Rabidporcupine

【 Spy High 】

Ok, this is mostly done I think. All I'm missing in this part is the gadgets section, the little extra bits, and any semblance of quality. Enjoy! Oh, also scary-looking face claims are harder to find than I realised, so you'll have to use your imagination for the 'always looks angry' bit.

Adam Shaw

Adam Shaw

BASICS

Name:
Adam Shaw

Nicknames/Aliases:
Depends on whether or not we're countin' insults.

Codename:
I'm thinkin' Aster. I like the colour blue, I like flowers, and asters are blue flowers. Perfect fit.

Age/Grade:
Fifteen.

Place of Birth:
Don't know the exact location, just that it was some city out in the asshole end of Russia.

Gender:
Male.

Physical Description

General Description:
I think I'm pretty average lookin' for the most part, brown hair, brown eyes. I'm like, 6'1" or somethin', dunno if I'll get any taller, but I'd be fine either way. Oh, but I guess there's somethin' weird about my face though, because whenever I try to smile or anythin' like that, people start to freak out and think I'm about to beat the shit out of them or somethin'. But yeah pretty normal other than that.

Height:
6'1"

Weight:
170lb

Ethnicity:
Russian I guess, not that it actually matters to me.

Personality

General Description:
Ok, so let's get this part outta the way first. I'm an ass. I know. Might not have much goin' for me, but I'm a big enough person to at least admit that. I just ain't the type to get all buddy buddy with people, mostly because just about every time I tried as a kid, the other kids'd think I was tryin' to pick a fight or some shit. If they approached me, it usually ended with me getting tricked and beaten up, either because they thought I was a loser for likin' "girly shit" like sewin' or gardenin', or because I looked scary enough that it meant I was the bully, and they were just tryin' to keep me from bullyin' anybody else. So, eventually I started to expect it. Managed to scare the smart ones off, and beat the shit outta the dumb ones who didn't get the hint. Only problem is that I can't really tell anymore when someone might genuinely be tryin' to make friends with me, if they ever are. So, I end up tellin' those people to piss off too. And then sometimes later on I start wonderin' if maybe they really did wanna be my friend, but by then it's too late, you know? Then the next time it happens, I freak out and tell 'em to leave me alone again, because I'm an ass and an idiot.

So yeah, only person I feel like I can really trust is Nat, my mom. She got me out of that shitty orphanage I got stuck in, and brought me somewhere I could actually feel sorta... well, happy. Don't have to feel nervous about my hobbies or anythin', it's nice. Sure, she still teases me sometimes, but I can feel safe that she doesn't mean anythin' actually mean about it. That bein' said, she reckons I should let more people in, give 'em a chance, or at least try not to get in so many fights. I'm sick of lettin' her down with that stuff, so I'm really gonna try this time. No seriously, I'm gonna do it! I ain't gonna let shit get to me anymore! I'm gonna turn the other cheek or whatever so damn hard it'll break my goddamn neck!

Oh, but that doesn't count for the dickheads who go out and try to pick on other people over stupid shit! I had to deal with it and I know how much it sucks, so there's no goddamn way I'm lettin' anyone else go through it when I'm around! Screw that!

Likes:
Textiles
Cooking
Gardening
Drums
Cute things
Weeb shit
Exercise

Dislikes:
Dickheads who judge other people for their hobbies or looks or other stupid reasons
High temperatures
Boats

Goals:
I... I dunno yet... I guess I wanna make Nat proud, and maybe it'd be sorta nice to make a couple of friends or somethin'?

Fears:
Well, I know I don't wanna disappoint Nat anymore. Other than that... Ghosts. Definitely ghosts. Can't hit 'em 'cause they're... ethereal? 's that the word? I dunno, they're ghosty... Jeez, fine. I'm frickin' terrified that people are just gonna keep on judging me forever, alright?! Now just drop it already!

Sexual Preference:
Oh, uh... straight I guess? Nobody really gives me the time of day, so I don't really think about it too often.

Biography

Brief Bio:
Well, ok, I guess. Not that much to say though. Like I said before, I used to live out in the asshole end of Russia or Siberia or somewhere around there. I don't really remember much about my parents, but I know I wound up in an orphanage by the time I was four. Now I dunno if you know this, but kids can be real pricks, especially when they think somethings 'weird', like a guy who makes scary expressions all the time, or that scary-lookin' guy bein' into shit like knittin' and cookin'. So they started comin' at me, and I started givin' back everything I got. I don't regret it either, the little shits had it coming! It did make the caretakers see me as some kinda 'problem child', so in the end just tryin' to defend myself made things even worse. It all just wound up turning into some shitty spiral.

Then, when I was around eight, Nat found me. I still have no idea why she actually did it, but she got me outta that place and adopted me properly, so I can't really complain. Besides, for whatever reason, I already felt like I could trust her pretty easily even back then, so it was like I knew from the get go I'd be happier leavin' with her than staying where I was. And I mean, it's not like I was wrong or anythin', I was able to do all the stuff I like without having to look over my shoulder when I was home. It was just when I started school here that I realised being a piece of shit wasn't just a cultural thing. So in the end, I never really got away from the 'angry asshole' thing. Hell, I actually think it might've gotten even worse.

Anyway, you guys know the rest. I kept fighting people, I got better and better at it, all leadin' up to the bit where you assholes kidnapped me and stuck me in some random ass room and told to join the team. Don't even really know why I said yes, but I did, and now here I am dancin' around like your goddamn puppet. You're welcome.

Skillset

Talents/Skills:
Alright, so you probably already know this, but I'm damn good in a fight, especially if I can get in close. I hit hard, and I can usually catch when someone's windin' up to hit me way before they actually go through with it. Hell, I'd even say my brain is at it's best when I'm in a brawl, always helpin' me stay a step ahead of whoever I'm up against and figurin' out weird ways to confuse 'em and get the advantage. Might not be the best with computers or any of that crap, but you can bet your ass I'll be more than good enough to keep the bad guys off whoever is. Actually, I'm not bad at patchin' myself up after a fight either. Nothin' incredible, but probably more than the average idiot my age. And I'm also pretty good at keepin' myself in shape. If there's anythin' I know about all that sciency crap, it's nutrition and exercise stuff.

For the non-spy stuff, I'm pretty good at workin' 'round the house. Cookin', cleanin', all that stuff. Also, I don't mean to brag, but I'm probably better at sewin', knittin', or any other textile work than anyone I've ever met. Of course, you go spreadin' any of that shit around, I'll use those skills to sew your goddamn mouth shut, ya hear me?! This shit ain't leavin' this room!

Gadgets:
Shock Gauntlets
Forgot what they were meant to be called, but it doesn't matter. All that matters is that they're badass. Basically, the hand area is braced to make 'em hit a little harder, and they can generate a crazy powerful electric charge to mess people up when I punch 'em, or even more if I manage to grab 'em. Even better, further up the wrist they've got a cord I can launch out, about twelve feet long, with a little hooky barb thing that can snag peoples clothes and reel 'em in. 'course, I don't need to extend it the whole length or reel it in straight away, I can also just loose it part way and use it like a whip, or even grab it like one of those chokey cords, think it's called a garrote. Best part? I can even send the electricity through the cord too! And all of that in what most people would think is just a normal pair of motorbike gloves! Coolest part of this whole spy gig, hundred percent.

Shock Bola
Not as cool as the gauntlets for sure, but these things ain't bad either. Essentially a little ring-ish thing ya hold, and there are three cords comin' off the sides with metal weights attached to the ends. You spin 'em around to gather up the speed and then ya throw 'em at your enemies, where it'll tangle 'em up. Usually you throw it at their feet to trip 'em over, but you can get it around their arms and weapons if you aim right, make a little more time for yourself before they can start shootin' at ya again. Then when I press a button on my gauntlet, it activates 'em, sends a signal over to the ring to generate electricity and send it through the cords. Just a little extra way to keep anyone I tangle with 'em from gettin' back up, ya know?

And yeah, 's kind of it, really. Haven't actually needed anythin' else yet.

Shortcomings:
Alright, look, I don't need ya to tell me I don't have much goin' for me. I've heard it all before. I know. Probably pretty obvious by now that my people skills are garbage, but you might not've heard yet that I'm a dumbass too. Ain't exactly doing the best in my normal classes ya know? Except stuff like Art and Home Ec 'cause you know, that shits actually fun, but all the normal classes for the brainy kids? Not my best area, gotta admit. And don't even get me started with tech shit, christ... I mean, I can use it most of the time, but don't ask me how the hell it works.

Extra Stuff

Ok, so I don't actually know my real birthday, but Nat adopted me properly on the eighteenth of August, so that's when we celebrate it.

Grading

Strength:
A
Agent Aster's physical strength is remarkable compared to many others in his age group, likely due to what he views as necessity with how often he gets into physical altercations with other students. However, this is not entirely unexpected when one notes his regular training, even if he believes no one has noticed him doing so.

Intelligence:
D+
Agent Aster is not what one might call academically gifted. He has shown surprising knowledge in the areas of nutrition and physical fitness, and even some potential as a medic if properly trained, but the fields of mathematics, history, and any form of science not connected to the previously mentioned fields continue to elude him.

Close-Quarters Combat:
A+
Due to a combination his optimal physical condition and equally sharp instincts, Agent Aster has proven to be incredibly talented in the field of close-quarters combat. He is quick to adapt to various marital arts during training, and what had once merely been relatively straightforward brawling has evolved into a versatile style that can excel in both offence and defence, especially with the utilisation of grappling cords.

Firearms:
B-
While not particularly poor with long range weaponry, it is far from Agent Aster's area of expertise. More likely than not he will need to rely on squadmates in a prolonged firefight, as he alone will be unlikely to succeed unless he can find a way to get into close range.

Concealment and Disguise:
C+
While Agent Aster's skills in sewing and other textiles holds unexpected potential for the creation of disguises, poor interpersonal and acting skills make successful infiltrations unlikely as of this point. Perhaps in the future, should he get better at interacting with others, he may show potential in this area, but as of now it is simply not viable.

Strategic Thinking/Leadership:
D
Despite a good ability to think up unorthodox solutions on the fly, Agent Aster is unfortunately too poor in terms of social interactions to be viable as a tactical leader at this stage. On top of this, Aster himself holds no confidence in his ability to lead, and would likely shift a leadership role to a teammate even if he were to overcome his social issues.

Mental Agility/Intuition:
A
Agent Aster's ability to come up with unorthodox solutions to issues at a moments notice may be one of his greatest points, allowing him to escape difficult situations in ways that are often extremely difficult for opponents to predict. This coupled with remarkable intuition allows him not only to be a powerful close range fighter, but to avoid many conflicts altogether, though admittedly it is seemingly quite rare for him to choose that path as of this stage.

Hacking/Computer Operation:
D-
After much observation, it has been determined that Agent Aster should not be expected to perform any important activies related to computers. In fact, it is our current belief that Agent Aster may in fact be borderline tech-illiterate, capable of little more than locating and playing the program Full Tilt! Pinball on former Promenade operative Natalie Shaw's laptop.

Observation/Interrogation:
B
While Agent Aster does seem capable at observing certain details and changes in an individuals body language, our current understanding is that this rarely extends beyond determining whether or not said individual is planning to start a fight, and how they are going to act in said fight. However, naturally intimidating facial features coupled with his general aggression allows him to be very effective in an interrogation environment, as long as a partner is present to play good cop to his bad cop and take note of any information revealed.

Linguistics:
C
Though Agent Aster was born and raised in Russia, a fairly poor quality education means that his knowledge of the language is somewhat limited. He could make his way in the country without too much difficulty, but he has difficulty with more intricate concepts such as metaphors and common sayings.

Teamwork/Cooperation:
C-
Unfortunately, though Agent Aster is technically capable of acting within a team, his long-running difficulties with interpersonal relationships makes it difficult for him. Though his willingness to trust fellow operatives has shown signs of improvement, and he is willing to put his own health at risk should he deem it necessary, he has an unfortunate tendency to argue or simply follow his own decisions if he disagrees with the instructions given to him, especially when they come from his own peers.

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Joseph

When the sea plane finally touched down at St Florian, Joseph could honestly say that he was happy to see the end of the flight. He was pretty sure he had left an imprint on the armrest with how hard he'd been gripping it, internally screaming from the second they left Castleburg. While outwardly he had managed to avoid making much more than a quiet whine, or the occasional miniscule whimper when they hit turbulence, he was pretty sure that the fact that he'd gone pale the moment the journey started and was only just beginning to regain any colour to his skin now that they were safely on the ground might've done some damage to the cool, laid back reputation he'd been cultivating the last year or so. But now that they were on solid ground, he could finally breathe easily. No more flying until the end of the vacation, which would be fine because they'd be going back to work, where they'd be expected to be stressed out.

He was content to follow the others without much commentary as they were shown around by the greeter, only really reacting when she handed him the envelope holding the key for his hut. He had to admit, he generally considered himself to be more of a forest and mountains guy than a beach guy, but this place was actually pretty damn beautiful. Looking out at the ocean, the water looked almost completely clear, which was pretty great considering the fact that water he couldn't see the bottom of settled nicely into his list of greatest fears right next to flying. Even the sun was nice, but that was probably just because he wasn't wearing a bulky jacket anymore, the trusty outfit of nearly six years having been ruined beyond repair in the fight against Winterfall. Instead, he wore a nice, potentially even trendy-looking hawaiian shirt the Hag had forced him to buy instead of a new jacket, alongside a nice pair of green shorts and sandals. Much like with the aforementioned shirt, the Hag had smacked him over the head when he described his plans to embarass everyone by wearing them with socks, claiming that he was 'thirty years too young to bear that burden'. So in the end he was dressed uncharacteristically appropriately for the environment, and despite his expectations, found himself surprisingly happy with the results!

The idea brought a small grin to his face, as he finally managed to calm down properly from the flight. It only faltered slightly when he actually looked at the key for his room.

"The Manatee Hut, huh?" He mumbled to himself, looking at the small design of the creature hanging off the keychain. "Can't wait for those jokes to start."

Thankfully, he was on the fitter side compared to the vast majority of his fellow lazy bastards, so they'd have to find something other than his gut to make the manatee comparisons to.

Whatever his colleagues might say though, he was more interested in hanging out with them than he was in unpacking at the moment. The hut was nice, and the idea of getting a not-so-brief nap in before the dinner later on was more than a little tempting, but he'd been a little less social recently than he was before the coup, and he felt like it was about time he started making up for it. It wasn't really an intentional thing either, he'd just had a lot he needed to work on, specifically the contents of a small, plainly wrapped package currently sitting on the bedside table. Honestly, it was actually meant to be Jamie's birthday present, but Seraph's coup and the subsequent time he'd spent stuck in hospital kept him from getting any further than the planning phase until it was nearly too late. So instead, he'd given her a placeholder gift in the form of copious amounts of chocolate, with the plan of giving this one to her when it was finally finished.

Well, he'd finished it just a few days ago, so now it was just a matter of finding the right time to give it to her. Hopefully without all the smartasses that made up his colleagues around to tease him about it too. That led him to decide on doing it on the vacation, where the only real smartass he could think of was Tom, who would probably be distracted hanging out with Grace to make fun of him. A perfect plan, except for the fact that his own nervousness at the idea was proving to be way more of a barrier than his snickering coworkers ever could.

He had time though, and he'd be able to calm himself down enough to find the right moment eventually. Right now, he'd just spend time like he normally would, and try to rid himself of the stress he'd been feeling the last couple of months.

Stepping back out into the sunlight, he quickly caught sight of Jamie, who was currently talking with that one new guy who seemed to hang around Starbright a lot. His name was... Chad, he was pretty sure... Oh well, whatever his name, he'd been meaning to talk to the guy for a while anyway, see if he could potentially poach him away from Starbright to become his cool mentor instead. The guy had probably forgotten who he was, if he ever even knew in the first place, but Joseph was pretty sure they'd seen each other enough for him to realise he wasn't just some stranger approaching them. Probably.

"Hey, Jamie! Chet!" He called as he walked over. "You guys got any plans on what to do yet? Because I don't really have any ideas except sleeping, or waiting for Starbuster to finish unpacking so I can obliterate him in beach volleyball."

@canaryrose@Duoya@Jumbus

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Joseph

@KaijuBaragon

---

It’d been a while since he’d last had to go through the experience, but Joseph was quickly remembering how little he liked hospitals.

“Mr Moore, please answer truthfully this time. Have you hidden any more flasks around this room?”

“No,” he sighed at the nurses question, “that was the last one. I am now officially out of ways to pass the time, thank you.”

“Moore, you do understand the condition you were in when you were found, don’t you?” The nurse asked, audibly straining to try and remain calm. “Even though you’re stable now, your body is still quite weak, to the point where the amount you drink normally may very well kill you.”

“You’re keeping me stuck in this bloody bed for at least three more days. I’d rather just take the liquor and die happy.” He replied, not putting nearly as much effort into not sounding petty as she had.

Apparently realising how low the odds of getting through to him were, the nurse simply shook her head with a sigh of her own and left, leaving Joseph to lie back and let out another sigh.

How the hell was he going to sneak out of this room?

Meanwhile, Tom was heading up the hospital corridor on his way to Joseph’s room. He hadn’t gotten off too badly from the whole experience, just a couple of burns that, while painful, weren’t going to do any long lasting damage. He also had some general bruises and bumps that the doctors wanted to take a look at, so he had to stay in the hospital for an extra day or so, while Grace got to be discharged pretty quickly, having been mostly safely tucked away in the safety gel in the plane.

As he got closer to Joseph’s room, he saw an angry looked nurse come out before walking in the other direction. Wondering what had happened, he cautiously walked over to Joseph’s door, knocking on it a few times, saying ”Hey, Joseph? It’s Tom.” He didn’t wait for a reply before opening the door to the room and peering inside.

Joseph’s eyes widened briefly as he heard the unexpected voice.

“Who?” He asked, turning to see Tom as he entered. “Oh, Tim. I’ll admit, not exactly the first person I’d expect, but at this point I’ll take just about anyone if it means a few seconds of something other than staring out the window to try to entertain myself.”

He paused for a second.

“By the way, and keep in mind I’ve been unconscious for the last day and a half-ish when I ask this, I’m gonna guess from the fact you were allowed in here that you’re not actually a traitor, right?”

Tom rolled his eyes as Joseph immediately started acting depressed about being stuck in the hospital room bored. ”Why don’t you ask for like, a book or a magazine or something… Do you not have a phone?” Tom asked, before probably wasn’t the best question to ask and instead pushed on instead with answering Joseph’s question.

[color=SteelBlue]”No, of course I’m not a traitor, that was just a ruse so I could get close to the Wings without them suspecting me or anything. Not like it lasted very long, thank god for Christina…” He said, shaking his head. ”Look, you can’t just sit here alone being sad the whole time.”

“Well, I had a phone, but… well...” Joseph nodded his head to a nearby bench, where a small plastic bag of smashed machinery had been placed. “Apparently pockets don’t provide much protection against getting clubbed. Who could’ve guessed? And for books and magazines…”

He paused again, wondering if he should continue, before finally sighing.

“I can’t really read very well. Not without my contacts.” He looked back to Tom, and if he hadn’t noticed before, it was now a lot more obvious that instead of their usual dark brown, Joseph’s eyes were now a light green. “And because they don’t want me ‘straining me eyes’, they aren’t giving them back ‘til tomorrow.”

He nodded at Tom’s explanation, a small grin growing on his face.

“Well, first of all, let me just say ‘called it’. And second, I actually agree completely! If you can find some crutches or something, I might even have something in mind.”

”Oh, yeah, well I can see how that phone isn’t gonna be much fun at the moment.” Tom said, glancing over at the plastic bag which once held Joseph’s phone. As he did, his eyes were drawn over Joseph’s face.... Were Joseph’s eyes always green? Tom obviously never paid much attention to them, but he was pretty sure they looked different. Whatever. He would ask him about it at some point down the line, maybe.

”Well, it wasn’t too hard to call, surely none of you thought that I would actually betray you all just like that.” He rolled his eyes, before cocking his head a little at Joseph’s suggestion. ”Crutches, huh? I can probably find you some.” He knew that he probably shouldn’t, but he was so bored being in this hospital, just hanging around waiting for people to visit him, he needed some entertainment.

He quickly backed out of the room and headed down the hallway for a little while, until he found a door that was labelled as a supply closet. He inconspicuously slipped inside, and presto, there were a bunch of crutches just lying there against the wall waiting for people to do something fun with them… And like, serious medical stuff too of course. He grabbed a pair and headed back out.

Soon he had cracked open the door to Joseph’s room again and headed inside, bringing the crutches over next to him. ”Here you go, crutches. Now what are we gonna do?” He asked.

“Well, if all goes well, this should be pretty simple.” Joseph started, wincing as he stepped out of the hospital bed, almost stumbling over. Turns out the staff might’ve had a point when they said he shouldn’t be walking yet. Still, the crutches helped, and after taking a few moments to adjust to the soreness, he felt good enough to get moving.

“Ok, considering my shins haven’t folded in half yet, I think we’re probably good to get started.” He said, nodding in satisfaction. “So yeah, here’s the deal. I’ve got someone I’ve been meaning to see in here myself, but I’ve been putting it off for a while because… stuff, I guess. But I’m stuck here now, so at this point, I might as well just suck it up and go. However, the staff here have made it pretty clear that I’m supposed to stay in bed at his point, with nothing to do but yearn for death.”

“And that’s where you come in.” He said, nodding towards Tom. “I need you to help me sneak around the poorly disguised prison guards they call nurses here. That and fill me in on just what the hell has been going on over the last couple of days, because so far all I’ve gotten is ‘Jamie and Powers are both still alive.’ Other than that, I know pretty much nothing.”

Tom nodded. ”Alright, sounds good, I’ll help you go over and talk to this mysterious person. They better be fun to be around.” Tom added, walking over and standing near Joseph as he started to walk a little, just there to catch him in case he toppled over. But, luckily that didn’t happen, so Tom stepped back a little bit as Joseph started talking about Tom’s role in all this.

”So I’m just here to make you look like you’re not out of place walking around to find this person? Fair enough, I suppose.” Tom looked around the room. Hanging behind the door was a white doctor’s coat. Tom grabbed it and slipped it on, now feeling suitably disguised as he cracked the door open and peered out. ”Alright, I don’t see any nurses, c’mon…” He gestured for Joseph to come.

When the two had stepped outside, he started filling Joseph in. ”Well, Seraph is probably dead, Mr. Impressive and Sea Serpent are in prison. Blake is currently being psychologically deprogrammed… He got brainwashed. Oh, and uh… I’m dating Grace now, which is cool.” He said. He decided not to tell Joseph about Brie being transferred to California, at least not yet.

“Full disclosure, pretty sure she won’t be.” Joseph said in response to Tom’s ‘fun to be around’ comment. “She wasn’t especially talkative last time I visited, and I’d’ve heard if something changed.”

He listened to Tom speak as he hobbled along, nodding occasionally. A hint of sadness passed through his expression at the mention of Seraph dying, but it was gone so quickly that it was unlikely anyone would have realised what it was unless they were looking for it.

“Oh, well… cool. I mean, more like ‘finally’, you know? I honestly thought you were going out already, so the reveal is more just meh than anything. Congratulations though.”

Somehow, the path to their destination was clear of staff for the most part. A few nurses at the far ends of the halls, but nobody ever got close enough to really question them, which was good. Tom seemed so confident that the doctor's coat he’d stolen would be enough to disguise him, despite being an easily recognizable celebrity, so he’d have almost felt a little bad if a doctor had found them. He wasn’t even covering his face! On the other hand though, it wasn’t a big enough deal for Joseph to actually call out himself. Ruining Tom’s fun might drive him away, leaving Joseph as easy pickings for a swarm of angry medical staff.

Thankfully though, they made it to the room before that conversation ever had to come up. It was strange though. Before he’d been eager to do this, but now that he was actually here, he couldn’t help but feel nervous. Like he should just leave. His hand hung there, half stretched towards the door, and he wasn’t sure whether he was surprised or not to see that it was actually lightly trembling. Hopefully Tom wouldn’t notice, or if he did he’d just chalk it up to his body still being weak. Then again, he was going in with Joseph, so any point to hiding it would be gone soon anyway.

He turned to Tom.

“Before we go in there, I need you to promise not to talk about this. Nothing you hear comes out of this room, yeah?”

Tom crossed his arms at Joseph’s reaction to him saying he was now going out with Grace - although he supposed it was probably fair. ”Well… Yeah, I guess that’s fair, we probably should have started dating a while ago anyway.” And then he considered what Joseph said about the person that they were going to meet. ”She can’t be that bad, anyone is better than the same 3 or 4 nurses who keep harassing me in my room, I’m not even really injured!” He said.

Tom didn’t really expect his costume to work, considering it wasn’t really a costume at all, but as the pair made their way down the hospital corridor, it seemed like they were in the clear. Weather that was because of the disguise, or the fact that people in a hospital were too busy with more important things to care, was up for discussion. It didn’t really feel like long before they reached Joseph’s destination, a hospital door just like any other.

Tom crossed his arms and waited for Joseph to open the door so he could finally see who this mysterious person was. But it looked like Joseph was hesitating, at least a little. What was he doing? Was he just being slow because of his injury, or was there something else to it? And then, before Tom could say something about it, Joseph turned to him and asked him to not let anyone else know about what happened. Tom raised an eyebrow, but nodded anyway. ”Uh, yeah, sure. I won’t tell anyone, don’t worry.”

Joseph continued to stare at Tom for a moment, looking for any sign that he might be lying. In the end though, he realised that the gravity user just wasn’t thinking that deeply about it, and sighed.

“Alright. Let’s go.” He said, finally opening the door.

A young woman lay in the bed, hooked up to a number of life support machines. An oxygen mask was attached to her face. She was unconscious, just like she’d been the last time Joseph saw her. He slowly hobbled into the room, sitting in a chair that had already been set up not far from the bed.

“Hey El, it’s Jeremy.” He said, putting on a happier tone than usual. “Sorry it’s been so long since my last visit, some stuff came up. I… well, I joined HERO, just like I said I would last time. That’s been pretty interesting. I even brought one along! This guy is Tim, but his made up name for the news and stuff is Skywalker. There are a bunch more like him, it’s practically a whole team! Idiots, the lot of them, but not like we were any different, right? If I’m being honest, I can’t stop noticing things that remind me of us while I’m with them. It’s legitimately just like back then, but bigger, and… and I...”

He couldn’t do it.

“I don’t know what I’m doing anymore...”

It was as if his entire positive demeanor evaporated instantly, the happy facade falling away as he leaned forwards in the chair, his hands in his lap seemingly the only thing keeping him up.

“I mean, I thought this would be good, you know? I’d be a d-tier hero, help out where I can, and still be able to keep a low profile while I do it, but I-… I messed up again El. We got in a fight with someone strong. Too strong. I tried to fight him with the others but… I couldn’t do anything. Everything I tried, the guy just shrugged it off, and I was so sure that it was going to end with all of us dying, all because I couldn’t hold him off long enough, so I-...”

He hesitated for a moment, his hands clenching in frustration.

“I used Failnaught... I know it was stupid, but… I didn’t know what else to do. It was the only way I could think of to get out of there, but if they find out, if Louis finds out, I’ve fucked us all anyway, haven’t I?”

He let out a short, humorless chuckle, as he forced a weak smile back onto his face.

“Sorry about that. First visit in over two years and I start venting at you? Nobody wants that. Besides, you’ve got your own problems to deal with, I can’t be pushing all my issues onto you too...”

He turned to look at Tom.

“Tom, you got anything you wanna say, or should we get going?”

As soon as Tom followed Joseph into the room, he knew instantly that this visit wasn’t going to be anything fun. The girl lying on the bed was not at all in a good state - in fact, the amount of life support equipment that surrounded her made it look like she was in some kind of coma, or something like that. Whatever it was, it was immediately clear to Tom that this visit was of a highly sensitive nature.

When Joseph introduced him to the unconscious girl, Tom gave a meek and awkward wave, feeling that he should do something, even though he knew that she obviously wasn’t able to see or hear either of them. And then Joseph… Wait, did Joseph just call himself Jeremy? That was weird. Maybe Jeremy was his middle name or something, and this El person just knew him by that. Then it dawned on Tom that he didn’t really know anything at all about Joseph before he joined HERO. He knew general things from the lives of everyone else… But not Joseph.

And then Joseph seemed to lose the semi-joking vibe in an instant, pouring his heart out to the unconscious girl. Tom had the intense feeling that this was something that he really shouldn’t be listening to, something super personal. But he nevertheless remained rooted to the spot, watching on. Who was Louis? What the hell was the Failnaught? And then the rant was over.

Tom gulped a little as Joseph looked at him. ”Well… Uh, I don’t wanna say anything to her, because I don’t know her, and she’s, you know, unconscious… But to you, I think you’re being hard on yourself. From what I heard you did a solid job, and Jamie might not be alive if it weren’t for you. But yeah, let’s get going.”

“All I did was basic first aid, and it wouldn’t have even mattered if that guy had gotten bored of beating me to death before the others got there.” Joseph said. “Actually, I’m pretty sure the paramedics made it before Jamie would’ve died even without the runes, so in the end all I did was put her through unnecessary pain to apply them.”

He winced slightly as he stood up, ignoring the aches as he got set up with his crutches once again.

“But it doesn’t matter now. Can’t change what’s already happened. Let’s go.”

He hobbled over to the door, looking back into the room before he left.

“See ya El, I’ll try to come back sooner next time.”

And then he was out, looking over to Tom as he walked.

“Ok, now that that’s out of the way, we can move on to the next task. I don’t have the map on me, but I’ve got a bunch of flasks stashed around in the indoor plants here. I’m gonna need a good few of them to replace the ones the nurses stole from me.”

As he described the next plan to Tom, a man with a striking resemblance to the woman they’d just visited passed them in the corridor, heading towards her room. Before he entered the room, he turned back to glance at Joseph and Tom, and Joseph ignored it as if he didn’t even notice. After a few more moments, the man turned back and entered the room, leaving the two to their dumb plans.

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Joseph

@DarkRecon@Hitman

Joseph barely managed to stifle a growl of frustration as he watched the ice manipulator easily avoid all his runes, cutting down any he didn't manage to shoot from the sky. He'd at least managed to get his attention, but at this point he wasn't sure if Alien Angel was in any position to make use of it, having just been thrown into the wall somehow. It had to have been something Winterfall had done with his powers, but what? Maybe he'd somehow weighed her down using miniscule particles of snow and then used them to have her throw herself into the wall somehow? Did that even make sense?

Despite the thoughts swirling around in his head though, what he said next immediately silenced them.

Winterfall knew about magi.

About the code, and if the term 'one or two folds' was any indication, he had a fairly good grasp on how it all worked too. That meant he must have learnt it from a magus. Even though Winterfall had just mentioned Egypt, the sheer abject terror that Joseph felt spread throughout his body was enough to make him tremble, just from the small possibility that he might be connected to him.

In his fear, he almost failed to react to the mans next volley of ice, just barely managing to rip a rune out from his sleeve and hurl it to the ground before him in time.

"Raise!" He shouted, and the floor around the rune flowed towards it as if it were water, collecting around it and rising into a wall that stood just above the height of his head. It wasn't fast enough however. If not for the fact that he'd brought his arms up to cover his face and neck, he would have died then and there. Instead, he was mearly thrown backwards, the sheer force of the attack smashing him painfully into the side of the minijet. As he tried to get back up, an unnervingly sharp pain shot through his body, and he looked down to realise that even with the multiple layers of defensive runic arrays in his coat, a number of needles had managed to pierce through, digging into his flesh. Thankfully, the arrays had done their job well enough that they hadn't gotten deep enough to cause any real damage. However, the mere fact that they'd broken through in the first place meant the coat was now little more than unecessary extra weight. Not only that, but he could feel something warm running down the back of his neck, and a quick brush with his fingers showed that he was bleeding quite badly.

All in all, he wasn't really in any condition to fight. He could vaguely hear Alien Angel shouting to him, but what she was saying he couldn't really tell. It was almost as if it was muffled. It sounded important though. He finally caught sight of her from around his wall, but barely a second later he watched her run back out of sight, to where Winterfall was. She was fighting him alone, a stupid decision, but she probably thought he was going to back her up soon. Winterfall too. He'd asked him to show him something that wasn't just a 'parlour trick', to 'prove himself'.

Maybe it was the concussion he probably had. Maybe it was his anger to the frost wielder for daring to threaten the people he cared about. Or maybe he just didn't like this guys attitude.

Whatever it was, Joseph decide that just this once, he wasn't going to disappoint.

Forcing himself back to his feet, he brushed the needles away, a few of them snapping rather than just falling out. He'd deal with them later though, instead removing his now all but useless jacket. Using one of the knives he had on him, he quickly cut it open, and grabbed a number of runic tags that had been stored within the lining.

"Follow." He said, eight of the tags glowing faintly before rising into the air to surround him. "Brace. Guard. Hone." Through his commands, he felt the tags change. Where before they had been mere paper, they might as well be floating knives at this stage. They would handle the defence, now for the attack.

Gathering as many of his leftover runes as he could fit in his hands, he dashed out from the cover of his wall. Out of cover, he made a beeline for the pair, hurling the tags he'd grabbed into the air. Rather than targeting Winterfall however, they flew towards various spots on the floor and the ceiling above them.

"Move Angel!" He shouted to his pink teammate, before sweeping a hand out in front of him, each and every tag glowing a bright purple as it passed them. "Shatter!"

As one, the tags exploded, upending large chunks of the floor to limit Winterfall's strangely high mobility while simultaneously bringing the roof down above the three of them. While he was concentrating on dodging the falling rubble, Joseph drew his pistol, the only gun that still looked to be in reliable condition after everything that had happened so far, and fired at the ground around the villain. Even as he did, he was moving ever closer.

"Burn!"

Twelve small gouts of flame rose from the ground where the bullets had impacted, the result of nearly twenty three hours of very careful painting. They weren't particularly powerful, definitely not enough to cause any real damage, but it was an extra layer of distraction to keep their enemy in place for those last few seconds.

And then he was upon the man, combat knife in hand and on it's way towards Winterfalls neck. He was out of tags, out of ammo, and on the brink of collapsing from his injuries. If this didn't work, he had nothing left.

The Sisters of the Dying Branch

Jeremy Lindall

@Hitman

Jeremy had been one of the first to get word of the briefing, having just returned from training out in the forest. At this stage, the training was unfortunately quite easy, as the gauntlet he'd set up didn't quite have the same effect when he knew where all the traps were. It hardly kept him on his toes when he was expecting everything, after all. The only redeeming feature was the fact that, every now and then, he'd get attacked by the local wildlife, forcing him to adapt a situation he didn't already understand every last detail of. It had only happened seven times over the three days he'd been there though, so it was hardly consistent enough to call actual training.

That wasn't important at the moment though, as he now found himself sitting in Sister Deborah's office, subtley observing the others and wondering whether any of them knew why they'd been called in. Thankfully, he'd been able to get along decently with most of them, although that may have just been because he hadn't really spoken up much. It wasn't for lack of interest or anything, he was just never quite sure of what he should say, and didn't want to accidentally say the wrong thing. Hannah used to tell him that other people their age actually found his silence intimidating, but he hoped she was joking. Making his companions nervous was the last thing he wanted...

It was at that point that Sister Deborah finally started speaking, the last stragglers having finally arrived in the office. Jeremy listened in growing interest as she briefed them on the situation, and their first mission; vampire hunting. The idea brought out feelings of both relief and nervousness in the boy. On the one hand, it was something he'd done a few times in the past, so he at least had a decent amount of experience in the area he could rely on. On the other hand though, it seemed rather likely that he was the only person in the group who would have that experience. After all, most of them had been a part of this coven their whole lives, and had only just been initiated along with him. He doubted they'd send witches who hadn't bonded with the wellspring yet into such a dangerous situation. Meanwhile, his own coven hadn't had a wellspring of their own, so he had already been deemed ready to play a role in their hunts as soon as they thought he could handle himself in a combat situation.

So essentially, he was the most experienced vampire hunter of his peers. That meant they might need to rely on him for advice, which was a horrifying thought because he wasn't entirely sure if he would be able to give them the right answers if they did. Not that he wouldn't help to the best of his abilities, of course, but it was just a little nerve-wracking. He definitely didn't think he would be capable of leading the team if, god forbid, they asked him to. He'd only ever played a small part in the hunts he'd been on, usually in a support role. No, he'd stick to just helping as best as he could, and leave the leadership role to someone who understood everyone better.

Thankfully, it looked like Jean-Luc might have decided to take up the mantle, reading out the basics of what was in the dossier to the rest of the Carolina team. Jeremy nodded when the team parted to prepare. He didn't need to go to the armoury like Jean-Luc had, having already brought a number of weapons capable of fighting vampires and other supernatural nasties along with him when he first arrived. A number of different firearms, a few knives, and even a large chain whip, all of which where heavily enchanted. In addition, the knives, whip, and at least a few of the bullets for each gun had been coated in silver. Realising he still had a couple of hours before he would have to leave, he placed the knives and whip in a nice, sunlit spot, where some of the enchantments would allow them to soak in sunlight to be released later. He then moved on to packing some of the less suspicious items, like clothing, and other essentials. Finally, he rounded it off with a small sewing kit, a set of inkbrushes with a few vials of ink, and a couple of notepads, which he neatly packed away into a small backpack. All in all, he somehow managed to fit everything into just one large travelbag and the aforementioned backpack, although it was likely this was due to him eventually deciding he didn't need more than two changes of clothes, along with a few nifty enchantments on the bag itself.

Once he was done with his packing, he put some extra food in Bertle's enclosure, gently patting the small turtle on the head. Realising he still had about an hour left, he spent about thirty minutes of it painting a small series of runes onto a couple of rocks he'd picked up that morning, before finally collecting his stuff together and heading down.

He saw Jean-Luc again waiting by his car, walking over to join him. Best to discuss strategy now, rather than waiting until they were all at the hotel.

"We'll need to be careful." He began. "It's a small town, so any large groups of newcomers will stand out. We might be able to use that to our advantage in tracking them down, but it will also make it dangerously easy for them to find out about us as well, especially if they're already expecting more witches to come after them."

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Joseph

@canaryrose@DarkRecon@Hitman

This was turning out to be a really bad day, all things considered. He already had issues with flying, but the fact that they ended up getting shot down, crashing through a few walls in the process? Well, that really just slammed that last nail into the coffin...

Then came the guards, who while also annoying, didn't really give him that much time to react before Jamie took them down. This was perhaps the best outcome for them, as they had looked like a pretty decent way for Joseph to work out the frustration that had been building up inside over the last couple of hours. That being said, he managed to calm himself down when he reminded himself that these were just normal guards, who probably didn't even realise they were working for the bad guys here. He watched as one of them nearly tried to put up a fight, before realising just how bad his situation was and decided to drop back down again. With that last thought in mind, he was actually rather glad that he chose that path. On an unrelate note, it made it easier to take one of what he had to admit were some very nice guns.

However, he was interrupted before he could do so by the ding of the elevator, and looked over to see a scientist. Just from the way he moved, Joseph could tell he wasn't going to like this guy. Then again, maybe it was the way the temperature dropped significantly right before he entered. Even through all the layers of clothing that made up Joseph's general outfit, he could still feel the chill.

And then, with a flourish not unlike an actor on the stage, the man introduced himself as Winterfall, and shot a needle of ice through Jamie's stomach.

Joseph's eyes widened as he watched her stumble back, somehow managing to remain on her feet long enough to attempt a blast at the man before crumpling to the ground.

Joseph decided he would kill this man.

Before he could make a move however, he was interrupted once again. This time it came from Alien Angel, who threw him a first aid kit and told him to take care of Jamie, saying she had 'dibs' on Winterfall. Despite the fact that he really wanted to some rather painful things to the cryomancer, the vigilantes words managed to snap him out of his rage, at least temporarily, and he nodded.

"Be careful. I'll be back soon." He said, before gently scooping Jamie up in his arms and running behind the plane. It wasn't the best cover, but it didn't look like it was going to explode any time soon, and it was close enough that a quick dash got him behind it without getting hit by any needles Winterfall might have fired at him.

From there, he got to work. He laid Jamie on the ground as gently as he could manage, before quickly inspecting the damage. It was bloody, and the area she'd been shot through made it likely that it had pierced the small intestine. That meant that it would be all but impossible for him to heal her fully, first aid kit or not. He could temporarily stabilise her, give her an extra hour or two, but they needed to get her to a hospital as soon as possible, or she'd die. The thought alone was enough to terrify him, but he forced it down as he got started.

"Don't worry Jamie, you're gonna be fine. You'll be fine." He said, as much to himself as to her, as he tore the clothing around the entry points open just a little more. He then took his knife from it's sheath and cut the tip of his index finger, using the blood to draw a circle of runes around the wound. This runic array would help slow the bleeding by encouraging the blood to flow along the path it would normally follow, and hopefully this would extend to the contents of the intestine too. Once that was done, he took a tag from his chest pocket, and placed it directly over the wound. This array would help prevent infections, which would definitely be important with a hole in her intestine, and would also serve as a decent, though temporary substitute for a bandage. Finally, he wrote a second ring of runes around the first, which would numb the nerves around the area. They couldn't be numbed too much, or else it could cause complications with the messages they were meant to send between the brains and the organs, but at least it would be enough to slightly dull the pain.

And then he smiled sadly at Jamie.

"Sorry, but this is probably going to hurt." He said, before lifting her up again and laying her down again, this time on her stomach. Like before, he tried to make it as painless as he possibly could, but he'd seen what gut wounds could do to people, so he knew there was next to no way to make it any better than just 'mildly unbearable.' As much as he hated it though, it had to be done if he wanted to take care of the exit wound the same way. Thankfully, the second painkiller array would make the pain easier to handle, as long as she didn't move too much, and he turned her over onto her back once again.

"We'll get you out of here Jamie, I promise." He said, taking her hand and trying to look reassuring and confident despite the turmoil that was whirling around in his own gut. "After all, we still need to go see that movie!"

He hesitated for a moment, gave her hand a quick squeeze, before getting up and moving back towards the fight.

As he approached the fray, he could feel the emotions he'd been stifling until now beginning to re-emerge, this time with a vengeance. He let it happen, feeling any sign of the emotions he was feeling fading away, only to be replaced by a cold, silent fury.

Winterfall wanted to kill them. He nearly did kill Jamie. If they didn't finish this quick enough, he might still end up being successful.

Wide eyes focusing on the man in white, Joseph pulled a number of tags from one of his side pockets with one hand, his other taking hold of a black pistol from his belt and lifting it to aim squarely at the man. His plan was simple. Using his guns and his tags, he would kite his opponent into positions that left him open to Alien Angel's attacks, cut off any attempts to escape and, if he happened to end up escaping into the right spot, activate the runes painted onto the bullets, causing them to explode even while embedded in the wall. If Winterfall decided to turn his attention to him, his clothes had enough runes on them that he would likely be able to take a few hits before they actually started piercing the skin. He would have to incapacitate him fast though, hopefully using the surprise of the first failed attacks to catch him off guard. If he didn't, he'd end up dead regardless of how strong his runic defense was.

And so, with his plan in place, he flung the runes out to the side, all the fury he felt leaking into his voice as he uttered a single word.

"Seek."

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Joseph

@canaryrose@DarkRecon@Hitman@Scarifar@KaijuBaragon

Joseph could only stand in place for a moment, trying to clear his head from what he was beginning to feel pretty sure might be some form of minor brain damage as he watched Jamie manhandle the Admiral with ease. He knew there was a one-liner somewhere in that situation, probably about proper admirals knowing how earthquakes caused tsunamis and that they should avoid them, but by the time he'd gotten to the point where the wording would be even somewhat close to good enough, too much time had passed. Instead, he just quietly grumbled to himself about how much of a failure he was, crouching down to start collecting up the runic tags he'd dropped for the plan that never ended up happening.

When he was finished, he looked up to see that Jamie still seemed to be pretty torn up about how badly she'd ended up hurting the Admiral. He frowned in concern, wanting to say something, but not sure what. After all, he was feeling sort of similar over what ended up happening with Wireman, so wouldn't anything he tried to say just make him a hypocrite? And that wasn't even counting his diminished mental capacity.

But she was upset.

"Hey, are yo-" He began, starting to reach out to her before a familiar voice interrupted him. Surprised, he turned to see Rumi, who told them to go through the portal so they could regroup with Grace and the others. However, he was more concerned over the fact that he hadn't noticed Rumi beforehand. His head must've gotten messed up a little worse than he'd thought if his guard was down that much, an idea that out a frown on his face. He had to be more careful. If he wasn't, there was no telling how much danger he could end up getting everyone into.

After stepping through the portal, Joseph only really half payed attention to Grace, as she rambled on about not wanting to hang around criminals and real science and stuff. He couldn't help but wonder whether she knew how well over half of their gang had been to some form of prison, although maybe prison wasn't so much the right word for his. Mexican Gulag might have been more appropriate, considering how he and the others had been treated and also did she just say minijets?

"Hey, Portal Girl, do we really need to use the jets? Aren't there any other options? Because I don't think I'll be able to fly one properly, an-"

And then he was cut off again. He would've frowned at the idea that this might become a habit if he wasn't too busy coughing in the smoke. A moment later though, he managed to frown anyway, noticing the rifles pointed at them by... who he thought might be Division X soldiers. He hadn't seen much of them since he joined up with HERO, but he thought he at least vaguely recognized them. Almost unconsciously, he found himself shifting his position, putting himself between more of the guns and Jamie. Was it the best idea in the world? Probably not, but it's not like that had ever stopped him before...

Thankfully, before he had to put his potential as a meatshield to the test, a new figure emerged. Apparently Grace thought it wasa going to be Mr Impressive, but thankfully this turned out not to be the case, instead being some sort of... robot girl? Or actually maybe just a cyborg. He'd actuallly thought it was just armour at first, but a quick observation made it clear that no, that was probably her actual body. It seemed like the knew Jamie and Tom too, and Joseph let out a sigh of relief as he realised he wouldn't be getting in a shootout with HERO's elite fighting force. In fact, it actually sounded like they'd denounced Eagles just like the rest of the gang had, and were going to help them fight back!

He let a new grin appear on his face as he caught the moon belt. That sounded cool as hell, and he would find a way to put it to good use. However, he was once again brought back to reality by the knowledge that they were still planning on using the minijets, which wouldn't be great...

"Oh, but... Ah jeez, fine. I won't be able to fly one of those things on my own though..."

The Sisters of the Dying Branch

Jeremy Lindall

@KaijuBaragon@Hitman

It was still dark when Jeremy woke up. Not surprising of course, considering thats how it usually was. However, usually it at least looked like it was nearly dawn. Tonight the stars were still clear, no trces of sunlight in sight. A quick glance down at his phone, an old, beat up machine that had seemed to have near infinite battery, confirmed that it was indeed earlier than average at just 4:13 AM.

Well, that wasn't so bad. He'd gotten a few hours of sleep at least, and while he'd have preferred to get more, as long as this didn't happen every night, it shouldn't be too bad. Besides, he was wide awake now, although god only knew how. He briefly wondered if it had anything to do with his connection to the wellspring, before shaking the thought from his mind. He shouldn't waste this extra time he'd been given dwelling on questions that he could just speak to one of the elders about later. Right now, he had more important things to do.

After packing up his sleeping bag as quietly as he could, he made his way into the woods. If he recalled correctly, some of the others had mentioned a stream being nearby earlier, where they had gone fishing. He thought about the nights events during the walk. Thankfully, things had turned out pretty peacefully after he'd left Charlie to talk to Summer. He waited until they started heading back to camp before leaving himself of course, just to make sure he'd be able to help them if something went wrong, but he'd made sure to keep a good distance from them, enough that they probably actually didn't even realise he was still around. He went to sleep almost immediately afterwards, knowing that the next day would likely be busier than the relatively easy one they'd just experienced. Then again, if he'd known he'd wake up this early, he may not have bothered.

It was with this thought in mind that he reached the stream, removed his shoes and waded in, finding himself a nice flat rock to sit on. And that was where he remained, bare feet still submerged in the current, for the next three hours. Eyes closed, he focused all his attention on the water itself. How it sounded, how it felt, how the current flowed around his feet, around the rock, and around any other obstacles in it's path. Follow the path of least resistance. Feel the water. Be the water. Beco-

"Ngah!" He exclaimed, quickly pulling his legs up against his chest as he watched the fish that had just slid across them continue down the river without a care in the world. He had to blink a few times before his eyes adjusted properly to the light, before eventually deciding it was about time to head back. He knew that spending such a short time practicing wouldn't do much to help him get better, but he wouldn't want to be late for his first real day as a member of the coven.

When he reached the house, he wasted little time in sorting out what he needed to do. His first priority would be getting set up in his room, and possibly learn a bit more about his roommates. He already knew Charlie, of course, but the other one, Jean Luc, was a complete mystery to him. After that, when he had gotten himself established and unpacked, he could eat. Maybe. If he had the time.

He had to admit, he was a little bit surprised when he got there to see both roommates already present, but he quickly managed to supress the emotion, instead nodding to the two.

"Hamlyn." He said simply, sending the redheaad a quick nod before turning to Jean-Luc. "And I suppose that means you must be Laguerre. I hope we can work well together."

And then, with another quick nod to his other new roommate, he returned to his unpacking. All in all, his area of the room was fairly ordinary, with the most interesting things being his enchanting supplies, the notes he'd taken over the years in order to improve both enchanting and possibly his ability to use magic normally, and a decent sized terrarium for Bertle, although the tiny tortoise was unlikely to spend much time in there except when Jeremy would have to sleep. Seperate to those, he also took out a few, more well hidden notes on how to speak to people without stumbling over his own words or seeming annoying.

Now if only he could think of something to actually say to either of his roommates...

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Joseph

@canaryrose@DarkRecon

"The flare?" Joseph asked. "What's the fl-ueghuh!"

Unfortunately, he had yet to make it very far into his questioning before he was silenced by a car to the jaw. Of course, he'd been expecting this from the moment he realised Jamie was going to drive, but even after resigning himself to that fate, it didn't make the impact any easier to take. It was almost enough to make him feel sorry for poor... he decided he'd go with 'Angus'... in the back seat.

However, he was at least glad to see that Jamie seemed to know where she was going, because he only sort of did. Directions weren't really his strong suite at the best of times. Hell, he only even knew how to get to the target from the Hags place and back because it was actually a surprisingly frequent trip for him, and even then he usualy needed a crudely drawn map to avoid getting lost most of the time. Trying to get from there to HERO 1 without a cheat sheet sounded like actual hell to him.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Jamie mention something about Starbright not being free, and after briefly mentally kicking himself for letting his guard down, looked out the window to see the protestors and their signs.

"He wasn't on the list..." Joseph mumbled, loudly enough for the others to hear despite mostly just talking to himself. "But he has been unusually helpful recently. Maybe he's finally turned against the Wings publically..."

He nodded at Angel's suggestion comment about social media. He wasn't big into it himself, but he knew Starbright was meant to have quite a large presence in that type of thing, being a celebrity and all. If he'd said something there, it only made sense that the Wings sent someone out to try and silence him. Of course, this would also bring even more negative attention to them, but these were the people who only sent two minor villains out to take Jamie down. It was looking more and more like expecting sensible plans from them would only leave him disappointed.

Damn it, his mind was drifting again! He had to stay focused! As they crossed the bridge, he performed some last minute checks. The runes on his clothes hadn't been damaged in the fight, which was good, and he had full stock on most runes, although he would just have to hope he wouldn't need to short-circuit any more machinery, having used all of that type against Wireman. In terms of weapons, everything he could still carry from his broken down scooter had full ammo, and he had a good stock of close range goodies for when it came to that. So all in all, things were looking pretty good assuming he didn't need to fight any robots or similar cybernetic baddies. His head was feeling a little fuzzy after getting knocked around during the drive, but hopefully that wouldn't be too much of a problem.

Upon entering the base, he was glad to see that most of the potential enemies inside already knew better than to try and fight Jamie. All except-

"Oh no! Don't tell me they got to you too Admirer!" He shouted, a small hint of genuine distress leaking into his voice. He'd actually thought the Admiral was pretty cool, like an older version of their gang.

This frustration only grew stronger when the older man addressed Jamie, telling her he'd be bringing her in.

"Are you serious old man?" He asked, already moving to avoid the anchor as he swung it. "Did all those games we shared mean nothing to you?!"

An image flashed through Joseph's mind. The two of them sitting in the break room, a game of Battleship that he had firmly lost on the table betweem them, as he held his head in frustration while the old anchor-wielder laughed uproariously. It was a good memory, a happy one. It may also have been one he completely fabricated. It was possible he sustained minor brain damage during the u-turn.

But it had been real to him...

"I mean come on, how can you just forget about me after all that?! I'm wanted too damn it!!!"

Now, if anyone were to ask him about this later, he'd make sure they understood that he was only saying all of this to mess with the Anchorman. However, he couldn't deny that a small part of him was legitimately peeved over how he had been completely ignored. True, in the picture they used of him in the list, he'd been in the background, facing the other direction, and half of his head had been out of the frame, but... still!

No, wait, calm down and focus.

He blinked, returning to his senses for, well, hopefully at least a few seconds. His head clear for the time being, he pulled a few sticking tags from his pocket and dropped them at his feet, leaving them inactive for now.

"Jamie, over here! I think I've got a plan!"

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Joseph

@canaryrose@DarkRecon

"Yeah, and underestimating someone as powerful as you is ridiculously stupid." Joseph responded, before chuckling at Jamie's question. "My place barely even has working electricity. The Hag'll probably let you put it in hers though so it should be fine."

And then he turned his attention back to Alien Angel, watching as Jamie spoke with her and trying to take in what information he could. Of particular note was the mention of Infinite. While none of it was particularly substantial, he'd managed to gather together a few scarps of information about the elusive vigilante group. In any other situation, he wouldn't have been nervous, as their reputation suggested they were more heroic than villainous. However, right now they were still technically wanted by EAGLES, the current closest thing to a proper hero organisation, so he couldn't be sure they hadn't actually fallen for their lies and Alien Angel was just telling them they hadn't to get closer to them and the others on Seraph's list.

Still, if she was telling the truth, it wasn't like they were in a position to turn it down. If Seraph was supplementing his forces with villains as Jamie's encounter suggested, there was no telling how outnumbered they currently were, and the odds that they might run into villains or other Eagles members with powers well suited to countering their own weren't particularly low either. With that in mind, having an unknown fighter of their own could end up being the edge they need. In the end, he figured that the best idea available would be to let her come along like Jamie suggested, but be sure to keep a close eye on her, just in case.

Thankfully, it looked like Jamie had finished her conversation with the pink woman right around the time he'd reached this conclusion, gesturing for him to get in the car. He frowned slightly when she asked him if it was the right idea to invite Angel along, but still nodded.

"Maybe, maybe not." He said slowly, trying to think of the best way to put his thoughts into words before Angel actually got in the car. "I get the feeling that even if we didn't let her in, she'd just fly after us anyway, so whether or not it was a good idea, it's probably all we've really got. Still keep an eye on her though, just in case."

He then proceeded to list out the directions to the Hag's workshop, which shouldn't be too difficult to get to from where they were, unless more Eagle goons interrupted them on the way, of course.