Young Heroes (Open, see first post)

[Thomas_III]

If you want to join this roleplay, please visit this thread to introduce your character(s) and review the setting.


It’s a world that has seemingly always had superhumans standing above the normal populace. While superhumans began to appear in numbers sometime in the early 1900’s, research suggests that they may have appeared in isolated incidents throughout history. This has led to some speculation, perhaps justified, that the myths and legends of the ancient world may have been based on real events left in the wake of superhumans from those eras. This would mean that the heroes and gods of lore actually existed, though their exploits, like the tall tales of today, were greatly exaggerated.


Regardless of how long superhumans have roamed this Earth, they are now here in extensive numbers. Since those first few superhumans were officially recognized back at the turn of the last century, their population has steadily grown throughout the decades. More importantly, each generation has also demonstrated stronger and more diverse powers than the last. Whatever the source for superhuman powers might be, it seems to be growing in prevalence.


In the sprawling metropolis of Pinnacle City, many members of the city's premier superhero team, the Stalwart, have started to settle into retirement, no longer having the endless energy that came with youth. The few other teams present in the city are disorganized or of negligible power levels, making them ineffective replacements for the retiring heroes. The few remaining heroes of old see this trend, and fear for the future of their dear city. In an effort to prepare a new generation to replace them, they have devised a plan to organize a new team from the young superhumans who have yet to find their place.


Under the guise of the "Achievement Center for Advanced Youth," a youth center and club targeting teens and older children with "special and unique" aptitudes and abilities, they recruit and train the next generation of heroes. They hope to mold these kids into the next team of protectors for their city, though many of the kids just see it as a club or help center to assist them in adjusting to their powers and to society. For the most part, the creators of the center do little to alter this misconception, but slowly nudge the fledgling superheroes towards a path of righteousness.


The Center employs numerous superhumans as counselors, thinking that these individuals would be most able to understand the unique needs that a superhuman child may have. Many of these counselors are hired to operate in plainclothes, appearing to many of the visitors simply as normal humans with an understanding of superpowers and the pitfalls that may come to a child who’s adapting to them. Some of the plainclothes counselors openly display their own powers to build a better rapport with their charges, and express the challenges that they may have faced themselves while adapting to being in normal society. Others are hired as costumed counselors who mentor the superpowered youths in understanding and controlling their powers, or other elements that directly involved being superpowered.


Each counselor is largely given carte blanche to operate as they see fit and how they feel best suits the needs of each youth. This applies as much to discipline as to counseling, and several counselors have adopted a philosophy that includes occasional corporal punishment when their charges need and deserve it.

---------- Post added at 11:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:00 AM ----------

Megan studies the brick building with uncertainty. The address appears to be correct, but it certainly wasn't what she was expecting. She had imagined that the youth center would be in a decidedly modern building, with state-of-the-art facilities. After all, if it catered to those children with "special" aptitudes, she didn't think it could be housed in a building that wasn't reinforced against most forces of nature.

"Well, I guess this is the place."

She approaches the door and knocks gently. It had only been a few short days since her guidance counselor had suggested that she look into this center as a way to cope with her abilities. She wasn't sure what kind of special counseling they might offer here, but it seemed like a better shot than going to a therapist. Hopefully, she'd meet with other kids having a hard time adjusting to a normal life.

After a few moments with no answer, she assumes that maybe she should just walk in. After all, youth centers tend to have an open door policy, right? Pushing lightly on the door, it gives easily and slides open without even as much as a creak. She looks inside the building, trying to see if there was anyone that she should speak to.

"Hello, anyone here?"

The entry seemed to be deserted, with only sparse lighting keeping the room and adjoining hallway visible. The inside actually appeared much more modern than the brick shell that it was encased in, much to Megan's surprise. Unsure of what to do, she waits a few more moments to see if anyone would happen by. Surely there had to be some kind of desk help on duty.

[NoiselessKnife]

Ice colored blue eyes stared at the front door, ok, this was the moment she wanted to turn back and go “home”… but she couldn’t. The girl known as Kei sighed and accommodated her backpack’s strap over her shoulder. Ever since they had captured him, her mentor, the so called Dark Alchemist (name given by them to him) it had been difficult for her.

Her mentor had been about to drop some chemicals into the potable water plant, something that would travel far and wide, making all the humans and superhumans in this city become sterile, also that would fasten the death of those with near-death injuries and those with terminal sicknesses, they would die in their sleep after taking anything that contained those chemicals… but the so called heroes arrived just in time, it was an amazing fight, even if it was not really a fight, her mentor, who called himself the Keeper, like a secret keeper or something, had been mostly playing with them. Of course that she had not, she had tried to protect her guardian with all she got until he called the fight off when he noticed her in the fight, they were outnumbered and they had lost, it was not worthy to lose their lives and, for him, hers, even if a dammed and hated villain he was like many humans, kind to one even if all evil to others (like some heroes could be evil to one and all good with others).

Things went pretty fast then, the villain got into the high security prison and she went to the high security school, she won the dog-collar like thing on her leg that was impossible to take off and that warned the heroes and authorities if she wasn’t in her empty home by 10 pm or if she tried to leave the city, it was a nuisance.

She knew a lot about her mentor, since she had been with him even since a little kid, although she didn’t know why, he had been a great scientist, someone named Tolbert, a professor who found too many truths and realized too much about humans it seemed, he had been teaching her that along with many things until the worse had happened.

Strange thing was that still, due her case of having no one, the heroes allowed her to visit him at times, and that was why she was here. She wouldn’t have set foot in this place, not even for all the hamburgers in America, but her mentor had requested it.

Repeatedly.

She had repeated “But Boss!” once and over the last weekend she got a “time” with him, trying to escape this horrendous experience, but he wouldn’t budge, not that he ever did, instead he teased her about her fear to others and finally convinced her of being a nice kid and obeying him. The kid wondered if the guards could hear their conversations, they most likely could, she often imagined how surprised they would be of seeing the supervillian act like a kind of parent to her. He was powerless thanks to nanotech and outside tech that was in his prison, so there was no fear from the heroes about her being there with him, and also, many were in favor of getting all the gifted kids on that youth center.

The villain had dismissed her with a loving ruffle of her often ruffled hair and a hidden slap to her behind.

That was some days ago, so here she was.

Grumbling the fresh teen (She was 13, just into teenage years) got into the institution, half thanking that her way too blue tracker could be hidden easily under her pant’s leg. It was not usual and it would call unnecessary attention.

She combed her gray hair (White, her mentor would often argue) out of her face, she would often argue that it was gray because this was not her birth hair color, she had been born with dark hair and deep blue eyes, but the first time she used her powers her hair’s color changed, and her eyes became lighter in coloration.

Ah, how she had complained with her mentor about not having him around to teach her more, that had been when he had had this idea of sending her here, dismissing any other comment of not knowing how to use the powers he had just given her with a “Then don’t use them, they won’t come magically and you know it, pup”

Sighing the girl went in deeper into the place, half wondering about how she would write her name, it was a strange thing, her mentor had told her about her name being “Kei”, which when younger she wrote like “Key” and then like “Kai”, he had never corrected her, and when asked he had just shrugged and offered her to choose or to change it every time she wanted. She loved her mentor, but at times he was… trolling.

The girl looked around and found a desk, she went near it. “Erm…h…hi?” She called, feeling as if something would pounce on her, she noticed another girl nearby but waited near the desk, she was not one to go and say “Hi” just like that, she wondered if others were already around or would come.

[Thomas_III]

At first, Megan is oblivious to the younger girl entering the building behind her, her attention focused instead on the receptionist desk. She knows that the building only opened recently, but she had hoped for there to be more people around. She can't learn to interact in groups if there's no groups to interact with. Discouraged, she starts to take a couple of steps backward, ready to turn and leave. She doesn't notice the other girl until she's already bumped into her.


“Oops! I'm sorry!”


She spins around to offer her apologies, but suddenly retreats when she sees the strange-haired girl. She doesn't appear normal, at all, which makes her wonder why the guidance counselor even suggested this place to her.

[NoiselessKnife]

The girl grunted at the bump and turned her head to look what had bumped her, she had been distracted thinking on several other things such as what would happen now and how would the other kids be, as well as what was her mentor thinking as to send her here. Kei was not usually that distracted but being out of the training field and out of her mentor's teachings made her think a lot about things she usually just ignored, hence why the light collision between her and the other girl had been surprising for her.

It wasn't hard so she didn't fall nor yelp, she just leaned more to the desk with a light wince and turned to look at the other girl, the white haired (Gray, as she would argue) kid looked at her with some shyness, she was a dark haired one, she had very green eyes that called one's attention.

Her voice reached her ears and she nodded at first even if the girl had yet to turn to look at her.

What could she do? Fight over that bump? Shout at her? Make a scene? What for? For making the authorities come if that was known and scold her in front of everyone? Nah, not her style exactly, not her mentor's neither, and it had been an accident, even if she was a villain's apprentice she understood that, and, as her mentor, she found stupid to fight just over everything. She just shrugged and looked at the desk again. "It's ok, you ok?" She muttered kind of softly to the other girl, turning to see her once more, she knows she didn't get hurt due the bump but maybe she bumped her because she got scared or something.

It was then when she saw it, THE stare, the one people throws at her at times, the one some heroes threw at her when she finally gave up in the fight, she wouldn't win and the heroes were just trying to contain her but she didn't stop fighting until her mentor called her off, she hated that stare, made her feel like a kind of freak, and that stare is so clear on the girl's face, not to mention the steps she takes back, as if Kei was a kind of snake about to attack.

"It's normal" She grunts immediately looking away, her voice changing, she half pouts, half frowns, half looks annoyed, she's not looking to fight right now but she hates that stare. "It's really normal" She said again, referring to her hair color. "You're in a place for strange kids, you'll see stranger than me, not only with gray hair" She warns.

The kid leans on the desk, waiting for whoever to come, not pleased by the look and not knowing what to expect now.

[Yukiko]

Pinnacle. An ugly name. That disturbed her from the first day on. The city is ugly, an ugly city with an ugly name. And it stinks. She accelerates her steps when she passes a small alley where the inhabitants seem to deposit their waste. A female voice, screaming angrily, comes out of a window. Even their language is ugly. Akane sighs.

She misses the small village at the Japanese westcoast. The sea, the salty smell, the sunsets. The cherry trees. Everything. Here the trees grow along the streets each in a kind of tub made of concrete. She talked about this with her mother. Mom said, it is not the city that is ugly, it is the way she looks at it. She has to try to see the beauty in it then she will see it. Akane walks around a man sleeping on the ground. Her mother is wise but sometimes difficult to understand. She wonders if the inhabitants think that their city is beautiful. The homeless guy for example. Perhaps she should ask them.

She turns to the right. Not everything is ugly, to be fair. The river is beautiful. A wide stream which crosses the city. She cannot see it from here, but she can feel it. Moving water. Full of energy, full of life. She has memorized where it flows in relation to her target, the Achievement Center for Advanced Youth, so he will guide her to her target. Yes. He. Some streams are female but this one is male, she is sure.

She notices a movement in a house entrance. A boy, sixteen perhaps, is watching her. This area is not exactly safe. A young girl, alone in a backstreet - an easy target. But something in the way Akane moves seems to warn him, at least he makes no attempt to follow her. Or perhaps he is simply not interested in her money. In this city, if someone looks like a criminal, this doesn't mean that he is a criminal. Or if a girl looks like a whore. One of the girls in her class, does not only wear rings in her nose, what somehow seems to be normal here, but also in other body parts - she wonders what her mother would say if she asks her if she can wear a ring in her...

Ah, over there, that has to be it. It doesn't look exactly like she imagined, but the house number is right. The door is ajar so she enters. There are already two girls inside, but she cannot see any adults. After a short moment, she goes near. The older girl looks quite normal while the young one, which is probably around her age, wears a strange outfit and has gray hair. Weird, but on the other hand Akane already met a girl with violet hair and black lips.

"Good day." She says friendly and bows, her finges playing somewhat nervously with the rim of her skirt. "Is this the Achievement Center for Advanced Youth?"

[Thomas_III]

Megan takes another step back, worried that the younger girl felt insulted by her comment. She hadn't meant it like that, at least not intentionally. Though, it certainly came out sounding that way. She tries to come up with a way to reverse the damage that she's done, but social situations aren't her cup of tea.


“Oh, of course not! I never thought that there was anything strange about you, at all.”


She thinks about it for a moment, however, finding something odd about what she said.


“Isn't it white, though?”


Megan is thankful for the distraction when this other girl walks in. At least this one looks normal, even if she's an obvious foreigner. Unfortunately, she can't answer the girl's question, since she isn't too sure about this place, either.


“Well, I was told that this is where the center is, but I don't know. I haven't seen anyone besides the two of you. Welcome to America, though. Amerika e yookoso!”


Megan then imitates the bow that the girl had done. When she does this, however, there is a man suddenly visible directly behind her, standing just a few feet from where the girls are standing. He wears a clean and dapper suit, though is obviously well into his later years. He carries himself with dignity and grace, despite his extra years, and looks to be in better health than most men half of his age.


“Indeed, young ladies, this is the Achievement Center for Advanced Youth. Would you three girls be interested in viewing the facilities, perhaps?”

[Yukiko]

Akane smiles somewhat surprised, that Megan seems to understand Japanese and is able to tell by her looks and accent, that she is from Japan. She seems to be polite, most youngsters here are impolite, a pleasant surprise.

"Domo arigato but I already live here for half a year. My name is Akane Yamato, it's nice to meet you..."

Before she can continue suddenly a man appears. She didn't see him coming he suddenly stands there, just behind Megan. Was she distracted or... could he have super powers? Teleported in or something? For a moment Akane is excited. Maybe the girls are like her. Megan looks quite normal. Akane wonders which power she might have and the girl with the grey hair. For a moment she feels tempted to simply ask, reveal her own abilities but then she decides against it. Maybe it's just her imagination running wild and then she would blow her cover. It's better to wait.

For a moment she closes her eyes with a concentrated expression then she bows again before the old man, deeper than she did before Megan. "It would be a pleasure for me, thanks for your friendly invitation, sensei." He makes a good impression on her and she is definitely curious.

[NoiselessKnife]

A more outgoing kid might have taken all this as a joke or just shrugged it off, but Kei is not that outgoing and, even if she meant no trouble, she didn’t like the stare that the seemly older girl threw at her, mostly because it reminded her of the normal humans, the same stare, according to her. Being with her mentor so long, learning from him mostly and seeing others as strangers left this kid quite defensive towards others, and a bit paranoid of how they looked at her since she herself knew that she didn’t look normal but there was no way of hiding her appearance, and when she was with her mentor she hadn’t even cared about it but when he was captured she tried to, even tried to dye her hair, which resulted in a total failure and in her having to remove a bunch of stains from her bathroom and clothes, still her hair continued just as w…gray.

Sighing she listened to the other girl, frowning a bit, displeased at how she said that she didn’t think there was something strange about her. “Don’t lie” She half whispers, mostly to herself, her mentor taught her not to lie so she doesn’t appreciate others lying, overall to her, she isn’t making a scene but she saw the girl’s expression and the steps back, c’mon, she wasn’t a snake about to bite, she was just here cuz… cuz her mentor told her, she’s not really looking for trouble, so why that reaction? Was she that scary? Was she that much of a freak?

The older girl spoke again and Kei looked at her before frowning a bit more. “It’s gray” She defended but looked down, as if a bit defeated. “Justa a very light gray” She adds. One thing was to defend that point with her mentor, there was little to no point defending it here, but she still did it, even if just out of conviction.

Then another girl comes and she looks at her with some curiosity, she had expected to see a bunch of kids who were totally different, the name “advanced youth” was there, her mentor had told her that it was for kids like her so she had taken that it was a place for not normal humans and more, for what humans called freaks, but these two girls look… normal, very, very normal, maybe it’s a place just for kids who are advanced in other ways?

As the Japanese looking girl bowed Kei bowed a bit back, remembering that one of the main rules was to answer with what was given; her mentor told her that once when she asked him how to behave in front of some of his associates that came from overseas, she half wonders if said associates were put under police investigation.

Kei doesn’t get to say anything, either out of shyness or out of slow reaction, before the dark haired girl speaks; she glances at her, a bit surprised that she knows Japanese.

The blue eyed girl whose eyes are darker than her own is visibly surprised by this too and introduces herself; Kei has heard some Japanese here and there but is not like she could start talking so she keeps quiet, not to mention that in a childish way she feels kind of, or what? Well, of hurt, in a way, in a strange way, still she turns from her slumped position against the desk again, the first time she did that was to half answer the girl’s bow, now she does so mostly to not to be rude, she’s here want it or not, so why to make her existence miserable (or more miserable)? She might as well give these girls some respect and attention, it’s not wise to make enemies out of stupidities.

The white (Grey!) haired kid listened to the girls conversation, not finding any spot to speak, since it would be interrupting and even she hates that, before looking behind the green eyed girl, there’s a man behind her, someone… strange, he’s not like any other man and seems way too clean, there’s something regal in him, and even if he looks, well, old? Grown up? She doesn’t know the exact adjective for him… he looks extremely healthy and in shape, also, where the heck did he come from?

This last question makes her think on the next, the man was surely not a normal human, but, in this place, it surely means he’s a kind of hero or superhero, like the ones that captured her mentor, she’s not sure of having seen him before though.

Kei stands straight then. Have you ever felt like a criminal’s apprentice in front of a judge? Well, she feels a bit like that, even if his words call her attention. As the Japanese girl replies with a deeper bow and thanks him for the invitation so the icy eyed kid nods towards the man, she too is curious about this place, is it less than she imagined or is it far more than she could even think?

“Y…yes, we would like that… sir” She says, taking one step forwards and nodding if well not bowing to him, adding the “sir” at the end of her phrase, before she called her mentor a variety of names but “sir” was very strangely used, it seems she will have to start using it now.

[Thomas_III]

Megan almost jumps out of her skin when the voice seemingly sneaks up on her, feeling those tiny prickles go up her spine in surprise. Gathering up her courage, she turns and looks up to the older, graying man, wondering if he's the receptionist, or one of the counselors.


“Umm... Hello, Sir. I'm not really sure if I belong here, though. I think that my guidance counselor may have messed up or something.”


The man flashes a disarming smile, apparently amused by Megan's uncertainty.


“Oh, you most definitely came to the right place, Megan, and you do belong here. I already spoke with your guidance counselor about you.”


His eyes then move to the two other girls standing with her, studying both of them with the same attention to detail that one gives a masterpiece painting in an art gallery. The smile never fades, though, even when looking to Kei.


“And, let's see if I have all of your names right. Let's see... Your name is Megan Jones, and your friends here are Akane Yamato and Kei... Miss Kei, I'm afraid that I have yet to hear your last name, though. I will need your help in updating the file, if that's okay with you. Oh, and where are my manners? I'm Trevor Kensington III. I'm one of the directors here at the center.”


He offers them a light bow, but definitely the gentlemanly version from western civilization, and not the eastern version that Akane would be familiar with.

[Yukiko]

It's not difficult to notice that Kei is uneasy and nervous. She even stutters when she answers the question of the old man, Trevor Kensington III, how he calls himself, the question is just why. The man seems nice to Akane and not threatening and the gray-haired girl - Kei - was already nervous before he appeared and she didn't say her name, same as Megan. Akane notices that she said 'we' including Megan and she seems not very familiar with calling someone 'sir' judged by the way how reluctantly she says it. It almost seems she doesn't want to be here - something is odd about her, what makes Akane curious.

"Akane Yamato, that's right Kensington-san." Nods Akane pronouncing the O in her name correctly, more like an A. "It's an honor." She wonders why he is the third. But that is probably not so important, important are other things.

"So you are a director of the 'Achievement Center for Advanced Youth', maybe you can give us some informations then." She continues with a friendly smile. "Your brochure was kind of... vague. It says, this club is for children with 'special and unique' aptitudes and abilities. What does 'special' mean in this context? Something like musical talent or high intelligence?"

She folds her arms still smiling friendly but watching closely how the director reacts. The boss of her father used his contacts to get informations about this youth center. Enough to be sure that there is more than this, much money has been invested, too much for a normal Youth Center. Informations were spread, seemingly to attract a certain clientele. Superhumans. But why? Altruistic motives?