Zoey Boey

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

Crane

Outside Fixeon Municipal Recycling Plant

---

Crane was also much stronger than she seemed, which was saying something because she was 10 meters tall and built like a brick wall. That being said, this obviously wasn’t sustainable. Menace did seem entirely focused on her, though, which was good. At least she had confirmed that.

”Oaow!” She cried out with a grimace as her joints began to strain. Crane would have to do something. She pushed through the pain and planted her feet, forcing Menace backwards. When Menace adjusted his stance, she aimed to thrust her knee into his sternum. From a distance it was like the two were fighting in slow motion, but up close it became clear her knee was moving as fast as a car on a highway. These strikes would cost the city tens of thousands of dollars each.

There was a shockwave and a burst of air from her knee attack should it connect. ”Rah!” Crane had limited experience in battling creatures her own size. Let alone humanoid ones. She had tried to prepare for such an eventuality with reading and doing stances in her own time. But there was no way to practice or spar. That was the disadvantage of being big all the time, instead of being able to grow and shrink at will.

So if her knee connected, she would keep doing it, and even if it was blocked she would do it again. It was the easiest attack she could think of in the extreme heat of the moment. Hopefully Mire could handle the crowd control, and the others could handle that massive explosion, because the giant rabid gorilla monster was taking up all of her attention. Even as a few stray lizards crawled up on her legs and tried biting into her durable flesh, she had to ignore them.

World of Light

The Round Table Discussion IV

Word Count: 1451 (+3)

After taking stock of the discussion Sandalphon spoke up once more. “We’ve covered a lot of ground so far, sharing intel on Moebius, the Organization, and the World of Light itself. Our next step is to solidify a plan for what to do next, including what regions and guardians to target, since our main goal remains unchanged.” She paused, her pupils turning to V symbols. “Before we can do that, however, I must share something of my own.”

Sandalphon straightened up, her arms crossed as she stared at the geoscape before her. “This morning, when I received reports of the Machines massing for a full invasion, I made a number of calls. I reached out to every point of contact I could, including the Sector 07 Militia, my YoRHa androids, the Lateran Church, the Hermits, our allies from the Vandelay Campus raid, Neuron,
and Psych-OSF, both the main force and the rebellious Seiran Garrison. While Shinra consolidated his forces, and we delved deep below his building, an army of our own marched forth to meet the Machines in battle before they could lay waste to the city. Ultimately, our forces were victorious, but victory came at a price.” She paused again, her pupils becoming stress marks. “When the Seiran OSF took the field, they deployed their ace in the hole: their Other Weapons, humans-turned-Others rehabilitated in their secret research facility. Among these Other Weapons was Peach. Following the battle, she…was among the casualties.”

Goldlewis gritted his teeth, downcast. “God, no…”

More than anything else so far, the news stunned both Tora and Poppi. “Peach-Peach…” Nadia stared at them, then back at Sandalphon, swallowing as a chill ran down her spine. This was the first revelation that left her stunned, and for once in her life her cheerful facade was gone.

Geralt looked as if he’d been struck in the face, but he quickly composed himself, closing his eyes and letting out a deep exhale. Zenkichi, on the other hand, looked at Bowser and the Koopa Troop worriedly. He definitely remembered that name in the context of video games, and he was pretty sure Bowser wouldn’t be taking that one easily.

Primrose and Therion hadn't known the princess save for sharing a picnic with her in Twilight Town, so they stayed respectfully quiet. It wasn't the first and surely wouldn't be the last time they lost a member of the team, but the knowledge was sobering all the same. Pit and Roxas stared at Sandalphon with wide eyes. Elsewhere, Captain Falcon silently slammed a gloved fist on the table in front of him, then bowed his head with eyes closed for a moment of silence. And in his own mind he wondered how in the world they would be able to break this kind of news to Mario and Luigi, since he couldn’t imagine they would take the news very well.

"No way, Princess Peach was...?" Pit knew that Peach had become an Other, but they were going to find a cure for her. They were supposed to go back and help her once they'd figured out how! Now she was gone? His heart clenched painfully, but he found himself looking to the Koopa family who had unquestionably known her best. Blazermate was in the same boat, a sad look on her face as she looked at the koopas, knowing Bowser had a very strong thing for Peach. Sectonia was also looking at the koopa family with a worried expression, as she picked up on all the signs of what had been going on through the brief interaction she had seen. Ganondorf was silent, and instead simply watched Bowser in case he needed to stop him from doing something stupid in his inevitable anger.

What he saw was at first simply a look of collective shock, then Bowser began shaking, claws digging hard into the geoscape table, damaging it as he did so and then of all things turned on Midna while roaring ”You! You did this, you left her with them and now she’s-” fists balled up with fury, while Kamek tried and failed to stop him with a ”Sire, wait!”

Midna took a half step back but stood her ground as she yelled ”I didn’t know! They were supposed to help her” back at him, venting her feeling of betrayal at him in the same way he was venting his rage and Peach’s death at her.

By then, half the Seekers in attendance had sprung to their feet, Goldlewis among them. While Tora equipped his shield, ready to jump in and protect someone if needed, the veteran took a more proactive approach. Goldlewis fearlessly interposed himself in front of the giant, enraged dragon-turtle, his bare hands raised. “HEY! Sit your ass down before I seat you myself!” he bellowed. “I get you’re mad, but if you think takin’ it out on us is gonna fly, you got another think comin’!”

Bowser snorted flames in response as if to say “I’d like to see you try” before reeling his fist back and preparing to strike, only to stop as Jr grabbed his leg with a ”Papa wait”, Kamek to grab his upper arm with a shadow clone of the king himself, pupped threads linking it back to the mage, while Rika stepped forwards with much less alarm to grab his shoulder with a ”ah, what they said”

Blazermate began to think for a bit on how to help reduce the tension in the room so they could figure something out. Even if it was temporary it’d help. And after thinking for a bit, she came up with an idea. Now if it was good or would make things worse, she wouldn’t know. ”Hey… wouldn’t she just resurrect at one of those resurrection circle thingies here soon then? Although we’d need to find her, friend heart her, and catch her back up to her missing a week of events…” Blazermate said, putting the admittedly cold idea out there. Her point was, it wasn’t a permanent thing. It was more… a medabot swapping bodies.

”They’re right, your furiousness, we can fix this, we just have to win this, and we need everyone on side to do so!” Kamek agreed/insisted as Bowser tugged his arm against the grip of the doppelganger of himself. As always, the inferior copy was no match, and he wrenched his hand free. He did not lash out however, but instead simply shook it out and replied with a not at all happy sounding ”Fine”

He started to turn away to return to his spot, only for Midna to step around Goldlewis and tell him that ”I’m sorry. We’ve lost too many people” causing Jr to subconsciously reach for Omori’s hair stick that he was wearing, before insisting ”They’re right. We can fix this” as she brought out the Eliacube and symbolically used it to repair the damage he’d done to the Geoscape.

The moment was slightly undermined by how the cube seemed to draw the eyes and attention of those who saw it, the strange artifact claimed from Nox seeming to radiate an inherent importance.

Though Sandalphon found her gaze lingering on the Eliacube, she forced herself to look back toward the Koopa Troop after a couple seconds. Though the artifact’s secondary function had been unintentional, Midna had managed to help de-escalate the situation by providing a potent distraction. “If you must blame anyone, please blame me,” Sandalphon told Bowser. “I failed to consider all the possible ramifications of my actions this morning.”

“Look, it’s fine,” Nadia cut in. “I know you goody two-shoe types are always itching to take responsibility, but it’s the fault of whoever transformed her. Simple as that.” She sighed. “She was my friend, too. When we fought together on the seaside, I saw that she was a good person, just in over her head and trying to do her best, like all of us. We’ll all keep our eyes out for a new Peach out there, okay?” With what the others said about dreams, plus her own dreams of dying, it seemed like reincarnation really was on the table, albeit with memory loss. Still, a part of her wasn’t so sure, even if she made sure not to give voice to it. She glanced at Sandalphon. “Any more bad news?”

The archangel shook her head. “None on my part,” she lied, her expression mildly pained. “All that remains is to construct a plan for what to do next.”

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

Crane

Outside Fixeon Municipal Recycling Plant

---

First, came the lizards.

Then, came the mushroom person, who dealt with those lizards.

Then...came even more lizards. A lot of lizards.

The third part, the bit with the even more lizards, was where Crane really started to get involved. The sheer number of them was staggering. It was enough to make Crane nervous. She was tough, sure, but without support, she could imagine a future where she made one too many mistakes and let herself get overwhelmed. Fortunately, she had her first time allies with her. She had to prove herself a worthy asset. "Here I go!" She said, taking up a position that left her back towards a part of the city. Crane would be the living wall that kept the Terrazards from spilling into the civilian populace.

Crane leaned over slightly, taking a wide stance with one foot forward, her weight on her back foot. When the Terrazards approached, she clapped her hands together, creating a dizzying shockwave that kicked up dust and rung ears the ears. "Clap! Clap! Clap!" Crane called out, doing this several times. This was the advantage of having super strength and super durability to go along with her super size. it Even if Crane was shrunk down to normal size, she would still be much stronger than the average person. These gifts were special, and unique, and it was all that Crane had to offer to the world.

Well, Crane thought in the back of her head. That, and she liked to think, her sunny personality! She didn't want her inner monologue to think that her self-worth was tied up in her strength or usefulness or anything like that. Crane just liked to be helpful! And helpful she was, as the stunned mutant lizards failed to overcome her powerful shockwaves. Crane had developed many techniques like this before becoming a hero. It was a good AoE attack that affected many enemies at once, while being mostly non-lethal. At least, that's how she imagined it in her head. So it was good to see her hypothesis pay off.

Crane slammed her fist into the ground, creating an explosion that launched several back at lethal speeds, or just flat out squished them beneath her knuckles. "Yah!" She yelled. Then she swept her hand back and forth in a slapping motion, sending lizards flying away.

Everything was going well, until the GIANT MONKEY appeared. "Giant monkey?!" Crane called out in alarm. She was still taller than this thing, but it was the biggest thing Crane had ever seen in her life that wasn't a building. The Terrazards would have free reign over Crane's territory as she took a step back, eyes wide as the Menace charged towards her. Crane's thoughts raced. Was this thing stronger than her, in the same way a monkey was stronger than a human? It was entirely possible. On the other hand, she could be stronger than it. The only way to find out was to act with caution and restraint.

Crane widened her stance again, her strange, large heart pounding in her chest. One hand was forward, the other one was up, like a scorpion's tail. Her first idea was to redirect all of its energy and send it spilling onto the floor. Or dodge the creature. But she realized that was too risky! What if it kept running? What if it went into the city? Or what if her teammates ran by and got squished by a giant monkey? She couldn't rely on Menace's anger to cause it to be entirely directed at her exclusively. If she dodged it, anyone could get involved.

There was nothing for it, then. Crane would meet the beast head on, and hold it here. Keep its attention entirely on her.

Her stance shifted, from one of evasive strategy, to one of solid, defensive strategy. It was obvious to anyone with martial arts experience what the thoughts were in Crane's head. First, she was ready to dodge, then she glanced over her shoulder at the city, and her priorities changed. And now... Crane lowered both her hands hand wide, palms out, like a wrestler. Her lips pressed together and she winced, bracing for impact. There was a mighty collision as she slammed her hands into the shoulders of the beast and tried to grab it to prevent it from tackling her.

World of Light

JURI HAN

wordcount: 1,887 (+3)
Midna: level 9 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (132/100) (+1 bonus pending)
Location:
Warp Charges: 1

warp locations

Virgin Victory teleport room
Top of the Split mountain
Outside the Convent of Our Lady of the Charred Visage
Tostarena Town
S.O.U. Building
Seiran Clinic
Underground Roadway (Seiran Rebel Base Outskirts)
Below City of glass entrance (plate maintenance tunnel)
Vandelay Campus (Alleyway)
Arahabaki’s entrance
Deep Ground - the Source

Fusion done, and everyone having finished their trading, all that was left was to crush the remaining spirits in order, which Midna got right on.

for Midna

Royal War Fan A fan outfitted with blades and usable as a versatile dexterity weapon. Its attacks are supplemented with minor wind damage, which can also create gusts or small wellsprings, or allow it to be thrown like a sawblade

Daora Gem An organic gemstone formed from gradual deposits of impurities deep within the bowels of a Kushala Daora elder dragon. Its glow is breathtaking, and it could be used to forge Daora weapons of highest quality

She let out a twittering whistle as she turned and examined the glowing gemstone that seemed to be soaked with familiar draconic energy, before flicking it up and into a portal, adding it to her list of crafting materials. The fans too, were a prize for sure, even if they were rather odd weapon wise. The little practice gusts felt right, charging some new well of power she had gained from fusion. Combined with the ability to quickly draw their bladed forms, they were a fine addition to her collection.

Once everyone was all sorted with their own itemizing and such, and starting to drift out of the room, Minda found herself at a loss as to what to do with the time she had left before that meeting, only for her gaze to slide across and then flick back to Juri. The princess had something of hers after all, and it would be best to hand it back over rather than leave it languishing in her pocket dimension. It was also a good excuse to try and get to know their stylish newbie, with the rush to get both her and the captain’s vehicles stored in time for departure she hadn’t said more than a few words to her, so setting out to kill two Kees with one arrow she strode her way over to the streetfighter

”Hello again“ she said with a wave as she approached, before pausing for a half step, reaching up, and removing her helmet so they could actually talk face to face. That was going to take some getting used too, she thought, as she tried to work out what to do with it (it would hardly do to leave a corrupting artifact of doom simply sitting around after all) and settled for tucking it under her arm right in time for her to arrive.

Juri was taking a look around the place, getting acquainted to her new surroundings. She was also looking for insecurities and places to exploit, but she kept that to herself. These people were real trusting just to let anyone on board. If they let her on, let’s be honest, they’d let anyone on. That was when Midna made herself known to Juri. The street fighter turned away from a computer keyboard and casually leaned up against a wall, looking the Princess over.

”You’re the one who vacuumed up my bike, right? Everyone’s kinda changin’ faces around here. You guys should probably invest in some name tags.” She said. As if to memorize Midna’s face, she leaned really far forward toward Midna.

”That I did“ she confirmed, before assuring Juri that ”You’ll get used to it“ with regards to fusions. Then leaned in the rest of the way so they were almost nose to nose, her lips turned up and open just enough to expose a pointy toothed impish grin that had somehow survived all the fusions ”Soooooo, tell me about yourself. What got you and Miss Fortune cat fighting and then onboard, hmmm?“

Juri sized Midna up and tilted her head, before standing up straight and turning to lean up against a doorframe. She propped her feet up on the other side of the frame and floated in mid air. ”Fortune’s a nobody who doesn’t know how to mind her own damn business.” She said, checking her ‘fingernails’ which were now covered up by her suit. Or rather, gloves, as she found the seam at her wrists. When she let it go, the fabric merged right back together.

”You’re the Seekers, right? Like hide and go seek? Since everyone else got hit by the brainwash beam I’m assuming you’re trying to do something about it.” She said.

”That’s what organization XIII called us, but they never did explain why. Cryptic, and up to their own schemes that lot“ Midna explained, though her voicing of that oddity was more or less the first she’d thought about the strangeness of the granted name. After which shea attempted to rationalize it while filling Juri on their plan and progress.

”But we do intend to bury the light that devoured all our worlds, and for that, we need to destroy the guardians safeguarding it. We have 6 down, 7 more to go. Then we crush Galeem, and put an end to this cruel death driven patchwork of a reality“

”Organization what now? You mean you didn’t pick the name?” Juri frowned, displeased. ”What kinda band of wimps doesn’t even pick their own name? It can’t be that hard if you’re already almost halfway there.” She said.

”Nobody jumps me twice.” She said. ”Big stupid ball in the sky. Once all these guardians are down we just need a big enough gun to shoot a big laser right up where its sun doesn't shine. Probably can’t go two feet without stumbling over one superweapon or another.”

”What you do is more important than what people call you. The heroes crushing Galeem’s minions beneath their heels doesn’t exactly have a nice ring to it, but it's far more descriptive, don’t you think?“ she said, making the motion of grinding the mechanical and dragon clawed heel of her new footwear into the floor.

”Can’t say Galeems left too many of those laying around, nor, it seems proper goddesses who could meet it on its level. It's not that stupid sadly, though I think someone did mention that there was a demon who’d trade spirits for secrets, so who knows. Maybe we just didn’t dig deep enough“ she sighed. That would, after all, make things a lot easier. If only they could get all the pieces of her fused shadow, or the triforce, this would all be a lot more straightforward.

”Wouldn’t be surprised. None of you here strike me as the snooping type.” She said. ”Just going by the fact it hasn’t blasted everyone again already, ‘Galeem’ can’t be all powerful. I think the answer lies in just getting a big enough gun, or spell, or whatever.” She waved her hand vaguely and dismissively.

”And these Moebius people are, what, its cronies? Its cultists? We can play hit and run all day long and take out its top members, way I see it.” She knocked against the walls of the Avenger. ”But this thing is a bit obvious. That’s why the bike’s important.”

”Not cultists. They seem more or less roped in or self serving to me. One just wanted ‘fun’ chaos, the other had his own scheme of some kind to do with ascending to godhood“ Minda replied, ”Least that’s how the two in Midgar. The one who chased us after we left, I don’t know, but he seemed a bit more commited“

”As for this thing, well, it snuck up on that pursue pretty good at the very least, and seeing as they’re now pursuing us I’ll take speed over trekking across the land like we have been any day of the week“

Juri rubbed her chin and rolled her eyes. ”Typical. Okay, self-serving assholes who suck up to the biggest bad they can find in a vain attempt to find power. I’ve seen it all before. Hell, I’ve done it myself.” She said casually.

”Alright. I want to see some action, and soon.”

Minda raised an eyebrow at that admission, particularly because of how unflatteringly she described those who did it. If she where to hazard a guess as to why it would be ”and it never works out for them, does it?“

At that, Juri tapped the side of her head. ”If they’re anyone but me, maybe.”

”As for action, well, I think a lot of people are getting close to their limit after or last bit of action and are going to want to rest up before striking out again. Best you’ll get is a spar for now I think“ she then said, implicitly offering. She could do with testing out her reconstituted body and fresh powers.

”Real action. The kind with blood in it.” She said, getting out her phone. ”Wonder if this place has wifi. I’m gonna poke around.” She switched gears pretty fast, and took off down a random hallway.

”Prickly and proud, now won’t that be fun to work with“ Minda said to herself, unintentionally putting voice to her analysis of Juri a bit louder than she thought given that her hearing was making her misjudge her own volume.

Juri stopped and turned over her shoulder. ”What was that?” She asked.

Minda looked more confused than concerned about being overheard, before shrugging and saying that it was ”Just my first impressions. Please, do, feel free to prove them wrong“

”Don’t mumble, sweetheart.” Juri turned away. ”That’s for broken people.” She stalked off down the hallway to explore the inner reaches of the Avenger.

”Not doing well so far“ Minda, who was psychologically unable to take that cruelly delivered ‘advice’ even if she wanted to, replied before stepping into a shadow and sliding through the ship that way. She could only hope their other new arrival was more personable when she checked in on them.

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

Backup

Hero Three

---

After the psychologist returned to her commandeered office space, the ICOSA agent guided TJ to his, which was not unlike the other little office area in HERO Three: blank, dull, and mostly to be used for non-superhero HERO employees that didn’t want to make the trip out to HERO One but still needed to finish filing some arbitrary paperwork before the deadline. Randolph took a seat at the desk, leaning back in the cheap office chair and placing both of his feet (he was wearing expensive-looking loafers, of course) on the table. From there, he twiddled his fingers in the air above what appeared to be a small stack of a few manila folders, swiftly sliding one out from the pile and opening it. He looked to all the world like some type of business exec reviewing last quarter’s reports.

“Ms. Jennings,” he said with a coy grin as he appeared to flip through a few pages inside his little folder. ”A good few years of service, some interesting assignments, and of course, a very unique powerset. I’ve done a lot of reviews over the years and I haven’t seen anybody quite like you,” he said with an unbearably smarmy tone in his voice. Maybe it was just the British in him. ”Of course, as I’m sure you’re aware, I’m afraid I haven’t called you in just to compliment you.”

”Aw, you sure?” She asked.

”Quite, in fact,” Randolph said as he reached within his folder, he pulled out a few Polaroid-style pictures. Pictures of a woman that bore a striking resemblance to TJ (because they were, of course, of her) participating in a variety of prize fights and the like. After he laid his metaphorical cards on the table, Q. Spencer Randolph reclined back even more in the chair, pushing the office seat to its breaking point. ”I’ll give you a chance to look at these, and then describe what you think those are. Oh, and answer carefully.”

"...They appear to be images of an extremely bad bitch." She mused thoughtfully, scratching her chin. She leaned forward and set her arms on the table, looking the photos over. TJ didn’t sleep much, and there wasn’t as much crime to fight when the fighting rings were putting on shows. The people liked seeing what a powerless person could do against superpowered fighters. The way TJ saw it, it might as well be her, who will have a blast, and not someone who won’t bounce back.

”Amusing,” he responded, though his face didn’t shift from its cocky grin in the slightest, like it was frozen onto his face. ”I’ll go next and tell you what I see. I see somebody who is being paid to fight crime, in fact participating in criminal enterprise.” Randolph picked up one of the photographs, examining it closely (or at least, pretending to for dramatic effect). ”In fact, ICOSA’s code governing hero conduct prohibits any employed hero specifically from participating in unsanctioned activities that involve the use of physical force, including but not limited to street fighting, prize fighting, unofficial martial arts tournaments, duels, and jousting, ” Randolph recited. ”...the rules were written a while ago; they’re meant to encompass a lot of different possibilities. The point is, all this-” He gestured at the table covered in pictures, ”...all this is very much against code. I could easily order you to pack your things-” He snapped- impressive, given that he was wearing gloves. ”-like that.”

”In the interest of fairness, I’ll give you a chance to offer some reason why
shouldn’t have you laid off now.”

TJ rolled her shoulders, cleared her throat, and then suddenly flung herself onto the desk between them. "Oh no, please!"

"Please don't fire me, all-powerful bureaucrat! You've really got me figured out! It'll never happen again!" TJ rolled onto her back, the back of her hand pressed against her forehead.

"Just give me another chance!" She begged, reaching out to grab pathetically at his sleeves.

Randolph casually pulled his feet off the desk and pulled his sleeves comfortably out of grabbing
distance. ”Frankly, I don’t know why I would ask that question. It was pointless,” he muttered, mostly to himself. ”This is the situation for you. I’m well-within my bounds to effectively banish you from this city and make sure the best-paying job you ever get again is ‘backing up’ peoples’ cars as a valet.” He sniggered at his own pun. ”Oh, but of course, you are only a pawn in this game. Frankly, you barely qualify as a pawn. You’re more like a speck of dust on the chessboard, technically speaking. I have no interest in you. What I do have interest in…” The ICOSA operative leaned in, ”...is the fact that this whole ‘fighting and racing’ charade has been allowed to proceed unimpeded by the administration. I’m fishing for the biggest fish, Ms. Jennings. ” He reached into his coat pocket, procuring a pen and a small notepad. ”All I’m asking for is a written statement that Director Powers and the HERO bureaucracy knowingly allowed you to participate in your little hobbies. Or, even better, that they told you it was alright.”

He now stood, pacing back and forth on his little half of the mini-office. ”Sure, I suppose it’s stretching the truth, but it’s mostly accurate! And, more importantly, it’d be just the thing I need to build a case against this foolhardy organization. Just that statement and maybe a couple hearings back in Switzerland. And as for you…” Randolph shrugged. ”HERO, or whatever we rebuild it as if we change the name, would be under strict eyes for a while, but I could transfer you to the South in the meanwhile. Or Europe. And you could engage in all your little antics to your heart’s content. A bit over the line, sure, but I could stomach it.”

Randolph pushed the pen and notepad across the table. ”Just give me a little story, and you can walk out of here without anything really changing. Perhaps you might even get a promotion out of it, somewhere down the line!”

TJ deflated, laying on the table, still. No fun. She raised an eyebrow at him. She seemed oddly unbothered by all of this. "What are you, nuts? Nobody cares, dude."

"Maybe in la la land or wherever you come from ‘fighting and racing’ is a big deal. But in Castleburg, this is ‘administrative leave’ at worst. If you think this is enough to bring HERO down, this city will eat you alive." She said.

"Just fuckin’ relax. You’re goin’ full psycho over nothin’." She was talking like she was trying to explain something to a naive, overly-optimistic person. Which despite all this guys smugness, TJ thought he was. An excitable pencil pusher trying to make some dream come true. "Like. Banish? What year is it, 1350?"

”Oh, Ms. Jennings, I’m afraid you’re the one in la-la-land. I anticipate that big changes are going to be made around here soon; big changes that are the result of collections of details..” The man sat back down in his seat. ”Well, I’ve given you the chance to be on the right side of history in this case. I’ll even give you some time to come to your senses and make the most rational choice.” From his pocket, Randolph flipped out what appeared to be a playing card (it was, in fact, a four of spades), with some type of faint red etching onto the back. ”You’re free to use that to reach out to me. It’s what I call a conveyance rune. I have the receiving end. Once you realize that you want to be on the winning side, let me know.”

”Until then, though, I think it’s about time you got your arse out of this office,” he said with a cheery tone that betrayed the acerbic nature of his comments. ”Would you agree?”

TJ was looking down at her playing card and the rune on the back. "Testing, testing." She said, speaking into it. "Testing testing one two three. Like that?"

"Alright, well, see ya around…" She pointed in his direction, trying, genuinely, to recall his name. Had she ever gotten it? She couldn’t remember. "...you. " She nodded sagely, opened the door, and shut it behind her.

Looking to the other people in the room, she stretched. "Alriiight. That was more fun than I thought it’d be. What a fuckin’ prick." She said, definitely loud enough to be heard through the door. Getting out her mask, she put it back on, and headed out of Hero Three to get back onto the streets. She was pretty confident she’d be doing this no matter what.

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

Crane

Outside Fixeon Municipal Recycling Plant

---

This was Crane’s first real mission, and she was eager to please. She was on her hands and knees, looking down into the screen that would give her the briefing required for intel. Back home, Ting Feng actually had a decent amount of experience taking care of leftovers. A terrifying knee-high lizard for other people was just a regular size lizard for her, able to be picked up between the fingers and relocated into the forest. Of course, she imagined the intensity of big city Leftovers would be much harsher, so she wasn’t going to be overconfident. Her face filled the entirety of the box in her live feed on the laptop screen during the conference. Ting Feng wasn’t offended by the ICOSA people, but many people seemed to be. Was there something she was missing?

Regardless, Ting Feng was both excited and nervous about her first mission.

—

She clapped happily when she saw the truck bed provided for her, curling her legs against her and hugging them as she sat. It reminded her of the trains and boats she took to get to this big city, but, much cozier. Everyone was right there, next to her, within speaking range, but she was able to sit down and relax as she was moved through the city. Joyous!

She ended up alongside Ardent. ”Hello. I am Ting Feng.” She said over to the flying man. They were at eye level with each other. Flying people were the easiest to communicate with. Only they could see the world even higher than she could.

Ardent voiced his suspicions and doubts. ”I am sure the mission is important. It is not so bad to have someone stay behind.” She responded.

As Lab Rat stopped the truck, Crane smiled. ”Yes! The journey was pleasant. Thank you! Never have I felt so accommodated.” What followed was no ignoreable amount of tension between some ICOSA and HERO reps. Crane scratched her cheek and pretended not to hear, looking out over to the distant ocean.

Thankfully, the hero known as ‘Freakshow’ (The name struck Crane as rather pejorative) began to give everyone the plan of how she thought things should be done. Crane listened intently to her plan. It all made sense to her. It was rather soothing to listen to. "Excellent. I will tend to the perimeter, then, outside the building. Yes?" She said, still sitting in the truck.

Crane sighed. "I will squish them if I have too. But it will be quite gross." She would prefer to capture them. Or even throw, slam, or smash them, or kick them away. Stomping on them might be easy but it might be gross. There was a higher likelihood of...splatting.

World of Light

JURI HAN

Level 5: 20/50
Location: Carnival Games -> Avenger
Word Count: short
Points Gained:
New EXP Balance: Level 5: 21/50

---

Juri scoffed and rolled her eyes at Pit, crossing her arms. ”Buzz off, cupid. Didn’t ask for your input. I can go where I want.” She said defiantly. She glared out of the side of her eyes as Sandalphon handed out something called a ‘Fulton’. The tall clumsy robot angel chick, Sandy, pretended to drop one. Juri grit her teeth and snatched it up. She fiddled with it, figuring out how to use it, and watched the others equip it.

Juri hid her surprise when one of the Seekers took off at absurd speeds. Was this a trick? Was she seriously expected to get on one of those things?

Juri was the last to go. They had all done it. It was either blindly go along with this, or… she turned over her shoulder at the carnival.

”Oh, fuck it.” She attached the Fulton to herself. She screamed the whole way, and when she reached the top and floated in the air, she kicked her feet and cackled, delighted. Luckily she managed to maintain hold on the spirits she was most interested in.

—
Once inside, Juri was frustrated with waiting around floating above the earth and was eagerly disconnected from the balloon. She started to peer around ”It’s pretty high tech, alright.” She said to herself. From the outside it was some kind of floating aircraft carrier. Not completely unheard of where she came from, but pretty rare.

Juri watched the others do their thing and got the gist of it. So these Spirit thingies give you powers, and rare magic could undo it. These things were definitely the edge. A little bit of weakness could go a long way to give a whole lot of strength. The guy with the stupid name, Deadman, explained everything pretty well. To be honest, it felt like Juri was getting in on the ground floor of this little war against ‘Moebius.’ Like, everyone in the room was barely even more informed than she was. What the hell have they been doing this whole time? Just stumbling around blindly? It seemed like Juri had run into another bunch of heroes trying to save the world, with all the pitfalls that came with. Only this time, the world was…some kinda fucked up dream world, or something. Juri was puzzling this all out, when she saw Fortune come out of the spirit chamber looking totally revamped. That wasn’t going to do. No way could she let herself fall behind.

Juri imbued herself with the spirt of the hot purple haired techno chick, since they seemed like they at the very least shared an aesthetic.

For Juri

Spirit consumed:
Sombra
The host's skin has darkened a little. Her hairstyle has become more asymmetrical, with a shaved strip along her cranium on the non-pink side along with the loss of one of her hair-horns. The remaining hair-horn has shifted to stick out at the back like a more traditional ponytail. Meanwhile, her hair is longer and thicker on the other side, curling upward toward the end. The pink is a bit more purple, and the black a bit more brown. Her pink eye is also more purple, and there are two electronic implants on the shaved part of her head. Her fighting gloves and footpads now overlay longer gloves and socks of a plastic consistency and bright blue-pink gradient, with artificial nails on top also colored cyan. Her black body tape has expanded into a black and purple undersuit, although the spider design is maintained by masses of pink digits. Her personality is a bit more cool-headed and calculating, a bit more cheeky than downright crass, but no less sarcastic. This spirit confers the ability Hack. She can target an enemy and, as long as she's not interrupted via damage, shut down any equipment or abilities with an electronic component, turning them off and preventing their reactivation for 6s. A holographic purple skull is projected above the target's head for the duration. She can also hack small-to-medium machines to increase their operation speed for a while. This spirit also confers the Weakness Unfair Fighter, increasing the damage taken by ranged weapons by 15%

”What the-?” She turned around, looking herself over, craning her head. She felt her hairstyle with her hands. She was covered head-to-toe in a bodysuit, which reminded her of her motorcycle suit. Still, she couldn’t exactly call her new outfit modest, even if it wasn’t showing anymore skin besides her face. And she felt even more intune with technology than she was before.

”I get it…I get it. So we drop the suckers and take their souls. Pretty ruthless. I’m guessin’ there must be a ton just lyin’ around for free, though, unless Ballyhoo is the mass murderin’ type and you guys ain’t got a sense of justice after all.” She said. Then Juri crossed her arms and waited, looking to listen in on the rest of this. They didn’t seem too bothered to have her around. As for the rest of her spirits, she wasn’t too interested in them so she stored them for now. She wanted to get used to her new body first.

”And we can show these ‘Moebius’ chumps whose boss and kill that stupid orb in the sky? That’s the plan, right?” She asked. ”I’m basically a pro at this kind of thing, so, you’ll definitely want my help.” She said, crossed her arms.

A Stellar Tomb

Signalis mentioned
Signalis mentioned

Unfortunately this means i can't make a combat engineer looking for her wife. shit.

i am interested tho..!

World of Light

JURI HAN

Level 5: 15/50
Location: Carnival Games
Word Count: short
Points Gained: 1 +4
New EXP Balance: Level 5: 20/50

---

Juri was sick of Ballyhoo’s crap, and was ready to get out of here. The fact that this group of chumps was shrewd enough to rip him off and leave him without any reward for the games he let them play amused her. Juri would have done the same thing, though only by coincidence as she was just sick of this fake stuff and his annoying personality.

Still, she was interested in this ‘spirit’ stuff they were talking about. Juri got her rewards. They were like, a bunch of little pictures with people on the inside. There were a few monster looking things, an old guy, and some hot chicks. One of them, though, was purple. Really purple. She had short black hair with purple tinges, and some kind of tech implant in her head. It reminded Juri of herself. Of all of them, that was the one she was most interested in.

Problem is, she wasn’t exactly sure how it worked. She got the idea it was some kind of magical ability. Given how much that talentless cat had changed, maybe it was about stealing powers? Juri grabbed the purple lady spirit she wanted, and kept a few extras, too, but she dropped a lot to the ground.

She hung around in the outskirts of the Seekers conversation and not-so-subtly eavesdropped with a frown on her face. What were they doing? What were they talking about? Were they trying to fix this situation? Juri wanted out of here, ASAP. That weird turtle-ish mage wanted to explain something to her.

”I’m blowin’ this joint.” She said to them. ”Don’t think after all that annoying crap you put me through you can get away without me crashing at your place.” She said to all of them.

Then she looked at Kamek. ”And if you wanna explain what you think you know, that’s just fine by me. That giant laser dork should have put me somewhere more interesting if it wanted me to not come after it. Since this game sucks, I’m officially done hanging around here.” She said.

”You guys got some kinda giant ship or something? I’ve got a bike stashed in town. Don’t tell me you people just walk everywhere. It’s pretty fast and badass, so…” She shrugged. She could always just steal another one, but her current bike was really good.

Regardless, it was clear Juri was trying to tag along.

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

Crane

Savior Island

---

So, a few things happened. Crane was very confused by Albino's statement. "W- wind exhaustion? Oh, my. I have never heard of such a thing." She wracked her brain. "Do you mean heat exhaustion?" She asked, since the man seemed friendly enough and might have just mispoke.

Then Riley appeared, and did some things Crane found nonsensical. It was only when Eva surmised the situation quickly. "They are bad?" Her eyes widened in alarm. As Eva fired her first round of goop, Crane's first instinct was to cover up Emily Duff's body with one of her large hands. Fortunately, Eva's goop blast was not so callously aimed, so neither Crane nor Emily were hit. That was where Crane stayed as Mire grabbed Albino from below and Jellyfish activated his lightning power. Then, he teleported and took Eva hostage!

Crane stayed knelt by the director, trying to think of what to do next. "Oh, my! W-wait, um, just wait." She said, trying to placate the situation. That was when the scruffy coin man appeared, to try and de-escalate with words. Crane nodded along, still kneeling.

"Yes." She nodded, and nodded some more. She bent her hand to point at the man with the pale skin. "When you pretended to be the doctor, I thought: what a handsome smile!" She said, and it was true. "You seemed very nice. You can be nice, if you want."

And then she looked at the man called Jellyfish. "And your lightning powers? Very pretty!" She explained, eagerly. "Dazzling! You don't have to fight. There can be peace." She looked down at Emily under her hand.

"It was unkind of you to hurt her. And unkind of you to take my coworker hostage. That does not mean there is no chance for you. It is like the Mister with the coin says. Release her, please, and the strife today will end. Nobody else has to get hurt." She pleaded. She had no idea what they wanted, but Crane knew she couldn't give it to them. Personally, she valued the life of this poison lady over whatever object they needed to steal. But if they asked her for it, she wouldn't be able to get it. From a practical, tactical point of view, even with Eva hostage she doubted they would be able to succeed. They were outnumbered, and each hero here had versatile abilities. But Crane, nonetheless, didn't want to see any bloodshed. And if there was a chance to lower the temperature, she would take it.

The giant lady's big face was easy to read, emotionally speaking. She was nervous, and anxiously optimistic. She was going to take a defensive role, focusing on protecting the assistant director and her fellow heroes. She looked at Eva, and offered her a hopeful smile. "You won't die." She assured her. Given her ability to produce toxic goo out of her body, she might already have an escape plan. Crane hoped so.