Nyahahameha

My Hero Academia: Another Story

Thomas Kazinsky
Mr. Driller

---

@Heartfillia@Metastability

Tomka found himself taken aback by Steven's response. And people said he was outgoing and friendly! This Steven fellow was that and more. Tom couldn't help but be impressed with his attitude. And the way he spoke, too - it could be described as "high and mighty", but Tom didn't get the sense he was at any point being talked down to. That couldn't be an easy balance to strike, yet it seemed to come completely naturally to him. Or maybe he just practiced public speaking? Innate or practiced, it's a good skill for a hero to have.

Steven then put his attention on Dawn, drawing Tomka's attention to her as well. He mentioned her having a sharp wit and making "cutting remarks", making Tom a bit nervous, though he did his best to hide it behind a smile. She was probably the sassy, sarcastic type, he guessed. Sure enough, the first words out of her mouth around him involved a threat and name-calling. ...Well, at least she's funny. That could be good for our morale...right?

"Actually, I'm more about tearing down walls, generally speaking," Tomka said in answer to Dawn's question. He reached behind his back with his right hand and unhooked one of the large drills hanging from his belt, holding the perpendicular grip on it's underside so that it pointed parallel with his arm. "I call myself the Excavation Hero, Mr. Driller."

He demonstrated by spinning his hand using his wrist joint as the axis, spinning the drill along with it while I high-pitched whirring - somewhat like a power tool but a little more wet-sounding - filled the air. After a few seconds, he stopped the rotation, finished his demonstration. His free hand immediately found one of the bottles of skin moisturizer holstered on his left hip, and began applying some to the line separating his right hand from his forearm. "It's not just my hands, though - my qurik, Rotation, allows me to rotate any part of my body using my joints as axes. See all these lines across my body?"

He lifted his chin, helping them see the ones running down his neck, then raised his arms to make the ones going down his torso easier to see, then finally pulled up the left pantleg of his shorts a little to show off the ones on his knee and ankle. "Each one aligns with a joint, so basically any part of my body can be rotated. This makes me pretty decent in close combat, since I can hit from weird angles and twist around to avoid getting hit myself. And with my drills, I can get through a lot of more defensive quirks, and even tunnel underground for surprise attacks. But if I'm not careful, the friction of my segments rubbing against each other when they spin can make me chafe, or even bleed if it gets really bad, so I need to take some time every so often to moisturize. I might need you guys to cover for me if that happens."

Tomka smiled at both of them, feeling confident he covered everything either would need to know about his quirk and skill set. "So, any ideas on how we can use our skills together? If not, I was thinking I could keep our enemies' attention, maybe with the help of some tigers?" He looked to Dawn to guage her reaction, and in case she objected to it. "And that way our, uh..."bondage hero", eheh-- can focus on chaining them up while they're distracted, scoring us a quick win?"

My Hero Academia: Another Story

@SimpleWriter@LuckyBlackCat

The entity didn't shake her hand, but she wasn't sure it had noticed her offering in the first place. Instead, it moved back to Erika's side as she - and it, being able to speak - explained the nature of the quirk. Growing stronger and happier from negative emotions? A high school full of teenagers was a perfect environment for a quirk like that. So, in all their team had a fast and agile close combatant with strong instincts, a mid- to long-range combatant with a second body, and herself, a more well practiced close combatant with a focus on defense. Erika seemed to think Gabby herself had the most impressive quirk, it seemed. While flattering, it was also somewhat worrying. It almost sounded like she was going to leave it to her to carry the team. The logical part of her mind stopped her from saying so out loud, as "win condition" wasn't the same thing as "I'll leave it to you". Instead, she got her brain thinking about how to get to the point where her so-called win condition could be used.

"I'm not sure it will be so simple," Gabby said, folding her arms pensively as she locked eyes with Erika. She knelt down on one knee, bringing her eye level a little below Erika's. "It is true that my quirk and musculature allow me to strike decisive blows, but many here have quirks or martial arts that make getting close difficult. I'm generally much better suited to using my stature to draw attention and using my quirk for defense instead of offense, allowing others to flank the enemy while their attention is on me. That said..."

Gabby looked aside to Freya, then to Happy Dusk. "...With you three as teammates, it might be possible to apply my quirk in different ways. For example, Freya; I could use my quirk to propel you at an enemy, allowing you to strike with greater than usual force, and allowing me to attack from a distance. Using your speed, you could then return to my protection before the enemy has a chance to counter. Erika, you can strike from a distance by default using Happy Dusk. Making sure we stay close to one another would make it difficult for the enemy to deprive us of your skills, and I could use my repulsions to maneuver you out of harm's way while you focus on offense. Doing both of these things would turn our team into a tough to bring down tank that is dangerous at all distances."

Gabby unfolded her arms and stood upright, smiling to her teammates. "I believe the best way to win would be to combine our strengths and move as one unit. Not to be bragging, but I am very strong - I could lift you both easily. If you rode on my shoulders, I could keep you both safe while enabling distance attacks, wearing down our opponents until they become open to a final blow from myself or a repulsion-powered Freya. Granted, working together so closely might be difficult for teammates who know little about one another, but I believe the effectiveness of the formation would make up for any missteps we might make. What say you both?"

My Hero Academia: Another Story

Thomas Kazinsky
Mr. Driller

---

@Heartfillia@Metastability

The teacher had pointed people out while reading off the names. Dawn Gibbs and Steven Rein? They were both from class 1-A, which had already become pretty famous due to everyone surviving a villain raid on the factory they'd taken a field trip to. Thomas had heard not everyone in the class had taken part in said field trip, and he had no way of knowing who did and who didn't. But if their class toughened each other up through practice like his did, then surely the experiences those few had would make them stronger as a whole. There was no doubt in his mind he'd landed some really good team mates!

Not wanting to waste any time, he approached them. They were thankfully close by each other, since everyone had kind of grouped together based on what class they were in. With his brightest smile, blue eyes shining through the holes in his black half-mask, he introduced himself. "Hi, there! I'm Thomas, nice to meet you two! You can call me Tomka." He capped it off by politely tipping his construction helmet. "Gotta' say, it's gonna' be interesting to see what I can learn working with people from class 1-A. I hope you'll make good use of me so I can learn a lot!"

My Hero Academia: Another Story

Gabriella Gonzales
Repulsa Libre

---

@LuckyBlackCat@Tenma Tendo@SimpleWriter

Gabby flashed Chi a wide grin, happy to have convinced him to try out a new series so easily. She felt like she had also just made another new friend within a week of having made her previous one. How was it they had gone this long into the semester without discovering their shared interest in anime?! Well...neither she nor Chi really went out of their way to socialize, so that probably had something to do with it, she realized. Though, she felt maybe that would be starting to change, at least for her - spending time with Momo was great for her social confidence.

Confidence which is about to be tested, Gabby ruminated as she heard the names of her team members get called out. Freya she didn't know very well, but she was a kind person who was always trying to lift the spirits of those around her. Erika she knew even less well, but from the one time she'd seen her, she had the impression she was exactly the opposite. Gabby took another sip of Melissa's drink, the liquid now low in the cup, and punctuated it by selling another pretend punch. If her assessment was right, it might fall to her to keep those two opposites from butting heads. She hoped it wouldn't come to that - Freya, while protective of those she cared about, didn't seem like the type to get into an argument when more important things needed doing, while she had it on good authority that Erika wasn't necessarily as bad as she seemed. Momo mentioned once that she hoped Gabby would be able to get along with Erika sometime. Momo hadn't gone out of her way to try to make it happen, but it was obvious she wasn't the type that would want to keep two of her friends separated from one another.

It was for this reason - and the boost she'd gotten from Melissa's tastebud-assaulting drink - that she took Erika's criticism in stride when she presented herself. Freya coming to her defense also helped soften the blow. "It is as you say. But Gabby, too, is feeling fully charged and ready to go, so no need to dwell on that. I shall uphold my responsibility to you regardless of the number of hours of sleep I did or did not receive!"

Excitement coursing through her body, Gabby adopted a wide stance and tensed her muscles, being careful not to crush the cup in her hand. Indeed, the cup stayed un-crumpled even while the muscles in her arms, back, abdomen, and thighs bulged outward, a giddy grin adorning her face as she let the hype run its course. Before she could turn her attention back to Erika, Freya was surprised by something. Seeing Freya looking at her, Gabby's eyebrow quirked behind her cowl, at least until she realized she was looking past her. Gabby turned around and was met with the same sight as Freya, who went on to ask Erika about it.

"Ah, your quirk, it many-- um...ma-ni-feasts as an entity, yes?" Gabby guessed. She hadn't seen such a quirk herself before, but she had heard of them. It certainly reminded her of some of the descriptions she'd heard, being vaguely humanoid and ethereal. She'd heard they often have personalities separate from the quirk user, some describing it as being like having a pet, others describing it as having an entire other person living inside them. Regardless of which experience Erika had with it, she felt it would be rude not to acknowledge it, so she held out her hand to the smoky shape, offering a handshake.

"Mine is comparatively simple: I can apply a force to anything that touches my skin which will repel it away. I can control the amount of force used, but there is a maximum amount, so if something collides with me using more force than I can generate, I cannot repel it. It also has recoil that affects my nervous system - using it too much with one part of my body will cause that part to get numb and eventually paralyze. If something is too sturdy to repel, such as the ground or a wall, I will instead be repelled, which is good for travelling large distances quickly."

My Hero Academia: Another Story

Marionetta Molly

---

Having been sitting in a shaded part of the room like some sort of brooding, trying-too-hard-to-be-edgy social outcast, Orson had evaded Molly's notice until he spoke up. Her gentle smile didn't waver despite her having been taken by surprise, and she turned to face the individual as he leaned into the light. He looked like some kind of travelling hobo, but-- no. She recognized him from a news broadcast she'd seen a couple months back. His name escaped her, but he was a crime boss of high repute who had evaded capture by a police-hero raid. Hm. Never thought I'd be rubbing elbows with someone like that, but here e are.

After hearing his criticism of her attire and villains' general lack of subtlety, she opened her mouth to retort, but someone beat her to the punch with a sassy quip of her own. Turning her body halfway, she looked back toward the door of the warehouse. It was that young lady, the one they rescued from the police transport the week prior. Molly couldn't help but feel for the poor girl. Being a villain in the first place meant your future could be taken from you at any time, but being an escaped convict meant even more of her future was at risk. She wouldn't have blamed her for abandoning the League after such a scare. Given that, it was a relief to see she Animus displaying some more spunk than she had on the day of the rescue, which had seen her much less talkative and more subdued overall.

As Molly reformulated her comeback to account for Sana backing her up, another person entered the warehouse and gave an introduction. Like Molly, she was dressed in ostentatious formal wear, but of a markedly more modern style that made her not stand out as much as Molly's ballroom gown did. Molly looked back to Animus, who was wearing a more casual getup than either of them, then turned back to Orson with his ragged hobo outfit.

"...I was going to argue something along the lines of, "there's no room for subtlety when we're trying to change the world", but it would indeed seem that I am the one who overdressed for the occasion," Molly said, shrugging as her smile turned sheepish. "So, you win this one."

Molly turned away from Orson to make her way toward Animus. As she passed Ushi-Oni, she returned the bow. "Marionetta. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Boss." Molly hoped that didn't come across too sarcastic as she raised back up. She intended to just treat "Boss" as this woman's name, since she'd jokingly offered it as an option, so there was some slight sarcasm to it. She'd made sure there was no snarkiness or defiance in her tone, so she hoped her own joke in kind came across properly.

As she approached Animus, Molly's calm smile opened up into a bright grin. "Those bright orange cover-alls are so gaudy. I love it! If I could pull off any sort of non-Goth look, I'd ask to raid your wardrobe."

My Hero Academia: Another Story

Gabriella Gonzales
Repulsa Libre

---

@LuckyBlackCat@Tenma Tendo@Heartfillia

Melissa had given her permission to keep the drink, so Gabby proceeded to take another swig of it. After gulping it down, she jerked her head back while grunting, pretending like she'd been punched in the face - even though she was acclimating to the taste, the tanginess was still a strong jab to the taste buds. Reacting to it in that manner was quicker than scrunching up her face every time, and frankly, was more amusing to her. She liked to do it with other strong drinks she'd ingest during workouts, too, it was fun, even the weird looks she got from other gym-goers.

Kerianne, Freya, and Momo proceeded to give her their reassurances after her outburst. She was sure their words would be plenty uplifting had she not already been on the energy high Melissa's drink was giving her. She returned a smile to all three of them, nodding in agreement. Momo, in particular, she wanted to respond to.

""Worth it" is not nearly strong enough of a phrase to describe how I feel about last week," Gabby said, bending her knees to lower herself so she could pull Momo in for a brief one-armed hug. As she rose back up, Renard jumped in with a quip about not needing energy drinks because of licking live wires, earning him a smile from Gabby as the mental image played out in her head.

"Licking live wires, eh? Gabby will be sure to try that sometime. Thank you for advice." She reached over and gave Renard a nudge on the shoulder, wearing a smile that she hoped conveyed her sarcasm better than her stilted English did.

After that, another thought occurred to her, and she turned her gaze back to Momo. "Speaking of, should I come by tonight to help you practice Jeice's poses some more? You said Alex told you she would not have much free time over the weekend, correct? So we have to be ready by Friday or we will have to wait until next week."

Before Momo could get her answer in, Chisato approached, expressing interest in her interest. Gabby took the straw out of her drink and placed it in Chi's outstretched hand, assuming he wanted it back since it had been his to begin with. As she thought about how to answer, she took another sip of it, punctuated by another grunt while she jerked her head backward. When she pulled her head forward to gaze down at the shorter Chi, her eyes were wide and shone despite the shadow cast over her face by tilting her head downward.

"...Nostalgia dictates that my answer be Dragon Ball Zed. I grew up watching it, and I was happy to find out that the Intertrack dub is fairly popular even among English-speakers for its performances and accuracy to the original Japanese. Though, if I had to go with my most recent favourite, I would choose Encyclopedia Encyclopedium-- it's kind of like Zatch Bell crossed with Inkheart, with a touch of Danganronpa with how each character has a specific subject's text book. The protagonist is a cynical guy who has the Encyclopedium of Marine Life who is out to destroy all the books because he does not believe humans will not misuse their power. The animation is like Trigger's in it's prime; stylized with low detail to make lots of motion easier, and the way they use that to animate both the creative fights and the subtle looks of the protagonist's eyes peeking out over his book to give you an idea of what he's thinking is so much fun. You should watch it if you are not."

My Hero Academia: Another Story

Marionetta Molly

---

The first to enter the warehouse through the small gap in the large sliding doors was Molly, the clicking of her heels echoing in the emptiness of the room. In her arms she carried a small wooden puppet - made up of a spherical head, conical torso with an opening in the bottom, and two arms - the bells on its jester hat jingling in time with the aforementioned clicking. Looking around, she saw three unfamiliar faces, all looking upon her in her billowing ballgown and ornate mask.

"Ah, I'm the first to arrive, then? Mmhmhm! Perhaps I have time to set up a prank. Perchance there is a blackboard eraser in here? Bucket of water? Anyone?"

She smiled between the three faces as she walked toward the center of the room, awaiting an answer while doing her best to gauge the level of humor on their faces from the distance created by the largeness of the warehouse.

My Hero Academia: Another Story

Gabriella Gonzales
Repulsa Libre

---

Before she could respond favourably to Renard's quip about her arms being full of a little girl, Kerianne directed a question her way. It was an innocent enough question, asked by someone who probably didn't know how much it turned Gabby's insides trying to think of an answer. It would be a simple matter to simply say "I'm fine" and leave it at that, but there was a part of Gabby that wanted to admit to her folly, and Keri's concern for her deserved to be repaid with honesty.

Yet again before she could say anything, a whirlwind of blue blew in, and she was suddenly staring at the smile of the friend she'd made the week prior. Her enthusiasm was no less infectious now than it had been the several times they'd hung out and practiced together, so naturally Gabby's lips curled upward as well. A fun day of hero training...yes, that sounded quite nice.

Gabby attempted to bring herself back to the previous topic, but once again had her thoughts interrupted by the arrival of the bee-suit wearing girl offering them her help. When she began doing jumping jacks, Gabby instinctually joined in, bouncing in place next to Momo and being careful not to swat anyone while alternating raising her large arms with her legs spread, and keeping her legs together with her arms at her sides each jump. Soon, it appeared exercise time was over as the bee girl's attention was drawn to Chi.

Gabby turned to face Keri one more time, heaving a sigh as the burst of energy brought by Momo and Melissa started to wear off, but before she could speak, her attention was grabbed by Chi offering his drink to the group, looking and sounding exponentially more awake than he had moments ago. Without a word, Gabby reached forward and received it from him - the results spoke for themselves, in her opinion. Holding the used straw aside with her thumb, Gabby took a swig straight from the bottle, and instantly cringed when the tanginess of the drink touched her tongue. She forced herself to swallow it quickly as her face contorted and then, she took a gasp of air as her eyes shot wide open.

"I stayed up too late watching anime!" Gabby growled through her frustration with both herself and at the constant interruptions that prevented her from answering Keri's question until now. She then took another sip of the drink, her face twisting once more under her stylized wrestling cowl as she swallowed it down. "It is shameful, I know. I fell behind because I was spending more time with Momo. I decided to spend yesterday catching up and stayed awake far too late." After one more cringe-inducing sip of the drink, she finisehd, "I am sorry my stupidity caused you to worry!"

My Hero Academia: Another Story

Gabriella Gonzales
Repulsa Libre

---

"Now is not the time for our hands to be full of small girls."

Gabriella's heavily accented voice punctuated her arrival behind Dawn, clad in a costume even more revealing than that of the much shorter girl, yet garnering her much less attention from the opposite sex, for better or worse. Wanting to sort her goofball classmates out while they had time, Gabby reached down in an attempt to hook her hands under Dawn's triangular arms, and lift her up off of Kerianne. If successful, she'd set the girl down on her feet beside Keri, allowing Keri to stand as well if she had the energy.

"Heroes must be vigilant even on normal days. For days...like..."

Her attempt at getting her classmates to focus was interrupted by a long yawn, causing her eyes to water. Once it was finished, she tried to continue as if it hadn't happened, blinking the tears out of her vision. "...today, that applies two times."

Gabby tried not to think about her own fatigued state. She had to demonstrate she'd learned from her failure to be relevant during the rescue practice they'd done a couple weeks ago, as well as over the last week and weekend spending time with Momo. She trusted her adrenaline would kick in and wake her up once things started getting hectic. Still, it was hard not to feel bad about the decisions that had led to her being so run-down. She hoped nobody noticed and asked about it. She wasn't sure her classmates paid that much attention to her since she was typically pretty quiet, so they might not have realized that she was typically pretty energetic mornings, even on Mondays. With any luck, she'd get through this without having to embarrass herself with her explanation.

My Hero Academia: Another Story

Gabriella Gonzales
Repulsa Libre

---

The gust of wind caused by the warm front that was Momo's enthusiasm caught the self-doubt Gabriella had hung on her laundry line and carried it away. Her posture eased as she waited for Momo to return with her phone in hand. A close-lipped smile spread across her face as two words repeated in her mind: New frend! New friend! New friend! New friend! Momo then went on to state when she was usually free, mentioning avoiding detention to make sure she would be.

"Ah, so you are what they call a "troublemaker", then?" Gabby quipped, humor finding her again now that her nerves weren't getting in the way. If slamming her into a ceiling and pinning her to the floor hadn't dampened their connection, a joke certainy wasn't going to, even if it ended up lackluster. "Perhaps I should rethink this friendship. Gabby's parents would worry if she fell in with the wrong crowd."

Gabby decided to wait and see her reaction, then would tell Momo her phone number. Perhaps her joke would make her sweat a little? She couldn't deny someone getting concerned about the idea of not being friends with her would be a nice ego boost.