Infinite Cosmos

《 H. E. R. O. 》

William was left in what essentially was an holding cell for quite a while. He tried to conjure up his powers, but couldn't. They must have injected him with some sort of power-blocking concoction. Hopefully it is not the isolene mixture that H.E.R.O. is so fond of using. William sat there, seething with rage and filled with confusion.

Why him? For all he knows, he wasn't even important to H.E.R.O. Just another hero in their employment. Another question he was pondering in his momentary isolation was if a well-known mob family is willing, and capable, of kidnapping a hero in board daylight, just what exactly are they planning for?

Just as William was thinking very hard, trying to remember his science classes and how to make himself expel whatever drug they had administered, the door creaked open. William had moved himself to the back corner of the room, his back against the wall. He was able to get a full view of the girl coming in. A younger girl with dark hair and disturbingly red eyes. On her shoulder was some sort of creature William could not readily identify.

The girl went spouting on about other heroes and torture. Bad move, young one. William has a very good memory, ironically. So, the Gugliano family is in the business of torturing heroes for some sort of information. In their employ is a pseudo-S tier villain. Interesting fact. Some William will not quickly forget.

"No questions. On second thought. If you really want to make this fun, uncuff me and give me the antidote to whatever drugs you gave me so I can have my powers back. That way we can both have fun..." William said to the girl.

@Hitman

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

>>Siobahn, and her cooking @Almalthia Joel, over a Guiness @Pilatus Elise, fancy seeing her again @KatKook

---

"Your cooking is great, Siobahn. I'm not going to critique a free meal." Ryan said, offering a small chuckle. He cringed inwardly when Elise brought up the terrible first impression he made at the food festival. "Yeah, that. Terrible first impression. You've yet to come by my restaurant to allow me to make that up to you." Ryan said. "Though we're closed now, I believer I left you my number, so please call whenever you fancy some simple sushi." Ryan continued.

"And as to the tripping over girls... Um. Not really? At least not in the physical sense. Metaphorically, maybe. But thats the reason why I'm here tonight, to get some much needed counseling and to just generally be away from that chaos.." Ryan moved slightly when Joel offered Elise a seat to allow her to comfortably sit down. When Joel popped opened the chest cooler, Ryan took that as an invitation and grabbed himself another beer. A Blue Moon (tm) this time. Glancing at Elise, Ryan took a wild guess and reached back into the cooler, coming back out with another Blue Moon (tm) and offered it to Elise.

Meanwhile, when Joel mentioned Elise's car, Ryan's attention shifted with the conversation. He didn't know cars like Joel, obviously, but he was enjoying the easy flow of the conversations and the pleasant company.

《 H. E. R. O. 》

William was still too busy reeling from the shock and pain of being essentially tossed off his bike. He was checking himself for superficial injuries since he did not feel any broken bones and luckily he did not hit his head on the pavement.

Whoever threw that fucking stick is going to get it. William had decided.

Then everything went dark. The last thing William heard was "Night". The voice was unique, but not immediately recognizable. Besides, with William being incapacitated, its not as if he can act upon the voice in any case.

When William came to, he was in the back of a car, being driven god knows where. His head was pounding, his vision blurred. He can hear the man speaking, the same voice from before. As the man finished his sentence, William's senses returned, for the most part. He struggled, roughly, against his restraints. Remaining silent, William struggled some more. However, he was internally calm, doing his best to remember the man's outer appearance and voice inflections.

Vinnie Gugliano. Why was be kidnapped and brought to a mob boss...? Wait, he just answered his own question. A mob boss kidnapping a hero. That seems normal enough. However, to have the guts to do it in broad daylight. There must be something bigger in the works....

Of course, running now was an option. But, he did not have any ideas as to where he was. He was in front of a mansion. Thats all he knows. However, if he was being brought to Vinnie Gugliano, sure;y H.E.R.O. would have some sort of data on where this notorious mob boss lived... Now, if he would just break out from his restraints and take out this man in front of him, he can reach for his phone to make a move....

@Jumbus

《 H. E. R. O. 》

William was idly biking without holding onto the handlebar. He was engrossed in the music coming from his headphones. Between that, occasionally looking down the road to make sure he doesn't crash, and the buzzing of his phone when Brie replied to his message, his attention span was completely occupied.

He took out his phone, keeping his legs churning as to not slow down too much and fall off his bike. He took a look at the message and chuckled. As he moved his thumb to reply to the message, he faintly heard someone call out to him, calling him water boy no less. Before he could hit the breaks, slow down and look to the direction of the voice, a stick flew out at him.

The Stick struck cleaning between two of his spokes, causing the bike to come to a sudden stop. With the sudden halt in forward motion, William was tossed from his bike. His hands and left arm took the fall. His palms were grotesquely scraped. His left arm was scraped from wrist to elbow. It was quite the miracle that he did not suffer any harsher injuries...

"Ah....." William groaned. "What. The. Fuck. Was. That?" William said, sitting up on the side of the road as he dragged his bike off the road so it didn't get run over by oncoming traffic. "Who the fuck threw that stick...?"

@Jumbus
Mentioned @Danvers

《 H. E. R. O. 》

William followed along to Brie's explanation, nodding along. Before he was able to add anything to the conversation, Brie bid them farewell. William looked at Thomas and responded "Yeah, quite odd... I wonder if she was lying to us. Oh well." He said, offering a small shrug at the end before bidding Thomas farewell as well.

After walking a small distance away, William reached for his phone to send a message to Brie

-"Well. That seemed like a shitty lie. But its ok. Just... Be safe, whatever it is you're going to be doing <3"-

Hitting send, William decided to leave the compound. There wasn't a patrol assigned to him that day, so he took his bicycle to just go for a casual ride around town. Get away from the monotony for H.E.R.O. One for a while at least.

Tales of Anvellor

>>The beginnings of their adventure.@ShiningSector @Ypnosi<<

North.

Thats where home is.

Avala thought to himself, remaining rather silent during Grimar's explanation of the artifacts. The word 'North' rung a bell within his heart. He hadn't been back home for some time now. Though there isn't much to speak of anymore. The Winter's Claw is so far into the wastelands, it would be surprising if their expedition took them that far. So there is no worries regarding that, he thought.

"We should be fine, regarding extra clothes for warmth, right?" Avala said, offering a small smile to the small half beast in their trio. Of course, he can sense the cold she was giving off. He has some theories regarding who or what she is, but this is neither the time nor place to be discussing that.

"A few small tents and bedrolls would be nice. The north is a hard place. Not much comfort to be had up there." Avala said to no one in particular. "As for food, we can pack some I suppose, though if the adventure lasts longer than expected, I suppose we can fish, hunt and forage...." He continued on.

One Piece: Foreword Unto Dawn

Kaien is alone again. He left his subordinates alone to do as they wished in Loguetown. Whether that is to drink, to shop or to simply interact with the residents. He didn't care. They're marines, for crying out loud. If they can't behave with a sense of right and wrong when they're at port, then they shouldn't be a marine anyways.

On this day, Kaien was in the forests, sitting in a meditative position on top of a rock. His swords on his lap. He would often do this. "To get in touch with my swords spiritually." he would say to those who would ask as to what he was trying to achieve. He firmly believes that all things in the world have 'spirits' within that. Ones that can freely communicate with you, as long as you know how to listen to what they have to say. As it was a customary saying in his family, one must make their swords as a part of their own bodies as their beating hearts.

Beside the rock on which he sat was a gourd. The stopper of which was left hanging on the side. The contents within which remains a mystery. Kaien would often hang the gourd/bottle from his obi. Foregoing the preferred attire of a western suit, Kain chose to wear a traditional kosode tied at the waist with his obi and worn with a pair of hakama. His standard issue 'Justice' coat would be worn to meetings and other official events, otherwise it is usually replaced with a haori.

In any case, before leaving his crew, he left his lieutenant a baby transponder snail, to call him should he be needed back in town. Seeing as Vice Admiral Haramitsu just called a general meeting, Kaien sighed and gathered his things. Taking a long draw from his gourd, he tied the 'bottle' back on with his obi. With a swift kick to the ground and a wavering of his after image, Kaien was no longer where he sat.

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

>>Siobahn, and her cooking @Almalthia Joel, over a Guiness @Pilatus Elise, fancy seeing her again @KatKook

---

Ryan picked at the food in front of him, his appetite ebbing and flowing with the conversation. Listening to what Siobahn said, and the ensuing silence from Joel, made him question his entire life. Their opinions of Vika is...icy cold at best. There definitely is some dirty history between them all, including the people Siobahn mentioned but Ryan did not know. "Yes, meeting Bruno the German Ramsay would be nice. Maybe this time around he will let me have an opinion on his cooking. Thank you for the offers." Ryan said in response to Joel with a slight chuckle.

Then a voice was heard. A woman. At this hour, in this part of town. Rarely does the two combine in such a manner unless they have a reason of being here. Ryan paused his conversation when the woman was allowed in. Being a guest, he did not make his presence overtly known. He simply listened along to whatever that was said. The way the woman, a somewhat familiar one at that, went off about the cars in the garage brought a small smile to Ryan's face. So she is a petrolhead. Interesting. In his experience, women are either closer to the side of "Where do I put the windshield fluid?" or "Yeah, I can swap out a spark plug by myself." Rarely in between. This one, Ryan remembers her name as Elise from that one time at the festival with that one shy guy, is closer to the latter than the former.

In any case, as a guest of the location, Ryan remained quiet except a quick and friendly greeting to Elise.

《 H. E. R. O. 》

William was standing near the door, idly looking into the distance lost in a daydream. He does that quite often. He tends to only focus when it was really needed. Or when it involved Brie. There is just something about that girl that attracted his attention. And no. It wasn't the electricity.

Just as William turned around as he heard footsteps approaching, he was met with a certain Brianna Hart. Their height difference meant that she ran more or less face first into his upper chest.

Oof

William exclaimed softly as the collision happened. "Um. I was waiting for you." He said. Her mention of Thomas made him look up towards the ceiling. "Being nosy, are we Thomas?" He said with a soft smile. Turning back towards Brie, he continued "Powers asked you to stay behind. Now, I was not eavesdropping but usually those don't end well. I was just..." He paused slightly.

"How do I phrase this so I don't sound like a soft pussy..." He thought to himself.

"I was just...curious as to what that was all about..." He finished, with a look on his face that betrays everything he just said. He is curious. But, realistically, he was more worried about Brie than anything...

@Danvers@KaijuBaragon

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Yeesh... seven billion plus in damages... I didn't do a whole lot, but at least I didn't cost the organization any sort of money like that... William thought to himself as Powers continued on with the meeting.

it was indeed quite rare for all of those under the H.E.R.O. banner to be called into for a general meeting. There has to be something bigger at hand. A few ambleweeds, an old villain, and the resulting damage report was surely something Powers could have just sent out and conducted the meeting virtually....

Then came the news of the joint partnership of H.E.R.O. and ICOSA. Of course. As the international governing council on all things superhuman, it would make sense for them to be involved, as a sort of damage-control tactic. William himself did not care for the outside interference, but who is he to speak up on such affairs? He was a younger hero, not immensely popular nor powerful, and his sphere of influence is so small ICOSA probably only barely knew who he was.

In any case, William remained seated during Power's debrief. As soon as he was dismissed, he got up and got ready to leave. Power's then asked Brie to stay after. Usually, these things ended with Brie being docked pay and or suspended. Which of course sours the mood. As such, William left the auditorium, but waited near the entrance to catch her as she was leaving to make sure she was doing alright....

@Danvers