Duoya

《 H. E. R. O. 》

@Zoey Boey@Hitman@canaryrose

---

Chad flinched when he heard the knocking at the front of the store, and began to nervously sweat in his suit when he heard the person responsible for the knock. He didn't recognize the person, but what they were saying made Chad realize the severity of the situation - Aria and her friends were in pretty big trouble if the SWAT were after them! Then again, it'd make sense - they'd at least need a SWAT team to take down a rogue Hero, if no one else was powered. Then again, considering the guy gave a code name, he probably had a superpower as well-

"Go upstairs. Now."

That was probably a good idea - it would really suck for Aria and Bypass to get arrested by the cops right off the bat. Plus Chad could offer backup in case the cop got wanted to explore-

Pandora pointed at Chad without looking. "You too."

Chad nodded briefly to himself. That could work too - just, uh, wait by the stairs or something in case he started going up? A bit more incriminating, but hey, Chad had already said he wanted to help in any way he could. Chad turned and started walking towards the door leading upstairs, allowing the fugitives to enter first.

Chad closed the door behind him, eliciting a quiet thud. He deliberated on waiting right behind the door and listening in on the conversation, just in case Pandora needed backup - he quickly dismissed the idea, however. Pandora turned his IDD into a rock and could probably do the same thing to most other objects. Chad thumbed his pocket, thankful that the woman hadn't bejeweled his phone as well.

Besides, if the EAGLE Scout was really too much for Pandora to handle, she could just swim away in the ground. Chad nodded to himself, gently stepping up the wooden staircase and trying to avoid any creaks. As he reached the top of the stairs, he could barely make out the sounds of conversation the floor below - they'd probably want to be quiet if they wanted to hide.

Turning to Aria and Bypass, Chad noticed that they were messing around on a laptop. Chad sighed in relief at the sight of the electronic - looks like the only real problem when it came to tracking them was the IDD, so he wouldn't have to worry about buying a new phone again.

"Nope, not a damn search. Either Seraph has doesn't have editing privilege to HERO's website, which is weird considering Powers is probably dead, or his IT is just awful,"

Chad pulled out his phone, looking up HERO's official website. As she said, the website was untouched - Chad was very familiar with the layout, and they didn't even remove Powers from the website. Chad continued scrolling on his phone, moving onto reading Powers Wikipedia page after he couldn't find anything from the HERO website. He couldn't find anything that might hint to the director's whereabouts, and he frowned beneath his mask.

"Here!"

Chad turned to the pair again, this time seeing Aria holding the laptop. Chad walked over to them, attempting to get a better view of the screen. Chad quickly read what was displayed on the screen while Bypass talked, focusing completely on her words when he finished reading and realized he wouldn't be able to scroll down without taking the laptop. Chad had watched several of the shows that Serpah appeared on regularly, and he had never heard the man talk about owning a Prison Island. Chad bit his lip - god, it was a little hard to hate Seraph when he had a badass prison island.

"I can-"

Chad began speaking, attempting to offer his help when Bypass had suddenly gotten up and made her way to the bathroom. When he started hearing sobs, Chad had to ball his hand into a fist and bite his tongue. He had nearly asked what was wrong again - he was lucky they ignored or didn't hear him the first time, but now that Bypass was sobbing in the bathroom, Chad felt the worst thing was for a total stranger to try and comfort her. If she needed help, Aria would be much better suited for that - they actually knew each other, and it would probably be much easier to sympathize since they were both falsely accused.

Chad turned to Aria and spoke softly, not wanting to be heard from downstairs.

"If you need someone to help scout, I don't mind - I'm pretty fast, y'know?"

Chad paused, before speaking again, more rushed

"I-I have super speed, you probably don't know, my power is super speed."

Chad had to stop himself from continuing. God this was really awkward with someone crying in the bathroom... Chad started inching his way back to the stairs, deciding to wait near the top in case Pandora needed help or the Cop heard Bypass crying. Or, at least he would tell anyone who asked that - the real reason was that he wanted an excuse to exit the conversation before he made more of an ass out of himself.

It was times like this Chad wished he was running. It was a lot less complicated to weave between streets and sidewalks than it was to navigate conversations. He pulled out his phone again, looking up Elmore Island on his GPS. It was significantly smaller than Savior Island, was further away, and was probably a lot harder to get onto... But god, what was cooler than a Prison Island?

A Secret Lair.

Kairelith: Waking Up To Another World (Isekai Themed)

Cino de Albano

Name: Cino de Albano

Age: 15

Origin: Venice, Republic of Venice [1358]

Appearance:

Appearance

________________________________________

Level: 1

Health Points: 20000

Mana: 300

General Stats:
• Strength - 1000
• Endurance - 2000
• Intellegence - 600
• Agility - 400
• Dexterity - 700
• Luck - 300

Acquired Skills:
• Translator Level 1 - Translate foreign language to user's mother tongue, and vice versa.
• Alchemy Level 1 - This gives the user the ability to create weak potions, explosives, and chemicals. Further leveling this skill will allow for more powerful recipes, as well as a lower chance of failure.
• Shield Mastery Level 1 - This gives the user the ability to use shields and bucklers. Further leveling this skill will improve block chance and reduce damage taken.

Extra
• Kaireth's Blessing: Greater Item Box - Grants access to a dimensional space with unlimited capacity to store items. Time does not pass in this space, thus, food or any perishables will not rot while inside. User cannot store living things in here.
______________________________________

Personality:
Cino is very civil and formal, having interacted with people of higher status his entire life. He is incredibly subservient to any who ask him for help or are in a leadership position over him, but his youth has resulted in him being quick to draw a blade against threats. Cino greatly respects Merchants, and planned on becoming one when he finished his apprenticeship. When angered or threatened, Cino is perfectly willing to maim or even kill others - however his civil nature generally keeps him from really hurting someone unless they attack first.

Being reincarnated in another world is very intimidating, but Cino views it as just another opportunity to grow. As it stands, he desires to find a way back home - and failing that, to find a new master to serve.

Short Background:
Cino de Albano was born to a very poor family and struggled in the streets of Venice to survive. Cino mostly used his superior height and musculature to lead orphans and street urchins, using them to steal from butchers and vendors in various parts of the city. Both of Cino's parents died while Cino was fairly young, passing away from the plague. At the age of 8, after stealing food from a Merchant's Wagon, Cino was caught by the owner and separated from the rest of his gang. He was violently beaten within inches of his life - but rather than take him to the authorities, the Merchant took Cino with him to the city of Verona.

In the first few days, Cino had attempted escape several times, only to be rewarded with more beatings. When he finally stopped, he was allowed relative freedom on the Merchant's wagon - as long as he kept pace with the Mules, he could even walk alongside the wagon. Upon arrival in Verona, the Merchant offered Cino a deal - in exchange for entering an apprenticeship and working for him, the Merchant would take care of Cino and teach him skills that would help him survive.

Cino accepted this offer, viewing it as a free meal ticket. Over the following years, Cino's new Master taught him skills typically reserved for more refined members of society, such as literacy and basic mathematics. However, these valuable lessons were fairly rare - more often, Cino's Master would make him transfer heavy packages and merchandise or run around the city in search of the proper destination.

The pair grew very close, an expected result of spending nearly every moment with someone. By the time he was a young man, Cino viewed his Master as the only true family he had. However, Cino was never meant to have a comfortable life. A few weeks after his 15th birthday, Cino developed an immense fever and weakness, being forced to remain in his bed on the wagon near constantly. Black lumps developed around his neck and arms. Cino's master spent dozens of Golden Ducats attempting to hire a doctor for Cino. When one came to the boy, he fed Cino a foul-tasting concoction, and Cino had fallen asleep shortly after.

When he awoke, he was surrounded by three people, with ages similar to himself.
________________________________________

Other:
Cino is able to control wagons, pack animals, and rowboats with above-average skill thanks to taking over for his Master. However, he is just as lost on a galleon or longboat as most modern-day people would be.

Kairelith: Waking Up To Another World (Isekai Themed)

Cino de Albano

Name: Cino de Albano

Age: 15

Origin: Venice, Republic of Venice [1358]

Appearance:

Appearance

________________________________________

Level: 1

Health Points: 20000

Mana: 300

General Stats:
• Strength - 1000
• Endurance - 2000
• Intellegence - 600
• Agility - 400
• Dexterity - 700
• Luck - 300

Acquired Skills:
• Translator Level 1 - Translate foreign language to user's mother tongue, and vice versa.
• Alchemy Level 1 - This gives the user the ability to create weak potions, explosives, and chemicals. Further leveling this skill will allow for more powerful recipes, as well as a lower chance of failure.
• Shield Mastery Level 1 - This gives the user the ability to use shields and bucklers. Further leveling this skill will improve block chance and reduce damage taken.

Extra
• Kaireth's Blessing: Greater Item Box - Grants access to a dimensional space with unlimited capacity to store items. Time does not pass in this space, thus, food or any perishables will not rot while inside. User cannot store living things in here.
______________________________________

Personality:
Cino is very civil and formal, having interacted with people of higher status his entire life. He is incredibly subservient to any who ask him for help or are in a leadership position over him, but his youth has resulted in him being quick to draw a blade against threats. Cino greatly respects Merchants, and planned on becoming one when he finished his apprenticeship. When angered or threatened, Cino is perfectly willing to maim or even kill others - however his civil nature generally keeps him from really hurting someone unless they attack first.

Being reincarnated in another world is very intimidating, but Cino views it as just another opportunity to grow. As it stands, he desires to find a way back home - and failing that, to find a new master to serve.

Short Background:
Cino de Albano was born to a very poor family and struggled in the streets of Venice to survive. Cino mostly used his superior height and musculature to lead orphans and street urchins, using them to steal from butchers and vendors in various parts of the city. Both of Cino's parents died while Cino was fairly young, passing away from the plague. At the age of 8, after stealing food from a Merchant's Wagon, Cino was caught by the owner and separated from the rest of his gang. He was violently beaten within inches of his life - but rather than take him to the authorities, the Merchant took Cino with him to the city of Verona.

In the first few days, Cino had attempted escape several times, only to be rewarded with more beatings. When he finally stopped, he was allowed relative freedom on the Merchant's wagon - as long as he kept pace with the Mules, he could even walk alongside the wagon. Upon arrival in Verona, the Merchant offered Cino a deal - in exchange for entering an apprenticeship and working for him, the Merchant would take care of Cino and teach him skills that would help him survive.

Cino accepted this offer, viewing it as a free meal ticket. Over the following years, Cino's new Master taught him skills typically reserved for more refined members of society, such as literacy and basic mathematics. However, these valuable lessons were fairly rare - more often, Cino's Master would make him transfer heavy packages and merchandise or run around the city in search of the proper destination.

The pair grew very close, an expected result of spending nearly every moment with someone. By the time he was a young man, Cino viewed his Master as the only true family he had. However, Cino was never meant to have a comfortable life. A few weeks after his 15th birthday, Cino developed an immense fever and weakness, being forced to remain in his bed on the wagon near constantly. Black lumps developed around his neck and arms. Cino's master spent dozens of Golden Ducats attempting to hire a doctor for Cino. When one came to the boy, he fed Cino a foul-tasting concoction, and Cino had fallen asleep shortly after.

When he awoke, he was surrounded by three people, with ages similar to himself.
________________________________________

Other:
Cino is able to control wagons, pack animals, and rowboats with above-average skill thanks to taking over for his Master. However, he is just as lost on a galleon or longboat as most modern-day people would be.

Kairelith: Waking Up To Another World (Isekai Themed)

I'll try to get a character done by tomorrow!

《 H. E. R. O. 》

@Zoey Boey@Hitman

---

"Give me that."

Chad paused and looked around, before remembering the IDD he held in his hand. Beneath his mask he raised an eyebrow, gently handing off the device to the woman in front of him. Did Pandora lose her IDD and needed to borrow Chad's for some reason? The younger hero had spent the last few days playing around with the device, attempting to familiarize himself with something he expected to be of vital importance for his future hero caree-

With only a few seconds of touching the device, Pandora had swiftly turned it into a rock. Chad's face paled as he saw this, recalling how Powers had described the dozens of functions the device performed, and how expensive that it had all sounded. And even if the rock it was turned into looked very pretty, Chad couldn't care less about Geology.

"W-... Why the heck did you do that!? I only had one of those-"

Pandora looked around as she spoke again, cutting Chad off. "C- gah, come in, come inside. Don't touch anything."

Chad frowned as she opened the door to her shop. The younger Hero was used to being bossed around, but very rarely did people break his stuff before that! He followed her inside, being cautious to avoid any of the flowers on display. Marigolds, Hydrangea, Petunias, and a wide variety of other plants decorated the store space. Chad briefly considered purchasing something but decided against it almost immediately. Not only was he busy trying to find Powers, but Chad also had no green thumb whatsoever - In his youth, he had killed 13 Cacti because he had overwatered them.

Pandora paused, and Chad waited for her to speak. At first, he felt very conflicted - while it was disappointing that HERO Was disbanded, Chad hadn't been a part of the organization for very long. Hell, many people would say he was never part of it. On the other hand, a coup was badass! That was how Napoleon ended the French Revolution!

Things quickly became less cool as Pandora continued to speak, however. Powers was really the only person that Chad could say he knew in HERO, even if it was through the briefest of interactions. Chad tried to remove himself from the situation and think of things logically - Powers had been hit by a man weighing over 200 pounds who was moving a few hundred miles per hour, and he hadn't budged an inch. And even with that in mind, he had survived even more intense attacks during his Hero Career as the Invincible Warmonger. Seraph and Mr. Impressive would be lucky to break his arm, let alone kill him...

But Sea Serpent could just drown him. Even if he was bulletproof, Power's wasn't waterproof - he needed to breathe as much as anyone else. It wasn't just possible for Seraph and his Wings of Law to kill Powers, it was very easy for them. And while Chad could think of many reasons that they would benefit from killing him, the things that encouraged them to leave Powers alive seemed so few in number...

Nope! Chad didn't like to think that Powers was dead. Chad liked Powers, and didn't want to think about him dying.

So Chad just ignored the possibility. Powers wasn't dead. Things might change if Chad saw a body, but for right now, Powers was alive and healthy in the young hero's mind.

"W..." Chad was about to question why Pandora assumed HERO would send people to her shop in particular but decided against it. Powers seemed to know her and regarded her with respect. She might have connections to HERO that Chad just didn't know about. Besides, she might not want to explain something like that, especially to someone she hardly knows.

"It's important that we disable these devices. I'm fairly certain EAGLES can track us using them."

Chad followed Pandora's gaze, looking at his once beautiful IDD. It was upsetting to lose the only thing that really identified him as a Hero, but Chad could understand the reasoning. If EAGLES was after everyone who used to work for HERO, then anyone who had one of those devices was at risk. Thinking back to the various interviews he had participated in during his application process, Chad pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it up to show Pandora.

"They have my number - do you need to brick my phone too?"

Now that Chad thought about it... How could someone with the Power to swim through the ground turn things to rocks? Maybe she could control earth or something? 'Pandora' didn't really relate to the ground at all though...

"Maybe you should just go home. Sit this one out. You don't owe anything to HERO."

Chad shook his head fast, tripping over his words as he spoke.

"I-I can't just go home, especially right now! If Seraph is as bad as everyone says he is, there's no way I cou- I can just let him go!"

Chad attempted to scratch the back of his head, but when his gloved hand touched his helmet, he moved his hand back awkwardly. He continued to speak, attempting to cover for this blunder.

"B-besides, Aria and the other Heroes are criminals right now, right? They're Heroes - good people. If I can help them, then I can't just sit around and do nothing, right?"

Chad thought about adopting a cool pose to accentuate his statement but decided against it when a portal appeared suddenly in the middle of the room. He physically jumped back before realizing the owner of the portal, the same woman he had talked to only a week ago. It seemed Pandora was right about HERO coming to her shop.

Chad considered offering his place at Percy's, but that wasn't really viable - the room he lived in was cramped for a single person, let alone everyone the Wings of Law was chasing after right now. And offering to house that many people without even asking Percy was just rude as heck. His Parent's house was big enough, but-

But that wasn't an option. Pandora was really the only person who could help these people. When Chad noticed that Grace was tearing up, he spoke out.

"A-are you okay?"

Chad mentally berated himself again - of course she wasn't alright, she was being chased by EAGLES and had only a single place to turn to for help. It's obvious she would be crying, Idiot!

Fate/Glimmering Oasis

Charlotte panted as she finished climbing the edge of the river. As she had expected, the cover was close to nonexistent - the nearest building was nothing but a charred pile of rubble, with the fire seemingly having already passed through the area.

"I will have to test the extent of this attack! I could have the means to rid us of this nuisance but I will perhaps need to activate one of my Noble Phantasms if we are to stand a chance, allow me to test the limits,"

Charlotte turned to look at Mu as a pile of scrap and metal fell around him, and strips of metal shot from the ground around the Servant. The attack slammed into something on top of the Machine, which Charlotte could make out as a man dressed in armor and radiating a black aura.

Charlotte shook herself from watching the combat. She still needed to find somewhere to hide. She nearly turned away from the conflict when she saw something jump straight at the aircraft. At first, Charlotte thought Mu was launching another attack, but that was dismissed when the Caster launched another metal spike towards the machine. As the aircraft continued to fly down the river, the mysterious attacker caused the entire machine to crash straight into the riverbed wall.

The smoke and embers that came from the crash smelled different from the rest of the smoke in the city. There was a distinct scent of Kerosene, which Charlotte had grown used to smelling around the lamps in her old home.

Shaking her head, she looked down at the scene below her. Now that he was on the ground and not moving, the armored figure was clearly visible to Charlotte. And that wasn't including the fact that there was a new arrival to the fight. Charlotte saw his face, and stared for a brief moment, before shaking her head. He was quite attractive, but Charlotte was focused on much more important matters at the moment. At the very least, this new Servant seemed to be fighting the armored knight as well.

"You got this, Caster! Now that this guy lost his fancy toy, you can take him out easy!"

Without a doubt, having the knight on the ground was a massive advantage. Now Lancer could-

Wait, where the hell was Lancer? And Archer too?!

Charlotte seemed to lose a lot of confidence when she noticed her only servant left was Mu. From what she was told, Caster's weren't exactly experts on physical combat. Charlotte lost the rest of her confidence when she saw the knight's helmet split in half, revealing a mass of writhing tentacles and teeth.

,,,Yeah. Charlotte quickly pulled her sleeve back, releasing several more Wisp Familiars. A Mage could do very little to a Servant, but at the very least she could try and distract whatever the hell this thing was. It seemed like Charlotte would not need to, however. The monster simply... walked away from the wreckage.

Charlotte had a sudden impulse to try and attack the Servant but stopped herself immediately. She wasn't suicidal, and there was very little that could be done against something like that. But why the hell would that thing just leave them alone? Perhaps it was weak without it's machine and simply didn't want to engage Mu and the new Servant in combat. Even if that was the case though, it still looked scary as hell - Charlotte really didn't feel like testing her luck. The New Servent, however, was standing nearby - he was still an issue.

Charlotte began to climb down from the river wall, making her way to Mu's side. She addressed the man carefully, not wanting to start trouble when the armored monster was still so close by.

"So... Are you with that creature?"

Unbeknownst to Charlotte, one of her Wisps was nearing the burning city, hovering directly over the now-destroyed bridge. It would not be long before she could discover the location of the other Master and his Servants.

@Reflection@Scallop@ColourlessKing

《 H. E. R. O. 》

@Zoey Boey

---

As it turned out, running around the city wasn't the smartest idea. Chad had combed through most of Watervale before deciding that running around the perimeter of each borough would be faster, and even then he barely found anyone! He stopped briefly in Brookside when he felt the IDD vibrate, but when he couldn't find anyone from a cursory glance, Chad simply kept moving. By the time he finished circling East Flank, Chad was getting very annoyed.

Isn't Castleburg supposed to be crawling in Supers? Seriously, where the hell does Mr.Powers even live?

The thought of stopping and heading home crossed Chad's mind - he was a member of several HERO Fanclubs, and if he asked around with the people he was friendly with (or, at least the people who didn't think he was a dweeb) he might have been able to find a stalker who knew something useful. He dismissed the idea, however. Powers wasn't very popular in most of the Fanclubs that Chad was a member of - Starbright and Christina Lavender were the real fan favorites that people knew creepy amounts of information about.

Chad sighed as he entered Passenger Island. It was likely that Chad wouldn't really find anyone - he was searching the perimeter of each borough, and outside of Brookside and certain portions of East Flank, most residential areas would be more internal rather than on the fringes of their borough. Combing through areas from the start would have been much more effective, rather than running around aimlessly.

When Chad finally received a notification again from his IDD. The buzzing caused Chad to nearly squeal in excitement - he had spent nearly 45 minutes running without anything to break the monotony of blurring buildings. And even with Super Speed, 45 Minutes felt pretty long when you were stressed about accidentally running into someone. Chad felt the device stop buzzing as he passed the person causing it, and he quickly turned around, slowing to a light jog as the IDD began to ring again.

"Oh thank god, I've been looking forever for someon-"

Chad finally noticed the source that tripped the IDD. He recognized the person instantly, with her being Chad's first true interaction in the world of heroics.

Pandora.

Their initial interaction had left Chad discouraged, but over the last week, he had time to think it from her point of view. She had obviously been right in their disagreement - heck, he could even forgive her for getting his super cool Hero name wrong, considering most people online did. Maybe it was easier than Chad thought.

Despite that, he was a little nervous meeting her again as his first person on his (self-appointed) secret mission. Chad was already feeling terrible today, and he really didn't feel up to being talked down to. James Bond was never talked down to on his secret missions. And James Bond didn't even have Super Speed, so Chad felt he should have a bit of an advantage in the coolness factor.

Chad shook his head - Pandora could really help the search, and finding Powers was the most important thing, not feeling good. With Powers, Chad might be able to get his job back! Noticing that he paused mid-sentence and hadn't spoken in a solid 5 seconds, Chad began to speak again.

"Oh, uh, hi there Pandora. I didn't know you worked at a flower shop... Are there any, uh, Hyacinths still blooming?"

Chad mentally cursed himself for trying to make small talk. He was supposed to be on a super cool secret mission, so running around the issue was wasting time!

"And hey, if you're not working right now and it's no biggie... Could you please help me look for Mr.Powers? I have no idea where he lives, and he seemed like he knew you when he introduced you."

Chad felt tempted to ask her why Powers decided to retire so suddenly, but considering she hadn't agreed to help yet, it could probably be saved for later. Besides, she might be just as surprised as Chad was on Powers sudden retirement.

Chad moved the IDD from under his arm to just being held by one of his gloved hands, the device in full view for anyone nearby.

《 H. E. R. O. 》

---

They say that meeting when meeting your stars, they're nothing like you expect. Clearly, whoever said that hadn't met Starbright! Chad had interacted with many heroes in the past at various conventions and meetings, but he had never spoken to Starbright directly - only seen him perform on stage. Not only was he a nice guy in person, but Starbright was even professional as well - thinking about the mission first and foremost!

While Chad was very engrossed in his Starbright-induced daze, he was brought back to reality when he heard a voice he hadn't earlier. Standing behind Bypass were two other girls - he couldn't remember either of their profiles since he only skimmed them and they weren't in costume, but he felt bad that he hadn't addressed them earlier. He was about to greet the people he hadn't met and ask for their names when the taller of the girls glared at him angrily.

“I’m Patricia, by the way, or Aria. Whatever the hell you want, I don't care. And he didn’t save us. We saved ourselves, because we’re real heroes, unlike this third-rate poser over here.”

Well... She was a bit rude towards someone like Starbright, wasn't she? After all, he did come to save them from trouble, even if he might have been a little late. Chad chose to refrain from commenting, however - he didn't know anyone present, and all of the girls that were there had just escaped from being kidnapped by a FREAKING SUPERVILLAIN. Anyone would have been a bit aggressive in that kind of situation, so Chad decided to refrain from getting a negative impression of the girl.

Starbright didn't seem to think the same way, however. After Aria threw the camera that the Paparazzi with Starbright had, he started grilling her pretty roughly. Chad kind of felt bad for the girl at this point - it was never fun to see someone get yelled at, especially after they just broke something expensive. Chad broke a vase his mother owned one time, and he was in tears by the time she was done talking to him.

Turning his attention back to the situation at hand, Chad chose to remain silent. It was kind of awkward, even after Starbright apologized for his outburst - besides, it wasn't like Chad knew anyone there. Yeah, talking would probably be the wrong thing right now. Instead, he followed the others through the portal that Grace just created, and by the time he emerged at Club 27, he was dry heaving in his helmet. Chad was very glad that he was still on a cut and hadn't eaten today, because cleaning vomit from the inside of his suit would have taken a long time. He was also glad that he had super speed - if he was lucky, he could minimize the amount of time he'd have to use portals like that for transportation.

"Also joining us is a much younger hero, Chad...he's a character, for sure, and I'm sure there's plenty of work to be done in regards to his abilities, but I'm confident he'll be a very capable hero soon."

Chad quickly fixed his posture and ceased his dry heaving, holding his hand in a thumbs-up position while smiling beneath his helmet. First impressions were everything if Drama club had taught him anything, and Chad felt that he already made a few people view him a little less respectfully than he wanted them to. In the end, it didn't really matter too much though - he'd have plenty of time to fix any relationships he might mess up now that he was A FREAKING SUPERHERO!!!

After Powers' left, Chad turned to the other heroes present and tried to introduce himself properly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all - I'm, uh, Chad. Or you could call me THE BULLET, if Secret Identities are what you guys are into... haha..."

Jeez, it was... a lot more difficult to keep the whole Heroic Attitude going when there were so many actual Heroes in the room. Not to mention how awkward everything seemed to be. Chad had to keep reminding himself that these people were held captive by a supervillain, and he would probably need to wait a while before he could really get to know them. Whatever the case though, he was just glad he was finally a part of the team! Today was one of the best days in Chad's life!

---

Today was one of the worst days in Chad's life.

So as it turned out, becoming a Hero was a lot more work than Chad initially thought. He had to fill out several forms, sign waivers that prevented him from suing HERO in the event that he sustained permanent injuries, set up an automated payment account, and dozens of other things that mentally exhausted Chad to understand. And when he finally thought it was over, he had to actually go through the application process by doing an examination - and while the Physical section was fun, everything else just made Chad feel bad about himself.

Of course, the nice lady that helped Chad get through the paperwork did tell him that the process was significantly more complicated and lengthy for him than most others because of how... unique his application was. As a result, it took 6 days just to get through all of the paperwork and take the proper examinations. After he finished everything, he was told to wait while they processed his application.

And after spending nearly all day sitting next to his phone, the only call he received was how he was overpaying for car insurance, despite the fact that Chad did not own a car. It was so stressful that Chad had even used one of his vacation days just to make sure he wouldn't miss it. After all, it wasn't like he'd need the Pizza job for much longer after he started getting a Superhero's paycheck!

That's what the problem was, though... Percy was the one that called Chad to watch the announcement that appeared on the TV in his office a few minutes ago.

The reason today was so awful was that, apparently, Chad would not be employed at HERO. The only reason that he even managed to apply in the first place was that Powers took pity on him and didn't arrest Chad immediately. And while Chad used to be a fan of Seraph in the past, he had managed to talk to several people that worked in HERO over the last week - and none of them had anything good to say about him or the rest of the Wings of Law.

Now that Seraph was taking over, it was unlikely that Chad would ever manage to get hired, especially considering he had run straight to HERO One in search of a job.

...Wait a second. More importantly, the photos they showed of all those dead people looked super real! That was bad... Chad didn't really believe that Aria would kill a bunch of people, even if she was the child of a supervillain. Not because he knew her in any real way - after all, he had only been at HERO for a week, and most of that was spent by himself or with staff rather than actual heroes. No, Chad knew Aria was innocent because a Hero wouldn't kill a person - let alone a whole room of people.

Chad thought over his options carefully - he hardly knew any of the people at HERO and Seraph said they would be brought in for questioning, so contacting them somehow would be difficult at best and impossible at worst. Club 27 was probably covered in police officers, and the only thing Chad would accomplish by investigating the crime scene would be to get in the way of anyone trying to find the real culprit. Going to HERO One to question people was just plain stupid, he had already done that a week ago and he got slapped so hard he was knocked to the ground.

Nope - the solution, as always when it came to Chad, was to not think. Grabbing the IDD he had hid under his bed, Chad quickly grabbed the gym bag containing his Costume. After a short walk to the gym, Chad changed clothes and was blaring down the streets of Watervale. When it came to speed, Chad was probably one of the fastest people in Castleburg. It might take a few hours, but Chad felt confident that he could comb most of the city and run into someone that would be useful. Maybe a Hero that could help him contact the others, one of the Wings of Law that he could question in some way - or, as Chad was hoping, he might manage to find Powers and ask why he would leave HERO to a guy like Seraph.

Of course, Chad hadn't thought ahead enough to think that Powers was probably kept in a secure location that wouldn't be detected by an IDD. Or realize that an IDD could easily be tracked by EAGLES.

Kairelith: Transported to Another World [Isekai Theme] ~Reboot

Sounds interesting - count me in!

《 H. E. R. O. 》

@Hitman@Jumbus

---

Some people might not know this, but crashing through a door of solid wood doesn't feel very good at regular speeds, let alone superhuman ones. And tumbling on the ground isn't much better. Chad knew that he was tougher than most, but even he felt a little beat up as he rose to his feet.

At the very least, now he was actually inside the Movie Set - it was like going back in time, dirt roads and roman style buildings dominating the landscape. Chad wasn't very well educated on roman architecture however, and the only structures he recognized on sight was the Temple and the Coliseum. Chad covered his nose and mouth to block out the sudden stench that assaulted him - massive, charred corpses littered the ground a short distance away. The heat from outside was even stronger here - and considering he read his file, Chad felt pretty confident that Firebird had been the one behind this. The corpses were far too large to be human, but Chad still did his best to avoid looking at them.

Moving forwards, Chad decided that the Coliseum would be his best bet to investigate first. If Chad was a crazy roman themed supervillain, after all, having Superheroes fight each other to the death would be pretty badass! Hell, that'd probably be a good idea for a story on his blog! Chad was about to reach into his pocket and pull out his notepad and pen when a strange portal manifested itself right in front of Chad. The Hero was prepared to immediately run around it and towards the coliseum when he stopped himself. Bypass was kidnapped, and her power was to make portals.

Stepping out of the portal was Bypass, albeit more roughed up than the picture Chad had seen. She seemed to look Chad over before speaking, causing the Younger hero to step back.

"Who the hell are you?"

Chad did his best to assume a Heroic (read: Stupid) pose as he spoke.

"I'm the man of a thousand velocities - THE BULLET! I race through Castleburg with the speed and justice of a Bullet, ready to stop evil at any turn!"

Chad seemed to deflate slightly as he came to the end of his introduction, however.

"I was, uh... also supposed to save you guys... Is there anyone else that still needs saving, or did I mess up my first-"

"Hello? Can you hear me? Are you from HERO or are you a villain?”

Chad jumped and turned around with incredible speed, shocked by the voice behind him. Was there really a guard that Chad had not seen, or did Pandora arrive (and have a deeper voice than he remembered) to provide help?

Chad didn't recognize the voice without the copious amounts of autotune, but he could identify the man from sight alone. Even with his mask on, anyone present could tell that Chad was shocked by the fact he was shaking.

"Oh my god... IS THAT STARBRIGHT, THE GREATEST HERO TO EVER LIVE?!?!"

Chad quickly patted his pockets before cursing under his breath - normally he carried a poster of Starbright just for kind of situation, but he hadn't brought it with him for fear of damaging one of them.

"I-I'm the Projectile of the Gun of Justice, THE BULLET! I'm a new H-hero, and your biggest fan!"

Chad had to use every bit of willpower he had not to run back home and grab his Collector's Edition Starbright Poster (Only sold with the first 100 copies of his Bright as a Star album). He didn't even notice the paparazzi standing next to Starbright, and barely remembered that Grace was still present.

"D... Did you come to save the kidnapped heroes with your incredible posing and blasts of light!?"