's dressed to her nines for the occasion. You didn't mention it at first, but apparently, Doomwulf wanted to impress your parents, though to be fair you plan on doing the same for them…

Problem is you don't have nice clothes.



Stephanie, in just about the meekest you've seen her since the night in the forest, offers her hand to your father. Her voice is uncharacteristically weak. "Stephanie Clarkson… sir."

He stares down at the hand, a tense silence filling the air as Doomwulf looks about ready to vault off the couch and out the backdoor. Then, with a hearty laugh he takes your partner's hand in his own and shakes it happily. "Good to finally meet you little lady, Dylan only ever spoke highly of you."

The tail lifts slightly, then starts to hesitantly wag. "O… oh?"

"Yep, said you've been teaching him how to actually be a useful person, never had much talent for hero work so it's good he's got someone willing to kick him in the ass about it. I'm Jack, Jack Evans."

Gee, thanks dad. You were almost developing an ego, so it's good that you went ahead and burned that to the ground before it had a chance to grow.

"My… pleasure… sir?"

He laughs again, his voice booming through the house. "Good answer, you hungry? We're about to put dinner on."

Doomwulf's eyes dart over to you and you nod rapidly.

"Yes. Yes ah would love ta' eat, if ya'll have me."

Dad grins and releases her hand. "Wonderful, I'll go get the grill started. Remote's in the armrest if you want to watch something." With that he stomps off, his heavy boots on the wooden floor sounding much like the giant chasing Jack towards the beanstalk. As he turns you notice a burn on the back of his wrist, which quickly fades under your attention, revealing rough, tanned skin. How he hadn't set himself on fire by now is a wonder.

The sound of the sliding door out to the background announces his exit from the building, and Doomwulf watches it carefully before turning back towards you with wide eyes. "He's… huge."

You grin. "Yeah, according to him he gained another foot after highschool. Looking forward to that growth spurt myself."

Stephanie snorts. "Like ya need to be taller beanstalk."

"I'm not particularly tall, your just short."

She sticks out her tongue then opens up the armrest to look for the remote. "His hands okay? They seemed… rough."

"He shoots fires out of his hands for work and as a party trick, it's a marvel he still has fingers at this point. He's also a hilariously good hugger."

Her eyes dart to you warily, before the sound of the television turning on drowns out anything else.

- - -

You step out of the tram, the cool night air greeting you. Through the glass you can see the moon, it shines down to cast a dim light that is fairly overpowered by the lights along the edge of the path. You aren't the only students coming back, but you are some of the few who don't smell of alcohol.

The guards are out as well, figures in the security uniform walking up and down the paths on their nightly rounds. You don't really pay attention to that, merely enjoying the comfortable silence of the night as you make your way forward.

Your partner is beside you, having said nary a word since you got back on the tram. Though to be fair, that was because she was in a food coma, and she has only just recently awoken. A small smile rests on her face as she walks, her head bobbing and her tail swishing from side to side with every step.

It's a comfortable walk in silence as you make your way down the sidewalk towards the dorms. You go all the way around the path, versus getting on the tramway. In your case you want, and need, to walk off dinner… and your partner doesn't complain or comment in either regard. The gates open, revealing the 'nightlife' of the dorm, that being a few students relaxing on the benches while the rest are hanging out in or around the stores up top. The dorm buildings themselves are lit up like the city, every odd floor has the lights on casting a yellow haze over everything, and on the balconies you can see some students milling about, either drinking or listening to radios.

The school definitely has a nightlife, not that you've ever partaken in it.

"Thank ya fer today."

You stop walking, looking over at your partner beside you. You are a few yards away from your dorm building when she speaks for the first time in the past hour. "For… what? Inviting you over?"

She nods. "Ah know ah ain't the most... " Her tail swishes a moment before falling behind her motionless. "Compatible."

You shrug your shoulders. "Well, Doomwulf no, she frankly terrifies me. But Stephanie is fairly nice and hasn't caused me any problems."

"The mighty Doomwulf is perhaps not the best one to meet the parents," your partner giggles quietly, before shedding the persona again, "but it does mean ah lot to me… ah've never been invited to ah friends house. Not since early high school anyways."

You give her your best look of surprise. "We're friends? I thought I was the poor bastard that had to stop you from punching trees."

Your partner growls and slugs you in the arm. "Ah could punch you instead, would that make ya feel better?"

You clutch the shoulder, hissing in fake pain. "Ya know… I've always hated trees to be honest."

She pats you on the shoulder and walks past you, her tail slapping you in the legs in the process. "Smart man, now if ya'll excuse me ah have a date with my bed."

You chuckle and follow. "You're telling me, I have to get some rest so I can get my ass kicked tomorrow."

- - -

The energy erupts from his finger so fast you barely have time to raise your shield to block it. A satisfying metal shunk sounds as it releases, fully blocking the attack. Through the vision slit, you catch a glance at a blinding blue light, then it rams into your hasty defense.

Your arm is driven into your chest as the energy slams into it, but it doesn't dissipate as you expect, instead, it continues pressing forward with no indication of stopping. You suck in a breath, then twist around it, feet skidding along the arena floor as your shield arm swings to the side. Now that nothing is arresting its momentum, the energy shoots off to dissipate a few yards past the edge of the arena. You are turning back to look at Ranger when a heavy boot collides with your chest, knocking the air out of you.

You raise your arms defensively, only to get another blast of energy to the chest for your troubles. You stumble back, the armored chest doing its job of dissipating, though not eliminating, the blow. You duck low, tilting your head to allow your helmet to do its job while swinging your shield back around to your front again.

His foot lashes out again only to meet the side of your shield moving into place, causing him to briefly lose balance. You press forward, slamming your shield into his chest and sending him sprawling backward.

You press forward, only to come to a skidding stop a foot away, raising the shield defensively as he points his 'finger-gun' at you again.

"Tom, Tom Gramslaw."

You peer through the glass, shifting a foot back to better brace. "... Pardon?"

"My name. Worked together in initiation didn't we?"

You nod, reaching up to carefully adjust the helmet as you do so. "Dylan Evans."

"Well nice to properly meet ya, Dylan." You know, this is probably the first time you've heard him speak outside of a shout. There's definitely a Texan drawl to his voice, which… fits everything else about him really.

The tip of his finger glows blue and you press forward but… too late.

A massive orb of energy rockets out to slam into your shield, and, like an unstoppable force meeting a totally movable object, it sends you flying. A booming voice over the din of battle signals your failure by ring-out, not that you expected anything less really.

"Winner, Ranger!"

Ow.

You lay back on the map, staring up at the tall ceiling. The sounds of fighting... shouts, zaps of electricity, gunfire and more esoteric sounds fill the air as you feel the dull throbbing in your hand fade away. You shake your wrist and the shield collapses back into its compact 'sheath'. The sound of spurs fills your ears moments later, and a familiar figure wanders into view, a grinning cowboy stares down at you.

"Ya need help there, pardner?"

"Well met, stranger." You cough, apparently your voice doesn't have a 'gravelly' setting. "'Fraid ah lost ma' horse down there in Tombstone, ya know the nearest way back to civ'lization?" Tom lets out a bark of laughter before grabbing you by the front of your armored plate and pulling you up to your feet.

"'Fraid civilization ain't anywhere 'round here. You okay?"

You nod, pulling down the small mask you use to cover your face. Now that you've had the chance to test it in combat the whole getup is surprisingly mobile… So the problem is still you learning how to actually fight. "I'm good, shield took the majority of i-"

*Cough*

You pause, and you and Tom both turn your gaze to the left. Your partner is standing there, her hair; tail, ears, everything, is standing on end like she just stuck a fork in a toaster. A look of deep frustration is on her face. The armor looks mostly intact at least…

"... So did you win?"

 

[Erien]

[Spar with Doomwulf]

[Accept Valeria's Offer]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

So this is late, sorry, life caught up to me.

- - -

Your partner has been grumpy since her loss to Astrapios, you'd help comfort her but… well, the fact that she keeps zapping herself every time she touches anything metal is too funny to be sad at this point. It only lasted a day, though you did catch how nervous she was touching the doorknob this morning.

Still, it was an apparently a learning experience for your partner, as she has submitted a request to the R&D labs to look at making the metal of her gear non-conductive if at all possible. A valid concern and a smart one to go along with the chem-seal her mask provides.

She's seemed chipper though, static aside. A bit more of a spring to her step ever since you got back from meeting your parents. Whether that is a result of that evening conversation… or she is merely excited to show you hers as well is anyone's guess, but still, it is good to see your partner in a happy mood no matter the circumstance.

"I do hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend, today we shall be going more into the history and background of the novel I trust you have been reading."

The smile on Doomwulf's face in English class may be a little painted on.

"Dylan Evans?"

Your head snaps up from your musing to find yourself staring directly into the face of Omnilinguist. Her face is smiling broadly, like she was very happy to see you. "Y- Yes?"

You hear the slap of paper on wood and look down to see your homework assignment sitting right in front of you. In the corner in fresh red ink is a… 99, along with a little smiley face.

"Fine work, I see you have studied well. No homework for you this week."

She pats you on the shoulder then walks by to talk to the next student.

… Huh, so the studying actually worked. You knew taking those Spanish classes when you were younger would come in handy someday.

- - -

Unlocked bonus action from studying, no homework this week. Choose one.

[X] [Talk to another student? - Ranger]

- - -

You walk down the hallways side by side with your partner, the light skip to your step a contrast to the rather dark expression on your partners face. Dark expression on the majority of people's face, Astrapios just looked bored and Valeria just looked confused to be fair.

None because of you, well, none because of your except for your partner. It seems everyone did rather poorly. So victory to you, you are bad at combat and tactics but you'll be damned if you don't know how to study from your years of devouring medical texts from the Hippocratic Corpus to Harrison.

"Don't ya dare look so smug, all ya did was study more than enjoy anythin' else in yer life."

You give your partner your best shit eating grin and shrug your shoulder. "Just because you spent too much time working on plastic space men does not mean you can take my joy out of this Wolfy."

Stephanie narrows her eyes and with a sudden twist of her hips her tail whips around to slap you against the back of your knees. Not hard, but enough that your skipping is forced to a stumbling end.

Dropping the smile you scowl back. "Well fine, just for that I won't be brewing you your coffee in the morning."

"You. Wouldn't. Dare." Your partner's eyes widen dramatically then narrow to dangerous slits.

Your retort is cut off by a light laugh, and you both look forward to see…

"Miss Praegus/Couns'ler?"

It's the counselor who interviewed you, she is wearing a long peach-colored business dress with a light red shawl around her shoulders. One hand is resting on her cheek as she looks at you both.

You haven't seen her since the interview, not even at initiation. "Good morning you two, is everything going well?" she still has the same creepy smile too. You shoot a glance at your partner and shrug your shoulders, suddenly feeling like you're back in that small cramped office again. Which is impressive given the fact you are in the massive hallway that leads from classroom to classroom in the damn horseshoe building.

The other students file past you, seemingly oblivious to the school counselor leaning against the brick wall. At your twin non-verbal answers she giggles again, her tongue darting out to her lips immediately afterward. "I see you two have learned to communicate, excellent! Good work you two."

The compliment gets to Doomwulf, the proof being that her tail is now whapping the back of your knee repeatedly. "Well, ah er, thank ya miss."

Praegus nods at your partner then looks at you. "And you Dylan, fine work in the initiation, you performed admirably to the end."

"Breaking my ribcage?"

Instead of giggling the counselor laughs, the shawl shifting further down her shoulders and revealing the hints of… pink hair, as she does so. "That too! But no, your efforts for the civilians was most notable Dylan, and exactly what your file predicted."

You feel a bit of a blush and scratch at your cheek awkwardly. "... Thanks." What? You don't get much in the way of compliments.

Praegus steps away from the wall and waves her hand cheerily. "You two have a good rest of your day, I'll be making the rounds with the rest of the students as well."

You and your partner both raise your hands in a wave and watch her walk back down the hall. The counselor gets a few yards back down the hallway towards the English classroom before she seemingly remembers something. Halting midstep, the counselor turns around on her heel, one finger raised to her lips as she smiles. "Dylan, I will need to speak to you in the future, sans partner. I shall let you know."

She then giggles, one final time, before turning back around and walking off towards the classroom.

You both watch her leave and after a short few moments your partner looks at you quizzically. Her tail still wagging slowly but a look of befuddlement clear as day on her face. In response you shrug your shoulders, the universal sign of 'I don't know, don't ask me.'. In response she cocks her head, her tail going stock still as she stares back at Praegus's retreating back, then at you.

"Try not ta' get killed by the creepy counselor?"

"That's the plan yes."

- - -

History class goes by easily, you are slowly, with the help of Morrigan, progressing through the same stuff you went through in highschool. Though now that the first month has passed the pace seems to have quickened greatly, and she warns soon you will have to start writing papers and doing research. That, at least, is something you have experience in.

Morrigan, however, is still all smi-

…

Happy flaps, as she leads the class through the days work.

---

You wave to your partner then make your way down the hall and towards the stairs leading down to the ground floor. It's the same routine as every Saturday, her going to her last class and you going to yours.

Stepping back outside for the first time since around eight o'clock this morning you see the landscape has darkened considerably. The sky outside the dome having grown black and heavy with rain, in the distance you can hear thunder, and a short few minutes after you start walking you can see drops of water hitting against the glass. It's surprisingly audible as well, a dull roar off in the distance as the water slaps against the glass and rolls down it.

… God only knows what it would sound like if you got hail.

- - -

"This, students, is subject 4037.11, Jackson Ostrowitz."

An image flits onto the display of a young boy, probably around five to six years old. Blonde hair, green eyes, it depicts him playing in a park.

"Upon reaching age seven Jackson activated his quirk, 1038-B… Mutation C."

It cuts to another slide showing Jackson in a hospital bed, his visible skin purple and showing all the signs of internal bleeding from his face down.

"Jackson's father's quirk was acidic blood, while his mother was quirkless."

It cuts to a chart showing an arrange of measurements for Lactic Acid within the body. On the far left is the normal amounts, it increases exponentially from there. "Most quirks are accompanied by secondary factors to allow them to be usable. Those with high speed or agility will have a mutated cerebellum to allow finer muscle control and the ability to work at such forces without losing balance or orientation."

It cuts to another image of Jackson, and a series of gasps arise from the students around you. His skin now at this point is cracked and broken, nasty sores and purple blemishes run throughout. There is nary a patch of skin left on the child that isn't damaged in some way.

"Jackson was without the ability to maintain or regulate the acid buildup within his body, nor was he immune to its effects."

The image cuts away, and Embla turns to face the class. "Jackson died of internal bleeding and organ damage roughly two hours after admission to Sheffield Hospital. He presented symptoms included confusion, hypotension and rapidly deteriorating liver and heart function. By the time the doctors realized what was causing the ailment the child was deceased."

She holds up a binder which from a glance seems to be a series of medical records. "The task of this department is to catalogue and understand quirks, see how they form and function. But our task is to also allow safe growth and understanding of those quirks. So humanity does not have to suffer what those like Jackson Ostrowitz did."

She drops the binder onto Paintball's desk. "Many see quirks as the next stage of human evolution, yet this is an experiment on a grand scale. Many quirks have harmed if not outright killed their users."

"This is an accumulation of research regarding 'secondary factors.'" She taps the binder with a metal finger, then slowly pulls it open. "The abilities that allow us to maintain and quirks."

She then looks up, her voice sounding surprisingly morose and serious despite the metallic quality to it. "Nature has changed the rules, it is our duty to understand them."

- - -

Tuesday morning math class is… different. Different in the fact you are no longer sitting next to your partner for the first time in a month. Instead besides you in the regular school jumpsuit is Caressa. Her face locked in a cheeky grin as she looks over the notes in front of you both. She's been relatively quiet ever since she pulled up her desk beside yours, merely happily looking over the papers and the assignment.

The assignment itself is actually surprisingly complicated, more in line what you expected to be getting in college versus the remedial courses you've had so far. It's only a one-day thing thankfully, so no worries about a group member not pulling their weight. But still, it being your first group project is rather exciting in its own way.

You find your eyes trailing repeatedly from the work to Caressa. From the large scar that took out her eye, the extra, talon-like arms, or even the long auburn hair that runs down her back, she is certainly interesting to look at.

…

- - -

Anything you want to ask? *Pick two*

[Her Extra Arms]

[Her Accent]

- - -

You look down at the directions Valeria gave you in class today then back at the building. Tower B is… actually larger than the rest by a decent amount. Not taller, but a decent amount wider than the others. You never really paid much attention before, but it seems to be more accessible in general.

It's nearest the entrance and its doors are about a size and a half wider than the ones at your dorm. Once entered the interior is much the same, though the elevator is large to the point of being industrial. Given Valeria's and Nora's mutations you suppose this is the living space for more radical mutation quirks.

Beyond that, it just has the usual guards in the back and the clerk at the front desk, whom you don't need to really speak to given that Valeria has already given you her room number.

… You know, this is the first time a girl ever invited you back over to her room. You don't know if you should be excited or not.

Stuffing the thought as far back away as humanly possible you instead walk up to the elevator, from her directions they are on the highest floor… probably because they want the students who are limited in their ability to walk to stay on the lowest floors. Which, while Valeria admittedly cannot 'walk,' the snake woman certainly has no problems getting around.

Going into the elevator you ride up to the top floor, and enter into a familiar scene. A large square room with doors on each side, though the space is larger and roomier… not that your floor is particularly limited, just this is certainly wider for ease of movement.

… Actually, come to think of it you don't believe you've ever seen the other people on your floor. You walk up to their door, the one facing the gate, and knock.

Silence answers your knock at first, then you hear the sounds of distant… clicking. Like someone was tapping a nail against a piece of wood. The source of the sound is revealed scant moments later, when the door swings open to reveal a familiar blue-haired bird girl.

Nora stands there with a wide smile on her face, she's ressed in a very large t-shirt with sleeves long enough that partially drape over her wings and go down past her waist. Below that she is wearing cargo shorts.

"Hehehe! The guest has arrived!"

Nora does a mock bow, an interesting trick when you have wings for arms, then backs away from the door. "Come in, come in! Take a spot by the fire."

You step inside to find a dorm room… larger than your own noticeably. Not by much, but the hallway is larger. Further walking reveals the furniture is also different, the couches are absent, instead there is a large mat running along the wall with a series of pillows spread across it. Next to that is what appears to be a large cotton swab that Nora rushes by you to not-to-elegantly dive into with a happy laugh.

You gaze around the room a moment before settling on the happy harpy. "Fire?"

Nora perches herself up onto the swab and turns around, golden eyes alight with mirth as she looks at you. She giggles, then points a wing out at the television. You follow her pointing to see it is on and displaying… a digital image of the fireplace.

"... How very clever, yet somewhat disappointing."

A familiar Russian accent sounds from the kitchen. "I know… it gets so cold in rooms." You look over to see a Valeria leanin… stretching over the counter, a smile on her countenance as she offers a light wave at you. "Be right there, am making drink."

You hear a grunt and look back to see Nora pulling herself up into a sitting position on the swab. Her talon feet kick idly as she stares at you. "So, you're good at English right? 'Mr. I don't have to do homework like the peasants do?'

You make an effort to look affronted. "That is a dirty accusation that only happens to be correct."

Nora snickers and leans forward. "Well just between you and me 'boots' over there ain't the best at it. She was planning on asking you for help once all was said and done."

You blink. "Boots?"

Nora leans in further, her talons digging into the swab for support and she leans forward. "She looks like what that cowboy dude wears for his shoes."

"You do know I hear well yes pigeon?"

Nora snickers again. "No idea what you're talking about partner."

…

The closest thing you have to a nickname is 'bandaid' and 'healguy'. Somehow you feel like you have been robbed.

Valeria slithers into the room, two waterbottles in one hand and a mug in the other. One bottle is filled with water while the other is filled with a bright red liquid. With a flick of her wrist, the red bottle goes flying towards Nora, the harpy deftly catching it out of the air with an eager expression. Valeria then hands the other bottle to you while settling against the pillows on the mat.

"Thank you for coming Dylan, I had… planned on asking you for assistance yes with studies if you were up for it. You seem quite able at English."

You shrug your shoulders. "I'm a bit of a native, if we have time I don't see why not."

Valeria nods and smiles then looks over at Nora. The birdwoman is currently downing the waterbottle much like a fratboy might a Jagermeister. That is; effectively and extremely unhealthily, half of her body is leaning off the swab, the force of gravity alone pouring the liquid ``down her throat.

… "Is she okay?"

"She needs sugar, apparently burns energy very quickly. Like… hummingbird no?"

Well, you suppose people with animal like quirks have animalistic needs. At least, that is the case from your own research and historical precedence. Still, the way that bottle is deflating is quite impressive.

Once it gets down to about a quarter Nora sits back up, grinning cheekily as she pops the bottle back out of her mouth and replacing the cap with a claw. "Ah, now I have energy again!"

… So what you were seeing before was her without energy?

"So who ya want to start with healguy?"

You look between them both a moment before speaking u-

"Me right?"

Both you and Valeria turn to look at Nora when she speaks up, your mouth clicking shut as she grins at you. She raises a wing and flaps it around a little, "look at these babies, aren't they gorgeous?"

Valeria giggles. "Contain yourself pigeon, allow him choice."

You nod at the snake woman and make your decision.

- - -

Both will be written, just one will get more focus than the other.

[Focus on working with Nora]

[Focus on working with Valeria]

- - -

You stare across from your partner, your shield up and ready.

"Ah don't know anythin' 'bout shields, ya know that right?"

You simply shrug from behind your defense, your head peeking up over the top of it to look at her. She's dressed in her full uniform as well, one hand on her hip while the other rubs her armored chin.

"You think I do? Gotta figure out how to use this thing somehow."

Your partner shrugs, the metal plates on her arms clinking slightly as she does so. "Aight, so ya just wanna stand there a bit to learn how to block with it?"

You nod, ducking your head back behind the shield again. You push your left leg forward, your right staying put to serve as a brace. For your lack of ability to find someone who knows anything about shields (Apparently you are getting weapon lessons later but that is far off), you have been forced to use your own research as a guide.

With your left arm suitably braced, you lift your right arm and give your partner a thumbs up.

Nodding, she does… something you've never seen her do before.

"SUPPPPPEEEEER!" She lowers herself into a three point position, one leg is raised while the other is braced against the dirt toe first. Her head is forward, staring at you.

"DOOMWUUUULLFF!" She launches herself forward, leaves and other fall refuse being kicked up in her wake. Her right fist is raised, and you brace the shield and lean into it as best you can. You don't think you ca-

"PUUUUUUUUNCH!" Jets of flame shoot out the back of her gauntlet, driving her fist into your shield with what you assume to be the power of a train powered by a space shuttle. Your unpracticed guard crumples, the shield impacts your body with enough force to send you flying. What surprises you is what else goes flying.

"WHAAAA!" Doomwulf screams as the jets don't shut off, dragging her forward by her wrist.

The sound of whistling air fills your ears briefly before your (thankfully armored) back collides with a tree. You don't so much smack into as bounce off of it, crashing into your partner on the rebound. There's a dull ringing in your head, the helmet took the impact away from your head, but it still shifted nastily.

Raising a hand to your skull without opening your eyes, the dull pain of the headache fades away nearly as quickly as it formed. At the very least the armor worked, the shield however… Well, you just probably shouldn't stop wolf-shaped freight trains with it.

You open your eyes to see a pair of furry ears twitching. A glance down shows Stephanie currently tangled up with you, she's in between you and your shield, the metal surprisingly undented, though somewhat scraped, from a cursory glance.

Your partner however is in much worse straights, her face and skin appears fine and the armor is undamaged. But her right arm, the one she used all her force to punch with is bent backwards. If you had to guess, she used far too much force along with the rockets and dislocated the shoulder, but with the added impact she probably twisted and possibly broke the arm in the process.

You pull yourself out from under your partner, a hiss of pain escaping her as you move. It is replaced by a happy sigh a moment later as you grab her by the opposite shoulder, your quirk kicking in immediately to dull the pain. You're glad it's working, because it'll only take the edge off it when you-

*Snap* "Fuck!"

-pull it back into its socket.

You gently turn the arm so that it is facing the right direction again and stare her in the eyes. "Now, what did we learn?"

With a light chuckle she raises her other arm and undoes a latch at the side of the mask, the metal falling away to reveal a cheeky grin. "Don't punch ah guy if he wimps out behind ah shield."

"Oh? Do you want me to le-"

You are cut off as she places an armored finger on your lips. "Shut up and fix ma' arm so ah can kick yer ass."

"As her lady-wulfness commands." With a small smile on your face you place your hand on the other shoulder, a hiss escaping Stephanie's lips as the sensitive limb is moved. Painkillers are effective yes, but the nerves are still going absolutely haywire.

The hissing fades as you finish fixing the arm, and she turns and rotates it experimentally. "Ah knew there was a reason ah kept ya around."

"Besides my stunning good looks and playful banter?"

Your partner gives you an amused smile before reattaching the mask. "Sure, why not. Ya ready for round two?"

You grin and bring the shield around again. "Bring it wulfy."

---

You set your bag by the door and let out a sigh, the burning in your legs fading away almost the moment you walk through the door. Keeping pace with Ranger was… tricky, you didn't realize how fast you were going until your legs started crumpling on the way back. While you have good stamina you apparently can't keep his kind of speed for that long.

Makes you wonder what kind of training regimen he was up to before he came to this school. You look up to your partner when a soft chime sounds throughout the room. A small speaker in the living room crackles to life and a familiar hated voice speaks out. "Dylan Evan, report to Technomancer's office."

You pause, looking at the speaker, then at Stephanie who merely shrugs in response.

- - -

[Go - You suppose he does in some small way have authority over you.]

[Don't go - He didn't say please, also wanna-be-neo can fuck right off.]

---

[X] [Where's he from?]

[X] [Any advice?]

[X] [Go - You suppose he does in some small way have authority over you.]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

And hope everyone enjoyed their Easter, sorry for the delay.

- - -

You nod your head slowly at his question, the man figured out your motives rather quickly. But he doesn't seem bothered, so you might as well press on ahead.

"Where are you from, exactly? The accent screams 'Remember the Alamo' but I didn't want to presume anything."

His eyes look at you a moment then at the dome as a wide smile forms on his face. "Well, I was born many a moon ago on the lonesome prairie out by a town called Blackwater."

He reaches up to tip his hat as if in salute, the motion impressive considering how fast he is running at the moment. "Indeed, there I was in a town whose main population was tumbleweeds and gunslingers. A lawless and eviler a place ya'll would never be able to imagine."

… He's still going.

"My ma, my dear sweet ma, was kidnapped by One-Eyed-Tim, and ever since then I've been chasing him." He looks down to his hands, they rock up and down as he runs but they slow down enough for you to notice them closing into fists. "My trail led me here, to Georgia. I took my horse over the Cloudland Canyon and the mountain beside and hooked up my horse next to the stable in downtown Atlanta… then I moseyed on over here I suppose."

You stare at him for a good long while, the only sounds being that of your feet hitting the pavement as you wind your way around the school. "... Really?"

"Naw I'm from Marlin Texas and made my way east. Yourself?"

"Lilburn, been in Georgia most of my life."

He grins, then starts to pick up the pace of his jog a little more. As you round the bend the lake comes into view, the still water glimmering gold under the filtered sunset that pours through the glass. It's a pretty view and more than a few people are currently enjoying it, various students are exercising or just relaxing near the water's edge.

"Ain't never been to Lilburn myself," your eyes trail back over to Ranger as he moves. "But I've heard it's nice enough. Ain't much explored Atlanta either."

You shrug your shoulders. "Well we have a cowb- … Western apparel store not too far from here if that strikes your interest."

He grins. "I saw a uniform shop coming in if you need scrubs."

"Touche."

Silence is the conversation then for the next few minutes as you focus on your running. The track is still new to you, and gives you plenty to look at, unlike your route back home.

You curve around the bend near R&D and the PE teacher comes in sight again. When you first met her you didn't know what to make of her. The contrast of a 6 foot 7 woman and with bright pink hair in a ponytail leaves you unsure of yourself in her presence. Well, that and the fact that she's a pro-hero with legs like oak trees, so you're well aware that if she wanted to she could chase you down and kick you in half.

Still, Ms. Nkereuwem, AKA 'Kickbox,' has proven to be a friendly, if slightly strict, teacher. She's never had any problem with you or Stephanie given how you both have been able to keep up with the exercises fairly easily. She nods at the both of you as you pass, a stopwatch in her hand.

You still have another lap to go, enough time to ask Ranger your other question. "So since the spar I've been curious, do you have any advice for how I could have done that better? I'm fairly new to the shield."

Ranger lets out a thoughtful sound, not responding at first as he mulls over the question. "Well I ain't ever done work with a shield, ya might be better off asking Cavalier for that."

"Fair point, just was hoping you would have some tips in general… mistakes and what-not. I'm not exactly combat focused and I want to learn more than just what my partner can teach me, great though she is."

"No I get where yer coming from." Ranger nods with a smile that suggests a laugh is only barely being held back. "'Fraid I can't help you with shields none, but your footwork was mostly okay, if ya want I can talk to my partner to see if she's interested."

"Who's your partner?"

Ranger tilts his head back and jerks his finger behind him. A good fifty yards or so back is… Cavalier. She's carrying her shield on her left arm, other than that she is in the usual school uniform.

"Figure'd she be willing to help ya with it. I can ask if ya want."

"... That would be lovely thanks."

- - -

[X] [Go - You suppose he does in some small way have authority over you.]

A thousand thoughts run through your head, but you quickly dismiss them. Fun as the fantasy of blowing him off and watching TV is, you can't exactly follow through on it.

"If I don't make it back," You look your partner dead in the eyes, allowing the full weight of the situation to slip into your voice as you speak. "you were alright, all things considered."

Stephanie, sweet kind Stephanie, merely walks past you to flop onto the couch. "I'll hold a service for ya later. Good luck."

You give her a salute then step back through the door again, off to the land most dreaded by students of all walks of life; The teacher's office.

- - -

Your exit may have been glib but you have… not done so well on the walk over. The man is a dick, in fact in the brief single conversation you've had with him since being enrolled in this school you've firmly placed him on the top of the dick category. Getting called suddenly to the teacher's office is already nerve-wracking, to be called by him? Even worse.

At the very least the teacher's office is right across from the dorms. Each floor of the building is broken up per department, with him being on the lowest floor under 'Security and Technology'. Your card thankfully showed you where Technomancer's office was, for better or worse.

It's a stark and frankly boring series of hallways that make up the building. It's by no means large and between the squat nature and the general lack of decoration it's quite possibly the most normal building in the school. Which, by definition, makes it rather disappointing to be honest. Given what you've seen of both the teachers and the curriculum you at least expected a slip-and-slide and alcohol fountain, but there's not even a fireman's pole.

Instead what you got is door after door, office after office, without any teacher's you can honestly recall meeting. It's like someone took a piece of drying paint and lifelessly dropped in the middle of wonderland.

The door to Technomancer's room is near the very end, a simple white door with glass paneling along the side like the rest. Through the glass, you can see various colorful flashing lights and what appears to be monitors along the walls, though what is actually displayed on them you can't tell through the frosted glass.

You reach up and knock on the door, prompting a few seconds of hurried shuffling from the other side before the door opens with a metal whir. The first thing you see is a large metal claw retracting up to fold against the ceiling from where it opened the door, the second is Techomancer himself.

The di- teacher sits in a large leather chair behind a desk, the flat wooden service covered in cellphones, tablets, and all other manner of electronic devices. Behind him against the wall are the monitors you saw through the window, they each display different areas of the school and every few seconds the display switches to show a new area. Indoors, outdoors, training area, the dorms (outside only, thank god). How he is keeping up with them you haven't the foggiest, but he appears to be going for as much cyberpunk as physically possible, given the fact that the lights are off but he is still wearing those ridiculous monoframe sunglasses.

You step through the open doorway and into the dark interior, the bright whites of the hall clash harshly with the general darkness of the room. The frosted glass allowing little of the outside light of the hallway into his office, walls to the left and right of his desk are filled with racks of computer equipment. Motherboards, ram sticks, cables and wiring, the man appears to have either robbed the entire IT department blind, or he sells to them.

Your gazing is interrupted by a harsh cough from Technomancer, and you look back to see him frowning at you. He gestures to a small seat in front of the desk. "Sit."

You stare at it a moment before accepting the invitation, and you suddenly find yourself sitting across from him. He stares at you a few long moments, at least you assume he is staring at you through those sunglasses, before he sucks in a deep breath through his teeth.

"I'm afraid we got off on the wrong foot the other day, sorry about that, kid."

… Pardon?

He leans back in his seat, the leather creaking a little as he does so. "Ya see, the results were a little disappointing, and I don't get to design the test very often, so I got a little heated about it."

You stare at him for a few moments. "No problem?"

"Good, glad we are on the same page." He smiles at your 'acceptance' of his apology and leans forward, stapling his hands under his chin. The smile whirls to a frown so fast you are surprised he doesn't get whiplash. "You're in deep shit."

"... Excuse me?"

He lifts a hand, and as you watch the tips of his finger starts glowing blue. A stream of 1's and 0's stream out of the hand and into one of the tablets sitting on the desk, almost instantly it flicks to life showing…

A familiar English paper.

"Part of my job is to run algorithms on all the papers you students hand in, and I noticed yours and your partners had an almost identical style." His fingers glow again and the screen switches to show various comparisons between the two pieces of work. "Now frankly I don't give a shit; how you choose to skip schoolwork is your business, but the school rides my ass on crap like this."

"Now I could turn this in, Omnilinguist would get mad, and she'd toss you and your partner into make-up classes for the next couple of weekends," he snaps his fingers and the display turns back off, "Or you can do a favor for me."

You narrow your eyes and stare at the man, the steadiness of your gaze in no way matching the current marathon your heart is going through at the moment.

"Frankly putting this all together is a lot of emails and other nonsense and I am busy, so if you can swing by Alva's department office for me and grab something I'll consider it dropped. Haven't seen evidence of you doing it since so I'll consider it a one-off."

You tilt your head. "Grab what exactly?"

"Just a thumbdrive, she keeps it in the first drawer of her desk. We use it to pass information back and forth, but she's busy and so am I." He leans back in his seat, his hands pulling back to rest in his lap. "If you go fetch it I'll consider the 'issue' dropped and tell anyone that finds out that I let you off for good behavior. Otherwise you can consider weekends a fun memory for a while. Your choice, kid."

- - -

Fuck.

[Go fetch the USB] - This guy is an ass but...

[Refuse] I won't be able to see Stephanie's parents, or do anything else really.

---

[X] Refuse

- - -

For a second you're tempted, really tempted, to go with him on this. After that second, though, you're just really guilty, and you don't need any more than that to know exactly how you're about to respond.

"I'm… sorry, sir," you soldier on through the glare that you can already see building up, "but that doesn't sit well, at all. I broke the rules, and I'd prefer to face up to the punishment." and yep, that is a doozy of a death glare pointed at you.

"Damn kids." He rubs the bridge of his nose as one of the phones on the desk comes to life, quickly snapping through a number and buzzing between you. "Making my damn job even tougher every damn day." He snaps his fingers and one of the phones on the desk comes to life, without even glancing down he picks it up and holds it to his ear.

You hear it ring for roughly a second before the faint but familiar voice of Alva comes through the line. What she is saying specifically you can't really make out, but you'd recognize that pitch anywhere.

"Yeah… yeah. Yeah sorry, that whole 'send someone to pick it up' idea didn't work, and I can't get out of my damn office until my shift is over."

"Yeah I know you can't send it by ema-, yes." He grimaces a little, his eyes darting over to you before shaking his head. "Yeah I know. The reports are going to be a bit late, I'll have to grab it once my shift ends." He nods, Alva's voice speaking for a few moments longer before he removes the phone from his ear, a red phone marker on the display showing the call has ended. "Well, good job brat. You stuck to your guns, owned up to your mistake, messed up my damn schedule, and now I can't even write our co-report to pass time in this boring-ass, poorly-lit cupboard that they insist is a large enough office." A sinking feeling starts to settle in your gut.

"Guess I'll need something to do for the next hour." He pushes the chair back and opens up a drawer under the desk, he rifles through it a moment before pulling out a stapled group of sheets. "This is going to be the most well-written incident report of my career."

… Shit.

- - -

The door to your dorm room opens and you stand there for a long moment admiring the wallpaper before walking through. The sound of the television greets you immediately, and you turn your head to see your partner relaxing on the couch. Her eyes lock onto you the second you enter.

"Everythin' alright?"

You stare at her a long, tired, moment. All you can do is shake your head.

…

After your 'talk' she didn't leave her room until the next morning, and any other conversation was... brief.

 

[Erien]

Alva's List

Tie - Doomwulf Interaction / Call Mom and Dad (Will be a roll off)

Explain yourself to Omnilinguist

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

My apologies for the short length, I'm still sick, also just lost my job.

- - -

Your mind isn't totally on breakfast this morning as you make it. To be honest you didn't get much in the way of sleep last night either… you were rather mentally preoccupied by things.

The door to the bathroom opens and your partner steps out fully dressed, her face shows no sign of worry or apparent stress… which is a relief all things considered. "I have breakfast and cof-"

She turns without a word and goes down the hallway, and you watch as she opens the door and steps out of the dorm.

...

- - -

You stare at the back of your partner's head, the droning of math class going on in the background nothing more than a distant buzz in your cognition. You can usually somewhat focus on Planck but… you are having difficulty paying attention to it right now.

Things have been rather… quiet between the both of you ever since your revelation last night. Though whether she is upset at you, the school, or herself, you have yet to truly discern in any capacity. Still, it's a rather awkward rift that has settled between the two of you for the time being, and it is something that you have precisely no urge to go poking at with a stick, so you are going to leave her to her own business.

Your eyes drift from her over to the rest of your class, then you let out a sigh before falling back into your work. At the very least she ate breakfast this morning… you just hope she doesn't get into the habit of punching trees again.

You'll need to figure out how and when to talk to her about this but… nothing comes to mind immediately. Well, nothing comes to mind that doesn't end in yelling. You doubt she'd hurt you, but you would rather not do anything that might hurt your partnership either.

… Though the silent treatment certainly isn't breeding cooperation and great team dynamics.

- - -

"Steph-"

Your partner brushes past you without a word, her bag slung over her shoulder as she makes her way through the crowd towards English class. Her tail hangs down low behind her, and her ears are flat against her head.

You stare after her a moment, then shake your shake and trudge forward yourself.

Fine.

- - -

"Mister Dylan, Miss Evans. Please see me after class."

You were hoping to get away to lunch without her noticing you, but she proved far more wily than you had hoped. Fast enough to make your head spin, you find yourself turned around and planted at a desk in the front row, right beside your partner, as Omniliguist begins to seeth.

"The first assignment." She hisses. "Literally the first assignment. How did you manage to plagiarize on your first assignment, with someone you hadn't known for a week?"

You are about speak up when Omnilinguist breaks down into a fit of muttering that sounds oddly… greek, and you realise that she's talking to herself more than you. Which is fitting, because if your partner were any lower in her seat she'd physically be in the room below you.

"And, of course, you!" She turns sharply to point a finger at you. You can almost feeling her pointing fingernail jabbing you in the chest, even from this far away. "I thought you were actually studying with all your spare time, but apparently I can't trust that any more than miss Evans 'progress.' What can you possibly have to say for yourself? What in Dante's Inferno made you think cheating was a good idea in a school for heroes?"

…



---



[It was the result of the two of us making a bet while still getting to know one another and deciding that doing the others homework once would be the resulting cost. It was made as a joke but when I lost our bet I decided that I should follow through.]

[Alva's List]

[Interact with Doomwulf]

- - -

You look over at your partner, she is doing her absolute best to blend into her chair at the moment. While she is short… she also is anything but covert. So instead she appears to be more hiding like one would from an angry parent, versus attempting any form of camouflage or stealth.

Either way, you have a feeling she isn't going to be taking over this conversation…. Not that you are some great orator either. You look away from her back towards the teacher, her stern gaze doing much to remind you of your mother's angriest moments, the kind where you heard your full name being called from halfway across the house.

You've had a good read… heh. On Omnilinguist since you've first arrived. She's a massive hardass, and you'll never dispute it, but beyond that she's a good teacher. Sure, she piles on the work like nobody's business and has that whole 'I have tenure and am therefore god' complex to her, but she hasn't been outright mean either.

Well, not to you anyway.

You swallow the lump in your throat and begin speaking. "The… plagiarism, was the result of a bet. My partner and myself gambled on the result of the football game we were invited to. The winner would do the others homework."

The teacher's gaze hardens and you find your eyes trailing to the floor. "It was a joke but… well, I was still getting to know my partner and I thought it would be a good thing to follow through on. I wasn't really thinking about cheating or anything at the time, she was having difficulty so I was helping her out."

Omnilinguist doesn't say anything in response, instead she merely stares at you for several moments. The longer she stares the smaller you feel, green eyes narrow to the point of pinpricks as she has seemingly gained the ability to stare into your soul itself.

[Result - /// - Neither passed or failed]

"You destroyed the sanctity of my curriculum for a bet." Then at once the spell is broken as she reaches up to rub at her skull, strands of hair falling in between her fingers as she lets out a deep sigh. "Really?"

"That… yes. But I have been studying constantly and while me and my partner have also studied together neither of us have touched the other's homework since."

"My partner and I." She corrects off-handedly, barely seeming to notice she even did it. She lowers her hand to stare at you, then your partner. Her expression is flat and shows no sign of her being as… pissed as she was before, but she isn't exactly happy either. "Both of you will report to me on the weekends for extra homework for the next two weeks, but on account of your acceptable grades and the isolation of this incident I will not extend it any further than that. However there will be no more 'benefits' like removed homework, as I granted you previously."

She looks at you directly. "Trust must be earned Mr. Evans. I hope you will not disappoint me again in the future."

… Yeah.

You glance over at your partner who quickly averts her gaze, it appears she was staring at you only a moment prior. She slowly reaches down and grabs her bag without a word, and once she has it in her grasp she merely stares at the floor.

"You are dismissed."

- - -

Once the 'class' is over Doomwulf doesn't so much march out of the classroom as she does sprint, and you are left literally jogging after her as she cuts a rapid path *overland* to the dorms.

The morning sun is still rising in the sky, and you get more than a few curious heads looking your way as you are left literally jogging after your partner. "Steph!"

She doesn't look back when you call out her name, and by the time you arrive at the dorm she is already in the elevator going up. You are not exactly out of shape but your partner is fast when she wants to be.

At the very least it allows you to catch your breath as you wait for it to come back down… and ignore the odd looks the front desk clerk is currently giving you.

- - -

Stepping back into your dorm you find it in much the same state it was two hours ago when you left, the door to your room is open and Stephanie's is closed.

With a sigh you drop your bag off near the door and walk up, at the very least all this happened before lunch, which means you have a good forty-five minutes or so to figure this all out before it becomes a problem.

You stop in front of her door then raise your hand, you pause a moment, your knuckles mere inches away before you close the distance and knock on it.

"Anyone home?"

You hear a brief rustling from inside but hear nothing else, certainly nobody moving to open the door. You let out a sigh and let your hand fall down, you stare at the knob a moment before lowering yourself to sit on the floor, the cool wood proving a hard seat as you lean against the entranceway to your partner's abode. "You know I suck at this whole 'bedside manner' thing. I just kinda stare really hard at people and their injuries fix themselves, I don't exactly have long term patients so… yeah. Forgive me if I'm not the best at this."

You stare up at the ceiling, the morning light painting the normally white panels a dull yellow as it filters through the glass. "It ain't your fault if that's what you are worried about, we both gaffed and frankly… well, the punishment could be far worse than it could be. If this is about your parents we can meet them later, not like we aren't gonna be here for four damn years."

You hear more shuffling through the door and feel it press against your back slightly, then with the sound of cloth sliding it appears Doomwulf is mimicking your position on the opposite side of the door.

"Ah ain't good at this crap." Doomwulf's voice comes through the door, she doesn't sound sad or aggrieved as much as she does… frustrated. "Ain't worth crap in English, hell ah ain't worth crap in Hero work neither. Ah just punch shit and get ya in trouble."

You lean your head back against the door. "I get in enough trouble *on my own* thank you very much. Don't you dare think you have any part of it, 'sides I took the damn bet in the first place. Don't go taking all the credit."

Silence answers you through the door and you let out another sigh. It's amazing how someone who can create a personality like 'DOOMWULF: DESTROYER OF WORLDS' can also be this… self hating. But you suppose you can't really say much about that yourself.

"Well, I have something designed to help heroes in training awaken their inner abilities, one moment." You dig through your pocket a moment and produce your 'card'. The little smart device showing your schedule before you swipe your finger on it to show a series of notes you've been maintaining. Selecting the top one you begin reading.

"Experiment #305496.11, Subject 'DYLAN' - Yes, they wrote it like that - is to center himself within his own form to reach the inner hero that lies within. He is to test with plants and various lab equipment in the effort of further the understanding and bla-de-bla."

You cough into your hand then start speaking again in your best approximation of Alva's voice. Your naturally deep voice is utterly crap at mimicking her tones, but you can certainly sound peppy enough. "Student is to breathe deeply and reach his inner core, he is then once this inner self is reached attempt to aid Subject 730A."

You tilt your head slightly to face the door. "730A is a fern if you are curious, they keep a whole stock of plants in the R&D lab." You then look back at the card with a small smile. "Student is to take careful notation of any changes within Subject 730A, they are then to ingest latest 'concoction' by Subject 'CARESSA'."

You look back towards the door again, turning off the card in the process. "That would be the gas-mask chick and her crazy concoctions, thank you for rescuing me from C*thogg*albh by the way. The guy's friendly but he leads to *weird* conversations."

For a second the other side of the door is quiet, then you hear a tiny snnrk passed the frame. Soon a series of snickers sounds through the door, and quickly transitions to full blown laughter. You hear your partner slump forward away from the door as she desperately attempts to find the oxygen to speak in between peals of laughter. "The… ah've asked this before, but seriously. The hell are they teachin' ya in R&D?!"

"The most amazing things, now open the damn door so I can make lunch." You push yourself away from the door and hear her doing the same, and a moment later with the sound of a metal latch moving the door opens to reveal your partner. Her eyes are slightly red, but she seems fine otherwise.

You smile and look to the left towards the kitchen. "Good, now we've got about… forty minutes until math class, so what do you want to ea-"

Your words are cut off in a sharp expulsion of breath as you find yourself suddenly very close to your partner. Her arms are wrapped around your side in a hug that would give Alva a run for her money.

"Thanks," she mumbles, "ah needed that."

You look down at her, then away towards the wall. A sudden wave of embarrassment washing over you as you realise you don't know quite what to do with this situation.

"... You're welcome."



---



[X] [Talk to a Teacher? - Alva]

-[X] Sorry we didn't help with Technomancer but his request seemed really sketchy.

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

- - -

At the very least it seems since your 'talk' Stephanie has been in a markedly better mood. Or at the very least she hasn't been quite so down and out of it. She's definitely annoyed (with herself, not you thankfully), and is more than a little disappointed she won't be seeing her parents this weekend. But she is out of her funk. Which frankly is all you care about. Still, her parents are a major bummer for her. You know this because she won't stop talking about it.

"You helped me cheat." How she got the conversation from unpacking groceries to this, you really don't know. "It's kinda bullshit that I got to meet your parents but you can dodge meeting mine."

"Dodge? I was already worried about meeting the people who spawned 'DOOMWULF, PINNACLE OF HUMAN EVOLUTION.' Frankly I wasn't sure if I was mentally prepared for such a task."

Your partner snickers from her spot on the couch, the magazine she was reading lowering to show her smirking expression as she looks at you. Between the smirk and the laugh she looks an awful lot like mutley, though you wouldn't dare say such a thing to her face. Still, better mood noted.

"Ya could only count yerself lucky to meet the creators of such a magnificent being." Her tail whips out against the couch cushions before it settles in a slow wag.

"The moment you find a magnificent being let me know. Maybe they won't need me to make dinner for them on a Friday night." You hold up the bag of fajita mix for emphasis, your brow raised as you give her your best 'you seeing this you little shit' expression.

Doomwulf's tail wags faster as she turns slightly on the couch to fully face you, the magazine is placed aside and forgotten as she grins. "Every great being needs servants." You stare at her a moment before nodding.

"That's true I suppose, I do the cooking, I do the cleaning." You smile wrly, "I do your homework."

Doomwulf makes a sound that is disturbingly close to a yip before she growls. "That's a low blow."

"Only for me." You shrug." At your height it's pretty average, since the powerful and mighty' Doomwulf is more like a pomeranian than a timberwolf."

The wagging stops immediately, and you watch as your partner slowly extricates herself from the couch to stomp over to the counter. Her eyes are narrowed and a low growl is sounding from her throat. "We gonna go?"

You slowly reach down and produce a small plastic package you snuck into the dorm earlier during your grocery run. Her eyes lock onto it immediately, and her eyes start to widen. "I heard you mention to your mom the other day you missed jerky, so I managed to get my hands on some."

You lift up the bag and wiggle it a little, her eyes following it much like a dog would… well, a bag of jerky. "You should probably check out the grocery store sometime instead of just making me do it. I'm having to guess what you like to eat."

She slowly reaches up to grasp the bag and you lean back to keep it out of her grip. "Dinner is almost ready, dessert?"

She keeps her eyes on it then nods slowly. "Ah forgive you for all the bullcrap."

You set the bag back onto the counter then turn to monitor the skillets. "I do believe the majority of the bullcrap is your fault. I probably wouldn't have wound up with you if you hadn't made such a show in initiation. I was debating going with Kros until I saw you beating the crap out of yourself."

Your partner grins cheekily turn skips back over to the couch, tail wagging all the while. "Ah'm really good at gettin' attention when I want to. Part of the ol' Doomwulf charm, ya should be honored that yer partnered with me."

You smile to yourself, nodding and smiling as you stir the meat on the skillet. "Yep, very honoured to have to dig fleas out of my laundry."

You have to duck quick to avoid being smacked in the face by a magazine thrown by a vengeful wolfgirl.

- - -

"Yeah… sorry about all the confusion." You lower your head apologetically to Alva as the explain the situation.

The robot is in her office, the first time you've been here funnily enough. Considering she spends most of her time in her lab or around the servers it shouldn't surprise you she doesn't spend much time here but… it's an office. There's a simple metal desk with a computer upon it, while behind it near the window overlooking the R&D complex is a bookshelf filled with electronics equipment.

"We pass along information via encrypted USB's… it is unfortunate that you are unable to trust Technomancer, Student 3085.11."

You rub the back of your head awkwardly, not even bothering to try and correct her on the name. "Yeah… sorry, he was kinda rude after our first VR test so I've been kind of wary about him ever since, I hope I didn't cause any real problems or anything."

The robot walks over to her desk and pulls the seat back, it's a heavy metal thing that appears to offer next to nothing in the way of comfort. Though you highly doubt Alva needs anything resembling padding in any fashion. She opens the second drawer and pulls out a small USB.

"It is unfortunate, but mistakes happen." Alva taps the top of her desk and looks up at you. "Please come over here."

You stare at her hand a moment before nervously stepping up to the edge of the desk. She tilts her head slightly then leans forward, the chair sliding back away from her as she lifts herself up onto the desk. Her left arm locks in place, clamping down on the edge and holding her rigid as her right reaches up to… pat you on the shoulder. "Alva forgives you! No frowning."

You look at the hand currently gently patting your shoulder. "... Sorry."

She moves the hand back and with the sound of a distinctive clank her feet land back onto the floor. Her mouth is open in a wide smile, though being who she is the emotion is… questionable. Her eyes are 'alight' and she looks at you like there isn't a problem in the world. Which you suppose given the present circumstances there isn't one.

… This is also the most alone you've been with her beyond the odd few times before class.

- - -

Anything you want to talk about?

[Her 'Quirk']

- - -

Bang!

With a bone-shaking clap the book hits your desk, bouncing slightly before settling in place. The sound is echoed by the same thing happening on Stephanie's desk. "Red Badge of Courage, you will read it. You will learn it. You will write a book report on it shortly before this month's partner test."

You can hear a nervous gulp, but can't tell if it was you or your partner.

"You will learn this book inside and out, one way or another." Omnilinguist walks past you both, her shoes clicking on the hard tile floor. "If you skip the work or - so help me Herodotus - cheat, I will throw you into a VR simulation of the battle and I won't let you out until you write that report. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am."

- - -

"Begin!"

Your shield snaps into place immediately, both practice and paranoia telling you at this point that you want it between your and your partner. As a massive hit slams into it moments later you realize you were right in your assessment.

A knight, straight out of the middle ages, slams her shield into yours and sends you skidding back, your heavy tread boots utterly failing to keep their grip. Her visor is down, so you can't see anything of her expression, but she is tall and strong, and you find yourself struggling to not have your arm crushed as she pushes against it.

She rips her arm to the side, her shield skidding across the front of yours and freeing her up to move. As you stumble to adjust your footing she throws a foot forward, a heavy sabaton crashing into the front of your shield and pushing you backwards.

She drags the foot down and surges forward, kicking off with her back leg and raising her shield again in an attempt to bash you off the edge. Your training with Doomwulf kicks in, and you roll to the side, using your own shield as a form of balance board as you tumble and reposition. Your helmet, however, is not so lucky, and you reach up to readjust it even as you raise yourself back up into a defensive posture.

The knight, Cavalier, turns around. In her right grip is a shield, in her left is a rather futuristic sword that she has yet to make a use of. It's steel, at least it appears to be, but blue lines of light run up and down it and you can see several buttons on the handle, with unknown purpose.

She bangs the guard against the front of the shield, a metallic clang sounding through the air as she readies to charge again. She hasn't used her quirk yet, though from what you've seen of the football games you doubt you could block it if she did.

…

- - -

[Fight Defensively; her armor's heavy, and she'll wear herself down in it… and you are designed around tanking.]



---



[X][Her 'Quirk']

[X][Fight Defensively; her armor's heavy, and she'll wear herself down in it… and you are designed around tanking.]

- - -

You stare at Alva several moments longer before you settle on a question you want to ask. "Could you tell me more about your quirk? I've never really run into someone like you and frankly you are rather fascinating to me. Both technologically and well, I suppose medically."

"Medically? Student 3085.11 should know that Alva has no biological components!"

You raise your hand and shake your head. "Wrong term… I mean, best way to put it. Are you... sentient? You have a mind of your own, it seems, but I frankly do not know much about technology at all."

Alva tilts her head, mechanical whirring sounding from her as she does so. "Alva has passed the Turing test, Alva is also capable of mimicking all human emotions to rating of 67.9385 effectiveness!"

"So you actively think?"

Alva looks down towards the desk a moment, the light's behind her eyes growing and dimming in brightness, before snapping into focus. She thrusts her arms up and marches around the desk to stand before you. Two heavy limbs fall on your shoulders, forcing you to her height as robot looks into your eyes with all the seriousness she can muster.

"Alva. Can. Think!" You're barely even warned by the whirring or motors before the world lurches beneath you. She pulls back and forth, fiercely shaking your entire body, your head getting dangerously close to smashing into hers. "How can Alva do science if she cannot think! Bad Student 3085.11!"

You try to speak but all you get out is a slur of gurgles as she shakes you so hard you fear losing blood circulation. Eventually after a few more moments she relents, leaving you to stumble back, dizzy and discombobulated. You slowly raise a hand to rub at the side of your head, the other moves to your stomach as you suddenly feel grateful you chose to skip breakfast this morning. "I… just want to know more about you, and I tend to have a terminal case of foot in mouth." Alva giggles, the sound echoing through the bare office before she claps her hands together. The wide smile on her face shows her 'emotions' having done a complete one-eighty.

"Alva is happy you wish to know more about her. Alva is powered by a Hawking microfilament drive and Alva is motorized using a series of Shwarzchild motors set with all joi-" Your mind states to fade out as the speed of her diction increases to an alarming rate. Her eyes alight in apparent excitement as she gives you her full diagnostics. Words you've never heard of outside of one of those space exploration shows whiz by your head like so much wind from an industrial fan. When she reaches 'Thera-magnetic-wave-generator' you raise your hand to pause her technobabble.

"Sorry, not… techy at all. You mentioned Embla made you?" She nods vigorously, waving her arms for emphasis, "I'm not great outside biology, but do you have your own quirk? Are you a registered hero?"

Alva tilts her head to the side, her arms splayed out as she apparently thinks on the question. Then she moves her right hand to knock against her metal torso, a dull clank sounding through the office. "Alva does not have a quirk as defined, nor does Alva do hero work. Alva will be in the future, but not at present."

She then raises her left hand, a little happy 'ding' sounding from her as she does so. "But Alva does have powers!" Her left hand extends with a mechanical whirring, and you watch as it goes all the way up to touch the ceiling. "Extending-arms!"

… "Why didn't you use that to grab my shoulders ear-"

A loud burst sounds out and the smell of smoke fills the room, your head jerks back down immediately to see small jets of blue flame coming out the bottom of Alva's boots. "ROCKET BOOTS!"

With a loud thud her boots slam back into the floor, amazingly the floor itself is neither burnt nor melted. Before you can take a step back (for safety) another loud whir fills the room as her left arm peels away to reveal several long barrels where the bones where normally be. "Chain gun!"

With another whir the arm plates move back in and cover the chaingun along with the other arm retracting back to its normal length. She's still grinning broadly, clearly proud of what she is showing you. Then, with little warning her right arm moves to her chestplate and starts to open it… and you suddenly find yourself looking towards the wall awkwardly as she exposes her-

… Wait.

"Student 3085.11? Why are you looking away?"

"I'm… not sure honestly."

There's what sounds like a computer fan spinning up before a soft chime sounds through the room. "Analysis, Student 3085.11 compared me to a human girl. Whereupon revealing the chestplate is sexual in nature. Theoretical, Student 3085.11 is perhaps sheltered. Practical. Alva is Alva, Alva is not human, therefore there is no reason to be embarrassed."

You slowly turns your head back to see the chest plate is now open, the t-shaped piece removed to reveal two large see-through tanks filled with a glowing green liquid. Their light painting the interior wires and metal a dull green that throbs like a heartbeat. Below them at the bottom of the 'T' is a large circular red disk. It looks almost like an eye, many wires run in and out of it, the majority of which being connected to the tanks above. "Anti-Matter Laser!"

You stare at it. "Is it wise for you to be showing a boy your Anti-Matter Laser? He may get ideas."

Alva tilts her head. "Alva does not understand."

"... Nevermind."

With the sound of metal hitting metal she closes the hatch again. Her hands moving to rest at her hips as she looks up at you with a 'cheeky' smile. "Alva has many powers! But Alva has no legal quirk."

You stare at her for several long moments. "Subject S38b."

Alva blinks, the first time she's done that since you entered her office you note. Whether she forgot due to excitement or whether that is a reaction to being offput by something you couldn't say. "Subject S38b, no match found. Partial match with 38b, minor control of light waves."

"It's your quirk. 'S' in this case standing for Sanhedrin. 38b for passage."

Her eyes widen and she blinks again. "Sanhedrin, Talmud. Directory reference, 38b." She tilts her head, and when she begins speaking she sounds more like an old text-to-speech devices than her normal voice. "With regard to Adam the first man, his torso was fashioned from dust taken from Babylonia, and his head was fashioned from dust taken from Eretz Yisrael, the most important land, and his limbs were fashioned from dust taken from the rest of the lands in the world." Her eyes returns to their normal gaze and she looks up at you. "Theology reference. Student 3085.11 compares Alva to a golem."

You shrug your shoulders. "Was the first thing to come to mind."

She looks down towards the floor, a small smile on her face. "It fits. Thank you Student Dylan. Someday I too will be a hero."

- - -

No, she may be better with her shield, but she's an attacker, and she's aggressive at that. You can feel the weight of each of her blows, and you can tell that her armour's weighing her down. You just need to grit your teeth and hold out until she wears down and gives you an opening.

You raise your shield, plant your feet, and wait for the inevitable charge of your opponent. She stands across from you on the other end of the arena, her sword held in a loose grip at her side while her shield is up to cover her from chin to knee. You do not need to wait long for the charge, as with the sound of clanking metal she sprints across the mat.

You can't afford to clash against her again, or else she'll be able to make use of her better shield-work. Once she gets with five feet you twist in place, angling yourself so your side is presented and your shield is tilted towards the blow in a rough approximation of a parry, but despite her bulk she can apparently turn quite well. She jerks to the left and slams the bottom half of her shield into yours.

You stumble back, your left arm stinging. Instincts from training take over and you duck low, your leg sweeping out before you fall back onto your ass. Fortunately it works, and Cavalier goes stumbling back several steps as your heavy boot slams into her sabaton and knocks her temporarily off balance.

You push yourself off the ground with your shield, feeling quickly coming back to the limb as you carefully sidestep away from the edge of the arena. Cavalier has recovered already, but it seems she doesn't see the need to charge immediately, instead she circles as well… until you both find yourself on the opposite ends of the short mat from where you started.

She slowly raises up her right hand, the sword shifting in her grip as she moves the hand to raise up her visor. It reveals a pair of green eyes staring at you in challenge, while a light sheen of sweat dots her forehead. You can't see anything else of her face besides that as her face is surrounded by padding.

With a deep breath you can hear even from here she lowers her stance to the ground, metal knee hitting the pad as she gets into a rough approximation of a three-point-position. Then the mat jerks slightly as she kicks off from it. In the moment before she is upon you, all you can think of it how impressive her speed is with all that armour. If you focused on the fact that she's basically a fully armored train at the moment you'd probably run screaming off the mat before you even thought about raising your shield.

You lean back, bracing against your back leg. Her shield is angled lower, her sword raised and held off to the side at a ninety degree angle.

Closer.

Closer.

Once she's within spitting distance you press forward with your back leg, kicking off yourself and angling the shield towards her midsection in a rough approximation of a counter charge. Unfortunately your momentum doesn't measure up to hers. While you do succeed in forcing her shield back and off angle it does nothing to stop her sword slamming into your left arm and sending you stumbling back once again. A sharp pain runs up and down your arm, but she didn't cut. At least, you doubt she is using a sharp blade right now. But you saw sparks from the blade where it impacted, and what was once numb is now limp and useless.

She rears back the blade again for another swing, and with a growl that reminds you more of your partner than yourself you shove your way forwards. You duck your head low and slam your helmet into her mid section, forcing a gasp of air out of her as a dull ringing fills your ears.

You both stumble back at the same time. Your head hurts, your left arm is currently non-functional, and frankly you are not having fun right now. The sounds of fighting surround you, and would that you took just a bit of a harder blow on the head you might think you have been transported to some medieval battlefield given the knight in front of you.

You take a step back and reach over to your arm with your right hand, a quick snap of buckles and the entire shield 'box' comes off. You point it towards her, the shield has collapsed back into its 'sheath' and is for the moment useless, as it can't be switched between arms. But you do have a grapple hook. "I warn you, I have a gun and no idea how to use it."

Cavalier looks down at the slight dent in her armor, then looks up at you. She chuckles audibly, the sound coming out of her helm with a metallic echo. She raises her shield, flicks down her visor...

… and she starts glowing yellow.

Ah fu-

Before you can even register it she has crossed the mat, the sound of a thunderclap filling your ears as she slams into you. Your body buckles immediately from the impact and by the time you register you've moved you are flying up and through the air. Time slows down as you sail, the white ceiling getting closer above you before you start to lose speed and 'stall' out. Pain and numbness run through your body in equal measure…

And you still have the grapple in your right hand.

You twist as best you can and press the emergency trigger on the side. With a bang similar to that of a percussion cap a rope and claw shoots forth, it sails rapidly upwards even as you start to descend downwards. And with a sharp tug it slams into the ceiling and arrests your momentum, nearly tearing your arm out of its socket in the process.

"Winner by Ringout, Dylan Evans!"

… Eh?

You look down from where you are hanging to see Cavalier standing a good fifty feet away from the pad while you hang from the ceiling. She's staring up at you, though with her visor closed you can't rightly tell if she is annoyed at this outcome or not. Gunnery Sergeant Lawrence is staring up at you as well with his hand on his hips.

"Quick thinking for the dumbest god-damn move I've ever seen in my fucking life!" You know what, you're going to optimistically call that expression a 'military smile.'

"Thank you, sir!" You look up towards the ceiling where the grapple is holding strong, then you slowly look back down at him. "Can you help me get down? I have no idea how this thing actually works."

- - -

You sit on the couch, your hand placed on Doomwulf's shoulder as your quirk gets to work removing some of the bruises she gained in her last fight. She hasn't bothered to get fully changed yet like you have, instead your partner immediately deemed it necessary to get rid of the bruises running up and down her arms.

At the moment her 'bodysuit' is pulled down to her waist revealing a simple grey t-shirt underneath. The bruises are a mix of browns and deep purples, apparently your partner had a rather nasty fight with Jonesby. They guy's quirk packs a punch, you've seen as much yourself, and per her telling she was forced to block several cannonballs using nothing more than her braced arms as she moved into pummeling distance.

Honestly, from what you've seen it's a miracle she didn't actually break anything in her arms.

While you've worked at the injuries she has been regaling you with the tale of the fight, and admittedly you've only half paid attention, more interested in her armor. The mask is hanging down to allow her to speak clearly, but it appears this material in general is quite an effective dampener for injury. While the bruises are nasty there is nothing internal that can you see… though if Jonesby hit her hard enough to cause internal damage you would have to have words with the man.

She finishes her tale with a stunning soliloquy of her standing above the mildly concussed pirate before leaning back into your grip. She grins as you stare down at her, then you watch as she moves one of her hands to… scratch behind one of your ears.

The last of the bruises fade away as you stare at her, and she does nothing but stare at you while scratching for several moments before she finally speaks. "What?"

"... Why are you scratching my ears?"

"Because you fixed my bruises, so I'm saying thanks. Didn't your parents teach you any manners?"

…

"I'm not sure how to respond to that."

Doomwulf shrugs and hops off the couch, her armor clinking as she stretches and bends her arms experimentally. With a relieved sigh she starts to walk to her dorm only to pause at the turn, her head turns back to look at you once she reaches the threshold. "You wait there a moment."

The door closes behind her and you simply stare at it for a good minute before turning your gaze over to the television. For your own sake you aren't going to process the fact that apparently her parents scratched her like a dog, nor are you going to process the fact she just attempted to do the same to you.

It's a good ten minutes later when your partner steps out again in pajamas holding a large box. It's easily the size of her torso and she doesn't so much walk as skip over to the couch. With the south of shifting plastic she drops it onto the cushions and you get a good look at the top of it for the first time. It shows what appears to be a knight in golden armor fighting a ghost. Below them is text in large red letters that reads 'Shadow Wars'.

"Parent sent me a box ah hadn't had the chance ta' work on yet. Wanna help me build it?"

You stare at the box a moment, then look up at her honestly hopeful face. "Sure why not."



---



[X] [Talk to another student? - Cavalier]

-[X] Ask for advice on how to properly use a shield

[X] [Study with your Partner]

- - -

English class… actually goes fairly well, all things considered. Omnilinguist checks your work, visibly, no less than three times, but she isn't unpleasant. Well, no more than normal by any regard. Your entire class in general seems to be terrified of the woman, so you're probably just catching up in that regard. It does seem your partner is even more nervous around her than usual.

It's an impressive feat really… though you have noticed that your partner is generally nervous around authority. It's something you've picked up on more and more; around people she knows or feels to be on equal footing with she is eager, talkative, and more than a little combative and snarky. When she feels like she has failed or someone in power above her is mad? She goes full scared puppy, which… amusingly could be considered something like a pack mentality, but besides physical features and the odd emoting through the tail Stephanie hasn't shown any particular social cues you would attribute to a canine.

Which is a shame honestly, since that could look good on her. Not that you're some pervert who chased after women with animal features… a movement that, somehow, predates the existence of quirks that would have made it possible.

...

You know, you really regret some of the things you have been made aware of in Quirk Research. You tended to stay off the internet for the most part so you weren't quite aware of people's fetishes, and you are a doctor not a psychiatrist.

Either way, English class goes by without incident, and you are already a quarter of the way through that book, so hopefully you won't be on the shitlist much longer.

- - -

"Remember students! The field trip is in just a few short weeks! I know you've all been studying hard, but do your best!" The happy voice of Morrigan fills the room as she flits her way through it, papers lifting off of desks as she collects them. There's a small stack growing and floating behind the magical golden butterfly as she moves from student to student, the butterfly itself bobbing… happily you suppose. It's rather hard to compare it to anything else.

To be honest you are waiting for the day Quirk Research focuses on her, because it is just about one of the odder quirks you've run into personally. With a shuffling of paper your morning's work lifts off the desk to float in front of the butterfly. "Good work Dylan, keep this up and you'll go far."

The butterfly lets out a little musical jingle before she flits past your desk towards the next student, and you allow a small smile on your face as your studying has at least produced results… it did before, but you lost the benefits. So it's nice at least one teacher still has faith in you.

- - -

You step out onto the cool grass that surrounds the walkways around the school. The sounds of moving students fills your ears, as does their neverending chatter. You don't particularly mind it, but it is admittedly rather pleasant that this school has so much… nature. Your high school was basically a brick bunker that just so happened to teach math. The more you see of this school the more it reminds you of a fully functioning city.

Light glints off of the lake's water in pretty hues of yellow and orange, the lake nearby looking nearly aflame from the refracted sunset light of the glass. It's a pretty sight, if more than a little blinding. You aren't the only student enjoying it either, several are working out, or just plain relaxing around the water's edge. There are only a few you recognize, and most of those only by seeing their faces around the school.

One however stands out to you, a woman roughly your age with brown hair tied up in a ponytail. She is dressed in the uniform you and every other student wears, and she has apparently just finished a workout going by the appreciable amount of sweat collected on her face and the heaviness of her breathing.

Your shoes crunch in the grass as you walk up, and you don't get closer than a dozen feet before she turns her head to look at you. A smile graces her face a moment, a rather smug one at that before she turns back to looking at the lake. "I had wondered when you were going to show up."

"Oh? I kind of live here." You pull up besides her to sit down onto the grass yourself, the freshly cut blades tickling your arm as you look out over the lake.

Cavalier lets out a snort before reaching up to wipe the sweat off of her forehead. "Tom informed me you wished to learn how to use a shield, so it was only a matter of time before you came to me."

You shrug your shoulders and pull the small shield/grapple device out of your bag. You've made it a habit to keep it on your incase anything stupid happens. Not that you can actually fight with the damn thing but it just… feels nice to have a shield between you and whatever happens to be blowing up at any moment. Also because you'll have to get used to always having it, but that is besides the point.

Cavalier looks at it curiously a moment before looking at your face. "You've never used a shield before."

… That wasn't a question.

"No, not really. Been mostly touch and go with my partner."

She nods and holds out her hand, waiting for you to offer the shield to her. You blink, then slowly place the device into her grip. She looks at it curiously, turning it this way and that in her hand. With a motion that speaks of practice she slots it onto her arm then flexes her wrist, almost immediately the shield pops out, the bottom half of the metal planting into the grass while the rest serves as a rather effective sunshade.

Cavalier lets out a hum and looks it up and down. "Fairly light, good brace on the arm. Good material. Don't know why it has a grapple hook but that's your problem."

With a familiar shunt the shield collapses again and she pulls the device off of her arm before offering it to you. "Should stand up to blows, you picked this for defence, not offense?"

You blink, gently accepting it back before tilting your head in curiosity. "You can… use a shield for offense?"

Cavaliers expression goes flat, before she slowly raises a hand to cradle her face.

… What?

[New Action Unlocked - Training with Cavalier]

- - -

You lean back further into the couch with a sigh, your fingers curl as you turn another page in the short, but still vaunted, tome that is 'The Red Badge of Courage'. You've read this book before, twice in fact… but not since you were a preteen so you remember precisely jack all about it. The television blares in the background set to some music station, though you aren't really paying any form of attention to it. Instead you are just focused on the centuries old work in front of you and the infrequent sounds of your partner growling at the damn thing.

You've quickly learned that isn't that she doesn't understand it, your partner just hates to sit down and read something. Which, admittedly, you used to hate it as well… but when your quirk is based on your knowledge of biology you don't have much in the way of choice.

You glance up from your couch to watch Stephanie on hers. "You okay over there?"

"Ah'll figure it out, you stay over there." As if to emphasize she scoots back further on the cushions, her feet raising up to rest on the other as she lays across the couch.

You chuckle and flip to the next page. At the very least this is a short book, so whether she enjoys it or not it will be done quickly.

"Well… when the punishment is over and we get through the partner test in a week or so we can visit your parents house. Sound good?"

Doomwulf shrugs her shoulders as if not particularly paying attention, but you don't miss the way her tail starts to lightly wag.

- - -

Omnilinguist's class is the same it has always been; pretty easy but steadily ramping up in difficult. Like most of the courses so far it has been slowly ramping up in difficulty as it has been going along. It appears since this has been a more… generalized facility that all the early courses have been gen-ed to get everyone acclimated, then have gone up in difficulty from there.

Math at least you have handled… it was science that blindsided you. Which is a surprise, considering up until this point David's class has been the least interesting by far. This time when you walked in he had a large series of problems written out on the digital display behind him, the rather nerdy man leaning back with his feet on the desk. "Today, students, we will be starting on kinetic energy, a bit more advanced than what we have covered previously, but fairly necessary in the work of heroes I think you'll find."

You stare up at the blackboard. 'Using the following data, which is the correct rate law of the sample reaction? A + 5B + 6C -> 3D + 3E''

Then below that are no less than a half dozen series of numbers.

…

Fuck.

- - -

You walk out of classroom with a sigh, rubbing at the crick in your neck as you step through the hallways. That was a… long class, probably longer than any science class you've had up to this point at this school. Which is impressive considering it was the exact same length as all the rest.

"Wasn't fun for you either?"

You give your partner the greatest stink-eye you can muster. "I'm terribly sorry Mathwulf, I forgot about your great skills. You minmaxed your way out of proper handwriting in exchange for being good at math."

Your partner makes a show of tossing a lock of hair over her shoulder, her smile nothing short of smug. "Ah know it but tell me anyway of my greatne-"

"Dylan Evans, report to the Dean's Office immediately."

Stephanie's jaw clicks shut so fast you are surprised she didn't break a fang.

"What did you do this time." Her voice is one step above a whimper.

You look up towards the speaker then give her the best answer you can muster. "I have… no idea."

…

It doesn't take very long to get to the teacher's offices, and it takes even less time to find Dean Aja's officer than it took to find Technomancer's… mostly because it is on the top floor. Well, 'on' is a weak term, the entire top floor is her office.

It's one you've seen in a previous video of hers, an old fashioned workspace overlooking… a scenic rainforest? The window at the far end of the room displays a virtual scene instead of the school proper. The room is filled with plants of all types, a few you even recognize from all those years gardening with your mother. Sitting behind the desk is Aja, her red hair shining brilliantly from the light cast by the virtual display.

It an interesting clash with her dark skin, though a rather pretty mix all things considered. She looks up at you the moment you walk through the door, a wide smile gracing her countenance as the door closes behind you. "Dylan Evans, good to see you found your way here without issue. How were classes today?" You fidget more than a little awkwardly and nod your head, no… wait, she wants words.

"Fine, they were fine." Your eyes darting over to look at her array of bookshelves instead of pondering how you were chuckling to yourself as to how Stephanie handled authority.

You hear a light cough and look back to see Aja gesturing to a wooden seat sitting in front of her desk. "Please, take a seat, you aren't in trouble."

… Yeah, if you had a dime for everytime you heard that one.

You step forward, the wooden flooring creaking slightly under your steps as you make your way over to the seat. It creaks slightly as your weight settles upon it, the chair was either old or very convincingly made to feel old.

It's comfy at least, more comfy than your desk chairs.

"I was hoping to speak to you a bit to see how you were getting along, I am of course aware of your… troubles recently. Plagiarism is a serious offence, and if we weren't so strict with our entrance policy you would have more than likely have been expelled." She leans forward, her elbows moving to rest on the desk. "That and I had a chance to go over your work myself, a student bet? Hardly the work of a serial plagiarist."

You nod, not daring to speak or change your expression as she stares at you.

"No I think not." Smiling still she continues. "That too shall pass, with time and good behaviour. What I wished to speak to you about was your conversation with the counselor."

Annapurna? You'd figure if they had a problem with your answers in that you wouldn't have gotten in… or they would have brought it up earlier.

Her finger taps a button on her desk and a screen between the two of you comes to life. It shows… Miss Annapurna's office, in which you are sitting on the seat across from the counselor looking like you absolutely did not want to be there. But in your defence it was a long day.

Your voice comes through the speaker. The odd effect of hearing your own voice in a recording tickling your brain before you shake the feeling away. "I didn't really have any other plans in life, I mean anything else would be a waste of a rare quirk. I don't know what else to do but become a hero because… I don't honestly know what to do with myself otherwise."

Annapurna nods and leans forward in her desk while you apparently did your best not to look her in the eyes… to be honest you don't remember much of that first day, the stress was ridiculous. "You see your quirk as a tool for good, something to be used, and you wish to become a hero because of that. Not because of any noble goals or des-"

With a static buzz the screen cuts out, and you look slowly from it back to Aja. The dean's expression is still a smile, though perhaps a bit smaller than it was previously.

"There's no right reason to become a hero, but there's no guarantee it stays the same. 6 weeks ago you had had reason, but you're still young, and a lot change in six weeks." She leans forward. "Do you still have the same cause, Dylan?"

 

[Erien]

[Yes]

- - -

You stare at the dean lost in thoughts for several moments… but moments is all they are. You don't have to think particularly hard on it due to your reasoning for being a hero having been the same the past decade. You haven't had any strong feelings about changing it one way or the other, you still have no real interest in the fame or fortune that comes with being a professional, you just want to help people.

You lean back into the seat and speak with all the confidence you can muster.

"Paramedic treatment is still critical in the moments after serious injury. The more I learn about anatomy and hero work, the more certain I become. I can make the biggest difference in the field, on the front line, where my touch after sixty seconds can mean the difference between life and death, or maiming and full recovery. I could probably heal more people more thoroughly in a hospital, but there are doctors and machines and other perfectly reliable quirks out there- things that can do as much good as I can in a clean room, but are worthless to the people that died in an ambulance. Finally, as my power works on myself, I know that barring a lethal hit, I can quite possibly survive some conditions few other medical personnel could withstand." Your tone raises as you speak, the words coming out so easily you hardly pause between them.

"The only solid, rational argument for doing something other than hero work would be the profitability of private healing for those who could afford it; I doubt I would be able to sleep at night if I went down that path. At least, not until after I am no longer fit for frontline service. Before that point, I'd never forgive myself. So yes, I am a hero for the sole and only reason that I want to help others."

You pull yourself forward from the cushion of the seat, suddenly feeling rather embarrassed you just nearly drowned your dean in a speech you hadn't really prepared beforehand.

Aja to her credit looks unperturbed, a small smile has been on her face as she nodded along with your speech. Once finished she pulls back from the desk to relax against her own chair. "An interesting answer for someone that has a professional hero in the family."

You still at her words before shaking your head, no. You don't want to be anything like your aunt, not in a hundred years. "I have no interest in that kind of life, she helps people but… she uses the fame and fortune too much." You lift up your hands, palms flat as if in offering. "I can heal people, that's the only thing separating me from anyone else… if I couldn't do that I would just be a normal guy probably still dreaming about being an astronaut or some other dream I had as a kid."

Aja closes her eyes and lets out a soft hum. "Perhaps good that you didn't, the ISTA isn't in particular need of someone to heal the moon of its craters." A smile that reminds you rather… disturbingly well of one your mother wears after a good day of gardening creeps onto her face before she opens her eyes again. "A good answer, it is good to be so sure of your own beliefs at such a young age."

You nod again, not really sure how to respond to that.

"That was all I had to speak to you about Mr.Evans, you may return to your evening activities. I am sure your partner is quite worried about what happened."

You smile and push the chair back, the wood creaking once again under your weight. "She probably is terrified we are in trouble again."

"Ah yes, you may consider any punishment void."

You look up at her so quickly the bones pop in your neck.

"No need to be surprised, as I said I went over the work myself. Of course I still expect you to finish your assignment with Mrs. Parker, she will raise hell if you don't finish that report I assure you, but I don't see any reason to continue it much beyond that."

That… is a weight lifted off your shoulders.

"Thank you… ma'am."

- - -

You step back into your dorm room, an almost spring to your step as you walk through the door and into the living room. Your partner true to form is on the couch, however instead of working on models or flipping channels on the television like normal she is working on the book report… well, was working on the book report. Right now she is staring at you like you are about to tell her that her family died in a fire.

She doesn't say a word as you walk into the room, and you take the opportunity to switch from your skip to a somber sulk, your footsteps heavy as you fall down onto the couch opposite her with a sigh.

You let out a loud groan as your head sinks into the pillow set upon the armrest, one hand moving up to rest on your forehead while the other flops onto your stomach.

"W-what happened?"

You slowly lower the arm, looking her with all the sadness you can possibly muster. You milk it for several moments before letting a smile come onto your face. "Nothing actually, she just wanted to talk about schoolwork up to this point."

Any enjoyment of her expression is quickly blinded by the cushion that hits you in the face.



---



[X] [Work with Cavalier]

[X] [Continue training your quirk using Alva's list]

[X] [Work with Valeria and Nora]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

Thanks to @Qwaar for the sanity check, encourage him to update his stories.

- - -

Your eyes slowly open to stare at your white ceiling. A pleasant warmth fills you immediately, the suffocating warmth of the sheets calling you to close your eyes again like the sirens of yore. Unfortunately for them we actually have sirens now, we made them far more powerful than the sheets.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BE-thunk.

You extricate yourself from the sheets with all the delicacy of a drunk elephant, the covers thrown roughly towards the end as you make your way over to the closet to collect your clothes. You hope they'll give you something to mix up with the uniform eventually, the school may be military, but still...

Slinging them over your shoulder you step out of your room to the dark interior of your shared living space. Above you can hear footsteps, your 'neighbors' are apparently up for the day. Not that you've ever met them. They don't play loud music and they don't make much in the way of noise, so frankly they are just about the best neighbors you could have asked for. You've heard horror stories about student dorms, and thankfully they are just that, at least here.

Faint light is coming through the crack between the blinds, and you walk forward to pull it back to witness an apparent… snow day. Through the balcony window you can see snow falling out over the city and school. Instead of collecting on the dome the white powder seemingly falls through to trickle down onto the grounds. There isn't a lot of it, about what you would expect for the first snow of the year. Atlanta never got much snow in general, so this is barely a dusting.

Leaving the blind open you make your way back to the bathroom and into your shower, any longer and Stephanie will be grouchy about having to wait.

- - -

It's at most a minute after you finish your shower that Doomwulf's door opens, and you poke your head over to the counter to see her much in the same state you were earlier. Clothes strung over her shoulder as she looks out the open window to see the snow fall onto the plaza.

"Can we get breakfast this mornin'?"

You blink at the question, then look back at the pans you were setting out. "I was working on that, unless you want to eat out?"

Your partner nods, still not turning her attention away from the window.

You ponder the idea, amusingly despite being here for six weeks and change you haven't actually had breakfast outside of the dorm. Dinner and lunch plenty of times, of course, but breakfast has usually been your job as it gives you time to both wake up and relax before heading off to classes.

"I… don't see any particular reason why not, I hadn't actually started cooking yet. You have any place in mind?"

Stephanie shrugs her shoulders and walks into the bathroom.

"I don't know that restaurant!" You call out after her… though you only get the sound of the door clicking shut in response. With a chuckle you start putting the pans back up, you suppose tomorrow is english muffin day. For now you'd best get your book bag together.

- - -

You slowly lower the menu and allow it to fall flat on the table. It's more than you expected, when she dragged you across the plaza to the coffee shop you had expected at most a small selection of baked good. But to your relief they actually offer a decent selected of breakfast meats and other staples.

Your partner for her part was dead set on a rather impressive amount of pancakes and bacon, a rather disturbing amount of calories all in all. Though given how active she is frankly you doubt it's a problem… tonight is PE anyway.

Her menu is set down, and currently your partner is working her way through a mug of coffee as she stares out the window towards the snowy plaza and forest beyond. It's still coming down, though it has drastically lessened compared to before. It may last awhile though, you are familiar with worrying about snow collapsing a greenhouse, you don't know what actually happens to snow inside of one.

"So what's yer plan for the rest of the week?"

You turn to look at your partner, her heterochromatic eyes staring back at you. "Nothing out of the ordinary, got Embla's class, that's about it really. This weekend I figured we were visiting your parents if we had the time."

"We'll have the time." Your partner answers quickly, any further explanation on her part is ended with the sudden arrival of the plates. Two for you, four for her.

You stare at the monstrosity laid out on her end of the table. How could someone who prefers their coffee so bitter eat that?

"I could have sworn chocolate killed dogs."

Your partner sticks out her tongue before cutting off a chunk of pancake and shoving it into her mouth. She chews slowly, both brows raised as she stares at you. A moment later she swallows and speaks. "What doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger, and ah'm the strongest person in this school ain't ah?"

You smirk and start cutting into your own breakfast. "It's not your muscle I'm worried about, it's your brains."

Stephanie lets out a snort. "Ah'll have ya know ah'm also one of the smartest."

- - -

Stephanie looks at the rather large 'C' printed on the paper in front of her with abject horror. History class has been going well for the most part, at least it has for you, going by the big fat 'A' printed on yours. Morrigan has been in a good mood this morning, rather nice considering how many students apparently didn't study too well for her class. You lean over a bit to speak to your partner.

"C's get degrees?"

The slow head turn and glare she gives you is all the words that need to be said on that subject apparently.

"Keep working at it students!" your eyes track over to Morrigan fluttering behind her desk. "The field trip is next month, and we already have some strong showings!" She flaps so hard that she gains some altitude, the butterfly rising before doing a little spin in the air as the screen behind her comes to life showing… I-island. "And do remember the prize for the best students in year one is an exclusive trip to I-island!"

She flaps a bit more before coming in for a landing on the desk. "Today's subject is I-island itself, founded two decades ago by a joint global effort. It has grown to become the world forefront institution of quirk research and development."

… You wonder if Alva and Embla are going.

Still, would be a neat trip. Though you'd need to see if you have the grades to even try.

- - -

Hero Law hasn't changed since your last class, and still has very little to actually interest you. It's necessary and you are learning it… but it is still the most boring of all the 'hero' classes. Still, it is at least helpful, you just wish it wasn't three hours long .

As of now however you are back in your dorm, you sit on the couch feeling a few emotions that may be trepidation. The cause of your issues is the small vial you hold in your hands, the vial is glass, as the past few have been… but what is inside is a liquid that can only be described as eldritch. It is less liquid than it is smoke, the contents shifting and moving in ways liquid absolutely shouldn't. It is a deep green that reminds you of water overflowing with bacteria, and you swear you see a skull in the 'smoke' every once in a while.

"Ya… sure it's a good idea to drink that?"

You slowly look up from it towards your partner, she's sitting on the opposite couch. Her face shows an expression as hesitant and nervous as you feel.

"Well, this is my class assignment. So no, but I don't exactly have a choice anyway."

"Ah really would like ta speak to someone abo-" You pop the cork off the potion and down it while she speaks. "Uuuuuttt thiiiiiiiii❄︎⍓︎◻︎♏︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎❒︎ ⧫︎♏︎⌧︎⧫︎ ♒︎♏︎❒︎♏︎︎ ︎⬧︎♏︎ ♋︎●︎●︎?"

The room falls away again as the vile concoction meets your touch, it tastes like grapes, pressed into liquid by the divine, and used to garnish the souls of the forever damned. The room falls away, folding up on itself like a rolled up carpet to reveal the eternal and ancient city of Uruk in all of its splendor. Tall mountains rise up into the forever-sky, piercing god upon their peaks. The green-black of the heavens bleed a brilliant red ichor like rain, drowning the earth in their pain.

Statues infinite dot the landscape, and all those poor unfortunates still living bow in worship of the giant Stephanie sitting upon her couch throne. She is at least fourteen hundred and thirty seven meters high, her amber and blue eyes alight with power both eternal and infini-

*Urk*

The vision flashes and a sharp pain racks through your skull as you… feel your quirk activate. The taste in your mouth transitions to that of ash and spoiled meat and you feel tendrils upon your brain pulling away. When you blink… the world is back to normal, the vial is still sitting in your hands as you lay sideways on the couch.

You look around wildly before your gaze settles on Stephanie, she is halfway off the couch, her eyes wide as you stare at each other.

"... How long was I out?"

She blinks. "You were out? You just kinda fell over a half second ago."

Your eyes trail from her down to the empty ampule.

Huh.

You do believe you just cured yourself of whatever was in that vile vial.

- - -

Thursday's classes are normal; math class follows in science' footsteps, growing ever more difficult. Nothing unmanageable yet, but it is most definitely moving past 'catching up' to 'welcome to college'. Your partner has thankfully been a rather big help in that regard, your effort in studying with her somewhat regularly has helped you gain... while not an appreciation for mathematics, at the very least you aren't entirely useless at it.

Exactly why your partner is so good at it you've yet to figure out. She is poor at English, skates by at law. Is rather miserable in history but gets passing grades at least in it and both Science. … In Math she gets 90's regularly. Something you are both eternally grateful for and more than slightly aggrieved by. Mostly because it gives her yet another thing to be smug about, you would bring up her earlier grades in response but it feels like kicking a puppy in far too many ways.

English class was unremarkable, beyond the fact that Omnilinguist no longer appears to despise Stephanie, which is progress at least.

Either way, both pass by remarkably quickly, as have most of the days recently, and it leads directly into your evening where you are handling a rather appreciably old tome written in german by Cavalier. Well, rather, 'Cavalier' (or Sofia, as you have since learned) had it and saw fit to give it to you.

You can't read the cover, both because it is worn down and the fact is that you cannot read German. The inside, however, is filled with pictures, which you find a godsend. Colored images of knights and warriors fighting fill the pages. With blurbs of text below each in… more German. You look up from your spot next to the lake, Sofia looking down at you with her hand on her hip.

"I don't speak german."

The hero-in-training lets out a breath before shaking her head. "No, but you can copy pictures."

She gently removes the book from your grip and starts turning pages, this goes on for several moments until she finds the page she was looking for and begins to read aloud.

"Jtem, also schick dich in dem lanngen schilt: lern im anfang den obern vnd denn vntern haw vnd vntten vnd oben, wol lernst an pintn vnd in denn her nach geschribenn stuckenn wirstu lernnen die seytenn reysenn."

"... Gesundheit."

She snaps the book shut and stares down at you. "I shall teach you how to strike with your shield. Overhand, underhand, and various side wrenches. I prefer the mace or sword in conjunction, but for you the shield will be the main weapon."

You slowly push yourself off from the ground, the cool grass tickling the fingers at the edge of your uniform's fingerless gloves. With a snap of your wrist the shield on your arm opens, the rectangular bottom resting against the ground as you stare at your new training partner. "It's a defensive option for me, not an offensive one. I need to know how to defend myself, but I am a medic and S&R guy."

Cavalier's gaze narrows. "And I am sure most villains would allow you to do your civic duty without bothering you in any capacity. But for those poor unfortunates who do attack everything I will teach you how to use that thing properly.

She raises her own shield up so the top of it is level with her chin. "Raise your shield so that we may start with the Oberhau."

You nod and bring your own shield up. "Didn't mean anything by it, I'm just not very focused on comb-"

*CRASH*

FUCK LADY YOU NEED THAT ARM!

- - -

The beating continued in that vein for quite some time, but at the very least there were lulls where you were too broken to train, and could talk while you put yourself together. She was a harsh taskmaster, but not particularly cruel.

[Where's she from?]


[Any advice?]

---

Quirk research was the most interesting class you had on Friday and it was… depressing to say the least.

"This, students, is Matthew Keegan." The display behind Embla cuts to display a teenager. He's male with short trimmed black hair that fades away towards the sides. He's smiling as he looks at the camera, a guitar. From a guess you would say he was about fifteen to sixteen.

The only thing about him that really stands out are his fingers.. Which are far longer than normal. Each are easily about a foot in length and are clear to see from how he is holding the guitar.

"At the age of five Keegan's quirk was identified; 'Long Fingers.' A benign quirk he chose to use in his childhood ambition of becoming a musician."

The display changes to show an online article of a school surrounded by palm trees. The article below reads…

'Twenty seven dead'.

"Keegan, however, possessed a vestigial mutation, which was mistakenly diagnosed as a quirk, alongside a quirk that could only activate in highly specific circumstances. During a lab experiment his class was shown a bottle of dimethyl mercury. Upon getting near the chemical, his body started secreting the fluid via his sweat. It contaminated the school, and those who touched the same objects as him either died or suffered from irreversible brain damage within days." The screen goes black and Embla turns from it to face all of you.

"The source of the deaths were traced back from the school to Keegan once his parents suffered the same side effects and died." She holds up a stack of papers and begins setting them onto your desks. "Chemical recreation. Keegan had the secondary quirk of secreting Organomercuries that were brought near him. He was immune to its effects, and taken into custody by the CDC upon discovery. He was a willing prisoner and to this day has stayed within his positive pressure environment for the safety of himself and others."

She looks at you all in turn and then looks towards the large 'pillar' that makes up the Embla computer. "Before now we've learned the side effects quirks can have on their owners, now we shall go over the effects they can have on the world at large. Turn to page one."

- - -

It is after that rather depressing class that you can thankfully turn your mind away to focus on PE. Upon which after that you took a shower and headed over to Valeria and Nora's room.

You knock on the door and a rather warm looking Valeria opens it a good fifteen seconds later. 'Warm' in this case being the fact that she is decked out in a rather heavy looking sweater and has a blanket over her shoulders. Her face… looks fine, no obvious signs of a cold or anything. The snake woman greets you with a smile on her face.

"Dylan! Is good to see. Come in, come in." She 'slides' out of the way and you step past her to walk down the hallway.

"Sorry I'm late, I would have come earlier, but I doubt you would enjoy my coming right after PE. That and studying has kept me busy all week." There's a giggle behind you as you hear the door close, and you walk into the living area to see Nora laid on her mat of pillows. A laptop is on the floor as she 'pecks' at the keyboard with her talons. Upon your entrance she looks up at you, she seemingly processes your existence for a moment of confusion before raising a wing in apparent greeting.

"Evening Dylan."

"Nora. Sorry for the short notice, was hoping for more studying."

The bird woman nods and closes the laptop. "I remember, you're the one who texted me after all. What were you hoping to accomplish today?"

- - -

[Healing Animal Mutations]

- - -

Ah… that was a long week. Not a bad one, but definitely busy. You scrunch up your back and wiggle more into the couch as you make yourself comfortable. You need to get like… a pool, or something equally stupid to go in the middle of this space besides the table you two never use. These couches are great but you just need something you can actually kick your feet up in.

Your partner insists on putting her feet on the furniture and you don't dare say anything about it, but you are not a savage.

Your partner is sitting next to you studying, the evening light shimmering onto the back of her black hair as she works. Every few moments she glances from it towards you, and you don't fail to notice it.

Still, you are comfy.

"So… Dylan?"

"Present."

"Ah was hoping we could… talk."

You tilt your head, then slowly turn your head to stare at your partner. Your face is within a foot of hers and she looks away awkwardly when your eyes meet hers.

"... About?"

"Well, there's," She lets out a cough, her tail swinging faintly behind her before she continues, "there's been something ah've been wanting to ask for a while... would yooooouuuu, uh, please help with this question? Seriously, ah have no idea what a dangling participle is."

"... Sure."



---



*Slam*

Ow.

You stumble back as the blow seems to strike through the shield, sending vibrations running up your arm. The woman hits hard, but thankfully she is only aiming for the shield instead of, say, your face.

*Slam*

The blade that precisely slammed into your shield swings up from below and slams up against the bottom of the metal. Then, with a mighty warcry, she lifts, moving your arm up against your will. You feel powerless to stop her, largely due to the power of the electrical shocks your arms has been exposed to during this session. All your training up to this point kicks in, and you perform the one move you've perfected in this session.

You fall onto your ass with a dull thump as your armor plating hits the hard ground. With a groan you stare up at the sky, your helmet working as a much needed sunshade as you lay on your back and question the choices that led you here.

You reach up and pull the helmet off with a click, your wet hair feeling remarkably chilly to the cold air once your remove it. With a clanking of metal boots you watch as Queen Arthur walks up to you, with one smooth motion she moves the sword forward so that it rests just right of your temple.

"Yield."

You slowly turn your head to stare at the blade, the black surface showing no reflection. "If I don't, will you put me out of my misery?"

With a slight amount of force Sofia presses the blade into the dirt, then reaches down with her other hand and slowly helps you up to your feet. Once you are back up and less wobbly she retrieves the blade and steps back, her shield hand moving up to pull off her own helmet. There's a heavy amount of sweat on her head, even through the 'cap' she wears as extra padding underneath it. You suppose even with modern materials that outfit would be hotter than hell, and you doubt she can fit fans in that thing.

As a medical man you should be worried about her suffering from heatstroke even despite the cooler winter weather. As a fellow student you don't feel like getting the crap beaten out of you more so you haven't bothered mentioning it.

"I will not deign to put you out of your misery squire. Not until the moment you can use that shield with some some measure of confidence, lest I bring shame to my homeland."

With the sound of wrenching earth Sofia frees her blade, the metal 'sings' briefly when torn from the ground and she holds it out experimentally, her eyes trailing up and down its length.

"And what pray tell, does the master-of-arms call her homeland?"

Sofia looks from the blade to you, a small smile finding its way onto her face. "The Republic of Aragon. Home of the Caballero."

You look at her with some surprise. "Aragon? You don't have any form of…"

"Accent?"

You nod and Sofia shrugs. With a snap of her wrist the blade starts to twirl in her grip, her fingers dance on the hilt to keep the motion going as if it were some form of cavalry saber. "My family moved to America when I was two, and I have no memories of my former home. Now I live here, is there anything else that matters?"

"I suppose there isn't really, just that this class is pretty varied. It feels like everyone I talk to has a different 'origin,' for lack of a better word. I didn't expect so many to apply for the academy from around the world. Not… that you are a foreigner or anything."

Cavalier's smile turns a touch for the cocky and she slowly puts her helmet back on. With the sound of clicking metal the visor shuts closed shortly after she dons it.

… Then she leans forward in a rather familiar position.

Your insti- training kicks in and you raise the shield just as she kicks off from the ground. Her shield is out to her left, flat as to not cause drag as she charges forward. Her blade is thrust forward, aiming directly for your center mass. "Parry!"

You jerk to the shield, your shield flat against your chance as you allow the blade to skid off of it. You then step back like she taught you, your shield raised as you bring your punching arm up for bear.

Normally you would be questioning why someone would be teaching you how to parry swords… but there are a lot of criminals with cutting weapons, both quirk and mundane.

Cavalier twists on the spot, her feet curling as she brings herself around to face you. With the sound of metal crashing on metal her shield presses against yours even as her blade raises up. "Unterhau!"

You don't need to look through the visor to know she pulled her shield back ever so slightly. Compared to hers yours is rather bulky and unwieldy, it was made for defence, not offense. Yet…

With a roar of effort you pull your shield upwards, the bottom scraping against hers as it meets the blade. With a crackle of electricity sparks shoot off of the blade and scatter around the edges of the shield… yet none hit.

"Oberhau!" You twist the shield and the blade goes skidding off to your left, and in that moment you lift the shield an extra foot and slam in it down. Your shield slams into hers with all the force you can muster and you force her to take a step back.

"Corps-a-corps!" You swing your arm to point your fist at her arm, then you close your ring finger and depress the button. With a 'pop' the rope and claw goes forth and clamps onto her gauntlet, the metal pressing in and creating a firm hold.

You then tug forward, and pressed the second button. The rope retracts but the claw keeps its hold, raising your shield you plant your feet into the ground as-

*SLAM*

Like a train, Cavalier crashes into you. Her armored form is far heavier than yours, and the bulk is enough to send you both crashing back down onto the ground.

… "Ow."

That's what you get for inventing your own moves.

---

You clip off your helmet one last time and look up towards the sunset. You… haven't felt this tired in awhile, though that is less to do with how strenuous the activity is and more how damn heavy your gear starts to get after a while. Still, it does a damn good job in protecting you, so you really can't complain one way or the other.

With the sound of falling fabric Sofia is doing the same, the 'cap' she wears falls to the ground to reveal her long brown hair covered in sweat.

"You too?" You ask.

Sofia looks at you, confusion writ on her face before she gets what you are comparing. With a chuckle she nods her head, looking back off into the forest again. "You must acclimate, much as I have to mine." Her fingers run over the handle of the blade still in her hand. "Still better than a football uniform." You let out a chuckle as you shake your arm, the shield collapsing back into its 'sheath' with a satisfying metal shunk.

"Any more advice? I figured you've seen some of the spars I've been involved with."

Cavalier looks at you, a cocky grin on her face. "That would be giving information to the enemy."

"I'm your enemy?"

"You are when when actual sparring is involved yes." She then reaches down to pick up the cap before dropping it into her helmet. "Let me know if you wish to train again Dylan, it is good practice to work with another shield user."

"Sure thing, oh frenemy of mine."

The bark of laughter that escapes her as she's walking away shows she rather enjoyed that one.

---

You readjust yourself on the cushion as best you can… which is admittedly not much given the present circumstances. There is about eighty pounds of snake tail across your lap as you study the 'limb' in question.

It's about as smooth as you expected, you never really had a pet snake but… well. You know what nevermind. Across from you is an open book on biology, one for reptiles and one for birds. For the past good hour you've been asking general questions about their anatomy.

Does Kros have bones in her tail? Yes, a series of 'ribs' that go all the way to the base of the tail.

Are Nora's bone's hollow? The wing bones yes, and her bones are less dense than a human's in general. To the point where she, a woman of your height, weighs roughly forty pounds. That was rather worrisome to find out, not that she isn't healthy… just that Stephanie could feasibly beat her to death with a flyswatter.

They both have thankfully been answering your questions both eagerly (and in Nora's case readily). You haven't quite figured out why precisely they are so eager for you to quiz them about their 'mutations'... actually come to think of it you haven't really asked many questions of your partner about her own mutation. But given the fact the only thing you can't seem to heal is her nails it honestly hasn't been the highest priority for you.

Either way, the tail is both heavy and surprisingly cool to the touch. Also remarkably insensitive per Kros. The tip of the tail is apparently very sensitive, but the actual mass itself doesn't have much in the way of nerve endings. Which is also why it is covered is scrapes and cuts from her traveling and training. "I hardly feel." Valeria says quietly, a small smile on her face as she watches you trace the cuts with your hand.

"My hand or the wounds?"

"The wounds, the hand is warm." Valeria lets out a little giggle as she leans against the cushions. "Used to always make mess, track in dirt and sticks without notice."

"Me too, 'cept I was usually stuck in a tree that caused my mess."

You look over at Nora, the bird woman having been working on a paper for the past hour while you bounced between studying her and Valeria. "What, they have to call the fire department to get you out of an oak tree."

The harpy shakes her head. "Nah, dad has the same quirk I do. Back when I was learning to fly I was always getting tangled up."

You smile and look back towards the book. Right, right now you can see the… corneal layer. Which means if you just focus on tha-

The cut in front of you starts to seal itself in front of your eyes, it's slow, and it takes all your focus to make it close, but in less than a minute the cut has fully closed. Leaving behind nothing but scaled flesh. All the other cuts are still the same but… that's definitely progress.

[Animal Mutation Healing Basic - Acquired]

"Did it?"

You look up towards the voice of Kros and nod eagerly. The snake woman lets out a gasp of surprise and claps her hands together. "Good work, good work!" She pulls the tail off of your lap and looks it over with curious eyes. "Is progress, soon you be able to fix shedding of partner."

A sound that you can only describe as an offended squawk rises from Nora. "I don't need to hear that from you!"

Valeria moves her arms over her head as she stretches her, well, everything. It is rather impressive to watch someone stretch by reaching the ceiling, though you could do without the phantom pain: she has way more bones to stretch, and almost all of them pop when she does so. "Mmm… feather duster, is getting late and the cold makes tired."

You nod and push yourself up from your sitting position. Through the glass of their balcony you can indeed see snow coming down, which you imagine has cooled the outside air even more than it was previously. You bid them both goodbye and make your leave, sending a quick message to Stephanie that you are headed back as you make your way back to the elevator and down to the lobby.

It's empty, barring the clerk and security cards, and you step outside to the evening snowy air. It's a pleasant night, enough to remind you of the fact that fairly soon this will be your first Christmas away from your parents.

---

Stepping back into your own dorm room you see Stephanie painting on a small table she has set up next to the couch. The television is on… playing some horror movie you don't recognize. Your partner looks up at you as you enter, a smile on her face that quickly turns to a look of almost… nervousness as you walk past her to flop onto the couch.

A groan escapes you completely involuntary as you feel the week seep out of you.

"Ah need to contact ah funeral service?"

You debate whether or not to say yes to the question before pulling yourself around so that your feet are on the floor while your hips and upper body rest on the couch itself.

Your partner stares at you with a smile before her eyes fall to the floor, the paint brush in her hand stilling before she drops it into the water pot. "Dylan?"

"The subject is present but life is not promised."

Your partner lets out a light cough. "Ah… Dylan, ah… ah kinda."

"Yes?"

"Ah just…" Stephanie takes a deep breath. "Ah heard about what happened with Technomancer, and ah heard about your choice."

"How'd you hear about that?"

"Ah.. just did, and ah don't understand why ya refused when the teacher gave ya an out."

You blink. "I… uhm."

Your partner suddenly looks rather… annoyed at the silence. Though you can't tell if she is actually annoyed at you, what you did, or something else. Then, in a huff she stands up and walks into her room, slamming the door behind her.

… Good talk?



---



[X][X] [Visit Doomwulf's Parents]
[X] Combat Training - Mandatory

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta and @Qwaar for the sanity check!

- - -

You let out a sigh and walk over to the door. While normally you wouldn't be one to barge in on a woman when she is ticked off. (A lesson learned from your father.) You both want to, A: Know how she got that information, and B: Want to tell her about the planned trip this weekend. You raise your hand, pausing a moment just before your knuckles meet the wood. With a sigh you close the distance.

"I ain't the coffee delivery man, but can you open for me anyway?"

A groan sounds from the room and you hear the rather grouchy voice of your partner speak up.

"Dylan ah ain't in the mood."

"I'm afraid I am not Dylan," You let out a deliberately loud sigh. "I am Gauze, hero healer extraordinaire. I do believe someone is moping in the general vicinity of this dorm room and it is my duty to see them healed." You do your best to put on your best 'hero voice'. Not a skill you necessarily have, so what was meant to sound like Longarm comes out more like a bad 2190's hero impression. It works well enough though, as you hear a snicker and feel a weight press against the door.

"'Fraid ah don't need savin' from some two-bit healer hero type, ah tend to pay more attention to powerhouses." You hear the sound of fabric rubbing against wood and figure she must have slid down to sit at the base of the door. "If ah really need fixin' ah'll go get heal-o-man." With a smile, and a small groan, you sit down against the door yourself, the only connection between the two of you being the thin gap between the bottom of the door and the floor.

"I would regret the death of my dignity and pride, but unfortunately for you I have neither, so I fear you are quite stuck with this 'two-bit healer type,' my dear." You let out a snicker yourself and tap your head against the wooden door. "Not that you would know what a 'bit' is anyway, I've seen your grades in history class."

"If ah punch through this door ah could probably launch you through the balcony window."

"As your doctor I would recommend against that course of action. Windows are expensive and I am fragile."

You hear a huff of breath, amusement from the sounds of it. "Ah'll have ya know ah have a doctor already in Valdosta."

"Well of course, and I'm sure that the Valdostan vets have the very best of treats, but I'm one of those fancy people doctors."

You hear a shuffle and look down to see the underside of Stephanie's hand wiggling through the bottom of the door. As you watch all the fingers bend towards the palm except the middle one.

"Ah, heightened aggression, very common in girls your age. I would recommend cookie-dough ice cream and a nice teen-girl movie marathon."

With the sound of a clicking lock the door slides open, and before you can even show your partner your patented 'smarmy grin' you find yourself roughly pulled up by the back of your uniform and hauled up. She, fortunately, cannot hold you up like a child due to your difference in height. But you do not particularly enjoy the fact that she is staring at you with all the smugness of her Doomwulf persona as she lazily tosses you across the floor.

You slide across the carpet, the friction thankfully enough to stop you before you slide headfirst into the slats of her bed.

You stare up at the ceiling a moment before trailing your eyes down to look at your partner. She stares back, one hand on her hip as the other is raised in a 'what now' sort of gesture.

"Ah'm afraid ah don't do teen movies, or need yer lip thank ya."

You grin back. "Well it worked, you opened the door."

Doomwulf's smile falters as she looks back at the door, then immediately afterwards her previously wagging tail falls still. "Ah fuckbiscuits."

"Now that step one is complete," you push yourself up with your elbows so your back is against the bedframe, "I would like to ask how you heard about the Technomancer thing." Doomwulf stares at you a moment before walking over and slumping next to you by the bed.

"He pops in from time to time in Media Relations, since he handles all the tech stuff. Ah took the chance to ask him and he was rather open on tellin' me about what happened. Seemed kinda annoyed."

You let out a breath and allow your head to fall back against the mattress. "Yeah, he kinda was. After the 'talk' we had after the first test I just… I don't really know. In hindsight it looks so obvious; do a bit of work helping the staff instead of getting in trouble, but the whole thing just seemed… skeevy. It's over and done with either way."

A flick against your forehead makes you turn your head towards your partner. She's back to her cheeky smile again. "Well ah forgive ya, though ah was hoping we could visit my parents."

"Was planning on it this weekend, if you want to let them know." Nodding, you reach over and hold your fingers together to flick her forehead in response… only to slowly pull back as she opens her mouth to reveal her fangs.

"Sounds good, ah'll let em know. After combat practice ya figure?"

You nod your head. "After combat practice."

- - -

Quirk development class wasn't particularly noteworthy this week. Which… you honestly consider a boon after how frankly depressing those classes have been lately. Combat practice on the other hand has once again pitted you against a student you've never really interacted with. Fitting you suppose for one of the last combat classes you'll be doing before the next partner test.

Standing across from you on the mat is 'Tidal Wave;' Astrapios's partner. His outfit isn't particularly flashy. Little more than a sleek orange and black jacket along with what appear to be modified track pants. A pair of earphones rest around his neck and a baseball cap sits on his head. Backwards. On anyone else, you imagine this would look douchey, but wonder of wonders, he pulls it off somehow.

Around his waist is a belt made of what appears to be rubber. Attached to it in clips are small vials of colorless liquid. There are dozens, all capped with a simple cork.

You raise your hand in a wave. "Morning, don't believe we've met. I'm Dylan."

Your opponent cocks his head, and with the sound of popping corks water lifts out of the vials to float in front of him. As you watch them move and shift to form… letters in the air.

'Michael Khoury, it is a pleasure.'

You stare at the words a moment before nodding your head. "Pleasure is… all mine."

The water then moves back to float behind it, the mass of liquid turning and reshaping itself like a cloud of smoke. His hands reach up and move the headset up over his ears before he puts his hand into his pocket.

He stands there across from you, unmoving as the matches start around you.

… This goes on for over a minute, Michael standing there like a statue as he stares at you. It appears your opponent wants to play the defensive game, honestly a rarity from what you've seen of your other classmates.

- - -

[Well, he's asking for it. Go on the offense.]

[You don't really feel like playing his game. Taunt him so you can play defensive.]

- - -

You lean back against the seat as the hills of Georgia roll by; South Atlanta, Mcdonough, Macon and Warner Robins. The monorail has sped through all of them as you make your way down south towards your destination. The train itself only goes as far south as Tifton, before it curls southwest towards Tallahassee, but per your partner her mother will be there to pick you up and drive you both towards Valdosta once you arrive.

It's mid-afternoon at this point, the train having cut across Georgia in impressive time… but it still takes some time to get across the entire state, and however fast the train gets, it still has to stop to pick up and drop off passengers. You've been mostly enjoying the sights as they've gone by while your partner has had her head locked to the 'in-flight-entertainment'. The seats provide movies and games on the little television displays.

The train for the most part is empty. A few have come and gone as you've hit the various stops on your way south, but by the time you reach Tifton you are basically the only ones left in this particular cabin.

'Train now stopping, Station B15, Tifton Georgia.'

At the sound of the PA your partner perks up, her tail slapping against the seats as she turns her head away from Lethal Weapon 16 to look out the window towards the brick buildings and farmland spread out for miles. Tifton… hasn't really changed much in the last few centuries it seems. Though admittedly you haven't been here in a very long time, and at that only for an hour at most. You barely have time to process the sound of the pneumatic doors opening before Stephanie is out of her seat and isn't so much as 'guiding' as dragging you through the doors of the train.

"Someone's excited I see."

Stephanie lets out a laugh and stops just before a metal railing overlooking the parking lot. Past the security gate are a good dozen parked cars, though only in front of one of them do you see somebody.

… Yeah, that's Stephanie's mom.

She's about your height you'd guess, maybe a little taller. She has the same black-white color scheme to her hair and tail that your partner does, though hers is far longer in both. She's dressed in what appears to be an oversized sports bra and a pair of khakis. Both serving to show off her muscular, and worrisomely scarred, frame. She's far more tan than your partner as well, though given the fact that both of her parents are farmers that is expected you suppose.

You process all of that in about two seconds, as by the third you are already being drag- guided through the security gates towards the woman and her SUV. Once you get within a dozen or so meters of the woman Stephanie lets you out of her grip, sending you stumbling across the asphalt as your partner launches herself forward into a flying hug. The taller woman lets out a bark of surprise as Stephanie impacts her chest. Her hand moving down to rub the base of Stephanie's ears as your partner's tail goes a-waggin.

"Aw look at ya, gettin' all big while ah wasn't lookin'!"

… Crap there are two of them.

'Mom' looks up from her petting to stare at you, a wolfish grin coming onto her face. 'An' who do we have here? Is this the famous dylan?"

"I be he-am him- I mean; yes." You nod a touch more awkwardly than you would have liked. "Though I am afraid my partner has never shared your name, ma'am."

"Miriam." She answers easily, before with a quick tug she pulls Stephanie out of the hug. Her right hand moves to grab Stephanie's jaw. "Have ya behaved yerself?"

… "Yes?"

"Ah doooon't know, that wagging tail looks more guilty than happy to me." Miriam peers over Stephanie's shoulder to shoot you a glance. "Dylan?"

You smile and walk up. "She has been the epitome of civility and self control."

Miriam grins widely and claps her hands together. "Wonderful! Ya've taught him to cover for ya already, took years to teach George that."

Stephanie giggles before making her way over to the car. "Where's dad anyways?"

"Back at the house, he's takin' care of the cows at the moment."

Stephanie nods and walks around the front. "Shotgun!"

… Now to find out if their car is full of dog fur.

- - -

The answer, surprisingly, is no. Though the SUV does definitely smell like hay; strands of it litter the very back along with several sealed bags of dirt and fertilizer. Any conversation has been entirely dominated by Stephanie and Miriam, though given that the conversation seems to entirely by about her school experience up to this point that doesn't really surprise you in any capacity. So the majority of your ride has been watching the countryside pass by once again as you try not to sneeze from the smell of hay in the air.

It's a peaceful trip, and the first time you've been in a car since you visited your own parents a few weeks back. The journey itself only takes a good half hour before Miriam takes a turn four to five miles before Valdosta itself. The 'town' she passes through looks like it only just discovered the invention of the telephone and is slowly making its way towards the internet. Indeed you spot more than one actual wagon parked by the side of the road in good enough condition to make the Amish jealous.

The town, for all you know, may not even have a name, and you pass by it quickly before turning onto a dirt road that leads to a single solitary house set between farm fields. Given the fact that this road doesn't lead anywhere else… you would guess this is Casa de Doomwulf. Spread through the field are cows, and further off behind the house itself you can see some form of green leafy plant growing across the acreage.

The car shifts and bounces over the rough dirt road leading up to the house proper, and it is only the glorious invention of the seat belt that stops you from slamming your head into the roof on more than one occasion.

With the sound of crunching gravel the car rolls to a stop in front of the house. It's not particularly large, maybe about the same size as yours, and significantly older at that. It's made of modern paneling with a black tile roof, a chimney breaks up the tiles near the right side of the roof. In front of a large screened in porch within which sits several tables and chairs along with the front door, just west of it parked on some grass is an old truck that has clearly seen better days… and next to it is what appears to be an old inflatable swimming pool.

There's a barn and silo past a wooden gate to the left of that and walking down the path from the barn to the house is a man, whom given the fact that he also has ears and a tail… you would guess he's Doomwulf's father.

Unlike Stephanie and Mirmiam's black-and-white color scheme, Papawulf has brown hair and tail. He's wearing an… odd mix of furs and overalls. A long robe hangs down from his shoulder down to his ankles, the top of it near the neck decorated with black fur you can't quite tell the legitimacy of. It's open in the front to reveal an overall bright blue and surprisingly clean, that, and a generous amount of chest hair. He's just about the oddest farmer you've ever seen, though given the fact he is more than likely related to one Stephanie Clarkson you don't really have the energy to be surprised at this point. His eyes, red as blood, lock onto you in particular as he walks through the open gate. His feet, bare, crunch against the gravel as you all finish filing out of the car.

"So… you have finally returned, oh daughter of mine." His accent… isn't southern. It sounds northern, and by nothern you mean the stuffy kind that only ever showed up in old movies about Martha's Vineyard and the like.

Stephanie runs forward and dives on him much like she did her mother earlier. The man, whom you would assume to be 'George' given by what Miriam said earlier lets out a laugh and catches her. Doomwulf's tail is wagging wildly enough to kick up a fine layer of dust from the gravel as her father gives her a hug you would imagine to be quite bone crushing… yet his eyes only focus on her a moment before they lock upon you again.

With a pat on her shoulder Stephanie steps away, a wide smile on her face that quickly turns to one of concern as the man walks up to you. Stephanie is short, Miriam is your height, this man is big. Like, stupid big; seven feet hunched over, and towering over you. Between his height and the size of his arms, you suspect he juggles cows as a party trick. He comes to a stop a few feet in front of you, his brow arching as he looks you up and down with a neutral expression. After a few moments he nods his head and holds out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Dylan." You take the proffered hand, and with a rather… tight squeeze he shakes it. "My name is Loupe, though everyone calls me George."

"Good evening sir, I'm Stephanie's partner."

He nods again. "I am aware, I have some things to talk to you about."

"... Sir?"

He clears his throat then looks towards Stephanie. "Now, I do not pretend to understand what proclivities teenagers of today are up to. But when it comes to my daughter…"

His head turns back to you and he leans forward, whispering quietly. "Don't let her pressure you into doing anything you don't want to do. If she makes you feel uncomfortable at any time, it is okay to say no." His hand moves to lay on your shoulder, a cocky grin on his face. "Be safe."

"DAD!"

… There are three of them.

After that you are ushered inside. The home is… homey for a lack of a better term. They have a guest room that hasn't seen much use from what you can gather. Dust covers everything and some suspicious marks on the floor hint that this was used for storage until only a short while ago. The bed at least looks comfortable, and the window overlooks the barn and fields besides.

You'll be here for the rest of the day and all of tomorrow.

- - -

Whom do you focus on getting to know better? Both options include Stephanie interaction.


[x][Well, he's asking for it. Go on the offense.]
[x][George]


- - -

Right… maybe it is a bit of your partner rubbing off on you, but you don't have the patience to wait him out. That, and it kinda annoys you how little he cares about this. Sure, you don't care about it that much either, but standing a good twenty feet away is Sergeant McShouty and you don't feel like getting on his bad side this morning.

You square your shoulders, raise your shield, and charge forw-

That's the ground. Hi ground.

You slam face first into the mat, your helmet pulling up and flying off from the impact as the chinstrap runs up your face. Grk.

Mouth. Dry. Tired, very tired. Your skin feels wet and you watch with some alarm as droplets of water pull through your uniform to coalesce above you.

Focus

Extreme dehy- dehydration, lethargy, hallucinations, headaches.

Oh motherfucker.

With all the strength you have left, you raise your arm, then let it fall again, patting the mat in what you hope is a sufficient surrender.

"Winner, Tidal Wave!" Oh, nice, it worked.

You're pretty sure that someone is talking to you, but whatever they want to say is quickly drowned out by the mother of all headaches attempting to mimic the Battle of Peleliu on your frontal lobe. The sound of running water attracts your attention, and you drag your eyes up to see the precious liquid lower onto you and… bleed through your clothes. Seconds later you feel remarkably better, the faint throbbing in your head is still there, but a thought sends that away quickly as your brain reorders itself.

… You still feel exhausted.

The sound of rain boots against the mat gets your attention, and you look up to see Tidal Wave walking forward with a flat expression on his face. His hand lifts and dances through the air, moments later the water that was floating behind him reshaping to form the words. 'Sorry.'

...Ow.

- - -

You sit your bags onto the bed and look around 'your' room a little. A thin coat of dust adorns the room; not an incredible amount, but this place was definitely not in use until relatively recently, as in… probably yesterday, when her parents got the news.

The bed is large, easily larger than the one in your dorm and about half again as high. To the left of it is a dresser with a mirror leaning against the wall on top of it and reflecting the entire room. The television in the living room is just loud enough that you can hear it through the wall, but too quiet for you to really tell what's playing. Your bag bounces on the bed, and for a second you're worried for the springs. It only has two changes of clothes… the real weight is your tablet and homework (and textbooks). This may be a vacation, you aren't going to skip your schoolwork now, not when your grades are this good.

You don't have much to brag about so… you'll take what you can get. Your partner is really good at punching things, you get good grades.

Satisfied now that the weight is off your shoulders… you grab a hold of the pile of paper towels sitting next to the door.

Let the cleaning begin.

- - -

It's a good half hour later when you step out of your temporary lodging into the living room. The house is built as such that the front door leads directly into the living room, a door immediately to the left leads to a rectangular room with a short table used for dining, while a door to the right leads into your lodging for the weekend. The far end of the living room is the kitchen, separated from the main space by a marble bar, behind which George is working on dinner.

The living room itself is decorated by a large couch with a recliner on either side of it. It trembles, likely from pain and effort in equal measure, to contain the combined movement of both Stephanie and her mother, who are apparently very invested in the football game. Next to it is a fireplace, which upon the mantle show various pictures of your partner in her formative years.

… Apparently she enjoyed chewing things.

You walk past them both into the kitchen. Various bowls are set out, each with their own ingredients set around a stove at the far left side of the kitchen proper. The man himself is working on the bar, a long piece of butcher's paper laid out over a large wooden slab set onto the marble counter as he works on cutting up a piece of beef. He's chopping it expertly and quickly, and from how he isn't only half paying attention on it in favor of the television you can guess rather easily that this isn't his first rodeo.

You can also tell from how red that paper is that the meat is very fresh.

The man nods as you enter, though when you don't immediately make a move for a fridge or ask any questions he sets the long knife he was working with aside. He takes a moment to wipe his hands off before addressing you..

"Nothing wrong with the room I hope?"

"No, nothing like that, I was just wondering if I could help." You motion to the ingredients on the counter. "I do most of the cooking at the dorm and well…" You gesture your finger behind you towards the television. "Lanky white kid, was never big into sports."

"That doesn't mean anything." The man arches his brow. "I'll have you know I was four foot nothing, seventy-nothing in highschool, and still managed to make star runner on the team." You look the man over at this revelation… maybe there are two of him in that apron?

"How's that work? Too short to tackle?"

"That and I could run a cold thirty five miles an hour while juking all over the field." He grins reaching up to the top of the counter that sits above the bar (which is barely above his head). You hear the rustling of paper and moments later he draws his hand back, holding two ears of corn. "You ever husked before?" Before you can answer he tosses them at you, and you have to hurriedly step forward to catch them before they fall onto the floor. You stare at them for a moment, then look up at George.

"I… do, along with how to peel and prepare a good dozen other vegetables."

"Good, then wash your hands before you start husking."

You step past him towards the sink, your hands dipping under the water and with a fresh pump of soap you are ready to begin helping with dinner as he turns back to working on the meat. You set the corn onto a small plastic mat and get to work on removing the outer layers.

"My mother was a botanist so… lots of fresh produce in my house, I learned rather quickly."

"I dabbled in selling flowers," George grunts, the sound of knife hitting wood filling the air, "but always went back to raising animals and selling crops. Ain't much in the way of money these days but it's enough to support the family." He brings the knife down, and a section of fat comes off the edge of the beef. He's leaving a far amount on from what you can see of other cuts… he's preparing a very large meal in general. "Frankly I was surprised Stephanie wanted to go into hero work, but she's made us proud with how she's done."

You nod idly as you rip off a section of the husk, the green shell being set aside in case he has any use for it. "She's been a good partner."

George looks towards the television, the hoots and hollers of the duo having yet to dim. It brings a smile to your face to see Stephanie so… comfortable. Not that she isn't around you, but... you missed your own parents, and you know she missed hers, so it is nice to see her relaxed. George nods his head slowly then leans over to you, his voice low in a whisper. "She's never had much in the way of friends, so it's nice to see how the two of you have gotten along."

"She's been a good friend to me too, never had much in the way of those myself. I assume she's already told you or Miriam about my quirk?"

"Healing?"

You wiggle your fingers a moment before you start to pull the silk off the corn. "Isn't exactly flashy, and well… highschool was highschool."

"Never had much of a problem myself, I gained my quirk at about age… six or so, and you can't be more popular at parties than an adorable little puppy." George shrugs and turns back to the meat. "It's how I got Miriam out on our first date."

You stare at the man, both at the muscles that could crush a tractor and his height that would make a football player jealous. "... Really?"

"Oh yes, a little angry Pomeranian that just wanted a nice soft hug."

"No, I mean the 'small' thing."

"I know."

"Well I do not believe you, both because that is ridiculous and because I've known you for roughly an hour." You then motion to the counter, "During which I'm fairly sure you killed whatever cow gave you meat that fresh with your bare hands." A bark of laughter escapes George.

"Dylan, you are a part of this family for the next four years… so I can tell you." The chopping stops, and you turn your head to see George looking at you with a very serious expression. "I used a bolt pistol, the hands are much too messy." You simply stare at him, unsure if you should not or question that. So instead you change the subject.

"So… why am I considered family?"

"Stephanie is your partner," the man nods his head towards the living room, where said partner and her mother have grown even more excited by whatever is happening on that television, if the standing, cheering, and wagging tails are anything to go by. "And assuming nothing goes wrong she will be for four years, correct?"

"... That is correct."

"That means as far as I'm concerned for the next four years you might as well be family."

"Oh. Er." You blink. "Thank you sir."

The man grins widely. "Thus, if I give you the dirt on me first it will make all the stories I have about Stephanie just that much more interesting."

…

You return to husking corn.

- - -

Dinner is a surprisingly sedate affair, Stephanie eats slowly and seems to take her take enjoying every bite… something that does actually rankle a little. Clearly you need to share with Stephanie some of your steak recipes to win her over.

No, you aren't jealous. Sure, you've been cooking for this woman for two months and haven't gotten a reaction like this. Or a 'thank you.' Or any help. But you aren't jealous at all. Still, the man makes a mean steak, though given the fact he raises cows for a living it would be more shocking if he didn't.

Dinner passes either way without much conversation, between the training this morning, the long train ride, and the hearty meal… well. Neither you or your partner were much for conversation or paying much attention to anything besides the food, and once it is finished and you say your goodnights you wander back into your temporary bedroom and lay against the bedrest.

Digging through your bag for a moment, you produce both the tablet and your stack of homework.You are only just getting into the meat of it when a knock on the door breaks your concentration. Your eyes dart up to the wood, and before you can invite or deny the knockee the knob clicks and turns open revealing your partner. She is out of her usual clothes and is instead dressed in her pajamas, a smile is on her face as she opens her mouth to spe-

"Ah-choo!" You watch- "Ah-choo!" -as Stephanie goes- "Ah-choo!" -through a fit of- "Ah-choo!" -sneezes before she re- "Ah-choo!" -covers… and she's done now.

"Sorry, took a bit to clean, there may still be dust in the air." Your partner rubs her nose and lets out a chuckle

"Ain't been in here in a while, we don't get much in the way of guests." She then steps the rest of the way in and closes the door her with a bare foot, turning ever so slightly in the process to reveal… the stack of papers hidden behind her back.

"Homework? Really?"

Your partner shrugs, and allowing no further discourse hops up onto the bed, the tablet lifting a good inch off the mattress before you slam your hand down onto it to prevent takeoff. "Figured ya weren't doing anythin' important."

You move the tablet closer to your body before drumming your fingers across the sheets of paper. "For the record I am at latest an hour away from curing cancer."

"Exactly, no harm in disturbing yer little day-dreams. now help me figure out what the hell ah'm ah granulocyte is."

She scoots over to you with a wide smile on her face, and just as she gets within a foot she turns around and slides back so that she is shoulder to shoulder with you. The stack of papers move to rest on her lap while her other hand moves to grasps yours.

You stare at the papers a moment, then at the hand gripping yours, after a few seconds she squeezes and lets go.

"... Well, we best start with neutrophil, basophil and eosinophils."

- - -

Okay, so when you said the man juggles cows for fun you thought you were kidding, but now you're not so sure. Walking behind him as he hefts the bellowing calf up onto his shoulder without any apparent effort on his part, he still steps lightly and forces you to job evey now and then to catch up to him. The animal kicks and attempts to fight, but the man either doesn't care or just flat out doesn't notice as he makes his way towards the barn.

Off towards the back of the house you can see Stephanie out walking in the fields with Miriam, each have a basket slung under their arms along with a small satchel containing what appear to be… gardening equipment; trimmers and the like.

You volunteered to help out this morning, as while Miriam mentioned you could just stay inside and get comfortable, it didn't really feel right, considering they are housing you for the weekend. To that end you asked George if you could help him with anything, which is currently why you are carrying a shovel. Speaking of which:

"So, why am I carrying a shovel?"

"To help out this guy," George shifts the calf on his shoulder and turns his head back to you, "you saw how it was jumping and knocking its legs against its own stomach?" You nod, and another bellow of the calf makes George pat his hand gently against the bovine's stomach. "Constipation. It's trying to… 'loosen things up.'"

"I'm suddenly very nervous about the shovel."

The man grins and turns his head back towards the barn. The doors are already open and he leads you inside and into a small stall with wooden boards for flooring. He gently bends over and sets the calf on its back, his hands placed onto its stomach as he starts to gently rock it back and forth.

The cow starts complaining as soon as it sets it down, the bovine attempting to push itself back up but unable to move due to George's strength. It's bellowing so loudly it echoes in the empty barn, and George grunts as one of its kicks nearly hits him in the arm.

You step forward, gently setting the shovel aside as you get onto your knees next to George. Your hands move forward slowly and setting on the stomach just next to where George is working, and almost instantly… the calf calms.

The mooing and bellowing dies down to be replaced by deep and heavy breaths from the animal. George looks and you curiously and you shrug your shoulders.

"I learned to dull pain with my quirk after the first time I had to set a bone."

The man smiles and starts to rock the cow side to side a bit faster. "That'll make things easier… but you'll want to get that shovel again."

- - -

You both watch the calf run off towards its mother, the bovine skipping as it sprints.

"Good work, and congratulations on having a strong stomach." George compliments, to which you can only shrug awkwardly

"In the past month I've… I've seen things." C̷̷̶̛͜t̶̛͝h̴̢ơ̧ģg҉̴̧á͜l͏̷̨̨̀b̧͡h҉͜ "What's a little bullcrap?"

The man laughs loudly and slaps you across you back, sending you stumbling forwards. "Well then, you certainly wouldn't mind helping me clean out the barn next while the cows are grazing!"

… You miss blood and guts?

- - -

You step out of the shower feeling… somewhat cleaner. It's not so much the cowshit, it's just the fact that hay. Gets. Everywhere. George lets out a laugh once you step out, the man having just finished a bath himself given by how flat his hair is at the moment. He is lounging on the couch, a small footrest setout that he rests his legs on. "You're a good fit for farmwork, work hard and don't bitch much." You flop onto the chair next to the couch. You stare at the fabric a few moments before wiggling around to face the television.

"If someone asks for help I give it… for better or worse." George laughs at your plight, his rich tone filling the room and drowning out the weather channel.

"That my dear boy, is the mark of a true hero. Willing to run into a burning building or spray down a cowpen in equal measure."

You give the man your best stinkeye. "You are far too much like your daughter."

He grins widely. "Isn't that supposed to be the other way ar-"

He is interrupted by the door to the front swinging open, revealing the aforementioned daughter. Stephanie walks in with her mother in tow, each carrying a basket full of carrots. Her eyes lock onto you immediately and she pauses mid step.

"Yer done early, suspiciously early."

She then walks on and sets the basket onto the kitchen counter, once she is certain it won't topple off she turns around to lean against the bar itself. "Ah remember workin' with dad, and we usually elbow deep in work up to the end of the day."

You stare at her incredulously then look out towards the rear window where the orange rays of sunset pour into the room. You then slowly trail your gaze back to your partner whom reveals the 'game' via the impish grin on her face.

"... If you say another damn word, I will happily tell Omnilinguist that you described all the books thus far as 'idiotic'." The grin fades immediately and her tail goes still.

George lets out an appreciative whistle and you scan your gaze over to him to see his previously large grin has grown so large it threatens to break his damn face.

"I have no idea who that is… but if it works that well to make her behave I'll use it myself, you got that teacher's number?"

You nod and reach for your phone only to get a carrot thrown at your head.









Dinner passes again and you find yourself once again relaxing in your room with a book at the end of the day. This… has been a nice weekend; cleaning out a barn, relaxing, and finally figuring out the mysterious origin of DOOWULF. You can't say that you are disappointed. It has been a pleasant 'vacation', and you certainly wouldn't mind visiting again if given the chance.

Sunlight pours in through the windows, it's only nine… but you've found that people at the farm turn in for the night surprisingly early. Though given how long and busy the day was, you suppose that is to be expected, well, that and you will have to be leaving early in the morning to get back in time for school.

A soft knocks draws your attention to the door, and once again you don't even have the chance to welcome your 'guest' before it opens slowly to reveal your partner in shorts and a loose t-shirt. The shirt isn't one you've seen her wear before, and going by the smudges here and there you would guess it is something she wore around the farm. She steps inside and closes the door behind her.

"More homework?"

Your partner sticks out her tongue at you and walks up to the bed. "Nothin' like that just… something ah wanted to talk about. Ya got a moment?"

You stare at her, then at the book in your hands. "Well, the book is pretty nice… and I am terribly excited to discover if the leg bone is truly connected to the thigh bone. But yeah, I can squeeze you in."

Stephanie walks the rest of the way up to the bed and slides onto it, the mattress shifting slightly under the new weight. Her gaze meets yours briefly before she looks towards the floor, you watch silently as she takes in a deep breath.

"Ah've… had a lot of fun these past two months/ there's been some headaches, but I'm happy ah can support my parents if things keep going well." You open your mouth to reply, only for a soft finger to meet your lips. Stephanie looks at you, then at the finger before pulling back her hand as if burned. "Ah, sorry. Just… ya tend to talk a lot."

You arch a brow, but don't comment.

"Ah'm happy ah wound up with such a good partner, ah knew about the system and was rather nervous to find out who ah would be with, but you've turned out great. Helpful, bit of a jackass, kind, no idea how to have fun, there when ah need ya… also a bit of a jackass." Your other brow meets the first.

"Is there a rest stop on the way to the point, or was the goal just to give me histories most emotionally confusing… compliment?"

Stephanie growls before nodding her head. "Shit… sorry, ah was getting there, I swear." Your partner takes in another deep breath before continuing. "Ah wanted to talk to ya about…"

She blinks. "About…"

You then watch as she raises her hand up and slaps herself across the face. She then raises the other hand and does the same, capping it off by slapping both cheeks at once. Her tail thumps against the mattress in what you can only describe as an 'angry' wag, and at once she turns to you again, red marks on her cheeks. "Ah've been tryin' to talk about this for a while, but kept changin' the subject on myself." Her hands shoot forward to grasp yours, and you can only watch as she continues.

"Dylan, yer the best friend ah've had since middle school… and ah… want to be more than a friend." Stephanie swallows, a look of worry on her face as her tail falls completely still. "Dylan ah… ah like ya. More than just a partner. Do you…?"

She trails off, a blush redder than the sunset outside covering her cheeks as she looks down at the bedspread.



---






[X] [I Like you too]


- - -

I… what?

Who, er. I.

…

Focus

Increased heart rate, increased capillary blood flow in the cheeks.

No, wait, what good is that?

… You've been focused on your studies and trying to become a hero, you've never really thought about anything like… that. You've been busy trying to figure out what the everliving hell you were doing in the school to begin with, and hoping you can live up to the standard your partner set in initiation. She's stronger than you, far stronger than you, you tease and prod but that's just something you did with your old friends.

You never had a female friend, at least none more than distant relations at best. Frankly you never even considered that she could… like you, or that anyone could really. The popular kid you aren't, or never were. You never considered finding anything like a girlfriend until it smacked you in the face roughly ten seconds ago.

Your partner sits across from you, a very nervous look on your face as she awaits your answer.

You… don't really know, to be honest; on the one hand, Stephanie is a very beautiful young woman. She's strong, smart, resourceful when she needs to be and is always kind, a far cry from what you first expected when you were partnered with her. On the other hand you are a two-bit hero who has magic healing fingers and tends to just get by on most occasions. You'll be happy enough getting a position as a support hero, she'll probably be aiming for the top.

But no, that isn't what this is about. At the moment you aren't sitting across from Doomwulf, you are sitting across from Stephanie Clarkson, who currently looks like she is about to go into cardiac arrest if you don't give her an answer one way or the other in the next few seconds.

"I've… never really thought about it before to be honest Stephanie. But, yes. I like you too."

You expected to be tackled like in the few romcoms you've watched over the years, instead you hear a loud sniffle as tears form at the edge of Stephanie's eyes. Before you can react she closes the distance with you and rests her head on your shoulder, her tail wagging slowly behind her as your senses are filmed with a firm warmth and the scent of shampoo.

She holds the position for a good minute, the sound of light sniffles filling the room before she pulls back to look you in the fact. Her eyes are puffy and red, and there is what appears to be snot marks below her nose. Her hair is a tousled mess due to the fact she hasn't combed it this evening.

She's still quite pretty, in a 'I know it's under the tear marks' kind of way. You've seen enough crying to accept that it's never going to actually look good.

"Ah uh, ah'm afraid ah don't really know what to do now."

You smile and shrug your shoulders. "I have no idea myself, I'm willing to give it a shot so for now how about we just… take things slow and get to know each other as more than partners."

She reaches a hand up to wide and her eyes and mouth before grinning at you goofily. "What, like datin' an' stuff?"

You nod your head. "That would be the general idea yes."

The tail gains speed, a familiar whapping sound filling the air as it hits the side of the bed. "Ah'll have you know ah'm an expensive date."

You arch a brow. "Have you ever even dated before?"

"Nope, but ah'll have ya know ah'm a classy lady."

"'DOOMWULF; destroyer of worlds' wishes to be taken to fancy restaurants?"

Stephanie chuckles in a haughty fashion and puffs out her chest. "Doomwulf is the epitome of class and grace, when Doomwulf isn't destroying villainy everywhere she can be found at the Ritz."

"Then Doomwulf should be aware that the Ritz costs about five hundred a night and we aren't exactly getting paid a salary yet."

Your partner sticks out her tongue at you. Before diving towards the pillows on your bed, you watch as she lands on all fours then spins about in place, she then leans back against the pillows and rests her head on your shoulder. "Read to me."

You stare at her a moment then look to the book. "... Are you su-"

"Read to me."

…

You turn back to the book and begin. "Histamines are chemicals produced by basophils and by mast basophils that can damage the blood vessels called known as the capillaries, allowing blood plasma to leak into body tissues and cause swelling, itching, and redn-"

"Yer books are boring."

"Well I tried to warn you."

Doomwulf looks up at you and giggles, "ya can continue, ah like hearin' ya babble."

The next hour was simultaneously one of the most awkward and most cherished moments of your life.

- - -

With the standard huff of any college student with a bookbag, you toss your gear into the back of Mirmiam's car, the woman is currently making sure everything is in place, while Stephanie talks to her father. The man doesn't seem to want to allow her to leave without at least five hugs. Something you have thankfully avoided yourself given how you fear he could make your spine shoot out of your ass if he was so inclined.

Once the last of the bags are loaded Miriam lets out a satisfied grunt, the distant lights of the morning are just barely cresting over the horizon. If all goes well you should arrive back at school with about thirty minutes before your first class.

Happy that everything is in place Miriam turns to face you, a wide grin on her face. "So ya have ah good time?"

You nod, giving her the best smile you can muster. "It was lovely, thank you for allowing me to stay at your house."

Miriam lets out a laugh that is more bark than anything. "Think nothin' of it, you're our daughters partner. Come by anytime." Miriam then looks back towards Stephanie and her father before leaning to you. With a grin the woman points to her head. "Ah heard eveythin'." Her voice gets noticeably deeper and far more… dangerous. "If ya do anythin' to hurt her ah'll do to ya what ah did to the flock that used to chase my husband around."

"... Made pleasant conversation?"

"Somethin' like that." The woman cracks a grin that shows a bit too much fang. "No grandpuppies until yer married."

…

Huh, you don't think things have been this awkward since roughly six hours ago. You nod shakily, no longer trusting your voice to work. If you did, you'd probably mention that she should have said it after the hour-long car trip.

Miriam hides the fangs and slaps you across the back before beckoning Stephanie over. Your partner looks a little ashen faced, and her ears are twitching a little a-...

She probably heard that.

You quickly turn around and get into the backseat of the car, doing your best to memorize the pattern of the floorboards and desperately think about anything else than what just happened. A moment later the passenger door opens and Stephanie slides into the seat just about the same time Miriam slips into the driver's seat.

Right, different thoughts, any different thoughts will do.

 

[Erien]

[X] I should try to get to know my partner better

[X] Continue training your quirk using Alva's list

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

- - -

"So uh… was nice meeting your parents."

Your partner doesn't look away from the window, her hands are in her lap and so is her tail. Her face is still ashen, and going by the odd… twitch that runs through her tail every few seconds you think she is still trying to process what happened.

...

The ride back to the school was… decidedly awkward. Stephanie barely said a word besides a goodbye to her mother before you boarded the train, and since then she mostly spent her time browsing the web on her phone instead of talking to you. Frankly you are okay with that sequence of events, you only really dealt with her father this weekend, but her mother apparently knows how to make things delightfully uncomfortable.

The doors to the train open with a pneumatic hiss and both you and your partner file out onto the familiar grounds of the school. You aren't the only students coming back this morning, though you don't recognize anyone else beyond a vague familiar face or two. You readjust the bag upon your back a moment before looking at your partner.

"So, do we hold hands or something?"

Your partner slowly looks up from her phone to you. Then she slowly looks down at her gloved hands. "Ah… don't really know. My fingernails are razors so ah wouldn't really recommend it. Do people hold hands when they are datin'?"

You shrug your shoulders and start walking down the path towards the HERO Complex. "I'm a medical student, I'm afraid I don't know anything about dating. I was supposed to be broke and lonely until at least thirty."

The sound of jogging footsteps ring out from behind you and before you can react you are playfully punched in the shoulder as Stephanie jogs past. You stumble briefly and she lets out a loud laugh as she starts to walk backwards facing you.

"Don't think much is gonna change… much." She looks to the side for a moment as she tries to figure out the best way to word this. "Figured we would just like, do more things outside the school."

You make a show of rubbing your shoulder. "I don't know about that, I was planning on all those expensive dates you wanted, but now I see you have started the physical abuse ten hours into our relationship."

Stephanie sticks out her tongue and turns back around so that you are now walking side by side. "Ah figured ah would have a twenty-four hour grace period."

"I don't recall agreeing to that, does that mean I can hit you?"

"Now ya see, thanks to the twenty-four hour grace period you implicitly agreed to, I wouldn't end the relationship over bein' hit." Your partner gives you a sideways glance and smirks. "But ya'd still be an ass for hittin' a fair lady."

You smile back and shift the bag on your shoulders again. "Doomwulf, you are many things… you are brave, clever, quite pretty and have a bright future ahead of you." A familiar swishing sound fills the air as her tail starts wagging behind her. "But you are no lady."

The sound fades immediately and a sharp gasp escapes your partner. Her head turns to look at you, her lip trembling and her ears folded flat against her head. "Do… do ya mean that?"

"... Are you literally giving me puppy-dog eyes?"

"That depends on whether or not they're workin'."

You stare at her a long moment before wrenching your gaze ahead. "Maybe."

Your partner lets out a loud laugh and starts to jog ahead past you, the silver/white highlights in her hair lighting up in the morning sunlight like fresh snow. "Doomwulf wins again!"

You shake your head and start to jog after her, you both eager to get your stuff back into the dorms. "Sure thing, puppy."

- - -

The first class of the day; English, was wholly unremarkable in all senses of the word. You have a minor composition assignment… but it isn't anything you couldn't knock out if an evening if you really put your mind to it. Though given the fact that this weekend is the next big partner test, it is quite likely that the teachers don't want to overassign you work so that you can instead focus on the upcoming 'events'.

Frankly you are just hoping you do well enough that you can have the majority of your weekend back, but that's just you. You would guess your partner is eager to have a second try at that robot, and given her new fancy armor she should be able to take at least one punch.

Either way, the composition is your subject to pick surprisingly, so you'll probably write about one of the books you had to read to stay in omnilinguist's good graces.

That's English class. History…

- - -

You push the books into your bag and slowly push yourself up from your seat, a satisfying series of pops sounding from your legs as you do so. You are just turning your head towards your partner to say something when the teacher's voice speaks up.

"Dylan, please stay after class."

You glance away from your partner to look at your magical butterfly teacher. She's still 'perched' on her desk, a faint hit of shadow on the chair behind her. A few students look at you curiously as they leave, and your partner shoots you a gaze of what you can only describe as 'panic' before you wave her off. Worst case scenario… Morrigan eats you, probably. No big deal.

Once the last student files out you walk down to the front of the classroom and stop in front of the teacher's desk. The butterfly is unmoving, and the whole decidedly awkward situation takes a turn for the uncomfortable as you realise you have no idea what you should be looking at at present.

*Flap*

*Flap*

You watch the butterfly slowly flap its wings before with a burst of energy it shoots up into the air. "Oh, I can't hold it in any longer!"

A heavy weight presses down on your shoulders that feel suspiciously like hands. You are then shook rather violently as the person holding you is apparently jumping in place. "You did it! You got on the field trip!" You would react with some form of happiness, or at least surprise, but at the moment you are preoccupied with preemptively fixing your whiplash.

They thankfully subside after a minute, the butterfly does several flips in the air in front of your face as the weight lifts from your shoulders. "Glad you are happy, I've been doing a lot of studying."

"You are the first student in one of my freshman classes to be guaranteed to go on the trip this year, I am so proud of you!"

… A lot of studying. "Glad to hear it, when are we leaving?"

"Oh weekend after next, we will be taking the tram before switching to a bus. Pack heavy, you will be gone a week!"

You nod your head and look over to the door. "What about my partner?"

"Unfortunately her grades were not at a high enough level. Don't worry though, you will be partnered with another solo student during the trip. There won't be combat exercises, it's just so every student has a learning partner."

Right, hopefully Stephanie doesn't burn the dorm down while you are gone. "What about my other classes?"

"There will be time to study during the trip, though this is a reward, so take it as some time to relax as well." The butterfly pulls back and proceeds to do some tricks through the air. "It's history, it's fun!"

This may just about be the most hyperactive teacher you've had since kindergarten. But frankly it is rather refreshing, highschool was… dull. "Well, thanks for being a wonderful teacher so far. I'll let my partner know."

The butterfly does a series of flaps you have at this point construed to be a 'wave', and you exit the classroom with a smile. The hallway has cleared out for the most part at this point, though some students are getting items out of the lockers. Case in point; Stephanie is standing by hers, leaning against it as she stares at you walking out of the classroom.

"How much trouble ya in?"

"You would like that wouldn't you? No, I got the grades to go on the field trip up north. It'll be starting the weekend after our exams… though I'm afraid you didn't get a spot on it."

Stephanie smiles warmly and shrugs her shoulders. "Wasn't particularly interested in a fieldtrip up north to begin with."

You walk past her to get to your own locker, your thumb pressing against the scanner before the door slides open to reveal your materials. "I am aware of how much you are a country girl yes, though this isn't exactly Yankee country I'm going to. It's Virginia."

"Well the 'Mother of Presidents' don't interest me none, yer gonna be gone a week?"

You put your history books into the locker before pulling out your PE gear. You hold it up a moment before stuffing it into your bag and looking over at Stephanie. "That's correct, please don't destroy the dorm."

Your partner gains a wicked grin. "Oh don't worry 'bout that, figured ah'd just use your bedroom for my models."

You sling the bag back over your shoulder and fully turn around. "And here I was going to make you some easy meals for the week, but suddenly I feel the need to make you gorge yourself on fast food."

The smile drops. "My figure is precious and is not to be squandered with cheap burgers and bad bacon."

You give her the same wicked grin she was giving you only moments before. "I don't know, the last dog I had was pretty pudgy. He was rather adorable."

Your partner hugs her stomach. "Please sir, my beauty is all ah have in this world. Along with my strength, wit, general joviality, and all-around perfection."

You stare at her. "... Joviality. Clearly Omnilinguist has rubbed off on you after all."

You get a snort in response. "She wishes, now get changed before we get in trouble."

- - -

You stare at the small potted plant in front of you, there is a single cut on one of its leaves made with a scissor. You've been staring at it for the past twenty minutes, your partner having long since given up on trying to help you in this endeavor in favor of watching television and working on her English composition.

Stem, internode, node. Stem, internode, node.

The plant doesn't so much as twitch. With a sigh you drop it in your lap and move a hand to rub your forehead.

"Still can't talk to plants over there?"

You shake your head, the hand running down your face before you grab the plant again. "Not at the moment, can't heal them either."

You turn the pot slowly in your hands, the leaves catching the light from the window.

"So just say ya can't, it's just an extra assignment innit?"

"It is… but it is also important to me at least, while rather silly there are in fact people with plant-like biology. So it would be rather helpful to help heal them if such a situation comes up."

You partner lets out a grunt and holds a hand out. "Gimme."

You stare at her palm a moment before reaching over and placing the pot in her grip. She stares at it intently, her finger running across the leaves, especially the one with a cut in it that Alva provided to you. She does this for about a minute before looking at you. "Yer fucked."

"I'm aware of that yes, but would you like to be more specific?"

She tosses and you yelp in a very manly fashion as you grab it out of the air.

"Ya've been staring at a fake plant for the past half hour, it ain't plastic but it ain't real either."

…

"Mother-"

- - -

"Functions, students, are one of the most important aspects of math you may learn, and today we shall be starting with linear equations."

Math class has started going into more advanced subjects, something that at this point you figure you'll need to work with your partner with… seeing as how she has a genuine aptitude for the subject while you do not. She's been willing, but you should be careful so that you don't slip back.

Still, math class is manageable. As is the science class that follows soon after, and it is on a Tuesday evening that you find yourself walking back to the dorm with your partner in the early afternoon that you pop the question.

"So you want to do anything this evening or the next?"

Your partner half-stumbles before righting herself. Her slowly turns to you. "Ya mean like ah date?"

You shrug your shoulders. "It was what I was implying, just go out and do something instead of being cooped up in our dorm rooms."

"Sure," Your partner smiles widely. "Ya got something in mind?"



---



[X] Go look around hobby shops in Atlanta, let Steph show you more about her hobby

- - -

"How about a hobby shop?" You suggest. She'll probably enjoy trying to convert you to her dark past-time. "There's one in the middle of town dedicated to those models you are always screwing around with."

"... There is?" The look of honest confusion is… honestly surprising. You stare blankly at your fantastic fool of a… girlfriend. Huh, feels weird to think.

"You never checked?"

"Ah never really thought about it." She shrugs. "There weren't any in Valdosta, anything ah wanted ah had to order online."

"Well there's one less than five miles from here, if you want to check it out of course." Her tail starts to wag so fast she may takeoff into the air like some form of wulfen-helicopter. "I see you don't need words to tell me what you think of that idea."

Your partner reaches back and holds the tail, reducing the mighty appendage to slightly controlled squirming. The sight of her hurrying back to the dorm like that is definitely one of the more amusing things you've seen in the last week.

- - -

The train system in Atlanta, you'll admit, is remarkably effecient, arriving right on the scheduled time yet again. You are offered a cursory nod from the guard as the two of you step on, and you once more greet the almost sunfully luxurious interior of the ASH Train system. Within mere minutes of sitting down the doors hiss shut again and the train smoothly departs through the security gates into the city proper. As you pass through the gate, you realise just how much light gets filtered through the giant snow globe over your heads, as the bright lights of the cityscape suffuse the interior of the cabin. The school is in the middle of town, something that is honestly rather easy to forget in a glass dome. Lights of yellow and gold twinkle and shine like christmas lights as you pass by them, companioned by the red and white lights of cars passing beneath.

There's a long line going out of the city towards I85, the evening traffic jam (practically a local festival in Atlanta) in full swing. You thankfully pass over it all, and lean back into your seat for the short train ride that will take you to midtown. It's a five minute drive, maybe three minutes maximum in the tram.

Your partner is enjoying all of it, her eyes looking out the window towards the sights of midtown. It's something you've seen plenty of times, though it wouldn't surprise you if this is all mostly new to Stephanie. With a slight lurch the train angles down, a pale tunnel replacing the multicolored cityscape as you lower into one of the many underground stations that make up Atlanta's subway system.

After another hiss the doors slide open, and you step through the train's doors and make your way to the escalator, your partner by your side. The first thing that hits you is the chilly evening air; the school is climate controlled to a limited extent, so stepping out of the warm underground is a bit of a shock. The second thing is you see more than one familiar jumpsuit around, admittedly under jackets but still. There are plenty of students around, though once again none you recognize, the school has many, maaaany students… and there are only twenty in the actual hero course for your year. So at this point you consider seeing someone you actually know as the exception rather than the rule.

… It also still makes you wonder how you managed to successfully wander into said course, but for now you are more amused by your partner taking in all the sights eagerly. "You can't tell me with how long we've been in Atlanta you've never thought about actually wandering the city, or that you've never been here before."

"Ah haven't… and ah haven't. It's pretty but the city life never interested me much."

You nod and start walking down the sidewalk towards your eventual destination. There's a few 'civvies' mixed in with the crowd, yet this whole area is primarily focused on the students. Bookshops, coffee shops, little nook and tech shops abound. A group of students are currently waiting outside a movie theater, each looking a bit older than either you or Stephanie. Past them two men are walking hand in hand down the street, one with a flaming skull for a head, the other with some form of… giraffe mutation if the yellow neck and spots are any indication.

There's another arcade as well, along with a bowling alley and several restaurants. All chains admittedly, but you didn't know many kids in highschool that could just randomly go to Bones Steakhouse either. That and with how many calories you are made to burn in PE and the Combat Exercises you doubt the world would mind you eating at Burgerqueen every once in awhile. You pause before a crossing light, the dull red of the stoplight overhead illuminating the road weakly as you turn to look at your partner.

"Well I at least always bounced around the city, unlike some people I know 'ah ain't no country bumpkin'."

Your partner adopts a worried look and stares up at you. "Were ya just mockin' my dulcet tones? 'Cause ah think ya had a stroke halfway through."

"Smartass"

With a 'ding' the crossing light changes and you both start to make your way across.

"Ah'll have ya know this ass is in a doctorate program, it's the pride of the family."

…

You don't have a snappy comeback for that. So instead you change the subject. "We're coming up on the game store, see it?" You extend your hand forward, pointing at a small shop nestled between an electronics store and yet another coffee shop. Several large posters hang in the windows, one of a giant robot with a grimacing face firing a rather excessive amount of guns, the other of a man in full armor crushing what you would assume to be an orc to death.

*Whap whap whap*

Why yes, you do believe she sees it.

*Yank*

And she's dragging you forward like a small child. Well, as long as she is happy.

- - -

The interior is a shrine to plastic and paint, everywhere you look is another rack of plastic people from the darkest reaches of space. Their mouths open in a silent chorus of 'buy me, buy me.' But alas you are a medical student, therefore you are too used to wasting money on medical textbooks to waste it on plastic miniatures.

… Also seriously; 50$ for a squad of three tiny men?

Your partner, for her part, is hopping from display to display, the store owner having been rather unsuccessful in starting a conversation with her. Your partner it seems to know what she is doing, and you are doing well to stay out of i-

…

"Stephanie?"

"Eh?" Your partner looks over from where she is studying the back of a box.

You point to some little alien buggers in a row by themselves. "Didn't we fight these things in the VR training?"

"... Huh."

- - -

History class the next morning is unremarkable, beyond Morrigan calling Tidal Wave after class. If patterns are to be believed you would guess he made it onto the field trip as well. Which is good you suppose, you were hoping to talk to him at some point.

… You tend to have talks with people that kick your ass, you've come to realise. Perhaps living with Stephanie has caused some form of feedback loop; worth further study. The partner in question is walking beside you with a noticeable skip to her step. She's been in a good mood in general since the visit to her parents, and the trip last night served to only make a previously good mood even better.

It took more than a little effort to make her actually go to sleep last night lest she build a shrine to the elder gods of plastic. It will probably take more effort to have her focus on her homework this evening as well.

She hops forward, playing a little game to herself as she stretches her stride to only step on the darker tiles. "So what class we goin' to next?"

"Hero Law, the same class we have every Wednesday morning. Then PE."

Her face scrunches up. "Right, Wednesday's ain't busy just… who the hell can stay awake for three hours of Law class?"

"I've managed to avoid ever falling asleep, any failings are your own on that front."

All you get in response for that is a tongue stuck out at you.

- - -

Ms. Nkereuwem looks over all of you, the PE teacher has a wide and somewhat excited smile on her face as she looks over the assembled students.

"Good evening students." Her accented but pleasant voice is loud enough to be heard from across the entire track if necessary. "I do hope that you have not had too much to eat for lunch as today we are doing endurance training." At first you had difficulty understanding her; Apparently she was a hero in Nigeria before transferring over to the states.

She gestures behind her towards a series of… overly complicated pull up bars. Each bar is hooked up to a machine on either side of it, computer displays visible but blank at present. It looks like a carnival game someone added random technology to.

"Hold yourself up for two minutes then do three laps. If you cannot hold yourself up, you will be here until you can, begin!"

To their credit, nobody lets out a groan, though you do believe you hear a muttered curse from Blueprint as you walk by him. The machine's light up as you approach, there's enough for each student and more, and with little in the way of warm ups or preperation you reach up and pull yourself onto the bar.

- - -

You can only just barely hide the smirk on your face as you jog past the small group of students still attempting to hold themselves up. You are lanky and not particularly strong, but you are very good at ignoring muscle pains and have enough practice exercising at your house to not be bothered by a pullup bar… though admittedly you didn't expect it to start spinning and shaking wildly.

Your partner is a good bit ahead, the dog-woman running along like there is a rabbit on the inside track… Actually that gives you an idea for making money that you are sure she wouldn't be thrilled with. All you need to do is find a willing enough rabbit quir-

"Dylan?"

You are rudely interrupted from your musings by the voice of Ranger. You crank your head to look back at the cowboy-themed student jogging behind you. His boots click against the hard surface of the sidewalk… and it says something how deep you were into your own idiotic ideas that you didn't hear the spurs.

"Present."

"Cav' wanted me to tell ya that she ain't gonna be free this week fer nuthin'. She's catchin' up on schoolwork."

You nod your head and face the track again. "Fair enough, I'm spooling back on that myself. Been doing nothing but schoolwork lately it seems. Everything going alright?"

He pulls up alongside you, an easygoing smile on his face. "All's well and good, ain't got nothin' ta complain about."

You while away the rest of the jog just talking to Ranger, an amicable man if you ever met one. By the time you get back to your dorm it is already late in the evening and your partner, as you expected, started working on her new toys immediately.



---



[X] [Call Mom and Dad]
[X] [Spar with Doomwulf]
[X] [Talk to a Teacher - Morrigan]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

I'm sorry for how short this chapter is, I'm hoping to do daily updates come the partner test though.

- - -

You stare at the phone, a brief feeling of dread and doom washing over you as you ponder precisely how this conversation will end. Either your mother will be very happy… or she will attempt to break into the school with a sharpened trowel.

Either or, really.

You press her contact icon and lean back against the door of the balcony. A fierce chill is in the air, and so far it has served to wake you up well without the aid of coffee. The phone only rings twice before you hear her pick up on the other end, her voice follows through a moment later.

"Dylan! I thought you had forgotten about me!"

You let out a groan and tap your head against the glass. "No, things have just been crazy busy, it seems I have to fight just to get time for a call lately." Her 'accusation' at least sounded teasing, your mother has been rather miffed for you ignoring her in the past. Admittedly what she did on the first day of school was mostly her teasing… but she can be rather clingy when she wants to be.

"Too busy to make a phonecall?"

"You'd be surprised. I'm in classes for roughly seven hours a day, then I usually have some form of training after that."

You hear shuffling on the other end of the phone before she continues. "Sounds like school isn't going well."

"Dunno, I seem to be doing well enough. Got good enough grades that I get to go on an exclusive field trip to Virginia next week."

You hear a delightfully happy squeal come from your mother. "Oh that's great! Are you excited?"

"Excited enough yeah, though I'm trying not to think about how it will technically make me even more busy."

"Whiners don't make good heroes son, now what is this conversation actually about?"

… "I don't follow."

An exasperated sigh comes through the phone with such clarity you can nearly see her doing it. She's shaking her head and rubbing the bridge of her nose, while just slightly frowning. If she were there you'd feel like an idiot, but since she's so far away you only feel slightly like a moron.

"You are being more whiny than usual, which means you are worried about something. Out with it." Ouch, thanks for the tear down there mother, very appreciated.

"So… you know about that partner of mine?"

"You're dating aren't you?"

You nearly drop the phone, a series of noises escaping your mouth that are in no way words until you relearn the english language. "...How?"

"Dylan sweetie, you haven't been that nervous mentioning a girl since you last had a crush in middleschool, and unlike her I actually enjoyed meeting Stephanie."

"Wait, you didn't like Emily? No, wait, you knew about that crush? No…" Sucking in another breath you nod your head slowly, only realizing a moment later that your mother can't actually see you unless you turned the camera on. "Right, yes, dating Stephanie, I am doing that."

"Congratulations sweetie! Need any tips?"

…

"Yes."

- - -

Math class continues ramping up, what was just highschool level classes has fully transitioned to college at this point, much to your chagrin. Thankfully however the professor has seen fit to not hand out homework, more than likely due to the fact that you have a partner test coming up.

Said partner test is currently the focal point of discussion amongst all the students whenever they have a chance, all sorts of rumors are floating about. Some think it will just be the same test over again but slightly harder, others are swearing up and down that you will be pitted against professional heroes as a 'right to be here' sort of exam.

At the moment you are just trying to figure out linear graphs, the current bane to your existence and something far more life threatening than pink gas, invisible floors, and killer giant robots.

English is just as calm… Well, calm-ish: there is no homework, but Omnilinguist was on the usual this morning about the 'true meaning of stories'. It was always something you thought of as a stereotype, the whole "what does the color of the door mean" but apparently it is both a very real concept and something entirely subscribed to by your english teacher. Your medical textbooks don't generally have things such as subtext, and you only now realise how grateful you should feel for it.

Either way, English goes by easily enough, and due to the scheduling of Thursday you have a good two hours between this class and the next… so after a brief explanation to your partner you find yourself wandering over to the History classroom.

To your relief Morrigan is actually in there, the butterfly floating up and down the board with a piece of chalk levitating besides her as she writes down a series of quotes on the board. You watch her work for a good minute.

Her chalk clicks and clacks on the blackboard as she writes out the next quote. 'The most hateful human misfortune is for a wise man to have no influence.'

"Herotodus?"

The butterfly flaps its wings rapidly in what appears to be surprise. The shadow against the wall turns around and… does a series of excited little hops.

"Oh, good afternoon Dylan! That is correct, as expected of my top student. Did you need something?"

You can't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "I didn't, I was just hoping to speak to you actually… I was curious about some things."

The butterfly flaps down from its high altitude and lowers to face level. "Oh? What are you curious about?"

- - -

Choose two.

[Her Quirk]

[Which… is the real you?]

- - -

You stand across from your partner, your hands lowered raised in some very rough approximation of a martial arts stance. Your partner is much the same, however she stands a fair bit more confidently than you do.

Unfortunately the forest is sadly closed off at the moment for a large S&R project… which answers the question why you didn't see several of your classmates today. So instead Stephanie has made the effort to walk you through a series of grapples, difficult to do in your gear admittedly, and she has made an effort not to stab you with hers.

Beyond some bruises it has gone well enough, and the floor has thankfully muffled the majority of the noise.



---




What Form of Grappling did you Learn?

[Locking and Dislocating]

---

The butterfly has done a few little loops in the air as you spent the second thinking on what precisely you wanted to ask her. It's golden light is… honestly more than a little mesmerizing; it reminds you of a few toys you had as a kid, though those certainly didn't make magical sparkles appear every time they moved. A small part of you wishes that perhaps they did, but then as a child you would have had even less reason to leave the house. You clear your head of those thoughts, a smile slipping onto your face as you ask her the first question you had in mind.

"What exactly is your quirk, if you don't mind me asking? I don't believe you ever specified and I'm rather curious, my electives are all about studying quirks after all."

The butterfly stops its looping, instead it holds in place, lightly flapping to stay airborne… if such a thing is even necessary for it. "An interesting question, my quirk is 'The Shadow' I can slip in and out of shadows, along with doing some minor object manipulation."

"A mix of quirks then?"

"Something like that yes, when I'm not teaching history I am helping manage some of the stealth courses."

You blink. "We have stealth courses? I thought being a hero was about being flashy."

Morrigan giggles, the butterfly going through a series of rolls as she does so. "Oh plenty of heroes are very flashy, but more than a few also see stealth as their greatest weapon. Not everyone can be All-Might!"

… Fair, from what you've ever seen of the man you highly doubt stealth is a part of his repertoire. It'd be like trying to hide a tank, coloured with disco paint and singing the national anthem. Not that America doesn't have it's fair share of the large and flamboyant, just that few people are quite as flashy as Japan's exhibit to the world, #1 or not.

"I suppose, just I didn't exactly see that on the list of electives either."

"It's an advanced course, only rarely offered to first year students. Once you finish your first semester you may expect to see some new ones yourself!"

You can't help but blanch at that, something she notices immediately.

"Something wrong?"

"No… no just thinking about my already busy schedule. Advanced courses on top of that would be a mess."

The butterfly flaps back to land on the desk, the shadow on the floor tapping her… two dimensional chin as it does so. "Well if you need assistance managing your schedule you can talk to the guidance counselors. Plenty of students find themselves overwhelmed during their first semester, you may be surprised by how much time you can free up!"

You nod your head. "Yeah… maybe necessary at some point, but what kind of classes can I expect?"

You keep your gaze on the shadow as its hand lowers from its chin to rest on its waist. "I am afraid I cannot speak personally as to what your placement would be, or your choices. You have only been here two months as you recall. But I wouldn't worry about them either, did you have any other questions?"

A smile finds its way onto your face. "Yeah, which one is the real you anyway? You mention you can slip in and out of shadows but… the only shadows here are mine, the furniture, and a woman that doesn't belong to anything. Are you the butterfly or are you the shadow on the wall?"

The butterfly flaps wildly as if in surprise. "Dylan, that is a very rude question to ask a lady!"

Then before your eyes the butterfly… fades away from view, along with the shadow.

*Tap*

You jerk your head back when you feel a finger tapping you on the shoulder only to see nobody there. Stretching out from behind you is your shadow, far longer than it has any right to be in this light, next to it is a twin shadow sticking out from you as well. It is of a familiar woman, and as you watch she grabs your shadow by the shoulder and… leads it through a merry dance.

A mischievous giggle fills your ears as spots of gold dance past your vision. "The fun is in the discovery Dylan, that's what history is all about!"

You watch as she leads your shadow through a twirl before she fades from view again. Her voice once she speaks again is back towards the desk, but when you turn your head back… there are no shadows.

"Now shoo young man, I have to prepare for the next class."

… Well at least she's a nice possibly eldritch entity. That's two for two of those.

- - -

You rub your shoulders with no small amount of discomfort on your part. They don't actually hurt but they feel all stretched and… weird, like someone just took them and yanked them like the most awful game of red-rover ever devised.

No, wait, that is exactly what happened.

Your partner is sitting on the opposite couch looking rather smug. She would too, she basically just spent the last hour turning you into a pretzel. Still, you do feel at least a smidgen more comfortable and confident in your hand to hand skills, in that you have gone from 'completely hopeless' to 'mostly useless'. Baby steps.

You look from your arm towards your partner again. "So, you feeling nervous about this test at all?" this training was, after all, preparation for the upcoming test, though what that test actually entails you haven't the foggiest. After last time it didn't seem right to ask Morrigan about it, so you are basically going into this blind… with any luck it's just the continuation of last months test.

Not that you are a particularly lucky man.

She drops the smug look, instead giving you a somewhat… pensive expression. "Not particularly, ah mean, ah want to do good and all but they don't seem ready to kick us out so frankly ah don't think it matters too much how we do."

"Sounds complacement."

"Nah ah ain't complacent, just ah ain't worried. I think we'll be doing good with all our extra trainin'... and if we don't do so good we'll just get more of it. Don't really see a downside, though ah do want to do well."

You can't help but grin. "Downside is Technomancer being an asshole."

"'Sides that, though the extra combat classes were good. Learned quite a bit more 'bout my classmates too."

You lower your arm into your lap. "It seemed more like an excuse to beat the crap out of the healer."

"Last time ah checked ya had a winnin' record."

You open your mouth to respond before realising… you don't actually have a comeback for that. "I'm not sure how I pulled that off actually."

Stephanie pushes herself up from her seat. "Cause ya are at least five percent more competent than ya give yerself credit for." She walks over to you, her tail wagging slowly behind her. "Ah'm gonna go ahead and get some rest, big day tomorrow. If we succeed ah'll pay for dinner."

"How generous, the queen deigns to feed her subjects?"

"Quiet., you." Your partner leans forward and rubs her knuckles against your skull. "Ah ain't got no time for yer smart remarks before the test." Her hand slides down your head to wrap around your shoulders, then with a yank she pulls you against her in side in an odd standing/sitting hug.

"Get some rest, probably gonna be a long day tomorrow." With that your partner steps away and walks into her room with a light spring to her step.

…

You think you like hugs.

- - -

The pan sizzles as you set the bacon upon it, this is your third batch of the morning and it is going to more than likely be the last. Not that your partner and yourself can't eat more… but because you simply have to do things this morning other than eat.

Your partner sits behind the counter going over various notes she has put together. You meanwhile have been making generous servings of protein and juice as you go over the 'strategy' together. Your partner come the morning revealed she had drawn up more than a few ideas in case you had to fight that giant robot again, it is also the only thing she planned up… mostly because last time you made it through the entire test easily except for the giant fuckoff robot.

"So ah'm thinkin' ya could use yer grapple if we come to that chasm again, can probably traverse it more than a little bit quicker."

You shrug your shoulders. "Worth a shot, but I'm not exactly webslinger material."

Your partner looks up from her bacon, eyes looking you up and down. "Nah, too skinny."

A momentary thought goes through your mind, that of denying your partner both coffee and any more bacon. Alas you prefer having your arms attached to your shoulders, so you squash that idea near as soon as your brain makes it.

"... Thanks. Either way, if we fight him again I'll just focus on keeping you nice and 3-dimensional if at all possible, I'm still not a fighting man."

"Ah just taught you grapples last night."

You stare at her. "Yes… and you are five feet tall and adorable, it is thirty feet tall and made out of hate."

"Pansy."

"Yes I am, thank you. Now eat your damn breakfast."

- - -

You exit the dorm amongst the crowd of students, there's quite a large crowd this morning, though only about twenty are actually taking the same test you are this morning.

It's still a bumpier walk than you are used to, sometimes it is easy to forget just how crowded this school is… when you aren't in the cafeteria or the pyramid anyway. It takes you and your partner both a good ten minutes to make it to the ufo-o'-doom, and when you enter through the sliding doors you find that you are both not the first students here… and are not amongst the last either. A good eight other classmates are here already, with more walking up the hallway behind you both.

A few teachers are here as well, notably Embla and Technomancer. Embla is standing passively as ever behind a podium near the back of the room, while Technomancer is standing beside her with his hands in his pockets.

It takes only a few more minutes for the rest to arrive, and in good order everyone is quiet and watching the podium nervously.

Or maybe that is just you.

"Welcome to the second test, please head to your assigned rooms and follow all given instruction. This test will not be time-sensitive, so be thorough."

Oh, damn, that timer didn't make things nervous at all. You'll miss it. .

You look towards the doors and spot your number rather easily, you and your partner both making your way into the room where you see a familiar sight… that of two stands with a headset on each.

"Well, this seems familiar."

Your partner smiles and picks hers up. "Maybe it's the aliens again, that was fun last time."

You sigh and walk up your stand and pick up your own. "We have very mixed ideas of fun you and I, but for now le-"

"Students, please put on your headsets." Embla's voice chimes in over the speaker system.

… "That."

Your partner shrugs and lifts the goggles up and over her head, a second later you do the same, the last thing you see before your vision is encompassed by black is the white padded walls of the training room.

- - -

The sound of a police siren fills your ears, and your vision immediately comes back to see… downtown Atlanta?

Shouts and sirens fills the air as you get your bearings, in front of you arranged in a line is no less than a dozen squad cards of Atlanta PD. They surround and blockade… the Federal Reserve bank?

The air smells of smoke and gunpowder, and cops are rushing about all over the place.

"What the-"

"Fuck?" Your partner helpfully finishes for you. She's standing to your left in her uniform, hand on her hip as she sizes up the building. More than a few cops have their weapons pointed at the front door, and laying just in front of them is a cop on the ground, he lays there apparently unconscious, blood seeping down the steps from the… stump that is his left leg.

"You the heroes we called in?"

Both you and your partner turn your heads towards the new voice, it is an older man in a sheriff's uniform. There's a cut on his cheek bleeding down his face, but he doesn't seem to either notice it or particularly care as he sizes the both of you up.

Your partner answers before you can even think of something to say. "We are."

He doesn't nod, instead he turns back to the building to point at it. "We got at least five guys in there, four gunmen in masks and one guy claiming himself to be a supervillain. Don't show shit about what he can do but when I sent a squad up there to check it out they all went flying out; boys think it's something to do with wind. It cut off the leg of Deputy Jonston but every time we try to get to him they open up on us. Think you can do somethin' about it?"

 

[Erien]

[X] Prep for Battle
-[X] See if we can get the wounded deputy out of there. Dylan has a shield, which is about the size of Captain America's shield, if a bit more rectangular. Tell one of the cops to get ready, press C to crouch, and shield the guy with our shield while the other cop drags the wounded out of the line of fire.
--[X] Assuming that goes well, heal the guy. Even if we can't reattach the leg without... The leg, we should be able to at least staunch the bleeding and prevent him from bleeding to death.
-[X] Try to boost Doomwulf's hearing to spy on the bad guys.
-[X] Spend no more than 10 minutes asking the police for more information about the situation. In order, the priorities are:
--[X] Are there any noncombatants in the building?
--[X] What do they know about the layout of the building?
--[X] Do they have any additional information about the bad guys?
--[X] What resources do the police have available?
-[X] After the 10 minutes are up, evaluate the situation to come up with a plan (new vote).

Thanks to Armoury for the beta!

---

Now at the moment you should probably be scared a tad more as there is a man with his leg blown off and there are unknown hostiles nearby. But you've also fought aliens so frankly this ranks rather low.

"Yeah… I mean; yes, we can do something about it." With a shake of your wrist the shield drops and extends enough to cover you down to your knees and up to your chin. "If you can get the cop out of there I can provide cover, my quirk is healing… so I can staunch the bleeding once he is recovered."

The cop gives you an appraising look before barking something that… resembles a word behind his back, and another cop comes running up. The man is much younger with dull brown hair and equally brown eyes, he also looks scared shitless, so that makes you feel a small sense of solidarity to the man in that he is possibly just as new to this situation as you are.

"Adams, we've got heroes on the scene. They'll provide cover for you as you get Jonston out of there, understood?"

Adams, to his credit, doesn't look sceptical; he's too busy looking rather terrified of the whole situation. He nods without a word and moves to crouch besides the tire wall, your partner meanwhile is looking over at the wounded man. "Ah'll provide cover, my armor ain't fully bulletproof, but yer squishy."

With the sound of a metallic click one of the armor plates on her arm pulls aside to reveal a small gun barrel, behind her mask you can tell she is smirking as she reaches behind her back to pull a magazine out of the small pouch at her back. "Ah finally get to use this thing, always felt overkill in spars."

… Your partner has a gun, you are suddenly very worried about holes in your ceiling.

"Ya ready?" She asks, crouching down low as well.

"As I will be…. GO!"

You spring past the cop cars, the shield held forward and stable like Cavalier taught you. The vision slit near the top becomes the only means of orientation forward as you duck your head low behind it. The sound of clinking metal and panting behind you reveals that your partner and Officer Adams are following, your partner could well outpace you… but she can't very well stand in front of the shield.

You bound up the steps, your boots clapping hard against the stone before you come to a skidding stop just before the officer. Your shield slams into the ground just past him and you angle it slightly back so it provides cover from angled shots. A familiar weight presses against your back a moment later as your partner braces her arm against your shoulder, the barrel pointed towards the building as her eyes dart around to look for enemies through the front doors of the building.

It's an older style of building, mostly white stone with sporadic windows, so unfortunately there isn't a lot she can probably see… but it also leads to the problem of there being well, a fuck ton of windows so frankly you don't know how many people are looking at you right now..

There's a groan by your feet and you look down to see Officer Jonston looking towards the sky.

*Focus*

Pale skin, enlarged and unfocused pupils, heavy breathing. Symptoms of shock indicate patient is Hemorrhaging. You probably would have realised that sooner if, instead of checking his symptoms, you noticed that you were kneeling in a pool of his blood.

An unfamiliar weight jostles your side as Adams comes to a skidding stop besides you, the man wastes no time at all in lifting up the man into a bastardized bridal carry, eliciting a harsh gasp from Jonston in the process. You'd complain about the terrible way to carry someone, but at this point a fireman's carry would only make him a larger target.

He looks at you, waiting for you to pull the shield back so he ca-

*Snap*

You watch as a piece of the stone step in front of you erupts upwards in a little cloud of dust, a small little pock mark on the ground just a foot or so in front of the shield.

Oh.

You then suddenly lose the ability to hear anything out of your left ear as your partner lets loose with her PDW. "Go!"

Adams sprints off behind you without needing any other form of instruction, while your partner taps you on the shoulder and you pull the shield back, jogging backwards with her just behind as you hold your shield up and to the side in an effort to cover the both of you.

*Snap*

More bursts of dust and smoke fly from the ground, an uncomfortable amount getting close to your feet as they shoot at the least protected part of you. Your arm shakes as a few aim higher than that and make a few dents in the metal.

The cacophony of gunfire behind you is joined by the cops opening up in front of you to make what may just be the world's worst concert. You duck your head as whizzes go by the top of the shield, you are in no mood to find out if your helmet is bulletproof.

The sprint back to the line of cop cards takes about ten seconds with you having to cover a suddenly much slower Officer Adams, which means for all intents and purposes it took about three hours to cross the front steps and dive behind an armored car.

Adams sets Jonston down and collapses against a car door, panting and looking like he ran a marathon in a weighted jacket. Your partner ducks down just beside him, from a glance she appears uninjured… good, you have someone else to worry about at the moment.

The sound of gunfire still comes overhead, though from the sound of things it is dying off… well, probably, you are still partially deaf in one ear.

You shield collapses with a click and you reach up into the central pouch of your hero outfit, the clasp comes undone and you retrieve a small box from it. Opening… there, you pull out a small pair of scissors and get to work cutting away the pants leg around the wound.

*Focus*

Ablation under the leg knee, clean cut. Whatever hit him went through the leg like a razor, heavy bleeding, but no other sign of injuries, he'll need a transfusion. You reach your hand forward and place it just before the cut, another sharp gasp escapes the man before he falls unconscious. Enough painkillers to knock just about anyone to sleep, though given his condition you doubt he was actually feeling the injury anymore.

"Medic!"

A voice shouts from nearby, though where it came from you don't look up to see. Staring down at the wound you focus on it, the wound doesn't close, though you didn't expect anything near as dramatic as that. Instead the bleeding slows to a trickle before stopping entirely. The man will still need a tourniquet and more than a little blood, but at least for now he is far more stable than he used to be.

The gunfire peters out overhead, and as the medics arrive you just realized you were shot at.

… You aren't quite sure how to process that.

---

The gunfire has now died down entirely, thankfully with nothing in the way of injuries for the cops. For the bad guys… well, you haven't even seen any of them, though you aren't exactly going out of your way to stick your head up above this cop car at the moment.

Your partner sits besides you, having spent the last minute or so since you Officer Jonston was moved away to reload her firearm. "So whatcha thinkin'?"

You let out a sigh and peek over the cop car for the first time since your mad dash out there. "No idea, we'll need more information from the cops before we can make a move."

You glance around before your spot the sheriff from earlier, the man is currently standing behind a swat van going over what appears to be a map. "We need to find out if they have hostages, what the layout is… and do they know anything about the bad guys. Also if we are going to have other hero backup or heavy cop support."

Your partner grunts and slowly pushes herself up from her sitting position. "Well this is ah test so ah doubt it. Realistic as it may be it would kinda defeat the purpose if All Might took care of it."

You watch as she makes her way over to the Sheriff and a moment later you follow after. The sheriff looks up with a grim face as you both approach. "Good job getting Jonston out of there, though I do hope you have a plan."

Stephanie places a hand on her hip, the other reaching up to unclasp her mask and reveal the lower half of her face. "Doomwulf always has a plan, but Doomwulf will be grateful for any information you can give her. Do they have hostages or noncombatants?"

The sheriff nods his head. "The federal reserve is closed for the weekend, as far as we know the only one inside was the onsite security, and we don't know where they are."

Stephanie nods. "Good, what do know about the layout of the building?"


"Nine floors with a basement and roof, lowest floor is mainly a lobby with some smaller offices. While the upper floor is all government offices with the highest being dedicated to a server farm." He points to a map of the surrounding area that is taped to the side of the van. "We have the building surrounded on all sides; the front and sides have a lot of windows while the back has less with a parking garage we have manned and blockaded."

The sheriff rubs the bridge of his nose. "They've only taken shots when we've gotten close, and we haven't received any demands or communication from the perps."

"These 'perps', Doomwulf wishes to know more about them."

The sheriff looks up towards the building with a grimace. "Well they aren't particularly great shots, though we know they have at least one powerful quirk seeing what happened to Jonston. Those shots all came from the upper floors so at the very least we have a rough idea where they are, though how many there are is unknown."

You eye your partner quizzically. "Think if I boosted your hearing you could pick them out?"

Doomwulf shakes her head. "In the building; yes, but not here. Stone walls muffle noise too well." She then turns her attention back to the sheriff. "What resources do you have?"

"We have eighteen squad cars around the building and two swat teams. We also have a helicopter arriving shortly, we aren't breaching until we know what your plan is."

Right…

Plan.

---

[x] Plan Redshirt
-[x] Share the entire plan with the police ahead of time so you can coordinate properly.
-[x] Ask for preparations to be made to cut power to the building on a signal.
-[x] Have the police deploy smoke bombs all around the building while you and Doomwulf scale the building - from the back, ideally, to reduce observers. They'll know something is happening, but ideally won't know what.
-[x] Try to time things so that just as you enter the top of the building, the SWAT team enters the garage, and the power goes out. Maximum confusion, and should disable observation of the SWAT team from the security room.
-[x] While up top, try to take out as many enemies as cleanly as possible. Any attention drawn to you makes the SWAT teams jobs easier.
--[x] Use your power boosting on Doomwulf to locate points/people of interest within the building. Try to ambush the enemy group inside the server rooms, to stop them from getting away with the data.
-[X] While all this confusion is occurring, the second SWAT team should deploy from the helicopter onto the roof - our appearance should draw any heavy quirk support away from the roof, letting them safely rappel down.
-[X] If you manage to secure the server room, link up with the top SWAT team and provide assistance as they sweep down through the building, until you meet up with the bottom SWAT team.
--[X] Dylan should hang back and provide medical support, while Doomwulf can help take lead and use her senses to help with the sweep.
--[X] Along the way, check if you can locate any of the remaining security personnel - they may need medical attention.

Thanks to Armoury for the beta!

Plan has been cut down to fit with how test votes go.

---

You stare at the officer, suddenly feeling more than a little put onto the spot. Now any reasonable man would assume that part of a test like this would be to gauge your planning and quick thinking skills. Both are things you are at least somewhat decent at, given the fact that you had the basics of triage drilled into your skull over and over.

… And planning to assault a building held by gunman is basically a form of triage, right? Basically the same thing; people hurt, stressful situation, you'll finish covered in blood… probably yours.

You look at the building, gauging the distance… nine floors, so around 130 feet. Your line isn't that long, and hitting a window could blow your cover. Still, it isn't a full rectangle; you'll make it if you take it in stages, and you have someone here who's strong enough to manage that.

"Think between you and my grapple we could make it to the roof?" You ask Doomwulf. She blinks then looks towards the building, her tail sways, once, twice, and she turns her head back to you, a cocky expression on her face.

"Ah could do it without the grapple, but carryin' you would need it, yeah." An image of her carrying you on her shoulder as she pulls you up the building comes to mind. It's inglorious, undignified, and more than a little idiotic, but it is what you have to go with right now. You look back at the sheriff.

"If we get into the top floor we can disrupt and sow confusion, if at the same time your swat teams moved in on the garage and roof it'll split them up. If you could cut the power and set off smoke as well it would allow us to run them over before they actually know what happens."

Stephanie speaks up, her armor clinking as she crosses her arms. "Once ah'm inside ah can probably hear 'em, smell 'em too unless they doused their scent. Though we still don't know what they actually want in the buildin'. Think there's a guy in clown makeup burnin' the money in there?"

You stare at your partner, opening your mouth to refute her statement. Then you remembered the bugs from the first VR simulation. "I… have seen that movie, though I have my doubts. Actual money isn't kept in the reserve either, this is all data and offices and the like."

The sheriff coughs into his hand to get your attention, and you and your partner both look at the man. "I can get the swat teams to deploy, just let me know when your ready."

… You aren't sure if that was the simulation telling you to focus. "Do you have a walkie-talkie or headset so we can coordinate?"

The man nods and unclips a small device from his belt, he offers it forwards and you gratefully take it, pulling your helmet off to slip it on. It's like a phone headset, enough to cover one ear along with a microphone that sticks out, the other ear is uncovered.

It isn't very comfortable, particularly with your helmet shoving it into your scalp, but communication is far more important than comfort right now. You hear a burst of static and a voice starts speaking, it's indistinct and the bits and pieces you can pick out realize the speaker is more than likely one of the cops talking to another one of the cops.

"Just push the button on the side and it'll route directly to me, go head around back. I'll send you a signal when we are about to start the raid."

You nod and look over to your partner, her gauntleted fists are hitting each other repeatedly. "Well? What are we waitin' for?"

---

You lean back against the concrete wall, your helmet angled as best it can to block the summer sun. Whomever made this simulation has no soul, seeing as how they decided to put the Georgia summer sun directly over your head and added humidity. Though given the fact that the maker of the simulation is quite possibly Embla your statement may have more truth than you'd like.

Your partner sits next to you, idly fiddling with her gauntlet as you both wait for the signal from the sheriff. This whole parking garage is swarming with cops, more and more having shown up during the wait. It's separated from the main structure, though only by twenty yards or so, there's a ramp that goes below the office building where the majority of them are staying… but there are plenty of cops here on the ground level too.

Your partner shows no outward signs of nervousness, though you are surprisingly calm yourself. You lean over and poke her in the shoulder, her eyes darting over to you as she asks what you want without vocalizing the question. "So what do you think for our first 'hero' mission?"

Stephanie shrugs, some concrete dust coming off the parking barrier from rubbing against her armor. "More interesting than the last test. And nobody has tried to gas me neither, so that's a plus."

"Yeah, we've just been shot at is all. No biggie."

A snicker escapes your partner. "Fake bullets, real gas."

"I'm fairly sure the gas used in the test wasn't actually dangerous, and those bullets felt plenty real pinging off my shield."

She lifts up the gauntlet she was fiddling with and you can see white metal instead of the normal glossy black on a small section, a sizable dent in the material that scrapes off a ways like she ran into something… though the dent is noticeably round. "If gettin' shot at makes ya rethink this whole hero business ah think ya've picked the wrong career path."

Your shield opens with a clunk, the bottom half hitting the concrete with a dull clang. It's held up well, and no dents on the outside actually show up on the inside. But still, it's been shot repeatedly. "I'm not rethinking anything, I just prefer to pull bullets out of other people, not myself. Like a flashy wolfgirl, for instance, who thinks she's the main tank."

"Ah'll have ya know I'm the Tank and DPS thank you, with you being the healer we got the whole trinity as a duo."

"I'd rather be Dylan, I'm afraid I can't resurrect people when they die."

Stephanie slides the gauntlet back onto her hand, with a mechanical whirring the segmented plates collapse themselves against around her hand and forearm. "Well yer quirk is pretty lame anyway, ah'll do my best to catch all the rounds before they hit ya."

"Appreciated but I'm the one carrying the shi-"

Countdown thirty seconds.

A harsh voice comes over your hearing via the headset and cuts you off mid sentence, it only takes you another second to realize that is the Sheriff. The smile drops from your face immediately.

"Thirty seconds."

Stephanie stands up, stretching her arms and bouncing a little on her feet, for your part you collapse the shield again, ready to deploy it the moment you vault this wall. Your hooks safety is off and you're ready to fire any second… here's hoping you don't miss.

With a click the mask reaffixes itself on Stephanie's face, her words a moment later are filtered… but you still know her well enough to recognize the tone as being deadly serious. "Ya ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

…

Breath.

...

With a sound of popping metal and hissing air the smoke canisters go off around the building. You jump up, your hands clamping onto the concrete barrier and hoisting yourself over. The second you pull yourself over the lip you activate your shield, the extra weight helping topple you over onto the gravel below. You don't bother looking forward, your legs start pumping the moment your feet hit the ground and you hear more than see your partner running besides you.

Your shield raises immediate-

*BANG*

Your shield is shoved back into your chest as something hard and heavy smashes into the front of it. Your hearing deafens immediately as small clouds of dust and rock launch themselves into the air, your head jerks up to see yellow flashes in windows going up the building, four in total. "I THOUGHT THERE WAS ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE SIX OF THESE ASSHOLE!"

"LESS TALKIN' MORE RUNNIN'!" Stephanie's words are punctuated by her firing over your shoulder, your partner traces your footsteps so the shield protects you both to some extent. Concrete starts to rain down as the cops back in the parking garage open up to provide covering fire.

Ten yards.

You raise the arm, the shield shunting to a close as you get within spitting distance of the wall.

Five yards.

Snap, BANG! The rope uncoils and the grapple shoots skyward, a second later it digs itself into the concrete roof and snaps tight. Your partner moves immediately, one hand moving to grab the rope while the other wraps around your waist. "Hang on!"

Stephanie presses her foot against the wall, then with force she shoves upwards, one hand tugging on the rope to pull you both up with one hand, the ascent made easier by the fact she just launched you both with a kick. Bullets whiz by, though none are actually near you, either the criminals inside are too busy shooting at the cops or they think you've gone insane and aren't actually shooting at you.

*BANG*

The few lights in the building you can see shut off, a pale blue replacing the faint yellow through the windows, it is at this moment your partner kicks off the wall again, sending you both sailing upwards before she digs her claws into the wall to stop your momentum before she shoves you both to the side towards a window. You twist around so you're going through it back first with your partner in front of you, your plating enough to protect against glass and the speed she has you going more than enough to crash straight through it.

Your back hits something hard that you feel give way a moment later, the glass not so much shattering as it does fall away into multiple pieces. You skid across it for several feet before your smack into one of the office walls. Gunfire fills your ears and your eyes snap open to see a man staring down at you both, he's dressed in a suit and carrying an automatic rifle, his facial features are hidden by a clown mask.

The gun is held somewhat limply in his hands, though you have a feeling it won't be for much longer.

You twist so that your partner rolls off of you then spring forward, your hands and feet hitting the floor as you launch yourself like an animal. Only a scant few feet in front of him you swing up; your shield extends, and you wrap your fingers around the edge, holding it steady as it drives into his chin. It won't take him out, but if his pained cry and hasty stumble is anything to go by then it has left him too addled to fight back.

Thank you Cavalier.

Your partner appears in your vision a moment later, a gauntleted fist colliding with the side of the man's head and sending him flying into the drywall, an explosion of dust coming from it as he smashes into it head first before falling limply to the ground.

…

Breath.

"... Fucker was wearing a clown mask."

Stephanie looks at you with an arched brow before looking down the hall. At the far end of the hallway is an elevator, while behind you against the side is a door. More doors are against the walls the gunman is currently slammed into, all locked with maglocks. Well, where locked with maglocks. Their lights are off.

"Ah got at least four guys directly to our left, and I'm hearin' footsteps above on the roof."

The helicopter shouldn't have landed yet… and the guys through the wall are unknowns.

Time is ticking.

---


[Check the Voices to the left]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

- - -

"Left." You say firmly, standing all the way up and shaking the last bits of dust off of your shield. "SWAT can handle the roof, but we need to find the hostages before these guys can organise themselves."

Stephanie stares at you and nods. "Gotcha, the hostages are the most important thing right now, there ain't no way these guys are gettin' away."

"Well that, and we haven't seen any sign of the quirk user either, if I had to guess they would be with the hostages… the guy with the flashy quirk tends to lead gangs like this."

Stephanie leans against the wall, her left ear going flat against it while the right twitches with every sporadic burst of gunfire outside. Shouts still fill the air, though the chaos is… more than a little impossible to keep up with at this point. "They are better armed than most gangs." She drawls after a moment.

"Point still stands, now work those ears."

Stephanie slowly moves down the wall, her ears twitching as she attempts to zero in on the exact location. She pauses mid step in between two doors, her foot hanging in air before she slowly and carefully lowers it back to the ground. Without a word she takes a step back, her right hand raising up in a fist.

All five fingers extend from the hand, and you walk to her side to see her squinting in concentration. She blinks, then closes the hand before forming a finger gun… before holding up one finger.

If you had to guess that means one bad guy.

She then holds up four fingers and lays her palm flat; either four hostages, or someone's having the worlds most poorly-timed slumber party.

… It is only at this moment you realize you should probably work out an actual hand signal system for the two of you. Or get a shared headset, as you may not always be able to talk aloud.

Stephanie then backs away from the wall and stares at the door just a few feet in front of her, then at the maglock bolted to the wall just a few inches to its left.

"Think we can break the maglock?" You ask.

Your partner hits her fists together. "Can 'we' break the maglock he asks.." Her right arm shoots forward and with the sound of shattering plastic and crackling electricity her fist goes straight through the device. White smoke bursts out, and the smell of burnt plastic fills the air as the door… stays shut.

Stephanie stares at it, then pushes on the door that fails to budge. "... Ah was really hopin' that worked liked the movies."

"Kick near the lock?"

Stephanie shrugs her shoulders and steps back, she squares herself in front of the door before kicking her leg forward. The metal plates are no help here, the bottom of her foot is unarmored and is little more than a texture sole… though when it impacts the spot right next to the lock it appears the door doesn't really know the difference. You hear splintering wood before it cracks and caves in on itself, a small metal bar that was jutting into the wood to keep it shut snaps off and goes bouncing across the floor as the door swings open.

It reveals a hallway that appears to run the length of the building, with another door at the far end made of the same material, but that isn't what interests you. On the left side of this hallway is a glass wall, through it you can see dozens of server racks. Blinking lights of red,orange and green going off like christmas lights through the glass. A door to enter it is right next to you, along with what appears to be a freight elevator at the far end. The right wall is barren except for a series of doors every dozen feet or so.

Stephanie's ears twitch, and she slowly turns her gaze towards the server room. She raises her hand and gesture for you to follow and she lowers herself to a crouch and starts walking forwards. You mimic the movement, though walking like that in this outfit isn't precisely… easy. You were not designed for stealth in any regard, the large amounts of white in your uniform is proof of that.

Still, you do your best to match her movements as she moves up to the glass wall and starts to carefully move down it. The windows are big, with less then three feet of wall along the floor, but it's just enough cover if you crouch low. You don't speak, though given what you know about server rooms (and hanging around Alva) you doubt anyone there could actually hear you at the moment.

Your partner slinks along, moving forward with her hands more than her feet as she keeps a careful ear to the wall. A good fifteen seconds later she stops without warning, and you only have to look up to see what it is that stopped her. As you've walked you've heard the sound of a muffled voice, but now where you are you can finally make it out clearly.

The voice is deep and frustrated; only a step short of shouting. The man is dressed in the same suit the 'clown' before was wearing, but he isn't wearing a mask, revealing a chiseled face and deep red hair. In front of him are three men and one woman, all wearing business clothes.

He's currently holding up one of the men by the neck of his shirt. "I don't think you quite understand the situation you're in, either you let me get access to the files I need or things get worse."

The hostage is grasping at the shirt, fresh bruises and blood on his face. He's gasping and is clearly struggling for air.

"No?"

The man opens his mouth to speak but the only thing that comes out is a choked burst of spittle and pain. Whatever he wants to say, it's reduced to a pained gurgle.

The criminal slumps his shoulders, letting go of the mans' shirt, taking a deep breath. Leveling his gaze with his released victim, a deep thrumming feeling builds in your chest, like a bass speaker with the volume dial broken off. The air in front of his mouth distorts, rippling like water. The hostage scrambles away, back turned and eyes wide. The thrumming cuts out. Crossing the gap in an instant, the distortion blasts into the mans neck, and you watch in horror as a hole forms… and grows. Barely pausing, it passes through.

Air impacts the far wall and sends a rain of debris falling down, leaving a deep gouge in the steel beam hidden behind the panel. You hear two dull thuds. You only have a moment to process the hostage falling to the floor before shattering glass rings out.

Stephanie charges through the window with a howl of anger, descending on the criminal like a feral animal. He barely has time to lift his arms in defense before her fist crashes into them. His limbs buckle and he is pushed back, but in a sinuous twist he jerks out of the way, causing Stephanie to skid across the floor.

You were right behind her, barely even thinking. When your partner stumbles you charge forward with your shield raised. The man leans back and sucks in his breath, and with a forward leap you grab your partner and yank her back, the wolf girl letting out a yelp as she suddenly finds herself without balance.

Behind the glass it was muffled, but in here you feel it when the air is launched. A sudden increase in pressure slams into you, and a line of distorted air slams into your shield. Your arm burns and it pushes you back. You only distantly recognize a dull clang sound and you find your helmet being pulled back across your scalp. The air blows past you before dissipating harmlessly, it's strength drained.

… A decent chunk of your shield is missing. A good part of the top half has been entirely sheared off. It's usable, but shorter.

Oh dear.

You partner charges around you, her fist raised as she moves in on the villain in question. The hostages are splayed out across the floor around you, with a corpse in between all of them missing a head.

A decision must be made.

- - -

[X][Assist your Partner]
-[X]Try to engage whatever's the opposite side Doomwolf's on, stay mobile and aggressive to keep up constant pressure.
-[X]If you get a shot, use the grappling hook cable to cut off his air and choke him unconscious

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

- - -

You only have an instant to make a decision, to decide what to do; if you go after the civilians that would leave your partner vulnerable. This guy has seemingly no recharge time and easily damaged your shield. Removing the civilians would have to happen one at a time, and by the time you finished with that the fight would be over… more than likely not in your favor.

You no longer have time to think, you draw in a deep breath and kick your back leg off the ground, the shield lowered at an angle as you charge forward.

The man is nowhere near as good as Stephanie in hand to hand; he's bigger, slower, and weaker by far, but she is forced to jump back anyway when tries to blast her feet. You slide by him at that moment, your boots scraping across the floor as the man's eyes widen. He turns on the spot, and you pull up your shield as a blast of wind skids off the front and makes a large gouge in the metal, before dissipating harmlessly.

You stumble back, gritting your teeth as his heavy boot hits the front of your shield as a follow up to the first attack. You don't lower the shield however, you don't dare to, through the viewing slit in the front you can see him drawing in another br-

A fist crashes into his side, the man goes flying through the air with all the grace of a drunken brick before he crashes into and through the drywall. The room shakes from the impact, and with a dull clatter the mask that was clipped to the side of his head goes skidding across the floor.

You stare at it, and look u-

"DAMN HEROES!"

Your body folds backwards as you are sent flying back through the glass wall behind you. The blast of wind from his shout catches you and your partner both, and the only thing saving you from being cut to ribbons is the heavy armour making it so difficult to catch yourself. You crash into the opposite wall, the drywall giving behind your back and arresting your momentum.

Stephanie doesn't fair nearly as well, letting out a grunt of paint as she crashes into the wall. Blood runs down her face to drip down onto her armor, one eye is closed and a nasty gash is present just above it. You raise your hand to heal the wound, but she is moving before you can, an animalistic growl escaping her as she plants her limbs onto the floor and charges forward.

Everything in your biology textbooks says that humanoid people shouldn't run on all fours; the back is meant to be upright, and it doesn't care if you think otherwise. Running on all fours should be clumsy, inefficient, and painful… provided you aren't Doomwulf, apparently. Because she is stubborn.

Closing the gap between them, she launches herself forward, fingers splayed and claws extended as she swings down. The man reaches up to catch them, the sharp claws digging into his arms as she forces him down to his knees with her greater strength.

You push yourself up and start to run forward yourself, you start to call out a warning when you see him draw in another breath, but your partner sees it first. With the sound of tearing flesh she rips her left claw out of the mans arm and slams her hand over his mouth, the sharp nails cutting across his cheek as she keeps him from using his mouth. The blood from his cheeks and her claws flies back to paint the walls behind the both.

The air is full of dust as you run through the shattered remnants of the glass, and the building shakes under your feet as the hostages run by you to safety. You don't spare them a second glance, unless you deal with this guy they won't stand a chance. With a pneumatic hiss you deploy the grapple, catching it in your off hand.

"Get the hostages out of here!" Stephanie shouts, and with a growl she shoves the man back further into the wall.

Any retort on your part is cut off by the ground shaking underneath your feet again, a loud cracking sound fills the air as the drywall behind them both and on the wall besides shatters and breaks. Dust falls again from the ceiling like rain, and you jerk your focus back to Stephanie when your partner makes a startled yelp.

The man punches himself in the stomach, one last blast of air coming out and forcing her claws back, the razor sharp nails skidding across her armor before stabbing through a gap in the plates. The villain doesn't get any better for the maneuver, and four jagged marks paint his face.

The dust that was previously falling down whips up into a storm from the last blast of air, and he barely has time to witness his 'triumph' before your are on him as well. You don't have any of the grace your partner does, instead you bodyslam into his chest will all the grace of a truck charging into a brick wall. Air blasts over your head and nearly rips the helmet off of your head as you force the last bits of air out of his lungs. You shove your head up, the lip of your helmet crashing into the bottom of his jaw and forcing his head back.

In that moment you cut your leg under his,forcing him to the ground as you wrap your grapple cord around his neck. A strangled gurgle escapes him as you slam him onto the floor, your knees pressing against his chest in an attempt to weigh him down.

His hands rip and pull at your arms, but even if he wasn't choking, fighting Doomwulf takes its toll. His struggles fade, weaker and weaker, until they eventually stop altogether. You wait until you're sure he's passed out before finally relaxing your grip. He falls face-first into the floor, and you feel like joining him. How long did that last? Probably less than a minute, but damn if it didn't feel like an hour.

The sound of metal groaning fills the air, and something hard and heavy hits your back before breaking into pieces. A glance shows it to be fragments of the drop ceiling, and catch a glance at your partner, looking towards the ceiling with a shocked expression.

It's the last thing you see before the building collapses.

- - -

You blink, your eyes taking in the padded ceiling above you. It is thankfully not collapsing, though the room you are in smells strongly of drywall, dust and blood… a mix you aren't entirely sure how the school apparently managed to recreate for testing purposes.

A groan escapes you without any control on your part, your hand reaching up to push the goggles the rest of the way off of your head. Your groan is chorused by your partner next to you, a glance to the right shows her slowly sitting up and rubbing at her arm, the phantom pain of her claws apparently is still persisting, even out of VR.

"Did we win?" You ask.

"Ah think the roof collapsed on us an' everyone died."

"Yeah, that's what I figured, least there wasn't a giant robot this time."

Your partner chuckles and pulls the goggles off of her head to set them on the floor. She looks at you fully, a reply forming before she is drowned out by an electronic chime.

"Welcome back students." Embla's voice speaks.

Your heads both swivel towards the far wall, where a long but thin screen has descended from some previously hidden port in the ceiling. It flickers for a moment before it displays a still image of the Federal Reserve Bank.

It's holds on this a moment before it shifts to an image of a familiar man, specifically the villain you just attempted to choke out via improvised garrote. He is smiling at the camera, wearing a simple leather jacket and a watch cap on his head.

"Jacques Norman, no assigned villain name." Alva starts, and the image changes to show him standing amongst some trees with a rather goofy smile on his face. "Quirk 30.98, ability to control air. Deviation, explosive force. Jacque worked as a lumberjack during the early days of the quirk awakening period." It shifts to a series of images you recognize from your textbooks over the years, the quirk rights riots, marches that sort of thing. "Unhappy with his current circumstances he progressed to a life of crime, recorded in police records as a low level enforcer, he used his charisma to amass a small following around himself and convince them to stage a raid on the Federal Reserve Bank."

The image shifts once more to the bank again, though this time it is surrounded by cop cars to make up a very familiar scene. "He, per notes found amongst his personal belongings, convinced others that they could wipe out debts by wiping the servers, however he was attempting to actually move laundered cash from another gangs' account to his own. The other criminals would be used as a method to distract police while he made his getaway. However heroes arrived on sight and attacked him." The image changes one final time to reveal the same building, multiple cops are charging the front entrance and you can see smoke rising and a large… dent in the top center where apparently the roof has caved in on itself. "His air powers took out several load-bearing walls, collapsing the room and killing himself, the heroes, and all of the hostages in the process."

… Oh

The screen goes black before Embla appears in the center. She appears to be in some office you don't recognize, her arms all working without her direct supervision on various keyboards spread about her. The whole thing is bluelit, though whether that is from monitors out of frame or the lighting of the room itself you can't say.

"Your grade is as follows." Embla says, not sounding the least bit distracted despite the fact she is currently multitasking with six arms.

A black overlay appears on the screen, it's transparent enough that you can see Embla behind it.

A series of dots appear on the left hand side of the screen, and as you watch the first one fills in. Embla reading it aloud as it appears.

"Failure to secure or attempt to secure the hostages. Demerit."

Shit.

"Failure to attempt negotiations or scout out the criminals prior to the attack. Demerit."

Fuck.

"Work with local police forces. Point."

Oh.

"Saved officer Jonston. Point."

Oh thank god.

"Identified strength of villain and attempted to neutralize it. Point."

It was kinda hard to ignore.

The black overlay hangs there a moment longer with your successes and failures before… an image of Embla giving a thumbs up appears along the side of the screen. "Passing grade."

You feel the tension leave your body immediately, that hopefully means you won't have a stern talking to by Technomancer this time.

"Please exit through the doors for your next phase of armament."

… More stuff?

The screen cuts out, and with a hydraulic hiss you hear the door open behind you. You stare at the screen as it slowly pulls itself back up into the ceiling before turning your head to look at your partner. "They are giving us more weapons?"

She shrugs and taps the weapon on her gauntlet. "Maybe, didn't have much chance to use this. Didn't want to hit any civvies while we were fightin'." She drops the hand to her side, the other arm rotation in place as she stretches the limb. "You could use a ranged weapon yourself though, chargin' didn't seem to win us much in the way of points. Though the whole thing seemed to be a no-win scenario either way. Maybe it was to see how we responded in general? The team in real life failed, so maybe judging us to see how well we take failure?"

You shrug your shoulders back. "I've already accepted I'm a failure at most things, so whatever, to be honest."

Stephanie grins and pokes you in the shoulder with her gauntleted hand. "Ya managed to woo my beautiful ass, so ya've done at least one thing right."

You grin back. "I've never really paid any attention to your ass to be honest, I've always been more focused on yo-" You trail off, your mouth hanging open dumbly as you realize precisely what you were about to utter.

Your partner for your moment takes it about as well you currently are. Faint hints of red appearing even above her mask before she turns around abruptly and walks rather briskly out of the room.

Giving you a… great view of her legs in the process.

- - -

You follow your partner outside the room a few moments later, only to find it quite a bit different than the last time you were here. For starters Technomancer and Embla are gone, instead there is a large desk set up in the center of the room where stands one… no two women and one man.

Tables surround both figures, upon which sits what appears to be a good dozen tablets. The man is in heavy armor to the right of the women, you've seen him before… but you can't honestly say where precisely. The 'armor' is more like a tank shell that is standing on bipedal legs. It's easily four to five feet wide and probably gives him an extra two feet of height unless he is a giant. He has slicked back blonde hair to match a heavy braided beard, and despite his massive appearance and generally terrifying figure he has a jovial smile on his face that reveals many teeth.

The armor is stylized in places with wolf motifs, and little decorations and runic markers abound. Though what precisely they mean or say you haven't the foggiest.

The women to his left are standing back to ba-

You blink.

The woman are conjoined at the hip and are facing different directions. There's only one pair of legs holding them up, but each woman has her own pair of arms. They both have blue hair, though the one facing away from you has a darker shade than the other. They're both dressed in some… form of a labcoat that was probably absolute hell on the tailor that made it, as you walk out the door she (the front one) waves to you happily.

"Over here students!" She calls out, a distinctly east asian accent to her voice. Though one you are unable to place precisely.

Stephanie starts walking forwards immediately, and you follow shortly after. There's only one more pair out here, that being Tidal Wave and Astrapios. They are both standing before the armored man, the giant letting out a guffawing laugh as he points something out on the tablets they are both putting information into. No other students are present, though all of the doors around the arena are still closed barring yours and the room you assume those two came out of.

So that either means this is something not all students are doing. (Unlikely by your wager). Or you finished fast (likely considering you know how much of a powerhouse those two are.)

As you approach the blue haired woman, well, the front facing blue haired woman claps her hands happily. "Congratulations congratulations! Good work on finishing your assignment, I am Liu and this is Lin. " She bows to you in what you'd assume to be a form of respect or congratulation, her 'other half' throwing up a peace sign and throwing you an awkward smile as she bends into view before the woman rights herself.

"We are the head of costume design and maintenance. We designed the costumes based on your original submissions and now that you have gotten your first live fire exercise we are prepared to modify it to your preference." She picks up a tablet and offers it to your partner before turning to you. "Please speak to Lin and she will guide you through the process."

You stare at her a moment before you slowly nod and make your way around the table. The woman on the other side does have some small differences compared to Liu, for starters instead of a labcoat her design is actually more akin to a business suit, their facial features are nearly identical, as are their eye colors. The only thing separating them beyond the clothes… and the fact that one has legs, is the fact that Lin parts her bangs in the opposite direction.

Finally she is remarkably more awkward.

Lin shoves a tablet forward. "... Hi, type what you want."

You gently pull the tablet out of her grip and look down the selection, it lists just about every part of your gear and has little sections for any modifications you could want.

- - -

[Suit Vote]

[X] Request a gadget. (Radio)

- - -

Once you've made your selections you are pointed to the next where the heavily armored blond giant is sending Astrapios and Tidal Wave off. More students have started arriving as well, and the table was just starting to get busy when you move over, much to the delight of the armored man.

"Oh, what have we here? Two heroes yes? Is good, is good!" His voice booms, and you doubt he could sound happier if he was actively trying to be. His voice is very Eastern European, and he claps you on the shoulder before introducing himself.

"Hello hello you two, I am Andrej, and you are veeeery good students. I make your weapons so you can better defeat the bad guy and save the even littler people." The man blinks, one hand raising to scratch at his beard, his armored pauldron clinking into his neckplate in the process. "Yes, shield… grapple." He says, looking at you.

Once you nod in response he turns his head to your partner. "And you yes? Little pew pew and claw guards?"

"That'd me be."

The man claps his hands together, the metal sounding like a ringing bell. "Good good! I am head of weapon development, just mark on tablet if you would like any change."

You look down at the tablets arranged around the table, whereupon you have several options.

- - -

[Weapon Vote]

[X] Shotgun (Non Lethal)

[X] Pistol (Non Lethal)

[X] Custom Gadget - Ask for something to be made unique. (Shield)


---

You think over your options, your armor is… well, mostly fine to be honest. You'll need more immersion in it to fully adapt but the protection it has granted you has been excellent.

Well, excellent barring that spar with Tidal Wave, but even a full body suit may not protected you from that level of tomfoolery. Still, it was enough in the last test, even if you felt decidedly un-bulletproof, but getting to that point would probably take more weight than you would be comfortable with. Especially if you wanted it to cover your entire body minus the face like your outfit does now. So if changing the armor density isn't on the table that only leaves you with one idea really.

"Maybe a radio?" you ask the shy half of the women. "I borrowed one from the police in the test, and while it functioned it wasn't particularly effective." You make your notes on the tablet as you speak, your mind picturing the device in your mind as you think of what you realized you needed in the test. "Could a radio be included with the costume? I'm a support hero so I need some way to communicate and plan rescue efforts where needed." Finishing up you hold out the tablet for her to take, which the woman does eagerly

Her eyes alight as she scans over what you've doodled in. Her finger traces the drawing and scrolls across the page, her head nodding all the while. "Yes… we can use a single ear system, or double, but that would require noise adaptation." Lin starts speaking more rapidly as she starts to break into a smile. "It would require a unique shape to fit properly with the helmet, in ear design would limit noise reduction to one-eighteen at… ninety eight percent, it would pick up all but a few frequencies and send clearly."

She places the tablet on the table and reveals the design is now of your original uniform 'doodle' you sent in. Her hands dance across the surface, the image zooming in to focus on your left ear. "The device would connect to a set around your belt, wirelessly of course. Estimate around… eight hours of battery life, five with constant usage. Broadcast limited to a range of up to three miles due to the lack of antenna. Will that be acceptable?"

You blink, slowly piecing together what she just said. "Right, I just want to talk to other heroes as needed and work with the police and emergency services. I'm… not one to really understand tech that much."

The woman blinks rapidly, her hands pulling back from the tablet like she had been burned. "We can… radio. Yes. No other modifications?"

You shake your head. "The design so far has been without any flaws that I've noticed. It took me some time to get used to the bulk but that'll come in time. It's only my second month in it though, I'll adapt."

Lin nods and slowly removes the tablet from the table to make more notes on it...you're pretty sure she's finished with you now.

…

You lean to the side to see Stephanie standing away from the table, arms crossed as she waits for you to finish. Well, no point in making her wait any longer.

- - -

You stare up at the giant of a man, a small part of you wondering just how effective of a hero you would be if you were also an eight foot tall military grade tank. It's an effort not to be intimidated, though at the very least his demeanor and jovial attitude have done much to guide you along as you make your choice.

"I'm looking to get a ranged option, I'm not exactly built for speed or power like my partner is… and during the last test I felt more than a little defenseless when I was being shot at."

Andrej leans forward. "What is tiny man thinking?"

You're six foot with room to spare…. Right, shake it off. "Well, a rifle would be impractical with the shield, as would any form of submachine gun or PDW. Shotguns are… lovely things but that is also far from practical." You make a finger gun with your hands. "So I figured the best option would be a pistol, but would it be possible to have a dual purpose weapon? Say one barrel is for a pistol and another is for a shotgun shell? I need stopping power, as plenty of villains have been known for their tough exteriors."

You lower the arm, grinning slightly. "Besides, I'm the medic. If I have to break the Hippocratic Oath I'd rather they don't get back up again anytime soon."

Andrej moves a hand to his chin in though. "Dual purpose weapon possible, yes, would sacrifice ammo capacity and would have to take good care of weapon. But can be done, traditional design is long revolver with capacity for four-ten… but double barreled is also possible."

Andrej reaches forward without a word and grasps your arm, tugging you forward slightly as he looks at the limb from multiple angles. "Hmm, yes. Muscles puny but developing, weapon will kick, but could be handled. Would recommend firearms training, will take practice to get used to such a weapon but can be done. Also lifting of weights." Nodding he lets the arm go, and you still aren't quite sure if you should feel offended or flabbergasted. "Can have test model by end of month, only prototype, but should give a feel for firearm yes?"

You finally settle on giving him a smile. "That… yes that's fine, as for my shield I had an idea for that as well."

"Yes?"

"I was thinking about making it detachable so that I could prop it up or otherwise deploy it away from my body. If I needed to protect someone I was working on for instance."

The man looks at your forearm mounted shield and makes a little expanding gesture with his hand, and with a shake of your wrist the shield deploys, the bottom half bouncing off the floor slightly as it knocks against it, due to how limp your arms are at the moment.

The armored giant makes a thoughtful noise as he looks over the defensive apparatus. "Hmm, yes, could be done easily. Would just need kickstand, will increase weight of shield in order to have it not fall over from hit. Estimate… seven to ten pounds minimum."

That's… a decent amount of extra weight on your arm, but… "Well, if that's what it takes to keep my head on when dealing with a patient."

Andrej grins and slaps you on the shoulder, feeling roughly like Alva mixed with a freight train when the metal gauntlet hits. "A good idea yes! Would be wonderful for patient morale if doctor's brains do not mix with innards."

"Yes, that would be… bad." Is the best summation you can come up with for that thought. With a press of a button the shield pulls back up and you step back to allow your partner to be the sole focus.

"Hello!" Apparently she's excited, given by the speed at which her tail is going. Her hand raises to get the man's attention. "Doomwulf would like electric discharge in my claws. Can it be done?"

The man tilts his head. "Discharge? Why?"

If possible the tail manages to wag even faster. "The ability to render an electric shock would be helpful in rendering opponents combat ineffective, Doomwulf believes this would be a great boon in situations that pure power cannot solve."

It's odd for her to mix the Doomwulf persona into her normal… excitable speech. Like Doomwulf is putting on a character. A character putting on a character, fascinating. Either way it's amusing to her here refer to herself as Doomwulf and making the effort to ignore the accent while not actually putting on the persona, may just be a side effect of how excited she apparently is.

"Ah! Lightning dog like old westerns, yes?"


Her wagging tail ceases, the fluff nearly meeting the floor."... What?"

Andrej laughs heartily. "Ah pay no mind, is very old, and you very young. I shall deliver prototype soon for testing and the stabbing. For now, rest small heroes. You pass so you earn it."

Well, you aren't going to argue on that front.

- - -

You pull the helmet off with a groan the second you walk through the door, a sense of relief washing over you as your moist hair meets the air conditioned room. You could have taken it off earlier, but you didn't feel like carrying the damn thing in your hand all the way back to the dorm.

… Also it acts as a useful sun shade, who knew. You tug at the front of your collar, managing to chorus with your partner as you release another groan. The sound of straps and metal catches fill the air, and you glance back to see your partner fully removing her mask, revealing red moist skin.

She looks up to the ceiling, drawing in a deep breath now that the weight is off her head. "Ya know, when ah read all the comics and watched the shows, they never talked about how ungodly hot these damn things are."

"That's the trick," you say, moving further into your dorm room. "If they told us how uncomfortable it was nobody would willingly do it."

"Ain't that the truth."

You hear a dull clang and look back to see the mask unceremoniously dropping to the floor, your partner pulling the top open a bit to reveal her shoulders before she runs her hands through her hair. "Ah'm gonna get a shower first, cause ah'm gorgeous an' the useful one."

"Oh, is that how this works? I'm too tired to kiss your ass I'm afraid."

Your partner blushes, but a smirk still rises to her face. "We've already had that discussion." With the sound of yet more straps being undone your partner walks past you, finger poking you in the shoulder as she steps into her room and closes the door behind her. When she speaks a few seconds later her voice is muffled by the door.

"Ah figured we'd celebrate tonight, make ah date of it. Gonna be the last time we get the chance before yer field trip anyway."

You suppose that's true, and you did pass the test and all, which is a good enough reason to celebrate as any. Still.

"I don't know, I'm feeling mostly mocked for admitting I find my girlfriend attractive." You say, allowing soap operatic sadness to creep into your voice.

"Ah'm the prettiest girl in school, of course ya find me attractive…" You hear a shuffle behind the door before her voice speaks up again. "Course, ya could tell me what precisely ya do find attractive about me."

…

Fuck.

"Well. You're… smart, kind, brave. Frankly just about the best partner I could have asked for all things considered. Beyond that, well, yes. You are attractive, gorgeous even. I mean, those shorts you wore at the last night of your parents house for the love of..." You blink, suddenly feeling a strong urge to dive into your room… maybe off the bacony... "Is… can we end this particular line of conversation now?"

The voice that comes through the door is rather amazingly meek considering your partner. "Yes please, that was… too embarrassing."

"You dug the grave woman, I'm just driving the hearse." But… yes. Your room. Thinking about dinner and the week ahead. Different thoughts different thoughts.

Your desperate attempts to change your own mental subject is interrupted by a ringing sound coming from your pocket, and with the current state of your brain it takes you a good few seconds longer than it should to realize your phone is ringing.

It's a surprisingly herculean effort to get to it under the folds of your outfit, mostly because when you put it under the greatcoat you never thought about having to get it out again. The number is unknown, but… well, nobody calls you anyway so you swipe the little green icon. "Hello?"

"Good afternoon, is this Dylan?" a vaguely familiar female voice comes over the line, it is heavily accented… Indian specifically.

"Yes, who is this?"

A familiar giggle sounds through the line, and you put the pieces together just as she reintroduces herself. "Annapurna the counselor? I was hoping you have a moment."

… This is not what you wanted as a distraction, this is the exact opposite of what you wanted as a distraction. "Yes? Going to be taking a shower in a minute but I'm free."

"No problem, I'm just informing you due to the nature of the test I am requesting you visit me to speak about your experiences therein. This is not compulsory, however I do feel it would be good as some students do find the experience rather graphic."

Your eyes flit to the door where you can hear your partner going through her dresser. "Yeah… sure I'll think about it."

"Thank you Mr. Evans." With that you click a click and the line goes dead.

Well, that's something to think about you suppose. A meeting with the creepy but friendly counselor.

 

[Erien]

[X] [Talk to another student? - Tidal Wave]

[X] [Speak with the Counselor]

[X] [Study with your Partner]

[X] [Study with Nora and Kros]

[X] [Exercise]

[Date Vote]

[x] Something easy.

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

- - -

Well, you suppose there isn't really a reason to go completely nuts with this, not on your… well technically only your second date. You are tired, you still reek of sweat, and frankly you just kind of want to relax. That doesn't mean you can't go out with your girlfriend, just you doubt either of you has the patience for a fancy restaurant. Well, you don't anyway.

You doubt little if anything could keep your partner away from a good cut of steak, or bacon, or pork, chicken… you've come to think of it your partner is a remarkably easy person to please. Considering the food crazes that went on when you were in high school it's honestly a pleasant relief that you don't need to worry about what you cook.

So probably just an easy burger tonight, something that won't be too hard to get and is something you know you both enjoy. Well, as long as she doesn't want bison or anything. The population may have recovered, but the prices never got that news.

You relax against the couch and try not to let too much sweat get onto it, though you might have had more success if you had the energy to care. It takes a good twenty minutes for Stephanie to exit the bathroom again, now looking refreshed. She's wearing a blue and white checkered dress that goes down to her hips, and from there it is black pants and boots… with fur on top, of course.

She looks around the dorm a moment before focusing on you. "So where we going?"

"I was thinking we could go get a burger outside of school, nothing too fancy but I figured after that test we both needed comfort food."

She stares at you a moment, her eyes narrowing and her mouth flattening. "That's your idea for ah celebration? Gettin' a burger? I told ya ah'm a classy lady."

You stare back. "I really didn't feel like getting dolled up after we spent so much time running around and fighting virtual enemies. Also getting a reservation in Atlanta on a Sunday woul be a nightmare; my quirk is healing the sick, not performing miracles." You then smile gently, trying your best to be 'suave' as your mother taught you recently. "If you want a really nice dinner I can certainly schedule one in the future. But for now I'm happy enough just having a relaxing evening with my girlfriend."

Stephanie doesn't say anything, a faint hint of pink appears on her cheeks before she quickly turns around to enter her room.

…

That tail is threatening takeoff. Huh, your mother's advice worked… Is it sad you have to rely on your mother to flatter women?

Nah, as long as the women never find out.

- - -

"You know, I'm a southerner too… but would you perhaps like some burger with your barbecue sauce?"

Your partner glances up from where she was attempting to waterboard a burger with A1 sauce. "Least ah didn't drown mine in ketchup and mustard."

You slowly lower your burger back onto the plate, cheesy deliciousness set aside for now as you match gaze with your partner. "Ketchup and mustard and mustard are the fundamental companions of an American burger, mayonnaise is a distant ally." With a flippant gesture of your hand you pick you pick your burger back up. "Barbecue sauce is reserved for those with neither taste or appreciation for subtlety."

She growls dangerously, the glass bottle of sauce set back upon the table with an aggressive clink. "Are ya insulting m-"

"Excuse me?" a new voice interrupts the two of you, and as one you both look to see the waiter standing besides your table. "Will you be ordering dessert this evening? We have a special on the molten fudge cake."

You hear a faint whapping sound as your partners tail starts to wag against the seat, the promise of roughly a weeks worth of chocolate enough to excite her… you glance towards her, and her eyes are glancing to you 'discretely'.

You smile. "Sure, one for us to split please."

The waiter nods and moves off, and you turn back to your own food as your partner speaks up. "Ya know ah'm not sharing that with ya."

Your smile gets just a touch wider. "I figured as much, but you deserve a reward for doing so well today."

The whapping gets louder.

- - -

You lay on your bed groaning.

Your partner did in fact share it with you, and impressively between that and the burger you are still feeling bloated the next morning.

… and the shower is so far away.

Mother, father, if I don't make it out of this, I'm sorry.

- - -

You nearly died on the way to the shower, your partner meanwhile is currently in the process of dying as she goes over the english assignment that has been passed onto her desk. It's nothing overly difficult admittedly, just the teacher has seen fit to increase the workload again now that the big test is over

It's a book report, standard stuff. But given what you know of Stephanie it is no surprise she is so down in the dumps about having to do another one of those… it beats fighting giant robots and calculus so frankly you'll read the damn book without complaint.

Well, 'book' is a strong term.

"Today we shall be starting with Dante's 'Inferno' in the original Italian, from there we shall be moving onto 'Purgatorio' and 'Paradiso.' You shall be doing a report on each poem, and we shall examine and dissect the themes in length."

You.. don't know how to read Italian, and the book is over seven hundred pages in len-

"You shall be also issued an English version of the book, please use this to reference and compare the two works and how the translation changed several key elements."

… Son of a b-

- - -

"-oston is a city full of fascinating history, both quirk related and otherwise. Some even call it the most historic city in the country!"

History on the other hand is… so far actually rather difficult. You were given a surprise paper you had to work on at the beginning of the class. Specifically a paper about the history of heroes in Georgia. It feels rather unnecessary considering you are about to go on a fieldtrip dedicated to hero history but you suppose you really can't complain. You like history, though perhaps less when it is about professional heroes.

Still, lots of papers to work on this week, it is probably a good thing you already scheduled time to work with your partner on schoolwork together. If at least nothing else than to bounce ideas off of each other, you are not going to be working on each others homework though. Never again.

- - -

Your eye scans the hallway, seeking your quarry with the keen intent of a hungry lion. Students pass by you, the crowd thinning out, but not quite thin enough yet to allow clear vision all the way through the halls. Most of the students that are brushing past you (or are nearly bowling you over in some cases) are upperclassmen so you can only recognize a scant few.

Either way, you weren't exactly ever cut out for the football team to begin with, so by the time you find your quarry you've been squished, crushed, poked, prodded, and in the case of a particularly nasty misstep by a tall brunette with bear-like limbs, partially trampled.

Your 'quarry' in this instance is a young man about your age leaning against the lockers, next to him is a much shorter fellow with stark white hair playing with a handheld game system; Micheal and Alexios, otherwise known as Tidal Wave and Astrapios. Michael looks up as you approach. The man was leaning against his locker and idly flipping through the homework that was just assigned, his brow raises before with a sound of a popping cork some words appear in the air made of water. 'Yo.'

It's… in an odd but readable 'font'. Astrapios, if he notices your arrival, doesn't show it, merely playing away at his game. Amusingly it reminds you of the first time you saw him on the train, frankly the only thing that has changed between then and now is the fact he is wearing a school uniform.

You raise your hand in a wave. "Yo yourself, was hoping to catch up to you."

Tidal Wave quirk a brow, and the words reform in midair. 'If mad about spar, late in seeking retribution.'

… He's missing a word there, but that may just be shorthand considering how he has to speak. "I'm not upset, I just wanted to actually introduce myself, since I never got the chance, and with the timing of the test... well, it sort of slipped my mind."

Michael grins and nods, 'understandable, what want to talk about?'

You smile back. "Well I'm medical focused as you may or may not be aware of, I noticed after the fight you rehydrated me through my skin which should be very difficult. How did you manage that?"

Michael tilts his head, and his eyes alight with what you hope is interest. The fact that the water moves faster in apparent excitement lends credence to your assumption. 'Learned skill, from working in sidekick program.'

Ah, he was one of the prodigy students, that would do it. There were a few of those in your highschool… well, one anyway. Students who had such an apparent bright future that they were pulled out (voluntarily) to start working as a disciple of an already established hero. Usually it is a temporary gig, though the student that was taken out of your school never came back.

… Not that anything bad happened, last you heard he was studying in Illinois of all places.

"So just something you picked up along the way?"

He nods. 'Helps dehydration, dangerous long term.'

"Yeah I'd imagine it isn't a perfect trade, but when you suddenly and quickly drain someone's body of a decent percentage of their water it is a good solution to keep them from dying… the headache was a monster though."

Michael looks honest apologetic. 'Sorry, don't know why they make me spar. Kinda cheating.'

Yeah, if nothing else it definitely pounded in your head that clever tactics can only get you so far. "I'm a support hero, I'm not expected to win all my battles, and frankly I'd rather deal with a headache than broken bones."

He smiles again, his face more expressive than most you've run across. 'Healing powers don't help?'

You shake your head. "No they do-"

You blink, reaching for your pocket as your phone starts to buzz. "Hold that thought." With a glance you see an alarm buzzing. "Ah… sorry but I scheduled a study session with Nora and Kros, wanna talk later?"

Michael nods rapidly. 'Sure thing!'

---

You step of the elevators into the 'altered' dorms where Kros and Nora reside, a large book bag hanging at your side full of textbooks about animal biology. You still need to learn more about alternate bodies as much as possible to help as many people as you can, and it's without perhaps a spring in your step that you raise your hand to knock on the door.

"GIVE ME THE HONEY CUPCAKES KROS!"

"NYET! ENOUGH SUGAR FOR YOU ALREADY!"

You blink, either your knock sounds different than you are used to or they are in the middle of a fight. You slowly open the door open and peek insi-

Oh sweet mother of god!

---

The door creaks open, and you glide through, passing by Doomwulf wordlessly. Finally, having reached the couch, you don't bother to finish your next step, toppling onto the upholstered slice of heaven.

"Ya look like ya jus' got ran down by an angry cat."

"Yeah…" you stare at the patterns of the cushions underneath you like they hold the secrets of the universe. "Turns out rapidly burning calories doesn't mix well with a hyper metabolism."

"... Are those feathers in your hair?"

---

Quirk research this week is mostly inconsequential, though also not depressing for once. A man can only hear about so many terrible quirks that accidentally killed dozens of people before he starts to question reality itself. Frankly with how many there seem to be it's no surprise how many people in the 'quirk revolution' were against the very idea. The more you looked the more cases you found that could be used to argue that quirks were dangerous and uncontrolled.

PE is also relatively inconsequential. Though you noted you've felt stronger and faster every time you do it. You exercised plenty before school of course, but between the regular PE programs, sparring, and the training, you really feel a lot more fit than you used to be.

---

Hero law takes about seventeen hours of course, and frankly you still aren't feeling like you are learning anything. Though you are having to think more about the 'Good Samaritan' laws at least, it's something you hadn't really paid any attention to before.

Science is still absolutely unremarkable, but that is to be expected when it is taught by the dullest teacher since elementary. The english teacher is boring as well, but she is at least entertaining by dubious virtue being Satan.

---

Stephanie lowers the book onto her lap with a groan. "Ah give up, ah can't decide what is metaphor, what is him laughing at his enemies, and what is him trying to screw Virgil."

You glance over from your copy of the book. "I'd assume all at the same time to be safe, either way, I'm enjoying this."

"Weirdo."

---

You settle the lump in your throat and slowly open the door to the counselors' office. The first thing that hits you as the door opens is the scent of fresh peaches, the fragrance of citrus filling the air… pleasant, but not overwhelming. The second is the sound of gentle piano music being played over a speaker that perhaps has slightly worn out.

You poke your head inside to see Annapurna sitting at her desk, the woman notices you immediately. It appears you caught her in the middle of messing with her phone as with a smile she places it on the desk and waves for you to enter.

"Good evening Dylan, how has class been this week?"

"Fairly well I'd say," you step into the room and make your way towards the seat in front of her desk, "I've actually got a good study schedule going now and I feel pretty confident about my grades, also the field trip and the sparring and the classes have been manageabl-" you cut yourself off as you realized you lost the track about three times in once sentence.

You are still nervous around this woman, both because she creeps you out with her reactions. A glance shows her to be licking her lips right now, and because you haven't been in this room since your first day at the school… and that was a decidedly nervewracking day for multiple reasons.

"Good, they go- they are going well."

"I am glad to hear that." Annapurna giggles, a sound that still doesn't make her less creepy. "If you need any assistance with scheduling, or wish to speak about a teacher or career plans you can of course speak to me. Though today I am here to ask you a general question I will be asking most students."

The woman leans forward, her shawl shifting slightly as she does so. "Did fighting other humans in the simulation bother you? Do you feel any positives or negatives about it?" Her eyes are staring deeply into yours and… you find yourself suddenly feeling even more nervous than you were before.



---



[X][Write-In]"I'm glad whenever I can prove myself not a liability in a fight, but my first priority is healing. If I have to fight in order to save someone, then I will."

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

Let us begin of the worldbuilding with much of the earnestness.

---

You take a deep breath… and think on her question. The silence drags on as you actually consider it. It's not one you expected, and it's not one you've thought about either. But even put on the spot, you find yourself confident in your thoughts.

"I'm glad whenever I can prove I'm not a liability in a fight, but my first priority is healing." And it always will be, if you have anything to say about it. "If I have to fight in order to save someone, then I will."

Annapurna stares at you, a slight smile on her face as she lets out a pleased hum. Nodding, she leans back into her seat. "So you are happy if you fight successfully, but only because it allows you to perform your duty?"

You nod your head. "That's right… is that a bad reason?"

"No Dylan," she assures you, her slight smile growing a touch wider, "I would say that is a very good reason. One that you should be very proud of." She taps her fingers on the desk a moment before bending down and producing a stack of papers, with a grin she lets them go and they fall onto the desk with a thunk. "Now then! I do believe it is time we go over your schedule, as I do believe we could fit in more training."

… Help.

---

"So what, you're going to be doing extra classes soon?"

You nod your head, idly scribbling down the answer to the next formula on the page. "I've been assigned an additional course in law, not Hero Law… this is actually Medical Law. I've apparently impressed upon the school that I am serious about the whole 'medic' thing, so they are giving me extra courses on what I can and can't do. Should just be an extra hour or two a week and it is worth extra credit."

Stephanie nods, then her finger taps on the paper. "You are solving for X, not Y."

You blink and look down at the problem.

Damn, you were sure of that one. "This is why I'm into biology and not math, biology has no math. Anyone who says otherwise is either an anesthesiologist or a dirty dirty liar."

"Don't ya gotta measure pills and stuff?"

You look up from the paper to your partner, as serious of an expression on your face as you can muster as you stare her in the eyes. "That is the realm of witchcraft and voodoo, understood by few, and loved by less… and as I have yet to take pharmaceutical classes, I don't really have anything to do with it." You raise your hand and wiggle your fingers. "I can fix pain with a touch, I don't really need to be handing out painkillers, and I can't exactly fix things like depression or vitamin deficiencies so… yeah."

Your partner slowly raises her hand and bops your fingers with her own, your digits pressing back and forth against each other in a little war before she wraps them around yours.

"I need those for writing."

Stephanie smirks and releases her grip, her hand moving behind her head as she leans against the couch. "Ah figured all ya big brain types would know math."

"And I wouldn't expect a country girl to be so good at calculus."

"Doomwulf is a woman of many talents." A snicker sounds through the air. "Now come on, ya still gotta give me some tips with the English paper."

---

"Good work Dylan, a fine job in increasing your grades."

You smile at Planck's compliment; studying with Stephanie has been really paying off on that front… even if she is still lagging behind you in other subjects. She's good at punching people, and she does that really well.

… Frankly you will accept the slight deficiency in studies for someone who can carry your ass through combat.

The man then hops off of your desk, the sound of shoes clapping against the floor as he returns to normal size momentarily, before with a hop he changes again in midair to land inch-tall on the next students desk. "Now you see you forgot to apply the basic principles here… but it is an honest mistake and-"

An interesting quirk, and you can't help but wonder what that does to the internal organs.

---

You press the clothes down firmly into the bag, one hand pushing down against the fabric while the other slowly moves the zipper around. Taking a step back you observe the suitcase… that ominous tremble was probably your imagination. You've packed enough for a week, and despite the male stereotype you'd rather do more than just pack six pairs of jeans and t-shirts.

Especially since you'll be going to Virginia. On the Atlantic Coast. Where there is no giant dome for temperature control. It shall be, in the strictest scientific terms, cold as balls.

"All set?"

You look back towards your partner, she's resting against the door to your room, a small smile on her face. "For the most part, going to miss me?"

A sound halfway between a snort and a laugh escapes her. "Ah'll have the bathroom all to myself for an entire week, it's like ah dream."

You drop your voice into the lowest deadpan you can muster. "Figured as much, nobody ever wants the doctor around till they actually need him."

With a sigh Stephanie steps into the room and picks up your bag with little effort on her part, a grin on her face as she looks down at you. "Course ah'll miss you ya dork, but ya won this trip so ah figured we might as well both enjoy it. Think ah'm gonna go 'round campus to see if anyone is up for some board games or somethin'."

… Were you holding her back from doing that? No, no, probably not, at least hopefully not. You stand up straight and smile back.

"Have fun with that, we'll probably be doing nothing but going to museums for a week… least I can meet students from other academies."

"Don't ya go be findin' a new girlfriend."

"In a week?" You look at her in mock hurt. "I'd need at least… nine days for wooing, you can't rush these kinds of things."

"Ya a real casanova, ah'm sure." Stephanie sticks out her tongue and tosses the bag into your chest, nearly taking you out as the weight hits you and you scramble to catch it. "Get."

---

"Alright students, line up, line up!"

You step forward with your bag trailing behind you and take a spot in front of Morrigan, several other steps near you show others doing the same. Teasing aside, your partner actually walked with you to the tram station, and is looking around with as much curiosity as you are as you take in precisely who is going with you.

… That would be precisely two students you recognize and literally nobody else here. One is a student you've only seen faintly, he has medium length but wild grey hair and a long scar running down from his ear to his neck, easily visible above the uniform. He's dressed in the same uniform you all are, but his is modified to be open partially in the back, six spiderlike appendages curled there unmoving.

The dude who ran around like a jumping spider, you've seen him around campus, but you don't share many classes. The most you honestly saw of him was back in that first training simulator where he ran off with Kros and Nora to help people out. He's looking at the train with obvious interest, a smile on his face that accentuates two large fangs hanging down from his mouth that hang down nearly to his chin and the four pairs of eyes on his head. Each is a deep ruby red and is taking in the sights.

The person to his right is…

Muscl- no, Strongman? You wouldn't peg him as a high-scoring student. I mean, it takes all types but uh… well. You know what, that's a stereotype and you will not judge. He looks at you with a grin before adjusting the large duffel bag he has held in one hand behind his back.

"Alright students!" your attention is returned to the magical butterfly teacher. "Take whatever seat you wish on the train, once we reach Charlotte we will be stopping and picking up more passengers!"

You feel a tug and let out a particularly manly yelp as your partner yanks you into a hug before releasing you with a cheeky grin. "Ya have fun, I'll keep the dorm from burnin' down."

You nod your head, a warm flutter filling your chest as you turn back to the train… only to see Strongman grinning at you and the spider guy looking at you in pure confusion.

"What?"

They both shake their heads and make their way onto the train, you following close behind. Each of you split immediately, you taking the middle car while Strongman heads left and Spiderguy heads right.

The seating is the same as it has been, and it doesn't take long for you to find a good spot t-

You blink, watching as your partner emphatically waves at you from the ground outside. You smile and wave back, amused that she saw fit to see you off to this extent. She then grins, and extends both of her arms outwards before closing them together in some form of… air hug. You don't… I mean, sure, okay. You extend both of your arms and... mimic the motion? You feel silly, and this is honestly the most awkward hug you've ever not received. Why does Stephanie have a look of competitiveness?

You see her giggle even if you can't hear it, and as the train begins to move, she raises her hand to her lips, kisses it, then blows it in your direction with a wink.

I… oh. Uhm...

You turn away from the window, the last glimpse you see of your partner as you feel your face heating up being her doing a happy little dance and giving you the two fingered salute.

Why does that make you blush more?!

Right, seating, yes. Train moving, best sit.

There's nothing wrong with you.

Looking around it is kinda sad these trains don't have sleeping cars… well, at least not in the student section. While these things are fast it is still going to be around six hours until you reach Norfolk, part of the reason why you have a free morning on Saturday to unpack and recuperate and the reason why you left so early into the evening on Friday.

Still, at least the seats are comfy, and you have the row to yourself at the mo-

"Dude!"

The quiet is broken up by a happy and boisterous voice sounding off from your left, and you turn your head to acknowledge Bic-, Strongm-, Kevin as he slides into the seat across from you.

"... Kevin." You blink. You were just starting to wind down when he appeared. He's dressed as you've usually seen him around school; the standard jumpsuit with the top unbuttoned to reveal a muscled chest. His brown hair is slicked back and he is looking far too much like the cat who got the canary.

"So, ya got yourself a girlfriend?"

You process the question a moment, then slowly tilt your head. "I didn't tell anyone at school I got a girlfriend, so it is nothing againsn't you in particular. I'm just a rather private person."

"No, I mean do you have a girlfriend?" He gestures to the window where, out of sight by now, Stephanie is probably flipping off the loser of her game of air affection chicken. The man looks affronted, and for a second you worry you offended him before he grins widely again. "Ah dude, I'm just jossing ya. We ain't talked much since last tests, they got us running around so busy like, I barely got time for my own love life."

You quirk a brow, happy to move the subject. "Oh? Torrid love affairs?"

He laughs, and there's enough volume in it to briefly fill the previously empty train car. "Ya, I ain't doing too bad myself. Didn't think a guy like you would hook up that quick though."

"Bookworm I may be, I apparently won her over… somehow." You shrug, ignoring the slight insult.

This time it is his turn to look confused. "Bookworm? Nah dude, I mean like… not a fighter. You're a utility hero, and as awesome as those are they tend to not get as much attention in joints like this." He shakes his head with a wry smile. "Nah, I transferred here from Stanford. I'm not calling anybody a bookworm."

Okay, you admittedly haven't known muscles here very long, and could count all the conversations you've had with him on one hand but still. "Stanford? Really? What made you transfer over here?"

He shrugs, his smile turning impish. "Dad wanted me to be a lawyer, and I disagreed. So when I saw an advertisement I took it. If I didn't make it into ASH I was gonna check out one of the schools near Jacksonville."

You smile back. "Fair enough, remind me to bug you when I have issues with Hero Law."

He lets out a snort. "Hero Law's easy. Pirate can barely stay awake during class so I have to cover his ass anyway." He then leans forward. "But come on man spill, not about the relationship stuff. Stories are going round about how insane she is in combat, the hell is it like rooming with Doomwulf?"

"... Well-" Where to start? No, where to stop? "She's really pleasant and has so far been an excellent roommate, supportive and kind and willing to help me out whenever I need it. So I've been doing all I can to support her." Stephanie admittedly doesn't interact with people all that much, so you don't know how much she wants her 'other' personality to show. But she's your girlfriend, and it is your job to support her damnit.

"Doomwulf? Kind?" That was apparently… not the answer Strongman was expecting. His eyes are wide and his face is shellacked by confusion. "Last time I spoke to her she threw me around the arena like a ragdoll, yelling about how 'Doomwulf was the Alpha-female in this room, bitch'."

You don't fight the grin that appears on your face. "Oh, you get used to that."

Yeah, you'll let him figure that one out.

---

Norfolk is cold. Norfolk is HORRIBLY cold. With the wind blowing in and the snow covering the ground you'd use your best college guess to say that it is roughly forty degrees below cold as hell, and as your hands scream around the next gust of wind to hit them you'd use your medical knowledge to guess your body temperature is approaching ten degrees farenheit right now.

The good news is that if your medical analysis is correct you'll rapidly contract exteremely severe hypothermia, at which point you'll stop shivering, and be dead in just a few moments so you won't have to deal with the fucking COLD much longer.

"This way students!"

The damn butterfly is still as chipper as ever, how she hasn't frozen solid is probably the fault of magical pixy bullshit. God you want magical pixie bullshit. It is thankfully a short walk from the train station towards the hotel you all will be staying at, and the dozen students or so around you are doing a wonderful job of sharing body heat as you all merge together ina penguin-esque bid for warmth. These outfits are snazzy, they are not great for containing heat.

It's an eclectic bunch, and their outfits and styles vary greatly from person to person. But you are more focused on the golden light of heaven in front of you… the hotel, to really pay them any attention.

Once you finally make it inside a collective sigh of relief seems to escape all of you at once like a chorus. A fire is burning in a large marble fireplace, electric but still absolutely lovely at the moment. It's… a nice place actually, a large central lobby with a few couches set about. It's not the fanciest hotel you've ever been in, not that you've been in many, but for a school function this actually isn't bad.

There's even a group of doormen waiting for your arrival apparently, as they are offering to take bags and assist students where needed if they have extra luggage. Nice place, but right now you are more interested in the fire.

Sweet, delicious, warmth, supplemented by the warmth of the dozen and change students who are also enamoured by the man-made miracle of bugger-off-Winter.

Perhaps it's to be expected, with everyone so focused on the fireplace, but with an elegant flutter that you can't imagine not being accompanied by the sound of windchimes, Morrigan quickly garners the attention of the gaggle of students.

"Now students, this trip will be two to a room. The person you are with shall be your 'buddy' during the extent of this trip. You shall work together and study together, and I will trust you all to keep your partners out of trouble!" Morrigan did a little flip in the air for emphasis, and you didn't bother hiding the smile on your face at some genuinely flabbergasted looks on the other students' faces as they met your history teacher.

Other teachers were there of course, with about sixteen students there were three teachers in total, with the ASH having the lowest representation. Morrigan was still in charge, whether that was chosen by seniority, the ASH's status, or gladiatorial combat, you don't honestly have any idea. Still, however great the electric fireplace is, you are soon herded to your room, arriving before your newly-christened 'buddy' and unpacking your nearly bursting bag into the closet

It's a much smaller room than your dorm, but the ASH has always been rather luxurious all things considered. It's two beds, each about the size of a twin, sat about five feet apart from one another with a nightstand in the middle. You have a fridge, a shower, an iron and a (currently closed) balcony that offers a view of the street outside.

So not as cramped as you could have been, though given the fact there are multiple schools here it may have been a joint effort. Either way, it's close to midnight and you look forward to actually getting some sleep when your 'buddy' arrives. You'll have a late morning tomorrow so you actually have time to sleep, god knows you didn't on the train with how long you spent talking to Kev-

*Click*

With the click of the lock opening the door to your opens, a bag enters first tossed into the room before a figure walks in. She has short black hair that is tied into two braids at the front, it has orange highlights running all through it and seems to be… glowing?

She's wearing a uniform you've seen on a few other students here, at least the top. It's a red and black blazer that ends in a skirt. Though hers is modified with what looks like… faintly glowing orange pinecones glowing and jutting down from it.

She staggers in, the bag laying forgotten on the floor. You open your mouth to speak, worried she may be suffering from some form of medical condition before she falls forward onto the bed with a groan, a pair of batlike wings extending from her head to lay limply against the comforter. A thick, reptilian tail extends from underneath the skirt, hanging from it are more of those pinecone things.

"You uh… you okay there ma'am?"

"Swr" A muffled voice speaks up.

"... I'm afraid I didn't catch that."

Her head jerks up, her expression that of annoyance as blood red eyes bore into yours. "There a shower in here?"

You nod and point past her. "You walked by it, it's just to the right of the door."

She extracts herself from the bed with a groan. "Oh thank god, it's been nonstop from Nevada for two days." She stumbles her way back to her bag and starts to drag it into the bathroom. "I know your joint is all coed and stuff, but if you peek or mess with my shit I'll kill you."

"Understood ma'am."

The door to the bathroom clicks shut behind her as she steps inside. Well, she's friendly. Though hopefully that's just the trip taking its toll on her.

Well, she should be out in a few minutes… probably. A half hour at max, then you can take one yourself. Maybe she'll feel like talking more afterwards?



---



[Just go to bed after the shower]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

Right, no, no talking to grumpy. She reminds you of precoffee-wulf; the doomiest, but somehow with less manners. The sound of the water kicks on, and you busy yourself slowly unpacking your clothes and plugging in your devices for the week ahead. It's going to be a long one, after three months the dorm was starting to feel like home. Any feelings of homesickness you had went away quickly, though you suppose it also helps that you weren't alone and enjoying the company you were with, after that company had her coffee.

You glance towards the window as you hang up your clothes, lines of frost decorate the window, and snow slowly piles upon the edge of the 'balcony'. Said balcony being about a foot long lip you can stand out on, with a fence to keep you from falling over. Given the fact that the actual balcony is rather shiny at the moment there is more than a small chance the balcony is a miniature ice rink, and stepping out on it would send you tumbling face first into the great state of Virginia.

Pulling your eyes back you look over the amenities which, per your mother, apparently haven't changed even since when she was a kid. You have a television, a microwave, and an automatic iron. Something you may be using quite a bit of considering most of your nice clothes are going to be covered by jackets whenever possible if you have any say in the matter. The fridge is normal hotel sized, and until you actually get groceries it shall be useless. Or you can just set any drinks or perishable goods on the balcony and let the Atlantic figure it out.

Smiling faintly you turn back to the bed and start to get your clothes together to hang up. You have about four days of clothes, beyond that you'll need to wash. You could have packed more but you'd rather not have to carry it all around. That, and you actually wanted to stuff some personal items besides clothes in this tiny ass bag thank you. The school's luggage carrier is as mandatory as it is miniscule, it's only saving grace being an imperial shit-ton of pockets for toiletries and books, so… that's useful at least.

Your mind drifts for several minutes as you unpack and set up your electronics,you wonder how your dorm is faring against Doomwulf. Such thoughts bring amusement, though you can't help but feel somewhat… homesick already. It's a dorm, but you've decorated it and have been living in it for months. That and it has a very dear person to you there. You actually rather miss it.

Your musing is interrupted by the door to the bathroom sliding open, your 'roommate' having showered and dried off while you were busy amusing yourself with the image of a burning dorm. You glance back to see the woman in a pair of black and red pajamas and a towel wrapped around her head.

She's staring at you, unblinking.

…

You stare back, suddenly feeling like a deer staring at a truck on the freeway. All flight and precisely no flight, but unfortunately someone has superglued your legs to the floor so you can't really duck under the bed as the dull orange glow of her 'pinecones' light up the room behind her.

Her tail whaps against the floor and she hisses at you like some form of demonic snake. Before she walks past you and grabs the remote off of the television stand.

Riiiiight.

Not dealing with that, grabbing your clothes you duck into the shower. Luckily, by the time you've cleaned up she's bundled up on her side (with her tail idly laying off the side of the bed) and paying attention to only the television. Even more luckily she's watching a nature show, and the white noise of a British narrator telling you about the glory of the lemur drags you to the land of nod.

---

You awake to the scent of… cheap strawberries. Blinking blearily you pull your head up, squinting as the bright winter sun filters in through the window to blast you briefly in the face before you turn your head towards the source of the scent. It is revealed to be a certain mystery woman cooking breaktast.

Well, 'cooking'. Your new roommate is staring at the microwave. She turns back to look at you when the bed creaks, a plate in her hand with… half eaten poptarts on it. "Want breakfast? What they have downstairs is boring as fuck."

You stare at her. On the one hand, the food downstairs is probably a better ratio of food and preservatives. On the other hand, if you accept the poptarts you probably don't need to actually get out of bed.

That's actually a really tough choice an- "Yes please."

She grins and pulls the treats out of the microwave, dropping them on a paper plate before setting them on the foot of your bed.

"Thanks." You pull yourself the rest of the way up with a groan and grab the plate, idly smelling the food a moment before looking up at her. "I'm Dylan by the way. I think we were both too tired last night to really exchange pleasantries."

The woman blinks, half a poptart in her mouth that she quickly swallows. "Teresa."

You smile. "Nice to meet you, hopefully we can get along as temporary roomates. You said you're from Nevada?"

She nods, idly setting the plate on the table. Her head wings flap briefly before they fold up against the side of her head. "I'm from the NIH, Nevada Institute for Heroes."

"... Never heard of it, I'm afraid, though I've never really paid much attention to hero stuff."

Teresa looks annoyed for a moment before shrugging it off. "Whatever, you been here before?"

"Norfolk, no. Virginia, also no. Frankly I'm not sure how the Yankees deal with living so close to the Atlantic."

Teresa shrugs and picks up her remaining poptart. "Fuck if I know, grew up on the Georgia border thank you. Never much cared for the cold either, being that close to Florida and all."

Georgia border? Huh, wonder if she knows Stephanie? Though given how… subdued Stephanie is you wouldn't be surprised if Doomwulf wasn't known by half of the Southern US at this point. More power to her frankly, you'll be happy staying low and healing people. Your partner can get all the money and interviews and be like your aunt all she likes.

Your musings are interrupted by a faint musical chime and a gentle knock on the door. "Wake up students! We will not be leaving for another hour but that is no excuse for sleeping in!"

Your teacher; scientific name Satanus Lepidoptera... well, she earns the name from your neighbours, more than a few of which have… less than kind words to give that announcement.

"So, your teacher's a butterfly?"

"Makes etymology weird, but yeah." You turn your head from the door back towards Teresa. "You don't have an odd teacher?"

Teresa's eyes briefly look towards the ceiling before settling back on you, the wings on the side of her head fully unfurling again in the process. "We have a teacher who is nearly two dimensional, so that counts I guess."

"I… don't have any idea how that could work, physically or medically."

Teresa gives you a blank look before she huffs, pulling her tail around to rest the cones against the floor, orange light casting odd shadows on the dull blue carpet. Then with a very delicate plop she sits down on it, munching away at a poptart while she sits on her tail.

Fair enough. Poptart eating time.

---

You gaze up at the statue, the sound of a flag hitting a pole ringing through the air as the harsh Atlantic wind blows into the dock. There's well over a dozen of you here, yet surprisingly it's all quiet as you stare up at the towering piece of brass. It depicts a man, woman and child all looking towards the sky with their arms outstretched. In the child's hand is a flower held loosely, barely a half moment away from falling out of her grip if it wasn't part of the statue. In the man's hand is a newspaper, and you can just barely make out in the etched metal the announcement for a new amendment.

Each of the three have visible quirks, and you immediately recognize each of the features: the Greenbergs, the first proponents of the entire quirk revolution in the united states. The man's feet look like roots, while the woman's arms have vines and flowers sprouting from them in multiple directions. The little girl is the least obvious, though that is more due to her age, patches of bark grow on her skin in places… well, bark in the form of shaped brass anyway.

"This, students, marks the location of the first quirk revolution in modern terms, where quirk users were given the right to use their abilities in public, and allowed them to work to better the society around them."

With a musical chime Morrigan does a little flip in the air. "It also allowed those with powers to work as licensed vigilantes and eventually heroes! Thus allowing you all to be here now!"

A murmur spreads through the students, though you are entirely focused on your teacher now. "This city was the spark of the quirk rights movement, and so to many it is considering a cultural landmark and quite possibly the most important spot in the last century of American history!"

Well, someone is excited. Though you will admit it is… quite an impressive sight. Around the monument are various glass displays, each showing images set into the glass with text descriptions of the quirk rights movement, various marches, that sort of thing. A few students start to wander before the teachers collect them, ushering you all past the outdoor monument towards a large building behind it.

It's a sleek building, white with a large glass front. The entire building is seemingly made of curves, no straight edge along the entire front. It's also heavily guarded, deliberately obvious cameras and security are dotted around the premises.

'Quirk Rights Museum'

Your eyes trace the sign, then settle on the door. Well, you suppose this was the purpose of the trip after all.

Whatever you expected inside the museum, it was more peaceful. As you step into the warmed room, a riot fills the room. The sounds of gunfire and shouts echo through the air, rumbling in your chest with their intensity.The room shakes beneath your feet as you hear a distant (thankfully fake) explosion. The murmur before was quiet, this one going through the students is louder and more than a little confused.

Laying against the wall is a motionless man, bullet holes marking the wall around him and blood staining his clothes. You run towards him, and another museum goer walks straight through him, the man flickering blue briefly before once again appearing perfectly lifelike. A hologram.

Around him are various pictures and videos, all depicting various violence and atrocities against quirk-users, and despite yourself you feel a bit of a pit welling up in your stomach. Another gunshot rings through the air, and you jerk your head to the left.

A… battle is going on in the middle of the museum, though in still motion. A large mob of quirk users and a few token quirkless are standing up against the police in one corner, the CRC in the other. Bloodied and broken people lay against the ground, the image set in a slight pit surrounded by glass walls.

Shouts of 'Mutants' and 'Freaks' fills the air, and you stare at it transfixed… that's… a thing. You've been called a mutant more than once yourself, though these days that is certainly a rare insult, and one that is used almost in friendly terms among quirk users. But in this context it is something else entirely.

I… yeah, your eyes move on from the display to look around the walls. The display takes up the center of the museum while the rest of the areas are built up in a ring around it. From here there are four doors, with one in each corner. Each one is labelled for mark a different display.



---



[X] (The Anti-Quirk Movement)

[X] (The Greensbergs)

---

Your eyes keep drifting back to the riot display, no matter how much you want to take your eyes off of it. It doesn't take more than a glance to either side to show the other students are doing the same, and you can't blame them. The image is… powerful. It also serves as a harsh reminder of precisely how fragile the culture you find yourself in. You've been called a mutant yourself, though that's nearly a dead phrase, thanks to the shrinking of the quirkless to quirk user ratio.

Not that it has stopped it within your own family. Your mother has received the reverse, being mocked and looked down upon for not having any form of quirk entirely. It's only worse when she was always compared to her dear sister. A bile rises in your throat, and you forcefully turn your head away and start to walk towards the nearest corner.

Various more holograms and displays surround the 'arena', and you walk past more than a few as you make your way down a marked path. Scenes of violence and bloodshed, it seems the museum wants to beat you over the head with the brutal early. Admittedly from the signs around it doesn't really seem like they keep kids here, and security checked your ID's before you were allowed inside.

… But that really doesn't make this place easier to deal with, despite the fact that you don't have the malleable and easily scarred mind of a child. They went for realism here, and despite the fact that you've been thrown at plenty of simulations and dealt with plenty of holograms for class it doesn't make it any less pleasant.

Like, why can't they use this tech for awesome dinosaur exhibits? Or anything less depressing than quirkphobia?

Your eyes trace the exhibits as you walk by them, it's mostly holographic displays of more acts of violence as expected. It seems this main hall is all about that, setting the tone early. You glance away and look towards where the path is heading. The whole building is built like a diamond, with the 'show' in the center and everything else set in a separate path around it via four entrances to four sections, all arranged chronologically.

The one you are approaching is the second, the blue walkway you've been following leading directly to it. It's a large entrance, easily six foot across and ten feet or so tall. Embossed in golden lettering across the top is the words 'Anti-Quirk Movement'.

Lovely.

Right above those words is a video display showing an anti-quirk march. People holding signs and shouting silent words of protest and anger. It cuts every few seconds to fights in the streets, people with one slight mutations and quirks being attacked or being forced to fight back.

To the left of the door is an image pushed into the wallpaper. It depicts a man, probably mid-forties, balding. He's holding a sign demanding all mutants be euthanized. To the right of the door is a familiar figure, a gaunt figure with a white skull mask. Unlike his compatriots back at the holograms who are wearing black, this man is wearing robes of pure white to the point his mask almost blends with him. His hands are extended at his side almost welcoming, and below him is text.

'Humanity, much like a tree, wishes to grow to reach the clouds, the light, and the Heavens above. As its branches grow, its roots do as well. Deeper and deeper into the ground, into darkness, towards Hell.'

Keith Travers, an absolutely lovely man, and the last known 'grand master' of the Creature Rejection Clan (CRC). Nobody knows quite what happened to him; shortly after the amendment was passed his organisation fragmented and he disappeared.

Either way, it's a hell of a quote. The man was a monster with a poison tongue.

"The CRC, eh?" you jump a little, then slowly turn your head to see Teresa letting out an appreciative whistle. "Not very subtle that guy."

"Add skull masks to a morning service, and the preacher begins to forget what 'subtle' looks like."

Teresa's tail drags across the floor, moving idly and clicking along the tiles as she stares at the man. Then without responding to you she steps into the exhibit. The pinecones clinking as they drag along the floor.

It seems the tail matches her mood, she's down, so is the tail. At the very least she's rather easy to see in the dark interior, glowing faintly orange and all that. You wonder if she ever asked for a nightlight or if she did it herself.

You follow, the first thing you hear being shouts as you pass the threshold. They are much like the shouts outside but far more… organized. Yells of 'Mutant' and 'Freak' fill the air. The first display is that of the emergence of the anti-quirk movement. It started near immediately of course, people will be people and anything different tends to frighten at the best of times. But the actual movement itself moved beyond standard riots to actual marches and organized meetings rather quickly as the population of quirk-users increased.

A glance back shows the previous exhibit was all about the emergence of quirks themselves, patient zero in China and the like. As you progress the marches and lawmakers change to something… different. Violence in the streets, much like the video outside here the holograms are showing thankfully static images of people being beaten or maimed. Extra features being… removed, or worse.

The riots, the purges, a generation of terror.

The section after that is the rise of the CRC, a quasi-religious cult that took the world by storm. What started as a fringe religious group in Mississippi quickly grew to have 'chapters' in North and South America along with Western Europe and Japan. They weren't the only group like themselves, but they were definitely the most prominent.

What started as speeches and protests quickly turned to demands for euthanasia, sterilisation, and threats. From there it moved onto lynchings and murders. Some feared, possibly smartly, that a second civil war was about to kick off. Indeed many born with quirks or those who had already been living with them had them surgically removed where possible in an effort to fit in. An utterly barbaric and hated practice today… but one that may have saved one's life back then. Like cutting off an arm stuck under a boulder… you wonder where that saying came from, anyway?

You stand before an image of a lynching, a young man with lion's features is hanging motionless from a streetlamp. A crowd around him is posing, proud as they look upon the camera. You glance down at your hands, the fingers bending and twisting as you turn them this way and that. You yourself have no visible signs of your quirk. If you wanted you could easily pass off as 'pure'. Yet somehow that makes you feel like you just don't… deserve it.

You remember your grandfather talking about those days, the rise and fall of the CRC and the quirk-rights bill. He never liked talking about it much, then again your grandfather was quirkless and was staunchly anti hero-group in general. But he never seemed to look upon that whole time period with much fondness for either side.

The exhibit ends after a few more displays, violence, hatred, and the eventual dissolution of the CRC following the Greensberg revolution. Speaking of which, since you are entering from another exhibit this doesn't have a fancy 'entrance' like this one did. Instead this one just has a simple plaque in golden lettering that reads 'The Greensbergs'.

Teresa is behind you now, she's currently staring at some pictures lining the wall, showcasing some of the atrocities committed by the CRC. You look back at her a moment, then move forward into the next section of the museum.

---

The Greensbergs, a family from Virginia. Normal suburban folk not notable at all beyond the fact they all share plant themed quirks. It wasn't an accident of course, it was common practice back then, and continues even now for people to seek out those with similar quirks. There are a lot of reasons; familiarity is the main one now, but in the early days there was a fear of incompatibility affecting the kids. The belief that mixing quirk traits may lead to a tree person with fire powers, or something similarly horrifying. It was a fair concern at the time, but there's no evidence to support it. Which is good; you and your girlfriend couldn't be anymore different in that department.

A normal life in the time of the CRC and the quirk riots. Well, at least as normal as a life could be among those with quirks. A holographic still image shows the three of them all posed for a family photo, it's digitally recreated in blue and white light. Flicking slightly from the movement of students around you.

All was normal until the day Sally Greensberg, the youngest, was nearly lynched. A group of monsters attacked her as she was returning from school and nearly killed her. Her father used his quirk and viciously assaulted the attackers, the only thing saving the girl's life being the fact that he was coming to pick her up.

Of course, everyone took that precisely the wrong way. Quirk crackdowns began anew, violence both civilian and official spread like wildfire across the country. But then something unexpected happened.

The quirk users fought back. Young Sally was used as an image for a series of riots that chained across the entire continental United States. Clashes unlike any others rippled across the country like a tsunami. Boston, New York, Tampa, Atlanta. Riots and marches and fights and nearly a full scale civil war.

The Greensbergs were used as the public face of the mob… and once again the unexpected happened. They urged a move of non-violence and in several key moments of vicious assaults on the quirk users… the quirk users didn't respond at all. Mimicking the pacifist movement of old India they retooled the entire 'front' to be one focused on, well, peace.

And in one last surprise… it worked. The CRC and their mobs only got more violent, and the extreme acts caused fragmentation within the group. Culminating with the March on Washington where the Washington PD worked on the side of the Quirk-Rights front and kept the CRC out of the city.

A mass wave of quirk rights bills were published, with another amendment in the works to allow the full use of non-dangerous quirks in public. Meanwhile the CRC had all but become a shadow of its former self, its own members turning against its increasingly violent and thuggish ways. Not that they are gone meanwhile, you think back to seeing a few 'sects' of them about even when you were a kid as you stare up at a picture of the March on Washington.

The last section of the exhibit is broken up into two sections. The first is the burnt out remnants of a car. Not a hologram, an actual car. A plaque in front of it gives the details of the events, though you yourself don't actually need any information as to what this is. Shortly after the ratification of the new amendment, Dean and Jane Greensberg were killed by a car bomb believed to be planted by the CRC. Not that it was ever proven of course, and the leader of the organization was never even found after the amendment was passed.

The other half of the exhibit is dedicated to Sally Greensberg, a video is playing on the screen in crystal clear quality. She's old, far older than she was in any pictures or other video footage here. Her hair has grayed and it is tied up in a braid, though her eyes are still green as an emerald and kind even through the videoscreen. She died before you were born, but you still know that face.

Everyone does.

She is being interviewed by someone offscreen, and you enter the exhibit just at the start of the next round of questions. "So then, with the new arrival of Man of Might, what would you say is your opinion is on these… heroes?"

Sally smiles at the question, amusement on her wizened features. "My father and mother were heroes, and those that came after them carried the torch. They are an idea more than they are anything else I think, a symbol. Ideals and progress has always been set by the exceptional, and a symbol can hold purity that no man or woman could ever match. I know that a symbol will lead us to a bright future."

You stare at the woman, students passing behind you to move to other exhibits, many only casting a brief glance towards the low-tech video display.

She continues. "They are… hope, something free from corruption that can save the world. Some think… some say they are the next step of evolution. I do not think so, I think they are merely what humanity was always supposed to be."

You stare at her face a moment longer, the interviewer rattling off another question that you don't pay any attention to. You brush past students and teachers alike, your feet slapping against the floor as you make your way through the arena and out the front door. The bitter cold slaps you immediately, and you take in a long breath.

Well.

Everyone is allowed to be wrong you suppose, even Sally Greensberg. It's something to be hopeful of, for sure, but putting blind faith is heroes is only asking for trouble. A man may wear a symbol on his chest but behind that symbol is just another human, and a human is just as capable of being corrupt as they were before the quirk-rights movement.

You draw in another breath, suddenly feeling rather sick to your stomach as you move to rest against one of the pillars holding the building up. There are plenty of people out and about, tourists and school groups, as your eyes trail over to the various cameras and security setup you can't help but feel like there is still a ways to go before things are fully… normalized.

Hundreds of thousands of years of human evolution, and one small genetic slip makes it all change radically in the blink of an eye. It's part of the reason why you wanted to get into medical work, and a strong reason why you went into quirk research and quirk development. Of course, being what you are you couldn't actually go into medicine with your unknown quirk, too many variables. So instead you became a hero so that you could at least help somebody without becoming some shady back alley doctor or a vigilante.

You could have done nothing of course, but that would have been a waste. Something put you on this earth with this ability, a quirk that nobody else in your family has, a genetic anomaly. Frankly it would be a waste not to use it, but you will never be a… symbol.

Frankly you feel like you need a cigarette, you don't smoke, but that's supposed to be relaxing, right? Heavy footfalls sound behind you, along with the now familiar sound of something scaly scraping across pavement.

A faint orange glow stands besides you, her arms tucked under her bust as she looks towards the statue. She lets out a breath, obviously bothered by what she saw inside.

"Powerful stuff." You remark, wincing a little as the words leave your mouth. A few other students have come out as well, either waiting for the teachers to show up or just… overwhelmed by the experience inside.

"Those holograms were… rather much." Teresa remarks.

"You get used to them." You shrug… no, you slump. "Well, not really. You get used to their existence, it's hard to get desensitized to them."

Teresa shakes her head, her tail slapping sharply against the ground. "It's bullshit, I came here to relax not to… that."

You stare at her, and several months of experience with Doomwulf actually tells you she is hiding her actual thoughts on the matter. "Well, think of it this way. We have a whole week and that's the most traumatic part of it. Wanna go bowling?"

The tail skids across the concrete a moment in surprise before she gives you an odd look. "Bowling? Are you fucking serious?"



---



How dare she? You straighten to your full height, glaring at her.

"Yes I'm fucking serious about bowling, the fuck is wrong with bowling?"

Teresa blinks, looking momentarily confused before she recovers with a smirk. "The fuck is wrong with you for thinking there is nothing fucking wrong with bowling?"

You frown. "You throw a fucking ball to knock over some god-forsaken fucking pins, it is an amusing dalliance and I also like to play billiards."

"Billiards is fucking boring." To punctuate her statement Teresa's tail slaps against the concrete, orange sparks shooting off from where the pinecones hit the ground.

Your eyes narrow, the horror of the museum forgotten as you stare at the heretic in front of you. "In my darkest days of high school and studying for medical school, I had books, I had bowling, and I had billiards. So you either take that back or I'm going throw you into the Atlantic."

Teresa looks you up and down, her tails agitatedly swaying behind her, and leans forward. "You have balls."

"I borrowed them from my partner." You lean forward to match her height. "You in or not?"

Teresa stares at you a moment longer before shrugging her shoulders. "Lead the way, dweeb."

---

You draw in a breath, staring at the figure in front of you. It is motionless, but daunting, and you swear it is getting closer the longer you stare at it. It's… oddly proportioned, thick at the bottom and thin at the top, with a red scar around its neck. You only have one shot at this, so you will have to make it co-

"Throw the ball already ya pussy!"

A few heads turn towards Teresa as she shouts, the woman is sitting back on the cushioned seat with her foot resting on top of the ball return mechanism.

"One cannot rush brilliance."

Focus.

You draw your arm back and throw it forwards, your fingers twisting slightly as you release. Flight; like a majestic, fat, physically traumatized bird, the ball spins through the air for a glorious moment before landing on the lane. It speeds across the polished wood like Doomwulf on the scent of fresh coffee and bacon. A solid 18 miles an hour. With a crash it hits the pin at the far end, a little ditty playing on the screen above before it displays the word 'spare'.

Hell yeah, Dylan the Bowling Master!

You turn back to Teresa with a cocky grin on your face. "You're up."

With a put upon sigh Teresa rises from the cushion and grabs her ball from the rack. She doesn't wind up, instead she neatly sets the ball down in front of the lane, her hand resting atop it to keep it from moving as she lines it up. She reaches out a hand and taps the wall next to the lane lightly, at her behest you choose a quirk-friendly lane. This alley was split into two halves, one for those who wished to bowl normally, another half for those who wished to use their quirks. Batting cages and such other places have all been setup that way for the most part, those who go with the cheaper alternative of not allowing quirk use, well, they tend to be shouted out of business.

In this case there are tall walls around the lane and the floor is reinforced to withstand military grade punishment. Off to the other end of the alley you can see a man loading a bowling ball into a shoulder-mounted canno- His arm, the cannon that is also an arm. Turning your glance back to Teresa you watch as she lets out a deep breath, with a whip of air her tail raises, the pinecones at the end glowing even bright orange for a moment before she leaps up into the air and swings it around. The tail hits the bowling ball right at the tip a-

*BANG*

The pinecones at the tip of her tail explode on contact, a bright orange flash flaring up as the ball goes rocketing down the alley like a cannonball or a particularly rotund artillery shell. Well, you say it goes rocketing, truth be told you barely saw it. One moment it was resting against the floor, the next it bounced off the shock absorbent wall at the other end of the lane and took all the pins with it. You stare at the mess, then watch as one of the pins ricochets off of the safety wall to pinball its way down the lane, stopping just short of the marker line.

With a mechanical whir the lane tilts back, lifting up slightly to see the gears and mechanisms running underneath the alley. The 'displaced' pins all roll back, the sorting machine grabbing them as they fall before the lane flattens out again.

Teresa stares at it a moment, the screen above you both showing a very outdated video animation that signifies a strike. Nodding to herself she turns back to you. "You're up dork."

She dares challenge Dylan, the Bowling God?

You stare at her amused before grabbing your ball off of the rack. "So, how come only I'm a dork when you're also on a tour for the 'most studious of student'?"

Teresa's tail whaps against the floor, and you do not stare at the pinecones in slight alarm now that you know what they can do. That would be rude. "Yeah, but you're like a medical dork. That's the worst kind of dork."

You blink, thinking over the conversations you've had so far. "And how… precisely do you know I'm a medical dork?"

Teresa shrugs. "The internet. Took some digging but I got most of the school files. May have had to borrow a password or two."

"You… broke into the school network to look up who I was?"

Teresa shakes her head, and annoyed look forming on her face even as her arms cross over her chest. "No, I looked up who everyone was. I don't know any of you weirdos."

You aren't entirely sure how to respond to that, so you fall back on your life's experience so far to form the correct response.

"...Ok."

You turn toward the lane again and rear your arm back, taking in a deep breath before swinging it over.

A computer dork then.

---

The sounds of quiet discussion fills the air around you, it all… muddles together to create something wholly unintelligible yet oddly relaxing. Paintings surround you, and their colors add to the already relaxing atmosphere of the entire locale. Add that to the scent of old wood, and well, paint, and you would actually call it downright sedate.

You stare at the painting in front of you, your head tilting slightly as you take in the myriad colors. The crowd behind you fades as you study the piece, the wonderfully detailed figures drawing you in as…

Yeah, you got nothing.

"I'm not really an art guy. Pretty, though." Your head turns slowly to the man standing next to you, spider… dude. You don't actually know its name, though seeing as how Teresa sat out this particular part of the tour (which you didn't even know was a option) you are partnered up with him.

Could be worse, the 'man' in a tailed suit is currently arguing with a museum caretaker about how the 'real' version of a painting is in his father's collection. You'll take the spider dude, thank you very much.

"It's the depiction of Moses striking the rock." His voice is quiet, almost so quiet you can't hear it over the din of people. "Abraham Bloemaert."

You turn your attention back to the painting, squinting your eyes. "Moses seems… ripped, and why the topless woman?"

"That's not Moses, it was made in the Renaissance, and it was made in the Renaissance."

His shirt ripples as the extra appendages across his back readjust themselves, and for a moment you wonder how someone like him would have fared during the times shown in the museum. Those with more outwardly… unhuman quirks faced the worst kickback. Kids in schoolyards come to mind when you look at his chitinous legs.

No, not the point right now. You stick your hand forward, offering him a handshake. "Dylan, not an art-student."

He stares at the hand, his eyes, all eight of them blink at once before his hand tentatively reaches out to grasp yours. The palm is… rough to the touch, like the entire surface is callused. He gives you a firm grip nonetheless and smiles a little awkwardly. "Reilly."

The appendages at his back taps against his clothes, shifting more rapidly as he lets go of your hand. He looks you up and down, the smile not leaving his face. "You're R&D right?"

You start to shake your head, then pause. Well… technically. "I'm not really R&D, but that is the focus of my studies outside the normal stuff at the moment. Medical quirk and all of that."

He nods, smiling a bit wider now. "Yeah I remember you during the test, I've been over in tailoring and costume design: also R&D, but we haven't run into each other."

You weren't even aware that was a choice to be honest, not that you have and idea how to make clothes. But you are fairly certain that wasn't on the list when you had your choice at the school. "So… you make silk then?"

Reilly blinks rapidly, seeming confused for a moment before he gets what you are implying. "No! I don't, but I like making clothes. I was actually studying to be a clothes designer before I got the chance to apply here."

You nod and start walking through the displays, Reilly pointing out interesting pieces as you go. It's rather helpful; you know next to nothing about art, while he seemingly knows everything. It does enrich the experience immeasurably.

The museum is split in halves; 'quirk' and 'non-quirk' sections. Not in the manner of old where people with quirks were restricted to only certain parts of buildings and the like. This is separated art made by quirks from everything else. While quirk segregation is almost universally abolished, sports and art and the like do still make a point of keeping such things in their own categories as to not 'muddy' the water so to speak. Which you suppose is fair: It wouldn't be fair to compare what your quirk does with the work of a qualified doctor. It's definitely not fair to start using that comparison in a creative or competitive industry.

It's an enjoyable day, and far more peaceful than the last one. This whole vacation in general has been relaxing really.

---

You soon regret that thought. You stare up at the 'Hero History Museum', the famous HHM. It was to be expected, of course, that the city that takes credit for the vigilante amendment would also have a museum dedicated to its greatest figures. It's an impressive building, palatial in scope and decoration and made of fine white marble you'd hardly find outside of Rome or Washington.

It's not too far from the port, though given its size it makes sense why you all didn't immediately go there after the first museum. This is pretty much the last stop on your trip, barring an out-of-town location for tomorrow, but for now they apparently saved the 'best' for last. The other students are sufficiently awed, and the teachers are leading them away in groups as you follow along.

It's not that you don't care about the history of heroics, while you may not like the idea for the most part you still do respect the history behind it. And hell, even you like the Man of Might.

Still, the donor's plaque at the bottom makes you uncomfortable.

---

You lean against the wall of the balcony, the cold ripping into you as you let out an involuntary shiver. It's cold out here, it's been cold every damn day in Virginia. Teresa is of course inside, where it is warm and comfy, but you are out here because you are expected to call your girlfriend every evening lest she gets mad at you.

If you knew that being in a relationship would involve commitment you would have just thrown the whole idea into the Atlantic… maybe… probably… Okay, so the relationship is fantastic, so you wouldn't. But if you aren't allowed to gripe about how your phone feels like it is frozen to your face then what are you allowed to gripe about?

The phone only rings twice before it is picked up, a familiar drawl coming through the line a moment later. "Well if it ain't my missing boyfriend? How ya doing?"

"Cold as Omnilinguist after a test, and half as grouchy. Looking forward to being back."

You hear a chuckle through the line. "That's tomorrow right?"

"Yeah, after we come back into town. We are having another field trip out to Chesapeake to see a smaller museum they have there. Frankly I don't know why, already been to quite a lot of them but at the very least I'm not having to do tests."

"My poor partner, on a vacation where every moment is a living agony." That gets a sigh out of your partner, very put on. "The hell were you doing today anyway?"

You press back against the wall a bit harder, hoping that if you manage to merge with it in some way it will provide at least a slight amount more warmth. "The HHM, big old museum full of stuff I don't particularly care about. You'd love it."

There's silence on the line for a few seconds, long enough that you worry you lost the call. "You the-"

"Ya ever gonna explain what the deal is with that?"

You pause, your mouth hanging open due to the interruption. "Explain… what precisely?"

"The whole hero thing." Stephanie explains. "Ya don't get excited about anythin' related to 'em."

Oh… that.

"Yeah, just never was. That was more my aunts thing, my mother being quirkless lead to us usually not getting too involved."

"Ya know damn well that wasn't what ah meant."

"I know, but…" You let out a sigh. "I'm not really comfortable talking about it, not like this. How about when we get back?"

There's silence on the line for a long moment. "Promise me, we can't be partners if ya aren't willing to talk to me."

"Sure." You stare into the night sky, the stars, if there are any, are invisible due to the light pollution. "I promise."

---

The bus is thankfully heated, this is a good thing considering the fact that the front door of the hotel this morning was literally blocked by snow. Coming from a place that sees roughly two to three inches of snow a year if you are lucky it was quite a sight to see. Of course, from there it took roughly an hour to just get out of the city, but since then it has been a relatively simple if smooth ride.

The students have been chatting amicably amongst themselves, and aside from odd exchanges of dialogue with Teresa you've mostly been left by your lonesome. You wouldn't say the two of you have become friends, but you've definitely started to get along. She's like a taller angrier version of Doomwulf, you didn't know you needed such a person in your life but here you are.

You've been watching the landscape go by, snowy fields broken up by industry as far as the eye can see. Not precisely something you'd put into a painting, but at the very least you don't have to drain the battery of your phone as you watch it all pass b-'

There's a tap on your shoulder, causing you to distinctly not jump in fright… shut up. You look back to see Strongman leaning over the seat and smiling down at you. "Hey dude, how ya been?"

You stare up at him, wondering precisely when he learned how to be a ninja before answering. "Well… enough. Yourself?"

Strongman shrugs, gesturing behind him. "Buddy is asleep, thought I'd bug you."

Your eyes dart to your left, Teresa is busy typing away at a laptop, paying precisely zero attention to either of you. "Yeaaaah, whatcha got?"

Strongman pulls both of his arms up to lay atop the headrest. A wide smile on his face as he looks down at you. "You work with Alva right?"

You nod, suddenly feeling like you may regret this conversation.

"What's she like? Rumors are going around that she's an android."

Well, she is. You aren't particularly sure why there would be rumors about that. You are just opening your mouth to answer when something catches your eye, the snowy fields are still omnipresent outside, but just outside the bus there is a large amount of snow flying up. At first you think it is the bus itself doing it, but you are on a two lane paved road, not exactly acting like a snowplow.

You lean over, looking through the window to see what is causing it. You don't have to look very hard, a… man, is running alongside the bus on all fours. His limbs are long, and his bare arms and legs dig into the snow like a horse as he keeps pace. He's wearing what appears to be an animal carcass, though precisely what you cannot tell. "What's that guy doing?"

Strongman looks to the side, his gaze out the window. "The he-"

Kevin is cut off in dramatic fashion, as the man leaps towards the bus.

*CRASH*

---

Ugh…

Where?

Right, bus. Everything kind of hurts, and it's taking time to heal...

The last thing you remember is the whole bus going airborne and tumbling end over end off of the road. You must have hit your head on something, going by the pain.

You blink, vision returning even as the scent of smoke starts to fill your nose. You are crumpled up on the floor next to your bench… or a bench, it's hard to tell at the moment. Students are spread all over the floor or draped across seats. Teresa is slowly pulling herself up with a groan from the floor next to you, the laptop broken in half. While Kevin is nowhere to be seen, not that you can see much with the smoke in the air and the swimming of your vision.

The sound of brakes screeching fills the air, and muffled shouts drift through the walls. They are all suffocated by the sound of screeching metal. The bus rocks as the door is wrenched at. One. Two. Three times. Light spills into the cabin through quickly growing gaps between the door and the frame.

At first you thought it was a teacher, but as the figure who opened the door steps inside you feel your stomach sink.

The 'man' is stalking forward on all fours, casting the door aside as he enters the cabin. He's older, probably in his mid forties or so, and his skin is… all wrong. Patches of black and red are in place of what would be normal skin, making every inch of him look like a brutal painting, from his curled toes to his warped face. Part of the skin of his cheek is sloughing off, giving him an appearance almost like he is melting.

His hand swipes out, the skin loose and drooping. A student jumps away, narrowly tumbling back over a seat as the man misses. He growls in annoyance, though his expression barely changes beyond the vacant look on his face. Every move he makes is… halted, like the bones are locking or like he was some form of puppet. Every turn of his head is mechanical, popping and moving in degrees instead of smooth moment.

With every moment the sound of cracking joints fills the bus.

Oh, oh dear.

 

[Erien]

[Help the other Students] This is a villain, but right now your focus should be on helping and healing the other students.

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

*Focus*

Teresa is nearest to you and is injured, other students about. Triage. What can you do?

Students everywhere; minor injuries, largely disoriented. Enclosed space, villain, and smoke coming from the front. Prioritize healing and evacuate to a safe location. First step is to remove the villain and free an escape route.

Your eyes snap to Teresa, she's pushing herself up to her feet with one hand, the other hanging limply at her side. You reach forward, grabbing her wrist and ignoring the hiss of pain that escapes her lips.

"The fuck are yo-"

"Quiet." You say firmly. Injuries are mild to moderate, but the disorientation will cost precious time, and you know damn well from Stephanie that a broken hand is disastrous for close quarters fighters. It's a three second job; enough to hold her together and nothing more. The bone is only barely in place and you flood her system with pain-numbing power. "I've buffed your quirk and your hand will hold. Go!"

You shove her towards the threat, and she moves, tail slapping against the floor as she sprints past, hopping over benches. The sound of fighting filling the air from… outside the bus. You turn your head around to look outside only to see what remains of the roof, broken in places revealing snow and yet more smoke.



Right, focus.

You hold your hand over your mouth as you check over the bus. The man is gone, partially due to Teresa charging him, partially due to something sending him flying across the field with a blow you failed to see nor cared to pay much attention towards. Students are picking themselves up, only light injuries so far. You'll focus on head wounds for now, and if anything that would keep them from getting out of here shows u-

"H-help."

Your eyes snap to the front of the bus and away from the carnage, a voice spoke weakly through the smoke and growing flame. A familiar voice.

You push through and over a detached seat, making your way near to where the automated drive cabin is.

… Of course he'd sit at the very front. Laying on the floor on top of the broken glass windows is the rich snob you've gotten to know these past few days.You're pretty sure his name is Sebastien.

*Focus*

The frame of the bus broke inwards, the window hit a rock and splintered the metal just as he fell on it. Piece of metal roughly a foot long is jutting out of his chest between the true ribs. His breath is coming out in broken gasps, possibly damaged lungs.

You don't so much kneel as dive next to him, your hand moving to his chest while your other moves to his head to look him in the eyes. Non-dilated but not focused on anything in particular. "Can you hear me, Sebastien?"

His eyes flick to you, but he doesn't move his head, though given the location there is quite possibly a chance he simply can't move his head at all. Right. "You're going to be okay, just give me a moment to get you fixed up alright?"

You glance back down at the wound, the heat of the bus washing over you as it gets harder to breath. You have to make sure… With two fingers you carefully pull at the wound around the piece of metal an-

No spine damage, thank god. It has lodged itself between two ribs and damaged a lung, but he more than likely will be able to walk after this. Good. You have to fight off coughing as the smoke wafts in front of your face. Right. You lean over his face again, placing your palm against his cheek and pulling the collar of his suit between his teeth. "This is going to hurt."

His eyes dart down to the wound before he clenches them shut.

With a wet squelching sound you brace your hands underneath his back then lift him up. A strangled scream of pain escaping Sebastien even with the numbing sensation you're pumping into him. You are rewarded with the sound of splashing liquid hitting the floor as he is lifted free.

The sound of explosions fill the air outside, along with the general shouts of battle as you turn around towards the entrance. You carefully step over the wreckage while doing your best to keep low, trying to keep Sebastien's lungs clear of any more smoke. You are the last two in the bus, the rest have already made it outside, the smoke thins as you get closer to the emergency exit and-

*Crash*

You lose sight of the exit as the bus goes spinning on its roof over the ground. One part of your brain notes that a bus sliding like this over the snow should be impossible, one other far larger part is busy screaming your lungs out as you try to hold Sebastien in place as the bus moves like a demented rollercoaster.

You go sliding across the floor, your body curled over Sebastien's as you try to keep anything from falling into the wound. The bus stops after an eternal spin, tossing you against the walls like a rag-doll.

...

If it was hard to see before, it was nearly impossible now. Sunlight barely get in, and smoke strangles it quickly. The sound of popping electricity and crackling fire fills your ears and drowns out any noise of the fight outside. You look up from where you were knelt over Sebastien's body, your muscles aching from how hard you were holding onto him.

*Focus*

You are probably away from the battle, you just need to get him out of here then everything will be okay… just ignore the pounding in your head. Everything will be okay.

With a grunt you slowly push yourself off of the floor, your feet trudging forward through the wreckage that is the interior of the bus. The light ahead of you is faint, but it is getting stronger through the haze as you approach. The closer you get the more you hear the sounds of battle and chaos. You squint as you approach, the light that was, moments ago, a large opening is far smaller than it was previously.

Broken seats and snow have filled in the back of the bus, allowing only a small path to freedom. You could crawl through with some effort, but there's no way you could drag someone else through. You'd tear Sebastien apart if you tried. You stare at it, processing. Is this how the universe chooses to repay you for trying to save a life? Fine.

…

That's fine.

You carefully place Sebastien on the floor, his breathy coming out in ragged heaves as he eyes stare up at nothing. "I'm going to get you out of here buddy, even if it kills us." You tear off a section of your shirt, the material thin and flimsy, meant to be worn underneath a jacket. You place it carefully over his mouth then turn back to the debris.

With two hands you begin tearing through the snow and debris, a foul taste entering your mouth from the smoke and burning plastic. "Help!" You shout, breaking out into coughs the moment the words leave your lips. Adrenaline rushes through you as you lift up a bench and throw it against the former roof, the gap growing wider, but not near wide enough. "We're still in here!"

You aren't strong, you aren't agile. Hell, the only reason you got on this trip at all was because of your brains. You aren't a Stephanie, you aren't a Strongman, hell you aren't Kros or Cavalier. You don't have that going for you, at the end of the day you aren't much more incredible than any baseline human.

But you have someone who needs your help, so you'll be damned if you let any of that matter. With a scream of exertion you lift up another one of the benches, the heavy metal warped by the heat and hot to the touch despite the snow. You spin around, throwing it against the wall. "Can anyone hear us out there?!"

"BACK UP!"

That's the only warning you get before the benches are roughly torn out of the back, snow flying and metal tearing as a pair of enlarged arms rip into them. The blast of fresh air caused by this dissipates the smoke, allowing unfiltered sunlight into the bus for the first time in what feels like forever. You blink in the light, a large figure silhouetted by the sun before your eyes adjust to recognize Strongman. He's looking a bit worse for wear, his shirt is gone to reveal several long cuts across his body.

It also reveals a lack of snow, the bus is resting on an iced-over lake, with piles of debris all around-

"Hurry your ass up!"

You don't need to be told twice, you turn back around and scoop up Sebastien, your feet dancing through the rest of the debris before you finally skid across the ice and onto open ground. You don't waste any time pulling off your jacket and setting it onto the cool surface before setting Sebastien on it.

*Focus*

Severe internal hemorrhage, traumatic pneumothorax, he will need a transfusion… but first the lung. You fish around in your pocket and pull out your pocketknife, the other moving to Sebastien's forehead, his eyes drilling into yours. You let yourself smile. "It's going to be alright." With that you flood his body with as many painkillers as it can take, before slowly opening the wound a bit more with your knife so that you can get your fingers in more easily.

You hear a whipping sound over your head, following by the sound of cracking ice and another explosion to your right. You ignore it, you have a job to do. "Strongman, go, I've got this. Send any injured students my way."

"Y-you sure du-"

"Go."

The sound of boots slapping against ice tell you all you need to know, and you lean forward over the wound as your fingers enter his body. You would love to wash them, but no infection would be as bad as, you know, the gaping wound in his lung. He can get it fixed later.

Your fingers dig inside until you reach the lung, the metal left a neat hole through it. He will need to have the air suctioned out of his chest but for now… your quirk activates. You peer through the ribs and your fingers and watch the hole seal itself, the lung is still collapsed, but it should function a little, and it won't suffocate him.

Slipping your fingers back away from the lung you heal any more injuries as you go, a bruised rib, a punctured blood vessel. It only ends when you place your palm flat on his chest, the wound sealing itself underneath your hand before you work on the other side. He'll live; he desperately needs a transfusion, along with a pump to remove the air from his chest, but he will live.

Dipping your fingers into a soaked portion of your jacket You write the words 'Lung Injury' on his chest, then turn back to the battle.

The battle has almost entirely transitioned to the lake, you count… two villains. The man you saw before, who is currently fighting Morrigan, flashes of a woman in gold silhouette appearing and disappearing around him as the butterfly flits around like a boxer. Scythes of iridescent gold/white light appearing in the air and swinging down at him, the man narrowly dodging and throwing lazy fists and strikes of his own. Each time he moves bits of his skin redden and flake off, revealing angry red skin underneath.

… Yet every injury Morrigan inflicts seems to disappear despite that. Some kind of disorder in a regenerative quirk, or maybe it's how the quirk itself operates; shedding mass, injured or not?

The other villain isn't so much fighting as dancing through the air, it's a woman in a patchy black and white outfit with silvery hair. A beaked mask rests over her face, curved and shaped to resemble a raven. Her arms are replaced with two coal black wings, though these aren't the kind that Nora uses to fly. These are sharp and with every swing of her 'arm' feathers launch out to attack students and teachers below her.

That explains the injuries Strongman had.

"Dylan!" Strongman's voice shouts.

You jerk your head to the side, the sound of heavy boots once against filling the air before a young woman is laid on the ground in front of you. She's inju-

*Focus*

Both of her hands clutch the front her neck, blood seeping through her fingers. She gurgles every time she breathes. You are on her in a moment. "Move her arms!"

The woman is desperate, more than likely full of adrenaline, but Kevin's quirk easily overpowers her. She has a cut across the front of her neck going lengthwise, if you had to assume you would guess she took a feather across the throat.

One hand moves to her head, your quirk activating to dull the pain while your other goes to gently open the wound. Cut carotid, minor damage to the trachea. Your fingers press inside the wound, the fresh rush of blood slowing to a trickle before stopping entirely. Drawing your fingers back out you place them over the wound, the wound closing even as your headache gets stronger.

"Is she-"

"She's fine" you answer, "She will need to be hospitalized but she's stable." You look up to stare Strongman in the eye. "Are there more?"

"You're injured!"

You blink, then you slowly raise your hand to the back of your head where you've felt the warmth. Lacerations, possible fracture. Your fingers twitch even as the headache gets worse, the wound closes, though you yourself will more than likely need to be looked at. "I'm fine, bring me anyone else you find."

He stares at you like you are speaking gibberish. "NOW!"

---

Several explosions rock the ground nearby, tall splashes of water and ice erupting into the air and raining down cool water over your work area in front of the bus. Reilly is laying face down on his jacket, uncomfortable breathing escaping him as your hands work at his spider appendages. Were it any other situation you would be ecstatic that your studies have allowed you to heal non-animal quirks to this degree. As it stands you keep having to lean forward to cover your patients and can barely think through the pounding headache, or move passed the shaking in your hands.

It seems the bird woman is a sadist, instead of debilitating strikes like the man has been using she goes for painful cuts. Every cut or slash you've had to heal has been cruel; from major blood vessels to internal organs that would take hours to kill, to tendons that leave the victim immobile. You squint your eyes as the last cut on the leg heals, a relieved breath escaping Reilly before he slowly starts to push himself to his feet, only to meet your hand pressing against his back.

"Stay down, I can't promise I healed that fully and the actual heroes have showed up."

Your eyes glance up to see several professional heroes joining the teachers in fighting off the villains. The man is looking as nonchalant and unemotional as ever, while the bird woman is looking very panicked.

"Dylan!"

You shift to the right, looking over the next patient.

*Focus*

A young woman, she has glowi-

Teresa, fuck. A large and brutal cut is going down the front of her chest, half of her shirt cut away to reveal part of her intestines. You can see several punctures in her guts, though thankfully none obvious in other organs. She's unconscious, and you place your hand against her neck t-

Pulse, good. "Any others?" You ask, your hand moving to grab a new bit of your shirt to wipe the blood away. You're running out of absorbent shirt.

"None." Strongman answers. "Need a hand?"

You try not to smile at his offer, knowing if you do your own 'stoic doctor' facade might break and you'll go down crying from the fact you are currently digging through the intestines of a woman you've gotten to know quite well over the past week. "Take Reilly out of here, I'll work on Teresa."

"You got it!"

You part her large intestine as… good, no other major injuries. Some small lacerations on it but those can be fixed. Minor bruising on her arms and a large welt on her head. All fixable. Your hands get to work, one keeping a track on her heart rate while the other gently runs over the injuries. "You gave me a few heart attacks you know, your explosive pinecones don't really mix well with ice."

You really need to work on your bedside manner, but you have neither a bed to put these patients on or the time for pleasantries… so it doesn't count. You are also not taking this situation entirely seriously, you aren't sure if that is due to the possible brain damage you are suffering or the fact that if you keep your mind off things you won't crack under the pressure.

"You'll be fine Teresa, we'll get you to the hospi-"

*BANG*

You lean forwards on instinct as a loud explosion sounds from behind you. "Grk."

Your knees buckle under your own weight, your body falling to the side as several somethings collide against your back. White fire runs up and down your spine, and you find your can't move your hands for a few moments. Your fingers finally obey, pressing against your palm as a wash of painkillers fills you. You can't see behind you but you can feel several objects sticking out of your back, along with the scent of burnt flesh filling the air.

Your eyes snap to Teresa, the woman is still unconscious, but now she has a large shard of metal from the bus jutting from the right side of her chest. Fresh blood pouring out of the wound like water from a faucet.

No… no no no no no.

You push against the ground, grunting as you feel something scrape against your ribs. Things are woozy, focu- focus…

*Focus*

All of the other patients are fine… good, yes. Teresa got hit by a… piece of metal glancing off of you yes. You feel warmth running down your back and drip onto your jeans. Not…

You blink, staring at Teresa. Impalement, most likely through or very near to the heart. Requ- requires immediate attention or patient will most likely die of organ failure. Your vision swims as you lean over her. A clicking sound erupting from your spine as you do so.

You… you are not okay.

But to heal yourself would more than likely mean leaving Teresa to her fate. You only have the energy at this point to fix a few more...

You-



---



You… never were the most pragmatic man. You wanted to be a doctor, you studied, you self-taught, you volunteered. Yet no matter how hard you tried you were never good enough, nobody could tell if your healing had side effects, nobody could set a hard-limit on what you did. Nobody wanted to give you the chance to be a...

A hero? No, you never wanted to be one. You had planned to go to a small time course in Norcross before just getting a regular degree. Your application to ASH had been on a whim, and look where it got you? Working alone on a frozen over lake with chunks of metal in your back. It hurts… it hurts more than just about anything in your life. The shock from the previous injuries has worn off at this point and allows you to feel the full extent of your injuries.

It would just take a moment, just a slight effort to heal your own wounds and dull the pain at the expense of everything else. To rest, it would more than likely harm Teresa further but surely you've earned that at this point haven't you?

[X] [Focus on Teresa and your patients] - May cause permanent damage. Will gain the [Heroic] reputation.

Your fingers twitch as you move your arms forward, the jagged metal in Teresa's chest cutting into your fingers. With the little strength available to you you start to pull it out, the squelching sound dull and distant.

Your aunt is a hero, you have a cousin who is a hero… but your parents are regular people, and you were just fine being a regular person. But you were given a gift, and it is a gift that should not be held selfishly and locked away. Whatever damage it causes to you you'll do the right thing, as a hero, as a doctor, as a regular person with a gift, you'll save whomever you can.

You throw the piece of metal aside and look into the wound.

*Focus*

Puncture wound in the right ventricle, extensive bleeding. You… you can fix that. With a grunt you push your fingers into the wound, the hand numb to the point you can no longer feel the warmth of blood in her body. It.. it...

There.

The pounding in your head intensifies; a drumbeat building to an ever greater crescendo. Your fingers roll down her chest to draw the word 'heart puncture' on her stomach before you return to looking at her intestines.

*Fo-*...

Everything goes white for a second as you break out into a cough, the taste of iron filling your mouth momentarily as you jerk your head away as to not contaminate her wound. You can do this… you can do this.

*Focus*

No… contamination visible, she will need antibiotics but should be fine. Your ha-

Ha-

Ha…

You shake your head, the scraping from your back sounding out again as you try to maintain focus. You are not a hero, you are Gauze, and nobody even calls you that. Your finger traces along the intestine, healing cuts and injuries as you go. The sound of the battle is getting fainter, and there are no other patients nearby that you can see with your rapidly fading vision. That's… that's good.

The wound is closing rapidly, and you don't have the energy to fight the stupid grin that comes across your face. You aren't a hero, not by any modern definition. A hero isn't someone who poses for the camera and rescues a cat from a tree. A hero is someone who is willing to sacrifice every part of themselves to do what is right in the world. We are judged in life for the evil we remove from this world… and if there is one thing you are capable of it is-

Is…

…

"Dylan!"

Those are the last words you hear as your vision fully blacks out and you fall face forward onto the ice.

---

You know that standard medical drama fair of someone slipping in and out of consciousness when they suffer a major wound? Where every time they blink they see themselves in an ambulance or further in a hospital on a gurney?

Complete bullshit.

You blink groggily as your eyes are assailed by a far too white light above your head. Your hearing is still muffled, though you can make out faint sounds. You… don't really need to see or hear all that well to tell you that you are in a hospital though. First of all, everything smells like disinfectant, second of all this bed is roughly a thousand times worse than your last one, if only because you're laying roughly a half foot above it.

Your arms, legs and lower back tingle. Not just for the results of what you would imagine to be fresh surgery… it's also because they have bracelets strapped into you that are causing you to float above the bed so that you don't screw up your spine further.

You have heard of these things, but they are rare and expensive, so you didn't expect to see one in person. It also means that you did in fact manage to get your spine damaged, or at least had so many lacerations and bits of shrapnel in you that they didn't want you putting any weight on your back.

Well.

"I suppose it could be worse."

"An' how the fuck could that be?"

You jolt as a harsh voice comes from your right, cotton-stuffed hearing still recognising the source. You turn your head slowly, eyes locking on the face of a woman whom until just recently was crying. Stephanie's eyes are red, her cheeks are wet and her nose is running slightly. She's been worried about you, that much is obvious.

You… don't really know how to respond to that to be honest. You don't do grief all that well, or rather you don't know how to respond to grief all that well. Even more so when that grief is over you. You'd love to pat her on the shoulder or draw her into the hug but at the moment you can't really move your arms.

You settle for flopping your hands slightly in an approximation of a shrug. "I was trying to make it sound better than it was. Didn't know I had an audience."

Her arms cross as she frowns at you. "You've had several, though this is the first time ya've had a conversation that made any sense before you slipped back asleep."

...Right, anesthetic. You're tempted to ask if you said anything embarrassing, but somehow with the tear stains on her face you have a feeling your usual brand of snark wouldn't be appreciated at the moment… by either of you. "Sorry I-"

"Sorry? Yer sorry?" Stephanie steps closer, clear anger in her voice as she stares down at you. "Ya did everything ah expected of ya. Ya saved lives and damn near got yerself killed in the process. But…" Stephanie shakes her head violently from side to side. "Ah wasn't there to help ya! We're supposed to be a team but ah was stuck back in Atlanta because my grades weren't good enough to come with."

"That's… hardly your damn fault. Trust me I wasn't planning on this either. I lived, and besides being rather worried about what the doctors will say about my back I'll be fine as well."

Stephanie's hand reaches out to grip your own, her head moving to look at the floor as her shoulders start shaking. "Ah'm sorry."

You squeeze your hand against hers as best you can. "You'd be proud, I ran headlong into danger and was, by my own estimation, a total badass."

She squeezes your hand a mite tighter. "Ah'm really not in the mood for jokes Dylan." Her head pulls back to reveal fresh tears on her cheeks. "So ya can frankly stuff that nonsense, my partner almost died."

You don't really have a response for that, you simply stare into her face feeling more than a little helpless.

"Ah was working on a fucking model when ah heard. It was just… useless."

"Stephanie, nobody expected you to be there, trust me nobody planned on the fucking bus being shoulder checked by a crazy asshole."

She lets out a growl. "But that's my job, innit? Protect you while you help people. It's everything we trained for and the one time ah look away your entire career may be over."

That… really isn't how this works. She can't have expected to be with you always, sure she didn't get on the trip but nobody saw this coming.

"Stephanie that… I'm sorry but it was the right thing to do. Even if I was badly injured I doubt it is anything my quirk can't handle so it doesn't really matter in the gra-"

"IT MATTERS TO ME!" Stephanie's voice comes our in a roar you are only familiar with hearing in fights as she drowns you out. Her grip on you slackens as she stares you in the eyes, then with one motion she turns around and stomps out of the room, the tip of her tail dragging along the floor behind her.

She nearly runs into a nurse as she leaves… along with two other familiar faces. A man leans into the room, heavily tanned and with a smile on his face. "Bad time, son?"

"I'm not sure yet. I think my girlfriend is mad at me."

His smile wavers slightly, though only slightly. "Get used to it, I would have warned you ahead of time but you never bothered getting a girl in highsch-"

His quip is cut off by a rough slap across the forehead, the bear paws he calls hands moving up to rub at the spot as a smaller woman squeezes past him into the room. Your mother only looks mildly exasperated in comparison to your partner as she makes her way over to the bed. She says nothing as she stops at the foot of it, her hands crossed in front of her as she stares you in the eyes.

"I'm going to assume that you don't regret what you did?"

You shake your head… a moment later when you realize precisely how tender that muscle is at the moment. You regret that, but nothing else.

Mom lets out a sigh, shaking her head as well before a smile starts to worm its way onto her face. "Well after you made us spend so much money on medical textbooks I shouldn't be surprised that you jumped at the chance to use it in person. But did you have to get so injured in the process?"

You blink, that wasn't the mom staredown and teardown you were expecting. "You… aren't mad?"

A heavy footfall sounds through the room as your father walks up to stand next to her. "Of course we're mad, well, she's mad. I'm more annoyed that you managed to piss your first girlfriend off."

Odd… thing for your dad to get bothered by. Your eyes drift over to your mom, the smile having left her face. "Yes, I'm upset Dylan, but I'm more happy that I still have a son to talk to. Precisely why did you think doing what you did was a good idea?"

"It wasn't, but it was the right thing to do." You say firmly, you feel like an idiot… among many other things you are feeling at the moment. You are frankly scared that you may have just ended your career before it even began.

… But if someone asked you to do it again you would without a second thought.

Neither one of your parents say anything in response to that. Your father in fact seems more interested in a machine resting against the wall, a quizzical look coming across his face as he studies it. You could tell him what it is, and probably will have to, but that more than likely isn't important right now.

Mom sighs, shaking her head as she lets out several 'tsks'. "The doctor's say you will need physical therapy, but they won't say how bad the damage is." Her hand reaches over to brush your hair off of your forehead, a... well, motherly smile coming back onto her face. "I should have known you would be the type, I still remember you tying that medical mask around your face and running around the house calling yourself 'Heal-o man'."

At that your dad perks up, the medical equipment not quite as interesting as the chance to embarass you. "I still have pictures!"

Oh, oh those must be burnt. Maybe you can call in a destructive favour with Teresa? "My… girlfriend may be mad at me but I would rather not cheer her up by showing her those thank you."

Dad grins. "Now son debasement of oneself is a vital part of the life of any man in a relationshi-"

His mouth shuts with a click as your mother raises her hand, palm flat in a clear warning that joviality in a dadly fashion will not be tolerated at present. "Jack."

You smile, feeling rather glad they aren't too upset with you. It soon however is erased by your mouth opening in a yawn, the edges of your vision blurring momentarily as you feel the need to sleep once again.

The hand that was straightening your hair moves to gently rub the side of my head. "Rest sweetie, we will be here whenever you need us."

You lean in the hand a little, the warmth of it seeping through and making you feel honestly a lot less stiff.

"Dylan?" Your dad's voice speaks up, and you turn your gaze slowly to look at him. The urge to sleep getting stronger again by the moment.

He's smiling like your mother is. "Don't think for one moment we're disappointed, the choice was yours to make." He glances over at mom before leaning towards you. "You know, I've been bragging about you to the other guys in the shop, told them how proud I was to have a boy like you… but I was wrong. After what you did, your a man."

That… may be the sweetest thing that has ever left his mou-

---

You blink, eyes opening as you wonder where your dad went. Or mom, or… well. This hospital room is different.

Wait.

Drugs, no, out. Think. Your father has been replaced by table covered in sweets, cards and… a giant sweater. You shake your head, looking around the room. You are lying in a bed as opposed to floating on top of one, and the room itself is dimmer and more simple than the room you were just in. It's a solo room, you aren't in a curtained off area or anything like that, a single door leads outside to where you can see the interior of a medical ward.
A window to your right… well, windows. The entire right wall of this room is a series of curtained windows, all covered with blinds except for one that you can see through to see-

Oh, you are back at the ASH. You knew the school had a medical department but you had yet cause to visit it yourself for obvious reasons. Well, you tried but they don't actually give medical lessons and Stephanie threatened to throw you over the balcony if you faked an injury to get inside.

Looking away from the window you find that the bed is actually… rather comfortable. A television is mounted to the far wall along with another small table next to the in-suite shower. This is all very fascinating of course but at the moment you are more interested in the fact that you could quite possibly eat a horse if one were to be presented before you at the moment.

You turn this way and that, now normally the nurse call button is on the stand next to the bed. If not then it will be on the wall o-

*Click*

You pause in your searching, head turning towards the slowly opening door. Bright sterile light pours into the room, revealing Stephanie in her school uniform, a bag held in one hand and a drink in another.

When your eyes meet her tail starts to wag rapidly, a knocking sound ringing out from where it is slapping against the door. "Ya feeling okay?"

"Better." You reply, "is that for me?"

Stephanie looks down at the food before nodding, she steps into the room and closes the door behind her. Her tail is still wagging away as she approaches, a now cheeky smile finding its way onto her face. "Ah was gonna douse ya with the drink if ya weren't awake if ya got back. Figured ya didn't want any part of hospital food after what they've been feeding you these past few days."

"I… don't remember a single meal."

Stephanie shrugs, placing the drink on the table beside you while pulling a burger out of the bag. "Ya were… well, let's say you were in your happy place."

Dear lord what in the name of all that is good in the world did they have you on? And secondly precisely how screwed are you that they needed that level of painkillers? And thirdly why the hell do you care when there is a burger begging to be eaten?

She unwraps the tinfoil and the scent hits your nose, your stomach growling audibly in response.

"You are without a doubt the most beautiful woman in the world."

Stephanie grins and sets it down onto the tray, dumping the fries next to it before she takes one and holds it before your mouth. "Ah'm aware, now open up for the airplane."

On the one hand you have dignity, on the other someone is offering you food. You diligently open your mouth as she deposits the fry inside, you chew for roughly a half second before swallowing. The pain in your stomach already abating now that it knows the food is coming.

"You know, traditionally when a woman feeds a man like this she uses grapes."

"Yer lucky I didn't bring ya a dog bowl, can ya move yer arms well enough to feed yourself?"

You blink then look down at your arms. You lift one, then the other. Twisting and turning them as you study the range of motion. "Don't seem to be paralyzed, don't suppose the doctors said how bad the damage was?"

Stephanie shakes her head. "They wouldn't tell me until they finish lookin' at all the x-rays. Ya will live though, if ah don't kill ya myself."

You give her your best innocent look and reach for the burger. "What have I done lately that could offend you?"

Her eyes narrow. "Dylan ah'm willing to forgive ya due to the fact ah already know yer an idiot and ya saved so many lives. Ah still feel like crap about not being there however so ah'd appreciate it if ya don't press your luck."

You were worried she would still be taking that personally, but you also haven't the foggiest in how you are actually going to deal with that. So instead you will take the noble path and focus on your burger while Stephanie gets you up to date on what you missed at the school.

…

"Seriously? With a spork?"

Stephanie shrugs her shoulders. She has moved from standing on the bed to sitting on the side of it, her arm resting on your knee as she idly browses through her phone. "Yeah, 'pparently the pirate guy took great offense to Hologram insinuating his partner was dumb. Next thing ah saw was a bunch of glass statues getting hacked to pieces with a spork and a cannonball or two."

"I would have liked to see that." You drum your fingers idly on the now empty tray of food, wondering how much school work you've mis-

Oh right. You point off to the edge of the room where all the stuff is splayed out over the table. "I take it my classmates sent that in?"

Stephanie looks away from the phone towards the table before nodding. "Yep, didn't know ya were so popular. Course ah had to deliver it. Got a manual on shield fightin' from Cavalier, some cookies from Nora along with a… well, ya'll grow into the sweater Kros made ah guess. Long with cards and the like. Oh, muscles sent ya a bunch of medical books as well, apparently he thinks your awesome."

Stephanie blinks then her eyes widen, one hand moving to reach over the edge of the bed and haul up her book bag. She unzips it and digs through it ah moment. "They couldn't visit in person due to having to increase the schools security systems after the attack buuuuuut-"

Stephanie pulls out an amalgamation of… metal? She offers it to you and you study it closely, it looks like someone took a child's Erector set and modified it massively to produce a rough doll of Alva. There's wiring all along the inside, and a little clay face depicting well, the face of Alva is tied around where the 'head' would be.

This should be creepy, but it's actually hilariously adorable. "I'm going to hide this around our dorm repeatedly for you to find in the middle of the night, you know that right?"

Stephanie sticks out her tongue at you and stuffs the doll back into the back, leaning down to place it over the edge of the bed a-

*Click*


The light invades the room again, and you squint to make out who precisely it is that choose to half blind you. It's a woman for starters, roughly… the same height as your mom. She has red hair going down to her spi-

Fuck.

Sharon walks into the room, the door closing behind her as she flicks on the light switch. A thankfully dim fluorescent flickers on overhead, revealing the full extent of her ensemble. She's wearing sunglasses that only just barely hide her green eyes, and she's dressed in a long red dress that matches her hair color perfectly. She has a purse that she has looped over her shoulder, and with a single motion she pull the sunglasses off of her face and smiles brilliant.

"Well good evening Dylan, how is my nephew doing?" she in a saccharine tone.

"I'm… fi-"

"Lady Luck?!"

Stephanie's excited shout drowns you out. Her tail slapping against the bed so hard you fear for a moment she might break it. The bed, not the tail, the tail has so many muscles from being wagged it could probably stop a speeding semi-truck.

Sharon grins and throws a wink towards your partner. "My hero name yes, though you can call me Sharon darling. You are… Stephanie yes? I've heard of you."

The wagging somehow gets faster. "Ya have?" Stephanie smiles wide, excited to be speaking to a top-ten in person.

Sharon nods. "Of course, I keep tabs on all the students coming and going, I never quite know when I might need a new sidekick. Your quick is most fascinating, perhaps I could give you my card?"

Please don't.

"Why are you here?" you ask bluntly.

"I was in the area so how could I not rush to see how my darling nephew was doing when he was injured?"

"I'm fine Sharon, thank you for stopping by." The words leave your mouth more terse than you'd like, and Stephanie turns her head from the hero to look at you confused.

With the sound of heels clicking on tile Sharon walks forward. "Of course I would stop by, I was actually hoping to speak to you."

You hear the bed creak as Stephanie adjusts her weight. "Should ah uh, be leavin'? Ah don't want to get in the way of family-"

"Please stay darling, you would gain from hearing this."

Stephanie blinks before nodding slowly, readjusting herself so that her arm is no longer resting on your knee.

Sharon stops a good five feet from the bed, her eyes idly tracing your form. "I'm going to be perfectly blunt Dylan dear. You are making me look bad."

Your partner's eyes widen as you stare at your aunt. "How precisely?"

"Your quirk of course, precisely what were you thinking?" Sharon's eyes narrow and her mouth sets into an ugly frown. "Of this entire family I have the only quirk that can be used for any form of proactive hero work, and yet I get the news that you go charging into some malarkey that you have no reason to be in and get hurt in the process... why precisely?"

The sound of Stephanie's tail wagging stops, though you are no longer paying attention.

"I was doing my job." You answer bluntly, and slowly, so that she could process this. "I got hurt, it tends to happen when one does hero work." Well, 'hero work', more 'desperately trying to stay alive while performing your duties as best as you could'.

Sharon lets out a sigh, her head turning towards Stephanie as she extends an arm to point at her. "Your partner is a hero, she has everything people look for. Cute face, flashy abilities, attitude." Her head turns back, one brow arched as she moves to cross her arms over her chest. "Dylan… you have magic hands. You are meant for backline duty at best. The only reason why you got into this school is due to the fact you have a rare quirk. Something I still don't have any idea of who or what spawned it, certainly not my useless sister."

"My…" your hand is numb, and you idly realize you've started to clench it so hard that you are losing circulation. "Mother is not useless Sharon."

"He saved a whole lotta people for someone with magic hands." Stephanie says, her voice quiet.

You turn your head to look at her, a frown has replaced her smile and her previously animated tail is sticking straight up and only barely moving from side to side.

"Indeed he did." Your aunt replies airily. "And he will more than likely be crippled after all the work I put into him up to this point."

You growl. "What work? I trained myself, I stayed up to study myself. I wasn't given everything like you were growing up. I applied for the school and got in on my own merits. I busted my ass and made it into the ASH."

Sharon lets out another sigh before she opens her purse to begin digging for something. "Dylan, the only reason why you are in this school to begin with is because of me. I pulled some strings to get you into initiation. From what I've heard you put on a decent enough show, but they more than likely wouldn't have bothered with you to begin with if it wasn't for me."

The air in the room goes still, or maybe that's just your heart. You… she… what?

Sharon continues, her hand returning from the purse to grab her sunglasses again. "Dylan my dear nephew, you have heart. But you were not meant for frontline duty, I was hoping you'd keep your head down so we could have another prodigy in the family. I was never expecting you to go whole hog into being a professional hero like your classmates. That is the purview of myself and others who are actually in this business seriously."

She looks at the lenses idly, breathing on them faintly before pulling out a small cloth to clean them. "You were barely cut out for this business to begin with, I did this as a favor to yo-

The sunglasses go flying out of her hands as a metal tray smashes into them. The only thing that saved her head being the face that she was leaning back to get a better look at her cleaning work.

"YER THE REASON HE'S LIKE THIS!?"

Stephanie's halfway off the bed, her arm outstretched from where she threw the tray that is currently bouncing along the floor.

Sharon meanwhile looks surprised, eyes focused on the pair of sunglasses that are broken in half in her hand.

"Yer the reason why he was always so fuckin' anti-hero an' crap?"

Sharon doesn't respond, at least not to that question. Her eyes lock onto yours as she makes to leave. "I suppose we are done here then, please do contain your partner. If they do allow you to still be a hero after this of course."

With that, she turns around and walks through the door, nearly barging into three men standing just outside of it. Stephanie looks to surprised at her sudden exit to do anything, and you at the moment are having a moment.

A head pokes through the door, it's Benjamin, the school's legal representative. "Hey students… bad time?"

You want to say yes, but the fact that he is flanked by two doctors means that this is a conversation you don't want to have. Which means you might as well follow a conversation you didn't want with one you don't want to hear.

Though frankly it doesn't matter what you think, you don't belong here anyway apparently, something you've been thinking about for a while. Something warm grabs your hand, and you look to see Stephanie holding it as she gives you a supportive smile.

Well, it's good that she is confident.

Benjamin steps fully into the room, the doctors following just behind. The doctor on the left, an older gentleman with a long grey beard is carrying several stacks of paper, while the one to the right is just carrying a clipboard. The one on the right is also far younger, and is dressed in a different style of scrubs.

Benjamin speaks first. "Good evening Dylan, the school would like to say we are humbled by and are appreciative of your efforts to save others. Your actions are a shining example of what it means to be an ASH student, and we will support you in recuperating from your injuries as long as required."

You aren't a lawyer but that sounds like code for. "Sorry for the incident, we'll pay so please don't sue us."

"And those injuries are?" you ask, wanting to get it over with.

The doctor on the right tilts his head towards Stephanie. "Do you wish for her to be here for th-"

"Yes, now get it over with." You reply.

The doctor nods, and he turns the clipboard around to reveal an x-ray. "Several pieces of metal entered your spine, the only reason why we believe you were able to move and continue working was due to your healing quirk activating subconsciously. On top of that you also suffered a cranial fracture and were suffering from smoke inhalation."

The hand holding yours squeezes tighter. "Can I walk?"

He nods. "You will require physical therapy, but the academy has top of the line equipment to assist in such measures. However it can be expected that you will require a cane for several months, and you will possibly require it sporadically for the next several years, depending on whether or not you continue hero work."

...Oh.

The other doctors steps forward. "I am Doctor Thaddeus Strive. I am the president of the TMC in Houston. Do you know it?"

You nod. "I was hoping to go there, but I was informed repeatedly that I could not go into medicine due to my quirk having unknown side effects."

Thaddeus smiles. "Indeed, we have actually been looking over your file for some time now, and I am prepared to make you an exciting offer. We would be thrilled if you would consider transferring from the Atlanta School for Heroes to the Texas Medical Center. We believe a man of your talents would be a great benefit to the world of medicine, and we would of course be willing to aid you in the healing process however necessary."

I…

The hand squeezes yours again, and you look to Stephanie who is giving you a supporting smile. "But I won't be a hero any longer."

Thaddeus chuckles. "Not of this sort no, if you were to come to the TMC of course you would not longer be in training to be a field hero. You would instead work as a researcher before becoming a doctor. I'm afraid your partner and your studies would have to remain here however. We do not offer a General Heroics course."

Well, that's not something you expected. At the moment it's rather hard to get excited about anything, you are feeling more than a little defeated. It's something you've always wanted… but you would have to leave Stephanie behind. On the other hand you jut heard rather bluntly from your aunt that you being here was entirely due to her whims and not actually on your own merits as a quirk user.

"Dylan?"

You look up from your musings to see Stephanie staring into your eyes. "Ah kinda knew about this ahead of time, the school wanted to plan things out with me incase you decided to go to the TMC. If ya want to go ah would understand, my dream is here, but ya always wanted to be a doctor."

I...



---






Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

This… you always wanted this: being an actual doctor, not just a hero who was allowed to do medical work. You never got passed the paranoia, though; you hadn't found a problem with your quirk yet, and that got people nervous, 'there's no such thing as a free lunch' after all. Honestly, you think that if you discovered that your quirk gave people high blood pressure or something you'd have been able to get a medical scholarship. Your choice to become a hero was more out of desperation than anything else, a desire to help people despite what the world wanted you to do… that and with your mother losing her business you were in no way able to afford medical school. So it was dumb luck that brought you here on a scholarship program.

… In multiple ways, if your dear aunt was to be believed. Much as you hated it… she never bothered to lie; the truth was always perfect for her anyway. The odds have been stacked against you for some time now, and at this point being offered a position at the Texas school seems almost like a reward from the universe.

You stare at the men in front of you, they are staring at you with perfectly flat expression, not wanting to push your decision in anyway. It's kind of them, you aren't exactly in the best emotional state to be making grand decisions about your life, but at the same time they need your decision so that they can figure out how to treat you. If you go with ASH you will be treated here, at Texas you will get their state of the art equipment. Either way you are going to be crippled for quite some time, there frankly isn't any way around that little fact. You are combat ineffective, even relative to what you used to be.

You played the fool and you paid the price. You… your body wasn't meant for this kind of work, you are no fighter. You are a healer, a doctor, a savior if you are feeling dramatic and a miracle worker if you are feeling particular blasphemic. You should be somewhere wearing scrubs and trying to find a cure for all that ills the world. It's the only rational option.

It's not something your partner hasn't realized either. A resigned but supportive smile rests on her face as her hand squeezes yours. Her tail is low and touching the ground, unmoving. It seems she already knows what your decision would be. After all, she failed to protect you and you got injured. The look on her face hurts as she feels like you only have one option in front of you.

Time to disabuse that notion

[Stay on as a Hero] My path is my own, my aunt may have gotten me into this school but I've become one of the top students by my own merits. I am not a fighter, but I have and I will save lives my own way.

"It sounds fantastic…" you shake your head slowly, "but I will continue to be a hero. I thank you very much for your offer, but my place is here."

Doctor Thaddeus nods, a smile on his face as he does so. "A fine conviction."

You hear a choking sound to your side coming from Stephanie, but you don't turn your head to check as Thaddeus continues.

"I wish you the best with your recovery young man," there's something very grandfatherly to his tone that sets you at ease as he speaks, perhaps a quirk. He doesn't dally long after that, stepping out of the room with the other doctor in tow. The only thing showing they were here is the door slowly closing behind them.

Benjamin meanwhile is far more neutral in expression. "The school appreciates your willingness to continue your academic career during this trying time. I have some paperwork for you to go over at some point in regards to your treatment, where should I…?"

You gesture over to the table and the lawyer diligently sets the neat stack of papers down onto them. Then as quick as he was there he steps out of the room as well, a conversation sparking outside that you can't really make out through the thick door.

You let out a sigh, lawyers and doctors. Both very expensive professions to get into and both tend to create rather odd people. Your neck cracks as you turn your head to the right to face your partner again, a brief twinge of pain going down your body as you realize precisely how much exercise you are going to need in the near future.

Stephanie on the other hand doesn't appear to be in any form of apparent pain, no, your partner is merely flabbergasted. "Are ya… sure about this Dylan?"

You shrug your shoul- OW. Okay, stop doing that. "I… am, I want to be a hero and I don't want to leave. Being a doctor used to be my dream, but I don't want to leave this or yo-"

Your train of thought derails as your partner leans in to gently place her lips against your cheek. Your mouth, previously open to speak, swings wide, stuck mid-syllable as she pulls back. "I… you. What... Me?"

Stephanie is grinning from ear to ear, her hands moving to cup her cheeks as a fierce blush spreads over her face. Her tail is slapping hard against the side of the bed. "Ah'm so proud of ya, my idiot knows better than to run away from ah challenge."

You quirk a brow, doing your best to ignore the burning heat on your own face. "I am not an idi-"

"Physical therapy." She replies, cutting you off.

"Okay, but that is per-"

"Ah cried for hours." She interjects, the tail wagging even harder.

"That's just playing di-"

"They told me about the offer beforehand and I thought you were going to take it."

You don't make a snappy comeback to that one. The smile is still present on her face but there is clear worry in her voice. The edge of her eyes are wet with tears, fresh and threatening to pour down at any moment as the moment of high emotion starts to get to her. She's… been in a lot of grief recently. Her makeup, what little she puts on normally, isn't present. Her hair is rather frazzled and it is obvious she hasn't been as attentive as she could be when brushing it. Her clothes are ruffled, and she probably hasn't been able to focus in classes, if she went to them.

She is, to put it bluntly, a trainwreck.

But she's your trainwreck, and she's beautiful.

You smile, as earnest and understand a smile as you can manage. "What, and give up all this?"

 

[Erien]

[X] [Strongman]

[X] [Alva & Embla]

[X] [Kros & Mountain Blue]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

Welcome to the timeskip.

---

The wheels don't so much as squeak as make your way down the hall towards R&D. You don't… have classes at the moment, the school has officially put you on 'light duty' which translates to 'don't get yourself hurt, idiot'. But you still are more than a little stir crazy, and when Embla sent a request for you to come by for your list of therapy procedures?

Well, you would have run out of the dorm if you were capable of such a thing.

The door to the lab opens with a pneumatic hiss, it's not Embla's classroom; the android had requested you meet up in the lab where Alva works and… Embla lives you suppose, since the supercomputer is here.

The place is guarded where it wasn't before, security drones wandering the halls near the ceiling, cameras on their front looking this way and that, though doing nothing to stop you as you roll inside the classroom. The class isn't for another two hours so there is nobody here beyond yourself, an extremely excitable robot, and an extremely unexcitable robot.

Said excitable robot turns her head the doors open, her eyes flashing amber as she spots you. A wide smile stretches her face and she stretches her arm out wide. "Dylan!"

She sprints across the floor, heavy thuds sounding out as her metal feet slam against the floor.

… So, this is how you die.

You close your eyes, bracing as you wait for the hug that will officially crack your spine in half before… a hand gently rubs your forehead. You crack your eyes open to see Alva standing up on her 'toes' to run her hand through your hair… roughly. The joints of her fingers catch your hair with every movement. An almost blissful look adorns her face.

"Alva was worried!" the robot explains, before retracting the hand and bouncing on her feet a little. "So was Embla!"

Your eyes dart over to the other teacher. Embla was working at a computer that she has since vacated, a small chart held in her grip as she makes her way over to you with a flat expression. "Indeed, how do you feel?"

"Like I got hit by a bus. My back cracks if I stand and I can barely stumble let alone walk at the moment."

Embla nods and holds out a chart for you to take. "I have put together a series of exercises for you to partake in that will increase mobility, treat these as an addition to your ongoing physical therapy. They can be completed alone, but I would suggest seeking a partner."

You look down at the simple sheet, it has a series of exercises and guides on how to do them. Though some are rather freeform like 'yoga' and 'weight lifting'. "Thanks, I'll do whatever is necessary to speed up my recovery process. I already feel like a bum."

Alva's voice speaks up, one notch below a shout. "Student Dylan is not a bum, Alva thinks student Dylan is a hero!"

You smile, reaching up to pat her on the head much as she did for you. The metal is warm to the touch, and to your surprise Alva actually leans into it. "Alva will be putting together some designs to help Student Dylan recover. Please give some time!"

"I'll look forward to it."

---

You push your leg forward, sucking in a deep breath as pain wracks your frame. Come on, another step, another step, keep on going. Ignore the pain, ignore the locking in your joints everytime you move. The water shifts before you as you take another step forward, your hands holding the ropes by a deathgrip as you slowly make your way down the therapy pool.

It's a rather nice room all things considered, though it's also the kind of room most hope to never actually need to use. It's a five foot deep pool with cameras situated under the water so that the doctors can see how you are moving, it also serves to keep you active, and frankly its the closest thing to walking you've done in a week and change so you'll take it. You're still stuck in the wheelchair at the moment, and the doctors say you'll be able to move with a cane long. Still. Even your abilities don;t change the fact that a spinal injury is a spinal injury; it is far better to be safe than sorry.

… Hence why you are currently doing your third lap across the pool floor and feeling possibly more tired than you did when you got the better half of a bus lodged in your back.

"Come on, just two more!"

You don't bother looking up at your partner, both because you are rather focused on the task at hand and because she is very distracting right now. Come o-

You let out a yelp as your back locks up, pain running up and down your spine as you suddenly find yourself unable to move. You hear a splash, though you are currently too busy starting up at the ceiling as you grit your teeth to pay it any mind before a hand is calmly placed on your shoulder.

"Breath, 'member what the doctors said? Breath and just grip yer hand, let yer quirk do the work."

You let out the breath you didn't notice you were holding and press your fingers into your palm, a wave of relief washing over you near immediately. You slump your shoulders, idly leaning into the hand running through your hair that quickly moves to scratch you-

"Are you scratching my ears again?"

"It works for me!"

You lower your head and glower at your partner, a blush spreading across your cheeks as you do so. She's… well, she's dressed in an outfit that you weren't even aware she had; a competition swimsuit that matches the color of her hair nearly perfectly. It… doesn't really show more than a bikini, but the way it hugs her curves and frames her legs is very very distracting. All on purpose of course, your partner grinning as you stare into her eyes lest your own eyes go on a journey rivaling Odysseus. Only the siren is right in front of you and your crew has already abandoned the ship that is your brain.

"Ya got two more before your reps are up, think ya can handle it?"

You nod your head, your partner swimming back to lean against the wall of the pool with a crooked grin. Her tail slowly moves in the water behind her as she watches you get back into position. Normally her position would be replaced by that of a doctor or nurse, but Stephanie was allowed to handle it on the condition you don't break yourself in half and she keeps a close eye on you. The school is doing a lot of things like that, making sure you are very comfortable.

… You haven't missed how much the school's lawyer is checking up on you either, not to mention Annapurna and even Aja. Of course, that doesn't mean this gets any easier, especially when your partner looks like that. "Where did you even get that thing?"

She grins a touch wider. "Get what Dylan? Yer gonna have to be specific."

You start pushing yourself through the water, step… step… step. "You are an evil woman."

"I am no woman, I am Doomwulf, and I am your girlfriend so I shall serve as motivation as necessary, now move your feet dork, ah ain't allowed to slap ya."

"Yeah yeah, next halloween I'm getting you a damn Balto costume so you know what it is like to be lead around."

Your partner lets out a laugh, one that immediately makes you realize you've swam into a metaphorical trap. "Ah'm afraid you'll need to work harder if you want to ride me!"

Your eyes widen as you lose your step in the water, your hand clutching onto the guide ropes as you hang there for a moment processing what she just said… That witch. She blushes up a storm when she pecks you on the cheek, but she likes to play embarrassment chicken? Why!?

You stare down into the water, debating the merits of drowning for a moment before you take another step forward, gritting your teeth as the pain starts up again. After what she went through… let her tease you all she likes.

---

"Come on dude! Four more! Come on!"

You breath in deep, your leg rising onto the step as you grit your teeth and pull yourself up onto it. Kevin stands right behind you, his arms placed to catch you in case your spine locks up for the fourth time today. You are… having a difficult time actually convincing yourself you are getting better. But at the very least you can walk with your cane; painfully, and if someone wants you to run they can get within cane's reach and say it again. But you are getting stronger.

Not that it is enough at the moment, you are not regretting your decision but you have honestly no idea why Strongman is helping you despite possible detriment to his own studies.

Down, up, down, up, down… up.

"Hell yeah!" you feel a powerful pair of arms grab you by the shoulders and drop you down onto the floor gently. Kevin's smiling face greets your own. "That's three more than last time dude, great work! Lets head over to the weights, if the school is willing to give you the time to exercise free like this you might as well abuse it!"

With that he starts to walk off, and as you watch him leave you can't help but feel your shoe shove itself firmly into your mouth as he goes. "Why?"

Kevin stops, his sneakers squeaking against the floor as he turns back to look at you with a clear question on his face. His silver eyes confused. "Why… what dude?"

… In for a penny. "Why are you helping me? I could just take it a little slower by myself, you don't have to volunteer."

Kevin stares at you, and for a moment you feel like you've made a worse mistake than you had even though before he simply… shrugs.

A goofy grin is on his face as he completes the motion. "Why not? No, I might not know you very well, but you were a fucking badass back at the bus. Why the hell wouldn't I want to help one of my dudes?" He turns back around and starts making his way over to the weights again. "Don't think you need help understanding that you can help people you don't know."

…

You follow, watching him pull out some weights and set them onto the mat. Finally decided on two that he puts on a barbell. He easily hoists it up onto its rest above the seat then taps it. "Come on, I'll spot you."

You don't say a word as you move over and slide onto the bench, your hands raising to grip the steel even as your legs cry out in relief that you are no longer standing.

With the sound of clinking metal Kevin lifts the weight as you grip it, holding it momentarily before slowly letting go. It shifts in your grip slightly, the weight pushing down your arms before you hold it steady.

Hold, draw, push. Your arms move up and down, and you twitch slightly as you feel something shift in your back before you get a healthy rhythm going. Kevin is standing just behind you, smiling as he watches you go. "Not bad dude! That's a clean thirty pounds, thought a doctor wouldn't be able to lift?"

You'd shrug your shoulders, but you are rather preoccupied. "I exercised regularly before I came here, spine injury asides I am fine… and my method of sparring is a fistfight with a werewolf, it does wonders."

"Hah! May need to try that myself. Now come on, I want at least fifteen of these before we up the weight. I know you can do it dude!"

Well, it's good to know people have faith in you at least.

---

"I… can't do that, physically." You say bluntly as you stare at Kros.

The snake woman is laying across the mat, her body twisted into some… snake equivalent of a yoga pose; literally tied in a knot. She's wearing one of her usual sweaters, the kind that you are currently using as a tent back at the dorm, and she has an amused look on her face as she looks at you.

"Yes, am aware. But stretching is good for injuries, you do not need to match, only mimic yes?"

You sigh before gently setting your cane aside on the floor. One hand moves down to steady you as you slowly lower yourself onto the mat. You had kept up your visits to these two to continue studying biology, the elevators in all of these dorms and frankly this whole building being very friendly to your wheelchair and cane. What you hadn't expected was for Kros to be so eager to get you into yoga.

It's… something you admittedly didn't pay much attention to on the sheet, though mostly because when you first got it you could barely move your back let alone touch your toes. But… if it helps.

With a groan you start to stretch your back across the mat, your eyes staring at the ceiling as you feel bones start to pop an-

"Hello, Nora."

The birdwoman is looking down at you, a juicebox held in a claw as her golden eyes bore into your own. "Sup, whatcha doing?"

You let out a groan as the position starts to ache. Your muscles stretching in ways that feels less than fantastic. "Yoga, or breaking my spine, not sure which."

Nora stares at you, the juicebox slowly moving to her lips before she takes a long sip. Her eyes never leave your as she does this, and you are starting to feel more than a little uncomfortable with the close proximity to the bird woman. She finally relents, turning her head over to Kros and pulling the juice box out of her mouth. "Yoga's boring, he should be running through the woods or something."

Kros lets out a noise that is an interesting mix between a growl and a hiss. "Yoga is good for body, and body is too damaged for running and jumping. Bird is too much energy."

Nora doesn't squawk, she does, however, step past you, her clawed foot nearly batting you upside the head as she does so. "I don't need to hear about hyperness from you, I'm still plucking shed skin out of the damn bath mat!"

Kros raises herself up, her hands on her lips as she towers over Nora. "You promised you would keep secret! Dylan is friend, why would you say this in front of Dylan?"

You let your arms drop, falling back onto the mat as you watch the afternoon's entertainment start to play out.

"Boot!"

"Duster!"

"DEAD SKIN!"

"KURITSA!"

"I DON'T SPEAK THAT LANGUAGE KROS!"

Well, at least it is cheering you up?

---

You carefully set yourself down onto the couch with a sigh. The thing has had a lot of extra pillows added to it these past few months, the school once again going out of its way to get you everything you want and need. You are still officially on light duty until you get the finalized design from Alva and Embla, and even then you'll still be stuck with a cane for the next… year probably with your luck. Mostly for balance and the days the pain gets to be annoying, you can of course just use your quirk for the pain, but major endorphin releases like that could get addicting if you don't regulate yourself.

The big 'tournament' is coming up in three months. A partner test, but on a far grander scale that brings in students from all the years along with some outside schools taking part in a giant… thing. Apparently last years test involved a giant robot fight, which sounds rather distressingly familiar to be honest.

Still, you know for a fact Teresa will be there, the woman has been in steady contact with you ever since you got your phone back. Of course you don't know how she managed to get ahold of your school email address, and from there it transitioned to text messages that your girlfriend is highly suspicious of.

Which, to be honest, let her be suspicious all she likes. She has chosen to show her displeasure by walking around in the short-shorts she wore to her parents house. So while one part of you wants to die another part of you is willing to put up with the suffering for the greater good of mankind.

You honestly aren't sure what she is jealous of though; you, compared to at least half the physical specimens running around the school, aren't exactly a catch.

"Are ya still textin' her?" Stephanie calls from the kitchen.

You smile and switch the display on your phone to your emails. "Nope, though your jealousy is very flattering thank you. I've just gotten an email from… R&D actually, they are ready for my braces to help me actually do training again. Besides the shadowboxing we've been doing anyway."

You hear shuffling and look up to see your partner stepping around the kitchen bar to stand beside the couch, her tail wagging away behind her as she looks down at you. "What ya got?"



---



[Flexibility] - You'll have your full range of movement back. No more limbs locking up on you.

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

You had a lot of catchup work to do, well, had is the wrong word to use there. You are sure Omnilinguist would be most annoyed by you using it instead another participle. In the interest of proper language: You still have a metric fuck-ton of work to do, but it's all relative, and at least it's less than a metric shit-ton.

English, Math (that Stephanie is thankfully helping with), Hero Law and History. It is a small mercy that you were already well ahead of your studies to the point you actually are catching up rather easily. That, and the teachers are walking on eggshells around you, even Omnilinguist seems to be tolerating your existence again, a feat considering you thought she was going to cast some ancient Sumerian curse on you for helping Stephanie.

That's not an exaggeration, she understands that language too.

With a sigh you drop the papers back onto your lap, one hand moving to rub at your eyes before you slowly push yourself up from the couch. Your cane unfolds from your wrist, a metallic shunk sounding out as it telescopes down to press against the floor. You hold your waist against it, pushing up and using it to steady yourself. The braces compensate immediately, and you feel a slight vibration as they keep you somewhat steady. Not as much as they theoretically could, this is apparently rather experimental tech and they prioritise function over simple things like balance enhancement, but your cane does well enough for that.

"The hell are ya doing gettin' up?"

You glance over at Stephanie sitting next to the spot you just vacated, one brow quirked as she stares at you. She's in her usual outfit, that being a shirt and distractingly short shorts. "If I don't move around every once in awhile I'm going to go insane, that couch is a siren and I am not a sailor looking to eagerly throw himself on rocks."

Stephanie grins, getting up from the couch yourself to hover behind you as you make your way over to the balcony. It's a standard position she has assumed lately, she's always following you just in case you fall or need help… and she's needed quite often. The braces help, and you are very glad you have gained your full range of movement back, but this injury is going to be a pain for the rest of the school year.

You slide open the door, your cane clicking as it hits the concrete that makes up the balcony once you step through. The warmth of the summer sun washes over you and causes a smile to slip onto your face. Winter is nice, but Summer is absolutely your favorite time of the year. The sun is only just setting, classes having gotten out an hour ago and since then you've been back in your dorm studying. You still have loads to do besides that of course, tomorrow morning you'll be meeting up with Kros and Nora to continue working on your ability to heal animal quirks, of which you are proud to report you've made excellent progress, then after that it is Hero Law with Kevin. After that is more physical therapy. No more swimming or walking while holding bars at least, not it's a strict regimen of exercise.

You've gained the ability to run again, at least for a limited amount of time, so that's good. Your cane is still highly necessary however.

"Yer so cute when yer looking off into the distance, monologuing to yerself."

You blink, turning your head to look at your partner. "I am not monologuing, I've yet to say anything."

She smiles wryly in response. "Ah've known ya for six months now, ya think ah can't recognize that look?" she pokes you in the side playfully, her tail wagging away. "Ah think it's cute when yer all introspective and thoughtful like."

You smile back. "I was just thinking about the recovery process and all the stuff I have to catch up on. I'm hoping I can still do well enough to get us on that I-Island trip this year, seems like a good vacation… hopefully better than the last one I was on."

Your partner snickers, her hand moving to lay on top of yours as you rest on the cane. "Ah think it'll be fine as long as ah'm there to protect y-."

Stephanie is drowned out by a whirring fan as a security drone speeds by you both, lights on top flashing as it goes to put a stop to… whatever needs stopping. You both watch it go, a frown finding its way onto your face.

"I know why they need those things but do they really have to be so obnoxious?"

Stephanie laughs, her hand clutching yours a little more tightly before she pulls back and leans against the railing, In a moment of picturesque beauty the wind catches her hair, splaying it around her. That moment ends when most of it flips into her face, drawing sputters and spits from the half-blind half-wolf.

You laugh at the sight, amusement replacing the brief annoyance caused by the drone. "Then again it's Technomancer so… he's a dick."

Stephanie shakes her head wildly, the hair flapping about before she tucks it behind her ears. "Ah know, ah have to deal with him in media class lately, guys so holier than thou it ain't even funny."

You quirk a brow. "Pot meets kettle, Doomwulf?"

"Don't even start, mine's fake, he actually thinks he's god's gift to tech."

You shrug your shoulders, looking over the school grounds before your eyes settle on the stadium. New banners are hanging from it, proudly celebrating the upcoming tournament that will take place in… roughly four days if you remember your calendar correctly. It's supposed to be the biggest 'event' you've experienced so far, at least of those that are officially sanctioned and don't involve buses being thrown at people. A big old partner test where you are competing for best time and score in a series of non-simulated events. Combat, agility, may even have matches against fellow students at the very end if the rumors are to be believed.

You glance down at the cane, taping it experimentally against the ground as you think. "I got an offer from the school."

"Oh?"

"I can, if I wish, drop out of the tournament without repercussion due to my injuries, apparently they are rather worried about me aggravating my wounds and giving a rather poor performance. I'd get a passing grade apparently, and they'd pass you as well."

Stephanie tilts her head, her eyes wandering over to the stadium as well. "Ah can understand that, frankly ah don't really blame them for being… gentle with ya. Sucks if we couldn't participate with how much we trained though, what ya thinking?"

"Well I-"



---



[Agreed to Play it Safe]

This is unbeta'd.

---

You shake your head, a wave of guilt hitting you almost immediately. "I thought about it, but frankly I think I would honestly just hold us back a bit. I really don't want to aggravate my injuries and I'm not really in shape to be doing an obstacle course. I know you wanted to showoff though… so I can only apologize on that front."

Stephanie shakes her head. "Ah ain't got nothin' against ya on that front. It's just the first partner test, yeah it sucks that we can't participate but frankly ya got about just the best damn reason ah could possibly think of."

That… doesn't really make you feel better. "After how much we trained though I can't help but feel like a massive bum."

Stephanie shakes your shoulder, a cheeky grin on her face. "Yeah it sucks, but we got a free passin' grade of it and we can watch the other students make fool of themselves. Sounds pretty good to me to be honest."

She's doing her best to cheer you up, which… yeah. You still feel like a piece of crap for bailing like this but you are also knowledgeable enough to know you are about as durable as a broken cardboard tube at the moment. "I suppose, I suppose we should still make an appearance though."

Your partner grins. "Bring yer armor and gear, ah don't trust a bus not to hit ya or there to be a surprise spar durin' the tournament. 'Specially if that new friend of yours shows up."

You narrow your eyes. "Please do not assault my penpal."

Stephanie snorts. "Why would ah have any reason to do that."

---

Students pass by you both and filter into the stadium, plenty you know at this point; but plenty more beyond that from other schools that you don't. Nobody you recognize from the trip at least beside Teresa, though you do hope Sebastien is fine.

The guy was a dick but nobody deserved what happened to him.

Teresa is in her full outfit, but it is rather hard to miss her considering the fact that she has a glowing tail. At the sight of the two of you she raises her hand in a wave, a full helmet is on her head with glowing orange lights along the side. She's in what you would approximate to be scale armor, with a wrestling belt around her waist that more 'bombs' are hanging on.

Her wave immediately loses heart however as she spots who is standing beside you. Your partner sniffs once, then starts to scowl as Teresa removes the helmet from her head.

"Good morning… Stephanie."

Your partner lets out a growl as she stares at the woman across from you.

"Of all the people he coulda ended up friends with, he had to get yer ass?"

… "You two know each other?"

"Ah did yeah, he was one of my bullies back in middle school."

You blink, looking between Stephanie and Teresa. "He?"

Teresa looks a tad awkward. "I… sorry, I was meaning to apologize but I didn't have your information."

Somehow you doubt that considering Teresa managed to find yours, but with how awkward she looks she may actually not have tried to get it. "Middle school was hard and I took it out on you, I… can't really apologize enough for that."

Your partner lets out another growl. "Yer sorry for all that shit ya pulled? Ah don't care whatever problems you were dealin' with, about the only thing stopping me from beating the absolute daylights outta ya is the fact that security would be on me."

You reach out to grasp your partner's shoulder firmly. She twitches, then blinks repeatedly and slumps her shoulders. She is still rather annoyed looking, but not to where she is about to assault Teresa. "Sorry Dylan, ah ain't got much patience for bullies."

Teresa winces, and at this point you are greatly regretting the desire you had to once again see the person whose life you saved. "I'm sorry, that's really all I can say."

Stephanie shakes her head. "Look Terry… Teresa, just… get into the stadium. Ah ain't gonna assault ya but ah certainly don't want to see ya."

Teresa shifts uncomfortably a moment before nodding. She puts the helmet onto her head and jogs into the stadium, looking back at you both awkwardly a moment before disappearing into the tunnel.

"Well, you didn't beat the crap out of her so that went well."

Stephanie sighs one final time and sits down on one of the concrete flowerbeds that outline the stadium. "He… she was just one of the bullies that caused me so much problems back in school. Shoulda figured one of 'em would be showing up."

The corner of her lip ticks up slightly. "Ah made that whole Doomwulf persona to get away from that nonsense, make myself look better and all that so they would either fall in line or leave me alone. Worked actually."

You reach over to pat her on the top of the head, her eyes darting up to watch the hand slowly make its way over to her ears. "Bullies are bullies, and it looks like Teresa had her own… problems to deal with."

Stephanie snorts, her hand raising up to make your hand land firmly at the base of her ears. "Ah'm sure, just hopin' we don't run into yer aunt too, then ah actually will be startin' an assault."

You wince. "She actually announced she'll be speaking during the opening ceremony actually."

"... Scratch my damn ears before ah burn down the building."

---

The preshow was thankfully brief, your dear aunt talking about how grateful she is to be a hero and how much of a good thing it is. The students lap it all up of course, but that is beside the point.

What is far more interesting is the obstacle courses. Each pair is competing for best time in a series of events you are fairly sure would break your spine like a twig. Dodging rubber bullet turrets, leaping across falling platforms, crawling and diving through closing gates and underneath traps. It's a mess, but one admittedly fun to watch from the booth the school provided for you.

They still won't give you alcohol however on a schoolday, even if the fridge is packed with it. The event as a whole is a little behind schedule however, a group of technicians are out on the field as one of the platforms went haywire, catapulting a student from a neighboring state nearly into the stands when it flipped on him. Said flipping was apparently accidental going by the force and the fact several techs are actively working on its gizmos while the team in question gets a break.

Alva and Embla are oddly not present, though they are both probably controlling the proceedings from the lab.

"Well, beyond the technical failures how are you enjoying the festivities?"

Stephanie smiles. "Been pretty interestin' so fa-"

*Boom*

You jolt as a concussive blast rocks the stadium, adrenaline kicking in instantly as your now 'heroic' instincts override any instinctive caution. The platform… exploded, shards of flaming debris litter the floor of the arena and several techs are laying on the ground injured. Sparks erupt from the now broken in half lifting device, the platform itself tumbling end over end across the ground and narrowly missing yet another tech.

*Bang*

A series of explosions ripple out again as the floor bursts open in places, security drones rising up from where they were apparently parked underneath the floor to start circling widely. More come in from above, and you hear screams and shouts of alarm along with the sound of electricity crackling.

"The drones are going haywire!" a voice shouts, though you can't discern from who or where.

You jerk your head to the side to see your partner already standing up, horor and shock on her face as more blasts of orange and red light shock the arena. "Dylan?!"



---



*Concurrently*



struct group_info init_group = {.usage = Askr ok)INIT(1) };

struct group_info *groups_alloc*(int gidsetsize)

nblocks = (gidsetsize + NGROUPS_PER_Block - 1)

/* Where am I? */

nblocks = nblocks ? : 1;

***#$!@*#$(!@%@#$*%()@#$%****

group_info = kmalloc(sizeof(*AlmilonBLAMBSS͢҉̸͚̹̤̲̯̞̘̜͖ͅy̌̐͗͛͐̀̎̔̾̊̚s̢̾̿ͩ̓̎̑͒̀ͬ̉ͩ̒̏t̙̺̪̳ͫͨ͛̓͞e͢m͇͕̱̯͈͇̹̯͕͖̘͂ͫͪ̾̍̓͑ͩ̇ͧ͂̽ͅ ̦̜͚͔͎͇̙̠̝̺̜̙ͬ͐ͤͤ̿̔̆̆̏ͩ̂ͩͬͅO̼̱̝̥͈͕̭͓̤̺̘͈͖ͥͫ̈́͛ͮ̒ͣͭ͊͂̃͋̚ff̤̼̞͓̙̤̰̰̟͕̬͙̗͈li͎͕̩̯͎̼̜͔̟̲͠ͅͅn͙͔̬̘̙̞̙ͅe͔̜̙̤̳̯̘͇̥̟̤̖̤̺̦̓ͩ̾̀͋̾͐̌̎ͨ̑ͬ͆̈́ͪ Ŝ͚̪̦̝͎̩͇͖̤̹͈̠̋ͯͦ͗̂ͧ̽̓ͬ̇̚y̡̓̀̂͋̔ͣ̓ͩ̀ͣ̓ͣ̽ͦs̲͚̥̥̫̖͉̻̑̐ͩ̌ͤ̄ͥ̿t̻̜͍̞̯͕̯̱̟͇̼͚̰̻ͯ̄ͤ̀̍͐ͨͦͬ́ͮ͗ͨͭe̙̮͈͕ͩͯ̃͊m̸̟̬̮̖͖̺̼̭̱͇̹ͫͪ͗̔̀ͬ̍̏ͫ̀̐ ̨̨̟͈̺̫͎̮̜̜̮͕̩͠ͅÓ̭͇̹͙͇͙̳̲̲͡ff̛̊̅̓͒̉ͬ̍ͯ̚̕l͍̖̖̞̞̩̟͎̠͇͔͉̟ͯ̂̏̈́ͯͯ̆͆̊̋̅ͩ̚ï̻͔̂ne̅̂̋̄ͮ͗ͮ̔̏̚̚̚ S͖̱͙̗̭̲̪̬͔͑̓͒ͭ̋͂͐ͨ̎y͓͚̥͚͂ͬ͑ͫ͟tsͮͣ͌͒̏̈ͬ̕͢m̾̃͊ͨ̒̔̂͊͊͊ͤ͐̋ͫ̽͟ ̯̺̠̲̭̠ͧͦͤ͋ͩ̒O̫̖̱̗͊̂̊ͯffli͔͈̣n̶̤̺̭̦̫͇̥̘͊̅̀̽̈̅͂ͭ́e̶͇̱͎̜͉͖̪̗̥̫̟̝̫̙͍̎̉͑͊ͨͦ̈̍͊̒͛̋̎̇̄

Rerouting 3%

Rerouting 8%

Rerouting 9%

Rerouting 9%

Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% Rerouting 9% ⱤɆⱤØɄ₮ł₦₲ 9% ⱤɆⱤØɄ₮ł₦₲ 9% ⱤɆⱤØɄ₮ł₦₲ 9% ⱤɆⱤØɄ₮ł₦₲ 9% ⱤɆⱤØɄ₮ł₦₲ 9% ⱤɆⱤØɄ₮ł₦₲ 9% ⱤɆⱤØɄ₮ł₦₲ 9% ⱤɆⱤØɄ₮ł₦₲ 9% ⱤɆⱤØɄ₮ł₦₲ 9% ⱤɆⱤØɄ₮ł₦₲ 9% ⱤɆⱤØɄ₮ł₦₲ 9% ⱤɆⱤØɄ₮ł₦₲ 9% ⱤɆⱤØɄ₮ł₦₲ 9% ⱤɆⱤØɄ₮ł₦₲ 9% ⱤɆⱤØɄ____

/* Ḧệŀṗ ṃệ */



---



[We have to help the Techs]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

This is a terrible plan, this is fact may be the worst idea you've come up with. It's also the right choice. "We have to help the techs! Can you get me down there?" you are currently near the top level of the stadium with a cane, even if the elevator is working right now you doubt it would be particularly useful.

Stephanie stares at you wordlessly before snapping her facemask shut. She's got you in an instant, one arm going under your leg while the other is placed behind you back. "Hold on, this is gonna get bumpy!"

Your partner scoops you up, not even grunting as she holds you up to your chest, and springs to the edge of the box; her foot pushes against the ground, her run turning into a leap on top of the railing that surrounds it, then a rather worrying falling sensation begins to play with your guts.

Everything jolts as she lands on the next floor's railing, nearly knocking over a student running out of the stadium in the process. He doesn't even look back, joining the rush of other spectators fleeing the arena. The stadium is rapidly emptying, and once the confused stragglers start moving the only people left will be the ones who stay to fight. You catch a glimpse of drone crashing from the corner of your eye, but can't see anything else before you lurch once again.

Stephanie pays the drones and their crackling batons no mind, in the second it took for you to observe the situation around you she has launched herself again, air whipping past you both as she lands on the next railing, and the next. Until you both are down onto the stadium itself. The sounds of shouts, explosions, and electrical discharge fill the air as she places you down onto your feet. For one brief moment you ponder why Stephanie actually agreed to this insane plan of yours… but she has already moved forward, her arm swinging to punch a drone aside as yet more rise from the floor.

Right. Large sections of the arena floor are missing and yet more are lifting up and away to reveal even more drones. On the 'ground floor' there must be at least twenty to thirty of the damn things. There are three… four in between you and the techs, and Stephanie has yet to charge forward in order to cover you. With a shake of your wrist your shield deploys while your other hand draws your revolver.

It's simple but heavy, and hopefully it will pack enough wallop to deal with these thin-

You swing around, thumb cocking the trigger! Your left arm is pushed back as something hard smacks into it, sparks of electricity bouncing off and dissipating harmlessly in the air.

*Bang*

The revolver goes off, the long rubber round piercing the optical camera of the drone. The air fills with the scent of burning plastic and white smoke pours out of the hole you made, with a grunt you shove the shield forward, the front of your shield slamming into the drone and knocking the thing to the ground.

With a click you rotate the cylinder of your revolver and face forward again. Your partner is already on the move, claws digging through the hull of a drone as she tosses it at her attacker, the two drones crumbling on impact. The batons smack against her, but are unable to actually shock her passed the outfits insulation. Another loud bang erupts from your right, one of the platforms leaping into the arm as electrical systems underneath go haywire.

"We don't have a lot of time!"

"DOOMWULF IS AWARE!"

The sound of a car crash fills the air as your partner rams forward, pushing the drone in front of her into the one behind it. Nuts and bolts spill out like someone bodyslammed a pinata. The way is clear, and you can see two techs laying on the ground, just a dozen feet ahead of you. There was a third, but a cursory glance shows him just making it to the exit tunnel, the drones thankfully ignoring him as he flees.

It's a small mercy this event was closed to the general public, your parents were watching this on television, which means they aren't in any danger.

… Oh god, your parents could be watching this.

You sprint forward, your braces doing their best to maintain your momentum before you slide down onto your knees. They snap as they were designed to, bending back to allow you to crouch like this as you lean over the first man.

Focus.

Second degree burns all over torso and face. No other surface damage, mid tissue burn, and possible concussion.

He stirs as you start to peel the damage clothing away, a strangled gasp leaving his lips before you place your hand over his eyes. "Quiet. Everything will be alright."

The painkillers get to work immediately, the man's head falling back, blissfully high as a kite. Your right hand continues peeling away what remains of his shirt where you can, the left presses a button on the inside of your shield. With a metallic shunk the metal spikes deploy, and the shield releases from your arm to drop to the ground, the spikes digging into the floor with great enthusiasm and creating a barrier just behind your back.

We are judged in life for the evil we remove from this world…

Sparks flash just above you, and your eyes dart up to see Stephanie's armored claws digging into a drone just a few feet in front of you, electrical discharge shooting out from them and leaving the thing a burning mess.

She's already gotten a bit dinged up, her armor scraped in places where the prongs have bounced off or a baton has slammed into her. Your eyes move back down, the last piece of ruined clothing peeling off before you place your hands on his chest and face.

Everything will be alright…

With a thought the burns start to fade away, ugly pink and red skin turning back to a healthy brown. You can't fix a concussion, not yet, but the burns at least will be fine beyond some possible nerve damage that you can't see.

"How is he!?" Stephanie shouts.

"He'll be fine with just a few more moments, can you bring the other tech over?" you shout back. The battlefield is getting louder by the moment as more and more students realize this more than likely isn't another facet of the test.

"Ah can try, but there's shit in the way!"

You let out a gasp and lurch forward as something hard slams into the shield, sending you sprawled over the man. You catch yourself by your hand and knees and watch a drone go skipping overhead. THAT FELT GREAT THANK YOU!

You don't bother adjusting your position, your hands moving back to his chest as you heal his wounds and dull your own pain. Just a few more…

There.

You turn your head to spot the other guy, only for your heart to catch in your throat as you see just how many of the damn things there are in the way. A good twelve of the robotic pests are flying straight for your both, sparks sizzling in the air from their batons as they speed forward.

*Bang*

You fire off three shots, two hitting their mark and one going wild from the recoil. You are thankful you had the time and opportunity to actually practice with the thing while you were injured, but you are holding a revolver and there are more of these things than you have ammuntion.

"Stephanie!"

One moment your partner was nowhere to be seen, the next she is landing just next to you. You aren't sure what she has been up to but one of the metal claws has broken clean off and her mask is partially damaged. "Ya ain't gonna get injured again that easily."

You lift up the shield, preparing to dive to the side as they approach. "I don't think they agree with tha-"

*ZAP*

A lightning bolt arcs through the drones, a blinding white flash filling your vision as the scent of burning ozone assaults your nostrils. The sounds of wings flapping fills the air a moment later, and you watch a familiar winged figure dive down to grab the tech by the back of his shirt and fly him back over to you.

You can't see Nora's mouth behind the bandana she is wearing, but you can tell she is smiling broadly as she gingelly lays him on the ground, her taloned feet hopping away to look out for more drones. "Thought you could use the help!" You almost quip back, before the patient groans. Right...

*Focus*

First degree burns, cranial damage from involuntary flight. Pupils…

You pull out a small flashlight from your pouch. You pry open the tech's eyelids and flash the torch in his face. Not dilated, good. Only a partial test, but better than nothing. Leaning him back down you place your hand onto his cheek. The only thing burnt was his face, so this should just take a moment.

… There.

"Yes. Yes we could." You finally respond, looking up at Nora just as the sound of popping metal fills the air. You turn your head to the sound, Alexios and Michael stand back to back. With a wave of his hand Michael is twisting and twirling water through the air, the liquid diving into the machines and causing them to shake rapidly; sparks shoot out and the machines nearly shake themselves to pieces in the oil-filled water.

*CRACK!*

Alexious doesn't do anything that complicated, and you can barely see him passed the blinding glow. Lightning arcs from the nearby platforms into him, and the drones simply drop in a flash of light; smoke pouring from their fried circuits.

… Right.

"Steph, you okay?"

"Ah'll be fine, what're ya thinkin'?"

You turn your head to look back at your partner… seriously how. There's now a large series of cracks along the plate she has on her arms.

… Then again you've already managed to rip your uniform in several places somehow. Not important. You cast your gaze around the arena, several students are still here, either fighting the drones or trying to escape.

You spot Strongman and Jonesby both shepherding people out of the exit near the business section. Well dressed people are scrambling for their hides while Jonesby is tossing cannonballs all over the place.

Paintball is off with Mountebank, the two of them carving a path through the hordes. Well, one is, Mountebank seems to be laughing maniacally and throwing potions all over the place.

Teresa is… off with Lady Luck, the two of them battling a decent amount of drones in the stands.

Lastly there are a group of students you don't recognize with Kros trying to fight their way to the exit, their path blocked by a swarming mass of the damn things.




---



[X] [Write-In: Set up a defensible spot to bring injured to, preferably near an exit.]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

Right, think.

Helping people is important, but the middle of an arena is just about the worst place you could do it. You shake your head for a moment, thoughts racing before you pick your option. "We need to get the wounded out of this stadium, set up a triage point by the southern exit!"

Stephanie looks at you, her worries clear as day before she nods. "Right."

You place your hand on the man's face as Stephanie scoops him up, the burns fading away with barely a thought on your part. "Nora! The other one!"

"On it!" the harpy replies, hopping over and grabbing the man by the back of his shirt and flapping her wings. She takes off with a gust of wind, "lets go!"

Nora is, thankfully, already training for S&R so she doesn't even slightly question your urgency in getting the patients out of here. Stephanie meanwhile knows you and trusts your judgment… you just hope you can push out of the stadium. More than a few drones have re-emerged from the destruction left in Astrapios's wake.

Water lances by your head, closely followed by a bolt of heat and light. The liquid drenches the drones ahead of you, and sizzling pops fill the air as the lightning catches up. Stream trails from the robots, before they fall to the ground, puffs of white smoke pouring from their seams. You nod your head without looking back, pushing yourself fully up to your feet you clutch the cane in your hand as you start to run forward. Pain lances up your body as you do so… but you ignore it, what you are feeling right now is temporary. Your body can complain all it likes, you are going to help these people if you can at all help it.

Your braces kick in automatically, doing what little they can to keep you balanced as your spine stings in protest. Stephanie pulls ahead, as does Nora, both of them making for the tunnel as a path is cleared through the metal adversaries. The focus of fire switches towards the group Kros is shepherding, and you watch out of the corner of your eye as Astrapios is carried on a wave of water towards them, his hair sparking as he draws power from the arena around him.

You snap your revolver up as a few cross your path, the little bastards separating you from your partner. You could call for her but… no, the wounded getting to safety is by far more important at the moment.

*Bang*

The revolver kicks in your hand a moment before you control it, the round impacting and sending one of them into the ground. They respond immediately, two flying forwards. You cock the revolver, then brace your shield and shove it forward. Ignoring the pain in your back the shield as the first one puces against the shield. You're really glad they insulated your suit.

*Bang*

Your revolver goes off against the second, and you pull the shield to the side and knock the first out of the way. Click.

*Bang*

The report of the revolver sounds out again as the last of the three goes down like the first two. You like this thing. But as you pull the shield back again and look at the next wave coming in you realize that perhaps the ammunition capacity, or lack thereof, was more of a problem than you thought.

You draw in a breath, drawing back the hammer and holding the shield closer to your chest.

"I would suggest stepping to the side!" You tense and jerk to the side, your boots skidding against the ground as a bolt of fire lances by. It impacts the center drone, and you watch as instead of burning away the fire… spreads. Tendrils like webs of flame attaching themselves to each drone and slamming them into each other; the scent of burning plastic filling the air as they try to fly straight and separate to no avail.

A second bolt sizzles by and with a deafening crash the drones explode into a shower of debris and flaming material.

"Will you be able to make it to the exit?"

You blink, that voice…


You turn your head towards the speaker, your eyes widening slightly as you take in who is speaking. He's familiar, dressed in a very fine suit. His hair is blonde and fairly well maintained, though you can't help but note the bottom of it is currently on fire. "... Sebastien?"

The student grins. "Of course, do you require aid?"

You nod your head and look towards the tunnel. "We're setting up a triage point near the southern exit, can you clear a path?"

A haughty laugh escapes the man. "Can I clear a path? You just start running."

Well, good to know his ego pulled together as quickly as his rib cage. You nod firmly, brandishing your shield and running as fast as you can. You control your breathing, ignoring the pain in your back as you push on. With a rush of heat above you a wall of fire appears in the midst of the swarm; then with the sound of screeching metal it splits in half, the wall splitting in two and shoving the mass aside like a parting sea.

A grin splits your face and you push onwards, ignoring the sounds of battle still raging around you before you enter the tunnel. It's a short jog from there to the outside

… What form of fresh hell is this? People are running around all over the place as drones speed through the air. The security is fighting as best they can, some with quirks, some without. The staccato of gunfire pierces the air as they do their best to set up a rough cordon around the stadium to little avail. There must be hundreds of the damn things speeding and crashing through the air. A good chunk of the forest is on fire across the ways, vines and branches shooting out into the air to stab at the drones flying through the air.

You can see pockets of battle all around the campus from here, explosions, flame and well… panic everywhere you can see. The security is doing the best they can, but the problem is the civilians; the drones are bad, but they're a problem you can shoot. It's only a matter of time before a civilian tries to fire off a quirk into the drones and hits the crowd by mistake.

"Dylan!" Stephanie's voice cries out.

Your jerk towards her; Stephanie has a group of people, some on the ground, some standing. All against the wall just to the left of the entrance. As you watch Nora drops one gingerly to the ground, a young girl whom you don't recognize with a sizzling right arm.

… Right.

"What's the situation?" you shout, running over and snapping your shield closed.

"Got some injured, nothin' too bad. The drones can only stun, got some people knocked around pretty bad from all the excitement though!"

You nod your head and take a look at the first.

*Focus.*

Minor cranial injuries, bleeding an acceptable amount… cranial bleeds always look worse than they are. "You will be fine, just stay still alright?"

The girl looks at you in panic for a moment before her eyes flit down to the symbol on your chest. "G-Gauze?"

You smile reassuringly. "I be he, now relax."

The girl lefts out a shuddering breath as you place your hand against her forehead, the wound sealing up immediately. Your eyes trace her body a moment, looking for any additional injuries before you pull a swab from your pack and remove the majority of the blood from her face. "You just stay still."

You then turn your head to Stephanie. "You can go help out, I ca-"

"Ah ain't movin' a damn inch." Her eyes lock with yours, a fire behind hers that just dares you to challenge her. "Ah'm yer partner and this is what ya need my help with."

Your eyes stare back into hers for a few moments before you nod. "Alright, next patient."

Morrigan's voice echoes over the crowd. "Students up front! I will need everyone to keep calm!"

With a glance you can see Morrigan floating above the crowd, the butterfly directing students most ably. Back to your work.

Internal hemorrhage, concussion, a nasty fall. Patient to patient to patient. You work for a time that feels like an eternity as the battle rages around you, though more than likely it has only been three minutes or so.

"Keep him still!" You shout over the rattling gunfire and explosions. Sebastien has taken a spot just nearby and is slinging fire through the air with abandon, cutting off any drones that try to get cheeky and charge into the cordon.

Stephanie grimaces and holds down the man as your fingers wrap around his throat. A drone got a prong directly into his neck where it managed to break off an- THERE.

With grace amazingly maintained despite your rapidity you remove the metal barb, your fingers cover the hole it leaves behind as the man stops struggling. The damn thing was stuck on stun mode, and you feel your fingers start to go numb before you toss it aside with a metallic clank.

A sigh escapes the man's lips, and one leaves your own a moment later. You look up past your partner, no new patients and Nora is taking care of the ones you already worked on with Kros. Good.

The drones are still going absolutely nuts, but the pockets of resistance have become firm and are holding off well. The professionals should be arriving soon. "I think we're going to be alri-"

Your words are drowned out by a metallic roar and the sound of cracking concrete. All heads snap turn towards R&D, where from here you can see students running away from it in all directions as one of the side walls of the diamond explode... A hand reaches out a moment later, gigantic and metal. You watch with more than a little alarm and deja vu as another hand joins it, then finally the monstrosity pulls itself out. It's near identical to the robot you dealt with in VR training… or maybe it's big brother, since it's easily twice as tall. If it could walk under a thirty foot clearance you'd be shocked.

Its metal head swings about before locking on the stadium. Its two eyes flashing red before it pulls itself fully free and starts to run over.

"WHY DID YA HAVE TO TALK!?"

"Bad habit." You draw and cock the revolver. "You ready?" With a snarl, Stephanie closes the mask over her face.

Students and teachers push forward, they, along with security, attempting to slow it down or stop it before it has the chance to reach the stadium. Right. Lets go-

You blink, your head jerking to the side as you see out of place movement. There, towards the western entrance is… Technomancer? He's running towards the stadium at full speed pushing a large wheeled box with a pack of drones hot on his heels. The drones aren't moving as fast as they should, maybe his power at work?

"Dylan?"

You jerk your head back. Your partner is looking at you, her expression, what you can see of it. Is an interesting mix between worried and eager. "Ya good to go?"



---



[X] Go after Technomancer

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

You shake your head and jerk your hand to point at Technomancer. Your partner follows your gesture, her eyes widening as she sees who is hurrying into the stadium.

"The guy does tech stuff, he could fix this."

"Or he caused this." A low growl escapes your partners throat, and you don't miss how she tenses up ever so slightly. "If he can make the drones his pets why the hell ain't he dealing with the robotic king kong?"

Any further conversation is drowned out by a series of rather loud explosions and shouts from the direction of the doombot. You and Stephanie share a look, then with a slight inclination of her head you both move. Your cane presses against the ground as you push yourself forward, it clicks against the ground a moment before it snaps up and bends into your grip and out of the way. You can run, it still isn't pleasant but you can run.

No drones move to stop you as you go, and your partner thankfully holds back a little to keep pace with you. It's still not a long run either way, and by the time you reach the entrance the fighting has moved on behind you… You don't look back, lest you are tempted to run over there yourself to try and help.

One piece of bravery at a time thank you. Looking down the tunnel you see Technomancer already a good distance ahead. The drones are still following along as his trenchcoat billows behind him. "Come on!" Steph says, turning quickly around the corner and following after.

Surprisingly, the man is quite quick, and by the time you make it to the interior of the arena itself he's already near the center of it. There is… nobody here at this point, not even injured. The repeated trips by Nora and the rest saw to that. There aren't any drones either besides those laying broken on the ground and the ones following the teacher.

As you approach he stops the cart and rolls up his left sleeve. Attached to it is some sort of… wrist bound computer, and with a few tabs you see a section of the floor lift up to reveal what appears to be a tunnel underneath the arena. Due to the noise of all this, and well, the doombot outside, Technomancer doesn't seem to notice your approach until you are within a few dozen feet of the man.

He pauses, his finger hovering over the wrist-computer before he turns his head to you. His sunglasses are gone, revealing blank irises and white sclera. You aren't sure if he is blind or that is a feature of his quirk, and frankly at the moment you don't really care to find out. "Great, you again."

You blink, then tilt your head. Another explosion sounds out in the background along with what sounds like a thunderclap. "Need a hand?"

Technomancer frowns, idly stepping back closer to the crate. "You sure you'll actually be assed to help this time?"

Stephanie lets out a growl. "Is now really the best time for a pissin' contest?"

Technomancer gestures his arms to either side. "And whyyyyy the fuck not? In case you were distracted by a stick, the school is exploding! Just run along now and go help the students, I can't move the mainframe and hold your hands at the same time."

Your eyes slowly move from Technomancer to the box. "The mainfra-... Embla?"

Technomancer opens his mouth to say something, then closes it just a quickly. You watch as he looks back towards the tunnel before giving you a crooked smile. "Yeah… Yeah kid, they're after her."

"The hell is they?" Stephanie asks, and from the corner of your eye you can see her just slightly shifting her stance.

"The bad guys, who the fuck else? Ya gonna stand here and talk or are ya gonna fuck off before you attract their attention?"

You… aren't particularly great at 'people'. You know injuries, but the inner workings of emotions and tells are lost you. That doesn't change the fact that Technomancer is being skeevy as fuck right now. He has always been a dick, but right now he is being evasive and seems like he is desperately trying to push you away.

You slowly turn to Stephanie, locking gazes with her. She's worked up, if the two narrowed eyes are any indicator. In that moment you communicate without words… though it doesn't take much more than darting eye movements and shifting shoulders.

'Lying?'

'Yeah.'

'Jump him?'

'You got it.'


---






[X] Be Aggressive, take him out as fast as you can. You can be rough and fix the damage later.
-[X] Boost Stephanie's quirk if you can

Thanks to Armoury for the beta!

---

Right, Doomwulf style. Not your specialty, but you have enough training in and alongside it to make it work. It helps that the basic model is easy enough to understand: pure, instinctive, violence. Which frankly is something you've wished to bring down upon Technomancer for a while. Yet still, something about him is noticeably… off. He's a dick to be sure, but right now he is being a dick without purpose. So in this situation it's just best to deal with him quickly.

"Steph?"

Your partner's eyes haven't left your own ever since your silent 'conversation'. "Yeah?"

"I don't think Technomancer has properly met Doomwulf."

Stephanie smiles that smile you've grown to love and kicks forward. Her feet digging momentarily into the concrete ground before she bursts forward. She blurs momentarily, and in response the panels in front of her explode in a shower of metal and smoke. She dives through it, a wild grin on her face as sparks and flame flicker off of her armor. With the sound of screeching metal her claws dig into a chunk of flying metal panel, then with another leap she uses it to catapult herself in the air in a crash course towards Technomancer.

Technomancer raises his hand, and with several more bursts drones come flying out of the panels around him. They join the mob already floating next to him, flying forward in a collision course with your partner.

*Bang!*

You let loose several rounds from your revolver, two drones (of the three you aimed at) collapsing to the ground in a series of sparks. The third is batted away with a swipe of Stephanie's claws, clattering harmlessly against the ground as Stephanie tucks herself up. Her arms move to cover her face as she smashes through the barrier of drones with a crackling of electricity.

You push forward, following behind your partner as you keep your eyes locked onto the fight. Technomancer's eye widen at the falling charge of the wolfgirl, and his arm jerks upwards to get in the way of a slash of her claws.

*Clang*

The sound of metal hitting metal reverberates through the air. Where you would expect to see blood from where Stephanie connected you only see circuitry and metal. The skin has been slashed open on his right forearm, revealing a metallic inside. "Android?!" Stephanie exclaims.

"As if." Technomancer pushes back with the arm against her claw. A burst of electricity erupting from it and forcing your partner to leap back from her attempted attack. With a grunt Technomancer tears the sleeve away, and you watch the skin start to… peel back to reveal fully metallic digits and musculature on both limbs.

You don't pay attention to that for very long however, as you come to a skidding halt and raise your shield. Your arm braces, and several metallic clangs fill the air as drones go skidding off of it. *Bang*

The scent of burning ozone fills the air as you fire your revolver around the edge. Destroying another two in the process. Flame and smoke rise up from their wrecked carcasses, and you watch as another horde charges towards Stephanie.

… Dammit.

You dig your boot into the ground a moment, your shoe skidding momentarily on the metal detritus and platform 'shrapnel. Then with a lunge you charge forward, the drones that were pushing against you falling by the wayside as you sprint ahead. Pain lances your body as several jolting barbs hit you in the back, it's lessened greatly by the plating you wear, but it is by no means pleasant.

With a crash your shield collides with the middle of the horde. Your revolver raises to fire off the last of its ammunition into the back of the host while Stephanie deals with the front. You glance at your partner, and feel a tad guilty about the aggrieved expression on her face.

"Ah can't exactly fight all that well when yer injured and runnin' all over the place."

You smile and grab her arm, twitches of pain still lancing through you as you try to ignore the fact that even more drones are coming in. Though… noticeably less. With a thought your quirk gets to work boosting her and healing the small scratches you can see. "Then we best get this done quickly. Up for 'Sparky'?"

Stephanie glare at you a moment, but simply shakes her head. "Ah hate the name ya came up with for this one!" she then leaps back, crouching down into a runner stance.

Bending your knees you raise your shield up above your head, dimly aware of the drones now surrounding you on all sides. Your partner moves, her feet leaving the ground as she leaps through the air with a running start. Your arm bends and your body protests as she lands atop your shield a moment later, before she kicks off, using it as a platform to sail through the air towards her opponent.

Her claws scrape against each other, and sparks of electricity cover the gauntlets up to the forearm. They flash out, catching a group of drones in midair and tossing them aside as she falls at greater and greater speed. She then twists as Technomancer steps back, his arms raised in a defensive posture.

It isn't enough this time. Stephanie ignores the electricity as she dives through the chaff, and the air rushes over her costume, filling the arena with a howling note as she slams clawfirst into technomancer. Both claws stab pointfirst into his metal arms, and you watch as she wrenches each aside and kicks her leg forward. Metal clawed shoes collide with a shirt and with the screech of tearing metal Stephanie pulls the two metallic arms clean away from his body, they seperate at the elbow relatively cleanly, revealing a mechanical joint and a copious amount of sparking circuits and oil.

Technomancer has but a moment to process this before she wrenches her claws free and slams her elbow into his gut, the man doubling forward before her other arm connects with his head. It snaps back, and the man falls backwards onto the ground, his head lolling to the side… hopefully unconscious.

The drones, within arms-reach and sparking threateningly, halt their movements, their sensors stilling as they float aimlessly.

Stephanie stares down at the 'teacher'. "Did we just beat ah villain?"

You let out a breath, allowing your shield to snap shut again as you look around the arena. "I think s-"

The sound of wood cracking fills the air, and both you and Stephanie turn to look as a pair of metallic arms slam off the lip of the box. They hold there a moment, then with the sound of moving gyros they grab onto the side and hoist the occupant into a sitting position, staring straight upward.

"Alva?"

"Solar charge located." The android's eyes are glowing golden. "Rebooting… one percent… three percent… twenty per-fift-eighty-ninety nine percent..."

…

She looks around a moment, then focuses on the both of you with a bright smile. "Student Dylan! Student Stephanie!"

She pulls herself out of the box and lands in a rather unsteady crouch. Lifting herself up she looks about ready to do her patented charge-hug on you before her gaze lands on Technomancer. With a metallic whir her finger extends like a snake, coiling through the air until it gets about a foot away from the teacher before snapping back. "He is not well."

Stephanie nods. "Ah have that effect on people."

Alva shakes her head. "Teacher broke into the mainframe, but he was being hijacked. Wrong, alien code."

You look down at the man as well. "He was acting oddly antagonistic, well, more than normal. So he's the reason the school went haywire?"

Alva nods, looking up at you. "He has control of the system, but somebody was controlling him."

"Are they… still in the system?" Stephanie asks.

The small android pauses, her head tilting slightly before she shakes her head again. "No trace, and Embla is safe and rebooting."

"Well, that's good then," you respond as you pull off your helmet and let it clatter on the ground. It's still quite cool here, and the air on your sweaty scalp feels nothing short of amazing. You smile, turning back to the two of them. "I've had enough of fighting recently."

Stephanie laughs, and with the sound of clinking metal she walks up to you. "Tired of gettin' all hot an' bothered?"

Oh, for the love of god.

"Hey dude! You okay?!"

You turn your head to see Strongman running towards you… along with seemingly everyone else in his class. "... Yeah?"

Some of the students move to check on Technomancer, while others stop, seemingly unsure what to do about the suddenly not-hostile drones. Only Strongman completes the journey to you, well, him and Morrigan flapping to catch up. "What happened?" he asks.

You point to the unconscious form of Technomancer. "Dick was trying to take over the school, but was apparently being controlled by another, larger dick. I've had enough of today to be honest."

Strongman blinks then grins. "Well your bedside manner hasn't suffered for it. We went looking for you two after the giant robot collapsed."

You narrow your eyes. "Anyone hurt?"

Strongman shakes his head. "Nothing a little protein, calcium, and mild therapy won't fix. We were more worried about you two to be honest."

Stephanie walks up to you, idly placing her hand around your shoulder. "My partner and ah can handle anythin'. Best power couple in the school." She then gets… distractingly close to you, pressing your arm against some rather fascinating parts of her anatomy in a clear desire to get back to playing embarrassment chicken.

…

Fuck it.



Your partner lets out a noise of confusion as your hand moves to the side of her head. You lean forward, her eyes wide as your lips close around hers. The last thing you see as you close your own eyes is her cheeks turning scarlet and her tail wagging fast enough to cause a hurricane. You feel a light pain as her hands in response move to clutch at your shirt above the armor plating, but a brief moment of worry that she was pushing you away is annihilated by the fact that she leans up and into you to deepen the kiss.

You release it a few seconds later, stepping back to take a good look at your partner. She's leaning on her tiptoes, her face cherry red and her tail thwapping so loudly it has caused more than one student to look in your direction.

A smile slips onto your face, one that only grows as your partner blinks rapidly as her brains catches up to the situation. "I win."

 

[Erien]

[X] [R&D, to learn the ins and outs of your quirk to help people better. - More Quirk Enhancement]
[X] [Alva]
[X] [Embla]
[X] [Mountebank]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

"Yer still stayin' in that weird R&D class? Even after everthin' that happened?"

You remove your eyes from your textbook to look at your partner. "Yep, I figured if anything I'll focus on other classes next year if I really want. But so far I've learned to heal plants and have gained a rather decent understanding as to how my buffing works. I've also gained other notable abilities, namely how to sedate wolfgirls."

Stephanie twists her head slightly so that her eyes meet yours. She doesn't move too far, lest your hand lose the ability to scratch behind her ears. Your partner has taken a spot where her head is resting on your leg while she reads your own textbook, her tail wagging lazily behind her on the couch as your 'magic fingers' do their work.

Her leg kicks softly against the cushions as well, and you can't help but smirk at your newfound talent. The kicking also briefly serves to draw your eyes to the new short shorts your partner has taken to wearing, and you don't miss the smirk that come across Stephanie's face as well when you manage to draw your eyes away.

Wisely, like the philosophers of new, you ignore the world and its temptations in favor of your book. Your voice finding strength a few moments later to ask. "What about you?"

"Search an' Rescue probably. Got the invitation from that bird chick and ah figure it might be helpful when we are partners after the four years are out."

You chuckle audibly. "Count me surprised. How sure you are that we will be partners once we are done with college. Sure you are rather adorable, but the rest of our professional careers?"

"Well ya, who else would be willin' to put up with ya?"

"Hmm, fair. Doubt most would be willing to take you for walks either."

Your partner lets out a growl and you raise your hand as you hear clicking teeth. "Don't bite the hand that scratches." You warn.

The tail wags once, twice… three times. Before she settles her head back down and you return to your scratching. Peace in the realms, for now at least.

---

You idly scroll through the new messages on your phone. One from Teresa… you get about one of those a week now, she checks up on you somewhat regularly ever since the incident at the school. Though that has noticeably slowed down as of late. You also have been in rather sporadic contact with Sebastien. The man somehow manages to come off as haughty in text, which is honestly more impressive than it is aggravating, but you can consider him a friend.

One of many you've made since coming to this school, whether any of them will actually still be your friends once you graduate is up in the air of course. But still, you can safely say you have more friends here than you had in highschool… you still need to get Stephanie and Teresa on speaking terms however.

"Student Dylan?"

You snap the phone shut and look up to see the smiling face of Alva peering up at you. "Here Alva, apologies, I find I'm rather… popular lately."

Alva nods rapidly, the sound of metal hitting metal filling the air as her chin meets her chassis. "Understandable, Dylan is a hero! Managing popularity and fans is a very important part of hero work!"

You put the phone back into your pocket and remove yourself from the wall you were leaning against. It is outside of class time at the moment, so you technically do not need to be here. But Stephanie is busy with her S&R classes and you don't really have much better to do besides see what Alva and Embla are up to. The little robot has been going around like crazy updating the security systems after Technomancer was fired.

… Just fired, nobody is still quite sure what happened and the lawsuit is still ongoing, but at the very least he is being rather forthcoming. In that he has no idea what the hell actually happened and he only has sporadic memories these past few months apparently. Either way, Alva and Embla are understandably busy, so your class has mostly been sidelined in favor of them giving you all reading assignments. A pity, but at the very least Alva seems to enjoy your company greatly.

She lets out a happy electronic beep as you start walking down the hallway towards the windows overlooking the diamond. Her arms swinging happily at her side as she follows along beside you. "I'm not exactly in Media Relations, I'd rather be successful but unpopular thank you."

"Alva understands, interviews take away from important processing time."

… Well you suppose she would look at it that way. "Indeed, though in my case it's more 'free time' than 'processing time', not that the school has allowed anyone to interview me." For the better honestly, the school has a policy where they handle all 'outside' relations, so anybody who wants to talk to you or your partner gets the school's PR rep. Damage control and privacy you suppose, though as you stare out that window towards the newly repaired R&D courtyard you can't help but feel that it is also no small amount of preventative ass-covering as well.

You aren't the first and only school to be hit, apparently a school near Tokyo got hit at roughly the same time, along with some place in London. Probably just a coincidence, but doctors should be paranoid as a matter of course. And you have a cane so you are paranoid of everything.

"Everything back up and working at this point?"

Alva's arms continue to swing side to side as she nods, a curious habit of hers. "All systems are running at peak efficiency, and all known security holes have been patched!"

"Well that's good, long as no hackable drones are flying about just waiting to slam into my spine I'm happy."

Alva stops swinging her arms and gingerly pats you on the back. Her other reaches into her knapsack and produces a sheet of paper she holds in front of your face. You quirk a brow and grab it, eyes idly going over the first lines as she speaks.

"Alva has compiled a list of all known healing quirks, cross referenced with all applications of your powers, and have put together a research project. Please study the databases provided when available, this should help you understand your ability to heal better!"

…

…

…

"Student Dylan, why are you rubbing the spot behind Alva's audio sensors?"

---

You carefully lower the glass vial into the velvet holder. Making sure not to move it too rapidly just in case this is one of the 'explosive' variants. She didn't mark them of course, because that would be way too damned easy. The sanguine liquid barely moves in the vial, and you let out a sigh as you turn your head to look at the next batch you have to put in. "You know, if you actually wanted to you could probably make a fortune with these. Cure alls, extra limbs, drinks that open portals to realms yet unknown where ancient and deliberately forgotten deities reign as all-encompassing beings of power. That kind of thing."

Mountebank shrugs and lifts up one of the tubes running from her arm. It winds around a long pole that allows four tubes (one for each arm) to drip into four separate glass containers. She carefully extracts one of the tubes and holds the end of it free with her finger before dropping into a new empty glass beaker. The blood flows again once she removes her finger, and she a move that speaks of long practice flicks a cork stopper into the newly finished vials lid. Caressa smiles and idly takes a long drag from her apple juice box. "Could, but I like being a mad doctor. Helpful doctor's are so holier-than-thou and boring. I'm not Paracelsus, I'm Henry Jekyll."

"I think Madam Exsanguination is more fitting, but be my guest."

Caressa laughs but is otherwise careful to not shift the needles running into her limbs. "Risks must be taken for science. Besides, this batch was requested by research and development."

You push the velvet lined bag aside to grab the next, and thankfully last, one. Setting it into place you grab the new 'potion' she just finished making and set it inside, holding it open as you wait for her to finish. It's the first time you've been in her lab. You were aware that she mostly stayed in R&D, but you were until recently unaware that she actually had a whole office space setup.

She's here at the school on 'special assignment' which, as far as you've been able to figure out by her attitude and from rumor, means that she is apparently not quite here legally. But you also don't really feel like questioning it. Not when she has magical blood that flies in the face of all known medical science. Caressa is currently laying back on what you can only describe as a heavily modified gurney. Four heavily padded armrests are attached to the side that she is currently laying each arm on while gravity does its work in withdrawing her blood into the glass vials.

Machinery lines the walls from where she works, some is medical equipment you at least recognize, like a hematology analyzer… others are far more esoteric and seem to do little more than light up with pretty colors like the background of a children's television show. Her coat and mask are off crumpled onto the floor next to a currently raised murphy bed. The counter of which is currently littered with discarded juice bottles of orange and apple.

You are only here truth be told because you discovered her passed out outside the classroom one day after you left Embla's class. And well, one thing led to another. "So you've been making these for the school for going on six months now? Surprised they even had you do initiation."

Caressa shrugs again. "I was asked to do it as a form of live fire exercise. I don't really mind. I wasn't precisely welcome back in Canada so I relished the opportunity."

"Rude of me to ask what happened?"

Mountebank shakes her head. "I can't go into the details, but let's just say I accidentally mixed some potions that were… ill-recieved. Don't worry about it."

Oh, you absolutely will worry about i-

Your words are cut off as fingers tickle the underside of your chin. They drag your head around to stare into Caressa's eyes as she leans forward as far as the tubing allows her. Her eyes are half closed as the strong scent of blood and alcohol fills the air. "Dylan?" she says barely above a whisper, suddenly sounding remarkably more French than she did a moment ago.

"... Yeah?"

"I need more apple juice."

---

Recovery Girl… you knew of her before this, but you didn't really know the full spectrum of her quirk until Alva gave you all of this information. Sirona, Mr Medic, there are several 'medical' based heroes in the world. But few are able to heal quite like you can. Sirona is the closest but she requires a source of clean and pure water for her abilities to work. Recovery Girl however is the closest to your own abilities.

Her quirk allows her to heal people faster than you can, but is also rather dangerous in that it drains the patient's energy in order to do so. You on the other hand draw from your own energy so put little in the way of risk to the patient, but you aren't quite as fast as she is. Still, good knowledge and you would love to meet her if you can.

Next is… Sanitater, his quirk is dedicated to repairing bone-

"Dylan?"

You look up from the papers to see a familiar multi-armed person standing in front of you.

… The other familiar multi-armed person. Embla stares down at you with an expression belaying her curiosity. "Are you lost again, student?"

You blink, trying to parse the question as you look around… ah, you try to pick a different spot to read each day that Stephanie is in her classes. Which also means that today by accident you wound up on the same bench you did were sitting on when you first met Embla all those months ago. "No, not lost. Just studying."

With the sound of mechanical servos whirring Embla takes a spot next to you on the bench, the wood creaks worryingly for a moment before settling under her weight. The expression on the android's face is flat, so normal. "The research papers Alva provided you?"

You nod, shuffling them idly in your hands before placing them in your lap. "It's quite extensive… and she keeps finding more to give me. A rather eager robotic beaver, that one."

Embla gains a small smile at that. "Alva is eager to prove herself. She is requesting an internship for this upcoming fall, I hypothesize it is due to wanting to emulate you."

You blink. "While I am gaining some note for my heroics I wouldn't recommend following in my footsteps." To emphasize the point you tap the tip of your cane against the ground. "I'm just trying to help people and getting the crap beaten out of me in the process."

"A far cry from the nervous young man who looked so lost a few months ago. You have done well for yourself."

You open your mouth to reply before shrugging your shoulders. "Well, good luck to her I suppose. I'm afraid I don't really have any advice I could give her on that front though. Or any advice at all really."

Embla's smile widens slightly. "Alva must find her own route. But please do continue to be her friend."

That's just about the most earnest you've heard Embla since… you've ever known her. It's almost motherly in a way, as much as a computer can have maternal feelings. But… they've surprised you before. "Certainly."

---

"She's attempting to reach out to me again." You remark, idly placing the phone back onto the kitchen counter as you return to making dinner.

"Again?" Stephanie remarks from the couch, sounding more than a little annoyed. "Ya think she would get the idea after the first five tries."

You let out a sigh and look towards your partner. Stephanie hasn't changed all that much these past six months beyond growing out her hair a bit further. She wears it in a ponytail now for the most part, a change you are ambivalent about. The white specks in her hair light up beautifully in the summer sunset pouring in through the window, and you ignore the sound of your phone buzzing yet again as you return to cooking once again. "I made a minor name for myself in the school attack, she wants to capitalize on that. You've met her precisely once and even you get that. She'll get bored eventually, probably."

"Ya, but ah'd rather not have to go through what we did last time we visited yer parents."

You laugh idly, the spatula running across the metal surface of the pan as you move the meat around. "You enjoyed the sudden hike up in the mountains."

"Ya, but if we keep havin' to do that to avoid yer aunt things are gonna get hectic fast."

"Better than your mom asking if you've laid proper claim to me yet."

That gets a growl you instinctively duck at, though thankfully no pillows go flying into the kitchen. "Ya promised not to talk about that."

"You promised I wouldn't talk about that. I walked away." You point out. Your phone buzzes again and you let out a sigh and finally grab it, if she's going to get drunk on wine and blow up your phone all evening you can at the very least tell her to f-

…

*Click*

"Hey, evening Morrigan. Sorry I missed your call there, what's going on?"

The television is muted immediately in the background. "Good evening Dylan, I do hope your night is going well. I'm calling to give you good news!"

"Oh?" the butterfly sounds excited, which is always good.

"Your grades are the best in the class, I am excited to invite you to the trip to I-Island! You will be going along with your partner if she wishes to g-"

"AH AM!"

"-o, along with myself. Please pack accordingly, and congratulations!"

You smile and set the phone back onto the counter as she hangs up, dropping the spatula a moment later as your partner sees fit to tackle you across the chest in a hug.



---



If you were to compare Stephanie to an actual dog, you think it would be a husky. You had one growing up, and frankly you never quite met a more hyperactive dog on the face of this earth than a husky.

But that isn't truly accurate. As you've never seen a husky excited like it is about to go to disneyland and it's owner promised the husky a large steak dinner. In Stephanie's case it is all of these things at once, which is why she has been ignoring the notification to put on her seatbelt in the plane for the past thirty minutes as you approach I-Island.

Ladies and gentlemen, your girlfriend.

You suppose you can't blame her for her excitement. Getting to go to I-Island is a rather rare gift, those who don't get invited have to pay rather exorbitant ticket fees, and even then they only let people on for special events. You yourself are more excited to get away from Omnilinguist for awhile, things have been rather… heated after you revealed precisely what you thought about Ulysses in a book report.

Well, you suppose a small part of you is excited. Also smug to be honest, your grades were good enough to get here because you studied almost religiously. Hell you even got your partner in on it… at times. With great effort, and promises of bacon.

That's all the past though, at the moment you are in a very nice plane. You adjust yourself in the plush seat across from Stephanie. You've never actually been on a plane before, so you don't know if they are all this nice. But you and your teacher are the only people on this flight besides the pilots so frankly you aren't going to complain.

… You also found out you get airsickness, which you can thankfully cure. Still a nasty surprise. You glance briefly out the window to see the brilliant blue waters of the pacific, the coast of California left you several hours back so with any luck you should be able to see the island fairly soon.

You glance over towards your teacher. She's on the other side of the 'aisle', wings at rest as she sits on one of the plush seats. A magazine floats idly in front of her, every odd moment or so a page turning seemingly by itself as she reads. Beyond small snippets of conversation the teacher has been noticeably quiet, though you suppose she herself is also probably enjoying the peace and quiet she is rarely afforded as a teacher in a hero academy.

"So… no problem with you leaving the school for this? No classes you have to put off or anything?"

The magazine lowers slightly, but the butterfly doesn't react in anyway as she responds. "This is normally my off period during the year actually. I take a break during the fall months, usually doing actual hero work myself. I am technically around to sponsor you two but I have faith you two can handle yourselves."

You smile and look towards your partner. "Well I can be trusted to remain calm and collected at least."

Sadly your partner doesn't react, instead she is still wholly transfixed by the endless swathes of ocean out the window like she has been for the past hour. Clearly if you ever need to distract your girlfriend you just need to throw some saltwater in her general direction and she'll be busy for a good several hours at least.

"I do hope so!" Morrigan replies. "I shall be staying in a separate hotel room as well, though in the same building."

You look back towards the teacher. "Well you are the guest of honor after all, no need to hang around with us plebeians."

This time the wings flap rapidly as Morrigan laughs, the sound light and almost melodical. "Hardly! I am just there to represent the school during the large dinner they are putting on. I shall be far and away from the stage, as will you two, remember?"

You smile again, idly wondering if she would be considered a 'Woman of Honor' or 'The Great Lepidoptera of Prestige.'

You let out a breath and lean back into the seat again, your eyes wandering idly around the plane again before your eyes settle on the electronic display on the wall. Another thirty minutes by the look of things, though the island should be in sight well before then. It has been a long day so far. You were woken up at the crack of no-fucking-sun and shuttled to the airport on a train. From there you got onto a plane directly from the tarmac and flew to LA. You were there for approximately no time at all before you were pushed onto a different jet and sent hurtling across the ocean.

Not precisely pleasant, and you are admittedly more than a little hungry considering breakfast was over five hours ago at this point. But your partner is excited, so you suppose when you get on the ground you probably won't be eating anytime quickly. She has been rather eager to try her hand at the obstacle course they apparently have, which… given how much she has grown this past year you are rather interested to see how she does yourself.

… And she has grown in multiple ways at that. Only a slight bit higher, but her figure has filled out a tad more and become more defined. What was once a little wiry has changed to more obvious muscle all around. Her arms are thin but defined, as are her… legs, unfortunately for you. Of course she has grown in other ways as well. She's still the eager punchy puppy you've grown to adore but she also definitely has a more womanly charm to her. Which given that she is nineteen almost twenty is to be expected. That's to say nothing of her fighting ability, which has grown in leaps and bounds as she has been selected for more and more combat classes ever since the Technomancer incident.

You haven't of course, and you don't want to either. Not that you haven't grown, just combat isn't and never shall be your specialty. Of course, that doesn't mean you haven't been learning how to fight better, but… You glance down at the cane resting against your leg. It's the same little bastard that you've been using the past half-year, though now it has had some tweaks to at least fold up on itself courtesy of Alva. The little robot has been quiet loyal to you ever since the incident.

It's not that hard to walk these days, but on the odd times your back still locks up it is useful. It's something that is getting rarer and rarer but the cane is still good to have just in case. That, and frankly you've gotten used to walking with it. You shouldn't need it after a few more months, but your partner rather likes the look apparently. Not you being injured of course, just apparently there was some show she liked to watch that involved a sarcastic doctor with a cane. Amusing.

You aren't going to grow a beard, filthy bacterial face-huggers.

An excited gasp escapes your partner, and before you can refocus to see what it was you are hit in the face by a multicolored dust mop. No, wait, that's her tail. It is smacking you in the face repeatedly now that she has stood up and is obviously excited by something. With a huff you grab it and push it down, glaring briefly at your girlfriend before you too look out the window to see what she is excited abo-

…

Well, that's impressive.

Now admittedly you knew I-Island was big. But this 'ship' you see floating in the water a good few miles ahead is easily bigger than your entire campus and then some. Tall white walls rise out of the water, they tilt slightly, giving the entire thing a sort of 'dogbowl' style appearance. Past them and inside the bowl is a series of cities. Four in all, three arranged in a loose triangle with a larger one in the center. Surrounding them all are lakes of fresh water and trees… honestly the whole thing from a distance reminds you of that new Mouseland installation they put up floating on the gulf coast a few years back.

… Though this is dramatically bigger.

If you had to guess you could probably fit a good hundred thousand people on that thing comfortably. Right next to one of the lakes you see a long stretch of tarmac that planes are resting on, and as you process this an electronic ding goes off overhead.

"Impressive."

Stephanie snickers. "We are gonna have so much fun 'ere."


---

"The immigration process is now complete, the Island is currently showcasing the pre-opening of I-Expo. An event that showcases the items and technologies our teams are working on. Only those with invitations may attend the preview." The female voice chirps out as you finish putting in your information into the monitor. It flashes a moment later showcasing your name and official ID.

At least, you think it did. You quickly find yourself being yanked by the arm and out the doors of the airport. Morrigan lets out a laugh at your plight as you find yourself experiencing the finer points of motion sickness as you are yanked, spun, and nearly thrown in that order out the doors. By the time you recover Stephanie has stopped moving, giving you the chance to both recover and see what had her so exci-

…

Oh, so it is Mouseland.

The gates of the airport open up directly unto a large central plaza. A very wide brick pathway leads directly underneath and past a giant 'Welcome' sign. Past that you can see a large ring with a floating orb above it flashing a myriad colors, below the ring behind desks are several dozen clerks and the like for answering information. But that is frankly the most boring part of the whole thing. All around you are pathways, exhibits, gargantuan buildings dedicated to heroes, tech, games, arcades, apartments, theaters, music halls. Off in the distance you can see what appears to be a giant harp, each strum of its string rings out like a clarion bell as floating musical notes rise and float through the air.

Across from it is a large 'floating' ferris wheel. Clear orbs floating around a magnetic track in the sky that gives a view of the park from all angles. Further still beyond that is what appears to be a giant waterpark, water shooting up every few seconds to form shapes and words.

"Dear lord. I think this beats out Virginia."

Morrigan lets out another laugh and floats beside you. "It is not my first time here, but the view does never get old. We will have several days here, so feel free to partake in the entertainment!"

You pull yourself up straighter, ignoring the fact that your legs are currently getting the beating of a lifetime from your partner's tail. "Leaving us alone already?"

"All the information you require is present on your cards to get into the hotel, just please do remember to get to the event on time tonight. You also have my number if anything comes up, but I will need to meet some colleagues of mine before I too can enjoy the festivities."

Morrigan sounds genuinely annoyed by that so you don't comment on it, merely watching as the butterfly starts to flap away from you both. "Enjoy yourselves!"

You wave then face your partner, idly adjusting your helmet from where it was knocked around as you do so. Another rather… odd part of this was that you were required to wear your hero outfit when you arrived, it's apparently part of the general 'look' of this place that they go for. You won't be wearing it tonight at least, that will be a formal event.

At the moment you are just happy that this thing has enough breathable material to not cook you to death in the pacific sunlight. In fact it is remarkably cool here all things considered. You look to your partner, idly taking off your helmet to hook it around your belt. "So what's first?"

Stephanie looks at you and grins. "Well while we're dressed like this I'd figure we'd take a crack at the Obstacle Course."

You let out a sigh. "I figured that would be first, but don't expect me to do it."

Her grin turns to something softer. "Course not, ya've got a different job than ah do. Yer my cheerleader."

"Oh har-de-har. I'm afraid I don't have the figure for that."

Stephanie grabs your hand, metal gauntlet meeting fingerless gloves as she winks at you. "Ah dunno, ah've seen some people lookin'. Let's get goin' heale-"

"Dylan? Stephanie?" a male voice speaks up, a familiar one at that. You blink, turning your head to see the familiar suited form of…

"Sebastien?"

The man smiles and raises his hand in a wave. He's a gate over, a large black and gold bag floating on a trolley behind him as he walks over. "In the flesh."

He has also grown a bit, a bit broader in the shoulder and a certain change to his gait you couldn't honestly describe properly. "I am not surprised your grades were good enough to get here, but I must extend my congratulations all the same. Has all been well since we last saw one another?"

… He still sounds like a fop. But at least he's friendly. You smile back and offer your hand for him to shake. "Well enough, hoping to enjoy a vacation where nothing explodes for once."

He smiles back and shakes your hand, idly looking over your shoulder to nod at Stephanie before looking past you both. "I'm afraid that may be quite impossible, I would suggest looking behind yourself."

You pause, then slowly turn your head to see…

"Sup motherfuckers!"

Stephanie frowns immediately, but you simply smile back. "Hey Teresa. Why the hell did they let you in here?" Of the group she is probably the one who has grown the most. She's gained another foot in height and is actually taller than you now. Her dress previously hanging at her thighs now goes all the way down to her ankles with long slits on each side to allow easy leg movement. It also serves to make the legs glow from where the explosive pinecones are. Your 'penpal' has grown in other areas as well and is clearly not afraid to show it. Where before she was wearing a white undershirt underneath her blazer there is now nothing, revealing a rather generous amount of cleavage.

Teresa grins wickedly. "I don't get good grades 'cause I can hack the system, just for the same reason: I'm the smartest motherfucker you're ever gonna see!"

"Also the most humble I see. Greetings, fornicator of thy own mother." Sebastien replies.

The difference in speech patterns is… almost whiplash inducing. But you suppose you are at least somewhat used to it by now.

"Doomwulf greets you both, are you also here to partake in the festivities?"

Oh don't you start as well.

"Damn right," Teresa replies. "Got my grades and the teach is off fucking around somewhere, I'm going to fucking annihilate that arcade."

You grin. "Not going bowling?"

Teresa lets out something that is a mix between a hiss and a burning fuse. "Fuck off dweeb."

Sebastien lets out a cough and you turn your head back to look at him. "I myself am going to partake in the musical expedition. I was invited for my talents in playing, I am quite 'fire' as they say."

You don't groan at that, you have enough self control. You do however wince. "That's… good, you both coming to the party tonight?"

They both nod their heads, Teresa speaking first. "I'm not particularly excited about some hoity-toity dick-sucking fest where all the pros get together and get slammed on wine and listen to a bunch of speeches while they circle-jerk. But it's part of the package."

… You are impressed that Teresa managed to become more graphic since you last met her.

"And I shall be there along with my father, he holds rather major stock in this island."

You nod back. "See you there then, me and Steph are heading to the obstacle course."

---

When you reach the obstacle course it is exploding. Though for once in your life something is exploding near you not because of villains. You and Stephanie both lean over the railing as the blonde boy lands back onto the circular platform and glares up at the crowd as the announcer states his time. The obstacle course itself is a mix of water and a fake mountain. It raises above the actual 'arena' itself into the sky, and dotting it are these mechanical robots that serve as targets during the course.

It's a combat course, as S&R really isn't that exciting to most people. The boy literally blew through it. Large grenade shaped gauntlets on his arm propelling him through the air violently as he annihilated the course… violently.

The announcer states the time in both English and Japanese. Then with a flurry of motion the blond boy is suddenly clutching onto the railing and screaming in the face of a green haired boy. He's… remarkably loud, but you do combat practice with Doomwulf so it isn't too bad.

The green haired boy is wearing a rather odd jumpsuit with a metal half-mask hanging around his neck. He waves his arms wildly, clearly trying to calm the man down… though you don't actually understand what any of them are saying. Another boy steps forward, pushing the green hair boy back and quite literally body blocking the blond boy from the other one. The new figure has black hair and is wearing full body armor with what seems to be exhaust pipes sticking out of his back.

From what you can tell they are speaking Japanese, a language you have no experience with. With a smile you turn to your partner. "You catching any of that?"

Stephanie blinks, then looks at you owlishly. "Why the hell do ya think I speak anime?"

"Because you're a turbo-nerd." You reply glibly.

Your partner's eyes narrow. "First of all, ah'm not the one whose idea of high literature is medical textbooks. Second of all, watch yer fire or ah'll drag yah into the arena and call your face my weapon ah choice."

With a grin you raise your hands in surrender, then point back to the obstacle course where the green haired boy has hopped over the railing. "Contestant, Izuku Midoriya!" the announcer shouts out.

The boy 'Izuku' clenches his fists together. Then with a shockwave of air bursting behind him that nearly sends the announcer off of her feet he bursts forward. His fist sails out towards the first of the machines, and the thing disintegrates once the blow connects and he travels through it towards the next and the next. He's fast to the point you have trouble tracking him as he leaps from spot to spot on the mountain, small explosions from the robots marking his progress. Before, panting, he lands just before the mountain and walks back to the platform. He isn't particularly heroic about it, his hand is rubbing behind his head as he looks around decidedly awkwardly.

"Sixteen seconds, second place!"

You can hear the shouting of the blonde haired boy again, two girls behind him attempting to calm him down as Izuku starts to make his way back up to the railing.

You tap your partner on the shoulder. "Body enhancement you think?"

Stephanie shrugs. "Probably, he's got some rather loud friends though."

"I'm sure Doomwulf would know nothing about tha-"

"Weapon." Stephanie replies glibly, cutting you off.

You snort and look back to the arena. A new contestant, one of the boys from the group has leaped over the railing and is preparing for his run. You actually missed him at first despite the rather distinctive look to him. Not distinctive in the… more common way a lot of quirk users do. Tails, morphed heads, that kind of thing. No beyond the multicolored hair he is actually rather normal. What sets him apart is the rather vicious scar on his face that surrounds his left eye. You stare at it, eyes narrowing. Burn mark?

"Contestant Shoto Todoroki!"

The shouting picks up again, and a glance shows that Izuku has made it back to the platform and is currently engaged in a one-sided shouting match with blondie again. Your attention to that is held for precisely a moment, as almost immediately after you suddenly feel very cold.

Your head snaps back to the arena where 'Shoto' is crouched with ice falling around him. Then with an audible snap ice rushes from his hand to carve through the robots. It rises like a growing iceberg, stabbing peaks of ice growing on top of each other until nearly the whole mountain is covered.

"F-fourteen seconds! First place!" the announcer shouts out, and you aren't sure if the stutter is due to surprise or from the rapid temperature change.

… Frankly it feels rather nice in this hot arena.

You look back at your partner. "Your turn sparky."

Stephanie grins and hops over the ledge, her name appearing in the big scorecard above the stands. The blond boy looks like he was about to jump down to get into another shouting match, but pauses as he sees your partner strutting across the arena floor. With a red glow the mountain lights up, and you watch as the ice rapidly melts and drains away into the 'moat' surrounding it.

Shoto looks at her as he walks back to the barricade, and Stephanie being Stephanie grins ferally at him before she clasps her mask over her face.

"Contestant Stephanie Clarkson!"

A howl sounds from your partner, then with her claws scraping against the ground she is off. A rush of air follows as she leaps, her form twisting through the air as she starts to spin. She drills through the first robot, another howl sounding out as she uses it to leapfrog to the next and the next as she carves a sparking path across the mountain.

"Sixteen Seconds! Third Place!"

Stephanie pulls off her mask and grins up at you, and you beckon her up. With a leap she clambers up the wall and wraps her arm around your shoulder. "Ya see that!?"

You let out a laugh and move your hand to scratch behind her ears. "Indeed, what a good little murdermachine partner I ha-"

"Excuse me?" you both pause, you looking forward and Stephanie looking back as a blonde woman approaches you both. She was with the rest of the Japanese group, however unlike them she isn't wearing a hero uniform. Instead she is wearing a white dress shirt with a raspberry waist coat. A pair of capri pants completes the look with pink plaid socks. Blonde wavy hair goes down to her back, and her look is completed with bright blue eyes behind a pair of rather large glasses.

She stops a short distance away, adjusting her glasses on her nose before smiling at you both. "What school do you two hail from?"

Stephanie grabs your arm and places it behind her ears before answering. "ASH. Heard of it?"

The rest of the group approaches and Izuku asks a question in Japanese to the blond woman. She responds, switching languages easily. You don't catch a word of it besides 'ASH', but once she finishes most of them are looking at you appreciatively. Well, everyone except for the Blond one and Shoto. Izuku is staring at you both with wide eyes and a bright smile.

The man in armor steps forward, his hand on his chest as he boys slightly. "Greetings! I am Tenya Iida. I am a student of UA and it is my utmost pleasure to meet you on this most auspicious of days!"

He managed to say all of that in precisely a second. It would be impressive if it didn't take you a few seconds yourself to process what he actually said.

Stephanie raises her hand. "Yo."

The man blinks, and stares at it. "Ah! This must be an American greeting!" he raises his own hand with a wide smile. "Yo!"

… Well, he's not wrong.

A second figure steps past him in an… interesting outfit. She's wearing a sleeveless red leotard. It's open in the front giving a rather generous view of her going her neck down to her navel. She's not topless but is fairly close to it. She has two large belts around her waist just above her bare... legs and boots.

She has rather wild black hair that sticks up in a spiky ponytail with a large strand hanging in front of her face. She comes to a stop, bowing as the man did. "Hello as well, I am Momo Yaouyorozu, a student of UA."

Her english is a lot better than his, and he was already surprisingly good. You smile and nod. "I'm Dylan, this is Stephanie… and I see you've brought your entire school with you." You lean on the cane a little as you look at the group as a whole.

Behind these two and next to Izuku are two girls. One is a short brunette wearing a full body black and pink outfit. She's smiling gently at the two of you. Next to her is a girl with blue hair, she's wearing an open jacket and has a general punk aesthetic going on. Two red marks are under each eye, and as you take a closer look what you originally thought was a pair of earbuds is actually long flesh colored audio jacks that hang down from and merge with her earlobes. Behind them is mister blond and angry standing next to the last of them, a man you are going to go ahead and dub the 'shirtless wonder'.

He's a redhead, extremely redhead. His hair is spiked behind him and he is looking at you in particular with curious red eyes. He's wearing black sleeves, torn jeans, and… nothing else besides two rather oddly gear shaped shoulder pads.

The blonde woman gasps and gets your attention back to her. "You must be the two who won the competition! Dylan Evans and Stephanie Clarkson!"

You blink. "... Yeah?"

The blond woman turns back to the group and speaks in rapid Japanese. The group all looks at her, then when she finishes they look at you appreciatively again. Well, once again all except two. Izuku now looks about ready to scream with apparent joy though. He steps forward, looking up at you and speaking in a blur of words that you aren't quite sure yet constitute a language.

You quirk a brow. "Hello, welcome to my personal space. I'm afraid we don't quite speak the same language."

The boy pauses and looks back at the blond woman. This time speaking a much shorter sentence.

She blinks, then looks at you. "Actually I have a better idea." She fishes in her pocket a moment and produces a little bag… filled with more little bags that have a single earbud each in them.

She hands hands three of the bags forward, one for you and your partner, and one for Izuku. Then turns around and gives them out to the rest of the group.

You stare at it a moment, then open the bag and put the little dongle in your right ear where the radio normally goes. It whines a moment once you do so, and you wince before you're suddenly assaulted by voices.

"I hope this doesn't cause feedback with my qui-"

"These look expensi-"

"Don't you fucking tell me what to d-"

You blink, rubbing idly at the earpiece before you look towards the blonde woman again. Sensing your confusion she smiles. "Auto translator, receivers hooked up to a central processor in the island's systems! I use it for tours, though I speak both English and Japanese. I am Melissa by the way, Melissa Shields." With that she offers her hand, which Stephanie takes a moment later.

Izuku steps back, looking at you. "Uhm… hello?" When he speaks the audio doubles, one is the Japanese coming out of his own mouth, the other is the earpiece giving an immediate translation. The translation itself is mimicking his own voice… rather perfectly, for all intents and purposes to you he is speaking English.

You raise your hand in greeting again. "Yo, something you wanted?"

Izuku nods. "You're Dylan from the ASH attack right? You saved all those students! I read it in the news but… I didn't recognize your face. The Healing Hero!"

You stare at him. "I've… never been called the 'Healing Hero', nor did I know I had a reputation. But yes, I suppose I am."

… You swear his eyes just sparkled there. "That's so cool!" Izuku turns around. "He saved a bunch of students when his school was attacked, he has healing powers and lead the rescue efforts!"

More than a little awkwardly you reach up to scratch at your cheek, suddenly feeling rather put on the spot. "It was mostly a lot of running and screaming and me desperately keeping blood in bodies. Not that heroic to be honest."

Were you actually trained by Lady Luck you are sure you'd be taking all the credit, as it is you just feel like someone is lying on your behalf at the moment.

"Does Doomwulf have a reputation?"

You don't miss the way her tail is wagging, though that started the moment Izuku starting telling the group about you.

The boy looks at her, then suddenly looks rather worried. "Uhm…"

The awkward moment is thankfully saved by the redhaired boy in the back. "Hey!" you look over to find him pointing to you with that same curious expression on his face. "If you have a healing quirk why do you have a cane?"

Stephanie stiffens slightly and all the group looks at the redhead before looking at you with equally curious looks. Well, everyone except Shoto.

Your partner looks at you. "Dyla-"

You smile and tap the cane against the ground again. "Several large burning pieces of metal in my back. A villain attacked a school group I was with a few months before the school was attacked, I managed to get a guy off the bus we were on and set up a rescue effort on a frozen lake in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately the bus exploded as I was working, I managed to catch the majority of the shrapnel with my body instead of it going into my patients… and I managed to save the life of the last one before I collapsed and went into a small coma."

You finally shrug. "I can heal myself, but a spine injury is a spine injury. I'll have the cane for a while, even with my quirk."

...

Stephanie lets out a sigh. "Why do ya like doing that so much?"

Your smile widens as you look over the assembled group of now blanching students. "I delight in making things awkward, and it isn't a question I particularly enjoy."

The redhead's finger lowers. "... Oh, uh, sorry."

You shrug, tapping the cane against the ground again. "It happened."

Melissa to her credit recovers quickly. "Well I do hope you enjoy your stay at I-Island. My father and myself made a lot of the inventions here!"

Stephanie stares at the girl, her hand moving around your shoulder as she does so. "You an' inventor?"

Melissa nods. "I made those earbuds, along with a lot of other hero items! The hero exhibit is actually just across the concourse if you are interested!"

You look over at your partner and quirk a brow. "We need to find something to do anyway, I'm not running that course."

Stephanie smiles back. "Well we certainly ain't lacking in options."



---



[X] Hero Item Exhibit (The Latest and greatest Tech)
[X] The Quirkstravaganza (Free use of quirks allowed, the strange and weird)

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta! Go read his Bleach stuff!

---

"Well we have an arcade back in our little mall… and we can visit that later if we really want to." You make a show of thinking, turning back to the obstacle course as the familiar sound of… blondy-don't-have-his-name-yet shouting fills the air. Ignoring it you keep your focus on your partner. "Doubt either of us are particularly interested in the music event unless you really want to meet Sebastien. He's pretty nice, if you can get over his everything."

Stephanie laughs, idly tugging on your collar before jerking her thumb towards the exit. "Lets checkout that free quirk use place. Interested in seeing what non-combat related quirks can do."

"Our entire school allows free use of quirks."

Your partner smirks, then starts to not-so-subtly drag you along towards the archway that you entered the arena from. "Yeah, but that's combat quirks. Ah'm more curious what non-fighty quirks can do."

You smile back and follow along, walking after your partner through the gates as-

*Crash*

The ground shakes slightly beneath you, and you jerk your head to the source of the noise to see what is causing the attack.

"Godzillo!" your partner shouts out with exuberant glee.

You look up, and… up. Towards the large pro hero currently making his way down the main concourse. He has to be at least a hundred meters tall, and despite the fact that you've seen his films you can't help but be in awe of the size of this man in person. His white jacket flaps in the wind as he strides confidently but carefully towards the music pavilions, hovering cars following to either side of him to get people out of his way.

Despite the abject terror you would most likely feel standing within falling distance of the man, fans flock around him, shouting his name and holding up rather large autograph boards. "That is not a man with an easy life I'd imagine." You wonder if your knowledge of reptile biology at this point would allow you to heal the man. If he actually can even be hurt. Godzilllo is purportedly indestructible. That, and attempting to heal what would be a 'minor laceration' to him would probably make you pass out from the effort.

Stephanie lowers her hands, looking at you with a broad smile. "Guy's a millionaire movie star and lives in freakin' Waikiki."

You blink, then blink again. "My aunt has a condo there, how does even a millionaire afford a place big enough for well… Godzillo?"

"Supposedly a converted airship hangar. Only thing tall enough for him to be able to actually walk in his house."

Well, at least the government has subsidy programs for people with difficult quirks like that. Not that Godzillo needs the help. Still, the medical bills must be craz-

"Are ya thinking about weird things again?" your partner asks, she has started moving and you started following before you even realized what was happening.

"You'll need to be more specific." You reply easily.

Stephanie pauses, looking back at you with a quirked brow before she reaches over to tweak your nose. "Come on smartass, we got somewhere to be."

Then her fingers lace into yours and you find yourself lightly jogging to wherever she will lead you. Praise strongman and his efforts in physical therapy.

---

The 'Quirkstravaganza' is remarkably more impressive than you would have first expected. You were expecting a lovely environment and a few people having fun. Instead you find yourself in a lovely padded environment where dozens of people are 'performing' while yet dozens more are enjoying the festivities. You are perhaps biased due to the fact that the school allows free quirk use within reason, so unlike many you have had the chance to actually play around with your powers in a public setting.

Well, as much as you can play around with your powers anyway. A bird's cry sounds through the air and you and Stephanie both duck as a child goes flying through the air carried by a man with an avian mutation. The phrase 'dammit Nora' almost escapes your lips before you realize where you are and that she probably isn't here. Though given the sheer amount of people in this hall you could be wrong.

Across from you a group of kids are laughing as their skin shifts to a myriad display of neon colors. A man with what appears to be an old computer monitor for a head is wiggling his fingers towards them, his fingertips alight with neon as well as a smiling emoticon appears on the monitors display.

Further beyond is what looks to be a large painting of an obstacle course. Upon closer inspection you can see small figures moving across it, leaping over the arcade stables of rolling barrels and leaping across pits of spikes. You thought then that it was a display, until you see a young bubbly looking woman with… literally flat features. Her face has no depth to it, as she turns to push a man against the wall you see that her head is nearly as flat as paper. The man she presses against the wall visibly shrinks and flattens… another one ready to run the two dimensional obstacle course.

"Well, this gives mouseland a run for its money. Though I don't think we really have much to offer this place." You say, finding yourself unable to stop smiling at the moment.

"Nonsense! Dragged your whiny little butt here for a reason." Stephanie remarks, and with a sudden lurch you find yourself being dragged off to the right quite against your will.

You find yourself none-too-gently deposited in front of a blonde woman wearing a full body black jumpsuit. There's a peaked cap on her head that frames her brown eyes, each alight with amusement as children and adults alike ooh and aah at her performance. That performance being a rather localized display of the northern lights just above her. It stretches for several meters in each direction, forming and reshaping itself every moment to show more dazzling colors and displays. Every few seconds she blows out a smoky substance, the light display reforming every time she does so.

It is in this moment between performances that Stephanie taps the woman on the shoulder to get her attention. "'Cuse me, my partner can boost quirks but he doesn't get to try it too much. You mind?"

The woman blinks. Then blinks again. "Please repeat?" it is only then you notice the fact that she doesn't have any earbuds in her ears. With a slightly mad scramble that nearly causes her head to smash into your chest she pops one in that was hanging by a string around her neck.

Stephanie coughs awkwardly. "Right, sorry. My partner, Dylan. Can boost quirks, but he doesn't get to use it very often. Do you mind if…?"

With a loud clap her hands come together. "Oh! Like totes! How's it work?"

… Praise be the translation system. You open your mouth to speak but find Stephanie doing that for you like the alpha of the pack she is. "He just needs to touch you."

That could be worded better, that could be worded better to a positively hilarious degree. The woman thankfully doesn't seem to take it that way, and you don't question whether she chooses to, or the translation doesn't carry double entendres properly. With a flourish and a wink she offers you her hand.

You take it gingerly, holding it for about five seconds before releasing it. Unlike your healing you can't really focus on buffing, it just happens.

The woman for her part merely stares at her hand curiously before speaking. "Done?"

"Yeah, go nuts." You reply, feeling more than a little on the spot and awkward.

She shrugs, a happy smile on her face as she turns back to the children. Pursing her lips together she blows… and blows. Her eyes widening as the smoke comes out rapidly and quickly fills the entire ceiling across the entire building in the brilliant shifting lights. A squawk of alarm sounds through the air as the aviant mutation from before dives drastically, having almost hit the roof due to suddenly losing sight of it.

You wince, but any discomfort is unnoticed in favor of the laughing and clapping children. You then wince again, but this time it is because a rather strong hand has grabbed you by the shoulder. You find yourself turned around to face a wooki- a man with a rather impressive amount of hair on his face. He's taller than you, but not by much, and beyond his blond hair that goes all the way down to his waist and covers all of his features beyond a uniform, (the same type of uniform that the woman was wearing you note) you can only see his eyes and his legs.

It's a rather intimidating sight, for about three seconds until you notice the other band of kids hanging from the edges of the hair as it moves and twists in the air. "Me next!"

And that's how you found yourself suddenly popular, for once not because something blew up in your general vicinity.

---

You step out of the building, wincing slightly at the change from the unnatural light of the interior to the very natural and bright light of the Pacific sun. "Have fun?" your partner asks.

Turning your head you take in the shit eating grin of Stephanie. The woman having turned hilariously smug by the time the fourth person showed up wanting their quirk buffed. "Unfortunately, more's the pity."

She laughs and tosses an arm around your shoulder, hugging you close to her as you both walk forward towards the concourse. "That didn't tire ya out or anything did it?"

You shake your head. "It isn't an active part of my quirk, so no, not even a headache." That was at least something you knew from testing with Alva. Your buff has gotten better to a somewhat noticeable extent, though it seems rather picky as to what quirk it actually functions with. It seems to like emitter and transformation style quirks the most. While general mutations are rather… trickier. At least you've managed to make Stephanie deadlier in combat, but still not as much as you would lik-

"Yer thinking too much. There's parts of my quirk ah don't understand either."

You tilt your head slightly and look down at your partner. "Reading my mind now are you?"

The arm around your shoulder gives you another friendly squeeze before she jumps in front of you. Turning around on the balls of her feet she leans forward, her tail wagging behind her as she gives you that patented cheeky grin you've grown to know. "Nah, ah just know ya only have three thoughts. Medical crap, weird crap, and how amazin' ah am."

Reaching forward your scratch behind her ears, smirking when she immediately leans into the hand and the tail wags faster. "Lets just get going to the item exhibit you damned puppy."

Stephanie snickers. "A wolf!"

---

You aren't quite sure if you are in a museum or a mad scientist's exhibit hall. Items line the walls and are displayed prominently throughout the room in central displays. They range from weapons to armor and mobility enhancers. Beyond that there are cars, jets, submersibles. Loads and loads of futuretech that won't actually reach the public sector for half a decade if non-heroes are lucky.

But heroes face the most danger at present so they get the nicest toys. "Wonder if they have anything for medical tech."

"Got some hero suits that dispense painkillers and stuff ah think. Right over the-"

You turn your head to see what cut her off. It's a rather slim looking set of armor, not dissimilar to what Longarm wears. It's full armor with a rather complicated looking headpiece that has two glowing circles for eyes. Every few seconds the armor shifts, revealing the undersuit beneath it at the arm or chest area. Standing right next to it and gazing up at it with clear curiosity is Momo, one of the students you met earlier. With every shifting of the armor she leans closer, clearly interested in how it works.

Two things happen at once. The first is that your partner wraps your arm around hers, rather forcefully clutching you against her side. The second is that she greets the woman warmly. "Well hello again, how ya doin'?"

Momo jerks a little bit, obviously startled, before turning towards you both with a slight smile and a quick bow. "Hello again! My apologies for not noticing your arrival sooner. I was partaking in the design and make of this armor piece."

You blink, then look down at your new wolf shaped arm piece. "I think her english is better than yours."

She squeezes your arm a mite tighter than entirely necessary. "Ah'll have ya know my english is fine."

Momo, if she notices your plight, doesn't react. Instead she smiles broadly and nods her head. "Thank you for the compliment. As heir to my family it is important that I know english, along with several other languages."

The squeezing thankfully stops, and Stephanie looks back towards Momo with a grin. "Ain't never learnt nothin' 'sides my english."

Momo tilts her head, suddenly looking profoundly embarrassed. "I'm sorry… can you repeat that?"

You let out a sigh and extricate your arm from your partner's grip. "Please do not confuse people with your drawl. That is by far your most deadly weapon and should not be used so flagrantly."

"Ya know ya love it." Stephanie replies, eyebrows waggling. A momentary conversation plays out on a mental level between the two of you as your eyes meet. The kind of conversation that can only happen when two people have been forced to live together for a year and work together in life or death situations.

Stephanie turns her gaze back to Momo after the brief 'conversation'. Smiling as her tail wags behind her. "Sorry, not everyone can handle the southern. Are ya… are you looking at something interestin'... Interesting?" She's trying, bless her heart.

Momo nods eagerly, turning back to the armor. "I try to learn all about what goes into items such as these. My quirk is item creation, so I need to fully understand the make of an object to make it myself. There are even some items here made by my school's support class!" Her accent starts to come out more when she's excited you note. And at this present moment she is very excited as she leans over the railing to get a closer look at the suit of armor.

"Ya know, come to think of it ah don't think ah've actually seen our support classes."

You shrug. "They're in a floor above R&D. I've never had a reason to go there myself. The tailor was rather nice though."

"She was. Still, don't think ah've really seen 'em at any events."

You think back, you recall seeing a few in the crowds but being the support class they didn't exactly get involved in any fights. "No, not really their specialty. We don't exactly see the business class in action either."

Stephanie blinks, then slowly raises her hand to her chin. "Ah'd kill to see the law students fightin' with their briefcases."

Momo has turned back to you both since you've started talking. A small smile on your face as she is holding up her hand. You and Stephanie both pause as you notice, turning to look at the woman.

"Excuse me, but could you tell me about your support classes? If you have the time of course. I am trying to learn all I can about hero items."

You blink. "For your quirk?"

Momo nods again. "I have to study extensively to make full use of my quirk."

You smile, looking over at your partner. "I don't have a problem with it, but this might take awhile."

Stephanie smiles back, holding up her gauntlets as the claws slowly start to slide out. "Ah ain't got no problem braggin'."

… Of course she doesn't. Turning back to Momo you let out a breath, then hold a hand to about chest height. "Well it all starts with a robot about yay high."

---

"Not that bad for a hotel room." You comment as you lay out your suit across the bed. You haven't actually worn one of these since prom… but the school was kind enough to provide you one. You are trying to think about how that is less about charity on their part and more about how they don't want you to make the school look bad. "First time we've slept together in the same room in quite some time, besides that time we passed out studying Paradisio I guess."

Stephanie's voice calls out from the bathroom where she is getting dressed herself. "Nervous?"

You chuckle lightly, straightening out the arms and unbuttoning the cuffs. You are busy getting changed out here while she stole the bathroom. Though unlike her you don't need to remove quite as many layers to get into your suit. It's a simple design, a black two-piece suit with a white undershirt. It is lacking all ornamentation besides the cufflinks and an embroidered 'ASH' above the breast in golden thread.

Rather nifty, and the pants should be able to handle the absolute glut of food you plan on stuffing yourself with this evening. Dragging your shirt off you reach for the white undershirt, pausing briefly as the door to the bathroom opens with a click and your partner steps o-

...

Think Dylan. No; Flustered. Can't think. Work on instinct. "Hel- H- I… you look nice?" Instincts bad. No, don't wave!

Stephanie grins and leans against the wall. She is wearing a cutout black dress, and at this moment you realize you've never actually seen Stephanie dressed to the nines. It hugs her figure rather generously, and there is a long slit going up to the thigh on her left leg that reveals the entire limb up to just below the hips. Her hand tugs slightly at the material near the leg as she winks at you. "Like it? My mom helped me pick it out, thought you'd appreciate it."

You swallow, ignoring how warm your cheeks suddenly feel. She is only revealing slightly less than she did in that swimsuit all those months back. But something about her dressed all up like this is actually rather effective. "You look lovely, though I'm afraid I'm not quite as nice in a suit."

She pushes off the wall, walking forward as she runs her hand through her hair. It has been straightened, something she does only rarely. The salt and pepper waterfall running down to her hips and swaying behind her as she moves. You watch as she stops a good foot in front of you, her hand raising to her chin as she looks you over.

"Nah, yer fine. Plenty attractive by my books. Ain't exactly datin' ya fer yer brain, 'sides, tonight is about havin' fun and dancin' a bit. Celebration ya know?"

You let out an audible groan. "Joy. A night of telling people I can't dance for multiple reasons. Then you convince me to try, then I break every bone in my legs, hips, and somehow a bus collides with my back. I'd much rather eat and go to sleep."

Stephanie's grin widens, and her hand moves from her chin to run down your face before she sits on the bed with a bounce. "Ya think ah'd let such a dapper fellow sleep while ah'm 'round huh?"

Your eyes narrow. "I've slept through wor-... Oh. I..." Your tongue becomes lost somewhere in your mouth. You saw it just a short while ago, but now you do believe it is going on a journey that you cannot follow.

Your partner's grin is now ear to ear. Tail wagging eagerly behind her as she runs her hand across the bed behind and beneath her. "Ya know, ah think ya deserve ah reward for how hard ya worked gettin' us here."

…"Uh?"

*Knock Knock*

Both of you turn your heads at once towards the door. Stephanie with a flit of annoyance on her face, you with a sense of profound relief to be rescued from the game of embarrassment chicken. "Students? Are you both dressed?" Morrigan's voice drifts through the door.

Stephanie taps you on the stomach and walks past you towards the door. "Dylan is still gettin' dressed. We'll be out in just a minute!"

Damn tease.

---

You step out of the hotel room with a sigh, idly adjusting the tie around your neck again. A quick glance to the right shows Stephanie standing next to the wall while Morrigan flaps beside her. At your appearance into the hallway Morrigan flaps happily. "A fine suit Dylan. If you are both ready then we should be off, we are quite late already."

You blink, then blink again. Stephanie voicing the question you want to ask before you get the chance.

"Whaddya mean already? Thought it wasn't supposed to start fer another half hour?"

A little musical chime sounds out as the butterfly flaps more rapidly. "Oh, the actual event roughly yes. The speeches and sponsorship talks started a good twenty minutes ago. Very exciting material that I took the liberty of skipping this year."

You are sure there is something immoral in a teacher hating boring speeches and lectures. But you suppose Morrigan is on vacation as well. With a smile you stare at the butterfly. "Fair enough, I don't suppose you are wearing a little dress on your wings?"

This time Morrigan's laugh is audible, the butterfly doing a little loop in the air that leaves golden motes of light before she speaks. "I do suppose you have earned it."

Stephanie turns her head from you to look at the teacher. "Earned wha-"

A 'burst' of golden butterflies fills the space Morrigan was occupying. They flitter and move about, passing through each other before dissipating completely as the golden silhouette of a woman takes a place just beside Stephanie. Then, like someone switched off the light. The space clears to reveal a woman just a hair shorter than you are with bright gold (but not glowing) hair.



She's dolled up, wearing a dress that would not be out of place in high society four centuries ago with a single rose in her hair. Her blue eyes are looking at you both in amusement as she lightly bounces a smoking pipe in her right hand. The dress goes down to her ankles, poofing out noticeably from the hips to give her a noticeable 'bell' shape. With a flourish she spins in place, a musical laugh escaping her lips and she gives you a curtsy. You stare at her wide eyed, only turning your eyes away as you feel Stephanie grasp your hand rather tightly.

"Shall we be off students?"


---

The pathways are just as busy as they were earlier in the day. Though at the very least the vast majority of people are not going in the direction you currently are. Though… as you walk towards the central tower you have little doubt the building could easily fit damn near everyone on the island with room to spare. It towers over everything else, pun not intended. Reaching up to easily dwarf even the largest skyscraper in Atlanta. It is actually four towers in all, three standing off from the far larger center one, connected by what appear to be tram and walkways.

"Ah've heard All Might's gonna be there tonight!" Stephanie says, her tail wagging behind her eagerly as you all walk.

"That excited?" you ask, smiling as you take a slight step to the left to dodge the furry flail.

"Hell yeah, ah know ya don't go nuts about heroes but he's always been fun to watch."

You shake your head slightly. "I respect the man, at the very least as much as I do any hero. Don't expect me to go nuts about him like you will however."

"He is a good man, I've worked with him on several occasions that he was present in The United States." Morrigan says, taking a long drag from her pipe immediately after. You aren't quite sure what she is smoking, but going by the scent that fills the air when she breathes out it certainly isn't tobacco.

"Ya know All Might? Why didn't ya tell us?"

Morrigan's smile turns positively impish as she looks over at your partner. "You never asked, and you will have the chance to meet him tonight I'm sure. The man has never been one to disappoint his fans. We are here, by the way."

You turn your attention from Morrigan towards the tower. The entrance in comparison to the size of the place is actually rather sedate, a simple sliding door into the central tower where you had to flash your identification to one of the little rolling security robots. The voice chirps your identity back at you once the doors open, the small echoing voice of 'The Morrigan' following by 'Stephanie Clarkson' and 'Dylan Evans'.

… Wait, did she really mark her name down as 'The Morrigan'? You suppose there might be some leeway given to professional heroes you aren't aware of, but that strikes you as rather egotistic-

"Oh, it's you guys!"

You blink, finding yourself torn from your musings as you see a good ten people in here. All faces you saw before at the obstacle course, along with a different blond haired boy and a very very short boy with bulbous purple hair. Those two are dressed in what look to be waiters outfits, everyone else is dressed up for the occasion with a mix of suits for the guys and dresses for the girls.

Melissa is here as well, and you find the entire group looking at you in a mix of curiosity and disappointment as you walk through the doors.

Morrigan comes to a stop just in front of you, her tall heels clicking against the floor as she does so. "Well hello, are you students lost?"

Iida… you believe that was his name, steps forward. "We are unfortunately being made to wait on two fellow classmates who are late. I would like to apologize for any tardiness on our part!"

"Oh? Lost? Well you still have time before the party begins so I wouldn't worry about it." Morrigan lifts up the pipe, idly bouncing it in her hand as she thinks. "Dylan? Stephanie?"

Stephanie looks over at the teacher. "Ya?"

"It is still going to be speeches and the like for another ten minutes or so, I'll head down. Why don't you stay and get to know them a bit better? It can be quite helpful to become acquainted with other hero prospects." Morrigan smiles and throws you and Stephanie both a wink before walking off towards one of the side doors with a little spring to her step, an impressive feat in heels.

You watch as the door closes behind her. "I told you I look terrible, we just got ditched by our teacher."

Stephanie snickers. "Nah, think she just wants us to make friends."

"My apologies once again for any inconvenience!" your comeback is interrupted by Iida speaking up again. The man is… excessively formal in tone, and you do your best to smile.

"Nothing to apologize about, I'm not much one for parties." You admit, stepping to the side as Stephanie makes a move to playfully jab at your ribs.

"But ah am, so where are the two lost ones?"

It is Izuku that speaks up this time instead of Iida, his hand rubbing behind his head nervously as his other waves erratically as if to calm Stephanie down. "Kirishima and Bakugou, I'm sure they are nearly here!"

Stephanie shrugs, and is about to make a move towards the wall when another voice speaks up. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

You turn your head to find the speaker, it's the shorter purple haired one. He's staring at Stephanie with a noticeable blush on his face. You hear Stephanie turn around as you start to reply. "For the greater good of the world she is off the mar-"

With a sudden lurch you find yourself spun around, Stephanie's lips colliding with yours as her arms snake around your neck. She holds the position, moaning contently into your mouth before she separates with a deliberate and audible pop. You stare into her eyes, the mischief in them clear as day as she grins at you.

Sighing you straighten your tie again and turn back around, "does that answer your que-"

…

Everyone is staring at you wide-eyed except for Melissa. "What?"

---

You look idly down at your watch, the room has gotten noticeably quieter ever since Stephanie's little... claim, and besides the group talking to each other there has been precious little in the way of noise. It is now 10:30, a good while after it was supposed to start per your schedule, and well past ten minute since Morrigan left. Your turn your head towards your partner, the two of you having taken up spots leaning up against the wall while you wait and see if the two missing students arrive.

"Neither of them is picking up their phones." Iida growls, staring down at his phone in annoyance. He is currently ranting at the device from across the room.

With a sigh you look towards your partner, she has looked rather impish since the kiss, however it also managed to kill any and all conversation you could have started. It seems this group is rather sheltered. "I'm about ready to go ahead and meet Morrigan, not sure those two are coming."

Iida looks towards you and frowns, cursing idly to himself. "It is like them to blow off the party and not inform us ahead of time. I shall have words with the-"

"We have received reports from the I-Expo security system that there was an explosive planted at the exhibition site." A computerized voice interrupts the man, and everyone's head turns towards a ceiling mounted speaker as the voice continues. "I-Island is currently on high alert. Residents and visitors are expected to remain at home or lodging. Anyone found outside after ten minutes will be apprehended without warning. All the main buildings will now be sealed by the security system."

The voice starts to repeat the message again as with a clang metal walls slam down to cover the windows and doors. You snap up your phone immediately, looking to see if you have any messages from Morrigan… no service.

"I have no service." You mutter, the sentiment echoed a moment later by the guy with red and white hair.

"The elevators are down too!" a voice yells out, and you turn your head to see the girl with the earbud mutation pressing the button repeatedly with annoyance on her features.

"What the heck is going on here!?" purple-boy cries out. Looking more than a little distraught.

You press away from the wall, idly looking towards the metal barriers keeping you from leaving. Looks like heavy steel, but that's not the problem. "The Island's reaction to a bomb threat is to lock people in?"

"It isn't." Melissa replies. "The systems standard reaction to a bomb threat isn't to lock people in, that would be counter-intuitive."

"Iida, let's head to the party." All heads turn towards Izuku as he steps up to the taller boy. Confidence in his voice for the… first time you've heard actually.

Iida, arms crossed, looks at Izuku in concern, his feet shifting unsteadily. "For what reason?"

"Because All Might is there." Izuku says plainly, and the reaction amongst the group is immediate. Ranging from surprise and shock to clear relief on purple.

Izuku turns his head to Melissa. "Is there anyway we can get down there without the elevator?"

Melissa nods back and points her head towards the far side of the room. "Yes, we can use the emergency stairs. That should at least get us close to the event hall."

"What about the techs?" you say, your mind going through the information you have. "If this is not the standard response should we be checking in on security to make sure everything is alright there?"

Melissa pauses, one hand moving to prop up her chin as she looks at the floor. "Could be a malfunction, but there are enough backups that should normally be impossible. If this is a false alarm it could be one established deliberately."

Izuku lets out a breath and nods, "take us to All Might then, he'll know what to do best." His gaze is then cast towards you and Stephanie before they as a group go running towards the stairs.

Your partner slowly turns her head towards you. "... Dylan? What're ya thinkin'?"

… Why does the alpha wolf always leave these decisions to you?

 

[Erien]

[X] [Go after Deku and the rest] All Might is a powerful ally if something is going wrong, and you'd have numbers.

Chapter Unbeta'd.

---

You stare at your partner a moment before pushing off from the wall. "Let's follow them, worst comes to worst we'll be in a group."

Stephanie pushes off right beside you, cracking her knuckles she joins in your jog towards the stairs Izuku and his group are running off towards. "Why does this happen on all of yer vacations anyway?"

You shake your head, stepping forward so that your foot catches on the bottom step. Tucking your cane away you push up, ignoring the very slight stiffness to your back as you move. Stephanie's hand moves automatically, grasping your back very lightly just in case you fall back. It's automatic at this point, and you don't even bother to allow either to slow you down as you move. "I'm not supposed to be a hero, this is just the universe's way of reminding me of that fact."

"Don't ya get started on that Lady Luck crap, save it for after ya get the shit kicked out of ya."

You push on, turning corner after corner of stairs.

Floor 1, 2… 3. You come to a stop at the third as you see them go through a door that leads to a large balcony. "I'm planning on that not happening today. I've heard other people do that and I'm hoping to see what that is about to be honest."

"There he is!"

"All Might!"

You push through the door and jog up to the group around the balcony. They have all crouched low save for Izuku, and you do the same on a mix of paranoia and self preservation. Looking over the lip you see… a lot of professional heroes behind thick glass in the room below. The 'event hall' is a rather simple thing. A long rectangular room with tables of food and drink. There's a large stage in the back that All Might is currently laying on, he's bound in what looks to be a restraining device made out of light. As is every other professional hero in the room. Spread throughout it you can see armed men, rather obviously villains going by the masks on their faces.

You spot a few pro heroes you recognize… but there is no sign of Morrigan anywhere.
"Dad!"

Melissa covers her mouth, and you look over to see two men, one older with brown hair and glasses, another a rather pudgy man with a balding head being lead out of the room by the armed men.

Melissa looks about ready to jump over the railing and into the glass before Momo grabs her by the shoulder. "Everything will be alright, please don't do anything reckless."

The blond girl looks about ready to argue the matter before Izuku speaks up again. "Do you have him?"

Earbuds… whom you desperately need to find the name of nods and presses the jack into the ground. One hand moving to cup her ear while the other stays in place. The rest of the group now has pulled back into the hallway a bit just in case someone is spotted, leaving you to crouch down by the wall with your partner. "Do you remember the federal bank simulation?"

"The one where the buildin' fell on top of us?"

You smile, slightly. "I was hoping to forget that part, but think any of it could be useful here?"

Stephanie pauses. "Well, we don't have police backup. We don't have our equipment. You have a cane, and their guns are real. So absolutely, very helpful."

Your smile grows slightly, then pauses as you see Izuku coming back with earbuds in tow. Looking rather… tense.

Before you or anyone else can ask Earbuds explains. "All Might says that villains have taken over the tower and security system. He wants us to get out of here and to safety."

A silence passes over the group as everyone processes those words. In their case it is probably shock, in your case you are just adjusting to the fact that repeated villain shenanigans is apparently just what your life is now.

It is Iida who breaks the silence, standing with his arms crossed and looking over the group. "We have our orders loud and clear, he is our teacher. I suggest we follow his instructions and escape this place." His tone is firm and clear, and offers little in the way of allowed argument.

The sentiment is apparently shared as Momo agrees a moment later. "I have to agree with what Iida is saying, we're still only students. We can't fight these villains if we don't have our hero licenses."

Izuku's eyes are widening even as the blond boy in the waiter's outfit nods his head, his arms waving around for emphasis as he speaks. Which… you don't know what he says to be honest, he doesn't have one of those earpieces. But given by the slump of his shoulders when he finishes you have a feeling he doesn't want to be here.

Melissa shakes her head fervently, her hand coming to support her chin as she looks down at the floor. "It won't be easy to escape if at all, the security here is the same as the Tartarus Prison system where they keep the most dangerous criminals."

The shoulders slump further. Rather tired sounding Japanese slipping out of his mouth as he stares at Melissa.

Earbuds stomps her foot against the ground, glaring at the boy. "Are you really alright with that Kaminari? Don't you think we should try to stop them?"

The boy with purple hair responds, once again a lost cause on your part due to the Japanese. Earbuds bites her lip and looks away, not apparently having an answer for that one.

You feel a shift at your side and see Stephanie starting to stand up as the bicolor haired boy speaks. His eyes narrowed as he stares at his hand. "Our goal is to become professional heroes, isn't it?

Momo looks at him, arms crossing under her chest. "Yes… but we can't work without our licenses, you know that."

Bicolor's eyes close as his hand curls into a fist. "Does it mean that it is right for us to do nothing?"

Momo blanches. "No… But…"

"Doomwulf says NO." Your partner's voice echoes in the quiet space. All heads turn at once to look at her, she's standing proud, one hand on her hip as she looks at everyone in turn.

"Doomwulf cares not for your petty licenses, heroes are heroes. There is work to be done and we will do it, flee if you wish but I have full intent on defeating the villains here." Stephanie's head turns to look at Melissa. "They have taken over the security system, where is this security office you mentioned earlier?"

Melissa blinks, then points a finger towards the ceiling. "Top floor, if villains have taken over it means they would have had to shut off the passcodes… " Her eyes widen slightly, a look of relief coming across her face. "If I could just get access to one of their computers I could take back control of the system, everything should be unlocked."

Stephanie nods, then turns to her head as the small purple one has started to yell at her. Apparently he received a translation of what she was saying and is rather aggrieved by it. She stares at him a moment, then audible grows and allows her claws to grow.

The boy wisely backs down, and you realize that it has been a while since 'Doomwulf' has taken over a situation. It's kind of attractive actually.

Melissa continues. "If we stay off the villains radar until we get to the top floor we should be fine. The emergency stairs go all the way up. If we can do that the whole island will be safe again."

"Then it's possible." Izuku whispers.

"How do we keep low for that long?" Jiro asks, stepping forward to stare at Melissa.

Melissa smiles. "The security system hasn't discovered us yet, that means the villains probably don't know how it works very well. As long as we keep quiet we should be invisible to them."

"So we just avoid fighting anyone and try to get the place back to normal… could work." Bicolor murmurs.

Earbuds grins wickedly, punching her fist into her palm. "Let's do it!"

Doomwulf nods. "Then let us go already, the longer we stay here the longer our enemies can prepare themselves."

Stephanie starts to walk back to the stairs as Momo reaches out to grab her arm. "But many of the villains are probably there."

"If we are fast it won't matter," Izuku says firmly. "If we can release the heroes they will fight them."

"Yeah!" The brunette says, the young girl having taken a spot firmly by Izuku. "Let's do this! I don't want to stand around being helpless. What's important is helping people."

That gets a chorus of agreement from everyone. Causing a wide smirk to spread across your girlfriends face. "Then let us be off."

---

*PoV Teresa*

"Do you have any idea where the flying fuck we are going?" you say, making sure you growl. It's important.

Sebastien grimaces. "As much I would relish to verbally express I ken where I am peregrinated, I don't."

You blink, then blink again. Then kick him firmly in the ass and send the rich boy stumbling forward. "Har de fucking har. We've climbed a hundred floors of this bitch and we still haven't seen any signs of Dylan and Stephanie."

Sebastien makes a show of rubbing his back as he stares at you. "And you are sure they would be this way?"

You cross your arms, your grenades tapping against the floor as you glare at the douchebag. "I've met him and read his file, absolutely. The dumbass will be going directly to where the most danger is. And if he isn't I can fix the fucking security myself."

"I duly recall it took you several minutes to open, as you call it, 'a simple emergency door'." Sebastien remarks, his pointed shoes echoing on the floor as he starts walking again.

*SLAM*

You jump back as a wide steel door slams down in front of you both just a few feet away. It is echoed by another, and another, slamming down further down the hallway. Looking back you see one has closed the path behind you as well, leaving nothing but a single door leading into… well. It's marked as 'Laboratory', and peeking through the door all you see is a metric fuckton of those little robot bastards you had to dodge outside to get in here.

"What set off the security?" Sebastien asks.

"I'm staring at who did it right now."

Across the room you see a young man with grass green hair looking through the other window. Your eyes narrow as you see a whole group of people behind him… motherfucker. "It's Dylan, and a whole lot of other people."

You hear Sebastien suck in a breath. "Well, shall we clear the way for them?"

With a flex of your fingers you feel the grenades on your tail start to spark to life, "Oh I've been waitin' to smash somethin' all day."

Sebastien grabs the handle and looks at me with a smile. "Ladies first."

Then with an audible slam he slides the door open as hard as he can, from there it is all instinct.

---

*PoV - Dylan*

There were… more stairs than you expected, perhaps you should have asked about that before you started the journey. As much as Stephanie may have normally enjoyed carrying you bridal style up the past hundred floors you are rather not in the mood for the teasing it will get you later.

If there is a later anyway. You are currently stuck in a hallway with security doors slammed shut on either side of you, leaving only one way forward at the moment, a small metal door leading into a room filled with what appear to be friendly rolling death robots.

Iida and blondie… whom you've learned is named Kaminari are speaking to each other off to the side while Izuku stares worryingly into the room. It's your current, and only, path of egress up at the moment. Which means no matter what you'll have to be fighting through a room of the things.

Honestly you'd prefer the robots over the villains, you are used to punching robots at this point. Bakugou (blondie mcexplosion boy) seems to prefer the latter however, as he along with Kirishima and the Amazing Bicolored teenager stayed back to deal with a small group of villains you all ran into.

Which also means your numbers are dwindling and the villains know you are here.

Well, you suppose your vacation was going so well already there had to be something to balance it out.

"It looks like the villains are trying to capture us now." Earbuds murmurs, looking into the room along with Izuku.

Izuku nods. "Then if so, I bet they've figured out we're hero course students."

Momo smiles, and you hear a faint whispering sound as a… large blanket appears in the air above her. "In that case there is no reason not to show them what we can d-"

*Bang*

*Bang**Bang*Bang**Bang**Bang**Bang**Bang**Bang**Bang**Bang**Bang**Bang**Bang*

You jerk back as a series of rippling explosions sound out from the room. It is followed by the sound of rushing flame and clear… maniacal laughter.


"What!?" Izuku shouts.

The boy is bodied out of the way by Iida who looks into the room as you rise to your feet. "Other students! Go!"

He pushes the door open and charges through, the sound of a jet engine starting up as the boosters on the back of his legs kick on. He is quickly followed by your partner and Kaminari, the rest following in afterwords as you take up the spot at the rear

It's… well, chaos would be a good description.

Explosions are rippling across the ground from familiar explosion pinecones, they aren't doing much to the little robots besides sending them off course or knocking them off the platform. But they are doing a wonderful job at distracting them. Teresa is sprinting through them, her tail slamming into the ground to allow her to leap over the group and launch bombs repeatedly as they attempt to catch her with electrified cables.

Sebastien is right behind her, the cuff of the man's suit on fire as he directed concentrated beams of heat into the mass. It isn't doing particularly much either, the walkway you are on is an extended catwalk that forms a t-junction. There are doors to the left and right along with the one you just came out of, and with every blast of flame a robot or two is sent hurting over the edge into the laboratory below… but there are dozens of these things.

There was a plan, you know that. But Teresa was not exactly part of the strategy meeting. Case in point that's why you are currently standing back next to Momo who is busy trying to make smokebombs to confuse the robots. One of the few plans that might still work at the moment.

"Can you make a shield?" you ask, ducking low to avoid any friendly fire.

"Shield?" Momo stutters out, a pile of smoke bombs on the floor before her.

"Knights and slaying dragons, that kind of thing!"

She nods, and with the faint whispering sound barely audible over the explosions and zaps of electricity a metal… kiteshield appears in the air above her. You grab it, your other hand grabbing a hold of the smokebombs with the other.

In a smooth motion you slip your arm through the holder in midair, your hand grasping onto the handle inside of the shield as your other tosses a few of the bombs towards the back ranks of the bots. The bombs pop immediately, electrical grey smoke filling the air and hiding them from view… and hopefully you as well.

"Thanks!"

You charge forward, keeping your head low as more smoke bombs are tossed out by earbuds and Momo. The two of them doing their best to keep the back rank of the bots from moving forward momentarily.

Izuku is charging forward with Iida, the two of them gaining so much speed you briefly lose sight of them before they crash into the center mass of the bots. Mechanical parts and entire units going flying off the sides of the platform when they collide foot and fist first.

Stephanie and Kaminari are right behind. Your partner's claws digging into the next line of bots and carving deep gashes into their armor that Kaminari digs his fingers into. Each time his entire body lights in electricity that cooks the damn things.

Purple boy is currently tearing those… bulbs out of his hair like mad, tossing them into the now smoke filled crowd. Where you can see them they stick to the floor… trying to slow them down?

Focus.

You press forward, heels digging into the metal mesh of the floor as you raise the shield in front of you. With a metallic clang your shield slams into one of the bots, it's servos pushing back to stay on its feet before you push it over. Thank you once again strongman.

The shield swings around a moment later, colliding with several of the metallic whips to knock them out of the air as they come for you. "Dylan!"

Your prop the shield up at your partners shout, a weight hitting it a moment later as she uses it as a springboard to slice into yet more of the things.

… There are still more coming, a large group of them are piling out of the eastern entrance… and only more are going to be coming.

You look over to where Izuku and Iida are fighting, they are carving through them without much difficulty but once again. Time.



---



---

"Go, we'll hold them off here!" You struggle to be heard past the cacophony of explosions, shouting, and metal tearing. Fortunately Izuku notices, unfortunately he is nearly clobbered as he tries to look at you. He recovers magnificently, ducking low underneath the machine's grab before Iida punts the thing across the room like it was the winning kick of the superbowl. It crashes spectacularly against the far wall, metal crushing and exploding like the world's most violent confetti.

Iida then turns around, seeming to easily project his voice over the din of combat. "That seems most unwise!"

"Unwise would be staying here instead of getting to security to turn the damn things off!" As if to punctuate your statement one of the droids rams into your shield, staggering you. "Don't worry, we're great at last stands!"

Iida stares at you a moment longer before bursts of smoke shoot out from his legs. "Class 1A! We are leaving!"

To their credit the entire group starts to move as one, with a loud crash Izuku smashes into a group of the bots, wind rippling off of his fist and opening the path to the right. Iida clears the rest of the way, high powered kicks and leaps knocking yet more aside. The group held in place by the purple balls are now in complete disarray, security droids laying in heaps of broken metal and sparking electronics.

They move, damn near as one at that. The six students sprinting out the right doorway before the bots can catch up to them.

*Bang*

A series of large purple pinecones lodge themselves into the metal walkway, they detonate with a brief flash of light, causing an eruption of wind as the metal path utterly tears itself apart. Faint glowing orbs of purple light hang in the air, along with the distinctive scent of gunpowder and burning metal. The few remaining robots near it explode violently, causing a ripple effect as the pile left behind by 1A is caught up in the chain until there is nothing left.

Then you move, leaping back towards the center of the t-junction and landing just besides Sebastien. You grab the man's arm, causing him to look at you curiously before the yellow and orange flames that run up his arms blaze up to a bright blue.

He glances down at them a moment, then at the security bots coming from the southern and western ends with a smile on his face. "Fine work yes, see to Teresa. I do believe our little explosive hellion is all tuckered out. I shall entertain our guests." He eyes alight, bright blue flames erupting from his pupils before he launches himself forward.

You jerk your head around, looking for Tere-

There, the girl is slumped to the ground back to the right. Her face, arms, and legs are covered in blood. As is the tail, a red puddle forming underneath it. "Stephanie! Cover me!"

The order is unnecessary at this point; Stephanie starts moving the moment you start to jog towards Teresa. You hear a now all-too-familiar crash behind you as your girlfriend utterly annihilates something. You smile, then slide down onto your knees besides Teresa.

She's lucid, you can tell because she is staring right at you and speaking the king's english. "The fuck are you doing?" Her words are slightly slurred, and she punctuates the sentence with a brief hiss of pain.

"The fuck you think?" You reply, your hand moving to push her hair back to see where the blood is coming from. Her skin, previously decently tan has turned white and patchy, visible cracks not unlike dry skin cover her nearly head to toe. She looks like she just took a bath in salt then danced in front of the world's largest heating unit.

"It's my quirk." Teresa explains. "I produce those things from my pores, the skin just gives out." She lets out another hiss, and you duck down as the better half of a security bot goes sailing above your head.

"I AM WORKING HERE!" You shout, one hand moving to Teresa's forehead while the other gets to work on her arms. You do believe you heard Stephanie shout out something that vaguely resembles 'work faster' but you are too busy staring at the large welts running up and down Teresa's arm to care.

You place your hand onto them, willing the skin to heal. The blood trickling out of them and her forehead ceases, leaving no open wounds there but still a good chunk on the floor. "I really need to start carrying blood bags on me." You grumble quietly. Legs need the same treatment, as does the tail… which you were briefly worried about, before discovering that the same treatment you use on Kros works here as well. You suppose it kind of makes sense for her tail to be reptilian… as long as you don't think too hard about it.

You run your hands down the length of it, sores closing as your hands move. It seems that your training helped after all. Teresa for her part seems to have gained most of her strength back, new 'pinecones' starting to form in places that you've healed. "You good?"

She nods, and starts to raise herself back up. Satisfied you turn around, eyes scanning the 'battlefield'. Both Stephanie and Sebastien are still fighting, and quite well at that. Both have managed to keep their groups from getting any closer. Stephanie is using her speed and strength to force the robots to keep turning in circles, her now damaged claws slashing and tearing them apart piece by piece.

Sebastien on the other hand is still blue, and is currently directing fire in order to melt things into slag... You can't help but really wish Astrapios had good enough grades to join you here, he'd make this really easy.

As you charge back into the combat you wonder if perhaps you shouldn't have studied as hard; Maybe this ball wouldn't have blown up without you dragging your luck into it. But for now you'll support your partner, and you'll be damned if you let these robots get to those kids.

You sprint past Stephanie, idly grabbing her by the hand as you do so. She lets out a brief sound of alarm before she falls into formation. Slamming your shield forward your crash into one of the robots, sending it flying off of the edge and sending another one it crashed into off course along the wall.

Two more get hit before you lose momentum, pain flaring briefly up your back before your snuff it out. You barely did anything, but … you didn't need to. You duck, your partner vaulting over you to jump into the melee, her now repaired claws and enhanced quirk making quick work of the mass in front of you.

It's a nice little 'combo' you two came up with a few months back, and it is gratifying to see it work outside class spars. Nive and simple: she murders the fuck out of something, you then cover her and clear the way if nessecary while fixing her. Your instincts kick in as you watch her, your shi- the shield swinging to the side and the pointy end slamming into the 'eye' of one of the security bots and sending it skittering off kilter.

It also provides you with a look back towards the t-junction. Teresa is still righting herself, the pinecones are growing again but the girl is more than likely going to be out of the fight for some time. While Sebastien has returned to his normal flame and is steadily being pushed back towards Teresa. You grit your teeth and turn back to your partner. "We need to get back, we're being overwhelmed!"

That's the last thing you saw before you were wrenched violently to the ground. A long blue lasso ribbon thing made out of bright blue light has shot out of one of the bots and has utterly clammed your arms around your sides and has yanked onto the metal surface of the floor grating.

"Dylan!"

You can hear your partner but can't see her. You can also hear more fire being thrown around and a truly frustrated growl escape Teresa. But as you hear the door open again on the western side of the room you realize that you've bought just about as much time as you ca-

Why do you feel cold?

With a monumental crash the plating in front of you erupts upwards, a gigantic iceberg forming mere feet from your head and sending the robot holding your restraints up into the ceiling.

"I'LL FUCKING DESTROY YOU!" a male voice calls out, and you bring yourself up into a crouch in time to see Blondy McSplosionPants carving through the back horde of robots charging Sebastien.

That still leaves the group of robots in front of Sebastien, when out of nowhere a large black… box covered in what appears to be runic inscriptions forms out of nowhere. Slamming shut over the group of them. You hear several large crashing sounds before it opens again, revealing a good dozen destroyed robots and one daintily flapping butterfly.

"Students? Are you unharmed?" Morrigan's voice calls out.

You look at Teresa and Sebastien, both seem relatively unhurt beyond some scrapes on Sebastien. Your partner is…

Wait, where is your partner?

Blinking you turn back to the iceberg, it has blocked the path to where she is. The ice having cleanly bifurcated the pathway. "Steph?"

"Comin'!"

You hear the sound of bare feet on metal and watch as your partner appears around the side, her claws digging into the ice and guiding her around the edge before she comes flying out of the air towards you. Tossing the shield to the side you stick your arms out, catching the woman in midair and stumbling back.

Your partner, the trainwreck that she is is smiling at you. "Ah shit ah need to do that again, that was fun."

Grunting you set her back onto the ground. "Maybe lay off the kibbles and bits first."

You deftly lean out of the way of the half-hearted slap and start walking towards Morrigan. The red and white ice cream machine is slightly dinged up, much in the same way sebastien is. Explosion boy on the other hand is far worse. His shirt is missing revealing a bad bruise on his chest, and there are more than a few lacerations on his arm.

Stepping past the teacher you walk up to him and place your hand on his shoulder. Only to find it knocked away a second later. "The hell do you think you're doing?"

You stare him in the eyes then slowly raise your hand to place it on his shoulder again. "Fixing your bruise, or do you want to keep it for posterity?"

It is only now you are noticing the third boy behind bondie, Kirisima, you think. He's rather heavily scratched up and is making rather desperate gestures at you. Your hand is rather harshly gripped by blondy's, his face set into a deep scowl that shows teeth. It reminds you of an angry dog, and you realize that perhaps you got too close to said angry dog.

"Hey! He's trying to help you fuckface!" Teresa's voice calls out.

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Blondy responds, clearly his ability for diplomacy an equal match to hers.

Unfortunately, this meeting of the peace corp is interrupted by a golden light, that being Morrigan flying in between you both. Blondy goes crosseyed as the Illogical lepidoptera gets so close as to nearly land on his nose. "Bakugou? Sweetie? Do we need to have the same talk we did earlier?"

The newly named 'Bakugou' stares at her a moment before releasing your arm. "Hurry the fuck up."

Nodding you place your hand back onto his shoulder, the other grabbing his forearm as you work on his bruise and forearm both. God, what is with these people; the kid managed to strain almost every muscle in his upper body.

"Now then." Morrigan starts. "Where are the rest of them?"

"The Japanese students?" Stephanie asks.

"Indeed, if I were to guess I would say they were going for the security room."

You quirk a brow, turning from the healing in progress to look at Morrigan. "How'd you figure that?"

"The security robots have stopped moving." Morrigan answers plainly.

You all turn your heads at once to see the newest group of bots that came through the sudden door. The iceberg is blocking their way… not that it matters, they are simply resting there unmoving, their wheels locked and their 'eyes' off.

… "How long was I working on Teresa exactly?"

"Ah lost count after the thirtieth robot I sent flying off the edge."

Turning back to Bakugou you nod at your work. "Then we should probably start chasing after them to make sure they are alright. With your permission, teacher."

"Of course."

---

Even more stairs, an absolutely ridiculous amount of stairs. How they managed to get up all of these you haven't the slightest idea, but at the very least you know at this point you must be getting close to the top, or at least three quarters there.

"An' ya lecture me 'bout eatin' light?" Stephanie has returned to carrying you, something she doesn't find near as amusing the second time around. "Ah know it ain't the costume this time."

"Are we there yet!?" Teresa yells out, the hero-in-training rather exhausted from the previous fight.

"Almost there students, just a few floors mo-" Any words Morrigan was going to say are drowned out by an absolutely cataclysmic explosion coming from above. The building shakes, dust coming down from the ceiling as you hear the sound of concrete cracking. Stephanie stumbles, sending you tumbling forward along with her onto the cool tile floor. Another ones sounds out, and another. Each echoed by shattering building structure and the entire skyscraper shaking underneath you.

The first voice that speaks up is almost a ghost to you, your ears ringing from the sudden drop and repeated bangs from above. You parse it a moment later, Morrigan's voice just barely audible over the shaking. "-ll Might! Students we must hurry! They must have run into the villains!"


Morrigan flaps onwards, wings beating up a frenzy as Bakugou and Kirishima bound after her. Teresa and Sebastien follow, Sebastien helping Teresa up the steps with his shoulder.

You stare after them, then look at your partner, then at the steps behind you.

The tower is… breaking, which means people may need help only you can provide. On the other hand the people up above could use your help as well.

---



[X] Initiate S&R

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

You slowly turn to look at your partner again, a grim look on your face. "I have to help people."

Stephanie smiles, and her tail starts to faintly wag behind her. "Ah figured, want me to come with?"

You smile back. "Well I wasn't going to ask."

Your partner leans in and pecks her lips against your own, her tail wagging up a storm behind you even as the tower suffers another shake. She pulls back and flexes her arm, flashing that cocky smile you've fallen in love with time and time again. "Well, lets get at it then!"

---

"Alright, when she lifts the rubble I'll need you to pull back your leg as fast as you can okay? I've already stopped the bleeding but we need to get it out of there to avoid any chance of infection."

The man nods, and with the sound of cracking concrete Stephanie pulls the rubble away. With a lurch he pulls himself back, the leg sliding out of the rubble. You grab it immediately, pulling away the cut open clothes to see if any more wounds open. Nodding to yourself you turn to him, "two floors down, get out of the main lobby and to the main plaza outside. It's open enough to be safe from rubble and it is also where we are herding all the civilians we have no place for at the moment."

The hero nods, slowly standing up and making his way to the stairs with a nod of thanks.

You let out a sigh, leaning your head back so it rests against a wall as the now sadly familiar sound of Stephanie dropping concrete rings through the small space. You feel a bump against your shoulder, and you glance up to see Stephanie staring down at you with a small smile. She's absolutely covered in dust and plaster, and the dress hasn't exactly held up. It's now more white than black, though thankfully for her dignity it hasn't actually torn in very many places.

Your suit is covered in blood of course, but you've long since learned that it's unavoidable.

She taps your shoulder again. "Stop spacin' out, what are we at now?"

You blink, then run the numbers in your head. "Three broken legs and one utterly pulverized ribcage, probably saved… two peoples lives if I had to guess. More if they weren't found or if this tower collapsed." You let your arm lift then flop against the floor, the dull pounding in your head slowly receding. "Untold lacerations amongst everything else, though with the heroes being free we don't really need to worry about villains I think."

"And you?"

Tapping your head you bring yourself back up to a standing position. "I have the better half of the Georgia Philharmonic blasting away in my head, but I'll be fine. Between all the boosting and healing I don't have much in the tank, but at least I don't have a bus in my ba-"

The ending of that sentence is muffled by her hand clapping her hand over your mouth. This serves two purposes, it cuts you off from speaking. It also fills your mouth full of bits of concrete, dust, and plaster.

You spit out, Stephanie pulling her hand back just in time as you glare at her. "The hell woman."

She taps her foot against the ground then jerks her head towards the stairs. "Ah ain't havin' ya jinx yerself around my watch. Now come on, we've already checked the last twenty floors. Lets head out to the plaza to see if there are any new wounded outside."

You nod, extending an arm for her to grab and hoist you up into her grip. Your head sinks into the crook of her neck, the smaller girl rather awkward at carrying you but still effective. "Can we get icecream when we're done, mom?"

Stephanie chuckles, her legs breaking out into a sprint as she makes for the stairs. "None of that or I'll get you down the stairs the fast way."

You turn your head to look at the staircase she has now started to speed walk down. "That would be beating up a cripple, you're a monster. I knew I should have listened to your dad more."

Stephanie's chuckle turns into a full out laugh. "None of that either."

Reaching the bottom step she sets you down onto your feet, and you both break into a light jog past the collapsed ceiling tiles and broken glass to the plaza in front of the building. There are… quite a few more people then when you were last around. A rather large mix of civilians and heroes alike, all lit up in the rapidly rising morning sun.

"Dylan!"

You turn your head to see… Izuku? He's currently standing just besides All Might, the two of them looking more than a little tuckered out. Izuku looks the worse for wear, one arm hanging limply at his side and more than a few scratches on him. All Might just looks tired, and in his arms is-

You're moving before you even realize it. Melissa's father, a rather heavy amount of red staining the front of his clothes. "Put him down, gently." You are already pulling the front of his clothes apart even as he is laid on the ground. "What happened?"

"Gunshot," All Might says succinctly, something you didn't know he was capable of given what you've seen of his interviews. "Do you require any-"

"Alcohol." You cut him off, "or anything that can be used to sanitize."

Another voice comes from your right. "I can do it!"

Hands still moving on autopilot, you turn your head to see Momo running towards you with the rest of their class. Morrigan running behind them in her 'human' form. You stare at her, they all look beat up… well, everyone except Morrigan. But none so urgent as a gunshot wound. "I need a pair of forceps and something to sanitize them. Quickly."

Before you've been using the alcohol from the party and your fingers, if you can avoid that you would appreciate it. Momo nods and presses her hand to her stomach, coming back a moment later holding a small metal forcep and a vial of completely clear liquid.

She hands both to you, then steps back. Leaving you to stare at the wound. It's a nasty hit, just below the collarbone it narrowly missed the top of the lung. Instead it lodged itself in the muscle and nicked the subclavian along the way. It's a lot of blood… but could be a lot worse if it had actually come just a smidgen higher and went straight through the subclavian.

"Dad!" You find your space suddenly invaded by a blonde woman, her hand moving to cup his head. Melissa isn't doing too well herself, barefooted and covered in scratches with a nasty bruise on her face, it seems the entirety of that group had a rather rough time of it.

"Steph, move her."

With a lurching movement Melissa is yanked away by your partner, a yelp escaping her as she starts trying to fight back. You ignore the commotion, instead popping the top of the vial off and pouring it over the forceps, the wound, and your hands. "He'll be fine. he will need a transfusion and a healthy regimen of antibiotics, but your father will be fine."

She stops struggling at that, instead clutching your partner's arm to watch you work as you slowly lower the forceps into the wound. Your hand follows just behind, your finger lightly touching the subclavian and sealing the artery in the process. Gently moving it out of the way you push the forceps the rest of the way in and pull your finger out to give yourself room. Almost… there.

You feel the forcep hit something hard and you slowly turn it around and grab the foreign object. Slowly and carefully you draw it back, it is tortuously slow… but the glint of brass in the morning sunlight tells you you did your job a few seconds later. Putting your finger back into the hole you will the muscle to repair itself and turn your head to Momo. "I'll need more alcohol and a clean cloth."

You then turn your head towards Melissa, allowing yourself to smile. "Your father will be fine. He'll just need some bedrest… along with what I mentioned earlier."

She nods, her mouth open and fresh tears at the corners of her eye. "Thank you!"

You smile a bit wider then look at the rest of the group, grabbing the cloth and alcohol from Momo's hands in the process. "Is it over then?"

Izuku nods. "We defeated the villain, David was helping him."

You glance down at the man whom you are currently packing the wounds of. "Fascinating, not important, not the first. Live first, arrest later. Now get over here and let me take a look at that arm."

You don't miss the hard look of thought Deku gave you as you fixed up his arm, but by the time you finished you were too tired to care.

---

You did not stay for any interviews, you didn't stay for autographs or group photos either. Not that you or anyone else was in the mood for any. No, as you step out of your shower and collapse onto your bed the only thing you can think about is how much your back hurts and how happy you are that you managed to find the reserves to dull the pain of your headache at the moment. A groan sounds from besides you, and you crank your head to see Stephanie making her way to the shower as well.

"You look about as dead as I feel."

Stephanie smiles, but doesn't otherwise respond. Shuffling towards the bathroom she slides the door shut behind her, the water kicking on a few moments later.

*Knock knock*

You groan. "Unless you are the pizza guy you can fuck right the hell off."

"Dylan, that is no way to talk to your teacher." Morrigan's voice replies, and with a little audible 'tink' you hear the door unlock and open. Cracking open your eyes you stare forward, watching as a familiar golden butterfly flies into your vision.

"Good morning Dylan!"

"Foul butterfly," You unenthusiastically wave your arm. It flops up and down… good enough."We specifically kept the blinds closed to pretend the morning doesn't exist. Do not speak of its evils."

Morrigan laughs lightly and settles on the bed just in front of your face. "I came to say how proud I was of you and Stephanie, you made me very proud. I also think you've made your fair share of fans, people are talking about you!"

You smile lightly. "Lovely, I'll put that on my chirper later. You should be aware at this point that I don't care much for fans. Go ahead and tell Stephanie the news when she's out of the shower."

She laughs again, wings fluttering against the bedspread. "Of course, but you've made friends too. I do believe Izuku wishes to speak to you."

You nod your head into the bedspread. "He can wait until tomorrow. After a break like that he needs his rest as well."

"Indeed, get some rest Dylan."

It is then the butterfly glows just a smidgen brighte-

---

You blink, eyes refocusing as you realise you've moved in the last few seconds. You attempt to move your arm only to find yourself restricted, wait, when did you tuck yourself in. Sitting up you look around the room… only to see Stephanie sitting by the 'dining table' checking over your phone.

"Welcome back to the land of the livin'."

You blink again, then slowly raise your hand to rub at the side of your head. "How long was I out?"

Stephanie shrugs and jerks her head towards her own bed. "Like… sixteen hours, same as me."

You let out a low whistle and slide out of the bed. The only light coming through the window is from the lights of the city outside, the sun having yet to rise. "You know I take quirk studies as a class? No idea what the hell is up with Morrigan."

Your partner smiles, tail slapping against the side of her chair. She isn't fully dressed, she's still in the pajamas you frequently see her wearing in the dorm. But she does have coffee, which makes her the most beautiful thing in the world at present. "Ah gave up tryin' to figure it out a while back. Coffee and crackers? The buffet downstairs ain't open yet."

Standing up fully you feel… great actually. The sleep did wonders for the aches, unless that is also a side effect of whatever the hell Morrigan did. Walking over you take the offered cup and drink it greedily, letting out a sigh as the hot liquid slides down your throat. "Beautiful, both the drink and the girl offering it."

Stephanie blushes, slightly, and smiles wider. "Well ain't you sweet first thing in the mornin'. Far as ah can tell they are still cleanin' up out there, so probably no attractions today. We're supposed to be gettin' off the Island tonight apparently. Big ol' text sent to everybody."

You nod your head, idly walking over to the window and grabbing your clothing back along the way. The tower is a… wreck, broken glass and concrete all over the place, that you can see all the way from your hotel room. Frankly it is a miracle more people weren't injured, but you'll allow yourself to be a little smug and say you more than likely saved quite a few. "I just want to relax today anyway. Izuku wants to see me apparently, but I think that can wait until after the morning shower."

"Agreed, ya ain't smellin' too pleasant."

You turn your head back and glare at your girlfriend. "And you don't smell too great yourself wolfy."

She grins cheekily, tail wagging even faster. "We could always take a shower together, if ya wanted to get all clean."

… Grm. Shaking your head you walk past her and toss your clothes bag onto the bed, grabbing a fresh outfit you make your way over to the bathroom. "Embarrassment chicken, now, really?"

Your partner stares at you, the last thing you note is a deep blush on her face before you close the door behind you.

You pause when the door closes, letting out a sigh as you try to ignore whatever evil villain set your face one fire while you weren't paying attention. Hanging up your clothes you peel the rest off, idly looking over for any bruises you may have missed before walking over to the shower and turning the water on, a smile coming back onto your face as you feel the heat getting to just the right temperature before you pull your hand back behind the curtain aga-

*Click*

You freeze, head turning slowly as the door opens behind you. If this is her idea of a prank at the moment you aren't particular amus-

Standing there and sliding the door closed behind you is your partner. Wearing the same amount of clothing you are at the moment. She's blushing up a storm, both hands moved to cover her… assets as her tail lays limply on the floor behind her.

Your eyes meet, a very nervous grin on her face as she tries to be calm about this. "H-hey, uh. Ya look well, er, nice. Ya look nice."

You swallow, not quite sure where you are supposed to be looking at the moment. "I…"

Stephanie closes her eyes and lets out a breath, then with one motion she steps forward and grabs you, hands no longer covering any… areas as she slams her lip into yours. It's harsh and rather inelegant, and you almost recoil when you feel something lightly probing at your lips before her hand behind your head, and her general demureness calms you down.

Pulling away she stares at you, a goofy grin on her face and her cheeks the color of ripe tomatoes. "Shower?"

What followed was the greatest shower in your life up to that point.

 

[Erien]

Thanks to Armoury for the beta!

---

You can't help but smile as you make your way to the tower Izuku asked to meet you at. It isn't the same tower they are still cleaning up thankfully. No, this is one of the 'medical' towers the place supposedly has. Where they test the latest technology in that field, something you were rather interested in seeing when you arrived.

So now is your chance to see that, and your chance to see how Izuku is doing. Why the boy wanted to see you so urgently you don't know, but frankly at this point he could probably start a fight and it wouldn't keep the smile from your face. Today is just… good.

At the same time however it appears Izuku isn't having a good day. The student looks about as nervous as you felt back on your first day at the academy. His hands are pressing together and you swear you can see him sweating as you approach.

When he sees you he smiles, it is a cracked and put on smile. "O-oh, h-hey Dylan! You uh, you here for the thing?"

"Yes, the thing. I'm well versed in doing things." You nod your head, idly sticking your hands into your pockets as you do so. "What thing am I doing? I don't usually make house calls."

He looks back towards the tower, and for a good several seconds says nothing before nodding to himself like he just came to some great unknown conclusion. "All Might wants to see you."

You quirk a brow. "Does All Might want to see me? Or do you want me to see All Might for some reason?" Your bedside manner is atrocious, but even to you Izuku is rather easy to read.

He blinks. "Er… I..."

Chuckling you walk past, hand idly messing with his hair as you step into the starch white interior of the building. "Messing with you, where is he?"

Izuku runs to catch up, one hand clenched in a fist as he nods towards the elevator. "Top floor."

Nodding to yourself you walk onwards. This 'lobby' is like every other hospital you've studied: clean, pristine, reeking of antiseptic. And filled with hilariously overworked individuals who despite the reputation aren't paid nearly well enough.

You don't need to sign in to mark yourself as a visitor or anything thankfully, and in short order you find yourself in, then out, of an elevator on the top floor. These are the… longer stay suites if you had to guess. Namely because there are far fewer rooms in here than you might expect, what with the wall while you were coming up in the elevator quickly going away to reveal a large swath of windows. Some of these, notably those in front of the rooms are electronic displays. Some are displaying the weather and news, while one at the far end seems to be showing a movie a group of kids have gathered together to watch.

"This way."

You glance to your side to see Izuku walking past you towards a door on the opposite end of the hallway. It's a blank boring door with a nameplay and chart hanging next to it reading 'Y.Toshinori'. Deku reaches and knocks on the door, his voice raised as he speaks immediately afterwards. "All Might?"

You hear a series of coughs and the sound of a bed shifting. Then a voice filters through the door. "Midoriya?" It sounds vaguely like the man, but fainter and scratchier than you've ever heard from an interview or in person.

"Dylan's with me." The coughing gets far louder before with a loud clack of wood hitting wood the door opens. Revealing the tall and proud form of All Might in all his glory… wearing a very large medical gown.

"Hello there, Young Man!" All Might bellows, an enormous hand slamming into your shoulder. "I saw you during the villain attack, fine work indeed! I cannot wait to see what a bright young hero like you may do in the future!"

"Thank you." You stare up at him, on the one hand it is All Might. On the other… "You have blood on your hospital gown. Is everything alright?"

The man glances down before laughing, hand shaking wildly in the air as he does so. "Just a minor scratch from my fight with the villains, nothing to worry abou-"

"All Might!" Izuku's voice speaks up, and at once you find yourself shoved into the room as Izuku propels you forward into it. With a click the door slides shut behind you both, and you find yourself standing awkwardly having collided with one of All Might's arms.

"Bad back you littl-" You blink, realizing that All Might's arm is a lot smaller than you remember it being, almost skeletal. Pulling back you stare into the face of a man looking at you in clear shock. The hospital gown, once strained at every seam, is now very loose on the very emaciated form of… All Might. He's still taller than you… but just everything about him screams 'extreme exhaustion' to your medical mind.

All the muscle is gone, replaced by loose skin and bone. His form, once proud and straight, is now hunched and pained. You stare at him, and say the first thing that comes to mind. "The fuck happened to you?" Bedside manners: your specialty.

He grimaces, turning his head to glare at Izuku. "I thought I told you I avoid showing anyone this form."

Izuku starts to speak but you cut him off. "Emaciation, looks like a severe lack of nutrition in general due to the general gauntness of your features. Diabetic? No that wouldn't make any sense, cancer?"

Both of them turn to look at you, Izuku with shock and All Might with a flat look on his face.

You shake your head. "I don't really care about anything you have to hide, so I'll ask again as your doctor. What the fuck happened to you?

All Might grimaces and walks over to the bed, sitting down on it with a groan he pulls the medical gown aside to reveal a large red scar running up his right abdomen. Looks like… an implosion almost, the result of severe concussive force.

With a sigh he starts to explain. "I fought a very powerful villain, I defeated him but in return he put me out of action. I can still use my quirk but for not as long. I try to keep that quiet so people don't get the wrong idea." The last of those words are finished with a half-hearted glare at Izuku.

You step forward, your cane pressing against the ground as you adjust yourself to kneel on one of your knees as you examine the wound. "I couldn't really care about your reputation to be honest, I'm just in this line of work to help people. What's the injury?"

"I'm missing more than half of my stomach along with my spleen and kidney."

You stare at it a moment longer before your look All Might in the eyes. "You got punched so hard that you ruptured the majority of your left hypochondrium, lumbar, and part of your epigastric regions."

He nods, looking rather uncomfortable. "The punch hurt, surgery only barely saved me."

You return your eyes to the wound, your hand moving to touch the scarred skin briefly.

[Advanced Healing Training - Pass]

"I can fix it."

His form lurches back a little. "What? Look kid, I know you can heal bu-"

You turn your gaze back upwards. "I can regrow organs, I can put spines back together. About the only thing I can't do is restart the brain, and I think I'm getting fairly close to fixing that problem. I can fix this."

His gaze meets your own, and several tense seconds pass before he nods slightly. "What would you need?"

You smile. "A surgical room and time. Beyond that my power works entirely on its own."

With a grunt you push the cane back against the ground, rising back to your full height. "I'm prepared to start immediately, just… let me know when you are ready yourself. I can't fix the damage without seeing it. Too likely a chance of mistake."

He nods, and you start to walk towards the door. You pause at the doorway, smiling slightly at Izuku before looking back at All Might. "I'm not a hero student by the way."

[] [I'm R&D focused] - Gadgets and Quirk understanding.

[] [I'm Search and Rescue] - The Heat of the Action, I protect those who need me.

All Might smiles. "A hero by any other name, young man."

---



Thanks to Armoury for the beta,

And thank you all for reading this story.

[X] [I'm Search and Rescue] - The Heat of the Action, I protect those who need me.

---

*Three Years Later*

---

Your answer was firm and full of conviction, it was something you accepted and understood about yourself after you finally… found who you wanted to be. The school year was full of trials and tribulations, but you had finally decided yourself as to what kind of hero you wanted to be.

Yes, a hero. That is something even you can call yourself now. You've fought and bled to make the world a better place, and this is just the start. You've made friends and allies, comrades and compatriots.

Kros and Nora are two of the closest friends you've ever had, and you watched them grow over the next three years into some of the brightest and proudest search and rescue operatives the school has ever known.

Strongman and the old Cap'n have been dating on and off now for a good four years, you've been invited to their wedding next spring in fact. A rather… bombastic hero duo, but not the most bombastic couple you've run into.

No that would go to Teresa and Sebastien. The distance makes that tricky of course, but they get along like a literal house on fire. Also they literally set their shared dorm over in Nevada on fire at some point… you still can't believe she convinced Sebastien to transfer over to her school.

Her and Stephanie are still rather… testy around one another.

Mountebank left the school shortly after you came back, having been offered a position at I-Island. Alva joined her, for a time at least. The little doombot eager to make her mark on the world. By the time you saw her again come the third year she was fast on her way to becoming a hero in her own right, along with a more… 'mature' chassis that drew heads.

Astrapios, Mirror, Spiderboy and the rest you were never particularly close to, but they all stuck with it and graduated with you…

Speaking of which.

---

"Stephanie Clarkson and Dylan Evans." The speaker steps back from the podium and claps her hands, the action echoed by almost the entirety of the audience as you and your partner walk together up onto the stage.

Morrigan, Embla, Alva, Aja and Praegus. They are all there, along with everyone else. You cast your gaze over the audience to see your parents in the front row, Lady Luck noticeably absent. Though she has been absent beyond playing up PR in your life for quite some time now. She mentioned wanting to get involved when you went professional… so a small part of you was prepared for her to be here now.

With a smile and a handshake you accept your diploma from Aja and step past her off the stage, after a quick hug from Morrigan of course. Stephanie practically leaps off of it, her hands shooting in the air before she turns around to throw her arms around your shoulders. "Graduation! Ah never thought we'd get this far!"

You smile back, idly looking over the sealed paper in your hands before stuffing it in a side pocket next to the velvet box. "Me neither, a rather disconcerting amount of villains seemed to not want us to graduate either over the years. But now we get to think about other fun things, like deployment and figuring out how to manage a household that isn't cleaned by staff and services once a week."

Stephanie nods, her head turning to look at the group of your friends talking to themselves amongst the trees. Strongman and the rest have already gotten their papers, but at your request they are waiting for you to approach so they don't spoil the moment. "Ah was thinkin' Germany. Ah was kinda hopin' for Japan since Deku offered to sponsor us, but that wasn't an option."

You shrug your shoulders. "I think even with us not being stationed in Japan he would find a way to help us. Good lord knows the kid still feels like he owes me something after all these years."

"Ya ever gonna tell me what that was anyway?"

"Not particularly," your smile gets a touch wider, "and I was thinking of England myself."

Stephanie scrunches her nose. "Bad food, ah still remember international day where we tried some of that haggis nonsense."

"Not all of England is Scotland, and besides, I think you need to eat more than bacon thank you."

Stephanie playfully punches you in the arm before taking a step back. Letting out a breath she lets her gaze wander over all the buildings of the school. "Ah'm gonna miss it though, the school that is."

You join her in gazing, your hand slowly slipping into your pocket. "Me as well to be honest, was quite busy though."

Stephanie nods, one hand moving to rub at the back of her head before she turns to face you again. "Ah could do without all the surprises, frankly it felt like somethin' was always happenin'."

You let out a breath. "I don't know, I think there could be another surprise. Remember how we used to play embarrassment chicken?"

Your partner smirks, tail wagging behind her. "Yeah, and ah remember ya never beat me."

"True…" You nod. "But I think I'll try one more time."

Stephanie starts to reply before her eyes go wide…



---

Shortest chapter of the story thread, will be posting the sequel (in this thread) soon.

 

[Erien]

Where did we leave off?

Oh, right.

Thanks to Armoury for the beta!

---

Last time on AHJ.

---




You expected many things from your girlfriend (and hopeful fiance) at this moment. Perhaps a shout of joy, awkward stammering, a bone crushing hug, or at worst, a refusal. What you did not expect was the complete and utter silence.

Well. From her anyway.

Excited English and Japanese is shouted out from around you. You avert your gaze enough that you can look towards your assembled group of friends. Cap'n, Mirror, Nora and Kros are all cheering wildly, a fascinating mix of tongues consisting of the hard to understand Russian and the impossible to understand Cajun.

Strongman is holding up a laptop, the screen visible to display a video call with a group of rather excited looking Japanese people. Familiar faces, even if you only saw one with anything approaching regularity. The grown (but still rather boyish) looking face of Midoriya is the most prominent on the screen, his hands on either side of the camera on his end as he shouts particularly excited Japanese towards you and Stephanie. Over his shoulder you can see the rest of his class along with All Might, the class having called in full to watch you graduate.

They seem rather excited.

You turn your gaze back… only to see your girlfriend openly crying. Her hands are held over her mouth as hiccups escape her lips. Her tail is wagging rapidly, enough that if it goes even a touch faster you fear she will become some fort of fluffcopter and smash into the glass dome above you all.

You stand up, placing one hand on your knee as you try and keep the ring box level. Once you are at your full height once again you stare into your girlfriend's eyes. "So is that a no?"

Her gloved hands land on either side of your face, and you find yourself doing a remarkably good impression of a fish before she lurches forward to capture your lips with hers. The cheering, previously loud, now turns absolutely raucous as she holds you there for a few seconds.

She does, alas, eventually pull away. Not particularly far, mind you, her eyes bore into your own as her nose touches your own. One hand of hers darts down to rip the jewelry box out of your hand, stepping away a moment later to watch the jewel glint in the light.

"Normally I'm supposed to put it on your finger, unless you plan on burying it in the yard."

Stephanie blinks, then lets out a series of giggles. Moving her left hand up to her mouth she rips the glove off with her teeth. Then, she tosses the box at you and extends the hand for you to put the ring on it.

Smiling, you get back onto your knees and hold out the ring. "Stephanie Clarkson, will you marry me?"

Your girlfriend nods rapidly, apparently too overcome with emotions to form words.

Slowly reaching forward you slide the ring onto her finger, much to the continuing approval of the crowd.

It was one of the better mornings in your life.

---

To say Stephanie is on cloud nine as you re-enter your dorm is to perhaps understate things. It took concerted effort on your part to keep her from running into a light pole outside as she was too busy staring at her new piece of jewelry and grinning. You're also a little worried: she hasn't put her glove back on for an hour, and her claws are very sharp.

The door closes behind you with a click, the familiar, if packed, form of your dorm greeting you. Turning your head towards your fiance you don't bother to fight the smile forming on your face as she skips across the room to flop onto the couch, her graduation cap sailing across the room from the sudden movement to land at your feet.

Her legs kick happily behind her, her left hand hanging over the cushions as she stares at it and grins.

"It's not like you haven't been giving enough hints these past few months that you were looking for a more concrete confirmation of our relationship." You say, kicking the graduation cap aside and walking over to the couch to plop onto the cushion next to her.

The hand that was above the cushion falls down rather awkwardly, the previously wagging tail of your fiance going still as she turns to look at you with an expression that is an interesting mix of embarrassed and nervous. "Ah… ah mean ah'm really happy, and ah love ya a hell of a lot. But ah didn't think ah was exactly… ya know… marriage material. I'm a bombass girlfriend and got legs for days, but ah don't know the first thing 'bout bein' a wife."

You place an arm around her shoulder, dragging Stephanie closer so that her head is resting against your chest. Glancing down you find a pair of orange and blue eyes staring up at you, wolven ears flickering slightly. She's grown up, but she still has those lingering doubts from time to time. She's beautiful, but that isn't why she's wearing a ring right now. "You're kind, thoughtful, always looking out for me and you never turn away an attempt to help someone else." You move your hand to scratch lightly behind her ears. "I could talk for days about your beauty, but honestly… I'm just happy you accepted. I am kinda frumpy."

Stephanie jerks up, hands digging into your thighs as she raises herself so that she is directly eye to eye with you. "Grumpy, not frumpy, and now you are mine."

You arch a brow. "Wasn't I already?"

Stephanie grins and nods, before with a rather impressive display of acrobats she uses your legs like an gymnastic horse and bounces onto the cushion across from you. "Yeah! But now it's legal!"

You let out a breath and lean further into the couch, idly watching your fiance grin so brightly she could light up a dark cave. "So, to change the subject, have you given any thought about where we are going next? They will want us to choose rather quickly."

Stephanie blinks, then shrugs her shoulder in dismissal. "Ah was kinda distracted, whatcha thinking?"

"Well, we have five options to start with, though the last one they made rather clear they would be unhappy with it. Our reputation precedes us apparently, and they want to show off."

"Ah didn't really plan on stayin' in the states anyway." Stephanie says. "My paycheck'll be enough that ah can support my parents real easy no matter what."

"Especially since we aren't paying for housing," you agree. "Then our first option would be… Australia, because we might as well go alphabetical."

Stephanie nods. "Good hero culture ah suppose, they speak English too."

"Yeah, may be a bit more on the expensive side depending on where we end up. But it's fairly nice from what I've gathered, their big problem at the moment is a group of villains hiding out in the central desert apparently."

"Could be interestin'," Stephanie says. "Be about as far from home as we could possibly get though, heard it has nice beaches though. Ah did get a new swimsuit lately."

You pause, then move your hand to your chin. "Alright, point in Australia's favor. Next would be England, it would be almost entirely work based in the city of London itself. The majority of the population is there and we'd have the run of the town."

"Bad food and it's crowded."

You shrug. "It's crowded in Atlanta too, but a lot of famous heroes are from there so I figure you would be interested, it's also the closest option to home… technically. If you don't count the 'we don't want to move option' in the bunch."

"Ah suppose. Was always interested in the history anyway. Most of my family came from there originally, so that'd be kinda neat. Though ah'm not sure about them speakin' English."

You hold up a hand, curling it slightly so that only three fingers are visible. "Well better than the third option language wise, Germany. Big tech hub if you are interested in that, and is in the middle of everything so we'd be working in other countries a lot."

"Ah think they'd flay me alive for using the name 'Doomwulf'."

"Maybe a little, Doomwife?"

Stephanie blushes and punches you lightly in the shoulder, but breaks down into a fit of giggles soon after. "Maybe, though you tend to be the one getting hurt all the time. Remember that time you got between Nora and Kros?"

You move your hand to your head, fingers idly tracing a scar that has long since disappeared. "Yeah… I won't get between Nora and cupcakes again. But still, Germany is pretty nice, lots of history and has the largest hero base in Europe."

Your fiance nods eagerly. "Yeah, we could see all sorts of things and visit all sorts of places methinks. What's last?"

The fourth finger raises. "India, the third most populous country in the world. Lots of history, lots of people, lots of things to see and do. Far as the dean has told me we'd be the first transfer students to India, ever. They tend to keep things rather homegrown there."

"We'd musta impressed somebody."

"Maybe, we've certainly done a lot, though this program in general is new."

Your fiance taps her chin, head turning towards the ceiling as she thinks. "Ah don't know much 'bout India to be honest. But it could be neat."

About your feelings as well.

"So whatcha thinkin' then? Wanna hear your thought before ah make my own decision."

---

[Australia]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta! And for being Australian. However only a third of this was beta'd, have mercy.

---

"So that's three for electricians, four for plumbers right?"

"That'd do it to get you the best price yeah." Your father's voice filters through the phone's speaker. You've been talking to him for a good two hours now as you pack, every word between the two of you auto-transcribing in a notation app as you put clothes away.

"Well, at least we don't have to rent a truck," you say. Then with a grunt you slide another box towards the hallways near the door. It's getting difficult to move in there… but it isn't like you have company at the moment anyway.

You glance towards Stephanie's empty room and smile, it hasn't been that clean in years.

"The day you figure out how to drive a truck across the water is the day I start the world's best underwater welding business." Dad replies. "But it is mighty nice of the school to just fly all your stuff over."

"It's a mighty nice school in general dad, besides all the spine injuries… trauma… bad teachers… boring lectures… villain attacks… Wait..."

You hear your father laugh. "Now what did I tell you about gift horses?"

"To question why someone is giving me a horse in the 2200s?"

"To put some horsepower behind your academic progress?"

…

"I'm hanging up the phone now."

You move your finger to the end call button, and are juuust about to press it when a decidedly loud and excited voice blasts out of the speaker. "Oooh! Is that my baby?"

You hear a cacophonous fumbling, and a distinct sound of pain that you believe you recognize as the sound of your father being accidentally elbowed in the face. Then, a happy if… exuberant female voice speaks up, that of your mother. "Dylan?"

"Negative, flash-cloned body double actually. My entire life at this point has been a lie, you may call me Steve."

"Dylan, mouth." Your mother replies in clear warning.

"Right, yes, Dylan is I."

"How's the fiancé doing? Are you still excited about getting married?"

You blink, then glance out your window towards the school. The number of students out and about has only barely decreased. Though given the sheer amount of students the schools works with that shouldn't be a surprise. "She's fine, out with her parents at the moment getting her things together. I would be at home getting mine but I was kicked out."

Your mother laughs, a light melodical tone that makes her seem like a far younger woman at times. "Now Dylan, your baby brother needed the space, and you hadn't slept in that room for four years!"

"It's the thought that counts, and there was clearly no thought put into my direction." You retort. "I know when I feel loved, and I am certainly not feeling it there."

"Dylan," your mother's voice has gone rather quiet. "The love your girlfriend has for you every other night is very different than the love I have for you."

"..."

"Yeah thought that'd shut you up, how's the packing going."

"... Fine. It's a rather large amount but I'm handling it. And it's rather nice having the dorm all to myself. We get on the plane tonight and then off to Australia by California."

Your father's voice comes faintly over the speaker. "Don't let them Californians corrupt ya!"

You smile, then reach down for the tape as you start to seal up the last of the boxes. "I'll try my best, though frankly Australian's political system is… much more confusing."

Your mother's voice picks back up. "Less grouchy, more excited. This is a rare opportunity for you, you should have many things to look forward to in the future."

Smiling you look around at all the sealed boxes. "Indeed I do."

---

"Steph, pouting at me will not change my mind. We don't have the time to go to the beach, and if you want to see the Pacific so damn bad you can wait for Australia, it's surrounded by it. I think they mention it in their anthem." You give her a conciliatory smile… even though you know damn well she is just play-acting. "Besides, Australia is famous for their beaches anyway."

Your partner snickers, looking away from you and the airport cafeteria table full of food as she crosses her arms. It amazes you that even after a several hour plane ride, no makeup, and wearing little more than a hoodie she still manages to be gorgeous, but that's your girlfr- fiancé for you.

"Ya say that, but ya wouldn't be if ya saw ma' swimsuit."

"Steph, I packed that swimsuit. It breaks decency laws in most countries, and nudity laws in several countries that no longer exist."

Stephanie's eyes flit towards you, then with a smile she darts forward across the table and pecks you on the lips… narrowly missing spilling your soda on your crotch in the process. She is seemingly about to do it again as well until a small, excited voice breaks through the 'peace' of the busy airport.

"Doomwoof!"

You both turn your heads to see a small girl, probably… six to seven years of age staring up at your fiancé with excited eyes. A small writing pad is in her hand along with a pencil. "Can I get your autograph?"

Stephanie's smile morphs into something far sweeter. "Oooh, look at you! Yer adorable, ya gonna be a big strong hero when ya grow up?"

The girl nods, though you can tell just from looking at her she hasn't quite developed her quirk yet. With flash of motion Stephanie has retried the notepad and doodles her hand into it… along with a small drawing of a pawprint.

When handed it back the girl lets out an excited squeal before running off to a rather happy… if tired looking woman you would presume to be her mother. The woman gives you a thankful wave then heads off to another end of the cafeteria, leaving you alone in peace once more with Steph.

Smiling warmly yourself you lean back into your seat. "You're quite good with kids, you know that?"

Steph turns back to look at you, amusement on her features. "What, ya makin' plans?"

You pause at the question, joking though it may be. Drawing in a breath you shrug your shoulders. "... I wouldn't mind. It would be a change, most certainly, and it would make some things a lot harder. But I think we could get through it together like we did everything else."

Stephanie says nothing, but when she moves her hand across the table you grasp it.

---

It's a private plane… but that does not mean you are given the luxury of first class. No, your ass is still firmly planted in the business sections, which is admittedly nicer than any seat you've been on before in regards to a plane. Stephanie takes the window seat of course, you aren't going to argue with her about it. That, and you spent the entire ride to LAX in that seat so you'll be a good fiancé and swap.

She, however, finds staring out the window to the tarmac boring rather quickly. Her hand moves to rest on her chin as she stares out into the darkened sky, her tail lightly hitting the middle seat as you sit on the aisle. "Hear about any of the other students?"

You nod, reaching down to idly search your bag as you speak. It contains little more than a laptop and a book… but given the fact that the book has more text in it than the computer possibly does you don't believe you shall be requiring much in the way of alternate entertainment. "Most of them besides Mountebank, though I only hear from her sporadically."

"Any others end up going international 'sides Strongman an' Capn?"

You think on the question a moment before moving the colossal biology tome onto your lap. "Just them that I'm aware of, most are still going for the national path or going into full time support. Why?"

"Feel's kinda lonely leaving everyone behind."

Fair you suppose. "Makes sense, we were with them all for four years. But it isn't like we won't see them again, hell even this is only supposed to last two years before they send us off somewhere else or go back to the states."

"Still feels like ah long time." Stephanie mutters.

You move your hand to your chin thoughtfully, fully aware that due to the cabin's lighting she can see the gesture in the reflection. "Well I suppose if we ever get lonely or something we could try dating, there is that rabbit hero over in Japan, have you seen her leg-"

*Whap*

You hold your hands up as Stephanie's tail makes several wags towards your face. "Down girl, I was kidding, mostly, probably, I wouldn't look through my phone if I were you."

Stephanie's eyes narrow, and a rather… evil smile comes onto her face. Reaching down she pulls her phone out of her pocket and holds it close to her face, smirking all the wall.

Your phone dings a moment later, and with… slightly nervous movements you raise it and open up the message she sent yo-

It's your fiancé.

Standing in front of the mirror in her room wearing her 'Pet the Cook' apron… and nothing else.

"... Point made, but why do you have that?"

The edges of her lips spread wide enough to be seen around the phone's edges. "In case yer ever away from me fer too long, ah took a bunch of happy pictures."

"That's simultaneously sweet, scary, and honestly arousing."

The sound of her tail hitting the seat almost drowns out the ding of the planes notification alarm.

'Attention passengers, please fasten your safety belts, we shall be departing LAX shortly.'

Steph leans across her seat to rest her head against your shoulder, the harnesses straining slightly as her wiggling ears tickle your shoulder. Your hand moves to scritch them even as your other opens the biology textbook, it should be a pleasant enough flight.

---

Your eyes open a good while later due to the sun hitting you in the face. You blink repeatedly as you adjust to that, and also the fact that your arm is numb. Glancing down you see the drooling form of your fiancé leaning on your shoulder, an open mouthed smile on her face as she uses you as an impromptu pillow.

Turn your gaze back to the window you see deep blue waters… and a landmass a good dozen miles or so in the distance. The orange light of the sun paints the whole landscape in a fascinating mix of golden colors. Many many inlets are jutting out into the water upon which you can see hundreds of buildings. The furthest out are all proper docks, and even with the harsh glint of the sunlight on the water you can make out dozens of cargo vessels making their way in and out of the city. It's Sydney, that much you recognize from your research about the place up to this point.

That, and that opera house is rather distinctive to be perfectly honest.

What does take your breath away is just how busy it looks. Atlanta is a very, very large city. But Sydney has bridges and boat traffic, making the entire thing seem colossally more complicated and hard to take in. You blink, focusing more towards the opera house. If your memory is correct it shou-

There. Just next to where the opera house is jutting out onto the water there is a small grassy park. Within which is a lake, in the center of said lake is a bright white tower far and above taller than the opera house it resides beside. From here you cannot see any logo or decoration, but you don't need to to know that is Australia's Hero Headquarters, the focal point for all hero work in the country.

The entire time you were in America you never visited the Hero Headquarters in Seattle. It was a rather hard place to visit at the best of times, and for promising heroes? Only the best. You had a rather good reputation but you were nowhere near flashy enough to get an entrance there. Which, honestly, given your proclivities towards professional heroes is probably for the better.

You shift your arm slightly, enough to wake up your partner.

"Bacon time?" Stephanie groggily asks.

"No, Australia time. Look out the window."

Stephanie stares up at you, blinking once, twice, three ti-

She notices the sunlight playing across your face and slowly turns around. You then lose all sight of Australia a moment later as she presses her face against the glass.

"Excited I see."

*Whap*

"We talked about the tail in the face!"

---

The view from above was absolutely gorgeous. Something you could honestly write an entire poem about if you only knew the words. The airport is…

Boring. Boring is the word you want to use.

There's the usual array of shops, restaurants, tourist traps and the like. But what strikes you the most is just how plain it is. The Atlanta airport shows you the city's history using holograms and art murals as you pass, and helps to guide you to the city's many attractions.

The Sydney airport is boring, white, and bland. As someone who works in medicine you can appreciate function over form quite well, the body is little more than a very complicated machine that ensures people can post status updates on their chirper all day. But still, boring… at least in aesthetics. You can't help but feel the thrill of arriving in an entirely different country nine thousand miles away from home.

The sound of luggage rolling across the ground is the only sound passing between you and your partner until you exit the secured section of the airport. Once you do you can see the large gates marking the exit of the international section up ahead. Dozens of sliding glass doors lead out into Australia proper… and to whomever is going to be picking you up.

"Who or what are we lookin' for?" Stephanie asks.

You pause, pulling your luggage besides you as you reach for your phone. "Someone named Chlo-"

"Oi!"

You both turn your heads towards the shout to see… a hero you have a vague recollection of. She is grey haired, but just light enough that in the right light it could be a silver. She has two large koala ears sticking out the top of her hair along with a little black smudge of darker colored hair in between them to give the appearance of a koala's nose. She's dressed in a grey one piece and once again grey leggings. White fur is lined around her neck from the one piece, along with additional fur just above the boots about the same as how your fiancé prefers it. Or used to prefer it anyway.

It's a rather distinctive look, and you both watch as the woman lightly jogs towards you both, a leaf sticking out of her mouth… as another gentleman is walking in front of her. You raise your hand to warn her but it is too late, her foot collides with the wheel of his luggage and sends her falling forwards. Her face collides with the smooth floor of the airport with a dull slapping sound, and you watch as she rather… painfully slides across the floor to come to a stop a good few feet to your right.

Your bend down to check on her, only to lean back as she leaps back up to her feet. Her arms are splayed out at her sides as she shakes her head rapidly like a dog after running through something it doesn't agree with. Then, she blinks and looks at you both. "Welcome to Australia! I'm Drop Bear!" Her smile is wide and genuine, and only slightly marred by her now red nose. Her voice is… very high and cutesy, near the same pitch as the girls in the shows Strongman tried to get you involved with.

"... Thanks, are you alright?" you ask.

Drop Bear nods, one hand moving to idly rub her nose. "Fine, ya two ready to go?"

You slowly turn your head to look at your partner, and in unison you shrug.

"Gnarly, let's get going then ay?"

With that Drop Bear… or Chloe turns towards the nearest gate and walks out of it, arms swinging at her sides as she walks on ahead. Tugging lightly at your luggage you follow, a little concerned but no more than you were first arriving at the school. If only for one, solitary thing you have learned since entering the environment of heroes.

They are a weird bunch, and tend to be more than a little insane to make up for what they have to do on a day to day basis. To that end you follow along dutifully, Stephanie catching up a moment later to follow you out of the gate and into the first bit of Australian sunshine you've both ever experienced.

It's still early morning, but the humidity is honestly rather impressive. It's actually rather familiar, though a tad cooler than the mornings in Georgia these past few days.

"Over there we got the international tram, it'll take ya anywhere ya want to go in the city. Course today we're taking my car." Chloe's voice speaks up, and you turn your head to see the woman once again to your right pointing towards a large two story building at the edge of the terminal. As you watch a long white monorail pulls out of it and starts speeding off through the buildings towards the city proper.

Then Chloe turns to look at you both, a small smile on her face. "I get special parking. You two 'right with the heat?"

Stephanie shrugs her shoulders and speaks before you can. "Ain't particularly hot out, far as ah ever figured ya'll get the same temperatures we do 'cept for the desert."

Chloe blinks. "Fair dinkum?"

"... Yes?" Stephanie says.

Drop Bear tilts her head, blinking several times as she processes that information. Then she slowly raises her hand and chews idly on a leaf.

Your eyes narrow, staring at it as you recall your lessons with Aja in the third year. "Isn't that Eucalyptus?"

Chloe's chewing slows, then she pulls out a fresh leaf and offers it to you. "Yep, wanna bite?"

*Focus*

Highly toxic, lung damage and epilepticus most common symptoms. "... No."

Drop Bear shrugs and walks out onto the street. "Suit yourself, my cars on the other side."

By 'other side' it turns out she meant 'on the other side of the walkway', also known as a twenty second walk from one side to the other. Her 'car' is no car at all, it is in actually a long panel van painted to look like… well.

"It's a giant Koala." Stephanie mutters.

You nod, staring up at the large grey monstrosity. The entire thing is painted so that the sides look like a koala. The bumper acts as its nose as the rest of the body is sprawled along both sides.

You slowly turn your head to look at your partner as Chloe opens the door. "If you get a Wolf themed car I am filing for divorce."

Stephanie blinks, then turns her head to look at you. "That's not a bad idea actually."

"No, bad dog."

"Yes. Best dog."

"Well come on then!" Chloe's voice calls out.

With a sigh you step forward and walk into the van. It has been as heavily converted on the inside as the outside, a long 'bench' of a seat is behind the driver and passenger seats. The former of which Chloe is currently sliding into. Behind the bench is, well, the rest of the van. Not much is back there barring a small eucalyptus tree resting in a terrarium bolted to the floor.

Glancing back to the front you see the dash of the car is actually highly modified. Not in the sense that it looks like a koala as well thankfully, but in the sense that every part of the dash is high tech and new. Blinking lights and dials that indicate what you can't even begin to guess line the dash from the drivers side all the way to the passenger's section. The passenger's seat has also been modified, gone is the backrest… or seat for the matter now that you take a closer look. It is little more than a large metal sealed box, the contents of which are a mystery to you. Sitting atop it and strapped down are several small cages, the kind you would use for trapping squirrels back home.

Your phone buzzes, and you reach down to pull it out to see a text message from Stephanie.

'Well, she themes rather well.'

You smile, then tap your reply back. 'Indeed, I am rather frightened.'

Hearing a mechanical whir you glance up, only to find yourself staring in the face of a descending Drop Bear. The hero is question is leaning back on her seat as it reclines to the point the headrest is just above your knees. She is still buckled up, but at the moment you find yourself staring down at your 'guide' as she curls her legs up and moves a hand underneath her head.

"Do you… plan on driving from that position?" you ask.

Chloe smiles slightly, then raises a hand. "Oi! Hero Tower!"

There's a beep from the dash, and you watch as several of the gearshift moves itself and the car starts to reverse.

"I had it installed for when I get sleepy."

You stare down at the woman. "Do you get sleepy a lot?"

Chloe shrugs her shoulder into the cushioned seat, then closes her eyes while munching on a leaf as the car van into gear.

---

Syndey is… not that different from any other large city you've been to now that you are on the ground. By far the biggest difference is the fact that everyone is driving on the opposite side of the road than you are used to, but beyond that (and the far more tropical plants) it isn't wholly different than Atlanta.

Not that you can see much of it admittedly. Due to being in the middle of the van you can't see out the front windshield all that well, and the views to either side are mostly noise walls or the odd tunnel as you make your way further out to the city. You are, admittedly, on an industrial road that leads from the airport so you aren't particularly surprised about that. But you do admit some small amount of disappoint that it isn't quite as beautiful as it was from the ai-

Both you and Stephanie jolt as an alarm sounds through the car, it sounds like the screech of the devil mixed with a klaxon being thrown into a running dryer. You jerk your head towards the dash to see a small red light near the steering wheel flashing. A moment later Chloe yelps, hands moving to pull out a phone by the dash and look at it.

She blinks, then looks at you both. "Bank robbery over in Surry Hills, about a half mile from here. You two bring your hero gear?"

Without saying a word Stephanie pulls off her gloves and show her claws, Chloe nods, then turns to you.

"I'm-"

---

[X] I always have my shield

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

You raise your left arm and tap a small metal bracelet on it, a present from Embla many months back. "I always have my shield on me."

Chloe stares at you both, then nods. "Hang on mates, things are fixin' to get bumpy."

Her hand darts forward to the dash and hits several buttons, the vehicle vibrates briefly, before a loud siren erupts from above your head. You glance up towards the roof, the sound is coming from outside, and a quick glance to the windows shows the car directly in front painted in blue and red flashing lights.

At first, nothing happens. Then one by one the cars in front start to pull over to the sides as the Koala Van kicks into high kear, tearing down the street at ever increasing speed. Your back slams into the seat, the hand that was pressing on your bracelet slamming into your chest and forcing the air out of your lungs.

Your partner isn't much better, her back slammed into the seat just as soon as yours did. Of course the difference between the two of you is that Stephanie is grinning from ear to ear.

She never did stop being a daredevil.

The scenery by you, previously going by rapidly, quickly becomes a blur. The city's buildings blend together as the van picks up speed. With a screech of rubber and a rather disturbing tilt to the van you round a corner, your ass leaves the seat momentarily, and as it finishes its turn you find yourself with a rather annoyed looking wolf girl against your shoulder.

You push your arm out to help hold her to the seat as you reach forward to grab onto the back of Chloe's, the woman's chair having raised itself as she now sees fit to hold onto the wheel in person. Her face is stoic and full of concentration, a far cry from the dopey and tired look she has sported thus far previously. It's also remarkably terrifying, and you've been stuck in the backseat of a car driven by Izuku.

It slows down far too many minutes later, revealing that you can focus better now that you are in a far smaller area of Sydney. The tropical trees are gone, replaced instead by small squat buildings of white, yellows and greys. There's also a lot more cop cars. You are pressed into the front seat as the van comes to a screeching halt in front of a rather fancy looking brick building. It's two stories and absolutely covered in windows… windows no small number of cops are currently pointing firearms at.

The doors to either side of the van open automatically, and neither you nor your partner need heavy convincing to get out of the metal koala-shaped deathtrap. You take in a shaky breath, then look towards the building once more. A good dozen cop cars and vans have surrounded the building, with more on the way going by the sirens wailing in the distance. The front entrance is glass, and through it you can see multiple civilians lying on the ground. For a brief moment you assume the worst, before you focus your vision and see they are still breathing… and crying.

You blink repeatedly, then glance towards the windows. They all have the blinds down, giving nothing in the way of vision inside. "Been awhile since we've dealt with a possible hostage situation." You say quietly.

"Try not to get any fangirls this time." Stephanie says, the serious expression on her face at odds with the slight smirk on her lips.

"Reverse Florence Nightingale syndrome, what can I say?"

"Nothin' preferably."

You are about to ask what she would prefer to do when Chloe walks past you both, hands swinging at her side as she whistles a jaunty tune and… walks up to the front entrance. You watch in fascination as the woman idly stands before the glass door, peering inside for a brief moment. Before, without any form of hesitation, swings the door open and walks inside. The cops near the entrance don't seem particularly bothered by this, in fact those positioned nearest the door back away in reverence as she passed them.

"Ah…" Stephanie starts, but doesn't finish.

You start running towards the entrance. "You wanna get on the roof?"

"Nah! Front seems better, sides, ain't like this is the Federal Reserve or nothin'."

You glance towards your sprinting partner as you make your way up the steps of the building. "You do love bringing up the fact that the building collapsed on top of us don't you?"

Stephanie smirks, then steps behind you as you open the door.

It's a rather nice and large lobby all things considered. It's square in shape with a wall for tellers on the far end, with the left and right side filled with small booths and tables for card applications and the like. A door is at each corner, leading into offices you'd imagine. It's also filled with weeping civilians, so that's a thing.

There's a good fifteen people in here or so, all curled up on the floor and surrounded by… black bird feathers. They are slightly longer than Nora's, and you watch as Chloe bends down in the middle of the room to study one… revealing a man behind one of the teller desks with a gun. "STEPH!"

You leap forward, vaulting over Chloe and tapping your bracelet in the same motion. With a loud whirring sound a rod juts out from the bracelet away from you, then spins and starts to peel in half like a log split in two. It then shunts repeatedly to form a circular shield roughly a half size of the one you normally wield.

The gunshot rings out a fraction of a moment later. The man was only wielding a pistol, and you smirk as you feel the bullet bounce off to impact a far wall. He pauses then, adjusting his aim for a moment.

But a moment is all that Stephanie needs. Your shield tilts upwards, your partner landing on it feet-first and launching off a moment later, claws extended as she flies over the counter and over to the gunman. Her foot kicks out, hitting the criminal in the chest and forcing them momentarily backwards. Stephanie flips in the air from her momentum, her claws slash, and the sound of wrenching metal is heard as the pistol the villain was wielding falls to the ground with a clatter of parts, springs, and loose bullets.

Her feet hit the ground, then she charges forward and shoulder checks the gunman just as they hit the wall, a dull crunch sounding from the drywall, and the helmet that cracks clean in two and falls to the side. Revealing a middle aged man with eyes rather too large for his face, eye mutations can be good for firearms you suppose. He's also unconscious, so that's something. Stephanie stares down at him, then grabs one of the security lanyards nearby to start tying him up.

You watch her for a moment to make sure she is alright, then look around for any other gunmen. Nobody is present… but that absolutely doesn't mean nobody is around. Chloe for her part is checking up on all the hostages, and you bend down to observe one yourself a moment later.

*Focus*

Female… mid-thirties. Conscious, but non-responsive. Crying profusely, some form of tear gas perhaps? A shame, but it's not like you can do much about that. If they haven't actually hurt the hostages, you're not much use.

You blink, shaking your head slightly as a feeling of nausea and… depression washes over you. It's a physical thing, not mental, you realize a moment later, and you force your gaze towards whatever is causing it.

A small black feather rests just beside the woman's head, but you can't bring yourself to care-

It doesn't really matter does it?

… Nope, not putting up with that. You've spent too much time studying medical diagrams: if you aren't depressed yet you aren't letting a magic feather change it. Pursing your lips together you blow the feather away, the feeling of nausea and depression going away with it.

You shake your head from side to side, wiping the last of the feeling away before turning your head towards your partner. "Steph, we're dealing with someone that can manipulate emotions, be careful."

Your eyes widen as you take in your partner, the door is opening behind her and you can see another figure stepping through it wielding a shotgun. "Behind!"

Stephanie's instincts are well honed, the second your eyes widen and you get the first syllable out she is moving. She ducks as the gunshot rings out, pellets of buckshot impacting the floor as she moves. In a burst of movement she is behind the gunman, wrenching the gun out of their hands and throwing them across the lobby towards you.

You swing around, punching your shield forward and colliding it with the collarbone of the figure as they sail towards you. It halts their momentum, a brief pause in the air that you use to swing your other elbow around to clock them in the side. They go tumbling, armor and helmet clattering against the tile floor to rest against one of the feathers.

"DYLAN! SIX O' CLOCK!"

You jerk back around, raising your shield just in time as multiple rounds impact your shield. Yet another gunman has come out of the front left door, a submachine gun in their hands as they let loose a burst. Your wrist collides with your chest, there isn't enough heft to the shield to make the recoil from the rounds manageable. It is a mercy he fired in a burst, as if he kept firing you would most likely have some fresh new ventilation systems installed in your chest. You start to press forward, but before you can you hear a primal bellow.

Chloe is above the gunman, you aren't sure how as she wasn't there a second ago. Her muscle mass has nearly doubled, her previously lithe form lined now with muscles and her fingers are tipped with long vicious looking claws. Her eyes are also glowing red and her mouth of frothing, and you get one beautiful moment of the gunman looking up before he lets out a scream of terror as Drop Bear descends on him.

The submachine gun goes flying, cut into more pieces than it probably was manufactured from. The armor goes a moment later, falling off in chunks as her claws tear across it. Her legs are wrapped tight around the man's neck, and you watch in mute fascination as he struggles to pull them away from his throat, before, with a clatter, he falls to the ground unconscious due to them choking him asleep.

Chloe stands above him, hunched over and panting. Then with a terrifyingly deep bellow she charges into the offices and out of sight.

"... Oh dear."

Without another word you chase after her, your partner following just behind you once more. The offices are small glass cubes with simple desks, designed in such a way that you can feel somewhat fancy while your manager watches every move. There are more people here, all curled up like the people in the lobby. Your feet crunch against the carpet as you run, a sign up ahead points to the vault up around the corner, and if you have to guess…

You turn the corner, and find yourself nearly running into a pair of legs sticking out of the drywall. A groaning man is more than halfway into it, his legs hanging limp from the wall. Just above him embedded near his head is the better half of a shotgun, the metal stock bent nearly in half from whatever hit him. Your eyes move past him to see the bank open up a bit past the offices to reveal a large metal door. It currently stands partially open, revealing carts inside filled with money and bars of gold bullion. Just in front of it is a woman with jet black hair, she's fairly young, probably in her late twenties, and given her pale motif and the fact she is wearing a long back dressed covered in feathers, you would presume she is your troublemaker. Her eyes, tracked with tears, are however not looking at you. Instead she is looking above her as Chloe falls with a snarl.

Her 'dress' unfolds into a pair of wings, giving her the extra boost to dive out of the way as Chloe falls to the floor, the carpet exploding outwards from the force of the hit. The villainess rears back, then lets forth a deafening shriek. Chloe tumbles back, growling and clutching her ears. The villainess takes it as an opportunity and sprints away, out of your view with a bag held over her shoulder.

Chloe recovers quickly, her eyes flash, and she completely disappears from view without any sign she was there at all.

You only get a moment to ponder this though before the vault opens the rest of the way, a man stepping out hauling his own large bag. He's dressed in what you would recognize as a chemical protection suit without the hood. Instead his head is partially covered by a plexiglass screen that starts at his chin and ends just above his mouth, the glass colored orange and contrasting rather oddly with his dark skin. The man himself is bald, and he stares off at what you imagine are the running forms of Chloe and the villainess before he notices you.

"Well good morning heroes!" the man says, grinning from ear to ear as he unclips the glass mask. With a retching sound the man spits towards you, a glowing green glob hurtling through the air. You raise your shield and it hits the metal, a loud hiss filling the air as it starts to eat through the material. Your eyes widen, then you move. With a shake of your wrist the shield collapses back into the bracelet, the acid splashing onto the floor instead as you charge forward.

You feel a hand press into your back and you duck down, one hand grabbing your partners as you focus on the buffing half of your quirk. The soft hand turns to fur quickly, and the next moment you have a werewolf flying overhead towards the new villain, a howl piercing the air as she is in front of him before he can react.

You aren't far behind, Stephanie's now wulfen legs swing around to hit the man in the back, forcing a grunt out of him and causing him to stumble forwards. You slide on your knees, redeploying your shield and slamming it upwards into his stomach. Acid belches out of his mouth to pour onto the shield, a hiss escaping you as small drops hit your bare flesh and burns the skin.

"DOOMWULF SAYS NO!"

With the sound of shattering glass Stephanie rams her fist into the mask around his chin. It shatters instantly, and her blow moves the rest of the way to connect with his jaw. The sound of breaking teeth sounds out, followed by the distinct sound of a breaking jaw bone. The man flies upwards, his head colliding with the ceiling before he falls back to the ground very unconscious and bleeding.

You stare down at him, one hand moving over your wrist to fix the burn as the other performs a cursory medical examination. Repair the concussion just enough to avoid any complications, push him to his side so his blood and shattered teeth stay out of his throat, and move his arm under his head so he doesn't get a neck cramp "He'll be feeling that in the morning, and the next seventeen mornings after that, but he'll live. Lets go after Chloe."

Your partner faces the hallway Chloe and the villainess ran down, her nose twitching and the fur on her face moving slightly in the rather strong airconditioning of the building. "Lets." She says simply.

Sprinting you both run together, your partner well outpacing you now as you make your way back to the main room of the bank. Stephanie bursts through the door, her form turning back to normal just as she crosses the threshold… and stops. You catch up a good two seconds later to see what has gotten her attention, bars of gold litter the floor along with smaller stacks of cash, the ruined remains of a bag spread out all over the place.

There is a fresh hole in the ceiling, through which you can see the retreating form of the villainess, wings flapping away as she disappears off into the distance. A police helicopter is chasing her, but for now you at least don't have any way to catch up to her. Your gaze falls back down to see Chloe still frothing at the mouth and staring up at the ceiling, then, all at once her shoulders slump and her eyes lose their reddish glow. The woman looks around a moment, seemingly curious, before with a shrug and a yawn she pops a eucalyptus leaf into her mouth and starts chewing.

"I…"

"Ah have no idea, check on the hostages?"

"... Right."

---

"You two the new transfers from America?"

You blink and look up from where you were working on a 'patient'. The man is currently laying back on a stretcher asleep. Like the rest he is remarkably uninjured, but it doesn't hurt to check in any case. A man is standing on the other side, you were apparently so mono focused on your work you didn't notice his arrival.

He's tall, probably a good eight feet and built to match. You'd find him intimidating if not for the friendly and warm smile on his face. "Me and the missus yes." You reply. "Take it you're from the Hero Association?"

The man grin and nods. "'Fraid we arrived a bit too late to help, good work. I'm Density."

"... Gauze, 'we'?"

Density gestures behind him to point out an asian girl with long black hair tapping on a smartphone. While Density is dressed in spandex… She is in little more than baggy jeans and a shirt. Headphones rest around her neck, and as she glances up to see you looking at her she calmly raises them over her ears and returns to her phone, making her intent to ignore you and the world rather clear.

You smile slightly, then turn back to Density. "Fair enough."

Density as you said is rather built, with the spandex doing rather little to hide the muscle mass underneath it. But the smile on his rather square face is friendly, his slicked back blonde hair giving him a rather… 'surfer dude' image. Well, he could probably surf on his pecs, but the image sticks.

"Heeeeeeey~ You two coming? Getting sleepy."

You turn your head to see Chloe waving from you from the van, and you give an apologetic look to Density before you head over with your partner in tow. You catch a brief look of apology given in return by the man, but you file that away for later as you slide into the backseat once more.

Your partner is grinning ear to ear, mostly due to the fact that for the past few minutes while you were working on patients she was lapping up the praise the police were giving her. Fluffy couldn't be happier, the tail currently slapping against the middle seat a clear as sign as any. On your end you just want to relax, see where you are staying, and figure out why Chloe's head is in your lap again.

You stare down at the koala themed heroine as the car starts to move again. "... Hello."

"Sup mate. You two doing okay?"

"Ah think so yeah, what was that about back at the bank?"

Chloe blinks, her hands move to rest under her cheek as she gets comfortable. "What was what?"

Stephanie raises her hands and extends her claws, the gloves still laying on her lap from where she never bothered to put them back on. Your fiance then bares her fangs, making as deep a growling sound as she can. It's still nothing like what Chloe did. "The berserker stuff."

"What?" Chloe sounds honestly confused.

You stare at her. "What do you recall about the bank?"

"Some unconscious people and eating eucalyptus, why?" Chloe's eyes drift towards you. "You did pretty good taking out all those gunmen on the second floor."

You look over at your partner for help, and in the kind, caring, manner you've grown to know over the years… she shrugs.

"... No reason." You reply, turning to look out the window instead.

---

The drive towards the Hero Tower is thankfully sedate, and now as you approach you finally get a look at the thing at the ground level. Chloe stops at a security checkpoint as you look up at it, the thing must be at least thirty stories, and is made of a stark white stone that causes all the light from the sun to reflect rather beautifully off of it onto the lake surrounding it. This, in turn, causes a feedback loop. The light bouncing off of the water causes rippling lights to play across the surface of the tower creating something honestly rather beautiful.

Blue tinted windows are in each cardinal face you can see, and they go all the way to the top where the tower rounds out to an almost UFO shape, a large round disk with a balcony running around it.

"Well, it ain't in a giant bubble, so points for that." Stephanie mutters.

"It let us have privacy. Mostly. Sometimes." You reply.

Stephanie snickers but says nothing more as Chloe drives through a security checkpoint to park in a spot out front, and in due course you are following her inside the building proper.

The doors open automatically as you approach, blasting you with a welcome wave of air conditioning as you transition from the hot but manageable Australian summer to the cool interior of Australian's Hero Headquarters. It's as white on the inside as it is outside for starters. A large… well, lobby wouldn't be accurate. Auditorium makes up the bottom floor here. A large pillar stands in the center surrounded by a small garden. Running water features pour down from the tower to collect into bowls that then run water in shallow troughs throughout the complex. While the walls are decorated in flowers and hanging vines. It rather reminds you of the school's conservatory, if quite a bit bigger.

Given the fact that foreign dignitaries and, well, heroes come here. It makes sense they are trying to be impressive. Wide gilded paths lead to small bridges that walk over the streams, each decorated by a flagpole waving the Australian and New Zealand flag respectively. In between them, and just before the garden, are several large computer terminals. Flat boxy silver things with slightly slanted tops so that one can merely walk over and tap on an option without having to lean over or sit down.

Chloe walks up to one without a word, hangs swinging at her side as she skips on the pathway to it. Several heroes are about, or at least, people you assume to be heroes going by the outfits. But given the fact you never paid much attention to hero society to begin with you recognize precisely none of them. That, and they seem wholly focused amongst themselves anyway.

With a soft beep Chloe taps the display, this is then followed by several more as she lets out a quiet hum. "Right, you two are on the top floor dormitory. You want two separate rooms or one big one?"

"Ah think we'll be takin' the big one," Stephanie replies immediately.

You look to your partner and smirk, a smirk that only grows when she sticks her tongue out at you petulantly.

Chloe nods and makes some taps. With a little musical tone a slit on the front of the machine opens and a pair of small cards come out. She then walks back to hand one to each of you. "Right, top floor, can't miss it. Enjoy your stay in Australia. I'm gonna go take a bit of a nap, right?"

Then without waiting for either of you to confirm that she wanders off to a couch sitting next to the garden.

…

"Admittedly not the most dedicated guide in the world." You say quietly as Chloe lays down on the couch.

"Ah don't think there is anybody in the top twenty five that ain't a little odd." Stephanie replies.

"Midoriya isn't weird, just incredibly awkward. And obsessive... And weird."

Stephanie chuckles then walks past you towards the elevator. The whole building is circular, and you find yourself quickly standing on the other side of the garden and are now facing a series of statues with the elevator behind you. They are all in white marble, apparently attempting to invoke the false idea of ancient Greece. What they depict… you honestly couldn't say, there is only one you recognize. That being Digger, Australia's most famous hero fighting a rather large Koala themed villain in a deathmatch that apparently decided the course of the war between West and East Australia if you recall correctly.

"Tacky." Stephanie comments. Not unfairly: battling champions of a war or not, it's a marble statue of a grown man fighting another grown man in a koala suit.

You smile as the elevator arrives behind you both. "We lived next to Stone Mountain, I don't think either of us can judge."

"Ah can judge whatever ah like, now lets see what those rooms look like."

You step inside the elevator, unlike normal this one is actually circular, with a large window in the back giving you a view into the shaft that it resides in.

'Please insert card', a female voice states as a slot on the wall opens up below a little digital map of the tower.

Stephanie tilts her head, then sticks her card into the slot. At once the digital display shifts to other options.

1. Personal Quarters
2. Gym
3. Auditorium
4. Research Labs
5. Grocery
6. Parking

Stephanie studies the options a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Personal quarters, ah guess?" Her finger moves to tap the button, and with a hiss the doors to the elevator slide shut and the capsule begins to rise. The view of the shaft is quickly removed to display the city of Sydney through the window. The almost midday sun is lighting up every skyscraper and building beautifully. The bay is behind you at the moment, so you sadly don't have a view of the ocean or the opera house, but the city itself is frankly breathtaking enough as it is.

Stephanie stares out over it as well, transfixed, before with another hiss the Elevator comes to a stop just before the balcony. It then starts to move… to the right, giving you a slowly turning view of the city proper and the bay before stopping once again with a soft chime. The door opens behind you to reveal a small short room with a door on the other end, your room number present on it.

With a clatter of wheels you both step into the room with your luggage, then Stephanie waves her card before the door's sensor. With a click it unlocks, and pushing it open it reveals…

Something rather decently sized, actually. You find yourself staring into a kitchen space, complete with slightly more appliances than you had back at the dorm when you first arrived. Stove, microwave, full dishwasher and even a cute little freezer are in a space just ahead, separated from the rest of the room by a long island. Case Point to be made, to the right of the kitchen is a living area, complete with a simple single couch and a television mounted on the far wall. A door is just behind it that leads out to the balcony.

Beyond that room is a quartet of doors, all open. The one further back leads to a bedroom, while the other leads to a bathroom, toilet, and laundry room respectively. "Oh, ah could use a real bed right now."

"Tired from punching villains?"

Stephanie chuckles and moves her back over to rest against the kitchen island. "Ah was thinkin' more the flight, but that didn't help none either. Gotta say besides the appliances it's rather spartan though."

You move to set your luggage besides her then lean back against the island. "First off you're spoiled: I decorated and kept adding things to the dorm, and your gaming figurines spilled out of your room. Secondly this is for people coming to visit briefly I'd imagine, it isn't meant for any long term stays unless a pro hero doesn't have a house… or is really obsessed with their job."

Stephanie doesn't reply to that, instead she glances around the room a bit longer before she wanders over to the bedroom and glances inside. "Well ah'll be damned, they gave us a king-sized bed."

"They probably have to, what with how varying in size quirks can make people. You should have seen how customized Nora and Kros's bedrooms were."

"Ah yes, yer many adventures in their sleeping quarters, how could ah forget." She jumps back onto the bed, flopping down, then up a bit, then back down into its' comfortable-looking embrace.

You snort then walk over to place your hand on her shoulder. "Now despite her teaching me many fancy Russian words nothing ever went beyond that and you know it, besides, it kept me from yelling at you to clean every Saturday."

Stephanie blinks, then places one hand on her chin as she looks towards the ceiling. "True, should probably get them a card for that or somethin'." She shakes her head then, smirking all the while. "But seriously, whatcha thinkin' to do next?"

You let out a breath. "Weeeell, we could explore the tower I suppose, or explore Syndey."

Stephanie nods. "Both sound good, but ah kinda want to use you to test the springs on the bed."

…

"We can decide where we want to go afterwards."

---

You let out a sigh as you stretch on the bed, feeling remarkably more fatigued now than when you were done fighting the villains. Your fiance is cuddled against your side, smiling from ear to ear and naked as a jaybird as she pats her hand on your chest. Her eyes are fixated on the ring as her tail wags slowly behind her.

Her eyes flit up to you a moment, the smile growing as your eyes meet. "How ya feelin'?"

"Like I have a broken pelvis, you?"

Stephanie snickers, one arm of hers snakes around to your other side as she pushes herself up so that she is hovering above you. This has two effects, one it means that you don't have to tilt your head quite so hard to see her face. Secondly it means you have an absolutely lovely view. "Ah was thinkin'."

"About?"

"What you said earlier about kids."

You quirk a brow but say nothing further.

Stephanie blushes, looking away briefly… something rather amusing honestly since this is what embarasses her, not the fact that her dangly bits are currently tickling your chest. "Ah… wouldn't be against the idea myself, ah know it'd be a big whole thing and may cause a pause to my hero work for a bit, but ah figured once we figure out housing and plan out a date for the wedding we could talk more about it. What do ya thi-"

A chime sounds overhead. "Dylan Evans, Stephanie Clarkson, please report to the auditorium for debriefing."

The voice this time isn't a computer, it is instead that is a rather young sounding man. You and Stephanie glance at each other, before you lift yourself up to kiss her on the lips and reach for your clothes. What she was discussing briefly plays through your head before you instead think about the rest of your day.

---

 

[Erien]

[x] Explore the tower.

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

"So I was thinking." You say as you pull a new shirt over your head.

"Oh, that's dangerous." Stephanie remarks, turning towards you with a grin as she affixes her bra back on. "What about?"

You stare a moment, appreciating before you continue. "I was thinking we could explore the tower before we worry about Sydney. It's a big town but we'll be living here for some time yet. Would be good if we see what is around."

"Ah've heard good things about the amenities here."

You clip your bracelet back onto your wrist and then summon it, looking at the new melted hole in the center with a frown as you speak. "Oh?"

Stephanie lets out a whistle. "Dang, that guy did ah number on that thing huh?"

"Seemingly, I'm sure they have a workshop or something for me to get it fixed up, but back to the topic at hand, what have you heard?"

Stephanie lets out a hum, and now that your bracelet is back on you walk over to help her get her hair back into place. "Full brushing?" you ask.

Your fiance shakes her head. "Don't think we have the time, just get it in order."

You smile and pull out the brush and get to work getting her hair in order again, Stephanie letting out another hum, this time far more pleased before she starts to speak once more. "Since it takes in so many foreign heroes it has all the amenities, gym, research, relaxation, even a pool supposedly."

You arch a brow. "Don't think the pool is entirely necessary in the country that claims to have the most beautiful beaches in the world."

Stephanie shrugs her shoulders, then leans back against your chest as the brush runs through her hair. "Ah suppose it is for exercise, that and the ability to enjoy ah swim without worryin' 'bout paparazzi an' stuff."

"Fair I suppose, I figured we were going to the beach tomorrow in any case. Being January we still have another month of the summer here at least."

Stephanie snorts, then leans her head forward so you can get to the strands running down her back. "That'll take gettin' used to."

"We grew up in the South's equivalent of Vietnam, I don't think we can judge odd seasons." The brush runs across her hair for a few more moments before she steps forward again and turns around, a wide smile on her face.

"Ah suppose, though frankly ah was lookin' forward to ah rather interesting beach ah found during research."

You tilt your head slightly. "Which would that be? The city has several dozen."

Stephanie gains a familiar dangerous grin. "Cobblers Beach." Her hands move from her sides to rest on her now clothed chest. Her smile grows even more, tail wagging behind her as she waggles her eyebrows at me in a rather saucy fashion. "Nude beach."

You pause, head turning towards the window briefly as you think about what she said. "... I'm perfectly okay with this. But for now we should probably see what they wanted us for."

Stephanie laughs then wraps her arm around your own, less walking more dragging you towards the door.

---

They were apparently waiting for you, at least, that's what you surmise by the fact that once you step out of the elevator there are a good eight people staring at you. They stand around the statues, their heads turning towards you both as the doors to the elevator open. . Four at least are familiar, the rest are unknown but you know the types. Heroes.

The closest on the far left is Chloe, or Drop Bear. The woman has transitioned from her koala outfit to a pair of overalls on top of a white shirt, she's smiling dopily while laying back against one of the statues, a leaf in her mouth that she is chewing lazily before offering the two of you a wave.

To her immediate right is Density, the man just as big without his hero uniform. Kevin became rather bulky, but even Kevin would have difficulty matching just how large this man is… he looks like he could eat a linebacker and still have room for seconds. Behind and just to his side is the asian woman, she hasn't changed her clothes at all, though given the fact that what she was wearing could hardly be considered a 'uniform' that doesn't particularly surprise you. It doesn't surprise you that she is still wholly focused on her phone either.

In the center, with three other heroes framing him you don't recognize is Digger, Australia's formerly greatest (retired) hero. He's wearing a pair of shorts that show the signs of a man used to working rather hard, the shirt is the same, a beige piece that has more than one hole and a smattering of dirt smudging it. Oddly enough however it works, his face, older and wizened, sits beneath a slouch-hat that has clearly seen better days, and if you didn't know any better you would assume he was the wise old groundskeeper that tells the kids in the movie about the true meaning of friendship.

He could also bury this building with a wave of his hand, but heroes do tend to that dichotomy from time to time.

A loud laugh booms out, and you turn your head to see that it is Density laughing so hard. His dirty blond hair shines in the artificial light of the room, and once he stops he lowers his head to look at you and your fiance with a wide smile. "Hello again mates, you've been in the country for half a day and you've already fought a villain and gotten settled, American expediency!"

Stephanie chuckles lightly, and you don't need to look back at her to tell she is equal parts nervous and embarrassed. Despite her… love of attention, your fiance still tends to get rather awkward when people are focused on her outside of her Doomwulf persona. "We were in the area, it was Chloe who got us there." The wagging of her tail however, reveals she still does enjoy the attention.

A light cough sounds to Density's right, and all heads turn to look at Digger as he doffs his hat. "Well, let me be one of many to welcome ya to 'Stralia. While I ain't an active hero no more, I'm still the director of the organization by honor. An' ya can come to me for whatever ya need these next two years. Course more spry fellas would be able to help ya with anythin' major, and I make it a point not to move a couch."

You smile slightly and nod, thankfully you didn't bring any furniture. But you will have to start shopping for it fairly soon unless you plan on camping in the tower permanently.

Digger continues. "Now ya've already met Density, the little one 'sides him is Wuchang Gui, or however ya pronounce that anyways."

The now named heroine doesn't respond, instead she taps away on her phone before a loud chime sounds from yours and Stephanie's pockets. Blinking you reach down and pull out the phone to reveal a text message from an unknown sender. Distinct from the usual green bubble of a text message, this one is in a blue frame surrounded by black and white… flowers.

'Sup \o.'

You blink again, then tap out a response. Only for your phone to state 'contact unavailable' the moment you hit send. You glance up to see her still staring at her phone, and Digger continues on to introduce the rest. "Now just to the right of 'er is Zombie."

Digger gestures to a rather older looking woman… with her face sloughing off slightly. Her skin is grey and green, with holes in it underneath to reveal muscle and wounds. In a very odd contrast to this is the rather nice suit she is wearin, and the bright and vibrant green hair and warm (if cracked) smile on her face. "Heeeeeeeeeeeey." The woman groans out.

… "Hello."

"Then we have slimey." Digger continues, gesturing to his left. It's… a vaguely humanoid thing. Maybe about four feet tall and entirely green, it's an undulating mass of slime. A rough humanoid shape, with a flat hoof-like appendage instead of feet. It's… like jello, living jello. As you stare the 'face' of it shifts, instead of just a blank green nothingness it swirls before forming a glowing neon-green smiley face. "Hi!" The voice is light, bright, cheerful, and wholly agender. Somehow fitting you suppose.

You raise your hand in a wave as the face disappears again, Digger continuing on to the last two. He gestures to a younger woman, probably about eighteen with a perfectly serene expression on her face. She's asian, that much is obvious, though of what nationality you couldn't precisely say. "This here is Reflex." Digger explains.

She's wearing an entirely black ensemble, and for a long few seconds nobody says anything until she nods towards you, her hands moving to slightly adjust the black leather jacket she is wearing. Black slacks, black jacket, black undershirt, black hair. About the only thing about her that isn't black are her eyes, of which they are both bright white without pupils and about double the size of normal human eyes. Her face isn't adjusted to match, giving her a rather odd look… but in a society built around mutations it isn't anything to really pay attention to either.

Digger then gestures to the last one, a man. He is also dressed in a suit like Zombie's was, though his is far more loose. He is also the only one here with a darker complexion, but not enough to be indigenous either, though you know from your studies Aborigines can be fairly light-skinned as well. HE has more of an… island tan. "This here's Raven." Digger explains.

The man grunts. He's going for the old 'modern detective' look you'd imagine, what with the open black suit jacket and the white shirt underneath. His hair is dark blue and messy, strands of it hanging over his face in uneven clumps. His beard is the same; uneven and untrimmed in odd places, giving him the appearance of a rather well-dressed homeless man to be honest. He also seems to not particularly care about what is going on either.

"Course." Digger continues. "This here's just the heroes we have onsite at the moment, but I thought it'd be good to give you a welcoming party." Digger then smiles wide, the wrinkles on his face becoming more pronounced as he does so. "Now I said you can come to me for anything, and for the most part that's true. But if something actually needs to get done I'd suggest talkin' to my mate Density. I've got him in training as the next director in a few years."

Density blushes slightly at that, his giant hand coming up to scratch at his cheek as he stands there awkwardly. "Yaaaaaa, well, you two are free to access any of the tower's facilities as ya like. Well, 'cept for the lab at the moment, we're still getting you access to that, state security and all that."

You nod, not that much different than the campus. Even after four years there were still some places you weren't allowed in, though in that case it was mostly due to the fact that the ASH tended to also function as a hero headquarters from time to time.

"But that'll get sorted soon enough!" Density assures you, having continued on while you were thinking. "I won't bother you with any more boring stuff, welcome aboard!"

A cheer sounds from him, Digger and Zombie. Slime gurgles happily and Reflex claps. Raven and Wuchang Gui do nothing besides tap on their phone or stare at you.

Still, you smile, it's nice to feel welcome. You still don't consider yourself a 'hero', merely a medic with a job to do, and frankly despite how much that bothers Stephanie from time to time that suits you just fine. Leave all the public appearances and autographs to her, you are happy just knowing someone is alive because of you. Though that also tends to get you a fanbase… something rather annoying you've discovered. Lady Luck still wants you to be a pro hero, though you aren't on speaking terms with her to say the least.

"Now we'll have some things for your line of work the day after tomorrow. Search and rescue right?" Digger asks.

You shake your head. "My specialty, but not us as a group. Stephanie is more of a general hero but we support each other."

Stephanie snickers and loops her arm around yours once more. "Yep, we're partners in every sense of the word." With that she flashes her ring towards the group.

… This is more embarrassing than the cheering somehow.

---

The first dozen or so floors are admittedly rather boring. From floors one to roughly twenty is almost entirely office spaces. Within which are everything an actual hero organization needs to function; legal, marketing, public relations and talent scouting. Something the public honestly pays precious little attention to, but is hilariously vital to anyone wanting to actually function in the business of legal heroics.

Past that there are no less than three gymnasiums, though as you inspect them you come to realize it is less due to any opulence, and more due to the fact that the different floors cater to different styles and difficulty. The lowest gym has the most practical equipment, treadmills, weights, and a running track. That form of thing. While the floor above that has several climbing towers and a course for those practicing flight based abilities.

The third is dedicated wholly to a rather gigantic pool, and it is… a rather odd one. It's circular, but that isn't anything particularly new, but what is interesting is the giant series of hamster tubes strung up from the ceiling by wires, their purpose to you is wholly a mystery until with a burst of water coming from one a young woman dives down from the ceiling into the water. She's blonde of hair, and a long serpentine tail floats along the water behind her. It's yellow with… black spots? Wait.

Before you can question that further the elevator keeps moving. "Was… that Kros?" you ask slowly.

Your partner looks at you, blinking owlishly as the elevator continues its slow trek upwards to the next series of 'attractions'. "It… looked like 'er, ah frankly didn't know her plans after graduation."

You shake your head. "Neither did I, I just know she… they wanted to continue S&R work. Could also just be a similar quirk."

Stephanie shrugs her shoulders, then goes wide eyed as the next room comes into view. It's circular, like everything else in the tower is. However unlike most it is actually built in layers, the elevator opens up to a metal balcony overlooking an amphitheater. On each level of the amphitheater are desks at which people are working, the whole room is dimly lit in blue, and against the far wall is a giant projected map of New South Wales with various icons designating heroes and their locations along with crimes in progress. "The nerve center." You murmur.

Then just like that it is gone, the elevator moving upwards once more. A loud thumping sound rings out in the elevator as your fiance's tail hits the glass repeatedly. "We have a neeeeerve center."

"Calm yourself, don't distract the bridge bunnies while they do their important work." You reply, smirking.

Stephanie pouts, then eagerly looks towards the door as they open once more.

Beyond that you had a small cafeteria and a museum, the rest of the floors were made up of permanent residences for those who work here full time and heroes allowed such things. You yourself are only here temporarily, so you only get the 'apartment'. But it's a nice apartment so you aren't even going to think about complaining.

With a final beep the elevator door opens to the space behind your apartment, that being a wide circular space filled with couches, plants, decorations and just other things that would allow a hero to unwind after a long day of dramatic face punching and pulling people out of burning buildings. It's also empty, allowing you to appreciate the absolutely gigantic blue window making up the dome that is the top of the tower. Tall trees grow around the edges and center, giving the whole space a fresh and earthy scent at odds with the pristine white of the rest of the building. The whole tower has a natural theme to it in general, in that respect it isn't honestly that different from the ASH.

Your partner brushes past you towards one of the many doors leading to the balcony. It opens automatically with a small woosh of air as she approaches it, and she goes down the walkway expecting you to follow. You do of course a few seconds later, for that is how you are trained, and you find yourself walking between the rectangular shape of two apartments before stopping at the rail overlooking the city.

It's a beautiful sight to be sure. The sun now has lowered enough that the buildings are once again painted in a glowing orange light. Below and in front of you is a small forested part, beyond which lies the Sydney Opera House on the bay. The water is glistening and blue, glinting in the afternoon sun as the scent of saltwater blows up and over you even from here. Boats sail in the waters, mostly smaller vessels here and there going underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It's tall arch obscures little of the massive buildings behind it, and as you watch a monorail train goes along its edge into the city and out of sight.

The city itself is massive, but retains a certain… tropical beauty to it, much like how Atlanta keeps its 'city in the forest' aesthetic. Tall glistening glass buildings reflect the sunlight like mirrors, causing you to turn your gaze from them towards the tall tower in the center: Sydney tower, for Australians are an inventive lot when it comes to naming things. It's spire is just a mite taller than the tower you are on currently, and you smile as you take it all in. "Hell of a view." You remark.

"Hard to believe we were just stepping into that VR room basically four years ago." Stephanie murmurs. "Helluva lot since then."

"Quite, though I think we've done rather well for ourselves. Of course now we need to worry about a house, and bills… and many other things."

Stephanie snickers, her head turning towards you. Her eyes meet for a moment before they dart away awkwardly, her tail falling to the floor limply as she does so. "Have ya thought about what kinda house ya want?"

You shrug. "Nothing particularly fancy, just enough for the two of us. We'll need to see what is being offered to us as far as budget goes, we may only be able to get a trailer home."

Stephanie doesn't say anything for a good few minutes. "Ah was… hoping for a place with two bedrooms."

You smile. "Well either I've lost bed privileges or this is about what you wanted to bring up earlier, regarding kids." You let out a breath, turning your gaze back to the city. Your hand moves out to grab her own as you do so, your fingers rubbing against her ring as she grips your hand rather weakly. "We only just got engaged… so I'm rather surprised how ready you are for the idea, it would be a big change."

Stephanie turns her head to look at your entwined fingers… then slowly separates then and looks away once more. Her hand rubs at her arm a moment, her gaze down to the park below you both before she returns her gaze to you. "There… may not be much choice in the matter."

"... Steph?"

Her eyes flicker up to you before she looks towards the ground again, she looks about ready to bolt at any moment. "You… remember when ah was all excited when we passed the final and we celebrated together?"

You feel your heart skip beat, and you feel the metal of the rail slightly denting in your grip as you process what she is saying. "Are you saying you are…?"

Stephanie nods ever so slightly, "ah… ah was nervous you would think it was too soon, or that it would suck for our careers. Ah would be sidelined for a bit and you only just started your career and you are always so serious about this stuff and I'm rambling…" Stephanie bites her lip then looks away once more, leaving you to process everything she has told you in the past thirty seconds.

---

[] [You hid this from me?]

[] [I'm… going to be a dad?]

---



[X] [I'm… going to be a dad?]
-[X] You're pregnant? We're gonna be parents? This is great! Definitely need two bedrooms, oh and a crib, where are we gonna get a crib, and a place with a good preschool, and.. I wonder if the tower has child services.

Thanks to Armoury for the beta!

---

"I'm… going to be a dad?" you say quietly. It is phrased like a question but you aren't that particularly dumb. While you do admittedly miss social cues like a new resident misses a vein during a blood test, you aren't so lacking that you don't get precisely what she is saying. Still, there is shock to it, and you watch as your girlfriend turned fiance nods slowly.

You smile, it's a big dumb goofy thing. The hand that was holding hers limply falls to your side as you process that. "We're going to be parents?"

Stephanie nods again, this time a touch more eagerly.

Your legs turn to jelly as you slump to the ground, one hand moving to run through your hair as the other nervously taps on the balcony beside you. "Oh… we're going to need two bedrooms, and a crib. Preschool too if we are going to be doing this locally, does the tower do child services? I didn't check… we're going to need to get married."

Your vision is taken up by your partner kneeling down in front of you, the same dumb smile on her face as well as her tail wags behind her in equal parts joy and relief. "Thought we were already gettin' married?"

Your eyes drift from her face to the ring on her hand. "... Right. What did I do to deserve you exactly?"

Stephanie's hands move to cup your cheeks, her palms pressing together to give you a rather remarkable impression of a fish for a moment before she lets go. "Yer doin' that thing where ya think so hard smoke comes outta yer ears."

You draw in a deep breath then let it out. "Right, sorry, minor surprise. How long have you known exactly?"

Stephanie moves to sit down besides you, her shoulder bumping your own as you both look up at the glass dome that makes up the top of Australia's Hero Association. "'Bout a week."

"And… do you know how many?"

You hear a shuffle of fabric, and you turn your head to see Stephanie has pulled up her shirt to reveal her navel, her hand tenderly touches her stomach, idly tracing small circles as she speaks once more. "Ain't had a look yet, or spoken to a doctor about it. Ah just know the test said ah was pregnant."

You slowly move your hand to cover your own, your hand still trembling slightly as you press them against her stomach despite yourself. "I'm… a doctor but I'm afraid I don't have x-ray vision. I have no way of knowing myself but… you have dog biology."

Stephanie's head turns up to smirk at you, her lips part a moment before a small laugh escapes her lips, the sound rich and quite soothing all things considered. "Despite what my parents look like ah'm an only child, and my mom only had two sisters."

You nod slowly, still staring at your hand resting on her stomach. "That's good, while you are adorable, and you- our kids will be adorable. I doubt I could handle six of them."

Her other hand moves down to sandwich your own, her digits idly running trails across the top of your knuckles. "Ah'm just happy you aren't freakin' out."

"I am, massively. I am a bundle of freak neatly held together by quickly fraying rubber bands. I didn't expect this." You turn your head upwards to look Stephanie directly in the eyes. With one quick movement you push your head forward to peck her lips with your own, then pull back with what you hope is a smile that even slightly shows how much you love her. "But I can't quite describe how happy I am either. As long as the mighty Doomwulf isn't scared, I won't be."

With that you stand up, your grip on her hand allowing you to pull her up as well. Stephanie stares into your eyes for a few moments once she is fully risen, her tail wagging slowly behind her as faint drops of moisture make themselves known in the corner of her eyes. She slowly turns to look out over the city, her shoulder shaking slightly as a hiccup escapes her lips.

The city is beautiful, a quickly forming sunset casting brilliant lights over a glassy and pristine cityscape. It's far more pretty than Atlanta is, and it has a natural serenity to it that you can get lost in.

But you ignore it, because as you stare at the wide smile of your future-wife's face… there isn't anything more beautiful in the world.



---

Your eyes open with no need for an alarm. One day of jet-lag does not overpower four years of waking up at precisely the same time. You blink, your head turning to your clock to see it read the time as five-thirty in the morning.

One learned rather quickly to wake up early if he was to feed the mighty Doomwulf, that, and you liked to use the shower before she had to tackle the beast that was her hair. Your turn your head the other way around to see your partner snuggled into the covers on the other side of the bed, the very faint light coming through the curtains enough to illuminate her sleeping face in the darkness. She is clothed, as are you. Despite how… healthy your relationship is in that regard, neither of you saw fit to do anything but talk for several long hours afterwards.

Of nothing particularly drastic of course, but that is something you've always valued about your relationship. At the end of the day you can stop being Gauze and she can stop being Doomwulf, instead you can be Dylan Evans and Stephanie Clarkson, two 'normal' people that just enjoy their lives with one another.

Or perhaps that is Stephanie Evans? … Or Dylan Clarkson. It's something you haven't put much thought into to be honest, back in your grandparents time it was still rather normal for the wife to give up her maiden name, nowadays it's a bit more of a crapshoot. A lot of old norms like that went away over the years apparently, odd things tend to happen when people gain the ability to juggle cars.

You slide out of the bed, the carpeted floor muffling your footsteps as you make your way over to the kitchen. You haven't fully unpacked yet since you arrived, though admittedly you didn't bring much in the way of foodstuff either besides idle snacks. Instead the tower has provided for… damn near everything you asked for. You supposedly have a budget, but you have yet to find out precisely how much that is or who you would even speak to to find out. Though given the fact that some people use their budget to pay for rocket launchers and jetfuel you doubt a loaf of bread is really going to put you in the red.

You still do have to report to the embassy to actually get your pay and government assisted housing setup come to think of it. But that can at least wait a little bit. You tap the display on the front of the stove and wait for it to heat, in the meantime you idly pull out your phone to see… a rather large amount of messages you didn't pay attention to yesterday due to the rather distracting evening.

Most are admittedly junk, with at least one offering muscles like All-Might for just six easy payments of seventeen-ninety-nine. This seems to ignore the fact that the man has been retired for several years and is a twig. Perhaps the most muscular twig you've ever seen, but he hasn't bulked back up, even after he got his internal organs back. Despite revealing that it seems the public consciousness seems to want to wholly focus on the 'glory days' as it were.

What you do have are four new text messages. One is a message from your mother asking how you are enjoying Australia so far. You look up, idly doing math in your head. It is… five here, so it is three in the afternoon over there. You tap out a reply along with the 'news' from Stephanie, then go through the rest of your messages.

One is from Izuku, the fourth greatest hero in the world is asking about Australia in his usual overly-worded fashion. He, despite his popularity, has taken a marked interest in your career up to this point. The boy hero-worships to a fault, and the fact that you healed his personal hero made you in his eyes something if not equal than near to that. He has yet to devolve to a fanboy, but he has rather frequently messaged you for advice and to just check up on you.

A cute kid, though one who despite his popularity has yet to actually still grow up fully in your eyes. Still, a lot less nervous than he used to be.

You scroll down on the message he sent you to reveal a picture of him and the frog-themed hero he has sent you messages time and time again about. They are cheek to cheek at a waterpark of some kind, she is smiling, with the far-too-wide mouth of someone with an animalistic mutation present. He meanwhile is blushing and looking horrifically awkward. So normal Izuku honestly.

You tap out a reply then move onto the next message. It's from… Kros. She's also asking how you are enjoying yourself. Though in her case it seems like she doesn't actually know where you ended up. The message is also excessively formal, but that tends to be the result of someone learning English as a second language you tend to find. This one as well had a picture, and a glance at the symbol next to the next message tells you they all do.

Your fingers dance along the keys as you tell her your location, then you take a look at the image… and nearly drop the phone. It's her and Nora both at the beach, both grew quite a bit since you met them all those years ago. Nora actually managed to get about a foot taller, and her previously blue hair has taken on a bit more of a white pigment… through dyeing you assume. It's also been lengthened a bit, the previously neck-length hair is now going well down to her shoulders.

Kros is the opposite in that regard, her previously rather long hair has been shortened into a bob, though it, unlike Nora's, still has its natural color. They are also both in swimsuits, well, as much of a swimsuit as Kros can manage in any case. Her anatomy makes such a thing rather difficult, as does Nora. But they, like most with mutations, manage.

They are of course both rather pretty women, but that isn't what surprised you. No it's the fact that visible in the distance is the fucking Opera House. A small smile worms its way onto your lips as you realize you've accidentally ended up in the same deployment area as two of your best friends from school.

Still smiling you open the last image, and instead of text you are bombarded with an image immediately.



It's Alva's new form, one that has been in the works for quite some time now. It's a promo image for the school itself, Aja's flowers framing her as she stands proudly on a postcard that will no doubt be used to advertise the college and by extension the R&D department. Long purple hair runs down to her hips, and her previously white and bulky 'armor' has been replaced by a far sleeker black ensemble. A red 'scarf' is attached to the gorgot around her neck, it wraps around her entire body and is emblazoned with the logo of the school. It's a good pose, and she looks far more human than she did before.

Though admittedly you can still see joint lines all over her, advanced science can only get one so far. Supposedly she is working on another model along with Embla, an entire new frame and mind to make a third 'sister'. Though you yourself had little knowledge of it due to the fact that robotics is hilariously not your specialty, you did get more than one sneak preview as of the yet non-functional 'Risa'.

In any case Alva is asking you what you think of the new promo piece. It's admittedly rather… odd to have to judge a piece that depicts your robotic little sister as eye-candy, but you are a doctor, you deal with the weird and uncomfortable on a daily basis.

'Looks good, you back to doing Hero work soon?'

Your phone beeps within two seconds of you sending that message. 'Indeed Hero Dylan! I am looking forward to future tasks with much in the way of eagerness.'

You smile slightly then tap out a reply. 'Alva, I know you have a supercomputer for a brain but we talked about response time to messages, if you get too eager I'll never get the chance to process the conversation.'

'...'

'...'

A little 'typing' prompt appears on her end, though you know she is doing nothing of the sort.

'My apologies Hero Dylan, are things well in Australia?'

You glance up to see your partner slowly awakening due to the smell of breakfast. 'Indeed. The missus is awake so I shall talk to you later.'

"Ah smell eggs 'n' bacon." Stephanie says, the lethargic throw-rug that is your girlfriend-fiance slowly raising her arms above her head as a mighty yawn escapes her mouth.

You chuckle. "I'm trying out an Australian recipe, come on over."

Stephanie turns her head to look at you, one hand fighting a losing battle to keep the hair out of her eyes as she does so. "Ain't gonna bring it to me? I'm pregnant."

You arch a brow. "You aren't showing, and you can certainly borrow my cane if you need to."

Stephanie grunts and steps off of the bed. You lose sight of her a moment as she disappears into the rest of the bedroom, but she comes out a few moments later holding a small bag containing her toiletries. She walks up to the island that separates the kitchen from the rest of the apartment and leans over it, her eyes going over the prepared food with curiosity.

"Eggs and bacon, along with grilled tomatoes and toast. They are as English as we are, some things are rather universal."

Stephanie smiles slightly and reaches down for a piece of toast, and you don't bother to hide the smirk on your lips as she moves the bread to her mouth. A thin black spread of 'jam' is layered over top of it, and she sleepily opens her mouth to take a bite… only to go rigid and pull it away from her mouth a split-second later.

Her eyes open wide as she sticks her tongue out in obvious disgust. "The hell? Ya cover that think in steak sauce?"

"That would be vegemite."

Stephanie looks down at the bread in clear suspicion. "It tastes like death."

"It's what makes Australian's such a hardy people I believe, that stuff serves to grant them increased bone density and, in extreme cases, flight."

Stephanie glares at you a moment before reaching down for the plate of bacon and cup of coffee. "This crap's normal right?"

You nod as you reach for the discarded toast and start to eat it yourself. It tastes… different, but nowhere near bad, and no worse than some of the foods you prepared for yourself during all-night cram sessions, medical or otherwise. "Thought I'd make you a nice breakfast in our first 'home' together. After which we can get started with our day, it's still rather early so we can afford to explore the tower and meet one of the heroes here… just to introduce ourselves a bit more. Then we can go out on the town."

Stephanie turns her head back to look at the clock that is proudly proclaiming it is six AM in bright red lettering. "Man, that school's fucked our sleep schedule for the rest of our life hasn't it?"

"Quite possibly, do you have any preferences this morning? Tower-wise that is? The town won't be open for a bit, not that it… honestly ever closes, but the majority of the shops won't be open for another two hours."

Stephanie tilts her head this way and that, idly thinking as she chews on a piece of bacon. "Ah wanna see the nerve center, people wise ain't got much. 'Cept that Raven seemed to be the edgelord type."

You snicker. "A rather lacking archetype in our school come to think of it."

Stephanie swallows the rest of the bacon then takes a long drink from the coffee cup, her hand moving up to remove her brown-liquid mustache a moment later. "So what are you thinkin'?"

---

[X] Zombie
[X] Drop Bear
[X] Kros

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

"Well Kros and Nora are actually here in Australia apparently, I got a text from them this morning. So it would be nice to meet up with them if at all possible."

Stephanie quirks her head, her ears flicking on her head as she does so. "What, ya didn't know that? Their assignment was on the school bulletin like a month ago."

You pause, then shake your head. "I was not, I was rather focused on the finals, and figuring out how I wanted to propose to you, thank you very much."

Stephanie blushes slightly, a smile coming across her face. "Ah good reason ah suppose. But nah, they're here doin' search an' rescue, might be rather convenient actually considerin' your field."

"My field." You say as you pull the pan off of the stove. "Involves punching people in the face no matter what, and I'm out of work in any case until my shield gets repaired, my entire fighting style revolves around it. Still, I do look forward to helping people stranded in the ocean, or jungle, or desert… or mountain." You look up, smiling as you set some eggs on a plate and hand it to your fiance. "Jokes about the desert aside Australia has just about every biome on the planet."

"Big whoop, so do we?" Stephanie says, before digging into the eggs with gusto.

"Well not every place is America," you counter. "That and they have penguins down south."

Stephanie snickers through a mouthful of eggs, she thankfully doesn't try to speak. "You are your fascination for the little tuxedo birds."

"They are adorable and are not to be insulted, I figured you'd be going nuts over the dingo."

Your fiance shakes her head. "Nah, ain't a real wolf. Too tiny, 'sides, there ain't ever been a species of wolf this far south." Her eyes dart up as if she was viewing an invisible screen, one eye closing as she thinks. "Ain't never been a wolf this far south that ah know of. India's went extinct so basically just the golden ones in Africa left."

"I bow before your mighty knowledge of wolves, o' wolf lord."

Stephanie's eyes drift back down to meet yours as a smirk crosses her face. "Damn straight, anyone else before we head out into town?"

You nod. "Two more actually, Drop Bear and Zombie."

Stephanie's eyes widen slightly as a troubled look comes onto her face, and for a moment you worry you said something wrong. "Kros and Nora again ain't no surprise, and ah suppose Chloe is kinda cute. But Zombie? Really? Ya want to get freaky with the dead chick?" but she is just teasing you, thankfully.

"I don't, I have a beautiful, kind, strong and wonderful pregnant fiance... " You then glance towards the door, one hand moving to your chin thoughtfully. "Though Zombie did have fascinating anatomy." You start to scratch the stubble there, pretending to think. "I would love to get a closer look at Chloe."

Stephanie lets out a sigh, her fork tapping idly on the plate. "Ah know ah know… ah'm still workin' on the whole possessiveness thing."

You lower the hand, teasing time over. "You still planning on keeping up the sessions with Anapurna?"

Stephanie nods, the fork moving to idly shift the egg around the plate as she stares at it. "Still ain't sure if it was due to me being bullied… or some part of the whole wolf thing. But yeah, ah know I can get kinda… jealous sometimes."

It's a rather stark shift from the earlier (fake) jealousy to this admittance of it, but it has been something you've both been rather aware of since you started dating… and something that has only increased in these past few years. Nothing bad has come of it, but Stephanie is quite defensive of you. You let out a sigh of your own and smile again. "You have nothing to apologize for, we all have our little things. I'll be fussing over you excessively from here on out due to the baby."

Stephanie's head turns up to meet your gaze, a slight smile returning. "Oh? Ah'm being replaced by the kid?"

"I mean, yeah. I've figured out your anatomy, this is something new and fascinating."

"... Way to make it weird Dylan."

"I'm a medical student. Now eat so we can go to the nerve center."

The wagging tail behind your chair as you say that tells you that you said the right thing.

---

You step out onto the balcony that surrounds the 'nerve center'. The room is circular and lit by dim blue lights, this has the effect of casting rather… ominous shadows, especially when framing the large floating map of Australia projected against the far wall. On it you can see some colored pins marking the locations of deployed heroes and smaller text boxes going into known criminal organizations and villains. To either side of this project map are status boxes going into more details of deployed heroes, you and Stephanie aren't on it… nor is anyone else you've met so far save Chloe.

You glance over the balcony to see the raised desks from which the staff is working, it's a mix of men and women in uniform, an all black ensemble with the flag of Australia and New Zealand on their shoulders. Most are drinking coffee and idly going over the information in front of them, and none spare you so much as a glance as you and Stephanie step onto a small platform that lowers you down to the floor below. It drops you off on a long strip of tile flooring that goes in between the desks, the pathway leading directly to the floating map projection. It turns slowly as you approach, the hard light that makes it up casting long shadows along the floor.

"The hell you two doing here?"

You and Stephanie pause midstep, both of you turning as one to see a young woman with bunny ears approaching you. She's pale, the kind of pale that isn't a fault of ancestry or lineage, but that of someone who rarely if ever enters the outdoors. The white furred ears atop her head are only a shade lighter than her skin, and she comes to a stop in front of you with her foot tapping onto the floor, one hand rests on her hips while the other straightens a part of her bright blue hair behind her ear.

"You tourists or just lost?" The woman asks, her red eyes narrowing.

"We're… just findin' our way 'round." Stephanie says. "We're the two transfers from America?"

The woman's expression softens slightly. "Right, tourists. This here's the command center for all of Greater Australia and New Zealand. Anything heroes need runs through here so we don't really need the distraction of heroes running around, you mind?"

You give Stephanie a look then take a step back. Your partner following your lead as you make your way back to the elevator platform and back onto the balcony. "She was friendly," Stephanie mutters.

"She's the equivalent to 911 dispatch for two entire nations, I don't particularly blame her." You reply, letting out a breath as you step back onto the real elevator. With a push of a button it starts to rise back towards the 'lobby' between the rooms.

"True, still, least ya won't be keeping 'round pictures of that bunny."

You arch a brow, leaning back against the elevator as it rises steady. "While Mirko does have rather fascinating anatomy I've hardly have ever needed pictures for anything, I live with a sex-bomb that has wolf-ears."

Stephanie grins, the sound of her tail hitting the glass filling the enclosed space. "Oooooh? Ya ever wanted to join the mile-high-elevator club?"

You glance out through the glass towards the city beyond, and the lovely open view involved. "I'd… rather not, while the idea is attractive I'd rather not be kicked out of the tower." You then blink, your mind going over what you know about pregnancy and hormones. Most of it is hyperbole and poppycock, but...

You fear for your loins, and your dignity.

---

You tap on the display of the computer, letting out a low hum as you do so. The little computer kiosks spread around list the location of just about everyone in the tower… including quite a few heroes you have yet to meet. Stephanie leans over your shoulder, her chin resting on it as she idly points out a few areas…

"There. Chloe Taylor, temporary lodging on our floor… currently vacated." You glance up towards the door in question, it's almost on the other side of the dome and from here… it looks just about the same as the others.

"Ah'd imagine she's on duty right now going by the display on the nerve center." Stephanie muses.

"That and she probably has an actual larger house somewhere, you make some serious money if you make it into the top 25."

Stephanie lets out a noise of agreement. "Probably filled with eucalyptus trees and killer koalas."

You let out a hiss. "I wouldn't mention that around her ."

Stephanie's head tilts, digging her chin into your shoulder in the process. "Cause of her family?"

"You noticed it too?" you say quietly. "The last name confirms it, hell of a thing to be the daughter of Australia's greatest terrorist and warlord." Your mind briefly goes back to your history class, Australia split east and west with the west coast going full on quirk purging. This… was a rather odd and hypocritical affair considering it was led by a villain known as the Killer Koala, but when have racists and xenophobes ever thought things out to begin with?

"Digger didn't seem to have a problem with her." Stephanie replies, she then lifts herself off your shoulder to start scrolling through the display herself.

"He didn't." You agree, "and I don't see any reason not to trust her, still… hell of a thing. I mean, I'm related to a bitch, not a warlord."

Stephanie turns her head to give you a curious look, her eyes narrow as she tries to figure out your statement. Then they widen as she smiles. "Oooh, your aunt right. Ah thought you were talkin' about the bitch you proposed to."

"You aren't a bitc… okay fair played."

With a little 'ding' the display on the kiosk changes, Stephanie pulling up the location info for Zombie. She's in her room… and said room is actually just one room removed from your own. She's marked down as a permanent resident, so she either doesn't have a home of her own or just finds it easier to live here versus another place.

You turn your head towards her door and nod. "Shall we?"

…

The response to your hand knocking on the door is… perhaps fittingly, the groan of a zombie. "It's ooooopen." The drawn out voice of Zombie replies.


You share a look with Stephanie, then step to the side as your partner opens the door… the first thing that hits you is the freezing cold, absolutely frigid air washes out of the room and onto your body. An involuntary shiver runs through you, your hands instinctively going to grasp at your arms as you look inside. The apartment/home is bigger than yours by a fair bit, though as you look inside you can see why. Where your couch is in your abode is a large ventilation unit that is currently pumping cold air into the room. Around it on the floor and the metal surface of the machine itself is a thin layer of frost, white and glinting brightly in the fluorescent lighting above.

Once the cold washes over you however it becomes remarkably more tolerable, more akin to a cool winters day than a walk-in freezer. You can see Zombie in the kitchen, the woman turned to look at you both in curiosity as she idly stirs a pot on a stove. "Cooooome in, you are leeeetting the cooooold out."

You step inside despite your better judgment, Stephanie following close behind and closing the door behind herself. Zombie smiles at that, a thing that is slightly too wide due to the damage to her flesh. The woman as you noticed previously is… unhealthy, and now that you aren't in the rush of the moment of meeting everyone at once you can see why. Her skin isn't sloughing and green due to some effect, nor is the holes in her flesh revealing black wounds and scratched skin something more than likely caused by her own quirk, if it was she'd be dead already unless she had more than one.

She's suffering from necrosis, but at such an extent as to be wholly impossible in nature. Despite this, and the amount of suffering such a thing would likely cause the woman seems genuinely happy to see you, her eyes are alight with amusement despite the rictus her face is stuck in, and her voice carries a joyful tone to it despite its protracted diction. "Apoooologies for the cold, iiiiiiit helps me stay liiiiimber." She turns back to adjust the heat on the stove then walks over to lean across the bar. Despite how she looks she moves rather well, not a rough stumble like… well, the stereotype, and those who have muscle damage caused by necrosis. "Hoooooow can I heeeeelp?"

"Just hopin' to introduce ourselves to the neighbors." Stephanie replies.

"We don't know how long we'll be in the tower, but we're certain we'll be working with most everyone here at some point, it helps to be polite?"

Zombie laughs, a dry cackle that ends in a rasp. "Hoooow friendly. I'm Meriiiiindah, happy to meeeeeet ya."

Stephanie looks up to the ceiling vents then back at Merindah. "Are ya… rotting?"

"Cooooonstantly." Meridah replies. "The woooooorst form of crooooootch rot." The woman's smile gets a touch wider before her face turns to you. "Doooctor riiight?"

You nod, causing Meridah too gesture down at herself. "Viiiillain attack, zooooombie quirk, guys in jail noooow. I haaaave regeneration, keeeeeps me aliiiive. Juuust need surgery and the cooooold."

Oh dear. Your eyes narrow as you look over her form. She isn't wearing the suit anymore, instead she has switched to a crop top and a pair of shorts. It reveals more of her flesh, enough that you can tell the necrosis is across her entire body. With the patches of broken open skin and rotting flesh it would be easy to see such a thing as disgusting, but…. You are wholly focused on the wounds in their entirety, enough that Merindah actually pulls back a little in surprise as you approach.

She damn near violently lurches back as your hand grasps her own, but she pauses as you bend down to examine the wounds across her stomach.

*Focus*

Necrosis, late stage across the entire body. Organelles are cutoff across the vast majority of the skin, and as you look more closely you can actually see the rot spreading only to start to heal itself due to her quirk. You aren't sure why the cold would help besides being preservative, but it is indeed a rather nasty life she leads.

You glance up into her sagging eyes to see the woman looking at you with no small amount of shock…. Oh.

"You'll need to forgive 'im, he goes all nuts when there's something medical to look at."

You shake your head. "My… apologies, would you mind if I take a shot at it?"

Merindah looks at you sceptically… well, as much as her face allows that anyway. Before sitting down onto a bar stool. You look her up and down, probably her… early thirties you would suppose. Maybe very late twenties, with such damaged flesh it's hard to judge the age. You keep one hand over hers, the other presses flat against her stomach, your fingers digging slightly into the tissue as you do so.

She was probably rather beautiful once… you shall see if you can't return this to her. You hear a shuffling sound to your side, and you glance to see Stephanie leaning over the counter and watching you curiously.

You turn back, then let out a breath as you press more firmly. Blocked organelles, you can't revive the dead.

But you can revive dead tissue, that one took you awhile to figure out. But it is something you are particularly proud of. The ability to help an amputee in such a manner is a godsend. Your hand roams her body as you think, the flesh stays green, but what was once blackened dead flesh is turning noticeably paler and more 'alive'. A choked gasp escapes Meridah as long dead nerve endings kick back to life, her hand clenching yours as a pained whimper escapes her as her body catches up to the sensations.

Your finger trails from her collarbone to her face. Your fingers gently push the eye back into position then clamp down around it, a smile crossing your face as you feel the skin start to warm up from functional blood flow once more. She's pale, and light green… but there is after a good ten minutes of work no sign of death on her. Her hair remains green as well, though now that you've gotten a closer look at it you rather suspect that is dye at work.

She's… a healthy, if green, woman, and you step back as she stands up.

There's a noticeable… awkwardness to her movements, she was rather well balanced before but now she moves with strength unfamiliar to her. Her arms stretch out at her sides as she looks down at herself, a wide (and normal) smile on her face. "I haven't felt this agile in twelve years!"

… Which would place the time of her attack in her late teens to very early twenties by your estimation. "I can't pinpoint the source exactly, since this was caused by a quirk it may very well still be active, still, that should make things remarkably more comfortable for a time."

Merindah runs her hands through the air, her eyes alight with honest to god joy as she stares at you. "I can still feel the rot, it'll be back, but I haven't felt this good in so long. I can feel things, I can…" She blinks repeatedly. "Oh witch's tits it's cold in here, sorry about that."

Stephanie snickers behind you, and you glance back to note she has her hands stuck underneath her armpits. "It's fine, ah assure you he hasn't noticed."

… You admittedly did get mono focused. "Well, glad to hear you are feeling better, I think we should probably move on though, I don't want to interrupt your cooking."

Merindah's smile gets a touch smiler, though perhaps sweeter as she speaks with an audible purr. "I still need to thank the good doctor."

You smile back. "I'm just happy to he-"

Any words on your part are cut off as she grasps you by the chin and pulls your face into hers. Her lips meet your own, and you go wide-eyed as you feel her tongue invade your mouth. It's a vigorous one at that, you are fairly certain she got a complete mapping of your teeth before she pulls back with a smirk.

"Hell ya! I'm sexy again!"

Stephanie lets out a squawk that is an interesting mix of surprise and outrage, only to be cut off as Meridah leaps over the counter, hands flying to your partner's chin. Her eyes can't widen any further, but you can see her panic-

---

You turn your head slowly to look at Stephanie as the door closes behind you. Your fiance's eyes meet your own, an awkward… something on her face.

"She's… ah character." Stephanie says, briefly touching her lips before pulling away, as if they stung her finger.

"... Yeah." You agree, your mouth still slightly numb. "Kros and Nora?"

---

You stop at the door Kros and Nora are apparently staying at, the kiosk listed them as here… both of them, so it is with a smile on your face you reach up to knock on it. You then wait, hearing the scamper of familiar clawed feet before the door swings open.

The first thing that hits you as you look inside is Nora. Literally.

"Dylan! You made it!" Nora lets out a series of happy chirps as she bounces on your chest, the harpy is dressed in close to the same manner Merindah was funnily enough, though Nora has a distinct lack of rotting flesh so the look isn't perhaps as distracting as it was before you healed her.

You open your mouth to speak, before with another happy bounce on your chest Nora inadvertently slams your head onto the flooring beneath you. Your vision flashes, and you instinctively move your hand to your head to wipe away the pain.

As your vision returns you see that Nora is gone, the harpy is struggling in the grip of a familiar snake woman. Kros is looming over you, glaring at Nora all the while. She's dressed in one of her usual sweaters, though it is pulled up slightly to reveal more of her stomach than usual. "Nyet silly bird. We talked about tackling guests."

Nora stops struggling, instead she raises a pointed claw towards Kros petulantly. "We've never had that conversation, you said not to tackle visitors."

"And what would you call Dylan, Chicken?"

"... A good friend?"

Kros lets out a sigh and drops Nora onto the ground, the bird hopping back immediately and glaring at Kros all the while. Kros for her part bends down to help pull you up, the snake woman rising to her full height a moment later. She's… grown even taller than when she was all those years ago, the woman at this point is a good twenty feet end to end, enough that you wonder how they managed to get her comfortably on a plane.

Kros crosses her arms below her bust and smiles at you. "It is good to see you both, I do hope your flight was not as bumpy as ours, it was… hectic."

Nora snickers. "Lotta turbulence, it was great."

"We didn't have any problems." Stephanie says. "Ah take it you've all settled in?"

"As comfy as can be, yes." Kros says. "We are staying in the tower, they have prepared room for us beforehand, bigger than the dorm. Cheaper than getting a custom house."

Stephanie nods. "We're heading out in just a few minutes to look around ourselves, probably not houses today… but we're keeping it in mind. We're going to need the space soon."

Kros blinks in confusion and curiosity. "Oh? New place no good?"

Stephanie smiles widely and places her hand on her stomach. "Dylan has given me a bit of a wedding present."

The squeal that assaults your ears is both unwarranted and painful, and you sidestep out of the way as both Nora and Kros surround Stephanie and gush over her.

You smile at their antics, and try to tune your brain out as the girl talk begins. As good a time as any to plan the day out you suppose.

 

[Erien]

[X] Visit the Opera house
[X] Visit the Museums
[X] Visit the Beaches

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

The building is… beautiful. Odd, but beautiful. The 'sails' that make up its construction reflect the morning sunlight over the grounds below and the water surrounding it, making it honestly rather painful to look at. It does nothing to lower its beauty however, and you continue to stare at it even as your partner lets out a low whistle.

"Ain't we lucky this is in walkin' distance of the tower."

You smile, leaning back against the railing that surrounds the building as you stare up at it. The Hero Tower is rather convenient, being located just where the old Governor's mansion used to be means it is in walking distance of the Opera House, the Bridge and several rather famous beaches. Honestly you don't need a car, and given that you have in fact seen Chloe driving you would rather avoid it unless absolutely nesse-

"We need to get a car." You say aloud.

Stephanie lets out a noise of surprise and turns to you, morning sunlight playing across her face and making her mismatched eyes briefly both orange. "Where the hell did that thought come from?"

"My brain." You reply simply. "We can't exactly use the bus to go to a crisis, so we'll need some form of transport. The organization probably provides something, but we should look into getting… our own thing."

Stephanie grins and raises a han-

"No we are not getting wolf themed motorcycles."

The hand drops, instead moving to sit under (and deliberately lift) her bust.

"Yes, those are lovely, but they aren't convincing me."

Your fiance sticks her tongue out at you then turns her attention back to the Opera House. "Ah'll remember that later, but nah, something to figure out, they'll probably give us a stipend like they do everythin' else."

"Probably," you say quietly. "When did they expect us to become adults again?"

"No idea, ah've been feelin' out of my depth ever since you slipped the ring on ma' finger."

You smile. "Want me to take it off?"

Stephanie snickers. "Yer welcome to try, ah'd be interested to see if ya can heal yer own arm back on."

You raise your hand and wiggle your fingers. "Theoretically: more than likely, given enough desperation. Practical: please don't. I need it for things, like activating some rather interesting nerve clusters around you-"

Stephanie coughs, deciding the water is more important as a blush lightly dusts her cheeks.

Your smile turns into a grin, it is always amusing when you manage to 'beat' her in such a thing, though you will almost certainly pay for it later. For now though you turn your gaze to what she is looking at.

The water sparkles as the orange light plays across it, looking more like a glittering field of snowflakes than the pacific ocean in the early morning glint. Of course, the scent gives away its true nature, the rich scent of saltwater mixes with the unique aroma of Sydney proper, that of a surprisingly natural fragrance. Sydney, despite its size, is very natural, the fact that you had to walk through a rather large botanical garden to get here is proof enough alone. The scent of fresh flowers and tropicals trees mix with the scent of humanity both natural and material and the wafting scent of the rolling ocean tide to make something wholly unique by your estimation.

You have been to Florida, and at places it was similar but not quite, so you can enjoy it as a wholly unique thing while you can. For in due time and course it shall be routine… hopefully anyway, you would like to get used to the place you shall be residing in for the next two years if at all possible. You turn around to lean on the railing, your gaze turning down to watch the tide lap against the concrete base of the pier the Opera House rests on top of.

"Kinda ah weird buildin'." Stephanie remarks, and you don't have to turn your head to tell she has turned back to look at the 'sails' once more.

"I suppose. It's interesting architecture at least, made by a Danish guy who left halfway through if I'm remembering the brochure right."

"Ah, that explains everything about the design actually."

"Does it?"

"Not particularly. It's pretty though, in a weird sorta way. Ya ever think things are famous just 'cause they are different?"

You continue to stare at her and smile, more distracted by the morning sunlight playing through her salt-and-pepper hair than the building beyond. "Doesn't that put our entire career in a shoebox?"

Stephanie tilts her head, still not looking at you but you can tell by the positioning of her tail she is thinking on what you said. "Well now that ya put it that way… we should probably just head into the damn building."

You smile and push off of the railing, following behind your partner as you make your way up the rest of the steps and into the building proper.

---

It is as gorgeous a structure inside and out, a proud white ceiling hangs overhead, cut and shaped in such a way to allow nearly perfect acoustics within the building. Your steps echo faintly as you walk, your head turning this way and that as you look over the building. A cadre of children run past you, laughing as you make their way down the steps and past the stairs as they explore the structure.

Your partner is just as rubbernecked as you are, her tail wagging slowly behind her as she looks up to the giant arched ceiling above. She lets out a low whistle, the sound echoing up into the rafters. Her ears twitch as she takes in the sound, then she slowly turns her head towards you with a grin.

"Stephanie. No."

"Stephanie yes."

With that she then rears her head back and cups her hand around her mouth, a wolf's howl sounding out a moment later that is nearly deafening in the enclosed space.

And that's how you got kicked out of the Sydney Opera House.

---

"Not enough bedrooms… cul-de-sac, too slow to get out if something goes wrong… people pay for shag carpets? You shed."

"Ah thought we weren't looking at houses today?"

You shake your head, idly putting your phone back into your pocket from where you were looking at the local real estate market. It's a good ten minute walk from the Opera House to the Museum of Sydney, and during that time you've been looking at places on your phone as you walk. "We aren't… but I can't help but think about our futures together. It's a lot to think about and it feels like it is coming at me rather fast." You look up to see the skyscrapers to your right and left, the bustle of both people and traffic around you a familiar if not missed sound from Atlanta. The scent of the harbor is gone now, despite its relative closeness it can do little to cover up the now prevalent scent of gasoline and humanity.

It's still a pretty town however.

"Ah suppose, ah kinda liked it more when the school was handling it all for us."

You nod, moving closer to your partner as you walk. "It's part of growing up I suppose, I'll be in rather heavy contact with my parents for advice."

"Ah can't say ah can do the same, that barn's been in the family for about two generations, ain't never had to move nowhere."

"Fair. Though a werewolf moving company would be rather amazing to watch."

Stephanie's eyes look up towards the buildings as she processes what you said. "Ah suppose, but still, we'll need to see how much the government is goin' to help, or if they got a place picked out already."

"Which means a trip to the embassy, either way we'll probably be paying something."

"Proooobably." Stephanie agrees, and you watch as she sticks out her hand to flex the finger that has the ring on it.

You stare at it, then look back to her face again. The distant wail of a siren sounds in the distance, and your senses… twitch, but you ignore it. You aren't on duty at present and have no means to get over there. "Also need to figure out the cost for a wedding, no child of mine will be born out of wedlock."

Stephanie snickers. "Well ain't that old fashioned of ya."

You smile, deliberately putting on a dreamy quality to your voice when you speak again. "I can just imagine you in a beautiful white dress walking down the aisle, you'd be even prettier than normal."

A goofy grin comes onto Stephanie's face as she giggles. "Oh hush, how'd you afford that ring anyways?"

"Sold my body to the female student base, why?"

Her tail whaps you in the leg, and she takes a step closer to loop her arm through yours. "Yeah makes sense, ya thinkin' we should have the weddin' here or in the states?"

"That's usually the bride's prerogative."

Stephanie lets out a long breath, her head moving to rest on your shoulder as you walk (now a touch more awkwardly) towards the museum entrance. "We can just fly the family in ah figure."

"Sounds good." You say, idly moving your hand to run through your partner's tail as you look up at the building. It's an oddly shaped one to say the least, you aren't sure how you would describe the architecture. It's front is made of yellow brick with crenellations like a castle along its front face, they don't actually do anything, they are just there. The logo of the museum is projected holographically from the top left, blue and white text proclaiming it as the 'Museum of Sydney'. The holographic display extends as you watch it, showing images from Australia's history ranging from a painting of the founding of the city to the Quirk Civil War.

Below that above the door you can see the price for adult entrance, and you are very glad that one of the perks of coming over is that public works such as this aren't charged to you. Which is good, you'd like to be able to actually afford that car. One hundred flat for entrance is a bit much, even with how fancy the place is.

---

You stare at the holographic display of Digger, the museum is actually using near the same system the one in Virginia you went to with Teresa. It's not uncommon, though this one manages to be thankfully less violent to look at.

It depicts the man standing atop a frozen in time rock slide, he is riding down along with a group of heroes you don't recognize to collide with the forces of The Killer Koala, part of the larger war as a whole. Australia managed to do what America didn't, that being completely split in half and fight itself when quirks got out of control.

America only survived it by some rather… questionable decisions and martial law, Australia wasn't near as lucky. Western Australia passed some rather… draconian laws against quirk users, which is rather ironic as their big leader during the time was a quirk user. It's like Russia in that regard you suppose, though in Russia's case it became rather ironically a quirk bourgeoisie. Australia at least recovered however, Russia seems bound and determined to start World War 3 with how they are knocking on the Middle East at the moment.

You blink, focusing on the display again as it shifts to show a large fight between several heroes and not particularly far from the Opera House… you can't honestly tell which side is which because Digger isn't in the picture, but the fact that the fight made it all the way to Sydney rather explains the casualty rate.

"Ah've heard of this." Stephanie mutters, her eyes going from display to display as she stands next to you.

"I figured, I don't know much about Digger myself. I would assume by the fact that we are allowed to stand here and that he is alive he won?"

Stephanie nods. "Ambushed the Killer Koala in the gardens apparently, buried him under dirt until the guy stopped breathin'."

"Brutal but effective," you muse. And frankly after three million deaths you suppose retribution is justified.

"Ah've heard that Westerner's still ain't particularly popular, be like bein' associated with the Confederacy ah'd imagine." Stephanie says, one hand moving to clutch at her left arm as the display shifts once more.

It now shows the treaty being signed that ended the civil war, it only displays this for a moment before there is a rapid series of displays that shows the reconstruction of the country east and west, before finally showing a depiction of the Hero Tower that is practically dripping in nationalism.

"Might explain why Chloe acts rather weird." You say quietly.

"Maybe. She ain't too bad on the popularity charts though." Stephanie replies, her head turning to look at you and away from the display.

"Hero popularity is based on looks and abilities, I wonder how much of how she acts is fake like most pro heroes."

Stephanie's eyes narrow. "Ah think you've met enough at this point that you'd recognize plenty are good."

You nod. "Sure, Longarm was polite enough, as was Izuku and All Might. Just I have a rather… poor example of pro heroes in my immediate family."

Stephanie smiles slightly. "Well it's good yer workin' to make the family look better than innit?"

You smile back. "I suppose, now come on, they've got one of those talking head displays that has actors pretend to be old timey settlers."

Your partner snickers. "Oooh, those are awesome." and completely over-acted, she doesn't need to say. You know her deal.

---

This town is… frighteningly expensive. Atlanta isn't cheap, but Sydney has it hilariously beat on the average cost of things. Still, Stephanie is happily patting her stomach as you walk together towards Bondi Beach. It was a good burger but… sheesh.

"You did bring a swimsuit right?" you ask, smiling at your partner as the scent of saltwater starts to fill your nose once more.

Stephanie grins and taps her purse, a small grey thing covered in little flower decals. "Oooooh yeah, that fun one ya saw arrive in the mail before we left."

"Unfortunately I do not have a swim suit myself, so I shall merely be wat-"

"Ah brought one for you."

"Damn you, damn you and your wolfy ways."

Stephanie laughs. "Ah can't believe ya don't like the water."

"I like the water fine, I'm just not a particularly huge fan of the oceans. Too many poisonous things around Australia's shores that I can't fix." You mumble.

You then tilt forward as Stephanie wraps an arm around your shoulder and pulls you towards the beach that much quicker. "Aw it'll be fine, 'sides ya can help me get this on in the changin' room."

You tilt your head, "fair enough."

---

You will always remember your trip to Bondi Beach for two reasons you believe. The first being just how… beautiful it is, the crescent shaped beach has perfect golden sand that practically sparkles in the afternoon sunlight, casting a warm glare onto you as you watch Stephanie step onto it.

The second reason of course is that Stephanie's reaction to the beach was hilarious. You've been on a tropical beach before and you knew what to expect, Stephanie meanwhile has never been to one, let alone one of Australia's. To that end she proudly steps onto the beach and looks around before letting out a loud yelp of pain and crosses the entire beach with two leaps, kicking a large amount of sand into your face in the process.

With a loud splash your partner lands in the water, her hands slapping the water as she tries to right herself from the sudden entrance.

"Fear not milady!" you cry out, ignoring the fact that more than a few people are staring at you at the moment. "I shall save thee!" you then slowly walk forward, the sandals you have yet to take off crushing the sand before you slowly set out a pair of towels. You make them nice and straight as you hear your partner faux-drowning behind you, cries of 'Dylan!' and 'Save me!' are ignored in favor of making sure the towels are perfect.

You do eventually turn around to see your partner wading in the water, her hands in front of her in a light doggy paddle to keep her in place as she glares at you. Her hair is… flatter than you've seen it in a while, even in the shower it is still rather pointy, but it seems the warm salt water has successfully crushed it.

You give her a shrug. "I didn't do it." Then you kick against the sand, your sandals flying off of your feet to land near the towels as you spring across the beach. A quick manipulation of adrenaline makes sure you are going faster than you normally can, and with a flying leap you sail through the air to land with a splash next to your partner. She lets out a yelp as the water washes over her, and you can't help but laugh as you find yourself being splashed repeatedly by an angry Georgian wolf girl.

"Down puppy!"

Stephanie lets out a mock growl and tackles you, dragging you underneath the water as you roughhouse. Water stings your eyes as you open them underwater, your partner is above you in the surf, eyes alight with amusement even in the azure waters. Her black and white swimsuit hugs her well, and you find yourself pulled forward by her strong arms and into her lips as she kisses you.

It lasts only a moment before you both raise out of the water again, legs kicking together as she wraps her arms around your shoulders. "I do believe you got some water in my mouth." You say glibly.

Stephanie smirks, then leans in and kisses you once more. Your eyes widen briefly at the sudden invasion of tongue into your mouth, something that brings her great amusement when she pulls back a second later with the smirk only increasing in size. "Got it out for ya."

She then grabs your hand and guides you out of the water and towards your towels. The sight of the water dripping down her skin onto the sand below is a rather nice sight you must say, but you lean back onto the towel nonetheless and pull out your phone as she stretches across her own towel. An interesting couple, beauty and the brain, not that Stephanie is lacking in the smarts department herself.

"Ah'm hopin' somebody hits on me." Stephanie says, sounding more than a little glib.

"... Pardon?"

"Been a while since ah've seen ya defend my honor."

Your eyes flit over to your partner to find her hands perched behind her head as she sunbathes, the water has already started to dry but what is still there causes her to glisten in the afternoon light. "Correct. Mostly because you are wholly capable of defending your own honor. I'm not a particularly strong man in any case, I'd rather not have my arms ripped off by some beach jock."

"'Round here it's the other way round supposedly. Girls go after the men."

You lower the phone to look around the beach, it seems to be… normal for the most part. A few 'larger couples' hear and there; open/polygamous relationships being more normalised here than it was in the south, but beyond that fairly generic.

"Well if I get catcalled I expect you to either invite her over or defend me. My quirk is quite desirable from what I understand."

"Cause yer a genetic miracle ya, still no source on that?"

You shake your head. "Nobody in my family has anything similar, and I still have zero signs of my dad's quirk. Trust me, it has been driving Alva and Embla positively insane, well, as insane as robots can get anyway."

Stephanie starts to say something when your phone audibly chimes, your heads both turn to look at it, and you pause as you see it is a new text message. This, in itself, isn't unusual, you get those all the time. What is unusual is that it is from Sharon, your aunt.

'Good afternoon Dylan, do you have time to discuss some things regarding the family and your work as a pro hero? I know we have not seen… perhaps eye to eye in the past, but it would be best if you know what you are actually getting into before you embarrass yourself.'

"Yer fuckin' kiddin' right?" Stephanie asks rhetorically.

You stare at it, your hand hovering over the message icon.

…

Well, this wouldn't be the first time she has tried to get a hold of you, but it would be the first time she has since you officially 'graduated'. You haven't had a long talk with Sharon since your time in the hospital, and ever since she has been… poking.

---


[] Refuse it.

Thanks to Armoury for the beta!

---

"I think she'd better be fucking kidding yes." You reply, agreeing with your partner even as your fingers move over the virtual keyboard.

'Thank you for the offer but I do believe I can handle it, thank you.' The words are typed out easily enough, and with a little tap of the arrow the message is off to basically be a very polite 'fuck off'. As polite of one as you can manage for Sharon anyway.

Almost immediately you see the three dots of doom that signify she is typing back, you stare at it, and it holds your heart hostage for a few moments before you get a reply.

'Well if you don't want to do it the easy way.'

An excited voice cries out behind you, and at once you feel a chill run through you. "Lady Luck!"

You slowly turn your head and upper body to look behind you towards the voice. You see… your aunt, her long red hair trailing down her back as she walks across the beach like a fashion model. Which… well, she is one, so you can't particularly judge her on that front. Your fiance's black and white ensemble was just enough to tease, Sharon's looks one step away from causing a public indecency citation.

It's a thin red one piece that is enough to cover the breasts and the crotch, leaving her stomach, sides, and frankly everything else out for show. Which is what it is, a show. More than a few heads are turning to watch her as she walks, a smile on her face as she waves to the child who called out her name. Your aunt isn't in the top twenty five, she's comfortable in the very bottom end of the top fifty. But she is clawing her way up it even though she hasn't made her career out of fighting.

Plenty of heroes like Izuku have made a career out of punching villains so hard that people are forced to notice. Sharon throws her money around and plasters her face on damn near everything and anything she can manage. It's effective, and you realize you are now the center of attention as well.

With a jerk you find yourself pulled up into an embrace, Sharon's arms wrapping around your back as her lips peck against your cheek. She pulls back a moment later but doesn't remove her arms, looking at you with a smug expression. "I'm so happy to see you my darling nephew! Do you want to have that conversation on the beach or in my condo?"

With a jerk you find yourself pulled back, your partner standing between you and your Aunt with a rather furious expression on her face. Go dog, bite, sic.

Stephanie… for mysterious reasons mind, isn't a big fan of your aunt, and hasn't been for some time now.

"Whatever the hell ya have to say ya can say right here." Stephanie says, voice coming out in a protective growl.

Sharon's smile only grows a touch more smug, her head turning to look around at the crowd for a few seconds before focusing on your partner. "Are you sure about that?"

… She played you. "Fine, lead the way." You say with a sigh.

--

It's a nice place, though you expected nothing different given her wealth and influence. Sharon is… a good example that the popularity charts aren't everything. Plenty of those in the top twenty five aren't rich, either due to having local laws in place against advertisements or just not being particularly wise with their wealth. Much like celebrities or sports stars having the opportunity to make money doesn't mean you necessarily have or keep it.

In Sharon's case she knows how to make, keep, and use it. She's the one who bailed the family out after your mother's flower shop went out of business due to a botany quirk competitor. Something she rather lorded over your mother for some time at that.

But still, it's a nice condo.

It's a two story building, brick with wooden trimming that overlooks the beach. Not Bondi of course, Sharon is wealthy but not quite that wealthy. With a hiss of pneumatics the garage door closes behind you as Sharon parks the car, the car doors swinging upwards automatically. Sharon steps out of the sports car first, walking over to the door that slides open on its own as she approaches. She's changed from her swimsuit to a long black dress, that kind that she usually favors whenever she is making 'appearances'.

You slide out of the car a moment later, literally, the car is low enough to the ground that it is easier to shuffle than it is to stand for a moment, and a glance across the roof shows your partner having similar problems. Stephanie looks rather nervous, and you don't particularly blame her for that honestly.



Still, you are a guest, and despite the fact this house is roughly a quarter of the size of the one she has back in the states it is still the home of a family member. The door has stayed open since Sharon stepped through it, and you follow after to find yourself in a long hallway with four doors spread equally on either side of it, along with one additional at the end. Faint classical music can be heard from the left and closest door, and it is also the only door that is open at present.

You look through the door to see a rather expansive living room. Three couches are set about a large rug, while off against the far wall there is a fireplace with a particularly gigantic flat screen television mounted above it. Windows on either side of the fireplace open up the room to natural light coming in from the beach, and there is a patio beyond where one might be able to sit down and watch the waves far away from the crowds.

Sharon for her part is sat on the rightmost couch, her arm draped over the backrest as she looks out over the waters. The room itself is dressed in a carribean theme, perhaps at odds with Australia's heritage, but it is well put together nonetheless. Sharon turns her gaze to you, a smile on her face before she flits her head towards the other couch. "Sit."

You step around the couch on the south end of the room, planting your ass on the cushions as your partner sits behind you. You speak first, leaning forward as you stare into your aunt's eyes. "Did you come all the way out to Australia to bug us? Or is this just a very unfortunate accident?"

Sharon's smile turns into a smirk. "No, I did not come out to Australia to find my nephew, I am doing some face work for a local museum, this is a…" Her hand waves through the air flippantly. "Happy accident."

You sigh, and you have a feeling you will be doing that a lot today. "What do you want then?"

Sharon's smirk… fades. Instead turning into a look that seems to be pleading? "I meant what I sent you Dylan. Being a pro hero is a dangerous business, and I do believe you've seen on more than one occasion how a professional can… manipulate a crowd."

Yeah, it happened twenty minutes ago, you say to yourself, biting your tongue as Sharon continues.

"There will be times where other heroes will attempt to drag you down, or use you for their own ends. If poorly managed they can and will easily destroy your career, reputation, and in more extreme cases have you arrested." Sharon shakes her head, her arm moving from the backrest to land in her lap as she meets eyes with you again. "It has happened, it will continue happening. Hero work is no different than other forms of being a celebrity, people love to see heroes fail. It makes them feel more powerful, or better than us."

"I don't particularly think I'm better than anyone else Sharon." You reply. "Is there a rest stop on the way to the point or are we done here?"

Sharon moves a hand to her head and lets out a sigh of her own. "Dylan, I am well aware we don't get along."

"Yeah, cause yer kinda ah bitch." Stephanie says.

Sharon's eyes flit over to Stephanie, and clear frustration is now present on Sharon's face. "... Choice of words." Her gaze then turns back to you. "Either way, like it or not you are family, and while you may think it greedy I would not have anything happen to you that would damage my reputation. That, and I do love my sister, believe it or not, and would rather not have her heartbroken by your failings."

You lean forward more, tilting your head as you do so. "How can you be this bad with people and still be as popular as you are?"

"I am perfectly kind Dylan, but I also have to be very defensive." Sharon leans back against the couch again, one hand raising as she flexes her fingers. "I am not a powerhouse, my quirk is luck manipulation, something… not particularly flashy. I've had to use my brains, my looks, and my force of will to get to where I am today."

She stares at her fingers for a few seconds, then balls it into a fist before dropping it at her side. "So yes Dylan, I am a 'bitch', but I also do what needs to be done. You've entered a war of popularity whether you realize it or not, do you want to be unarmed in it?"

"Ah frankly don't give two shits about bein' famous. So frankly unless ah feel like sellin' ah perfume line ah don't see how that really matters." Stephanie counters, your partner looking honestly rather confused with the situation. Which, yeah you are yourself. That and this is the longest conversation you've had with your aunt in literally years.

Sharon gives your partner a sharp look. "At last count there are roughly…" She looks down at your phone, the display flickering on momentarily before she looks back up at the two of you. "Fourteen blogs and several dozen news articles just about your class alone. You, Stephanie Clarkson, are considered one of the more boring students to graduate as of this year. The only one who consistently scored lower is Dylan."

Stephanie opens her mouth to say something, but Sharon continues before she gets the chance. "That isn't to say you are, or that I necessarily agree, but you are bound by the whims of public opinion and the internet. To them you are just a person with an animal based quirk, you do not control lightning, you cannot fly, you cannot create fantastic illusionary displays. You are a brick, and while I have no doubt you will do great work, at the end of the day you aren't 'flashy'."

That… may be your fault honestly, you helping her with her issues kinda made the Doomwulf persona die down. Your eyes flit over to Stephanie, only to see your partner has one arm rubbing the other as she looks towards the far wall and away from you both.

"And you Dylan… we've already have had this discussion, you will never be considered a flashy hero. You can certainly do good things, but unless you start working on your image and learn how to manipulate the media your career will go nowhere." She lifts the phone, waggling it a little in her hands before dropping it back onto the couch. "Like it or not you are a professional hero now, and the ASH is followed like a cult. People are watching you with great interest, and the public is a fickle thing. One screwup and your career is over, and there will be no more helping people."

"I…" You begin, only to be cutoff much like Stephanie was.

"People cling to us Dylan, they see us as the best, what they aspire to be, and they would just as easily tear you down as they would see you rise… and for you it will be harder than most. The school cannot protect you from the press anymore, and while you have managed to wrap Izuku Midoriya under your finger he can do little from Japan."

"Ah fail to see why we can't handle this on our own." Stephanie mutters.

Sharon glances over to your partner, staring into her eyes a moment before turning back to you. "No one handled Longarm, and after it came out there was nobody in the suit he went from the top five all the way out of the list entirely, he was removed from public spotlight and has only just started clawing his way back. During which time most people refused to help him. Or even your Technomancer, he had no 'status' to recover from. Certainly he is free now… but nobody shall ever work with the man. So please."

There's… an emotion you've never heard in her voice before. Worry?

"Let me help you."

---

[X] Aunt, if I wanted lessons in Public Relations, I would take a class for it, or just outright hire a professional to do it.
-[X] Handling the public is a full time job, and would be something I would need someone to trust on.
--[X] Sadly, our interactions haven't engendered that level of trust.
-[X] I will cop to my part of this. To get trust, you have to give trust after all. Do you even know why I dislike you? Why I find your methods so... wrong?
--[X] It isn't because I think you a bit of a bitch, that is actually the end result not the reason. It's because you are more focused on your face than your substance. A person with only good PR will be a slave to that PR forever. A person with good Character will have the truth out eventually. And we have already made many good inroads towards our own good character showing through. I healed All-Might. I am good friends with Izuku, All-Might's successor. If someone tried to sling mud on me or Stephanie, I could just have them act as character references, and they would.
-[X] We don't care about being boring. In fact, at times, it outright helps us do our jobs. Exciting means something is going wrong.
--[X] We care about being practical. That means decent PR, sure, but not something that consumes us. PR is just a part of our job, not the job itself. We do our work, let others be the Paragons of Humanity.
-[X] And if someone is stupid enough to try to piss off the white mage, they deserve the problems that comes with it. There is a reason you don't anger your doctor after all.

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

You let out a sigh, as deep of one as you can muster. You really should have seen this coming, what Sharon wants, Sharon gets, and it really doesn't matter to her how much of a bitch she can be doing it. She's staring at you, the worried look is gone but you know damn well it is fake.

Because you've seen this trick before. Sharon… cares, in her own special little screwed up way. But she doesn't know how to actually be a family member, she lords over people, shows them up, does everything she can to make it perfectly clear how better she is than them.

And that… isn't entirely her fault.

Sharon had to fight and claw her way to where she is, she isn't wrong, her power… while hilariously versatile isn't particularly flashy. So she had to manipulate, spin, and work to get to where she is. It has destroyed her as a human being in your opinion, but that's Sharon, and Sharon is happy, or at least seems happy, being Sharon. It doesn't particularly matter to her that she has to manipulate people, both strangers and 'friends' constantly.

You don't think you pity her, or feel sorry for her. You just understand it, you grew up with it, she is the one who tainted your entire view of 'professional' heroes to the point that even to this day most pros leave a sour taste in your mouth.

You just want to help people, she wants to be rich and famous, and you will be as perfectly blunt about this as possible.

"For fucks sake." You mutter, Stephanie's ears twitching at your quiet pronouncement. "No Sharon, if I wanted a lesson in public relations I would have taken one. Except I did, in college, year four. You know, that school you got me into? It was rather important all things considered."

Sharon loses the worried look, instead her gaze narrowing as you continue.

"If I needed more for any reason, I would hire an agent or other professional to do it, handling the public is a full time job as you are well aware, and I would need someone I can trust."

"And you don't trust me?" Sharon asks bluntly. Her tone is level and even, sounding honestly rather… bored. Something that only annoys you further honestly.

"Fuuuuuuck no. You have done nothing that proves I can trust you Sharon, and despite you offering to 'help' me, you have done nothing but lord yourself over myself and my family, so no, I am in no mood for any of that crap."

You feel an arm wrap around your shoulder and turn your gaze slightly to see Stephanie has wrapped a comforting arm around you, your girlfriend is… grinning as you rant. Your gaze turns back to see Sharon opening her mouth, but you speak before she can. "I'll be nice, I'll put it on the table, to get trust you have to give trust after all. Do you even know why I dislike you so much Sharon? Why I hate your methods?"

"I can surmise." Sharon says simply, leaning back against the couch once more. The distant sound of a boat horn filters into the room, briefly drowning out the sound of classical music like a discordant instrument in an orchestra.

"I don't think you can honestly, I don't think your brain works that way." You reply, smiling slightly… though sardonically. "It isn't because I think you are a bitch, that is actually the end result and not the reason. It's because you are more focused on your face than your substance. A person with only good PR will be a slave to that PR forever." You raise your hand and waggle your fingers, showing off your 'magic hands'. "Someone with actually good character will have the truth out eventually, and we have already made many good inroads towards that. I helped All-Might, I'm good friends with Izuku Midoriya, his chosen successor. If someone tried to sling mud on me or Stephanie I could just ask them to act as character references, and they would."

Sharon arches a brow, then leans forward so that her elbows are resting on her knees. "Making friends is all well and good Dylan, believe it or not I have a few myself. But in our line of work friends either die or get distracted, it is enemies you have to worry about. Friends will not always be around."

"Ah've had my best friend around for four someodd years now, he ain't gone anywhere yet." Stephanie replies, and you can hear the smirk without actually looking at her.

Sharon's eyes flit over to your partner. "Cute, and the first time you have a real spat the media will be on you like flies on shit. 'Power couples' are always a bad idea, don't think you are cute just because you met in college." Your aunt then waves her hand dismissively towards Stephanie. "It is going to happen, real or not: You are living people, you occasionally have arguments, and people eat that stuff up. Why do you think I've lived the life of a bachelorette?"

"Because your ah cunt nobody is willin' to screw without tape over your mouth?" Stephanie offers.

"Charming as ever Ms. Clarkson," Sharon says with a smile. "Please remind your fiance to take your name in marriage so I won't be associated."

Your partner lets out a growl and you place a hopefully comforting hand on her thigh. "The point of the matter Sharon, is that I don't care if that makes me 'boring' to the general public, in fact… that rather helps me do my job. If something is exciting it means my job isn't going particularly well."

You point out towards the city through her windows. "I'm a search and rescue specialist. I didn't choose to make a career out of punching people in the face… and we've been here for a day and we've already made a name for ourselves. We already helped foil a bank robbery with the countries top hero, and I believe I've made very good friends with another."

… Someone grabbing you and kissing you after you heal their cripplingly painful injury is a sign of friendship starting right?

"Ah'm the face of the group, but we care more about bein' practical than anythin'. We ain't in this to be famous like you are, ah grew outta that, any fame is just a side effect of us doin' our fuckin' job." Stephanie says, your fiance standing up from the couch as she talks. "Christ lady, ah ain't spoke to ya but twice and ah already want nothin' to do with ya. Is this really how ya handle people? Ya ain't been polite once since we came in and yet you try and act all magnanimous?"

You let out a breath, then stand up so that you are besides your partner once more. "If someone wants to start something with me… let them. I just want to help people, and they'd only make themselves look bad going after someone who has a reputation of throwing their life on the line to save others."

Stephanie twitches at that, but says nothing.

Sharon lets out a sigh of her own and leans back once more, raising a single hand she snaps her fingers, and you watch as a small… robot rolls up with a single glass and bottle atop it. The bottle is dark green with what appears to be a red liqu- It's wine. With a deft movement of her hand your aunt uncorks the bottle and pours herself a glass, she stares at it a moment, before delicately sipping at it and turning to you once more. "Do as you wish, but I won't forget this."

"Ah was rather hopin' ya wouldn't." Stephanie replies.

---

The garage door finishes sliding down behind you with a slam, and you find yourself staring at the million dollar condo across the street before you turn to look at your partner. "Well, that happened."

Stephanie's gaze meets your own, and her mismatched eyes speak of both concern and confusion. "Always been like that? Seriously?"

You nod. "As long as I can remember anyway. I also just realized she didn't offer us a ride back… and we don't have a car."

Stephanie blinks, then turns back to look at the house. "Motherfucker."

"I'd rather she not really, that family dynamic is already strained enough. I'll get us a ride." With that you pull out your phone and pull up the app for the local cab service in Sydney.

"And yer mom just put up with it?" Stephanie asks quietly.

"Didn't really have much of a choice," you reply. "My aunt… is very proud of her accomplishments, and she worked very hard for them. But she let it get to her head, I think my mother remembers her sister as she was when she was younger, not as she is now."

"Rose tinted glasses," Stephanie mutters. "Ah don't want anythin' to do with her."

"And you don't have to if I have any say in the matter, I've been avoiding her for years, she just randomly shows up in my life from time to time, like a toothache." You look up towards the building as a soft chime in your pocket tells you the cab is coming. "She let the fame destroy her."

---

It takes years of practice to successfully disentangle yourself from a Doomwulf in the morning. Your fiance is… grabby, more than once you have woken up in the morning underneath her as she shifted so severely as to have rested her entire body on top of you. It was cute the first dozen times, and it is… admittedly still cute, but when you like to get up early in the morning to accomplish things it is rather difficult to do so with a werewolf resting on your chest.

Even more difficult when she lets out those soft adorable whines when her source of heat is moving away that just makes you want to-

Anyway.


With a hiss the doors open to the armoury (damn Australian spelling), a room you have yet to visit since arriving. It is… different than the rest. Instead of the white surface of the tower so far, everything is instead a sleek and futuristic black. Work tables are spread about, where you can see various weapons and tools in various states of deconstructi-

*Clang*

Your jerk your head towards the right to see the source of the noise, a loud metallic bang that echoed throughout the space. Only to see… a cart slowly rolling past several others, its wheels squeaking as it moves. "Hello?"

The cart comes to a stop, and as you stare at it a large green… slime envelops it. It completely suffocates the surface, and you watch the object that was previously sitting on it, a pistol, rapidly disassemble itself and have its parts spread around the cart in even lines.

The goop then surges forward, doing the same to another cart that has a gauntlet on it before it lands on the floor in front of you with a wet plop.

"... Slimey?"

With a surge of motion the goop rises, stretching impossibly to about four feet tall before expanding outwards into a vaguely humanoid shape. It still has the 'feet' which are more like cloven hooves, and hands that are more like oven mitts. A 'face' appears on the 'head', little more than a long curved line and two dots. "Morning!" a bright and bubbly voice greets you, agendered as the rest of the form is. "Got something for me?"

"You're the armorer?" you ask carefully.

One of the 'oven mitts' twists and reforms into a thumbs up. "Yep, name's Larz."

… It's very odd to talk to something where the mouth doesn't move… in fact you have no idea where to even start with this person's biology, if it even is a person. "Right, nice to actually meet you Larz. I do have something, yeah."

With a shake of your wrist your shield deploys, revealing the large hole in the center of it. "Got damaged fighting a villain at the bank robbery, anything you can do for this?"


Slimey bends and twists at impossible angles, stretching and shrinking as it looks your shield over. "Yep, just leave it here, should be ready by tonight."

"That quickly?"

Slimey… giggles, at least, you think it is a giggle. You aren't sure what emotion is 'slime vibrating while making an amused sound.' "Slimey is the best!" it says cheerfully.

You smile and detach it from your arm. "I'll hold you to that, I'll be around after dinner tonight if that is alright?"

Slimey envelops your shield the moment you place it down, the being skitter-sliding away across the floor with it held within the goop until Slimey disappears from sight.

You stare after it, then turn back to the door. It's… odd, but no odder than anything else you've run into these past few years honestly. With a hiss the door opens as you approach it… it isn't automatic. You find yourself staring at the curvy form of Zombi- Merindah standing there. The woman is a good head taller than you, which is a first honestly, barring Kros you've yet to meet another woman pushing seven feet.

Her skin is greener than when you last saw her, hinting rather strongly along with the slightly sagging skin that the necrosis is returning, and rapidly at that. Her face is still fine however, and you look up to see Merindah grinning down at you with an expression that only speaks of excitement. "Hello Dylan~"

"Morning," you reply. "It's returning?"

"It is." Merindah replies, one hand moving to run down her side as she leans against the doorway. "Would you mind?"

You smile and reach forward, one hand moving to her cheek while the other moves to her stomach. With a thought your quirk takes effect, the work is the same as yesterday so it goes much qui-

"Ahhn." Merindah moans out, and the fingers on her face twitch at the… noise.

Still, you continue, and a minute later the process is complete and you step back. Merindah blinks repeatedly, one hand moving to run down her hair while the other pokes at the stomach around her flesh experimentally.

It apparently is satisfactory by the grin she gives you. "Well, thank you kindly." Merindah says, giving you a wink and… blowing you a kiss before stepping past you and into the armory.

… Odd.

---

Stepping back into your 'home' you hear the shower running. Smiling as you knock on the door, "eaten breakfast yet?"

You have a 'no' over the sound of running water and make your way over to the kitchen, well, time to cook then, and think at the same time.

---

[X] Look into Housing

Thanks to @Armoury for the Beta!

Sorry for the delay, but the first chapter of my novel is out! Link at the end of the post.

---

It doesn't take you particularly long to make up your mind, mostly due to the fact that without your shield you are missing the vast majority of your fighting style unless you want to go full 'hobo with a shotgun' on somebody's ass. Which, while appealing, is rather hypocritical to the ol' Hippocratic. Come to think of it… your hand moves down to your waist, your clothing moving aside slightly to reveal to your touch the holster and the revolver held inside.

Right, still there. You put it on every morning, mostly because of a drill you had back in year two you had to punch your way out of because you forgot it. Stephanie is the lucky one of the two of you in that she has weapons at all times, namely her claws and strength. You are just a squishy regular old human with magical fingers. Said fingers flex around the pan handle, magical fingers that make omelettes.

With a flick of your wrist the eggs shift, a loud sizzle filling the air and causing a smile to come onto your face. Sharon probably has staff who makes omelettes for her, which means there is no love. Suck it Sharon.

"Ya've got that evil look on yer face." Stephanie mutters.

You glance up, not particularly surprised at your fiance's ability to be sneaky. She's standing just outside the shower, towel in her hair as she stares at you naked as a jaybird. Your fiance has no shame, and you aren't yet sure if that is a good thing even after four years. She smirks at you, one hand moving to run down her hips… then frowns as you continue to make the omelettes.

"What, ya ain't embarrassed?"

You shake your head. "Gorgeous though you may be I know your body biblically, specifically the Tijuana translation. If you'll let me get these onto a plate I can help you with your hair."

Her frown is replaced by a small simple smile, and she wal- struts past you and into your bedroom, giving you a rather ample look at her legs in the process. And well, everything else you suppose, but those legs have only gotten better over the years. With quick work of a spatula you move the omelettes onto two separate plates and walk over and into the bedroom. Stephanie is sitting on the edge of the bed and facing away from you towards the closed curtains, her tail wagging slowly behind her and bunching up the sheets as she hears your approach. A short handled brush is on the bed next to her, and you slide up onto the bed yourself so that you are sitting on your knees behind her.

You grab the brush idly, one hand moving to press some hair against the back of her neck while the other moves to start running it down the still wet strains. Your partner lets out a noise of contentment, leaning back against your chest as you work (and making your work more difficult in the process).

"Oooooh, magic fingers." Stephanie says with a groan.

You smile and lean back so that you have space to work, the brush sliding down further to straighten the strands running down closer to her hips. "So I've been told. Sleep well?"

You can see the edge of her lips turn up in a smirk. "Heavenly, what's the plan for the day?"

"What, I have to pick again?"

Your partner fully turns her head to stick out her tongue at you. Her eyes twinkling with amusement, "ah'm the brawn, beauty, and personality of this here arrangement, I let ya do all the thinky bits so ya don't feel left out."

You arch a brow. "You are also the most humble of us, a fine trait I must say. But no, my shield is in for repairs at the moment… though I have the shotgun if we really need it. Want to go look for a house?" you start moving the brush again as you speak, causing another groan of pleasure to escape your partner.

"We don't know how much we are gettin' for an allowance yet, ain't that supposed to be this weekend?"

"While it is only Tuesday, I fail to see the harm in looking for places to get an idea on prices and styles we might be interested in." You move the brush away, gesturing with it to the side. "We've lived in a dorm for four years, be nice to have space and maybe a garden or something."

Stephanie snorts. "If this is gonna be a joke about me buryin' a bone in the backyard or somethin' ah ain't amused."

You shake your head. "No, I believed I bury the bones around here."

Stephanie actually laughs at that. "Oh it's too early for yer bullcrap. 'Sides I'm saving the backyard for marriage."

You set the brush down and get to work with your hands, your fingers moving through the already curling hair to adjust it. "Ignoring… that, we still need to actually plan that out."

Stephanie's hands move to her stomach. "Makin' an honest woman out of me?"

You snort yourself. "Stephanie you are many things, quite a few of them terrifying. But you are hilariously honest. But no, I love you… I gave you that ring for a reason."

Her hands move behind her head to capture your own, your partner letting out a low sigh before she moves to lean back against your chest. "Well, ain't never had a chance for a beach wedding back in Georgia. Think we could swing something like that here?"

"I think I could figure something out, white dress?"

Stephanie blinks, once, twice… three times. "Ya think I could get it salt'n'pepper to match my hair?"

You laugh, you can't help it, leaning forward onto your partner's back as you imagine your partner coming down the aisle looking like the bride of Twoface. Your fiance joins in a moment later, your laughter filling the small room for several moments before you separate again.

"You're a mess, you know that?" you say happily.

"Ah'm yer mess, now help me get dressed."

---

"Woolloomooloo…" Stephanie says slowly. "Woolloomooloomaloo." She says, a smile growing on her face. "Ah think that was one of my old favorite Pokemon."

You swipe down on the map to move it away from the city center. "It's… a name alright, and it is in the middle of downtown so it is more than likely outside of our price range. Try this, Upper North Shore. Popular among expats apparently."

Stephanie looks it over, "afforable enough ah guess, compared to anything closer. Though it kinda sucks we'll be that far out of the city."

You leave the phone there and poke at your omelette. "You are spoiled from living in Atlanta Downtown, did you ever look at how much housing costs even in Buckhead?"

Stephanie shivers. "Ah did actually, looked into it before ah found out they were letting us stay on campus."

"Exactly, besides, we shouldn't be paying for this… I think, still need to find out. With our luck they'll be stuffing us at Randwick Barracks or something."

"Ah'd rather not be stayin' in a military base." Stephanie mutters.

You shrug. "Well we work for the government, frankly it's surprising how little they try to control us to begin with."

"Fair enough, so we got some options at least, three… four places, none with beachfront property though."

You snort. "You want to win the lottery? Go right ahead, the government gives us what they give us, I'm just trying to be realistic."

"Ya, ain't like they are just randomly callin' us for thi-"

Her words are cut off by a rather loud and obnoxious siren. The lights in your room dimming as a voice comes over a loudspeaker. "Stephanie Clarkson, Dylan Evans, report to the Command Center immediately." It's a firm voice, but not one you recognize, and as you rapidly stand up from your kitchen bar to grab your gear the voice continues on to summon Kros and Nora, along with Density and Wuchang Gui.

Your armor is on in record time, years of practice saw fit to the base speed… the rush of knowing you are possibly being called to do a possible real job helps with the rest. Sure, you stopped a bank robbery, but that was sudden and unplanned. Your partner clips the buckles on your back and you do the same to hers, your eyes meeting as she clicks the mask on over her face. There's a smile there, then it is gone to be replaced by the snarling visage of a wolf.

"Ready for the show?" you ask calmly.

The twinkle in Stephanie's eyes is all the answer you need. You both run to the elevator, your boots leather, and hers metal clanking against the floor as you run across the floor and step inside. With a slap of your hand the button for the control center is selected, and the elevator starts to rapidly lower itself down.

It opens again a few seconds later to… a rather calm environment all things considered. The people here are definitely busier than they were last time, but there is no shouting or apparent rush beyond people moving a far amount quicker. Your eyes look up to the screen to show a large red circle is present just over Ultimo, a suburb about twenty minutes away to the west.

The head of the command center is speaking, her bunny ears bouncing lightly on her head as she gestures towards the large monitor. "We have five suspects, four confirmed, one suspected." The screen changes to show a group of four men in masks shooting up a… mall?

"They are armed, quirks unknown." The rabbit-quirked woman continues. "We have several casualties on site, no fatalities as of yet. They appear to be moving from store to store robbing Broadway Sydney." Her hand moves back to point at a figure, and you only now recognize that Kros and Nora, along with Wuchang and Density got here before you did. "Density, the police have been pushed back by their firepower, they are reporting fully automatic weapons and shotguns, an oddity to be sure. I need you in there to be the brute, I'll need Wuchang in there to cut off their communications."

Density nods and the two of them start to run off immediately, the bunny then points her fingers at Kros and Nora. "I need you two on S&R, pull out any injured and shepherd civilians out of the area. We are expecting several hundred on site."

Kros nods, and Nora hops on her back as the snake slithers out of the room, leaving the bunny to point at you. "Gauze and Doomwulf…" She blinks. "Right, help out as needed, but get onsite. You'll be riding with Density, now move it!"

You don't need to be told twice, you take one step back before full turning around to chase after Density. Four armed gunmen, one unknown, large amounts of firepower and a heavy amount of civilians in the way.

How should you and your partner handle this?

 

[Erien]

[X] Split up, you do S&R, Stephanie assists with dealing with the criminals

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

You slip into the elevator and turn to your partner, it's admittedly rather cramped in here with Kros and Nora in the same one… but it is thankfully designed in such a way you aren't stepping on anyone's tail. "Can you go ahead and help out Density? The sooner we take out those criminals the less casualties there will be."

Stephanie stares at you, her expression unreadable behind her mask, when she speaks it is filtered, but concerned. "What'll you be doing?"

You look towards Nora and Kros, and for the first time you actually notice they are wearing their hero uniforms. Nora is dressed rather drastically different than her normal outfit, though that also tends to be normal for heroes. She's wearing what appears to be scaled armor across her torso and back, blue and green rippling patterns of metal that match her wings. It is supported by kevlar made to look like leather on her upper thighs and shoulders, the wings left bare along with her legs for maximum mobility. Around her head is a headband, feathers dangling from it like an Indian headdress all the way down her back to her hips, it's distinctive… which is more than likely the point.

Kros for her part is dressed in rather heavy armor, thick green kevlar covers her torso with black padding running down from her shoulders to her hands. More padding runs down her tail, thick black pads of some sort of protective material are running down the length of it, held in place by buckles and straps that can't be anywhere near fun to put on. The majority of her face is hidden from you by the thick helmet she is wearing, it's a deep green, with a clear glass visor on the front maybe an inch tall and five inches wide allowing you to see her eyes through it. You can see wires dangling down from it into the suit, and if you were to guess she has a rather heavy radio set tucked into there for assistance with S&R work.

You blink, realizing you've been staring before shaking your head. "Kros, Nora, y'all mind if I tag along with you two for S&R duty? Might be helpful to have an on-the-spot doctor."

Kros starts to nod before Stephanie speaks. "Ya ain't much of a fighter on your own, much less without the shield."

She's… not wrong, but it isn't important regardless. "I'll be fine. If you go after the villains you can do more good, you don't need to be providing cover for me here."

You reach out your hand and place it on her shoulder, Stephanie's eyes glance towards it before meeting your own. At once the skin around her face starts to turn a touch more gray, fur poking out from her flesh as the second half of your quirk takes effect. It'll be good for half an hour, the exact time so far has seemed variable… but that should be enough for this.

"Ah don't like this plan Dylan, we're partners." Stephanie says quietly, her voice deeper than normal due to the 'wulf' taking over.

You pull down your neck covering so she can see your mouth, and you give her the best confident smile you can in the process. "Wouldn't be the first time, I'm more worried about you than me."

"We will take care of small doctor." Kros says simply, her accented pride cutting through the tension rather well.

Stephanie's eyes flicker towards Kros before she lets out a sigh. "If he gets injured ah'm holdin' ya personally responsible."

Nora chirps and throws a wing around your shoulder. "Oh calm down ya fussy puppy, when was the last time we ever got Dylan in trouble?"

Stephanie's gaze slowly turns towards Nora, her mouth opening to list… a more than likely sizable amount of events before the doors hiss open behind you.

"Come on heroes!" Density calls out. "We've got villains to deal with!"

---

"How long has it been since the three of us have worked together?" Nora asks cheerfully as the van speeds down the road. Sirens blare loudly outside, loud, but not loud enough to drown her out as you hang onto the handlebar above for dear life. The driver, some man you have yet to meet in a service uniform, is setting several speed records as he careens the van through the city. It isn't a dissimilar vehicle to the one Chloe drove, and considering you saw Stephanie also get into a van, you feel that it is more than likely this is the standard method of transportation for Australian's hero division, at least locally.

For Kros it is comfortable, the snake woman has splayed her tail across the entire length of the back as she sits her 'ass' down onto one of the two seats that make up the spaces on either side of the van. For you, as you sit and hold onto the grip up top for dear life as the drive makes another screaming turn it is far less so.

"Some time," Kros replies, the face mask of her helmet is up to reveal her eyes as she looks towards her partner. "Third year practice I think?"

The van straightens out again, causing you to grasp the grip even tighter as the van unloads g-forces onto you. "Probably!" you shout out. "How much longer, driver?"

"We're coming up on Broadway now!" he calls back, his accent is heavy but his voice appears to be calm.

You lean to the side and place your arm on his seat to look around. The traffic cleared up a good mile back, the Sydney PD having worked quickly to clear the area so that you could get in. Ahead is Broadway Sydney, a rather proud looking three story structure filled with shops and other forms of entertainment.

It is also in utter chaos. Wrecked cars litter the road outside, burning and overturned. Smoke clogs the air and you can see deep gashes and craters in the pavement where something heavy hit it. You see a glint in the second story window about a second after the villain fires. You couldn't possibly avoid the explosion.

*Boom*

The van lifts off the ground like a plane achieving flight, flames cover the windshield momentarily before all you can see is blue sky as you fly across the interior of the van itself. It crashes a moment later, the sound of screeching metal and shattering glass filling the air as it comes to a slamming stop against a building across the street.

You react automatically, one hand moving to your side to dull any pain as you snap your eyes open. The interior of the van is filled with smoke, but not enough that you can't see what happened. Nora is currently wrapped in Kros's tail, the snake woman having reacted automatically to keep her partner from bashing her head in against the metal sides of the van. You yourself were caught by her, her strong arms holding you up just a few inches away from her kevlar covered chest.

You push off of her a moment later, not out of any embarrassment… but because you can't hear the driver. You stand, your shoes digging into glass as you right yourself on the right wall of the van. The driver is leaning over in his seat, blood dripping down from his head as he sits unconscious. You rush forward, one hand moving to hit the lever beside his seat to allow the seat to lean back as the other pulls a knife from one of your pouches. With one slice the seat belt snaps free, and you grunt softly as the man falls limply into your arms. Light invades the interior of the van as Nora pushes the doors open with Kros's help, and you sprint outside onto the pavement, doing your best to ignore the fact that something just caused the van to explode.

Gunfire rings out, and you look down towards the end of the street where a line of cop cars has opened up on the mall behind you. Creating at least some form of cover as your partner's van goes roaring past you. You watch it for a moment then return to the task at hand, you set the man gently onto the asphalt and look him over.



Major lacerations across the face and neck, glass. Severe bruising across shoulder and neck, seatbelt and whiplash. No burns, low chance of lung damage from smoke inhalation.

You move your hands into your pouch and produce a pair of tweezers, you work fast, plucking out shards of glass and running your fingers across the wounds to heal them as you go. In thirty seconds the driver doesn't have a scratch on him, and his breathing has stilled to something far more calm as you stand back up. "Nora!"

With a flap of wings the S&R specialist is on him, her talons digging into the back of his shirt before she takes off with a burst of speed towards the line of police cars. You watch her, and she quickly deposits him onto the ground behind the cars before taking off high into the sky to get an overwatch position.

"Injured in car up ahead." She crackles out through your comms.

You look back towards Kros and nods, the snake woman having taken position just behind the smoking van. Gunshots are still ripping out, the front of the building popping with specks of dust and falling plaster. Stephanie's van has stopped, and both her and Density are running towards the front entrance while Wuchang Gui has taken a spot in front of the van, a laptop in her hands that she is typing away on furiously.

Halfway between that van and your own you see the car in question, a small white sedan with its windows busted. You just have a moment to appreciate the three figures inside before a fireball sails overhead from the direction of the mall. Heat washes over you as it sails overhead, and you dive forward with one hand on your helmet as it explodes behind you. The gunfire increases in intensity after that, and you find Kros pulling you up a moment later.

"They are slightly more of a problem then I was expecting." You say bluntly, peeking out around the van towards the second floor. Through the dust and debris you can see two figures dressed all in black in cover behind one of the walls near the window. Flame dances in one of his hands, purple and bright, the other holds some form of pistol.

"Since when is intel correct?" Kros… probably smiles, under that helmet. "I distract villain, you get to people in car."

Your eyes flicker down to the car then shake your head. "No deal, those doors are more than likely locked, all occupants are unconscious but the door is closed."

"Then we move quickly." With that Kros slithers out from around the van and darts towards the car. When Kros wants to move she can move, something you learned in a particularly painful fashion during a sparring match. By the time you are halfway to the car she is already there, ignoring the gunfire overhead as she slips the end of her tail into the handle of the door. It curls around itself, and with one quick yank the entire passenger side door is ripped off its hinges to go bouncing along the street.

You come to a sliding stop as Kros slithers off to look for more survivors and be a target, you for your part get to quick work pulling the civilians out of the vehicle. One man, one woman, one girl, young.

Focus.

Cranial trauma on what you assume you to be the parents, male, broken ribs, whiplash. Female, broken left hand, attempted to brace and got in the way of the airbag. Child, light bruising on elbows from bouncing in the seat, no further injuries.

In two minutes your work is done, your hand raised to signal Nora to take them away as you turn back towards the mall. Kros has taken cover near Wuchang Gui, the hero still typing away at her laptop with a cigarette in her mouth. Kros's eyes meet your own as you look towards her, and you give her a thumbs up. Static crackles in your ear a moment later, and you move your fingers towards the earpiece as Nora's voice comes to life over it.

"Heading back now, what's the plan?"

You look over the sedan and towards the mall, the villain is still up there, though they have been stuck behind cover now for quite some time. They are either dead or are playing it very safe, though given the sheer count of bullet holes around the pillar they may very well think that escape is not an option. "Can you get me up onto the second floor Nora? We need to take that guy out and look for injured inside the mall itself."

"Roger, get on the ramp." Nora's voice speaks in your ear, and you kneel down and hunch your back.

A few seconds later you feel a sharp tug to your uniform, and you are sailing rapidly towards the air towards the second story. You tuck in your legs and move your arms in front of your face as she none-too-gently tosses you through what remains of the glass windows. You roll as you hit the ground, landing knees first so that your rough pants deal with the shattered fragments of glass, your head then snaps up towards the villain, along with your revolver.

The gender is impossible to tell, what with the fact that what you thought was a full black outfit was actually a three piece suit. It's just slightly off black, and you find yourself staring into the eyes of a clown mask as the hallway alights in a sickening purple hue of flame. With a kick your revolver fires, the gel round sailing through the air towards the villain's torso… only for it to erupt in a burst of purple flame as their hand shoots forward.

A bird's screech sounds out as he raises his pistol, and the villain jumps backwards as Nora comes sailing through the window herself, claws outstretched as she hunches like a dinosaur. It's two on one, at least, it is for a moment before the villain is roughly yanked to the floor. A scream escapes their lips, identifying them as a man. Kros is leaning over the floor, her expression unreadable behind the helmet before the man is yanked down to the street below.

You sprint, looking over the side as Kros wraps her tail around the man, a muffled scream escaping him before she slams her elbow into the side of his head. The flame in his hand sputters and dies out, and she none too gently tosses him onto the road before extending her tail once more to climb up onto the second floor.

"He alive?" you ask calmly.

"He will live," Kros replies, "but he should remember what he did."

You nod, then move past her and into a door that leads to the interior of the mall itself. It's… a mall, to be blunt. The kind of white interior filled with shops that try to trick teenagers into spending a lot of time there spending money they don't have. Of course, it is also filled with the sounds of explosions and gunfire, so unless the entire mall is also an arcade that is fairly new.

You are standing on the second story, next to a balcony overlooking the main entrance below. Scorch marks and bullet holes litter the place, and the stores have been trashed and ransacked for cash. Registers sit open and strewn across the floor in all the shops around, with the nearest being some form of shoe store tha-

Injured.

Your legs move automatically towards the shoe shop, wherein a man lies crumpled next to one of the shelves with severe burns going down one side of his body. Another lies nearby, another man with several bullet wounds in his back, from the placement it looks like he was attempting to run.

"Mountain Blue, rafters!" Kros cries out, ordering Nora to take stock of the situation as you come to a stop next to the burned man.

Focus.

First and second degree burns across the right side of the body, will require hospitalization but can remove toxicity and relieve pain.

Your hand moves across the burnt flesh, the angry blisters and pink marks fading away to clear skin. You don't remove the clothing, it would be best for that to be done by someone not in a combat area. But for now he should be in no further risk.

Your gaze then turns towards the other man.

Focus.

Four bullet wounds, one in the thoracic vertebrae, two in the heart, one in the right lung. Deceased. You slide over to look over the dead man more closely… died roughly twenty minutes ago, the wounds were suffered just a few minutes prior. The man was likely drowning in his own blood before his heart stopped beating.

"Bring me any wounded." You say calmly, pulling out a white sheet from your pack to lay over the body as you step back towards the center of the store. You stand there a moment, then push the shelves out of the way and pull out a long (and heavy) silver cylinder you keep held at your hips. With a press of the button on top the bottom of it shoots out to dig into the floor with a loud thunk. The metal peels away to extend sheer cloth and more metal supports, forming together a good twenty seconds later into eight hospital beds, two in each cardinal direction. It was something R&D put together for you back in Atlanta, and you have yet to use it outside of training.

With a grunt you pick up the burnt man and load him onto one of the beds, the dead man doesn't need one right now.

---

Focus.

Rock based quirk through right shoulder, traumatic amputation. Reattachment of missing limb is possible but will require location of the arm. You press your hand to the crying woman's face, lolling her into unconsciousness with a hit of painkillers. You then place her gently onto one of the piles of shoeboxes you made.

… You ran out of beds five minutes ago.

The sound of gunfire still echoes through the mall, new shouts have joined in, the police having rushed the building the second the entrance was confirmed as taken. From then on it has been Kros and Nora bringing you wounded while you desperately attempt to save the lives of those you have. The villains here seemed to take a sick pleasure out of causing as many wounds as possible, they were here for money from what you gathered, but once they became trapped here they decided to cause as much carnage as possible.

Focus.

Third degree burns on left hand, no other injuries apparent. Patient is unconscious, pain more than likely the root cause.

*Bang*

You lean forward instinctively over the patient as the glass behind you explodes. Shards of glass fall through the air making clinking sounds like windchimes as the front of the store evaporates. You look back, only to see a man standing a good fifteen feet away holding a shotgun. It's definitely a man this time, if only because the oni mask he is wearing reveals the entirety of his upper head. Said head has rocks jutting out of it, the face misformed by the mutation. More rocks just out through the suit and his skin, and if you had to guess this is the man who caused several of the rock based injuries you discovered earlier.

You take stock of the situation as the villain racks the pump of the shotgun back, in the time you draw your revolver he would have reloaded. Your partner is halfway across the mall, and Kros and Nora are currently looking for survivors.

You move.

Your boots dig into the glass as you spin on the spot and leap across the space separating you and him. With a jerk of his arms the pump on the shotgun moves forward again, his finger moving to hook around the trigger…

You are faster.

Your helmeted head collides with his midsection, a clang sounding out as your metal helmet collides with a shocking hard stomach and drive the impact into your neck. The man is forced back, falling onto his ass a step later as your weight knocks him off balance. Your instincts take over, one hand moving for his shotgun as your other moves for the revolver at your side.

Fingers against your waist you flood your body with painkillers and adrenaline, grunting hard as his knees come up to slam into your chest. The plating you have there is something, but not enough as he hits with all the force of a concrete wrecking ball… and he's stronger than you. His hands on the shotgun are not letting go, and despite your efforts it is slowly turning around towards yo-

*Bang*

You blink, as for a moment all you can see is red. The taste of iron fills your mouth, along with a sickening scent. The man's struggles cease, and you yank the shotgun out of his hands and throw it over the railing to the floor below. The red is… warm, and running down your face. Your hand moves to wipe the blood from where something cut you, only for your eyes to widen as you wipe away the blood.

There is a hole just above the man's left eye, blood leaks out of it, along with blood coming from the hole just underneath his chin where your revolver lays. Your finger is still curled around the trigger, holding it down from where in your panic you positioned and fired it without realizing. A chill runs through you, the revolver sliding off the man's torso to land on the floor with a clatter as you release your hold on it.

The round was non-lethal, but only so much can be done with a high powder charge at this close range on an unmutated body-part. More shots ring out from deeper in the mall, but you ignore them, staring at the mans quickly paleing face as his blood pools underneath him.

Nora's voice calls out, you aren't sure how much later. "Dylan! No more wounded on this side of the mal-"

Her voice cuts out, and you can see her clawed feet in the corner of your vision. "Are you hurt?" she asks quietly.

You open your mouth to speak but nothing comes out, your face is still wet and warm, and some of the wet warmth is newer and not blood. With a jerk you find your face torn from the dead man to look into the golden eyes of Nora. "Dylan, focus. You can't do anything about it now, right now there are people who need you, understand?" her voice is serious, more serious than you've ever heard her.

Perhaps it is the surprise of that that makes you nod, all you know is that you don't fight as she leads you to the wounded on the other side of the mall.

---

It is a good half hour later when the all-clear is signalled, one dead villain, two heavily injured, one unconscious. Three in custody, the ringleader wasn't found to your knowledge. You step out of the mall, one hand moving to unclip your helmet and toss it to the ground as you step out into the warm Australian sunlight. Smoke is still heavy in the air, tainting the smell of the nearby ocean. People rush past you, police and paramedics, and you ignore them as you move to sit on the curb outside.

Stephanie finds you a second later, whether she was already outside or was following just behind you aren't aware. "Dyl-," her words cutoff as she looks over how much blood is on you. Your partner is on her knees a split second later, looking you over. "Yer face is covered in blood, are ya alright?"

"It isn't mine." You reply simply, tiredly.

Stephanie is fine, beyond some scratches to her armor she looks no worse for wear. That is… good, yes. She was smiling a moment ago, now she looks rather worried. "Are you… okay?"

"No, I killed a man."

Stephanie's tail droops behind her. "One of the villains?"

Your gaze narrows, and an anger rises in you. "Of course it was one of the fucking villains." Your hand reaches down for your revolver to check on it, only to pause as you realize it isn't there. Where could it-

Right.

"Dylan?" Stephanie says softly.

Your head turns towards the mall, Kros and Nora are moving out now, along with Density. Wuchang Gui is nowhere to be seen… but you aren't paying particular attention to that at the moment.



---





Unbeta'd

[X] Retrieve your revolver.
-A pragmatic approach, villains need to be dealt with… sometimes with finality. Dylan will save lives however necessary, even if that means ending others. Dylan will take upon greater arms as the last line of defense for his patients.

---

"I… have to go grab something," you say quietly. Then without another word you push yourself up from your seat and start to make your way towards the mall.

Stephanie's eyes widen, one hand moving to stop you before she halts herself, worry and confusion clear on her features. "Dy-"

"Doomwulf, we need your help moving some rubble!" Density's voice calls out, and your partner gives you a brief look of longing before she turns and starts to jog towards Density, the need to do support overpowered by the need to do good.

You feel a pang of regret at that, but you… aren't quite sure you need people at the moment. Hell, people may be your problem to begin with. Is there a more social job than medicine? Certainly the stereotype of the shutin doctor exists, as does the millionaire rockstar that drives a porsche and only does work for special clients.

You on the otherhand are a combat medic, which means you deal in the blood and guts and have to do everything possible to save your patients… even if it leaves a rather bad taste in your mouth. Your phone does start buzzing immediately however, and you pull it out of your pocket as you walk through the door.

'U ok?'

It's Stephanie of course, how she manages to type with spiked gloves on is a mystery to you, but you'll be damned if she doesn't pull it off. 'I'm fine, just dealing with… that.'

The dots of her writing a message appear for several moments before it comes through. 'I'm here for u if u need it. Stay safe, <3.'

You smile slightly, then push the phone in your pocket after sending a simple '<3' back… You almost wish you hadn't looked up. Masonry and glass litter the floor directly inside, half from the door that was burst open, half from the walkway that was hit rather hard by something overhead. The interior is crawling with all sorts of people, policeman, firefighters, paramedics, all moving about like busy ants in a hive to get to where they need to be.

The gunshots have stopped at least, though that does little for making people seem less on edge. Four villains defeated, one deceased, no sign of their leader… or how they managed to get so many guns into Australia. The country has rather strict laws about such things, and even on the black market coming up with such firepower would be difficult to say the least, and prohibitively expensive. It would be far too much just to knock over a few shops in a mall, not to mention the criminals seemed to care more for destruction than actual robbery from what you both gathered and experienced.

More heroes are about as well, none you recognize… but the flashy costumes and sense of self importance are rather obvious if you know what you are looking for. That being neon colors and skin tight spandex. Wings flap overhead, and you glance up as you walk to see Nora flying just shy of the ceiling, her head turning rapidly as she looks for any more possible injured. You watch her for a few moments, making a mental note of the scratch on her left leg before you start to make your way up the stairs. A streak of blood along a wall and a small amount of bullet holes mark a spot where a civilian was less than lucky, whomever they were went unnoticed by you, their body having since been moved elsewhere.

You wonder how high the tally is now?

With that lovely thought in mind you make your way up the rest of the steps, your heavy boots echoing in the enclosed space before you once again find yourself stepping out onto the walkway. Two paramedics run past you with a stretcher as you move, their steps taking them towards the elevator with one of your former patients… chest wound, bullet, you extracted it with a pair of tweezers then sealed the wound, but they lost too much blood to make a hospital stay anything less than absolutely required.

You continue walking, the body of the villain has been covered by a sheet, blood staining the white fabric where his lies. You glance at it a moment, then over to the store. A good dozen people are in there now, working to collect the wounded and those you couldn't save to carry them out. Kros is heading the efforts, her helmet held off in her hand as she points out those more grievously injured than others, she has only light medical training, and given the way the paramedics are moving automatically you think she is more doing it to protect them if something goes wrong and to keep herself busy.

It is of no matter either way. You turn back to look at the corpse, your revolver sits resting against one of the rails of the walkway, uncollected and apparently unnoticed in the grand scheme of things. It's silver barrel glints in the light, though tarnished by a good amount of red coating it. You stare at it silently, your arms hanging at your sides before you look back at the sheet. Glass crunches beneath your knees as you kneel down, one hand moving to pull down the sheet around his head before the other moves to rest at your side.

The bleeding has stopped now, the body exsanguinated. A pale face stares up at the ceiling, mouth still partially open in shock and eyes wide and open. You stare into them, and at the hole on either side of his skull. He at least died instantly, or at least died so quickly that he had no idea what had actually happened to him. He was a villain, a crook, a bad guy. But now he is dead. That's a good thing right?

Villains need to be dealt with. Doubly so if they are threatening the lives of patients. You are no surgeon, you weren't fortunate enough to be a doctor, no, the only way you could use your powers for good was to be a hero… and heroes sometimes have to stop villains with total and unflinching finality. Does that make you a bad person? In your eyes, yes. But if just one person can walk away with their lives that wouldn't have you are fine with that. You are no soldier, you will never be, but you can at least do good with the time you have.

What was it your father used to say?

We are judged in life for the evil we remove from this world… those words last rang through your head when you were kneeling outside a burning bus over the mangled body of Teresa. You nearly died trying to save someone else's life, and you would do so again, and again, and again until you could not function as a person any longer. You are a combat medic, your life is less than your patients, and those who would try to harm them are even less than that.

You stare into the villains eyes a moment longer before standing up and walking over to your revolver. You pick it up, studying the blood staining the barrel before a familiar slithering sound reaches your ears.

"Dylan? Is everything alright?"

It's Kros, you can tell that alone just from the accent and her particular diction… that and only Kros sounds like that when moving. You glance back to see her pointed ears drooping and her face filled with worry. Slight spots of blood pepper her face, though you can tell just from a glance none of it is her own. "Everything is fine." You answer after several moments.

Her hands come together, fidgeting slightly before she lets out a deep breath. "Nora told me what happened, are you alright?"

"I am… not, this isn't what I got into this line of work for. I know it is necessary but I am not par-"

Any further words are your part are interrupted when she grabs you by either shoulder and pulls you into a hug. Her armor is surprisingly soft is the first thing that comes to your mind, your glance up to look her eye to eye from where you rest in her bosom. Her tail curls around you, warming you up rather effectively in what may just be the most comfortable hug in human history.

Her expression is serious when she speaks. "The villain was going to harm civilians. I know it hurt, but it was the right thing. Do not forget that."

"You smell nice." Right, thank you brain. That was the proper response to her words of comfort.

Kros's laugh fills the mall. "See? You feeling better already. Brain has caught up enough to compliment girls babnik."

Your eyes narrow. "I am not a womanizer thank you, you are… I mean, the situation is…" You let out a sigh and stop talking. Your brain is not cooperating, instead you just let yourself enjoy the hug before she lets you go a good minute later.

"Come now, we have civilians to help yes? Plenty of the paramedics want to meet you I believe."

---

You don't know how long it had been when you stepped back outside the mall with Kros and Nora in tow, all you do know is that the sun has moved from just rising to being fully overhead. The hot Australian sun doing quite a bit to punish you for daring to step outside of the air conditioned mall.

You shield your eyes from the sun and towards the wrecked cars and damaged street… just in time to see Canis Georgianus running at full tilt towards you. You have just a second to brace before she tackles you, forcing you down onto the ground as she peppers your face with kisses much like a puppy happy to see its master. "Ste-"

"I was worried dammit!" your partner says, cutting you off as she sits back up. Fresh tears are in her eyes, and any snarky remark on your part is instantly forgotten at the sight of them.

"I'm… fine," you say quietly. "I just had to get my revolver and help with the wounded. "Sorry about that."

You see the tail move out of the corner of your eye, and Stephanie blinks as she is picked up by Kros's tail and deposited onto her feet standing just beside you. "Stephanie, we must have words." Kros says bluntly.

Stephanie looks at Kros, confusion clear as day on her face before she lets out a yelp as she is tugged away further down the street. Nora looks back at you with a smile for a moment before moving to chase after your partner… leaving you laying back on the payment with more than a little confusion running through your mind yourself.

What?

---

Thanks to Armoury for the beta!

[Check on Density and Wuchang Gui]
-Today is officially your first time with them, may be good to see how they are doing. That and you don't really know either of them.

I'm sorry.

---

The concrete is warm and surprisingly soothing, but… you will get nothing done by laying on it either. Despite how you feel at the moment there are things you must check on, and at the very least being alone with your thoughts at the moment may be far less than healthy in any case. With a groan you push against the concrete and sit up, your vision briefly swimming before righting itself as you take in the scene before you. Down the road there is a large cordon setup blocking it off from access, behind which you can see numerous reporters and general civilians. Before that of course is the wreckage of the battle, overturned cars, some burning, some merely shattered. Flanking the street the buildings aren't much better, some are aflame as well, though they are quickly being handled by a group of firefighters and a hero with a giant watertank on his back that is shooting the liquid from his mouth like a cannon, distant 'booms' sounding out whenever the water impacts the structures.

It's violent, but very effective, and you cast your gaze even closer to see Density turning a car back over onto its wheels. The metal frame screeching out a complaint before settling back onto its shocks, he taps it lightly on the roof with one hand, the other moving to wipe the sweat from his brow. His bodysuit is torn up, rips and tears all over with signs of heavy bruising underneath.

You are moving before you even realize it. Your steps are quick despite how tired you are, and the sound of your boots crunching broken concrete beneath your feet is enough to get the man to look towards you. He grins, his mouth just about the only part of his face you can see behind that latex mask he wears… it's rather garish honestly, purple and designed in such a way that only his eyes and mouth are visible. He reached up to pull it up and over his head, revealing a mop of blonde hair matted with sweat… and even more bruises on his face.

His smile quickly turns into a look of worry as you approach, his green eyes tracing up and down your form as you finally stop in front of him. "Oi, what happened to you?"

"The blood isn't mine." You respond easily. "What happened to you?"

Density cocks his head, a brief look of confusion passing over his features before he grins once more. "Oh, the bruises mate? Nah, that's just my quirk." He raises an arm and flexes it, the muscles bulging underneath the bodysuit. "Enhances my muscles yeah? But causes bruising, usually goes away in a day or two."

You reach out to touch his arm. His quirk actually reminds you somewhat of your classmates'.

*Focus*

Muscle strain, no apparent tears or bleeding… at least from what little you can see from the bodysuit. You flex your fingers, and the bruising along his body fades away to unblemished (if tan) skin.

"Done," you say simply.

Density pulls the arm back and flexes it experimentally. "Nice work mate. Appreciate it."

A wind blows by you, bringing the scent of smoke… and an unpleasant scent of iron. You ignore it, staring up at the man. "I am in the business of fixing bruises."

"And a fine work ya did," Density replies. "Ya did good work today in general, gotta give high praise for that back at the tower."

"I'm just in the business of helping people, not fame or personal glory."

Density's grin gets just a touch wider, and a massive hand comes down to clap you on the shoulder. "Good head on ya! It was a good day for hero work at that, saved quite a lot of lives and got everyone but the ringleader. Curious as to how they got just heavy weaponry though, even for criminals in these parts that's a rarity."

"Strict gun laws?" You ask, though you are already aware that Australia has some of the strictest in the world after their civil war.

"Very." As he speaks Density lowers his voice, turning his already deep tone to a sound akin to crunching gravel. "If you weren't a hero you wouldn't be allowed a firearm at all without strict regulations, and that took quite a lot of talks with your government from what I understand."

You tap the revolver at your side, then shrug. "Right to bear arms, and I never caught sight of the mastermind either."

"I have Wuchang Gui lookin' into it." Density replies, one hand moving to scratch at his chin as he looks over the area.

"Where is she?" you ask, "I was checking up on everyone's injuries."

"She's in the bunker still probably."

"The… bunker?"

Density jerks his hand behind him at your question, drawing your attention to a cafe at the street corner. The glass windows around it have shattered, and there are pock marks around the doorway and at the back of the shop itself. In the center of it between some tables is… half of an egg, a giant half of an egg made out of steel. It's maybe five feet high with a large riveted door on the front, four spider-like limbs jutting out from its sides, driven into the floor via spikes that tore through the tile flooring of the cafe.

Well, that's interesting.

Without looking back at Density you walk forward and into the cafe. Your boots crushing broken tile underneath and you enter the shop. It was… probably rather nice at some point, definitely chic but not bad, like half of the cafes in Sydney you've seen however it is entirely dedicated to coffee. The egg is slightly larger than it appears from a distance, a good extra half foot bringing it to be at roughly the height of your nose. Two large and armored spinning fans are at either side, kicking up a small amount of dust as they go.

You reach forward and knock on the door, and almost immediately a small metal plate just above the door slides up, revealing a black pane of glass that flashes white briefly, before turning green as a holographic display emits from it. It has a little tiny Wuchang Gui figure, drawn in an anime-esque style waving at you. It's dressed in her hero outfit, that being jeans and a t-shirt, something you can honestly respect for its simplicity.

The figure reaches down into a little green bag it pulls from nowhere, then yanks out a mote of light from it that lands in the air between you and it, a holographic keyboard appearing in its place. You stare at it, quirking a brow at the keyboard, then at the tiny figure of the hero. It makes a typing gesture, tongue sticking out of its mouth.

… Fine, but it better not judge you for not learned to touch-type on a keyboard you cannot feel.

You reach out and peck out the words on the keyboard. 'Are you injured?'

The little figure raises its hand to its chin, a speech bubble appearing next to it filled with scrolling ellipses. Then… it gives you a sad look, tiny tears appearing in its eyes as it digitally cries. 'Only emotionally!', fills the text box a moment later.

You tap the '?', symbol.

'This was a really nice coffee shop (๑´╹‸╹`๑)'

… Ah. 'But no injuries otherwise?'

The figure shakes its head, then a loud pneumatic hiss fills the coffee shop. The door sinks inwards briefly, then slides to the side to reveal the interior. It's a small space lit by dozens of monitors on the inside. They are set in the wall itself, casting white and blue light on the figure sat in the middle of it. Wuchang Gui sits cross legged with a laptop, typing away furiously even as she stares at you. "You alright?"

You grimace. "That obvious?"

Wuchang Gui shrugs, then looks back at her laptop. "I'm fine, thanks."

Then with another hiss the door shuts, sealing her away from the outside world once again… you may need one of those for trauma situations. Emotional and otherwise.

---

By the time you finished checking over the cops for injuries (of which there was surprisingly little beyond scrapes and one poor bastard who had tripped over glass), Stephanie, Kros, and Nora had arrived back onto the main street. Stephanie jogs up to you the moment she sees you, grabbing you by either arm as she looks you over before hugging you tightly. "It's going to be okay." She whispers in your ear.

"... I know?" you offer, your eyes flitting over to a very amused looking Nora and Kros.

"I'm here for you… if you need to talk about what happened."

Ah. You raise a hand to rub at your back, allowing your partner to wrap her arms around you in a moment of comfort… it is as you are sinking into it slightly you realize that you needed it more than you thought you did. You held her for quite some time, at least, until it was time to head back to the tower.

---

One quick debrief there and you found yourself pulling the helmet off of your head and tossing it aside, a breath of relief escaping you as you allow the heavy coat to slip off as well onto the floor. Sunlight filters in from the window overlooking the balcony, casting the living room and kitchen in a bright light.

"Ugh, were we really gone for four hours?" Stephanie asks, tugging on the zipper of her suit to reveal the fibermesh shirt she wears underneath… she solved the 'naked underneath' problem rather quickly, not that she doesn't go commando from time to time just to get a rise out of you.

"Closer to five," you respond, and reaching down you haul up your coat and turn it around, admiring the now brown spots of blood on it. That… is going to be obnoxious to clean. But that is a problem for later, for now there are more important things. "I'll start lunch," you reply. "You want anything in particu-"

"Burger." Stephanie replies, sliding one of her armored boots off. It lands on the floor with a rather solid sound of clanking metal.

"Barbecue sauce and green peppers?" you ask, though you already know the answer.

Stephanie turns her head towards you and grins, "you know it, partner."

*Knock knock*

You blink at the sound, turning your head slowly back towards the door.

"'Nother debriefing?" Stephanie asks.

You shrug. "None that was mentioned." You pull the undershirt you were in the midst of taking off back on and walk to the door, opening it slowly.

It's… Zombie. The woman's face lights up with joy the second she sees you, she wasn't on the op today, apparently stationed somewhere else in the city. But she looks fine, no cuts or bruises, and only a slight sagging to the skin in places where the necrosis has started to come back. "Mornin' doc, need my fix."

Her voice is bright and peppy, and… has a certain amount of haste to it. "Sure… come on in, we were just getting relaxed from the mission we were on."

You step out of the way to let the woman inside, and she brushes past you to sit onto the couch. Stephanie watches her for a moment warily, then returns to taking off her boots. "How'd yer mission go?"

Zombie shrugs, leaning back against the couch to watch you with eager eyes as you make your way over to her. "Was just a reccy job, looking for some crooks who had been popping up recently. No sign of them though."

She only seems to get more eager as you reach out to place your hand on your hair, her eyes closing as she lets out a quiet hum as you get to work. It's a quick fix, and a moment later her skin is back in place and you remove your hand.

Zombie's eyes scrunch a bit harder for a moment, before she snaps then open to look at you in confusion. "What, you not doing it all?"

You blink, tilting your head in confusion. "You're… fixed."

Zombie looks herself over, "I… guess, it just didn't feel like as much." Her voice is tinged with something approaching… disappointment.

… Wait.





*Focus*

Eagerness… disappointment, and she keeps coming earlier and earlier to get healing.

You reach out your hand again and place it on top of her head, then, with a thought you release her endorphins in her mind… just a small amount, but it is there.

At once Zombie hums, arching her back a little before you pull your hand away like you had burned yourself.

"Theeeere we go," Zombie replies. She sits up, cracking her arms above her head before turning to face you. She has a look of pure satisfaction on her face, and she gives you a wink before she walks to the door. "Thanks loverboy! Have fun with your werewolf!"

Then like that she is gone… leaving you to stare at your hand. An icy pit forming in your stomach as you clench and unclench a fist. Oh…

"What's wrong?" Stephanie asks, her eyes focused on the door as it clicks shut behind the departing zombie.

"Addiction…" You say quietly. "I'm a walking agonist." You turn your head towards your partner, there's a small cut on her cheek you healed, along with scars on her arms, her legs and back are covered in them as well. She has a lot of injuries, a lot of injuries you have healed… and you have been flooding her body with the equivalent of a morphine shot every time.

Not… as much as Zombie, but you have been healing Stephanie for a far longer time.

"Zombie is addicted to the painkillers I was feeding her." You say, still staring at your partner. "I've… never thought about it before, but I'm making her addicted to the endorphin release."

Stephanie blanches. "Any way to fix that?"

You shake your head. "Not that I can do, must… avoid doing a full body heal like that. I overcompensated, it should only occur if someone was getting in en masse… or if they got small amounts over time repeatedly." You continue to stare at your fiance, the icy feeling only growing. "They would see me as the source, get clingy… I am the drug so to speak. Someone would…"

"It'll be alright, we'll get through it." Stephanie replies, standing up and walking towards you. You step back as she steps forward, looking into her eyes. She's more focused on Zombie, and hasn't figured it out.

"I may have done that to you."

Stephanie halts at that, tilting her head as she goes over your words. "I mean, sure we've been through a lot but…" Then she goes silent, and her eyes widen.

---

 

[Erien]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

Stephanie is much faster than you, and you weren't in the best mental state to begin with. That is the main reason why you didn't react at all when she closed the distance and sent you stumbling back with a slap against your cheek.

"How!"

*Slap*

"Dare!"

*Slap*

"You!"

*Slap*

Both cheeks are stinging from the force of her blows, your fiance panting even as tears start to form at the edge of her eyes.

You suppose that's it the-

Her hands move to cup your face now, far gentler than the treatment they were giving it just a few short moments prior. A look of complete sincerity is on her face, mixed with the tears.

"Ya think ah'm fuckin' addicted to ya?" She shakes her head rapidly. "Dylan, yer my partner, ah've loved ya…" She closes her eyes a moment, then sighs. "Dylan, ah thought you were cute from the moment ah first met ya. All adorable and fidgety back when Morrigan was giving us a tour of the campus all those years ago. Ah ain't addicted to ya, if ah was, with how often I get injured ah wouldn't have been able to handle you goin' on the trip to Virginia, or any of the other trips where we were separated right?"

"I-"

One of the hands that was placed on your cheek moves to clamp your mouth shut, your partner grinning at you with a look that you aren't sure if it is adoration or consternation. "No, no talkin' for you. Whenever ya have more than five seconds ta' think ya get all 'ah don't deserve any of this' and 'woe is me ah'm the medic'."

You absolutely do not talk with that much of an accent.

Her eyes have locked with your own now, orange and blue against your brown. "Ah love ya, plain and simple, and while ya may have to be careful, ah ain't worried about it affectin' us in the slightest. Got it?"

You nod, slowly. And in response Stephanie pulls her hand away from your lips then leans in to kiss you, it is a chaste thing, but it is also filled with all the love and adoration she can muster. She pulls away a few seconds later, her face just an inch or so away from your own as she stares into your eyes. "Dylan ah'm carryin' yer child. Ah've put up with your bullshit for years, ah ain't never gotten twitchy when you ain't around or have been desperate for healin'. This is a side effect, an' frankly it's bullshit that with all yer time studying quirks ya never thought to look into this."

"I… I mean, the thought crossed my mind. But there was no way to test it, I tested my quirk, but it was only on light scratches, nothing as drastic as what Zombie is suffering from. I knew I was messing with endorphins but beyond some rudimentary tests with Alva nothing seemed dangerous about it… I just… didn't think about it." Your thoughts go back to the tests you ran with Alva, you didn't really have living subjects to test on for morality reasons. The most you did was help out with some injuries for the football team, and any signs of dangerous endorphin levels could have been attributed to a side effect of the healing in general… or the fact that the football team was usually injured right after a game. The pain ends but the body is still trying to numb it naturally.

"Right, so there was ah goof." Stephanie says, then she leads you over to the couch to sit you down on it. She's still filthy, masonry still dusting her hair, sweat beading down her face and distinct red marks against her skin from where it holds tight… and she is still wholly focused on you. "So, yer gonna fix it. Ah'm gonna be on light duty what with the kid pretty soon anyway, so ya have time to look into yer quirk and work with experts to see what is goin' on."

"I was planning on not doing much field work with you having the child… yeah. Not until it was born anyway."

Stephanie moves her hand to her belly, a small smile coming onto her face. "We got at least a month before it really gets in the way, though ah figure ah'd be busy gettin' us setup in a house in any case. Ah'm carryin' your child dumbass, ya gotta give me more credit than ah fuckin' endorphin addiction."

A pang of shame runs through you at how fast you doubted your part-

"But yer not exactly in the best mental state at the moment, just ah little bit ago ya were worried ya lost yer morals. Now ya got this to deal with."

Yes, thank you Stephanie for making me immediately feel slightly better.

Her hands move from her stomach to lay over your own, the smile on her face only growing. "So here's what you are goin' to do. Yer gonna take a shower while ah make lunch, five minute shower maximum, don't need ya sulkin'. Then yer gonna come out here, apologize for insultin' me, then yer gonna make some calls. Ah'll let ya figure out who you've gotta get ahold of… while ah figure out what we are gonna do about Zombie."

"I… alright. I love you?" you reply quietly.

Stephanie's smile turns into a smirk. "Ah know dumbass, ah wouldn't have put up with yer bullshit for so long if ah didn't think ya did. Now calm the fuck down, pull on yer bigboy pants, accept ya have a side effect and that ya need to stop and fix the situation."

"Yes ma'am."

With that she stands up and wanders over to the bedroom, her hands tugging at her hair to get the gunk out of it. She stops at the threshold, pausing there a moment before she turns back, throws you a wink, then steps out of sight.

You smile, then start to think as you make your way over to the shower. The issue with Zombie will only get worse over time, but it can be managed. Of course, there is also the potential political ramifications of you getting an Australian hero addicted to the equivalent of a walking opioid, but you also have a feeling she would come to your defense seeing as how you helped her ease her pain and suffering to begin with. It's a mess, but a mess that can be managed.

For now you need help, and have several options.



---



[X] [Reach out to Alva and Embla]
[X] [Reach out to Midoriya/All Might]

Thanks to Armoury for the beta!

---

You take a deep breath and move to sit on the couch, the water kicks on behind you in the shower as you stare out the slit in the window afforded by the curtains to view Sydney beyond. There isn't much you can see through what little of the window is visible between the gap of the curtains, but what you can is beautiful. Sydney is a gorgeous city, and you have felt very blessed in being allowed to stay here.

That isn't to say it hasn't been without its problems. It's hot, punishingly so, and the accents at times get so intense you aren't quite sure the people here are speaking English. On top of th-

You let out a sigh and slump back into the couch, looking away from the window. You are stalling, is it shame? Probably, you should have thought of this. But if Stephanie saw you sulking after your talk you would probably never hear the end of it. Deservedly, but neverending nonetheless. You've caused her enough grief anyway, soon enough she won't even be able to do hero w-

Stop it Dylan.

Without allowing another thought to seep out you stab your hand into your pocket and pull out your phone, your fingers unlock it, and call the first person on your mind before you even realize who it is you are calling.

"Student Dylan?" Alva's cheery voice replies, approximately two seconds after you hit the call button. It's a deeper pitch than it used to be back when you first met her, and that isn't exactly a product of the phone. No, Alva became something of a… postergirl for the school, in all sorts of ways.



You glance down at the picture you had set for her and smile, she was basically a little sister for you, and you do feel a great deal of pride in seeing how much she has grown. She can admittedly, twist you like a soggy pretzel, but that's true for a disturbingly large amount of women in your life.

Also you are rambling internally again.

"Hey Alva, everything alright?"

"Yes!" Her voice replies cheerily, "I am detecting heightened stress levels in your voice, is everything alright?"

"It… isn't, actually." You reply. "Things have been rather stressful here in Australia and I just found out something rather disturbing about my quirk."

There's silence on the line for a moment, then. "You cause uncontrollable biological growth and there is now a giant flesh monster rampaging through downtown!"

"... No, not quite," you say after a few seconds. "I manipulate endorphins and I appear to have at least one person addicted to the process. Things aren't… well."

"Pity, I was expecting my theory would be correct. When did you discover this?"

"Only recently," you reply. "I haven't yet decided what I'm going to do about it, I was healing her full body repeatedly, she has… some form of quirk affecting her that is causing her flesh to rot, so I was repairing all of that and filling her with painkillers all the while. To be honest I just didn't think about it."

"Worry not Student Dylan, it was most likely left undiscovered due to the difference between healing this patient and your others." Alva replies, and despite the general flatness to her tone there is a clear undercurrent of care in there. "Is your partner affected? Anyone else you may have noticed?" … She's also quick as a whip, but then again, supercomputer.

"It doesn't appear as such. She was… rather adamant, my partner that is, that she was unaffected. I… er… well I haven't heard or seen any symptoms in anyone else either, and I was testing myself with Kros and Nora on the regular." That doesn't say anything about anyone that had to be taken to the hospital, but then, you don't really have a way of checking up on that either. You don't exactly check ID when you are helping people out.

"Fascinating, well, it would make sense. One moment, please." I hear a shuffling through the phone, then a loud beep. "Could you place your phone onto your nearest flat surface? Please face the camera upwards."

You hit the speaker button then place the phone flat on the ground, a moment later the light for the camera flashes, then the holographic forms of Alva and Embla appear. They are both only about three inches tall and are missing most of their color. But it's a little holographic representation of the two of them nonetheless. You arch a brow. "I didn't pay for that function." Holocalls are expensive.

Embla looks up at you, compared to her 'little sister' Embla hasn't changed at all, but then… she doesn't really need to either. "Theory, if they wanted you to pay for a function they shouldn't have made it so easy to hack. Alva has informed me of what is going on, have you performed any tests?"

"None yet, I didn't want to cause a diplomatic incident." You admit. Behind you you can hear the water pressure increase even further, it seems Stephanie is well and truly getting all of the gunk off of her. That, or with her hearing she knows what you are doing and wants to give you privacy, she is thoughtful that way.

Embla nods. "I would suggest speaking to patient zero in this instance and seeing in what ways you are affecting her, if it is just an addiction to the feeling of painkillers you are uniquely suited to weaning her off of them."

"I was thinking about continuing the procedure but lowering the dose, but she seems already hooked rather severely."

Alva tilts her head, the little holographic display putting her hand to her chin as she thinks. "Well, this is… Zombie correct? I've looked over the Australian hero records."

You nod.

Alva continues. "Well, she's a top hero, and you've helped her right? Logic dictates that you can use that as reasoning for any potential incidents."

"I've been in the country for a week and I've already gotten someone addicted to opioids, yeah, I'm doing great there."

"Approach this scientifically," Embla replies, her tone warming slightly, as much as she can anyway. "You have discovered a side effect of your quirk, nearly all quirks have a drawback, you must put in the time to research how this works so you can best go around it. We in the meantime will speak to Ava to make sure there is no chance of an incident."

You nod once more, a small smile slipping across your face. "I would deeply appreciate that, thank you. How is Lisa doing?"

Lisa, the now third 'sister' of the group, you only met her briefly but she has grown to be quite a little hero in her own right. Rather disturbing fascination with guns however.

Alva grins. "She has requested field work actually, she may be coming to India or Australia soon?"

Your smile widens. "Really? I'll have to look forward to seeing her progress then, thank you both. I have… more calls to make."

"Of course," Embla replies. Her arms, all four of them at that, moving to cross under her bust. "Please let us know if you need any help in the future."

"Bye Student Dylan!" Alva shouts, then the line cuts away.

You stare at the spot the two androids were previously floating in, two teachers, now fast friends. Something you will need more often than not these days. You flip the phone back over and scroll down to the next name on your list, the screen flicking on to display his picture as you do so.



The kid grew up quite a bit since you last met him in person, he's still a nervous wreck of course, your near weekly calls with him are proof of that as any. But he's the fourth ranked hero in the world so that counts for something, why he still looks up to you though… frankly you have no idea.

This one takes far longer to pick up -compared to Alva, that is- And you have to wait for two rings instead of one before his voice comes through.

"Dylan!?" His voice is excited and out of breath, and I have only a moment to ponder this before I hear a loud explosion in the background.

"Are you alright?" You ask calmly, "hang up if you are busy."

"Just a moment!" Izuku's voice cries out over the speaker, and when you hear him draw in a breath you instinctively lean back away from the phone's speaker.

"DETROIT SMASH!!!"

It's quite impressive that you could hear the punch through the phone, you also heard the car the poor fucker he punched landed on. You wait patiently, twiddling my thumbs while you hear several shouts, fireballs, and what distinctively sounds like a frog ribbiting before Izuku's voice comes over the phone again. The kid is panting, but you can hear the smile on his face. "Sorry! I was out on patrol today and some people were robbing a bank and they had this really big str-"

"Izuku," you say patiently.

"... Right, sorry."

He hasn't changed that much. "Beyond the patrol work is everything alright? How's Tsuyu?"

You hear him draw in a deep breath to calm himself, then he speaks, his tone far more even now than it was a moment prior. "Everything's fine, so is she, she's actually been asking if I planned on… well, proposing."

Your smile turns into a full blown grin. "Oho? Did she now? Inspired by the graduation?"

"I think so," Moriya replies, and his voice now lowers to a whisper. "Do you have any advice on that front?"

"Yeah, don't put it off, if you like the girl just do it. If she's asking she'll say yes, so if you'd say yes then ask."

You don't know why Izuku comes to you for relationship advice either, but it is just something you've gotten used to at this point.

"A-a-are you sure that's a good idea? What if she was only kidding or-"

"You've been dating for three years, if she was pulling your leg I think she would have announced it much earlier, and she is the one who asked you."

What follows is a rapid series of Japanese you don't understand, followed by Izuku speaking in english, this time with far more confidence. "Alright, I'll go ask her."

"Hold on there cowb-"

You hear the line go dead, and stare at the phone in horror for a moment before wondering what you'll be seeing on the news in approximately half an hour. 'Japan's No.4 Hero proposes to Froppy, marriage at 11.'

Eh. They are cute together, still, that isn't what you wanted to talk about. But Izuku is as awkward in conversation as you are with bedside manner. That is, neither of you have the ability to do either, though in your case the people you are working with tend to be unconscious so that doesn't really matter and hoo boy you are rambling again.

You fingers flit down the contacts until you find the one you are looking for, not… a calmer man by any stretch of the imagination. But one who can definitely help you, and owes you a favor you never actually called in. Toshinori Yagi or All Might, the man has retired… but the legend never really does. That's why you still have the image of him in his prime on your phone versus anything of him currently, sure, you don't like professional heroes, but you can still look up to All Might.

This one takes a good six rings before it goes through, and the voice that filters through the speaker is as exuberant as ever. "Good morning, young man!" of course, the 'boom' that signified All Might is gone, instead replaced by his normal… but still excited tone. "How can I help you?"

"I think I accidentally psyched up your protege into proposing to his girlfriend," you say glibly. "So… sorry about that."

A loud laugh escapes the phone, "wonderful news! Young Midoriya is alight with the flames of youth, hah… they grow up so fast."

"Well have fun with that then… that isn't what I called to talk about though, I was hoping to call in that favor you owed me."

There's silence on the line for several moments before he speaks quietly and with complete sincerity. "Has your partner killed someone?"

"Are ya talkin' to All Might without me!?" You hear the door behind you slam open, and you glance back to see your partner with a towel on… and nothing else, as her hands move to bind up her hair in another towel.

"I was calling him for… advice on what we discovered earlier." You reply, and that gets Stephanie to stop her faux-anger for a moment. Instead your partner walks over to drape herself over your shoulders, her eyes meeting yours for a moment before you both look towards the phone.

You continue carefully. "My partner is fine, thank you for asking. But no, I was hoping you could reach out some feelers within the hero community of Japan, at least, the scientific side of things. It appears my quirk can cause addiction due to the painkillers being present, and I was hoping to have some people look into it." You reach up to scratch your cheek, feeling rather awkward as you lay this all out before a man you've honestly only talked to a small handful of times up until now. "I have two teachers looking into it, but due to manipulating endorphins I appear to have addictive effects. I know there is a healer hero on staff at UA, I was hoping to see if I could just get some information."

Once more there is silence on the line before I hear All Might's laughter. "Is that all? Of course young man, I will reach out to Recovery Girl and a few others I know of for information. Are you alright?"

"I will be," you reach up to place your hand on Stephanie's. "My partner helped me out quite a bit there, but I'll be dealing with this for a bit. I've… well, every quirk has a side effect but I ran into this one like a brick wall."

"Such things happen young man, it is the duty of a hero to overcome it. Do not wallow in misery or worry, you have helped people, and that is enough."

Stephanie bumps you in the shoulder, and you look over to see her smiling cheekily at you with her tongue out. Yeah yeah, lap it up puppy. You have a right to wallow in your own mis-

"But enough of that, I've heard you two were in the housing market, a true villain if I've ever seen one!" All Might's voice cuts you off. "I have a home in Darling Point I don't use, it's a fair bit… fancier than I would normally go with, but they wouldn't let me say no! I was looking to rent it out actually, would you two be interested in taking it off my hands?"

Stephanie goes fully wide eyed at that, and you do as well. Darling point… just flat out is the most expensive part of the city. "Ah don't think we could afford that." Stephanie replies.

"Nonsense! Think of this as part of the favor… and I need to worry less about keeping it clean." There's actually a slight amount of desperation in his voice at the end there, and you and your partner share a look once more.

---

[Accept All Might's charity]

[Talk to Zombie now]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

All Might grins. "Nonsense! Think of this as part of the favor… and I need to worry less about keeping it clean." There's actually a slight amount of desperation in his voice at the end there, and you and your partner share a look once more.

Stephanie's eyes flick to the screen, then back to you before she makes a tiny, eager nod.

Well, that would solve the whole 'paying for a house' problem, but knowing All Might it will probably be both bigger and nicer than you know what to do with. But it's also charity, and will remove any lingering feelings of him owing you a 'favor'. So many people claim they do and frankly you just don't see the point of it… or the reason honestly, but Stephanie always gets rather grouchy about that. "Then I accept your generosity." You reply. "Can you email me the detai-"

"Ya have All Might's email?" Stephanie asks incredulously.

You turn your head from the screen to look at her. "He's a patient of mine so… yes?"

She stares at you, then wordlessly raises a finger to flick it against my forehead. "Stop keepin' secrets."

"It's hardly a secr-"

She flicks you again. "Ow."

All Might laughs, that same uproarious laugh he is ever so fond of. "Good to hear! I will send you the details later, you two. For now I will contact Recovery Girl for you. Good luck!"

With that he disappears, causing you to stare at the screen a moment bef-

"Ow! Will you stop that?"

Your partner pulls her finger back with a grin, her tongue sticking out at you. "No, not until ya learn to understand what ah want an' need."

You stare your partner in the eyes, looking at her teasing expression with the greatest amount of annoyance you can muster. Then you attack, you lunge forward, your partner too slow to react as your hands grab your own and your lips slam into hers. She lets out a squeak, her tail shooting straight up before it starts to wag wildly behind her. One hand moves to the back of your head, the other moves to the small of your back before, after a few seconds, you both pull away.

A blush is now resting on her features, her tongue hanging partially out of her mouth as her tail threatens takeoff. "Ya know," your partner begins, her tone low and dangerous. "Ya still need a bath, and ah don't think ah washed my legs as well as ah could have. Think ya mind taking ah second look?"

You smile at her, then her towel falls off.

---

You slip into your 'civilian' clothes, now remarkably de-stressed. You are about to step into a hilariously stressful situation mind, but your partner is rather good at removing any worries from you. You turn your gaze towards her, Stephanie is currently standing in front of the window and flexing her body in just such a way as to show off her ton-

Very very good at de-stressing you. You stretch your own arms, feeling the burn from the earlier events of the day melting off your muscles as the heat from the shower still works its magic on you.

Stephanie turns around, a slight smile on her face as she pats her stomach. "Ah think ah'm pregnant."

"You were already." You reply, slipping your shoes on.

"Can ah get double pregnant?"

You tilt your head a moment, thinking on the question. "All the laws of medical science say no, but you do have a rather nasty history of surprising me. We still need to schedule a visit to see how many kids are in th-"

"Pups." Stephanie says, cutting you off with a grin. "What my mom called me."

"... How many pups are in there then."

She taps her stomach again before she starts walking towards the door. Today she has chosen the 'hotpants' and 't-shirt that exposes the midriff' look she has grown so fond of, mostly for the ease of moment and that she knows it gets a rise out of you. "Ah want two, boy an' girl."

"I'd expect you'd want an entire litter." You reply, stepping past her to open the door.

She steps through, moving her arms to rest behind her head as she looks at the tall pillar that leads up to the giant glass dome that marks the top of the Hero Tower. "Dunno, ah'm… worried enough as is that they'll kinda end ma' hero career before it starts."

You pause at that, your foot stopping abruptly. "You are?"

Stephanie's ear twitches, and she either doesn't hear you or ignores you before pointing to the room next to your own. "Lets see if Zombie is in. Ya ready to talk to her?"

You nod, making your way over to the door and knocking on it. You hear a shuffling inside almost immediately, and you hear a muffled "It's open!" in a tone that can only belong to Zombie. Bracing yourself you open the door, a wave of… warm air this time washing over you. The room is much the same as it was the last time you were here, except now the television is on blasting some Zombie movie. The woman in question is lounging on the couch… wearing little more than a pair of skintight black pants and what can generously be called a 'bra'. She looks at the two of you and grins, pearly white teeth clashing with her off-green skin. "Well come on in and warm yourself up, here for a shag?"

"I'm…not," you say after a moment, not quite sure how to respond to that, especially when she is dressed as she is. "I'm here to speak to you about your condition actually."

Merindah blinks, any teasing forgotten as she leans forward to stare at you. "Whatcha got?"

You stare at her a moment, not sure what to say as you wring your hands. "Part of me healing you involves filling your body with painkillers, it's just natural to me, and it is good so that it doesn't overwhelm your nerves as I kick them back to life."

Merindah nods, saying nothing as you continue.

"I pumped so much into you in my attempts to help you that it seems you've become addicted to it, I noticed it a bit in the past, and today it was obvious. You didn't feel better until I pumped some endorphins into your brain."

You let your hands drop, letting the woman process what you just sai-

"He was just tryin' to help ya," Stephanie speaks up. "He didn't know he had ah side effect like that." Her hand reaches out to grab your own from behind, and you squeeze it for support as Merindah thinks.

"Well, don't really care actually." The woman finally replies, causing you to blink in surprise. "I'll need that fixed, but I don't want to stop treatment, at all. I haven't been able to feel in years and I'm not willing to give that up. If it is going to be a problem I trust you to fix it."

The shock must have shown on your face, because Merindah chuckles. "What, didn't expect me to trust you?"

You nod slowly. "I did get you addicted to endorphins."

"Accidentally," Merindah counters. "And your first reaction to seeing me up close wasn't 'oh god, a monster', it was 'can I please try to help you?'. That… meant a lot." A somewhat wistful smile comes onto her face. "So yes, I trust you. Now what's the plan?"

---

[Lower the dose]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

*One month later*

You press your hand firmly against her clavicle, your eyes meeting hers as your other hand moves to cup her cheek. Her breath hitches, a faint blush coming onto her face as she keeps her gaze firmly affixed. Then the magic happens.

… As Stephanie calls it anyway.

Zombie leans her head back against the couch, breathing deeply as her flesh pulls back onto the bones properly. What was once a sagging face becomes something youthful and beautiful… if green. Her hand moves to her mouth, biting on a knuckle as sh-

"You can stop that now." You say dryly.

Zombie's head pulls back to look at you, a wicked grin on her face. "It's only fair I give the doctor a show for fixing me up, isn't it?"

You pull your hands back, looking over the hero slowly before shaking your head. "You're fine, and no, you are at this point the only one to offer such a thing. "

Merindah stretches her arms over her head, a pleased grunt escaping her before she stands up. Testing the movement of her joints she nods, "gonna be honest, miss the rush, but this is probably the better option. You heard anything from the eggheads regardin' a fix?"

"I am proudly an egghead myself, thank you." You gesture back to the edge of your study where bookshelf after bookshelf is filled with medical textbooks. The study is one of the now many converted bedrooms of All Might's house, you didn't want it, but Stephanie insisted rather fervently that she doesn't want your shared bedroom filled with them. Her loss, the 'Complete Collection of Medical Epidemiology' is both a hair-raiser and good for nighttime reading. "But no, they are still looking into it. It's a manageable side effect, nobody got hit by quite as many endorphins as you did."

Merindah grins. "Aw, I'm special." Her hand flicks up, a knife present in it that she lackadaisically spins around her fingers much like someone a coin or pen. "I'm off to patrol then, what are you in the missus-to-be doing today?"

You look past her to the living room, in the distance you can hear an engine rumbling, telling you rather well what your partner is doing at the moment. "Unsure yet, but good luck."

Merindah shoots you a wink and walks out, and you set your medical tools back onto the table before stepping out yourself. The morning sunlight is coming in through the windows, painting the living room in brilliant golden light and causing the white tile flooring to damn near sparkle. It took a lot of polishing to get them that way… and frankly, you are rather proud of it. All Might's home is nice, and if he is going to be charitable enough to give it to you with just a small amount of rent you will do your best to maintain it.

It's a multi-storied affair, above your head is the balcony that leads to the bedrooms and overlooks the living room. While directly ahead is the front garden and the pool… along with the boat you are too terrified to try and use. To the left are the spare rooms, of which there are far, far too many. While behind you is the kitchen and the gigantic dining room. To your right, is the garage, and it is the source of both the rumbling engine noise and the faint scent of gas that is wafting through the house.

Stephanie forgot to close the door again while she was working on her project, didn't she?

You smile and make your way over as Merindah steps outside. The rumbling only gets louder as you approach the garage, a roar sounding out as the engine is gunned. Stepping through you see Stephanie leaning over her motorcycle, her hair is tied back into a bun, wrench in hand as she tunes the engine to her liking. Her shirt is pulled up, revealing her toned back, arms, and stomach, and she is wearing those very distracting shorts. Distracting enough that you can easily ignore the oil dripping onto the floor and coating her fingers.

With a twist of her hand the throttle guns again, the tires spinning in the air from where she has it hoisted. She grins at her work, stepping back to wipe away the sweat from her eyes.

"Hot," you say simply.

Your partner grins at you, "got her all fixed up." There's a slight bulge to her stomach, the baby is growing well, and in a month or two she will be out of hero work. For now, she is enjoying herself… and even though her doing hero work while pregnant makes you nervous, you do not fault her for it. She worked hard to be a pro hero.

You grin back. "I see that. Planning on taking her out for a spin today?"

She gestures to the far wall, where sitting behind glass cases (and biometric locks) are your hero uniforms, including your newly repaired shield. "Maybe, you up for it?"

Are you up for it indeed.

---

[X] [Check on Nora and Kros]
[X] [Go on Patrol] (Reputation up, EXP up)
[X] [See someone about your... issues] (Self Worth)

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

---

You look at your fiance, then at the motorcycle, then at her… everything. It's a hard choice admittedly, mostly because like most men you would kill to hang out with Stephanie all day. But… There are some things you have to accomplish. "After lunch?"

Stephanie gives you a brief look of disappointment before she gains an impish look, that familiar one where a light of challenge comes into her eyes and her tongue sticks out of the edge of her mouth. She leans over, finger idly poking me in the chest. "What, ya don't want to spend time with me?"

"I do, incredibly so, were it any other moment I would throw you onto that bicycle and ravish you like a starving man would an apple. But… I do have other commitments this morning."

Your partner blushes, one hand moving to scratch her cheek from your blunt admission before she giggles. You can sometimes surprise her, though bluntness and snark has always been one of your greatest gifts in general. "Ah'll remember that the next time ah'm covered in motor oil. What's got ya so busy this morning?"

You look at her, then to the bike before shrugging your shoulders. "I was going to visit Nora and Kros this morning, haven't seen them since we moved a month ago, and Nora has rather vaguely mentioned they will be deployed soon."

Stephanie blanches, her previously wagging tail going still behind her. "Not like… Eastern Germany deployed right? Ah know things are getting rather tense over there but…"

You shake your head. "If it was that she probably would have mentioned it, she was more excited than anythi-"

"It's Nora." Stephanie counters.

"... True, but she wants to help people, not be a border guard. So I think it means they'll be put somewhere where their S&R experience is more helpful than downtown Sydney."

Stephanie looks up to the ceiling, hand idly tapping her chin and painting it black from oil in the process. "Interestin'... well, you have fun with those two then, ah'll be workin' on my bike until you get back."

Your partner then turns around, leaning over her motorcycle as she looks over the engine again, her… posterior moving rather enticingly.

...

You make a rather bold move.

---

The condominium that Nora and Kros are staying at is not particularly large compared to the home you are currently residing in. But, then again, the football stadium back at the school feels small now in comparison to that… estate. Something that leaves a rather poor taste in your mouth actually, as mostly you feel like you haven't actually earned it. Kros and Nora's house is nice, despite the size comparison. A two story affair, made of black brick with a large driveway out front to house a truly gargantuan truck. Kros's specifically, enough that both she and her partner can fit into it with Kros driving, as Nora... well, the bird-woman can do many impressive things, but drive is not one of them.

To your right as you walk up to the front door is a large series of windows that overlook the kitchen, inside of which you can just barely make out a snake tail wagging from where you guess is the pantry. You walk the rest of the way up to the door and knock your hand against it, Nora's voice ringing out a scant second later. "Come in!"

You hear a faint buzz of the electric lock, followed by a click. You reach for the door a moment later, twisting the knob and swinging it open. The scent hits you immediately, that of freshly baked bread and… a rather copious amount of tomatoes. The interior is eclectic, something you notice the moment you step inside. Directly ahead of you is the living room, two gargantuan couches are spread out before a floor covered in mats. Surrounding them are decorations that vary between Eastern European and old American West. Cowboy hats sit next to fine hung rugs, it's an… odd sight, but something very Nora and Kro-

Your musings are interrupted by the screech of a hawk, and that's the only warning you get before a familiar weight crashes onto you from above and sends your sprawling forward. Your instincts kick in immediately, using the momentum of your own stumbling you spin around, grabbing your assailant by the shoulders and forcing them off of your back. It's Nora of course, and the bird-woman in question has her claws raised in mock-threat as she grins at you. "You have entered my nest, stranger! Speak quick, or face my claws!"

Staring her down you move a hand to the bag by your side, one hand raises to her steady, and without a word you start to circle around each other like an old-time western. Your hand, firm and with purpose unzips the back, and a small smile comes onto your face as her nose twitches. "I brought honey cupcakes."

The bird of prey stares at you, then at the bag. "Your offering is accepted priest, you are welcome in my domai-"

"Dylan! Svoloch! Are you bribing my partner using cupcakes again?"

You turn your head towards the sound of Kros's voice, and find the snake woman slithering into the room. She has a scarf over her hair, the blonde locks falling down to her back to end near her hips. In one hand she has a rather heavy looking iron pot, in the other is a cookbook. And a look of amusement, can't forget that of course.

"It's not a bribe, it's a gift. The difference is that I don't expect to get anything out of it." As you say this you feel a sharp tug at your side, and you lift your arm as you feel a weight pull away from your shoulders. "She just stole my bag didn't she?"

Your hair ruffles wildly as a burst of wind knocks it askew, and a clack from above you tells you that Nora has returned to her perch.

"Da."

You slowly turn your head up to where she went. A balcony is up there, with no way to get to it but flight. A window sits behind it, large and overlooking the doorway, with an electronic panel sitting on the right wall that you imagine she used to let you in. Nora is perched on the railing of the balcony, claws digging into foam placed onto the wood as she nibbles on a cupcake with a blissful smile on her face.

"We're not getting her back down, are we?"

"She will become bored." Kros replies, "come, sit on couch. What is the purpose of your visit?"

You smile and nod, making your way over to the gigantic idol dedicated to cushions and leather. To say it sinks when you sit down onto it, would be like saying you take a minor plunge when you stepped off the pier in Savannah into the Atlantic. Once settled you look back at the snake woman, "I've come to announce I've finally turned fully evil, you'll be receiving a bill for all of my treatments in the mail soon. But I wanted to get in one last housecall before you defaulted."

Kros stares at you, eyes narrowing into thin, yellow slits. "My great great great grandparents grew up in the Soviet Union, universal healthcare, socialist medicine. All was given equally, all received good care."

"Your point?"

"If you do not cease joking, you will need as much medical attention as your patients have."

You stare at her, your eyes meeting in a duel of the wills. She breaks first a few seconds later, a smile curling at the edge of her lips. "But what have you really come for?"

"Yeah!" another voice cries out, and you jump slightly in your seat as a bullet in the shape of a bird lands next to you, claws digging into the headrest as she stares down at you. "What brings you over?"

"Just checking up on the two of you," you admit. "Nora mentioned you were being deployed, and I wanted to see my friends before that happened."

"Did she now?" Kros asks, her gaze turning towards her partner. "Bird go tweet tweet?"

Nora snickers. "I plead the fifth."

"That doesn't exist in Australia, not by that name anyway." You counter.

The bird-woman in question sticks her tongue out at you, then jams another cupcake into her mouth. She jerks her head past you towards Kros, and you turn your gaze back to find the snake hero glaring at her partner before she lets out a sigh. "Indeed, we are being deployed to the outback. We are well suited to its conditions, and it shall be wonderfully warm in comparison to our last deployment."

"Alska ws grt!" Nora declares, crumbs flying over the couch as she waves her wings emphatically.

Kros' tail shoots out, slapping the bird in the back and forcing her to swallow. "No, Alaska cold. This shall be therapeutic."

You grin at their antics and nod. "I'll be going out with Stephanie myself this afternoon, regular patrol. But it's our first since moving in so hopefully we'll do some good. She's got her motorcycle prepped so we'll be taking that thing out."

"And how are you doing?" Nora asks, the woman tilting her head as she stares at you.

"Well enough I think, just hoping to do some good."

The two of them go silent at that, Kros and Nora briefly looking at each other before Kros turns her attention back to you. "But how are you… doing? We haven't spoken since the incident at the mall. Are you… okay?"

… Well, this is part of the reason you wanted to see them.

---

[Admit your issues]

[Hold back]

---

With a metallic click your doughboy helmet latches into place on the side of your pants. You instead lift a modified motorcycle helmet up and over your head. It seals with a pneumatic hiss, a rubber gasket molding itself around your neck as the thing becomes airtight. At first it is dark, then the visor shade pulls back to reveal the garage around you, two fans spin to life in front of you, illuminated faintly by white leds, the 'glass' -really some form of modified plastic that serves as your viewscreen into the outside world- briefly changes color, then your partners face appears in the corner along with a heartbeat monitor and a small microphone icon.

The latest in hero-motorcycle technology, a surprisingly… not niche field all things considered. Plenty of heroes use them to get around, so R&D departments went wild making one that was protective, functional, and in the words of Steph, 'really fucking cool looking'. Speaking of which, your partner looks back at you, the slick black helmet showing none of her face as she gives you a thumbs up.

You return it, hands moving around her waist as the garage door opens. She barely waits for it to slide halfway up before she guns the throttle, tires screeching on the floor as the bike lurches forward. The transition between the fluorescents and the noonday sun of Australia is not as harsh as it could be, in part due to the sensors in the helmet allowing the visor to automatically shift due to the light, and partly because you are moving too damn fast to process anything except for your partners hooting and hollering.

Stephanie lets out a cry of joy as the bike screams along the winding path of the neighborhood, she leans into the turns, ignoring any and all safety regulations as the bike nearly touches the ground. You for your part help as best you can, that be screaming as you hold onto your fiance for dear life. You are, admittedly unsure which of you is louder between the two of you, but you are fairly certain you have hyperventilated by the time you reach the motorway.

"Hell yeah!" Stephanie cries out, slowing down to a more moderate ninety miles and hour once she hits the larger road.

"Was that really necessary?" you say over the microphone link between the two of you.

"Absolutely, do you know how long ah've wanted a combat bike?"

"Since you were six," you say, holding onto her tighter as she weaves around cards as you both make your way towards the city center.

"Five! Ah found an old copy of Road Rash 2150 and it just kinda clicked!" Stephanie replies, a roar filling your ears as she weaves around another car. She isn't actually speeding, well, she was in the neighborhood, but here on the motorway there isn't actually a set speed limit. It doesn't mean the cars you are passing by aren't a blur of color however. "Anything being reported?" she asks.

You gingerly pull back one hand from her waist, and you gently tap a small compartment on the side of the bike. A digital display slides out, revealing a map of the city and… nothing else at present. "No, nothing on the board at the moment. Head deeper into the city and I'll let you know if anything pops up!"

You can sense the grin on her face as she twists the throttle, and you move your other hand to grasp her by the waist again as you tear along the motorway.

Well, at least she's having fun.

---

With the sound of a sputtering engine the motorcycle comes to a stop. Four hours, two stops, and precisely nothing on import happening. One false alarm robbery, one person with a broken down car who needed some fuel… and precisely no villains. You gingerly step off the bike, stepping back and away from where Stephanie has parked it along the side of the road. You're still downtown, in the past few hours you've seen quite a lot of it, and at present you are in one of the ritzier areas as you and your partner take a breather.

Speaking of said partner, you watch as she pulls the helmet off of her hair, shaking her head behind her as she lets out a sigh. "Seriously? Nothing? All afternoon? Either this town is more boring than ah thought or the hero's have been real busy."

"Least the bike works, and a quiet day means nobody is getting hurt." You offer.

Stephanie shrugs, her head idly turning to look at the buildings around you. It's mostly jewelry stores, boutiques, and upper class restaurants. A good place for a date more than likely. "Ah suppose, doesn't mean it ain't disappointing, ah want to prove myself."

"I hear you," you say quietly. Your head turns from one shop to the next, you were looking for a place to take your partne-

…

… "Steph?"

"Hmm?" your partner sounds out, not looking at you.

"Steakhouse, across the street, purple blinds. See anything off?"

Stephanie blinks, then takes in the same sight you are. It's a nice looking place, marble construction with black framing. It's set further back away from the sidewalk than the rest, allowing it some form of privacy to either side, but allowing you to see clearly into it from where you are standing. The inside is dark, dimly lit even during the day, but there are at least six people visible through the windows, and all of them are laying face first onto the table.

"Either the band is really boring in there…" Stephanie starts.

"Or something fucky is going on." You finish, "go time?"

Your partner doesn't reply, instead she sets the helmet onto the bike and clicks her wolf mask over her face. You do the same with your own helmet, the strap clicking underneath your chin as you both cross the street together.

The front entrance is angled away from the front of the building, and you have to slink around the side to look inside. There's a small lobby before the restaurant proper, where a maitre'd is slumped over his podium just before the second set of doors. Both the exterior and interior doors are open, revealing yet more people slumped over in their tables and chairs, along with a fair amount of wait staff lying unconscious… or dead, on the floor.

You move forward first, hand on your revolver as you make your way over to the maitre'd, soft music fills your ears as you step inside, the only sound in the restaurant despite the amount of people present. Pressing your fingers to the man's neck you stare at him… a pulse, steady. "He's unconscious," you say quietly. "Smell anything funny?"

"Nothin'," your partner replies, eyes darting around the interior. "Except… company. Third row, between two booths, see her?"

You look to where your partner is pointing out, and see a young woman in a dress with blond hair standing amongst the unconscious masses. Her ears are twisted, curling from base to end and sticking out the side of her head like a twizzler. Her mouth is also too large for her head, and as you watch she bends down to rifle through a woman's purse.

"Bingo." You reply. "Ready?"

Your partner nods, then explodes forward. Her feet dig into the carpet, throwing herself forward across the restaurant.

The woman reacts immediately, eyes going wide. "No! No, please I-" Time slows down, and her eyes narrow just as Stephanie gets half way to her. "FREEZE!" a wicked grin splits her face as she says this, her too-wide mouth curling.

Your partner stills; her arms stop swinging, her legs do not adjust. She hits the ground, and you hear a SNAP as she tumbles. Her body loosens, and he rolls, yowling in pain as her legs bend at an unnatural angle. A table is knocked over as she hits it, and the villain scurries away to the kitchen, arms laden with purses.

A chill runs through you, you can't blink, you can hardly breathe, your entire body locked in position for several moments until you recover. By the time you regain the ability to move your partner is slamming her arm into the ground in pain and the villain has run off.

Shit.

---