Private/Closed Tomorrow's Heroes - Year 1

The Dark Fairy · May 4, 2023

Amanda

Algebra finished up as the paper was turned in, as she sat back and closed her eyes, resting them for a moment before opening them again, a wide smile on her face as she stood up, hearing they were dismissed to go to their next classes. She gave a warm goodbye to her small team, before heading out to her next class.

Just a few moments later, she left her other classes to, go to her lockers and grabbed her stuff for her next classes.

-Period 2-

Amanda Mason made her way to biology, sitting down as she tried to read through the material before they started. She paid attention to the front of the class and raised her hand at every opportunity, not getting called on today, but that was fine. When homework was passed out, she put the paper into her bright pink binder neatly, sliding it into her bag as she mulled over the lesson.

Amanda "Lily" Mason made her way from Spanish to chemistry, replacing her material and going to room B124. She opened her binder, a neon yellow, to look at some tables she glued onto the inside of it. She made sure to take written notes in her notebook throughout the entire class, marking down anything she thought was important. If anyone would care to look, the strange thing was not all her notes were on chemistry, but on biology and American history as well. She seldom raised her hands, but that was because her hands seemed to be busy at all times.

Amanda "Jasmine" Mason sat down in French class, managing to make it to class without really talking to anyone on the way. she had her blue binder in front of her, open textbook to her other side as she skimmed through the book to pick up on what might be taught today. In the actual class, she raised her hand a few times when no one else seemed to be going to, but other than that stayed fairly quiet.

-Period 3-

Amanda swapped notebooks in the hallways, as "Lily's" hand had begun to cramp. Taking the notebook for herself, Amanda "Amanda" Mason went to U.S. History, opening the notebook to the third sixth of the notebook, laying out her binder and notes as she attentively took notes, not taking time to volunteer any answers unless the teacher actively called on her, which she only did once to make sure she was paying attention.

Amanda "Lily" Mason finally made it to economics, opening her binder again as she massaged her hand from the period of writing. She kept her eyes glued to the teacher, taking in the example graphs and lessons as her other body took notes. Mrs. Squack was probably the hardest teacher (Besides Coach Talon) on her since it was a fairly note-heavy class, and she never brought the notebook with her to the class, but she often exceeded her expectations, and the teachers knew about her deal anyways, so she wasn't bothered by it too much.

Amanda "Jasmine" Mason sat down in the world history class, leaning slightly under her desk to appear small. This was the class where she got the biggest reputation for being a nerd, and it didn't help that she seemed to be Mrs. Fowls' favorite for some reason, often being called on when her hand wasn't even up.

-Period 4-

Once again, the notebook swapped hands as "Jasmine" took the notebook, having had time to fully recover from notetaking in the first period, and they only had one class for notes later in Period 6 anyways.

Amanda Mason made her way to Lunch, sitting down with popular kids, chatting and listening to the latest gossip. She wasn't as mean as most of them, but her charm more than made up for that as the group told her all about the other students, and what they were, allegedly, up to.

Amanda "Lily" Mason also sat down for lunch, sitting with the cheerleaders, which was another popular group that gossiped, but they spent more time talking about boys, and what the next cheerleading routine would be for practice and the next school sports game.

Amanda "Jasmine" Mason sat down at the table where the more studious people sat, the 'nerd table' some called it, but she just liked listening to the talk, most of it academic, but every once and a while, a game or a riddle would be tossed out, and she was more than happy to share in all of it.

-Period 5-

Amanda headed to gym class, the only class where she took all of her bodies. After dressing up in her gym shorts and gym shirts, she went out and listened to the loud Coach Talon. The three, even "Jasmine", were surprisingly fit, as they worked out often, helped by her multitasking and powers. While this still wasn't enough for Mr. Talon, who worked them until they were dripping with sweat, they did a whole lot better than the vast majority of the class.

Afterward, the three put their jackets back on after drinking a lot of ice water.

-Period 6-

Amanda Mason sat down for her literature class, her binder open to notes on the books she read, smiling as she sat down for a class she considered easy and fun, breezing through while listening to the teacher's analysis of the book, and the other students, sometimes forced, take on the book as well.

Amanda "Lily" Mason sat down for Psychology class, learning some basic principles, and really, as the teacher put it, 'taking a year to ease into the concept, so next year you can learn the reals stuff.' It frustrated her of course, but it was how it was done, so she sat back and listened.

Amanda "Jasmine" Mason sat down in Japanese class, taking out her notebook as she started to take notes, writing in Japanese for her own class, and in English for the others.

-After School-

Amanda walked to her lockers, putting away her school supplies as she went, but taking most of them with her to study.

Amanda Mason went home, taking all of her textbooks from the day with her and putting them away. She hugged and kissed her parents, telling them all about her day as they were in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes and calculating their financials. She groaned as she told them she was being put into a locker by some bullies, but assured them someone would let her out, like the janitor. After a while, she excused herself, grabbed a bookbag from her room, and walked to the library to return her library books.

Amanda "Lily" Mason changed her clothes and made her way out onto the fields, meeting up with the other cheerleader as they talked for a while before starting work on their routines, stretching and working on a quick pyramid while chanting the names of the sports team, one of the other girls responsible for basically writing poems to the team to chant out.

Amanda "Jasmine" Mason had made her way to chess club and physics club respectively, happily playing chess and increasing her skill, before working on models with her friends, meticulously carving wood and crafting it together for her models. She left the model in class, taking the long way to the exit, but she managed to run into some bullies anyways.

The bullies, a group of popular boys and girls sneered at her. "Where do you think your going, shrimp?"

"Jasmine" raised her hands defensively, fixing her glasses as she did so "Hey guys... Can't I just go?" She asked, looking around to see if there was a way around them. This group was at odds with other popular groups, like the one her sister was in, so she hadn't been able to stop this through the social structure.

The main guy, Tyler, shook his head, grinning at his girlfriend, Pepper (A brutish girl), walked over, and grabbed her hood. "No, this is a lot of fun, we can't miss out on that!" One of the bullies opened up their locker, which was empty besides the dirty gym clothes kept on the top shelf, and Pepper forced her in.

Jasmine hardly resisted, as escaping would be hard, and doing so would at least require injuring someone, which would land her in massive trouble. She heard the lock on the outside click, as she heard them laugh. She groaned, in unison with somebody somewhere else, as she lowered herself to sit.

The bullies stayed around a bit, talking about ways to make the locker more unbearable, but they were just saying it so she heard it, and they soon left. Sliding into resting position, she rested her head on the door, locker filled with the horrible smell of teenage boy, as she just closed her eyes, listening for anyone in the hallway.

-On the way back from the library-

It had been a quick drop and leave. "Lily" was going out to eat with the cheerleaders, and "Jasmine was still resting in a locker. She groaned, smelling the rank dirtiness of the locker, before she heard something, loud fighting, and guns. She paused, she really shouldn't get involved, but she had been having those weird dreams lately, and despite how they all ended, they weirdly filled her with.... adventure? It was hard to consider, as elusive as the feeling was to her. So, she turned, slowly walking into the ally towards the large warehouse.

She walked up to the side door, where one of the large doors meant to let in cars was left barely open. Looking around, she grabbed a short pipe, getting on the ground to crawl in. She stopped, peeking out from behind a crate. She wasn't being as stealthy or elegant as she was normally, with only one body present.

On one side was what seemed to be a lizard monster, basically just eating bullets as she watched in a weird fascination. Amanda twirled the pipe in her hand, trying to decide whether or not to just leave, as on her own she wasn't much against guns or... giant lizardfolk?

While she was still being indecisive, she was noticed, as fairly easily snuck up on the loud noises of the fight, she only turned around in time to let out a short gasp, pointing the pipe at the thug. Of course, in a fight over a pipe vs a gun, the ~~pipe wins!~~ gun would be the obvious choice.

After a brief struggle, Amanda managed to break the thug's wrist with the pipe, the thug managed to overpower her, wrapping his arm around her neck as he pressed the gun to her temple, growling at her. "You're lucky I'm not blasting your brains out." He told her, dragging her out into the open, and looking over the scene together, yelling at the 'bloodfather' "Stand down, or she gets it!" He said, assuming Amanda was with him in this whole thing.

Jenny

Jenny made her way through the rest of the school day, taking notes and absentmindedly drawing on scrap paper. She was a brilliant kid, but very much had a one-track mind as she daydreamed about meeting powerful super people. Sure, she got A's and B's, but she could still do better.

She actually got a special exemption from gym class, under another coach across the room for disabled kids and kids with notes. Her injury on her right hand caused her great pain, excluding her from a lot of the required exercises, though the coach had helped her exercise her right arm still with special exercises. She deeply hated she needed this treatment like she was weaker than the others across the room. It was why she hid the scar in the first place, but it was hard to convince anyone she didn't need the special course.

After school, she went back to the car, waiting for Lucas to end the day as well.

waluigipinball · May 4, 2023

Fin's teleportation had left her unscathed for once. With the commotion of the police arriving and the boy approaching her, she'd found herself surprised that she had managed to concentrate enough. Still, it was a fair walk home- but recollections of the day behind her flashed in her mind, keeping her thoughts occupied. Without any sort of music to distract her, the smallest opportunities were taken to pull her away from the depths of her feelings. That... strange beast, talking tauntingly and knitting its flesh back together. That shrouded figure, the Spectre... both of them were like her in some way. Possessing powers, using them to drive out crime to the best of their efforts... she wondered, had they ever been thanked? Did they yearn for notoriety, for recognition? Perhaps the loud one did, but... the Spectre...

She had hardly changed out of her 'hero-costume' when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Glancing at it- a message from an unknown number- immediately sent her heart plummeting to her feet. Though, the thump in her chest soon subsided when she read the rest of the message, gaze gliding over the words. It was Soren, making good on his offer to help her study.

A smile flickered on her lips, ever-weary, as she typed her reply. I'm down! Shouldn't take me too long to get there :-) Hitting send, a deluge of relief washed over her as she tipped her head back to look at her ceiling. Thank God he hadn't asked to come around here. It would have been an awkward refusal, but... she was unwilling to let anyone into her home to see her mother. Didn't want to answer any difficult questions, because the guilt might crush her to relive it even if she were to lie.

Fin grasped a small note in her hand, creeping into her mother's bedroom. She was asleep still... good. Her chest rose and fell softly, and Fin found herself looking at her for a few long moments, nails digging into her palms. She did not want to look into her mind- blocked out even the most passive attempt as she walked forward, sliding the note onto her beside table. Mom- I'm at a friend's house. Send me a message if you need me.

During her walk her mind kept wandering to the confrontation at the docks... to the thrill of toppling an enemy with her thoughts, to the slumbering worry she felt if she ever were to lose control of those powers again. Soren was at least a pleasant presence- one she had seen little of before, yet had ended up spending most of the day with. He seemed... unlikely to draw any sort of negative reaction from her. The fear of injuring anyone else also kept a reasonable cap on her wilder emotions...

It was not the shortest walk in the world, but it was at least more enjoyable than the rushed trek away from those docks. Incisors fastened upon her bottom lip as she glanced again at her phone, double-checking that she'd gotten the right house number. Yes- yes, it was this one. Going over her basic sign language in her head, Fin strode forward and knocked thrice upon the door.

comic · May 5, 2023

VANESSA

Normally already quite awkward, having a sleep-deprived mind did not improve any social skills. It didn't take long for the little quiz or test or whatever to end (frankly, Vanessa couldn't honestly recall what it had been or why they'd been doing it; the memory soaking into the depths of her mind).

The blur of time and disjointed focus returned. A girl going through the motions, trying her best to actually focus, and ultimately failing. THe bags under her eyes must have looked like caked on makeup. She vaguely recalled Biology, U.S. History, a stale PB&J sandwich at lunch, some running in Gym, English Classical Literature, followed by Choir practice, then on toward Volleyball practice, and eventually sliding into her bland part-time job at McDonald's, where more than one old guy told her she needed a raise because they were "overworking her." Despite her tired mind, she wasn't ignorant to the irony that it was she who was overworking herself.

And then finally...

FINALLY...

It was 10 pm.

Refilled with a youthful and wakeful vigor that had been non-existent in the girl all day, she made her back home as quickly as possible, and donned her homemade superhero costume. Flashy golds and threads of bronze, silky whites and black latex with grey fibers to add density and durability (not for herself, of course, she didn't want to damage her costume). It was only thanks to having a father like she had that Vanessa had access to better materials such as these, to allow for more ornate, complex, and specialized costumes. And of course, there was the mask. Or rather, the golden domino mask. It didn't do much to hide her appearance, but it did conceal the bags under her eyes, and her chipper attitude as Might Girl was a stark contrast to the awkward and meek Vanessa Everest. She liked to think it was a better disguise than Clark Kent and Superman.

She wasted no time in taking to the skies.

Her disguise wasn't Vanessa's only comparison to Superman; she LOVED Superman comics and movies. Just gobbled it all up - of course, most superhero stuff like that had died off with the emergence of real-life superhumans, as they instead filled those celebrity roles (her father, Patriot, having his own fair share of comics and movies at this point), but it was always Superman that stuck with her the most. She couldn't quite describe why or how, but it was something about that old media that truly inspired her.

Every power he displayed, she tried to find some way to replicate. It was fortunate that she also had her father as an example, meaning she could see something she actually should be capable of. Of course, possessing a copy of Patriot's abilities (which were in-turn a mockery of Superman's) wasn't uncommon, but still a surprising rarity. Most superhuman children didn't often possess the abilities their super-parent did, especially if there were two super-parents involved. It was a weird genetic thing, like mutants from the X-Men. Another set of comics she had a guilty pleasure for.

Of course, she didn't have the time for much comic books these days.

Once at the apex of her flight, Vanessa came to a stop, overlooking the city. Home. The place she protected. Well, that wasn't exactly true, most every city these days had its own small group of superhuman vigilantes (Technically a crime, yes, but most police forces had long since accepted this new way of life. You can't exactly arrest all of the superheroes then expect the supervillains to let you treat them the same. There needs to be a balance.)

Listening intently, the girl closed her eyes, feeling the cool wind rush over her body, waking her up anymore.

This...

This is what she lived for.

Her eyes shot open upon hearing a commotion. The telltale sounds of fighting. Impacts, bodies hitting the ground, grunts of pain... Other vigilantes dealing the swift hand of justice, perhaps? The sounds were rather persistent, some overlapping... even a few gunshots. Multiple fights in the same location. Realization suddenly clicked.

A gang bust!

Her mouth split into a wide grin. No way was she getting left out of that!

The young hero burst through the sky, leaving momentary streaks across the sky as she zipped her way toward the source of such sounds.

And in a few brief moments-

CRASH!

"Everyone..." Vanessa spoke, hoping her entrance had been as spectacular as she'd envisioned it, moments before she'd arrived, currently in the titular "superhero landing" pose.

"Put your hands in the air."

She rose up, only to find a couple people staring at her. Most had opened fire on a-

...

Vanessa's brow furrowed and she rubbed at her eyes. Surely she'd fallen asleep floating around the clouds again, right? What the HECK was THAT?

"Stand down, or she gets it!"

Her gaze snapped toward her right to find a girl held at gunpoint by one of these men. Dream or not, Vanessa had to do something. She was on the yakuza goon in a second, her palm against the barrel of the gun. The man's eyes widened when he realized what was happening, and he'd fired. The bullet crumbled against Might Girl's hand, before she pushed the gun into the man's forehead. He let out a small yelp before he fell backward, dropping his sidearm and clutching at his head. A quick scan with her super cool and totally awesome x-ray vision revealed that he'd suffered no serious injury. A concussion, maybe, but unlikely, she'd made sure to be gentle.

"Hey, get out of here before you get hurt!" Might Girl urged the girl who'd just been held hostage, before she spun around, golden cape billowing, her eyes locking onto what she'd heard called the "Bloodfather."

Some kind of monster.

Judging by the corpse behind it, this wasn't friendly.

Grimacing at the grotesqueness, Vanessa's hands balled into fists. These criminal guys were obviously bad, but this thing?

That was a supervillain.

Glancing left, then right, there happened to be a boat engine nearby. Probably set aside to take apart, repair, or just sell. Whatever the case was, it wasn't in its boat, and it was fairly large and heavy. Judging by the bullet-proof nature of this beast, she figured it could take this. If it was less of a monster and actually a person using abilities, she didn't want to seriously hurt them.

Tossing the boat engine one-armed, it rattled heavily through the air like an oversized and overweight softball toward the Bloodfather. "Hey, creepo!" She shouted. "Why don't you pick on someone a little more your league?"

OmnipotentOnion · May 6, 2023

Soren had retrieved his second apple of the day when his phone suddenly vibrated, and he put down his late-night snack before reading through Fin's response to his proposition. He'd been the one to make the offer in the first place, but he couldn't help but blink in surprise when she accepted and had almost immediately left. Then again, Fin had certainly shown herself to be full of surprises in the short time they'd been acquainted. Seeking him out in the scramble to assemble groups during algebra, promptly noticing and addressing him more times in a day than he'd ever been noticed in a full month? The often invisible Soren, who could never get people's attention until he was standing right in front of them, was not at all used to such contrast in reception, but... he couldn't say he disliked it. Well, who in their right mind could ever dislike being treated like an actual human being and not a ghost? As foreign as this felt, Soren certainly appreciated Fin in this regard, and keeping that appreciation in mind, he patiently awaited her arrival as he returned to polishing off his apple.

...

Sure enough, three knocks resounded through the house not terribly long after, and with all of his study supplies situated on the living room table, Soren strode over to the front door and opened it, greeting his guest with a small but friendly smile.

"Welcome! Didn't think you'd actually want to come, given the short notice and late hour, but I'm glad you're here. Was the walk safe?"

His disposition, which was as warm as he could manage, couldn't hide the dark spots of exhaustion under his eyes, the slight weariness with which he moved from his recent overexertion, or the soft yet slightly hoarse voice with which he spoke. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to hope Fin wouldn't notice and waved her inside as he spoke, gesturing to the rack of shoes near the door for her to place her own. Regardless of whether or not his parents were present, there were certain house rules he was much too terrified to break and risk divine retribution from the most fearsome being in the known universe, even if she was on night patrol today and wouldn't be home until dawn. He then made his way back to the living room table and scooped up his things, turning back to glance at Fin.

"Feel free to make yourself comfortable; in terms of study space, I'm okay with either the living room or my room upstairs, whichever you prefer. Anything specific in the material you wanted to cover?"

waluigipinball · May 8, 2023

Fin had not waited for long- and was of course thankful that the face greeting her was a familiar one. She was not good with small talk, given... the lack of words she was willing to offer people. Specifically, zero. Soren didn't seem to mind, though, the same way some others did. She met him with a small smile, a nod to answer his question. Thankfully he did not live in a rough area... she might have had a headache by now if he did.

He looked- tired, oddly, but it would be rude to pry. She stopped herself from doing so- every part of her that enjoyed eavesdropping equally felt bad when accidentally picking up inner thoughts of people she liked. Mental blockade built, she opted only to explain her promptness. 'Home's boring,' she signed, bringing her hand up to her cheek to touch it twice and then laying her fingertip to the side of her nose and twisting her wrist. It was perhaps a... basic and even insensitive way to describe her home life, but was all she could offer.

Dutifully she slipped off her trainers and placed them on the shoe rack, gaze roaming as they moved through the house toward the living room. Ever worried about being intrusive, when Soren asked her which room she would prefer Fin motioned to the one they were standing in, settling awkwardly into a seat. Suddenly she felt quite hyper-aware of what she was doing, how she looked- whether it was right or not. When was the last time she'd visited someone else's house, anyway..?

Reaching for her pocket notebook and pen, producing it quickly from the depths of her overstuffed bag, she wrote. I really suck at graphs. Presenting it to him, she got her own study book out, flicking to a past quiz with some big red Xs next to the graph questions to prove her point. Humour glinted in her gaze despite the small buzz of embarrassment she felt. A thought popping into her head, she hurriedly scrawled, Thank you for this- hope I can return the favour someday!

Though she doubted there was anything in this subject she could offer.

OmnipotentOnion · May 8, 2023

Home's boring.

Soren couldn't keep an amused, yet somehow also somber chuckle from escaping.

"Yeah, I get that. I'd say we're really quite alike in that sense; it takes everything for me not to just get out of the house every night once all of my busywork's done so that I can..."

His words trailed off and faded into silence, as Soren barely managed to keep his sense of duty from finishing his sentence for him. So that he could do what he really needed to do. Courtesy of the lingering exhaustion from earlier, he supposed. He didn't often seek out further social interaction after a mission--after all, it was yet another handful of masks he had to place over him, his weariness, his pain... his conviction. Yet, his need for something to get what had happened off his mind had led him to this point, so he had better not falter now. Not from his own inability to do at least this right.

"...uh, so that I can just clear my head."

Remembering the presence of his words' recipient, Soren quickly exited the confines of his own head, finished and covered up his fractured thoughts, and turned back to keep his attention on Fin. She'd preferred the living space to study, so he met her in the seat adjacent to hers. He had noticed her slight disquietude upon sitting down, so with as reassuring a smile as he could, Soren watched as she procured her own supplies and coursework from her bag. She wrote down in her notebook where in algebra she'd been struggling, and then another message after that. Simply one of gratitude and intent to "return the favor". Upon reading the latter note, Soren waved a hand in dismissal, though his still present smile, unbeknownst to him, had seemed to just slightly grow in size and warmth.

"Ah, no need. If anything, I'm thankful to you for even accepting my offer, late as it is. I might have needed this more than you, to be honest."

Soren had once again left his thoughts open-ended and vague with an added brewing of internal conflict. Of course, on the surface-level visible for Fin, he'd definitely benefit from teaching the material to further cement his preparation for the exam. However, there was the deeper part of his thoughts that dwelled on his selfish use of what could very well be one of his few close friends to deal with something he could never tell her about. Simply hoping that Fin only saw that surface part of the conversation, Soren once again shifted his focus and took out his own notes, filled with meticulously drawn graphs and hand-written equations.

"Anyway, let's get started."

waluigipinball · May 8, 2023

Fin was glad her humoured explanation had been received well, rather than with a blank and confused look- which was really all she could ask, wasn't it? Not having anyone prying... and not making it sound like she wanted pity. She hated the look that others got in their eyes when she had to explain to them that her mother was bed-bound or asleep for most hours of the day- that glint of condolence that cut right into her core. Sympathy she did not deserve.

His earlier words- speaking of how they were alike, how he liked to clear his head after doing more monotonous work- had elicited a small curve upon her lips that had stayed relatively put despite her hesitations. The way he had pause did not go unnoticed, however- perhaps the reason why he wanted to clear his head was a touchy subject of some kind.

Reassurance worked wonderfully when she was often worried about what she was doing wrong, carrying herself as if she might explode at any moment- the encouraging look he gave her worked wonders. Settling her posture into something a little less unnatural, Fin's eyes curved with her smile, feeling a swell of ironic gratitude as he expressed that he was thankful she'd even bothered to come. That- somehow, somehow, this benefitted him more than her. Had she not practiced for years to restrain her knee-jerk reaction Fin might have laughed in his face- had she not proven to him earlier that she was no good at it?

Then- what lay beneath the surface level set in. Maybe what little she had to offer came in the form of her company- his house was quiet, that was for sure. She could sense no other minds here... had heard no noise from elsewhere in the house. Though it felt wrong to assume, Fin knew as well as anyone how nice it was to be able to get away from the clamour of your thoughts for a little while. To delve deeper into any assumption of him wanting company felt strange, but there was something she could say, at least. Or- scribble, she supposed. No siblings to annoy you then? she wrote, before craning her neck to look at his work. It was... rather meticulously laid out, wasn't it?

Hey eyes flickered wide- noticeably. Perhaps she should have surmised it from the quiz, but- he really knew what he was doing, didn't he? You didn't tell me you were a genius, she wrote, and a small puff of air left her nose- laughing at her own joke. A bit pathetic- but it relaxed her a little more against her seat.

| Korutesu | · May 9, 2023

Okay, well this turned out very badly.. Two super-powered heroes just arrived, and they clearly look like they've got different views on how to take down these guys. Pierre had one goal in mind though, and that was to get the civilians out of the crates, and move out. He hadn't finished training of his lightning powers, so if he used it now it'd end up badly for everyone in the warehouse, and plus, those two look like they're gonna duke it out, so the civilians were top priority, but how was he going to get them out, when there's a ton of boxes around the warehouse? Well, there's only one thing to do, and that's to open them all one by one. There's nothing else the lightning-powered superhero could do other than open them all one by one, so it was prime time to do so.

He pried open a box, and told the person to get out of the warehouse, and call the cops. Pierre would stay here and keep watch of these individuals, "Might-Girl" and "Bloodfather", just to be sure nobody gets in danger. If it did turn out for the worst, the cops should come, hopefully sooner rather than later, since this looks like a bomb waiting to blow-up on itself.

OmnipotentOnion · May 11, 2023

A brief sense of relief had come over Soren when he'd noticed Fin's shifting movements through his periphery, seeing that she'd at least been able to relax a little more after his efforts to offer at least some comfort. Suddenly, another message was written into her notebook, and Soren glanced over to read through it.

No siblings to annoy you then?

"Nope, just me here most of the time. My parents have work 'til most late nights, so I got used to spending them alone. Not that I terribly mind the silence; I usually have better things to do, anyway. Things like this, for example. The solitude presents some nice opportunities."

Then, another message, and Soren watched quietly, intently as Fin wrote.

You didn't tell me you were a genius.

A sudden noise broke through the silence, and Soren's periphery revealed to him its source: a quick, sharp exhalation from Fin's nose, the beginnings of an amused grin pulling at her corners. The sight prompted a soft chuckle of his own, his smile only growing warmer the more Fin had seemed to relax, but as his gaze wandered through his notes, his deep purple irises seemed to darken with a heavy resolve. The graphs he'd drawn with obsession over every detail. The equations, theorems, and definitions he'd taken from several resources pertaining to each chapter of the course material. Soren's smile faltered just the slightest bit, and hoping Fin wouldn't notice, he gave a slight, dismissive shrug to her compliment.

"Nah, it's just hard work."

A lie, spoken through his teeth as easily as he breathed. All these things he'd slaved over... no, it wasn't genius. Wasn't hard work. It was the bare minimum. It was the least he could do. If he couldn't do any of these things right, if he couldn't do them perfectly, how could he ever expect to...

Suddenly, his pencil, which had been slowly escaping from his loose grasp, fell and clattered to the table, abruptly snapping him out of his trance.

"Ahem--anyway, for graphs like these, you really wanna pay attention to..."

Stupid, stupid--he had to stop thinking about himself all the time. Yanking the focus back away from himself yet again, Soren returned his full attention to his guest and the task at hand, silently resolving to keep it there for as long as she stayed.

It was the least he could do.

DevVoid · May 11, 2023

The Bloodfather's shield was raised, blocking incoming fire with a dense, thick layer of bone protecting him, a shield-like growth formed out of his left hand and extended in front of himself. Though he could smell this new individual already coming and was planning to save it, the next new arrival he could not, like she had just appeared in this moment. Strange, but given his own circumstances, nothing to raise an eyebrow about.

While she was busy with replaying her generic_hero_dialogue.mp4 and dealing with saving the girl held hostage by his own targets, Bloodfather reinforced his own shield and armor, adding more density and thickness to it. Something told him things were gonna go wrong.. Terribly wrong. And his gut feeling was correct, as floaty mcgee now turned on him, throwing a boat engine at him out of nowhere! Luckily for him, his shield took the brunt of the impact, causing him to slide back a bit, yet remaining unharmed. The morphing entity yelled out, not trying to order those two heroes whose scent he picked up earlier around, but trying to tell them one clear thing.

" YOU TWO, HOSTAGE GIRL AND GUY SAVING PEOPLE. I SUGGEST YOU GET THOSE CRATES OPEN AND GET YOURSELF AND THE VICTIMS OUT OF HERE WHILE I CAN HOLD THIS LUNATIC OFF. "

Then, his clubbing arm transformed. It retained its oval shape, but opened up at one end into six barrel-like pipe constructs, resembling the shape of a honeycomb's pattern. Then, this arm was aimed at the floating girl and the entire hand begun spinning, quickly firing out a barrage of razor-sharp teeth at rapid speeds like a chaingun with its bullets at Might Girl. For all he knew, she was with these guys, trying to put up a 'hero' front to trick them into believing a lie. Well, he wasn't one to blindly believe such facádes, that was for sure!

comic · May 12, 2023

MIGHT GIRL

Crates? While Vanessa was surprised this monstrosity could even speak, she finally took in the situation around them. What were these criminals doing here in the first place? It didn't take the hero long to realize it was people that were in the crates. Why did this creature care about them? Unless... it was the thought of more food for itself!?

"Yeah, what that thing said," Vanessa told the two Bloodfather had addressed. "Except the only lunatic is the monster literally eating people!"

In the time she'd said this, the beast had formed some... ugh, she didn't even want to look at it. This thing made her want to throw up. Regardless, she held in the contents of her stomach. She raised her arms to shield her eyes as the projectiles hit her, pinging off of her before dropping to the ground. She looked down from behind her forearms to see that they were...

Eugh.

This guy was a villain, all right.

Using the super-on-super action to their advantage, the various yakuza were quick to take new positions, gunning for both Might Girl and Bloodfather. Like the teeth, bullets bounced off of Vanessa, riddling against her. It wasn't as though she couldn't feel it, it made her body tingle wherever they hit. An uncomfortable feeling, but not exactly harmful.

Criminals or not, she wasn't going to let this eldritch monster eat people alive. They had to live to face justice for their crimes. Might Girl began to step to the side of the warehouse, arms still up, trying to keep the enemy fire trained on her, making it less likely anyone else would get shot by a stray bullet. Fortunately, no projectiles were bouncing off of her in a manner as to hurt anyone else, either, as they were all falling to the ground, crumpled from the impact of hitting her.

"Are you guys ever gonna run out of teeth and bullets!?" She called. "I think we've all established they don't work on me!"

Following this, she leapt, landing upon a walkway in the blink of an eye, grabbing one yakuza and throwing him into another, both tumbling to the ground. As the other yakuza trained their weapons on her, Vanessa realized the guys she'd just knocked out were in the way of the crossfire, and even more quickly than before, she practically appeared at the other end of the warehouse, setting the two men on the ground without much grace. Hopefully they wouldn't get eaten or shot over here.

Blitzing her way back across the warehouse, Might Girl reeled a fist back, and struck at Bloodfather from behind. She really didn't want to touch this thing, but if she didn't stop it, more people would die. That was unacceptable.

waluigipinball · May 13, 2023

Fin found herself nodding along with his speech, confirming in her own silent way that she was listening. But- inwardly, it was also an expression that she agreed- that she related, even. Her entire life was ensnared in silence- she very well understood the necessity to get used to it when soundlessness was all that surrounded you. Thoughtfulness swam in her brown eyes, and on her face there was a clear expression of quiet understanding. The muscles of her jaw clenched. Though she did not respond, she let her smile flutter a little wider for a moment, raising her hand to her head and signing 'I understand'. It was a basic phrase, but the best she could manage.

Her eyes lingered on his page as he spoke of hard work, seemingly unwilling to admit there was any talent involved. It made sense, that resolve... why else would she be here? Fin only noticed the silence that had stretched between them when it was broken, Soren's pencil skittering across the table. She tensed as she jumped at the noise, and immediately felt embarrassed for doing so.

Sheepishly, she slid his pencil back over to him, listening intently as he talked her through the subject. Head bowed, she took her notes in a separate book, letting the one full of her conversational phrases sit abandoned on the table. Her genuine willingness showed quite obviously in her body language, the way she nodded at what he said and scribbled it down almost word for word.

'Thank you,' she signed yet again, before she really thought about it, barely looking up from her page as she did so. It was the least she could do, really.

OmnipotentOnion · May 14, 2023

Soren hadn't noticed Fin quietly slide his pencil back in front of him after it fell, desperately trying to keep himself engrossed in explaining the material. To keep himself out of his own head. However, a brief glance at her beside him as he spoke brought yet another twinge of amusement, as she seemed just as engaged, if not more than him. Not that he really even needed his periphery to see that, though, given how eager her movements were, in every nod of her head and the notes she took. She signed her gratitude once again, and hopefully unbeknownst to her, a smile tugged harder at his corners as Soren continued on. He really had needed this.

...

"Well, that's all there is for that chapter. Maybe good to take a quick break, let things kinda settle?"

Soren marked where he'd left off in his notes with colored strips before closing his books and rising from his seat. Retrieving two glasses from a kitchen shelf, he filled them with water and offered one to Fin, silently scorning himself for not doing so when she'd first arrived. It wasn't long until Soren then decided to initiate some more small talk, both to allow Fin's mind some reprieve from the sheer amount of math and also to continue to keep his own mind from dulling the mood.

"To talk about something that isn't algebra, are you in any clubs at school? Curious about your hobbies and whatnot. I'm pretty antisocial myself, being as 'invisible' as I usually am, but I joined the martial arts club. My parents were pretty into martial arts as well when they were younger, so I guess it was only natural. I bet none of the other club members know I'm even there sometimes, though."

DevVoid · May 16, 2023

She was fast, that he had to admit. Though Bloodfather highly doubted he could keep up with those kinds of quick movements, he realised something as his teeth were pinging off of Might Girl just as the bullets were equally crumpling against his armor. She was avoiding eye contact. What a mistake that would be, as while Might Girl was briefly using the moment to carry some goons out of harm's way, Bloodfather already re-formed himself - from fang-firing machine gun to another shield constructed of just a large, dense clump of bone, alongside several small holes forming all over his body and shield-like hand/arm constructs.

Using his superior sense of scent compared to common folk, he remained still as he focused on the foe's smell, tracking her movements through the sky.. and just as she was closing in and curling her hand into a fist, about to throw a punch.. a viscous mixture of vicious stomach acid and blood shot out from his newly made pores in all direction, melting away at incoming bullets and spraying at Might Girl herself! The acid served both as an attack and a repellent while the blood was just more there to gross out the 'hero' more than anything to keep this advantage up, if to also grant a sticky adhesiveness to the acid that would cling to his opponent should she manage to fail to avoid the spray in time.

| Korutesu | · May 16, 2023

Okay, it was prime time to open these crates, because if Pierre kept waiting, then these civilians will be harmed, one way or another. Since the cops were coming, especially since that's where Pierre had found that this was happening in the first place, they'll be the ones to deal with the Yakuza and these two super-powered people. But Bluebolt's current job now was to get these people out of here, safe from harm with these two fighting it out. He pried out more boxes as the two were fighting it out, letting free the civilians to escape out into the night. Soon enough, sirens blared where they could hear it. The police were here at the warehouse too, but Pierre expected this. He did find the documents about this from his mother's office, so he should've known that they'd be here.

A dozen or more cops entered the warehouse, as Bluebolt kept prying the boxes open to let these civilians escape. And then he saw her. His mother, standing with the crowd of cops that gathered here in the warehouse. Pierre couldn't just stand there as Bloodfather and Might Girl were fighting, he needed to do something, and fast. A quick taze might work on Might Girl, but would he even be able to catch her? And plus, he doesn't even know if it'd work or not. He needs to think of what to do, and fast.

The Dark Fairy · May 18, 2023

Amanda

After her sudden, but rough freeing, Amanda stumbled forward, watching in stunned silence as Might girl threw around things in the middle of the warehouse. It was awe inspiring frankly.

Elsewhere, it was all Lily Mason could do to keep talking to her friends about last night homework, and not just start talking about Might girl, or even superhero’s.

In the warehouse however, Amanda shock her head, quickly realizing she didn’t really have any stick with these three super powered individuals, but she couldn’t help but feel a rush of adrenaline and recklessness. Looking backwards, she saw the police had already gotten the actual gang under control and were well under way with the hostages.

Smiling, she walked forward, carefully jumping back as acid sprayed all over the place, the retched smell almost making her puke. Carrying forward, she picked her pipe back up, she tried to come up closer “Might girl! Stop! He was just helping! I saw it myself!” Amanda yelled, waving her pipe to try and flag her attention.

waluigipinball · May 19, 2023

It was relieving to be at the end of the chapter, despite the fact that Fin felt like she'd gained quite a lot from the revision. As rewarding as the experience had turned out to be, a little bit of fatigue had begun to set in- it seemed Soren shared the sentiment, at least. She gave a nod, accepting his offer for a break, a double thumbs-up accompanying her movement as her pen clattered to the table. Shutting her own book and marking it with the pen she'd just let go of, Fin shuffled her stuff off to the side so she could rest her elbows on the table.

When he brought her in some water she quickly signed her gratitude before taking a sip, looking at him in her periphery as she did so. Clubs- right. The mention of martial arts brought a flicker of surprise to her features; with how good of a student he was, she could scarcely believe how he managed to find time. Wasn't it exhausting? But- perhaps it was a way for reprieve, and likely helped with self defence if it was ever necessary.

'Cool', she signed, a smile flickering on her lips, close-lipped but still entirely tangible. Reaching for her pocket notebook, she produced a pencil from her pocket (one of her endless hiding-places for her seemingly endless flow of supplieS) and began to write a message, having hit a road block with her knowledge of sign language. I don't know how you manage to slip by unseen, she wrote. Sure, he was quiet when no-one was speaking to him, but- weren't most people? It'd be impressive, but- Fin was not sure if she'd like to go about her life completely unacknowledged. And to her, there was nothing about him that was particularly unnoticeable. In fact- he was fairly interesting. More than most.

I'm in art club. I don't always go, but it's pretty fun when I do. People have a lot of funny conversations in the art rooms when they think no-one's listening. A mischievous glint illuminated her dark brown eyes, unable to hide for a moment her enjoyment of gossip.

OmnipotentOnion · May 20, 2023

Hm. His throat felt... dry? Unusually dry, as if... as if he hadn't talked this much in a while. Strange, it wasn't as if he was entirely mute--like Fin, though that was a completely different case, of that he was sure. But it had been quite a bit since someone had drawn out so many words from him. His parents weren't much of a valid argument, of course; his mother was more than curt enough for the both of them, and Dad was just... gone. This new friendship with Fin was utterly unexpected and more than a little intriguing, given their current method of communication... but it wasn't unwelcome.

Fin's fleeting blink of surprise, which soon became a slight smile, and a motion with her index finger and thumb quickly brought Soren back from his moment of disquietude, and her reaction only caused his disposition to soften further. As she once again opened the notebook used for conversation, he took the seat across from her to better see what she wanted to say.

I don't know how you manage to slip by unseen.

A small grin crossed his lips, one of amusement, as always, as he fired back a retort.

"Couldn't get past you, though, huh? Excluding my parents, you're one of very few to notice me on multiple occasions, let alone directly seek me out the way you did when we teamed up in Algebra."

However, despite his smile, Fin wouldn't have had to look very closely at all to notice the exhaustion, the resignation in the hollow indigo of his eyes. No matter how interesting she might have found him, the weariness with which he maintained as warm a demeanor as possible was more than sufficient an answer to the question she'd asked herself. Whether he liked it or not, Soren had gone about a good portion of his life completely unacknowledged, and he couldn't do anything about it.

Regardless, Soren redirected his gaze to the notebook as Fin wrote once again, answering the question he'd asked out loud.

People have a lot of funny conversations when they think no one's listening.

His eyes dwelled on that last sentence for a bit longer, and he couldn't help but release a humored puff of air from his nose upon noticing the sparkle of mischief dance in her eyes for but a second.

"Tell me about it; I've overheard my fair share of gossip as well, since I practically don't exist to other people--whoa, that got depressing."

Soren took a quick sip of water before continuing the conversation, hoping to divert the topic before her started brooding yet again.

"You ever go to any of the school events? There haven't been too many, what with it being only a month or so since school started, but I heard Homecoming's coming up soon."

comic · May 20, 2023

MIGHT GIRL

"UGH! WHAT THE HECK!?"

Vanessa recoiled, covered in a sickly bile that began to eat through her costume. It left a mild red rash on her skin where it touched, but didn't do much. Unfortunately, some got in her mouth, and she retched to clear it out well after she'd already spit the gunk away. Her gaze turned down upon her costume, and her face reddened. "Ew, you creep!" Might Girl called Bloodfather. Nothing revealing was showing yet, but more skin than she was comfortable with displaying had been revealed, much to her chagrin.

She wiped the acid off of herself. Despite its stickiness, her strength easily overcame the adhesiveness, and it instead clung to her hands, which she shook off to a corner when that one hostage girl spoke to her, defending Bloodfather. Might Girl's frown deepened as she glanced toward Amanda. "Dude, this thing ate a person. Didn't you see that hollowed out guy? That's serial killer stuff."

"Heroes don't kill. We stop the bad guy so that the police can haul them away. This guy's not a hero --- just a murderer."

DevVoid · May 20, 2023

The acid did not do much damage, at least not to this floating stranger. What a toughie it was to fight them. And now, the acid only made him look more terrible. But what else was he supposed to do? He already saw bullets pinging off her skin as if she was made from titanium, so physical attacks were out of the question. At least for now, until he could gather more samples to bundle strength from. However, the one he would've tried to rescue were it not for this crazy's interference actually tried to reason with the girl? That was new, Bloodfather expected her to jump on his tail as well. Well, first things first, accusations like these he would not go without a counter.

" You are literally talking to a shapeshifter. I can assume a much better-looking feminine shape than you'll ever manage. Don't flatter yourself, girly. "

The holes all around his body re-formed into solid matter as Bloodfather took this moment to look around himself. More people. New people. Even more stress. He could feel parts of his body start to melt like snow on the first sunny days of spring already. Also.. wait. Did she seriously just call him a murderer? Now that one he HAD to rebuke.

" I appreciate the sentiment, stranger. " His gaze looked to Amanda while thanking her, then his view landed on Might Girl. Or as he'd call her 'Blight Girl'. Because she sure has been a plague on his existence as it stands.

" Heroism's not about stopping 'bad guys', you do realise. It's about doing the right thing. The law is flawed, prisons are useless, the authorities can be corrupted. We are the only force standing between true justice and repeated offenses. In order for the Garden of Society to thrive, you don't move invasive weeds elsewhere into the time-out corner, you pull them by the roots and discard them proper. "

comic · May 20, 2023

MIGHT GIRL

"What."

Vanessa shook her head, pulling her cap around her torso to cover up some of her skin. "My guy this isn't Ancient Rome. This is an extreme philosophy. The right thing is not killing people. Laws are flawed, but can be changed and bettered. Prisons are- you know what, gimme proof on that one. And authorities can be exposed and replaced. That's how society thrives. You know, this chick made me consider that maybe you're just a misguided, weird little hero... thing, but now I know what you are."

The super began to lift into the air. "A murderer, an extremist, and a menace to the 'Garden of Society,' as you put it."

However, a shout from nearby interrupted them. "On the ground! Hands in the aaa..."

Vanessa turned to see the officer pointing his firearm at her. Wait, the police were here already? She'd been so focused on this dude she hadn't been paying attention to audio cues like a literal police siren. When the cop seemed to register who he was pointing at, he was quick to shout over his shoulder; "We got supers!"

Might Girl couldn't help but roll her eyes, annoyed at least a bit. This dumb Bloodfather had kept her from performing her duty as a super. Some of the bad guys probably got away, and the police would need help tracking them down. Without another word, Vanessa took off through the hole she'd made in the ceiling upon entering, rising high into the air, scanning about for any possible yakuza that had fled, while also keeping an eye on the situation below, ready to intrude if Bloodfather tried to attack the police.

The Dark Fairy · May 21, 2023

Amanda

After listening to the two, she realized they both seemed… Extreme, but she wasn’t trying to see a winner, so she opened her mouth to speak, before Might girl flew away, seemingly resisting arrest she noted…

Shacking her head, she ran forward, getting as close to this blood father figure as she could without getting burned, looking him over. She got confused a bit, as she didn’t know what ‘alright’ for him looked like. With a concerned look she reached out, before pulling her hand back, unsure if it was safe to touch him “Are you alright?” She asked, ignoring the police for now, hopefully not to her harm.

Lily Mason excused herself from the table, smiling as she said she got a text to leave. Of course, no one bothers to notice she didn’t pull out her phone, or that she didn’t have one on her, as she started heading back towards the school, annoyed that no one had been around to help Jasmine yet, leaving that could smell in her nose.

Jenny

Jenny stood outside, tapping her foot for a few seconds, before pulling out her phone, opening her contacts to Vanessa, where she had it saved from earlier that day, pressing the call button as she raised it to her ear. After Vanessa hopefully picked up, she spoke “Hey, I’m just waiting outside for that sleepover thing, you still around?”

waluigipinball · May 22, 2023

She did not miss the subtle shift of sadness on his face, though it slumbered beneath quite stealthily. Her face thawed into a stiller neutrality as the resolution to her inner wondering was confirmed, just from observance. It felt wrong to assume, but... she would not employ any tactic other than simply looking to surmise whether he was exhausted by constantly being looked over. At the very least, she was... somewhat glad that maybe, maybe, she might alleviate some of that disappointment.

'Lucky I'm observant', she signed, a flicker of various hand-gestures, her smile wobbling a little with uncertainty. Notably, she did not specify which one of them was the lucky one. It was rare for something to slip by her, but... she was glad she'd been able to pick up his presence where someone else might not. Of all the choices that room, it had been good for both of them that she'd wandered over to someone who was unused to being approached, but not opposed to it.

She noticed the speed in which he moved away from dwelling on anything depressing- and she would not pry, if he didn't wish to discuss it. Besides, it would be... hypocritical. The more depressing parts of her life were things she would not wish to delve into during smalltalk. Her teeth dug into the inside flesh of her cheek as she watched him read, and her vision dropped to the surface of the table as she pondered the question she had asked. It was a little pathetic to say that she had not, wasn't it? But, well... she wasn't fond of lying. Omission of truth was the most she indulged in that.

She shook her head- not sporty nor social, any invitation to join an event would have sailed right past her. A small silence stretched as she took a sip of her own water, scribbling a more elaborate answer. I've heard a lot of Homecoming gossip. IDK if I'll go though. Haven't got much hope in getting someone to go with, and she shrugged, turning her notebook over to him.

There was little trace of sadness upon her face, though- Fin had more than resigned herself to missing out on an event like Homecoming. She... hardly deserved it. A night of... whatever a school dance entailed, rampant gossip and awkward dancing, all away from her mother. Her mother who was hurt because of her.

DevVoid · May 23, 2023

That crazed girl fled as the sirens blared. How befitting of a villain to turn tail when the authorities show up. Since the floating madwoman had now fled the scene, keeping his cool was somewhat easier to do, making him capable of hiding his melting from open view and solidifying his exterior somewhat again. His gaze landed on the other girl who expressed worry over him, which did help calm his nerves a bit. At least this hero isn't as battle-crazed as that annoying pest.

" Oh, I'm fine, thank you. I've dealt with worse. I think we've got other things to deal with now, though. "

Bloodfather now turned his attention to the police, holding his hands flat up, not completely over his head but just above his shoulders. He was cautious of the cops, but not afraid - he figured it would only make his situation worse to upkeep the anger he held at the one he fought just now, so he'd just try to remain calm.

" Don't worry, Officers. We've taken care of most business here. And by we, I mean I, the girl over here and that guy over there. "

Bloodfather motioned with his head, nodding over to Amanda and Pierre respectively.

" We could've done it all but unfortunately, someone interrupted us, someone who was also willing to save those criminals. So, I'm afraid I cannot give an estimate of how many criminals managed to flee. We don't mean any harm. However, I cannot say the same about the girl that just flew away. "

comic · May 23, 2023

The officer listened, appearing more perturbed than anything, his raised forearm shaking slightly, before his radio beeped.

“Keep them there, I’m on my way,” a woman’s voice crackled in.

The officer gulped, evidently believing he lacked the ability to keep the supers anywhere - Bloodfather in particular.

“Just- stay where you are,” he commanded the pair, a few other officers moving into the building to begin rounding up the various yakuza members, regardless of their mortal status.

They didn’t have to wait long, as in just a few somewhat tense moments, a woman strode into the warehouse. She didn’t wear a uniform, instead dressed in formal business attire. She almost seemed like a lawyer, or an accountant, but her hard and stern eyes betrayed the truth.

This woman was-

“Chief Li,” the police chief greeted the pair, eyes flitting from Amanda to Bloodfather in what must have felt like a scrutinizing manner. “Good work busting this operation. We’ve been tracking Imoro Akata’s trafficking ring for some time.”

Here, she paused, now appearing to take in their surroundings. “However, you acted as vigilantes, not under government-regulated jurisdiction. I shouldn’t have to spell out for you what-“

Yin Li was interrupted, however, when a shout from above turned heads upwards. Might Girl had returned with an exuberant “hello!”

Under her arms were several men, clearly yakuza members, a couple even conscious and struggling.

Yin Li’s gaze seemed to somehow harden, despite already being tough as diamond.

“They were with you?” She asked.

Might Girl paused in the air, glancing down toward Bloodfather and Amanda, pursing her lips for a moment. “Yeah, uh, dad pointed it out and stuff…”

It was evident that Chief Li didn’t buy it, but she didn’t speak against it, either. The cause of this was deeper than Vanessa’s lie - it pertained to her father; Patriot.

After a moment, Li’s gaze returned to the ground-dwelling pair. “Get registered. Unlicensed supers are prohibited.”

With that, the Chief not even giving the two a word to say back, the Chinese woman turned on her heel and walked swiftly from the warehouse.

Vanessa bit the inside of her cheek, glancing again down at the obvious supervillain and the random chick that had been involved. She was a super? How could the Chief tell?

Regardless, Vanessa suddenly dropped the men she was holding, all of them falling into a heap on the floor when Might Girl’s phone began to ring. The ringtone being the middle of “Just A Girl” by No Doubt. “Sorry!” She called to the yakuza she’d just dropped, the remaining officers quickly beginning to round them up, Might Girl having collected them before they could fully flee.

Vanessa dug into her suit for a moment before she procured her mobile device, part of the bottom seemingly melted, probably by Bloodfather’s acid trick.

“Uh, one sec, sorry,” she told Amanda and Bloodfather, before she raised the phone to her ear. The number she didn’t recognize. The voice, vaguely so. But the context?

Vanessa paled. “Uh…” she gulped. “S-sleepover??”

She couldn’t remember agreeing to one. And it was so late! Who was this chick again??

The Dark Fairy · May 23, 2023

Amanda

Amanda looked up at Yin Li, blinking. She had been called a super… She supposed it wasn’t technically incorrect, and the police did know… She squinted, did she just know every super. She shook her head to clear it, she hadn’t even intended to be a superhero, nor did she really expect to keep doing it, as exciting as it was…. But she would get in deep trouble if she didn’t…

After a deep sigh, she looked at the blood father, glad he was calm, and no one was attacking him. She stood next to him anyways, as if she didn’t want him to be attacked.

Looking up as Might girl, she was about to yell up to ask her a question, chiefly to come down to talk, but she really just want to know… what the heck she was supposed to do now.

Jenny

Jenny was silent for a second, but her feelings of annoyance almost radiated through the phone before she spoke. “Yeah, we set up a study session in first period… You gave me your info and everything. You’re not going to leave me hanging, right?”

Jenny asked. She had a good grip on Vanessa…. Well, kinda, better than anyone else in the class. She didn’t think it likely Vanessa would cancel anything, so she just waited.

“I’m right outside the front gate.”

OmnipotentOnion · May 24, 2023

Lucky I'm observant.

Soren felt his smile tug just a tad harder at his corners--how long had it been since he'd enjoyed such amusement from another person's presence, he wondered. He wasn't completely friendless, of course; every so often, there came someone fortunate enough to at least notice him, let alone start a conversation, and though they came and went, fading back into mere facial recognition, Soren at least wasn't utterly bereft of social interaction.

But something about Fin felt... different? No matter how often he attempted to steer their chats away from his own burdensome anxieties, he couldn't shake the surprise he'd felt when she approached him on her own volition. Or, when his presence constantly went completely under the radar during the passing periods, yet Fin had seen him sitting against the wall and had even bothered to offer him a greeting. Was she really just observant?

She began writing once again, responding to his question. Gossip concerning Homecoming, uncertainty as to whether or not she'd be attending... the lack of a companion to accompany her.

"Oh, right."

The Homecoming dance was often most enjoyed by two students partnered together. Soren had noticed a few occasions on campus of some students quite ceremoniously asking the ones they fancied to the dance, earning them either a date and admiration from onlookers, or a devastating loss of all self-esteem. Sure, Soren did acknowledge a bit of a desire to attend at least one of these dances during his four years in high school, but the hassle of finding someone he liked enough to make such a proposal sure was a dissuading factor.

Fin had shrugged, seemingly indifferent toward her case; not wanting to assume anything, Soren simply offered an understanding nod in response.

"That's fair; I've thought about going, but I don't have anyone to go with either. I suppose there are people who just go with friends to... hang..."

A cursory glance at the clock suddenly wrested his attention from their conversation, and Soren immediately changed course, a new concern suddenly arising.

"Hey, how long are you allowed to stay, by the way? It's getting pretty late, so if you need to start heading out, I'd hate to hold you for too long. I don't mind walking you back either if need be."

waluigipinball · May 24, 2023

She suppressed a smile at his initial response- oh, right, as if he'd for a moment forgotten the primary 'joys' of Homecoming for so many. Fin, too, had witnessed a fair amount of proposals... for lack of a better term. She'd equally heard a few people thinking about it... looking at someone and yet avoiding their eye-line, their mind screaming embarrassment in a loud whirlwind. It had always been accidental prying, something she'd shut down immediately... but that did not erase her memories, unfortunately...

It was true, though. It wasn't all just an awkward-date thing, was it? Groups of friends went to flex their friendship, to let their shame flutter away on the wind and dance into the night. Fin did not know if she was strong enough for it, but- well, even if she had considered that option, she was not doing particularly well in the friend department. Up until today, at least.

She blinked a couple times in surprise as Soren shifted the conversation away, asking her a question she did not particularly have an answer to. Hesitation kept its place upon her face for a few long moments, her fingertips tapping a hurried rhythm on the table. 'My mom', she began to sign, but soon stopped, incisors digging into her bottom lip.

Fin grabbed her phone from her pocket quickly, checking the screen for any texts. She hadn't heard it make a noise, and- just as she had expected, there were no new text messages. No news was good news, right? And yet...

Soren was one of the few students she had met who understood sign language, laughing at her jokes when she made them and nodding along. So... hopefully, she could trust him to understand what she signed next. 'I told mom, text me. She', Fin pointed at her phone, 'hasn't.'

A frown creased her brows, and she sucked her lips in. Reaching for her notebook, she hurriedly finished. She's probably asleep. I don't want to leave her too long though.

OmnipotentOnion · May 25, 2023

Fin had blinked in surprise once again when Soren redirected the conversation, and having noticed it yet again, Soren felt a pang of guilt upon realizing how often he'd been changing the subject, as if using a friend (at least, he hoped he could call her that, despite it not even being a full day since they'd been properly acquainted) to alleviate his own feelings of disquietude and need for company wasn't enough. Regardless, Fin began to respond, signing her words with her hands while briefly checking her phone.

I told mom, 'text me'. She hasn't.

She'd then finished her thoughts in her notebook with a slight frown, and Soren quickly read through the contents of the page when revealed to him.

"Yeah, no problem. If you'd like me to walk you home, I'll be ready to go as soon as you have your things packed up."

Fin had managed to find her way to his home safely earlier, but the time was much later in the night, and there was no telling what could happen. Of course, Soren had no plans of revealing his powers to a potential friend he'd only known for a day--she could never know about his other life. But if she allowed him to accompany her, there was no shred of doubt in his mind that he'd keep her safe from harm.

That was, if she even trusted in his self-proclaimed martial arts experience... from a high school club. At least, that was what she knew. Probably best to hope that she simply wouldn't mind the company.

waluigipinball · May 25, 2023

Fin could not deny the wave of relief that crashed into her when he didn't question why she was so worried about her mother. Most people asked, and- well, could she really blame them? It was an odd scenario, a daughter waiting for her mother to text her, worrying when she didn't; for most it was the other way around. She was glad, though. Despite how odd it felt not to be questioned for once, to be the one who got to decide what she said and what she didn't, she was glad.

He offered to walk her back, and- though part of her wanted to refuse just out of embarrassment, would it not look peculiar for a girl her age to feel comfortable walking home alone in the dark? She could quite easily incapacitate anyone who tried to mug her, but... additionally, that wasn't very good for a secret-vigilante-identity, was it? To her knowledge, she could not erase memories of her face. Not that she'd tried.

So, at his offer, she nodded. The company would be nice at least, if nothing else. Despite all the supplies she carried with her, headphones were not a part of her repertoire. Signing a quick 'thank you', she quickly started packing her belongings in her bag. Despite the amount she carried at once, she managed to get it all cleaned up rather promptly. Offering him a typically-tired-looking grin and a thumbs up, she settled her backpack into a more comfortable position.

Once they were out of the door, met with the frigid air of night and the muffled noises of faraway commotion, Fin glanced around to get her bearings before beginning to lead the walk in the direction of her home. She looked over to Soren, concern flickering on her face for a moment as she recalled the circumstances. 'You're alright walking back alone?' she signed, feeling slightly selfish for not having thought about it before she agreed to let him accompany her. Of course, he'd mentioned martial arts, which should give anyone a suitable plethora of ways to defend themselves should they need to- but, she couldn't help being a little worried. Maybe it was just... residual worry from the dead silence on the other end of her phone.

DevVoid · May 25, 2023

Bloodfather took up a defensive position the moment Might Girl re-appeared, already prepared to face off against her again, fully expecting another sneaky tactic to be thrown his way. Heh, 'thrown'. That is, until he was surprised that this crazy woman just.. did she just help them out? And how did she know about that other woman who seemed to be in charge? What was going on here? She stood with the police, and yet she had just blindly lashed out at him not even a few minutes ago? What kind of topsy-turvy world did he drop into??

This kind of confusion did not help his consistency, he could feel his inner form start melting as he tried to keep his outer image solid. He was starting to get nervous. The only place he could ever become liquid was at home, he couldn't just start melting right here! An uncomfortable and anxious look was quickly plastered onto his face as Bloodfather started to look for a quick exit before looking back at the cops. His distorted voice begun growing barely audible fluctuations, as if using a defective voice modulator, as his strands begun losing their form.

" W-well, uh.. ar-are we free to go? I have.. someplace to, uh.. get to.. "

OmnipotentOnion · May 26, 2023

And they were off. Soren quietly fell in line close behind Fin, allowing her ample space to lead the way back to her home. She'd signed her gratitude with a weary smile before they'd left, to which he'd responded with a smile of his own and a dismissive wave. For more reasons than he desired to say out loud, he was in her debt today.

Fin then turned back with a slight look of concern, asking if he was alright walking back alone. Once again, Soren waved his hand, dismissing her worry with a reassuring smile.

"No need to worry about me. I can take care of myself just fine."

The walk was quiet, aside from the occasional exchange of small talk, and as they neared their destination, Soren spoke up. He'd cleared his throat softly to get Fin's attention, but his gaze remained forward rather than meeting Fin's.

"Also, I--uh--wanted to say thanks. Again. Late and last minute as it was, I really did need this study session today. More than you might think."

He'd omitted the reasons he could have possibly had to warrant requesting her company in his admission of gratitude, but his exclusion of such detail didn't change his genuine appreciation for Fin's time. He couldn't quite explain the circumstances to her without revealing his... part-time job, but feeling as selfish for using her as he did, he needed to make sure his feelings didn't go unsaid.

comic · May 27, 2023

MIGHT GIRL

Right outside the HWAT?!

Vanessa paled, glancing down at her acid-eaten costume, then toward the other two. "Um," she led with. "Yeah uh... I uh..."

Inwardly, the teen groaned. "Yeah I was just at uh... a event... I'll be right uh... over there..."

Unsure of what else to say, Vanessa hung up the phone before Jenny could reply, her throat dry. "Hey guys, so something came up, and I gotta bail," Might Girl announced to the others. "Don't eat any more people, okay? It's super gross and also like, really messed up to do."

With that, she officially took off into the sky through the hole in the ceiling for the last time that night, zooming her way home, not around to hear the officer let Bloodfather know that he was free to skedaddle.

Finding places to hide her costume was never something Vanessa thought she'd ever have to worry about. Under the bed was already ruled out, way too easy to locate. The closet was a similar situation. Dresser drawers may be better, but still just too obvious. Maybe if she stacked other clothes on top of it...?

Sliding on some more civilian appropriate attire, Vanessa stuffed her costume into the back of her undergarment drawer, stashing her underwear and socks on top of it to conceal it. Once satisfied, she slid it shut, then flew out of her window to then loop around back, ensuring that all Jenny saw was Vanessa racing up toward her from the road at the speed of a normal human.

The confidence of Might Girl had mostly vanished by the time the distance had been closed, giving a nervous and awkward wave, failing to make eye contact, and offering a stuttered "hey" in greeting.

DevVoid · May 29, 2023

Bloodfather stood impatiently, barely registering what Might Girl had said to him. He would've pondered on whether or not he should consider just absorbing people instead of outright devouring them, but he had no time to do so since, as soon as he was given the clearance to exit the scene, he quickly sprinted away, yelling back in a hurried, frantic tone to the two other Heroes who were left behind.

" HEYSORRYIGOTTAGONICEMEETINGYOUORSOMETHINGBYENOW-! "

Crap..! Crap! CRAP!

As he was running away, something dripped off of him occasionally, leaving small puddles. It was not blood, nor even sweat. It was.. liquified skin, softened chitin and bones, even some bits of flesh dropping as if having melted under heat like metals in a forge. Bloodfather headed for the closest hiding spot he could find - a tree not too far away from the Warehouse, but out of sight from the police. There he sat on the ground and rested, desperately trying to compose himself before he completely melted into a puddle, like a snowman in the middle of a desert.

waluigipinball · Jun 12, 2023

She was glad to have the company, even if it was rather quiet. The night had grown old, and as her house's silhouette moved into view and she motioned toward it, Soren spoke up. He did not look at her, though- and that was rather a good thing, wasn't it? It would be easier to resist looking deeper if she could not see any flash of emotion upon his face.

Thanks, he said. Said that he needed it. She initially felt some temptation to scoff at the idea, sure that she would never be able to add anything to a study session, though... it occurred to her after a moment that he was likely not referring to algebra. Wasn't she meant to be emotionally gifted? And yet, the idea of someone just getting lonely... had not occurred to her. She understood the perspective, though. In fact, she'd readily say she related to it.

A short breath left her, one that sounded almost like it might be the ghost of a laugh. Her shoe scraped pavement, and she looked over to him. 'Thank you too', she signed, making sure he knew the feeling was mutual. 'I had fun'. A double thumbs-up followed. There wasn't much more she could add really, not without notebook-aid or her voice, the former of which was inconvenient and the latter of which was too risky to bother with the possible reward.

She opened her front door just wide enough to fit through, blocking most of the view inside with her body. It was odd to feel embarrassed, but... she did not want to invite any questions. Even if Soren seemed like the type who didn't... who wouldn't pry on potentially sensitive personal stuff. Looking back at him one last time, she offered a weary smile and a wave, waiting to receive one back before she closed the door and bid goodbye to... a new friend.

The Dark Fairy · Jul 4, 2023

Jenny
Jenny studied her hand after hanging up the phone, before pulling out her necklace, daydreaming about what she could do with more powerful gems as she gently smiled. She put it back, looking around as she took in the view of this rather expensive house.

Jenny looked over at Vanessa, crossing her arms, before uncrossing them, realizing she was presenting as unfriendly. She tried to shake that off as she put on a smile, walking over. “Hey! Where have you been?” Jenny asked, reaching out her left hand for a hand shake, her right hand held behind her in a bit of a bow.

Amanda
After Might Girl flew out, Amanda started to mildly panic. She had no clue what to do, and now she was afraid she was going to be in trouble.

Elsewhere, she finally managed to help herself out of the locker and free herself from that terrible smell.

Amanda breathed out, walking up near Yin Li with a lowered head as the other two supers practically raced away, leaving her alone. “Uhm…. Hi ma’am…” She said, nervously. “I didn’t even mean to be out here today… I-I didn’t even use my superpowers!” She said, rubbing her fingers together as she swallowed, holding her pipe down so it wasn’t threatening by accident “I don’t want to be in trouble… H-How do I sign up to be a superhero? Can I sign up and then stop?” She asked, finally actually looking up at Yin Li.

OmnipotentOnion · Aug 2, 2023

Thank you too. I had fun.

To his relief, the lie hidden in Soren's gratitude seemed to have gone unnoticed, as Fin responded with her typical quiet, but warm disposition. Though, at the mention of fun, he couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle of his own.

"As much fun as studying Algebra 2 gets, I suppose?"

Soren watched as Fin gingerly opened her front door, leaving surprisingly little space through which she could squeeze inside, though he saw no reason to press the matter. She waved with a bit of an exhausted smile, and he offered the same with no more than a "'Night. Sleep well." The door closed, and with a decisive sigh, Soren began the trek back home.

No longer having anyone with whom to share the silence, Soren once again fell into his unhealthy penchant for anxious internal monologue, which he often desperately tried to dismiss as occasional introspection. Today had brought an overabundance of surprises that battered at his mental fortitude, doing so to such an extent that had evoked emotions he'd forgotten he could experience. Not to say his life had been full of comfort and stability, as the self-deprecating voice intruded once again. After all, if he couldn't handle even a little unexpectedness, he had no right to be who he was. Because that was all today had been. A little unexpectedness.

It had only been a simple arms deal bust. That's all it should have been. And yet, today had brought much more stress and confusion than he could handle, in more ways than he could ever have expected. A kid his age with beastly features. An unseen force incapacitating assailants directly in front of him. An unknown voice whispering into his mind. And, to top it off, why was it that the strangest part of it all had also been the one to provide a warmth he'd forgotten?

How was he supposed to react to what he now felt? With acceptance? Rejection? Soren, in all his angst and complete lack of social skills, knew nothing about any of this, but somewhere, some distant part of his mind wanted desperately to embrace it. Not only had she been the first of few, maybe even none outside his family, to detect his presence time and again, she'd shown him kindness. Not just half-hearted acknowledgement, but genuine goodwill. It was so utterly foreign, but... Soren wanted to know more about that.

- - -

Stepping through the door, he finally entered his home and trudged up the stairs to his bedroom. Despite the constant nagging in his brain that hadn't relented since he'd left Fin's residence, Soren now found himself too exhausted to suffer his confusion, quickly changing into pajamas and washing up for the night. Without much more than a tired sigh, he settled into bed, falling asleep rather easily. Hopefully that'd last.

Private/Closed Tomorrow's Heroes - Year 1

Previously Eliiiscool

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VANESSA​

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MIGHT GIRL​

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MIGHT GIRL​

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MIGHT GIRL​

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Previously Eliiiscool

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MIGHT GIRL​

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VANESSA

MIGHT GIRL

MIGHT GIRL

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MIGHT GIRL