HEROES REBORN [Closed/Private]

[Forest State]

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“STEP INTO THE SPOTLIGHT...”

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Superheroes? Conspiracies? The technological singularity? Superpowered crime syndicates? The world is as dangerous as its ever been in 2023, and no side in the constant clash between the good, the bad, and the weird quite have an advantage over the other - the Guardians are the largest superhero organization in the world, but despite the number of superheroes steadily rising since their first appearance following World War Two, it seems like they're more and more outmatched every year... From crime to terrorism, there's plenty for the Guardians to handle, and plenty of bad actors in the world who would love to knock the off their perch, of both the powered and non powered kind. And the fight isn't just in the streets but in the boardrooms - superheroes are much more than just crime fighters. Having status as a major one means status as a celebrity, a cultural icon. Will the top heroes be able to handle the threats? Will the next generation come up in their footsteps and aid a stretched thin organization? Just when will things boil over worldwide?

Those questions will be answered in time... For this is their story.

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NOTE: This thread is roughly inspired by my previous threads Fates and Futures and Heroes of Tomorrow Redux. This time, however, it's a smaller private project that isn't open to signups at this point. It may be sometime in the future.

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[Forest State]

SEASON 1 EPISODE 1 // WELCOME TO THE SHOW (BRING ON ALL THE LIGHTS)

Collaborative post between Forest State & Durmatagno

DATE // June 3rd, 2023
LOCATION // Central Tokyo, Japan
CAST // Noelle ‘Lux’ Ethier & Victoria ‘Remix’ Fawn

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Tokyo was many different things depending on who you asked - an urban jungle, an example of fine city planning, one of the technological capitals of the world and a place where plenty of entertainment came from these days, as well as being the capital of Japan, a country that always seemed to elicit opinions either positive or negative from the rest of the world. Tokyo was also one specific thing - it was important to this entire thing… With this ‘thing’, in this case, being the game between superheroes and villains. Millions of people lived practically on top of each other in a dense urban environment, there was definitely an ‘undercity’ that existed even if the living standards in most of the city were high, and there weren’t enough police to control everyone once you threw powers into the mix and some individuals realized that they had enough power in their own hands to take out entire blocks if they so felt like it.

And so, Tokyo the megacity had also become Tokyo the superhero city, as other powered individuals took up the fight against crime, terrorism, and all other manner of threats that ended up popping up in this city. Made sense that in a place this big, one could pretty easily see every type of villain - but both from the west and from the local population, there were always plenty of heroes here compared to other cities… They needed more heroes just to keep things under control.

The Tokyo hero scene is seeing many new arrivals…

Enter the Heroplex.

As the name might suggest, the towering glass and steel structure in central Tokyo had everything to do with superheroes, and specifically, it had to do with making more of them - this place was as advanced as buildings came… The architecture merged a number of elements and had a curved design, the shape of the building spiraling into the sky for meters upon meters, hitting heights that rivaled some of the tallest buildings in the city. It had a helipad attached, underground levels that were used for both public and not so public projects, a security system that saw everything due to the fact that it was managed primarily by AI and not by humans, and it even had a surface to air missile battery based on the surrounding buildings in case anyone had ideas about taking it out from the sky since it was such a difficult target on the ground…

At the end of the day, though, the building was little more than a mega-school designed to produce the next generation, and produce them as soon as the Guardians needed them. It served other purposes, as a building like this wouldn’t just be used for one thing… No, too much work had been put into it for that, but that was the primary purpose and it had been since they built the thing in the first place. They had a motto, even, that was draped on banners hanging from the front of the massive structure, the banners themselves being as tall as some of the buildings around it.

“WE MAKE HEROES,” the banners read.

That was the main thing they did here. Tokyo was not just a superhero city - it was the home of the Futures Program, otherwise known as the most important pipeline of talent that the Guardians had… They took graduates from high school in, and when they exited the halls of this place, they’d hopefully be capable heroes that could at best end up on first rate squads and at worst could handle regional work… There was supposed to be a hero in every city, at least every city that was worth giving a damn about. That was what the Guardians said, anyway, and they had to accomplish that goal somehow… It was the reason the Heroplex existed.

Of course, no one that entered the glass building wanted to come out in some years time having been assigned to the middle of nowhere, or to one of the many shitholes that the Guardians covered… Getting placed in New York City was a lot more attractive than being shot at by narcos in some South American country, or withering away in the cold after being placed in a freezing area of Russia that just happened to have an opening. Everyone carried with them their hopes and dreams. Would those dreams come true? That depended on the person, how good they were at all this, and how much work they were willing to put in. And luck, there was always a bit of that.

Just so happened that this place was about to get its latest visitors - no, not visitors. They’d be living here for the next years while they trained, and they would be members of one of the four ‘cadet’ teams that operated out of here. Crimson, Gold, Azure, and Purple. Each of them named for a color. But just because they had simplistic names didn’t mean they could be written off as not relevant. They were serious brands, ones that continued to exist even as their members ebbed and flowed, new people coming in and graduates being assigned elsewhere every so often. Each class came and went… The teams, though, as institutions, were the most valuable teams around… At least for what they were, that was to say, ‘cadet’ teams rather than the senior ones that handled the brunt of the work for the Guardians.

Noelle Ethier had made sense to consider as a member of the latest class… Not only had she shown talent with her ability, which was based around light manipulation and a couple of other things that were directly influenced by that first power, but this was just what her family did. Well, that wasn’t to say they were all heroes, but they were in the business of heroes certainly. Because that’s what it was, a business with plenty of dollars behind it… And Noelle’s father, Alexandre Ethier, happened to be behind much of it in the country of Canada, being involved with more than half the teams there in some way or another. You wanted to make a name as a hero in Canada, you went to Ethier and his Ethier Industries company, which managed quite a few big names across Canada and France.

Tokyo is not just a megacity, but a hero city…

Because even heroes had managers. Just because someone had amazing powers didn’t mean they necessarily knew how to manage a public career. Many times, in the French speaking world and even Ontario and British Columbia, those managers just happened to be tied to one company more than any others.

Noelle wasn’t here just because of who her father was, however - she was capable herself, and if anything, that was part of why she was here. The easy route would’ve been to make a debut as a pro hero out in Canada where getting on a major team would be nothing for her. But it wasn’t supposed to be easy. And in this case, she considered the potential rewards of taking a more independent option to far outweigh the downsides.

Soon enough, she’d attend to Heroplex after the Guardians had announced the latest class, and she’d found her name somewhat predictably on the list… The Futures Program was more work, but at the end of the day, it’d give her something that just buying a spot through her father in some major hero team couldn’t do - credibility, and a foothold within the Guardians to build off of. She wasn’t fretting it, though. She was confident in her own skills, which had been sharpened through hours and hours of training, using a work ethic that her father and his success had instilled in her.

Besides… She wasn’t here by herself. She did have her best friend with her, who at the moment, was standing by her side and watching the building from the front of the courtyard plaza. You just couldn’t come somewhere like this and not take a break to admire it… Not on your first time, anyway.

Victoria admired the building, probably in ways most wouldn’t. Sure it looked nice, and was certainly a beacon of wealth and power, but what Victoria saw was different. Or rather, what extra she saw was. She could see, or at least put together, where the support beams of the structure were. The most likely places for the major utility lines, and pipes. Of course, she could also spot where the structure was reinforced, little details like that were both trained and an extension of her machine powers. It was fuzzy, and indistinct at this distance, and it always had trouble with buildings, but a building was one big unit. Heating, water, electricity, it had to manage and direct all these things, in a way it was a massive machine, but given how much of a building was inanimate, it was far easier to focus on it’s smaller parts. Victoria shook her head, and forced her power away, it was almost instinct to have it on these days, but with this she needed to focus on something else. She turned to her friend, and smiled.

“Yep, this place is certainly something to behold. Even with my eyes it’s a work of art, I wonder what the rooms are going to be like.”

Noelle had been Victoria’s friend since high school, they’d met when Victoria had broke from her Aunt and Uncle’s desires, and headed to Canada for schooling. The Fawns were one of the big names for Heroes in the US. Mostly in the Southwest, and parts of Mexico, it was part of why they were based out of San Diego. Technically it’d started under her Great Uncle, but now her Uncle ran it. Her mother was a different kind of name, an actual hero, though maybe not one with the shiniest of reputations. Not a good mother, never bothered to even try raising Victoria, but now she was Victoria’s friend. A distant one, they didn’t see each other often, but she wasn’t a business type, nor a motherly type, so it was the best relationship Victoria would get. She wasn’t really at odds with the rest of her family, they were disappointed that she’d chosen this path, but given her cousins and siblings, having a few heroes in the family wasn’t a bad thing either.

“From what I hear… The best. We might not be able to spend too much time in them, though,” said Noelle, starting to approach the building. Before they reached it, they’d have to get through the massive plaza that was in front of it. There were a couple of statues of prominent figures who had come from the local area, and there were the flags of a number of countries waving off to the sides of the plaza… The ones that the Guardians were the biggest in. “They’re probably going to have us doing a lot of training.”

“Then again…” she continued as they kept walking, passing a fountain. “I always have something to do and still manage to find time to relax. No point in doing it all if we can’t enjoy it…”

“Yeah well you know me, I’ve gotten better but downtime isn’t something I’m very good at keeping. I always find something else to busy myself with.”

Victoria rubbed the back of her head as she talked. Noelle had been helping her kick the habit since they’d met, and Victoria was far better than she used to be. Even if she was still somewhat embarrassed about it.

“I don’t mind hard work, I just hope that they’ll have something built for my size, most beds are...uncomfortable for me.”

This was again true, most beds were a tad too short for her, especially here in Japan. Victoria towered above most people in the states, here in Japan she felt like a giant. She could practically use most people here as walking armrests, which was always awkward. It’d made getting her passport checked a little comical though. Plane rides were also uncomfortable, very few planes had leg room for someone her size, even private ones.

“I’ll get it sorted if they don’t,” shrugged Noelle. She was used to this kind of thing. Sorting out things for her friends, using her status to get people to pay more attention. Granted, Victoria had some status of her own, but Noelle’s was more public, and she had been on the radar of more people for longer as a potential hero, which meant she had a better chance of getting things changed quickly if she wanted to… Although she’d try to not exert that influence too much over this place. She was here to earn status, not simply flex her reputation from back home after all.

They passed through a pair of glass doors which brought them into the lobby, a busy and wide space which had a fairly open design and an abundance of glass inside. Was a running theme with the way this building was designed. On the wall that was in front of them as they walked in, the golden hawk logo of the Guardians could be seen, and the same logo was visible as a smaller pin on the grey uniforms of the staff around here. “And now to find where we’re supposed to go… Just the lobby’s pretty fuckin’ big,” Noelle muttered, looking from side to side, and at the various desks lined up near either wall with employees behind each one of them.

“Big lobbies, it’s usually either the central desk, or the nearest one to the entrance. Guessing that ‘cause we’re not being waved down already, it’s near the center. Someone knows we’re here, there’s no way the aren’t ready for us.”

Victoria said looking at the various desks, trying to figure out which one would be the one they would need to go to. What team were they on...right, they hadn’t been assigned one yet. She was tempted to start getting a closer look at power lines and stuff now that they were here, but that was just a waste of time. It was unlikely it’d be important but her curiosity was always a driving force. It was how she’d built her armor, and just kinda how she ticked. She shook her head, and aside from generic seating, and waiting areas, she spotted a desk that seemed less busy than the others. Like it was for incoming rather than something internal. She tapped Noelle’s shoulder and pointed.

“Looks like a decent place to start.”

Noelle nodded, heading over to the specific desk that had been pointed out by Victoria. Behind it was another employee, in a typical outfit - grey business suit jacket with the golden eagle pin that was becoming familiar, a matching skirt, all in all a plain look but one that was recognizable as Guardians staff. “Hello, may I-” started the woman behind the desk, but she recognized somewhat quickly that she was looking at the two people that they were waiting for… Or two of the people, anyway. Considering this was one of the years when a new class came in, they would have plenty of others showing up soon.

“Oh, you’re with the Futures Program,” the woman said, looking up at the towering Victoria and then back to Noelle. “You can come this way, the housing for you and your teammates is on one of the upper floors.”

She moved from behind the desk, waving for the both of them to follow, and moved to an elevator what wasn’t far away. There were a number of them around here, which made sense, considering the number of floors that comprised the large structure. Once they were inside, the woman pressed a button and they began their ascent, heading for the… 40th floor. It was a specific number to remember, because apparently, it was where the housing was for this place. At least for those that were here with the Futures Program. It’d take a bit for them to get there, but eventually the doors slid open and they were in a hallway, where they had a window view next to them of the other buildings in Tokyo.

“Your rooms are further this way,” said the woman, leading them down the hallway and turning to another hall, walking further down before stopping at a pair of rooms that were side by side from one another, as Noelle had requested earlier, before even showing up here. She did use her pull sometimes, even when she was trying not to rely on it entirely. The woman stopped, taking out a pair of key cards, one for each of the two heroes. “So you can begin unpacking… Your introduction to the Program will take place soon.”

Victoria nodded and took her card to check out her room. It’d take her awhile to unpack. She wasn’t the neatest person in the world, but she always knew exactly where her stuff should be, in the general area at least. Most of the time. Anyway, she would dump the bags she did have directly with her on the bed, before stopping to make sure the bed was big enough for her. She was pleasantly surprised to find the big was big enough, maybe a tad shorter than her one she was used to, but enough room for her so plenty for most anyone else. She smiled and stretched before heading back into the hall to see what Noelle was up to.

Noelle had remained in the hallway and spoken to the receptionist a bit, but as Victoria entered again, she was moving into her own room to unpack her things - she hadn’t brought much for the initial trip across from Canada to Tokyo. She’d have more of her stuff sent over later, but for now it was basic clothes, and a few of the things she would need for her immediate training. The luxury goods, all the extra clothes and the like… Those could wait. She eventually stepped back out into the hallway…

They had an introduction to attend. “So, if you’ll come this way…” the woman said, gesturing ahead. “We can get to the rest of the group. At least, the group that’s been gathered so far, there’s still a few people that we’re waiting on.”

Victoria raised an eyebrow at Noelle as the receptionist led them to wherever else they were meeting at. She didn’t know what she had talked to the receptionist about, but she had one or two suspicions, though they could easily be wrong. She shrugged, she didn’t generally care too much what Noelle did, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t curious.

“You were right, rooms are nice. I can actually fit in the bed, for once.”

“We’re supposed to be the next big thing for the Guardians… ‘Course they put more money in it than some basic regular college would. Actually, it’s not even a college… We just get to do the interesting stuff,” said Noelle with a smirk as they continued on, heading through winding hallways and a staircase which led them further upwards. Apparently taking the stairs in this case would be quicker than just using the elevator.

“Right this way,” said the receptionist. “Many of the facilities for this program are located on this floor. Including the meeting hall,” she added.

Soon enough, they’d have enough team members here for the introduction. For now… They were left to walk and wait, until the point where they would find just which teams the Guardians were putting each one of them on. Teammates could make or break someone, after all. They’d just have to hope that they had the luck of the draw, or rather, the luck of the marketing team.

Because heroes really weren’t born - many times, they were made in a boardroom.

[Lunas Legion]

SEASON 1 EPISODE 2 // CRIMSON

Collaborative post between Forest State, Durmatagno & Lunas Legion

DATE // June 3rd, 2023
LOCATION // Central Tokyo, Japan
CAST // Noelle ‘Lux’ Ethier, Victoria ‘Remix’ Fawn, Fox ‘Heartbreaker’ Liao, Olympia ‘Gladiator’ Galatas, Chelsea ‘Duelist’ Bianchi-Costa

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Saying Olympia was overwhelmed would be the understatement of the year. She’d never been out of state, let alone out of the country, and yet here she was in Tokyo regardless. At least she knew some Japanese, one of her friends had insisted on drilling it into her as soon as she’d told her, but even still. It… Was quite a lot to take in for someone like her.

She hadn’t brought much, didn’t own much in the first place for that matter, but even so she whistled quietly to herself as she entered the auditorium, hands in the pockets of her battered and well-worn jeans. Not out of confidence, but as a distraction from the nerves she felt that this would all come crashing down as some great joke any minute now.

The person who followed her in, preceded by the confident clicking of heels, was somewhere near Olympia’s opposite. This, to Chelsea, was what she had been working towards since she’d first discovered her own powers, had first joined one of the very few hero teams within Switzerland… But it was but one more step up a long, treacherous mountain nonetheless.

Soon enough, the auditorium style area would be filled up, or at least as filled up as it was going to be for what the Guardians were planning at the moment. It wasn’t entirely full, but then again, this was a special program and there were only a limited number of people that were actually joining it - enough people to fill the four different teams that made up this program. Team Crimson, Team Azure, Team Gold, and Team Purple - each of them part of the Futures Program, and the Guardians as a whole, as cadet teams responsible for training and bringing up young heroes… But they were always competing with each other. Because as the four different parts of the same program, the members of each team always wanted to prove that they were the most valuable - that they could do the most, that they could save the most people and perform the best in the field and in front of the cameras.

They’d find out soon just who would be on each of these teams, each of them carrying their own prestige to an extent… They were all part of the same program, yes, and branding and the current roster was the only thing that set one of them apart from the others, but they still had fans of their own regardless even if it was somewhat illogical to have fan loyalty to a team whose members would change out every so often, unlike a regular team that might have a more consistent roster. And it wasn’t like they even represented a specific area, which would make them more like a hometown team to some people. No, each of these teams was one slice in a four way competition, one of the most intense competitions in this entire hero business… But much of the action, so to speak, was behind closed doors.

The public saw some of it. Not all of it. For the ones in the room right now, this would be their first real look at the Futures Program. Their first real look at how the heroes of tomorrow were brought up by the Guardians… Hopefully, that’d be them, and they wouldn’t simply wash out like some others had in the past. It was a tough job. Wasn’t for everyone. But it was rewarding enough for the few who could handle it…

The final person they were waiting for showed up - one of the program members, a tall golden haired girl who was coming in alone unlike some of the others who already knew some of the others. There was something of a divide in that regard - a divide between the ones who’d been preparing for this longer and had managed to not only get in but bring their friends with them, and the ones that were loners, experiencing an unfamiliar situation in an unfamiliar country all by themselves. This girl seemed like a member of the latter group, but she wasn’t perturbed by it, as she took her seat near the back. She was confident enough to handle it, for sure.

Finally, the lights dimmed ever so slightly and someone stepped forward to address those that had gathered here. The man in question was dressed for business, wearing a dark suit, although those familiar with the hero scene of the 90s and early 2000s would have no problem recognizing the face as belonging to a prominent hero, or at least one that had been prominent in the past - Marco Giordano had been one of the main faces on the New York hero scene during that period, holding down one of the toughest to handle areas in the country while going under the nickname ‘Hitman,’ perhaps showing rather obviously the leanings that Giordano had as something of an anti-hero. In the end, though, suave business skills had brought Giordano into the management world rather than the active frontlines, something that had worked out for both ‘Hitman’ and the Guardians in the end as Giordano took over the Futures Program and assumed the duty of finding diamonds in the rough for the Guardians to polish further.

“Welcome to Tokyo, everyone,” Giordano said to begin, looking across the crowd gathered in the auditorium. “And more specifically, welcome to the Futures Program. Out of all the potential prospects in the world to become members of the Guardians, you have been selected for further training. All of you are special in some way… But don’t let that convince you that this is going to be easy. Not everyone makes it through this training. This job isn’t for everyone. And the competition will be fierce. Still, at the end of it, awaits the career that you’ve been dreaming of.”

Letting the words sink in for a moment, Giordano continued. “I should start by reminding you all of how this Program works - Ideally, you’ll stay for three years. During that time, you’ll find yourselves placed on one of the teams… Crimson, Azure, Gold, or Purple. This should give you some experience working with a team and doing the job that you’ll hopefully be doing in the future. Of course, one part of this Program is also competing with the other three teams. Your assignments in the future will be impacted by your performance here… And you may be tested not just in typical classes and training within the base, but exercises out in the open. Live fire field work, so to speak. If you can’t handle that, after all, you have no chance of becoming a big time hero in the future.”

“You’ll have help from a number of instructors and staff members throughout the entire process, of course, for everything as straightforward as fighting styles and the proper usage of your powers to more complex things such as building a name for yourselves. A hero is only as famous as they make themselves, after all. Ignore these things, and don’t expect to get much out of your effort. But I suspect most of you are already familiar with these things…” Giordano continued, before pausing again. “Let’s announce the rosters for each team, shall we?”

The reading out of the names began, starting with Team Azure - there were a number of names called out and it didn’t take long for their new members to start looking around to see if they could identify just who was going to be on a team with them for the next three years. And after a number of names had been called, they moved on to the next team… Team Crimson. Looking down at the piece of paper in hand, Giordano continued the process. “Assigned to Team Crimson… Chelsea Bianchi-Costa, Noelle Ethier, Victoria Fawn, Fox Liao, and Olympia Galatas,” Giordano read out… There was no telling what had happened to get them matched together, but the assignment was final. These things were decided in advance… In a boardroom, in fact, with plenty of marketing and analytics people talking things over and coming up with a conclusion on which combinations had the best chances of success… And for Team Crimson, that ‘best’ combination was apparently the one that had just been called out.

Well, at least she hadn’t had to wait too long for her own name to come up, Olympia reflected. Not much you could get from names, really, so she just shrugged. She’d make do with whoever she’d been stuck together with for the next few years, wasn’t like she wasn’t used to having to handle strangers.

Chelsea let out a breath she didn’t even know she’d been holding in since her own name had been read out first. She didn’t recognise most of the names, but that wasn’t surprising; most of the people here would be unknowns with little name behind them, but that just made picking out those recognisable names all the more important. And she recognised Ethier, although not the first name. At least she had someone with some degree of pedigree on her team who would know how this entire business worked and not be saddled with a band of semi-competents. Hopefully.

Victoria wasn’t surprised when her and Noelle ended up on the same team. She assumed Noelle had something to do with that, but it could have been luck. What was more interesting to her was the other three names, the ones she didn’t recognize. No surprise, they were joining this group to become heroes, but she wondered what kind of people they were. What power and skill they held. How they’d work as a team. Mmm, unimportant for now. There was probably more information to come. What instructors they had, training regiments, though she doubted that second one would be covered here, and would probably be covered by their instructors. She also wanted to know where the workshop for her armor would be, she was one of the only ones that could maintain it. Partially because it was designed to match up with her esoteric abilities, something few if any could recreate.

They didn’t get that much more in the way of information, however, at least not yet. The rosters continued to be named until everyone in the room had been assigned to one team or another, although Crimson wouldn’t have to worry about that, their own team had already been set… They’d get more information later. They had a chance for now to meet each other. “I believe we’ve gone through all the names, and with that, we can officially say now that all of you are members of the Program… Your official activities are set to begin later in the week. For now, this meeting is dismissed to give you some time to get used to the facility, the staff, and your teammates… However, keep in mind that you will have a public debut event in a couple of days, for the public’s purposes.”

Victoria stood, she wasn’t surprised about the public debut. Publicity was always a big thing for heroes, Victoria knew that well from her own families' dealings. She moved to leave the room, she wanted to see what the rest of the place had to offer, but after taking a few steps, turned to look first at Noelle, then at the other faces in the room, trying to figure which ones were members of her team. It wasn’t like they all had nametags. She’d find out soon enough, but her curiosity was one of her strongest traits.

Chelsea said nothing, if anything more eager than nervous. It wasn’t like she got much media exposure in terms of audience, but it was nonetheless something she was both comfortable with and she liked to think she was rather good at. Finally, however, she stood up. Unfortunately her telepathy was touch only so, well, she couldn’t just pick people’s thoughts until she found the rest of her team.

Olympia remained sitting where she was, more than slightly dumbstruck. She’d, well… She’d never been in front of the media, ever. And in a few days she was supposed to have a debut for something she had no idea how to handle at all. She clamped down on her panic, crushing it with practiced ease. She’d… She’d figure something out. She was not going to mess this up for the rest of her team.

“Predictable,” Noelle said, referring to the results - the distribution of names wasn’t really uncommon… They rarely put a number of stars on one team and it seemed like her and Victoria carried most of the star power in their lineup. She didn’t know about the others yet, but hoped she’d end up surprised by their skill. “Guess we should find the others…”

“It’s a sea of faces, no clue which belongs to what name.”

Victoria said as she continued to scan the crowd. Her height made it easy to see everyone, and easy to see her. She shrugged, she found it likely other teams would have people that knew each other. Those clumps would start to congregate, and as they did, they solo people would be milling about, making it easier to figure out who belonged to what.

“Should’ve been looking around during the announcement. Seen who reacted how to what names,” Noelle said with a chuckle, taking a look around. She could eliminate some people just because she recognized them and knew that they weren’t on her team, but there were also plenty of unknowns who had no previous hero background and had simply been brought in based on their potential, rather than any existing track record.

Chelsea was used to navigating her way through crowds; walk with confidence and purpose, and people tended to reflexively find a way around you. Granted, she didn’t exactly know who was on her team, but still. She figured she’d find someone eventually, given the simple number of people in the exact same situation she was, of trying to name complete strangers. One could even interpret it as a good test of independent initiative.

Olympia, meanwhile, was only just standing up, watching. She had no idea who to look for, and she had a better view from here rather than wading down into the crowds. See whichever group didn’t have the number of people named, and that would be hers.

“You could’ve been to, even if you aren’t as tall as me you could have had an easy view of most people in here.”

Victoria watched a few of the people moving around, at least one was just standing still. She would comment on how it was doing no favors to be doing nothing, but she herself was just standing with Noelle and talking. She shrugged, and pointed out a few people, one of which was the tall girl they’d encountered in the bathroom. Some of them were wrong, but she had pointed at several of the stragglers that weren’t congerating yet.

“Some of them look like they might be on the team.”

“Find out, I guess… Unless you want me to do it, but walkin’ around and asking random people isn’t my style so much,” said Noelle, hands in her pockets as she looked over the group in the distance. “We’ll figure it out eventually.”

“Yeah yeah, let’s see…”

Victoria decided to start with the one that was standing stock still. She seemed like a deer in the headlights, out of her depth. She walked over and looked down at her. After a moment, she spoke.

“Are you Chelsea, Fox, Olympia, or none of the above?”

“Last one, yeah.” Olympia spoke slowly, obviously nervous, turning to look up at the giant of a girl that’d approached her. She wasn’t exactly on the small side, but there was giant, and there was who she was talking to. “Guessing you’re either Noelle or Victoria then?”

“Victoria, Noelle is over there, can’t miss her.”

Victoria pointed, and then moved onto the next of her possible targets. This one shook their head when she asked who they were, and she rolled her eyes, scanning for another possible person. She wanted to get their team together quickly. Made it easier to get introductions out of the way, and figure out who they were working with. Next she approached a tall, by normal standards, woman with short black hair and purple eyes.

“Chelsea, Fox, or none of the above?”

“Chelsea.” Chelsea said simply, blinking as she looked up. “I’m assuming you’re herding our team together then, yes? Someone has to, I suppose.”

“Yeah, Noelle and Olympia are there.”

She pointed at both of them as she said their name.

“Now just to find this Fox, and that’ll be all of us.”

“Good luck.” Chelsea waved as she left Victoria,, heading over to where she’d indicated Noelle and Olympia were gathering, giving a small wave as she approached.

Victoria moved away to approach one of the other giants in the room, another blonde, this team had a lot of blondes. She once over she looked at the shorter, but still quite tall woman. She spoke again after a moment, as if she was sizing her up before speaking to her.

“Fox?”

“Aye,” said the blonde, glancing up towards Victoria but otherwise not seeming too amazed by her size - she had a certain confidence about herself, like she didn’t really care what was around her at the moment. She had been in her own world… And even as Victoria approached, she still sort of was, not looking out of place at all.

“Well then you’re the last member of Crimson, come on, I’ll take you to the rest of the team.”

Victoria said and gestured for Fox to follow, before turning to take her to where the others had hopefully congregated. She thought this was a menial task, and the others should have found her and Noelle themselves, but they weren’t taking the initiative and Noelle wasn’t going to do it. Eh, Victoria didn’t mind a little work like this, it was just odd that none of the others had been doing much of anything to sort out finding the team. Chelsea had at least been walking around.

“So this is what we’re working with,” said Noelle when Victoria came back into sight with Fox, looking over the completed group one more time. “Guess this is the time for everyone to state who the hell they are. Some of you should recognize me, but if you don’t, I’m Noelle Ethier… Hopefully the captain in the future. Or maybe not. I don’t particularly need to be captain either way,” she stated - the implication, of course, that she’d get her way either way.

“Chelsea Bianchi-Costa, formerly a… Well, minor from a global perspective hero in Switzerland. I can do a few things, but, well, I can’t show the big one off right now. No swords around, and the other things I can’t do aren’t that flashy or obvious.” Chelsea said confidently. She’d done this before enough times to know how it went.

Olympia was silent for a second, before her head jolted up slightly as she realised it was her turn to talk. “Olympia Galatas, LA vigilante of sorts. I do this.” Olympia jumped up, and just hung there in the air a few inches off the ground, moving herself backwards slightly. “And I’m good with guns and stuff, not… Exactly used to this side of things though.” She shrugged. She wasn’t one to hide her weaknesses.

Victoria supposed Noelle wanted to save stating her powers for some other time. So she went next.

“Victoria Fawn, from San Diego, and then Toronto. One ability I can’t really show, but I am good with machines. The other…”

Victoria raised her hand and used all three channels in order. First her hand crackled with electricity. Then it began to glow, which Noelle had helped inspire this ability. Finally a dull humming sound emanating from her hand, she could manipulate it more if she wanted to, but it got the point across.

“Can do that with about anything I’m touching. Shoot lasers, see electrical lines, etcetera depending on what I have on hand.”

“Fox Liao,” said the other blonde… Or one of the other blondes in the group, anyway, there happened to be a number of them. But Fox was pretty distinct looking, not just because of her height but because her own hair was more golden than pure blonde, something that made her stand out from the others. “Aside from being one pretty motherfucker, I can do stuff with earth and stones… And metal for that matter. Doesn’t sound like the most exciting thing but it’s pretty useful, I guess.”

“So that’s everyone, yeah? So, uh, now what?” Olympia asked, looking around and crossing her arms. She wasn’t used to this kind of thing by any means, so she really had no idea what they should do now.

“I don’t think there’s anyone else, yes,” said Noelle with a nod, looking them over one more time. “None of us except for me and Victoria know each other, but I believe the situation is the same for most of the others… We’ll just have to learn to work together, I suppose. It’s not long before we’re going to have to debut in public or before we’re going to have to start training, after all… And I don’t want to lose.”

“I don’t think anyone wants to lose, so we’ll do our best.” Chelsea said, turning away from her team to look over the other teams. “Difficult to size up the competition sadly, what with so many unknowns or near-unknowns here, myself included.”

“There will be time to learn them, they’re living and training here as well after all. There’s also plenty to be gleaned from their public debut, when it happens. We have time to get size them up, for now we need to focus on learning each other first.”

Victoria added fairly matter of factly, as if it should be obvious to everyone. This would be a long haul, the training before they went truly professional would last awhile. It gave them plenty of time to learn, befriend, destroy, or anything there between, the rest of the teams.

“I’m more concerned about who our instructors and support staff will be.”

“Doesn’t matter. Far as I know everyone has the same instructors, and a lot of the support staff is probably the same…” said Noelle, before shrugging. “But even then, counting on anyone else for our success is a big mistake… We’ve gotta do this shit ourselves…”

“Maybe, but if they don’t like us they can sabotage us or just favor the other teams. We have to keep them as happy as we have to keep getting better, and doing what we’ve always done. Win.”

Victoria flicked her eyes over to Noelle. The instructors and support staff, alongside marketing, and so on were just as important as their ‘rivals’, and couldn’t be written off, for better or worse.

“You’d have to seriously piss them off for that.” Olympia spoke up. “I think. Like, they’ll treat everyone the exact same because otherwise what’s the point of all this? Sure, they’re important, but it’s not like they’re the, well, ones we’re up against. As long as we do good not much else matters.”

“Olympia...you’re very naive about this whole thing, aren't you?”

Victoria chuckled at Olympia’s comments, and looked to Noelle, she was even better with this sort of stuff than Victoria was. Infact, Victoria was only as good with it as she was because of years of friendship with Noelle, it had taught her much, whether or not Noelle had intended it to be like that. She wanted to say more, but she didn’t want to say too much where the other teams could hear.

“Maybe.” Olympia shrugged. “Still think you’re massively overestimating how important they are. Doesn’t matter how incompetent or not someone is, instructors won’t be able to save ‘em or keep ‘em down or whatever.”

“We’ll see, I guess,” said Noelle.

[Durmatagno]

SEASON 1 EPISODE 3 // DEBUTANTES PT. 1

Collaborative post between Forest State, Lunas Legion, & Durmatagno

DATE // June 6th, 2023
LOCATION // Central Tokyo, Japan
CAST // Team Crimson

---

It was safe to say that the public had an interesting relationship with superheroes.

There always were complexities when dealing with beings that could very easily turn the tables on the people they served, who were inherently dangerous based on the abilities that they held… The only way to maintain the good relationship between them and the people that they protected was with trust, and to build trust, interactions with the public were needed as well as a strategy for avoiding… PR blunders. Not everyone who happened to have powers and was good at using them was also skilled when dealing with people or speaking in front of a camera, after all. And yet, a few wrong quotes could throw things off big time for a hero team that relied on a good relationship with the locals to continue operating…

One thing that the members of the Futures Program would learn straight away was that there was a lot more that went into the whole career than just punching criminals in the face and solving the crime problems of their covered area… That was a major part of it, of course. But so far, a few days into their stay in Tokyo, they hadn’t even touched that part of their duties and they instead had focused on the behind the scenes. What they were going to brand themselves as, since just their real names wouldn’t cut it for heroes. What they were going to wear. And all of that was building up to what would happen tonight in a short amount of time, as the members of the Program awaited to depart their Heroplex and head to the more lively city center for what was being called a public debut event.

Just because they had been introduced to the Program, after all, didn’t mean the public had received an introduction to them. That went for both the locals and fans that followed the Program around the world - one would be surprised how many kept an eye on it, and of course, it was something that was tracked closely every year by those who considered themselves superhero enthusiasts. They’d head out in their uniforms, which were all brand new and designed by the staff here at the Heroplex, and mingle with various people while they were out - namely, with the other members of the Program, with the public, and with higher ranking heroes that’d turn up to the event just because it was a mildly big deal and they happened to be in the area.

It was more of a networking thing than anything, aside from being a TV event, but for now… Team Crimson was left to wait for their bus to make its way through traffic as they slowly but surely made their way to the location, the other buses not far ahead of them or behind them. Soon, they’d be out and about in an event that could make or break their early popularity. For now, it was the calm before the storm almost, the bus mostly quiet except for some normal conversation and the hum of the engines as it sat in Tokyo traffic. There’d even be a speech by the Program director when things got underway… But for now, for better or worse, it was just them.

---

Except they weren’t the only ones out here at this moment, on this night in Tokyo.

Weren’t nearly the most assuming, either. Few would even believe that the JDM car that was weaving through the streets, quickly picking up and losing speed as it worked on making its way through the traffic quicker than the bus while coming from another direction entirely, was even connected to this… Hell, the ones inside the vehicle didn’t even know at this point that they were connected to this. Just that they had to get somewhere, if they wanted to get the payments that they relied on so desperately.

Being a hero was tough… Being part of the villain scene in the Tokyo undercity? That was even tougher - heroes could at least just return to normal life if it didn’t work out, even though training for years only to make that decision tended to have negative effects in its own right. Villains, on the other hand, didn’t always have that option… Sometimes, they were in this because they had no regular life and it was one way to make it out. Sometimes they were still in this because they had a record now and returning to regular life would only secure their capture and sentencing. Sometimes, they just had no legitimate skill and this was what they did, or they had ties to an organization that didn’t exactly let members come and go as they please… Either the Yakuza, around here, or some large or small villain team that was attached to a varying amount of infamy.

In this case, one could say the reasons were a mix of all three things. And there were different reasons for all four of the people that were in the old JDM car right now, and some of them had a complex mix of them. Either way… They knew they needed to get to one location if they didn’t want to fail their objective. And no one wanted to fail their objective.

“We’re in Shibuya… Now where?” asked the driver of the vehicle, while the masked boy in the passenger seat looked at a phone which was displaying directions, constantly updating with the quick and sharp turns that they made… They hadn’t gotten into any trouble yet, but that didn’t stop them from driving it like they stole it, for better or worse.

“Keep headin’ straight and take a left, apparently we should run into a street that’s sectioned off and head the rest of the way on foot,” the boy said, drawing a sigh from the driver before one of the others in the backseat - masked just like the other ones - spoke up.

“Fuck, isn’t this where the Guardians are doing something?” the third of the figures asked, which drew some silence from the others.

“You act like fucking with the Guardians is anything new,” the boy in the passeger seat said, which drew a reply from the driver.

“Fucking with the Guaridans, sure, not running up on them when they have something big happening. They’re… Shutting down a street, or part of it anyway, for some TV thing. Just what’ve the funders got us doing this time…” she muttered, her voice getting lower as she posed the question. Fact of the matter was, they didn’t even know who their anonymous benefactor was. They received orders, they did them, and they received a fair amount in return for payment. That had just always been how it was for them, ever since they were first contacted.

Still, they had never been sent right into the lion’s den like this.

“Guess I’ll make a quick text and see what the funder is thinkin’ right now,” the boy shrugged in reply, letting out a slight sigh. This couldn’t just be simple for them… But they should have known. There would have to be a good reason, after all, why this job was supposed to pay more than double what the regular ones did. They’d taken the bait. And now it was a question of whether they had bitten off more than they could chew. However, it didn’t take long for the reply to come in for the text that had been sent recently by the boy, asking for their next instructions… Unsurprisingly, they were given a more specific street. More surprisingly, however, they had their first concrete orders.

Cryptic, but orders nonetheless.

“ENTER THE ALLEYWAY, YOU WILL FIND A METAL SHIPPING CONTAINER. ASSEMBLE THE PARTS INSIDE AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTION,” was all they were told. This just kept getting more and more mysterious, as they were finding out now… Just what was this container? They would have to wait and see.

---

By now, the bus was pulling up in Shibuya and the Futures Program members that were riding on it were instructed to get off here and walk the rest of the way… To the sight of camera after camera set up just outside, a press area having been set up at the foot of the red carpet which led to a plaza that had largely been converted for this event. What had once been an open space now had a stage set up and some seating, for the people that were lucky enough to get into the inner area. Beyond that, there was standing room, and other people would watch from a further distance out on the screens which were placed around the area. Plenty of people turned up, after all, when big time superheroes came to the city - this was no exception, even if not everyone here had made their name yet. And there was already a crowd along the red carpet, next to the press row.

“Right this way,” said the Guardians staff member that was waiting outside… They didn’t have to pose in front of the press row, although they’d pass it, cameras clicking as they moved past. They’d find themselves in the papers or on television whether they were ready or not - it was one reason the staff back at the Heroplex had put a little bit of effort into aiding them with their appearances before they had departed for this event. Last thing anyone wanted was to look ‘off’ in the world’s first chance to see them, although some team members cared about that more than others did.

Chelsea gave a small wave in the direction of the line of cameras as she passed, an easy, if not entirely genuine, smile on her face. The media was something she’d learned how to handle; it was just about showing your best side, much the same way the high society she came from was. The only real difference was the audience, but it was something she considered herself good at.

Olympia was… The exact opposite. She didn’t look nervous, but for anyone who actually knew her, the signs were all there as she walked. The hands not quite clenched into fists, the slight tensing of muscles, the watchful eyes that constantly moved and surveyed… She was uncomfortable, but it was something she could hide. You didn’t last that long without learning to hide yourself away a bit.

It would draw the attention of at least one of her teammates that was better at this kind of thing, though. Not just better, actually, but experienced and skilled in it. “Loosen up, the cameras can notice when you’re tense,” Noelle remarked quietly, walking not far from Olympia, fairly relaxed herself with the entire thing. She wasn’t usually the center of this much attention herself, but considering her family was involved behind the scenes in this business, she had been around plenty of photoshoots and the like as a spectator, and had seen how the top names in the field handled them.

“Not exactly used to this.” Olympia hissed back quietly, slowing her pace slightly and letting out a long breath as she tried to calm herself down and relax just a little, shoulders slumping slightly. She was more used to getting tension out by punching something rather than anything else, but she couldn’t exactly do that here.

Victoria was relaxed, she’d grown up around this kind of thing, and prepared for it since she decided to become a hero in her own right. She’d offer her own advice, but she’d have to talk loud enough for others to hear given the difference in size between her and most of her team. She had a relaxed smile on her face, and nothing in her posture or her stride showed nervousness. She looked down at Olympia, and just smiled a little more, as if to say it was best to relax.

The other member of their group, Fox, trailed a bit behind but that wasn’t unusual for her considering she moved at her own pace most of the time… Still, she had no problem with the cameras, mainly because she didn’t pay attention to them much at all, simply glancing at them through the pair of Dior shades that she was wearing but not otherwise giving them too much mind. If there was an appeal to her, part of it would be that she didn’t care much about what anyone else thought.

She followed the others into the plaza, where only a couple small barriers were dividing them from the standing room crowd, and beyond that, they stepped into the seated area where there’d be a couple recognizable names. Outside of the people that were attached to their Program, there were also some generally well known heroes here, although they weren’t paying too much mind to the arrival of Team Crimson. And Crimson wasn’t the only one to show up. Azure had been ahead of them, Gold and Purple were entering behind them.

“We have some time, I suppose,” said Noelle, messing with the collar of her outfit as they stood there at the start of the seated area in the plaza, the stage ahead of them, some distance away. One of the main interesting things about this event was that they were all in ‘uniform.’ And for Noelle, that meant a pair of dark blue shorts along with a matching sleeveless top that showed just a slight amount of her midsection… All of it was made from composite materials, however, created in a lab… Despite the tight appearances of all of their outfits, they’d be able to move around without much trouble.

Victoria didn’t mind showing a little skin, she just wished she was allowed to wear her jacket. She liked wearing her jacket, it was her jacket. Still, it was better than nothing, and had been custom fit for them.

“Some time is better than a lot of time. Wonder what order they’re going to introduce the teams in, or if they’re going to do them all at once.”

Victoria scanned the crowds, looking for any faces she recognized. A few, but none in person, just names and faces she’d seen. Some had maybe worked with her mother before, but she tended not to pry. She just kept herself relaxed, and kept her eyes out. She was okay with public stuff before now, and would only get better because of the program.

“By team, I imagine.” Chelsea said, hands by her side. Her own version of the uniform showed slightly more skin, but was cut in a different style so that she wasn’t baring one entire section of her body. “Piling everyone out at once and trying to let everyone guess who’s who doesn’t sound the… Best idea. Order’s random probably.”

“That’s the format usually, yeah… Team by team. Dunno who’s going first,” said Noelle, her eyes scanning the plaza for anyone else that she recognized. She did see at least one of their instructors there. “That hero over there, Warlock… Gina Falaci, is one of our instructors at the Program. She was independent of a team before, guess that’s why they assigned her over here,” she added, pointing out one hero in particular who wasn’t afraid to show a decent amount with her own costume, which consisted the most of a semi-transparent mesh.

“Yeah, we saw her in the bathroom back at base.”

Victoria had a small smirk on her face as she mentioned it. She wasn’t going to go into details, just a sly word. She looked over at Olympia as she started talking.

“Figure we’ll find out who’s going first soon enough.” Olympia shrugged, looking up and away from the area around them, as if to ignore where she was for however small a moment of time. “Kinda want to get this over with.”

Fox simply let out a low chuckle. “Might go catch up with Gina, guess you guys can see what else is ‘round here,” she said… Seemed like a decent amount. Other than the fact that the press was here, there were plenty of heroes other than just Gina, and there was a table that had drinks on it… Although the 20 year drinking age in Japan had a chance of making that a bit ‘awkward’ so to speak for the members of the Program that weren’t quite 20 yet.

“Well, I think I’ll go find myself a drink. See you all later on.” Chelsea gave a small wave as she drifted away from the rest of the group, heading off into the crowd towards the drinks table, Olympia crossing her arms and scowling, turning to stare at the stage as if she could make this all happen faster by staring at it.

Victoria didn’t even wait before parting with the group, she was curious about this Gina, and moved over to meet her. She avoided the drink table, her problems with them were still too fresh to risk drinking any. Instead she had a bottle of water, no label to avoid looking like she was endorsing any brand without an actual endorsement deal. She stopped next to Gina, and looked down at the much shorter woman.

“Well hello.”

“Well well well, saw you coming from quite a while away,” said Gina, looking up at Victoria, the height difference between the two of them notable. Then again, the height difference between Victoria and the majority of people was. While Fox, on the other hand, hung back and raised an eyebrow, folding her arms and not saying anything for now as Victoria also showed up with her. “Getting used to things around Tokyo yet?”

“Not my first time here, just going to be my longest stay.”

Victoria looked over at Fox questioningly, but shrugged it off. If she was upset she could mention it later. If she was just curious as to what Victoria was up to, well, introductions. Victoria wanted to mingle with some of the newer people, to her anyway, instead of just sticking around the ones she’d already talked to.

“Been to Kyoto a few times as well, but I prefer Tokyo, has a different...feel to it.”

“Tokyo has long been Guardians territory, anyway. Much longer than anywhere else in Japan,” Gina shrugged, still looking up. “Been here for the past couple of years, this is the first one working with the Program, though. So both of us are kinda new to this thing, I guess…”

She spoke at the same time that Fox paced off, heading elsewhere in the crowd, while Gina kept her focus on Victoria. “So here I am now, waiting for this thing to start just like everyone else,” Gina concluded, raising a glass in her hand. “Kind of surprised you’re not drinking like most of us, though.”

“Nope, just water for me today. Want to keep my head clear for now, first big debut, better not to make an idiot of myself.”

Victoria watched Fox stalk away, her face neutral. She was definitely upset Victoria had followed, but she was allowed to speak to whoever she wanted. She turned her gaze back to Gina and offered a shrug.

“Besides, the drinks I really like aren’t the kind for casual drinking.”

It was true, even if she wasn’t bringing up her recently ended fight with alcoholism, ever since she’d accepted she’d be alone probably forever.

“Reputations are important, I guess. Feels like it’s been forever since I debuted, really… Just know this is the easy part. Just say the things PR has already been over, take decent pictures, talk to a few fans… There’s a lot more challenging things ahead,” Gina said with a shrug. “‘Least of which isn’t the training I’ve got to put you through.”

“Oh I know, my family is in the business in the US. Both as agents, and my mother is a hero herself. I’ve seen some of the good, the bad, and the reeeeal ugly with this stuff.”

Victoria said with a chuckle. She took a drink from her water and looked around. She wasn’t happy she’d annoyed a team member this early, but she really didn’t want to delay meeting one of the instructors for any longer. She returned her focus back to Gina, and smiled.

“Besides, everyone has to start somewhere, so sure, deal with the easy know, prepare as much as possible for the hard.”

“Right,” nodded Gina. “Experience helps… And who knows, I might’ve worked with your mother before. Been around a decent amount of places by now. Helps to not be attached to one specific team in one area.”

“Yeah well you probably wouldn’t know it off looks alone, we don’t look a lot alike. Fairly tall, not as tall as me, but a little shorter than Fox. White hair, blue eyes.”

“Think I’ve seen her before. Kind of distinctive, really. Your team’s lucky to have someone other than Ethier that’s grown up with all this…”

Fox, meanwhile, had disappeared back into the crowd… She would’ve made more of a scene if it wasn’t for the fact that they were in public and surrounded by plenty of people and cameras, as well as the fact that Victoria was large enough that subtly tripping her to the ground wasn’t an option, even if it was a favorite move of Fox for when shorter people ended up on her bad side. Not that many people did end up on her bad side. She was fairly relaxed, and considered fighting for no reason as something that took too much effort, but well… This time she felt that she was justified in her feelings.

There was little other reason for Victoria to have followed after her than to interrupt her, after all.

She moved to the drinks table instead of hanging around, taking a glass in her hand and starting to down the contents of it quickly - technically she wasn’t old enough to drink here, in practice few would care… She could drink in Hong Kong, which was where she was coming from, and besides, if she was old enough to risk her life fighting crime, most would also say she was old enough to drink.

She didn’t particularly feel like talking to any of the others at the moment, either. And so she hung around by herself, not moving too far from the drinks table, but she wasn’t the most approachable person around there, her arms folded and a neutral expression on her face - a forced neutral expression, that was. If it wasn’t for the fact that whatever they did here was going to be in the news, she would have a more expressive look at the moment, and she’d be less closed off about what the problem was.

Well, more accurately, she would have solved the problem quickly if it wasn’t for the fact that there were so many cameras and bystanders around.

Victoria waved bye to Gina, and moved off to find other people to talk to. She wasn’t going to stick around in one particular person for long. Just wanted to meet them, say some words, and move on. Y’know, mingle. She wasn’t going to make any good friends, or much else, in a few short minutes this night anyway. Instead, she could just get to know people a little, see who was who, and what was what.

By now, the actual event was almost ready to start, some of the other teams being moved closer to the stage. It seemed like Team Gold was going to be the first one to head up and to be introduced to the press, but there was something… Odd. Something odd before they would have the chance to head up for the presentation… Specifically a sound that had started out low in the distance and had become more noticeable as whatever it was seemingly grew closer. If it even was a real sound and not just something that everyone was imagining, and based on the low nature of it, it was possible that it wasn’t real… But it wasn’t hard to see that multiple people had noticed it.

It did keep getting closer. And it almost sounded like it was the sound of a swarm of bees or something along the lines of that, but approaching from the distance rather than up close.

And when they looked in the sky as the sound grew closer, they’d be able to see that there was something up there indeed, although it wasn’t a swarm of bees, and rather, the sound was metallic, the sound of conventional propellers accelerating through the air from altitude, attached to some kind of small objects. Drones? Whatever they were, it didn’t seem like it was a good thing that they were coming this way. And the Guardians certainly hadn’t made any plans to have anything here that could resemble what was in the sky right now… If it even was that.

Olympia squinted up at the sky. She was already tense just from the unfamiliarity of the event, so something, anything that was a distraction from the event was a welcome distraction to her. Her eyes narrowed further, but she couldn’t make out exactly what it was, too distant for her to see.

“Uh… Anyone have any idea what those are?” She brought her hand up, still looking up at the mysterious objects. She was familiar with camera drones, they used them for police patrols in LA, but that didn’t look like the drones she was familiar with. Far too loud.

Victoria stared up at the approaching cloud, and frowned. Her eyes glowed faintly blue as she channelled into the, letting her vision see electricity. She wanted to know how much power they packed, most weapons didn’t need a lot of energy. Flying did, depending on their size, but they could also pack more for longer distance flights. No, what she worried about was if they were autonomous, or worse, if they were controlled by something. Her power would only give her hints here, but communicating took less power than actually thinking, as well as a different powerflow, she knew them well. It wasn’t conclusive on it’s own, but if she knew that...it was a step in the right direction.

The drones, though, didn’t pack much power of their own… Mainly a small unit to control the propellers, but the construction was light, perhaps designed by some metahuman engineer who was an expert at fitting the required propulsion to get the thing into the air into a small package like this, which was now flying in the direction of the plaza still. And people had started to notice… The heroes didn’t panic so much, but one thing about regular civilians was that it didn’t take too much for them to panic, and that was one of the first things to set in once the swarm was within view.

“Please remain calm,” an announcement told everyone… Like they were actually going to listen to that.

Noelle found Olympia even with the crowd of moving people that had suddenly formed around them as people moved to get out, grabbing her by the arm. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on right now… But we’re finding the others and finding another way out, if it comes down to running. Too much of a bottleneck right now at the front entrance, we’re never going to get out in time that way.”

“Okay.” Olympia said, nodding and finally turning her attention away from the sky. This… This was what she did know how to do. “Victoria shouldn’t be hard to find, she’s gonna be a fuckin’ skyscraper. We head for the sides, if the front’s jammed people will go to the back out of reflex. You go find Fox, I go find Chelsea or whatever, reunite at Victoria, plan yeah?”

Nodding, Noelle released Olympia and moved off, pushing through the crowd and moving in the opposite direction of the throngs of people and looking for Fox, eventually running into her near the drinks table, watching the events unfolding in the sky but not moving yet. “Shit’s going down,” Noelle said, pulling her aside and heading back with the crowd, towards the spot where she had met with Olympia before as she scanned with her eyes for the others.

Victoria frowned at the lack of power in the drones, that was problematic. It meant they only had one job, and if they were hostile, as the announcement seemed to indicate, it was probably not a good one. She sighed and cut off the channel, and instead focused on observing the movements of the crowds. Likely they would be focusing on fleeing down the main entrance, which left side areas open. She picked a direction and started moving, a living skyscraper parting the throngs of people to get where she needed to go.

Chelsea wasn’t hard to find either, not for someone like Olympia who was used to hunting through dense, moving crowds for someone. They didn’t say anything, Chelsea simply grabbing Olympia’s wrist and letting her power do the rest before nodding as the pair of them waded back out into the crowd.

All of them would get sight of something interesting off in the distance, though, something which might affect their escape plans - on the ledge of one of the buildings that bordered the plaza, a high rise at that, there was a person that was perhaps related to this… The Guardians didn’t have anyone, at least not at this event, that’d be wearing a red yokai mask and a dark hoodie and jeans after all, an informal outfit that was a bit too relaxed to pass as a hero’s uniform. The figure looked male, and seemed to at the very least have some kind of capability for enhanced transportation, considering the high position the boy was sitting in.

Wasn’t long before the figure began a quick descent, seeming to scale the side of the building without trying… Maybe that was the power in this case. Being able to stick to the wall, almost like someone that was glued to it. Moments later, though, the second similarly dressed figure showed up, the second of the pair looking more feminine in figure, even though it was impossible to tell for sure with the relatively baggy clothes and the face covering masks. The second figure, who had a kitsune mask instead of a yokai mask, took a more direct route to descend to the ground, jumping from the side of the building and accelerating while still in the air before slamming into the ground intact despite kicking up a dust cloud from the impact, one which ended up masking the position of both figures for now as they reached the ground level.

Whatever was happening here… It wasn’t as clear cut as it seemed.

Victoria turned away from the direction she’d been heading, without any equipment she was basically just a normal giant in a fight. Strong, and capable sure, but not the most effective. She could shock them if she channeled into herself, but it wasn’t as nasty as something that was already a weapon getting the channel. She moved to find something, or a good escape route, but if she had to guess, others would be showing up. She looked around to see if she could spot Noelle, trying to figure out where her team was.

“Seems we’ve got company.” Olympia said almost eagerly as she kicked off the ground, rising up so she was hovering with a decent view over the crowd, first looking in the direction of the figures. She had no weapons on her, but she could still fly and she was still dangerous unarmed. Chelsea said nothing, rolling her eyes up at the flying girl. She was unarmed, and she hadn’t seen anything that her power would consider a blade, which just left her illusions. She’d make do if this came down to a fight, although she prayed it didn’t.

It was then that the first of the drones angled itself downwards and slammed into one of the buildings next to them, immediately bursting into flames - which would of course spread to the building itself. No need to shrink down a heavy explosive such as a five hundred pound bomb to destroy a structure when an incendiary weapon could be fit into the small structure of the drone and designed to damage the building in another way… And that had just been the impact of one of the drones.

There were far more than just one of the drones in the sky, and it seemed they were all meant to do the same thing…

Suddenly, they had one hell of a fight on their hands.

[Forest State]

---

SEASON 1 EPISODE 4 // DEBUTANTES PT. 2

Collaborative post between Forest State, Lunas Legion, & Durmatagno

DATE // June 6th, 2023
LOCATION // Central Tokyo, Japan
CAST // Team Crimson

---

The scene around Team Crimson continued to get more chaotic as a couple more of the drones impacted buildings, fires burning each time one hit… And they still had a couple of potential attackers within the crowd, somewhere… It’d be hard to get a track on just where they were, but they were in the general area, and it would be a mistake to ignore them just because they had taken cover within the throngs of people who were heading for the exit and getting bottlenecked by the small entrance. The planners of this event, after all, hadn’t predicted this many people rushing in one direction at one time, and few were listening to the actual instructions.

And still, the press were active in all this, or the ones that hadn’t run away from all of this were. Because a story was a story, and quotes picked up under pressure were worth more than quotes gained when nothing was happening, from a press conference or something. “Do you have anything to say about all this?” someone was asking, shoving a camera and a microphone into the face of the Team Crimson group as they made their way towards one of the side exits… Even heading for that, though, they had to pass through quite a lot of people, making it a relatively slow journey even if it was a short one.

Thanks to the press, Victoria could finally spot the rest of her team. She pushed through people to get to them. Once with them, it became obvious that she was emitting a dull humming noise, one she could vary if she so desired. The shockwave of a drone, or any other explosion for that matter, wouldn’t bother her now. Sound was just a shockwave after all. Fire was still a worry, but it made her both a landmark and a beacon for those closer to her, incase something made them lose line of sight. She moved to the front of the group and used her size to help keep a path open for the rest.

“Talk after stuff is done?” Was all Olympia said, waving the press aside as they continued to make their way towards the side doors, spearheading their group as she flicked a glance back over her shoulder. Victoria must’ve caught up to them while they were moving, but that was all of them. Now they just had to get out while not picking a fight with those attackers, wherever they’d gotten to.

The other heroes that were around the area were doing their best to respond to what was going on… Someone jumped into the air, flying off in the direction of what seemed like more approaching figures in dark outfits. Gina was still within the plaza, using controlled bursts of dark energy to attempt to shoot down some of the drones before they could come all the way down to the ground and impact targets in or around the plaza. Others were pitching in with various methods, while others were simply helping with the evacuation…

One of many mysterious attackers…

But some of the more well known heroes being occupied left the inexperienced ones as unoccupied targets. And they weren’t just going to get away with that without a fight.

As they moved for the side entrance, they’d see two opponents blocking their way… The same two they had seen earlier, who were still on the prowl, and now facing down with them face to face rather than from a distance. One wearing a yokai mask, the other one wearing a kitsune mask, both of them hostile and both of them clearly intending to cut off the route out.

Olympia eyed them up warily, eyes moving from one to the other as she settled into a fighting stance, not going airborne quite yet. She wasn’t armed, so she was nowhere near as effective as she could be, but it was six against two so even in their unprepared state, she’d give them good odds. Chelsea stepped backwards, moving to place the others between herself and their opponents. She wasn’t going to be much use here, as unarmed as she was, except as a distraction perhaps, but she was used to being more of a supporting member of a team.

Victoria eyed them warily, and moved to one side, spreading the team out a little. They didn’t know exactly what they could do, but she began channeling electricity into herself anyway. Touching her was going to be bad, it’d deliver a nasty shock, plus sounds she made were amplified, it was why she wasn’t talking. Instead she raised her hands, getting into a fighting position, but had her hands slightly closer together than normal. It wouldn’t be much, but it’d be temporarily deafening, if they weren’t ready for it it might disorient them long enough to get an upper hand. Noelle knew about this, but not many others, Victoria had never had a hero profile before now. She waited, she needed to time this right to get at least one of them and none of her team in the sound wave.

It was hard to tell just how the enemy was reacting because they were completely covered by their outfits, and they didn’t give any physical signs that were too overt… The one in the kitsune mask, the girl, backed up into the alley that served as the side entrance, jumping and propelling herself off one of the walls and onto the other one and then back, gaining some height for whatever she was planning, and seeming to ignore some of the laws of physics in the process, while on the other hand, the one in the yokai mask, the boy, took a more direct approach and produced a pair of blades from behind his back - curved, designed for combat and not just regular civilian uses.

And like the other member of this duo, the boy saw the value of getting altitude on the enemy, quickly scaling partway up the building on the lefthand side, at the mouth of the entrance. But it was unclear just how this was going to go down… Neither one was telegraphing their plan too hard.

Olympia kicked up off the ground in response, moving upwards and backwards and positioning herself defensively above the group, keeping her eyes on her opponents as she hovered in mid-air. She could fly, while it seemed like these two could only stick to walls which gave her an edge, but it wasn’t an edge she was counting on right now.

Victoria decided on the boy on the wall as her target. Facing him, she slammed her hands together. It’d be loud to anyone in the area, but for the boy in it’s direct path, it’d be deafening and teeth rattling. From there she moved backwards a bit, trying to keep out of range of any push off the wall he’d attempt. They were obviously not going to let them pass, and with the drones, there was no harm in engaging them, barring that most of them were lacking their equipment. Victoria picked a discarded glass of the ground and broke it. It wasn’t much, but now she had a sharp edge, and if she could manage it, she’d get it to Chelsea as soon as possible.

She’d find that the range of both of the figures they were fighting was quite long, though, as the boy pushed off of the wall and planned an arc to land near her, not having been thrown off from the steadfast position near the corner by the sound… Just annoyed, perhaps. And one of the knives would be thrown during the high part of the arc, aiming to give Victoria something else to focus on, something that could hit her if she wasn’t careful.

The girl, on the other hand, took the initiative more directly and reached the top of the roof before running to the very edge of the ledge and propelling herself off with an unnatural amount of momentum, specifically putting herself on a high arc to come into contact with Olympia - even in the air, she wasn’t safe. And while in the arc of her jump, she reached for a weapon of her own on the inside of her hoodie, a semi-automatic pistol.

Olympia had been expecting a firearm of some form, at some point; she was too used to guns that she’d have been surprised if someone didn’t have one. Olympia shot upwards at a diagonal angle, moving forwards, aiming to get above the arc of fire and behind the girl. Against a gun she needed to get in close without one of her own.

Victoria moved quickly to the side, away from the knife. She kept her eyes on her enemy though, not letting him slip from her sight. She didn’t even glance to see where the knife landed. Just spoke, though with the amplification effect it would sound like yelling.

“Chelsea, knife, find it.”

She was limited on offensive actions, especially as the boy had large blades, but she knew something he didn’t. Or at least she hoped he didn’t. She channeled electricity, the last of the three she could have active, into a second, intact glass she picked up. It seemingly remained inert, but the moment she cracked it, it would spew a burst of electricity, then the cracks would continue to spark. She kept it on hand, ready for the boy to try and advance. It wouldn’t be lethal, but it would be painful and debilitating.

“Where the fuck is a knife?” Chelsea yelled back, more caught up in paying attention to their opponents rather than keeping track of her allies’ actions. Even if she did have a knife, she’d heard the gunfire, and she did not give herself good odds trying to bring a knife to a gunfight.

“Somewhere to my left.”

The battle in the air was going considerably worse for the Crimson side - the girl didn’t have much of a problem catching up with Olympia… Her velocity seemed to pick up, and she managed to wrap her arms around Olympia’s legs even as she moved away from her… And when Noelle tried to interfere by firing beams of light, concentrated tightly as lasers, at the girl, she responded by shifting her velocity once again as she held onto Olympia, a light tug downwards turning into a rapid descent as they sunk like concrete, heading closer and closer to the ground with every second that passed, a hard impact with it in store that forced Noelle to bail from the spot she was in to avoid being caught in it like a number of civilians almost definitely would be.

While on the other hand, the boy in the yokai mask that still had one long knife in hand used that crowd, or what was left of it and hadn’t reached the outside of the plaza, used the crowd as cover, ducking through it and aiming to circle around Victoria and find another angle to attack, the people in between acting as a camouflage until the point when that attack came, hopefully from an angle that wasn’t expected.

Victoria wasn’t going to let him avoid her gaze. He could hide behind people, but his window was much smaller with her than others. She backed away, keeping her distance from the throngs, her electrified if still plain looking glass relaxed in one side while the already broken one, held as if a knife, was in the other. Glass was sharp, but it was no proper weapon, moment she could find one of those, she was using it. She just wondered where the hell Fox was right now, but that could wait.

Olympia yelped as she went from going up to suddenly going down, glaring down at the girl wrapped around her legs. Upward thrust obviously wasn’t sufficient here, so she’d have to get slightly more creative. She pulled her legs up, as if curling up into a ball, lashing out with a fist towards the now-closer girl’s face in an attempt to dislodge her from her legs, her other hand trying to plant itself on the side of the girl’s face, thumb moving towards her eye. She could get vicious if she absolutely had to.

But it wasn’t enough to keep them both from slamming into the ground and creating a dust cloud, and even if Olympia had managed to get free, there wouldn’t be anything for her to do against the velocity that she had picked up from the girl’s descent… Not quickly enough to keep her from crashing to the ground. It wasn’t quite a deadly fall since she wasn’t the one taking the brunt of the impact, that was the girl who seemed to be able to absorb it, but it’d still be felt for sure by Olympia, and she still hadn’t escaped the grasp of her attacker.

The sudden impact, and the sudden dust that had been kicked up by it, was the signal for the other figure, the boy, to pop out from the crowd once again and to attempt to charge Victoria from the side with the knife raised, an acrobatic jump being thrown in towards the end of the move to make things a bit harder for Victoria to respond.

Olympia bit down on a pained scream as she slammed into the ground, but pain was nothing new to her; oh, she probably had something broken somewhere and she’d be a mass of bruising afterwards, but that was for afterwards. And there was no afterwards if you lost a fight. She pushed herself up anyways, panting lightly as she looked down; the girl was still there, and so she grinned as she slammed a punch down into the girl, out of the corner of her eye spotting the approaching form of Chelsea who’d found the knife from the shape gripped tightly in one hand.

Victoria backpedaled as quick as she could, but she knew the boy would close the distance anyway. Once he was mid arc, and where he couldn’t alter her path, she dropped the glass in her hand, and as she had set up, and quick flash of electricity bolted around the area. As it wasn’t designed for it, it wasn’t big or particularly strong, but anyone not currently immune to electricity, as Victoria herself currently was, would get a shock that would seize muscles, hurt, and cause minor burns. The shards sparked for a moment before Victoria cut the flow of energy to them, she didn’t need to maintain that one anymore.

The electricity would hit the target but would also hit plenty of people that just happened to be in the same area, drawing some confused shouting from an already confused group of people attempting to get out of the area… But at the very least, it caused the boy in the mask to double back, dropping the pursuit for now to recover from the shock, while Victoria worked on dealing with a crowd that was now pushing against her further as people moved away from the scene of the fight.

Olympia simply found herself getting punched back by the girl that she was grappling with, who could hit decently hard herself, before the girl tightened her grip and moved to wrench Olympia’s leg to the side at the knee… But there were still other members of the team in the area, and the head of the girl was struck by a punch from behind coming from Fox, who followed it up with a sharp kick to the back of the spine which did the job of getting her to release Olympia, at least for the moment. “I’m getting out of here, come if you want,” Fox said… She gestured to the open side entrance. “Not fighting this one for you.”

“EVERYONE CLEAR OUT!”

With the sound amplification, Victoria’s voice was painful to anyone nearby, and audible to everyone within at least a block or two. She kept her eyes locked on the know pained mask boy, and reached down to pick up a dropped, and slightly cracked, bottle of champagne. It still had some liquid inside, but it would do. She risked a gambit here, letting it crackle with obvious electricity from the crack. She didn’t know where her team was anymore, she was too focused on blade boy. She hadn’t seen Noelle since it started, Olympia was no longer in the air, and she didn’t have time to search for anyone else. She backed away warily, hoping the boy was smart enough to know another charge was going to end the same as the last.

“Not sticking ‘round.” Olympia shrugged, leaping up off the ground and shooting off towards the open exit, Chelsea giving the girl a glance before breaking into a sprint after her. There was no point in trying to fight a fight they hadn’t picked or prepared for, against unknowns.

And so, she and Fox would leave to the street outside of the plaza, where multiple fires burned, while the fight continued on the inside, the masked girl remaining as well as the boy that was facing off with Victoria, who took slow movements while approaching and brandishing the knife… One of the drones hit the plaza while the standoff was still happening, spreading a fire, but that wasn’t the most concerning thing right now. There were plenty of fires. The most important thing was getting out, but it wasn’t clear if the boy was going to allow that without a fight. That hadn’t been the case before, after all…

The move this time was simpler. Get inside the head of the enemy, remind them of the odds, and it was easier to win. “It’s a two versus one, you know,” the boy pointed out. “You have one trick… It’s only going to work so far.”

“Oh I have more than one.”

Victoria swapped the electricity in bottle for light and slammed it to the ground as she spun as she yelled something incomprehensible. A blinding flash covered the area, alongside a deafening boom from whatever she’d yelled, and she used it to turn and sprint out of there. A homemade flash bang, in a way. She smelled the champagne for a moment, and smiled as she knew it would burn to. She was more than a one trick pony, the boy had forgotten about her sonic, and she hadn’t yet used the light. The more materials she had access to, the more dangerous she became.

She’d catch up with the others not long after she started running, the fight seemingly not being pursued by her previous attacker, although Noelle wasn’t anywhere to be seen for now… The others, though, had made it through the side exit, or rather, the alleyway that had been used as one for the event. The street outside wasn’t exactly safe based on the many burning fires there, but at the very least, it was better than somewhere with active assailants that seemed to be targeting heroes.

Victoria looked around, she had lost track of Noelle awhile ago. She swore under her breath, and turned to head back before stopping. Noelle could take care of herself, and it was getting more and more dangerous to head back as the fires spread. She was worried enough she didn’t think to drop her channels, so when she spoke to herself, it was still more like yelling.

“Noelle...where are you?”

She would see Noelle approaching them from another direction, panting from the exertion of a fight, coming from the front of the building instead of the same side entrance that they had used… It remained unclear where she had come from or who she had just fought, but she hadn’t exactly gotten out easily. “Ended up getting into a fight with one of those masked people…” she said, pausing after speaking to catch her breath. She had a metal pipe in her hand, perhaps because she’d picked up the first thing viable as a weapon. “Whole thing’s fuckin’ weird, I’ll tell you that much… Enemy spoke a little, seems we’ve just been hit by some… Metahuman identitarians, if that makes any sense. From one of the seedier wards of Tokyo…”

Victoria dropped her channels as Noelle finally emerged, and dropped the broken sliver of glass she’d been grasping in her hand. Her hand was slick from blood, a few deep cuts from the glass having gone ignored between the adrenaline and the focus of the enemy.

Plenty of fires burn outside in Shibuya tonight…

“Wait, that sounds like they want a metahuman ethnostate, or however you want to phrase it.”

She wasn’t concerned about the blood on her hand, or the cut on her leg from one of the glasses she’d broken, she’d had worse. She was more concerned about the ‘Metahuman Identitarians’.

“What about you, you alright? I know Olympia took a bad hit back there, don’t know about Fox or Chelsea, and well...I hurt myself, but fended off the Prince of Persia wannabe.”

“I’m fine, I didn’t quite learn what the enemy did but I was able to hold my own out there… And I think they’re more interested in taking our city than forming their own. Although I doubt that’d be the end of it from the looks of things,” Noelle said, placing her hands on her knees to rest as she dropped the pipe on the ground. “The drones aren’t in the price range of some random people from Tokyo’s undercity, they obviously are part of something larger…”

“I’d doubt any attack that was this public against the Guardians would be anything but step one of a larger plane. We’ll fight them again at some point, just a question of when, not if.”

Victoria held her bleeding hand against herself to stifle the bleeding, blood washed off. She knew how to do that well enough by now. She’d probably have scars barring some powered healing, but no permanent damage, thankfully.

“The drones were fairly simple though, wouldn’t be too hard to build them. Low power to, probably remote controlled if I had to guess.”

“Like I said, where are they going to get the cash and metal and electronics from?” Noelle questioned, folding her arms as she stood straight and pondered the situation. “I’m not saying they’re expensive, compared to other drones… I’m saying that this isn’t the kind of thing that regular people or some low tier gang bangers would be able to pull off. It’s still serious money and resources at the end of the day even if they made everything themselves.”

“True, we’ll have to see what the investigation turns up to be sure about anything. I should...probably get my hand looked at, it stings something awful.”

Victoria actually looked at her hand, and yeah, the cuts were deep, the bleeding was not going to stop on it’s own, not for awhile at least. She looked back up at Noelle and smiled.

“Still, glad you’re okay, lost track of you in the chaos.”

Noelle just shrugged and nodded. “Got pulled away by one of them, don’t have anything to identify them with though… Damn masks. The one I fought was wearing a dog mask, I think. It’s whatever.”

There were more sirens in the distance now as the police started to arrive on the scene to supplement the Guardians in dealing with the problems around here, and the fire department was of course showing up also thanks to the number of burning buildings. It’d probably take longer than just today to put them out, it seemed like the fires had caught on well rather than burning out quickly… Maybe due to good design from the ones who had built the incendiary drones, which in a way, were more like cruise missiles than true drones. It was hard to make a ruling on just what they actually were, without speaking to who had designed them, or cutting one of them open… And yet none had been recovered in tact, unsurprisingly. Each one to hit the ground or an object had exploded on impact.

Victoria moved away to get her hand looked act, but took a chance to look around one more time with her electrical vision to see if she could spot anything else while making her way to a medic. She needed the bleeding stopped now, better care could wait.

There were other heroes on the scene, and they hadn’t been outside the plaza for too long when they found Gina catching up with them, breaking away from another couple of heroes who were headed towards the scene to respond to the active threat inside. “Thank God, here you are…” she said, seemingly having been looking for them for a while. “You’re the last team from the Program to make it out of here, you know that? You had some higher ups worried about what happened… But you’re all safe, right? Command wants you back at the base, says it’s too dangerous to be out here in case anyone targets you again… Could’ve went much worse the first time they did it.”

Indeed, things could have been much worse. They had escaped without much in the way of serious injury, but there was still a lot to get to the bottom of… Such as how they of all people had ended up in the middle of this. The event attacked had been a Futures Program one, after all. But those worries could come later… For now, they would get to safety.

[Lunas Legion]

SEASON 1 EPISODE 5 // NEWS AT EIGHT

Collaborative post between Forest State, Lunas Legion, & Durmatagno

DATE // June 7th, 2023
LOCATION // Central Tokyo, Japan
CAST // Team Crimson

---

It had been one day since the chaos in Shibuya. The eyes of the country were on the situation, of course - not only had it been a major attack involving superheroes, which always captured the national interest, but it had been a major attack with big spillover effects. Heroes hadn’t been the only ones to find themselves wrapped up in the situation, as while the attack had indeed been targeted originally at a Guardians event, the drone impacts had come all over the surrounding area and a number of buildings, mostly stores, had been flattened… The authorities were still counting the dead. The fires were still burning in some places, with the fire department working day and night to contain them as they did. And the authorities were just trying to make sense of what had happened, which was about the same spot the public found themselves in.

Everyone had seen what had happened. Few knew what had happened, though. Even the Guardians themselves admitted that they were dealing with an unknown here, something that didn’t make sense given any existing information they had. But new information was always being added into the equation and events like this were an example of why falling into complacency and just focusing on previously established threats was a bad idea… There was always someone new, or some people for that matter, who wanted to get something done with less than moral means, and had enough willpower or craziness to go through with it. The Guardians hadn’t been ready this time, but then again, asking an organization to be ready all of the time for something like what had happened in Shibuya was a tall task…

Back at the Heroplex, it left the members of the Futures Program waiting to see where this whole situation would take them next, as they ended up sitting around and waiting for further instructions. They didn’t have any scheduled training or appearances after what had happened - they were waiting on some organizational decisions, apparently, but those decisions were taking a while to come. Probably because the people at the top, the very top, would be meeting right about now to figure out where the Guardians as a whole were going for here.

Which was the reason why the team didn’t know anything more than the public did about what happened. They hadn’t been issued any information about the fight once they’d gotten back safely, probably because the Guardians hadn’t finalized their own reports. They still didn’t know fact from fiction. And with these kinds of things, the details tended to be important.

As many of the members of the different teams gathered up in one of the common rooms where breakfast was often eaten, a large and expansive open floor plan room with a window view of the city on multiple sides, they were left finding out the latest details from the news… The Guardians hadn’t gotten this into their reports either. Probably because the latest developments were from within the last couple of hours. Someone at least, would have a ball with this… The news companies, and the reporters who were the first to break the stories as updates came out.

Team Crimson has found itself on the news.

“...We have an update on the situation with the Shibuya attack,” said the newscaster, the screen flashing back to the images of the street the event had been held on. The largest fires were out, but not all the damage had been cleared yet. It was strange to think that there’d been so many people there, not long ago. “Until now, the six or so suspects spotted on the scene who are believed to be connected to the attacks were unidentified. Now, a viral video circulating Twitter appears to show one of the suspects removing a mask and showing his true face while claiming responsibility for the attack.”

The screen changed to the video, which had apparently been uploaded only very recently from an anonymous account, and had quickly spread through the internet. The screen showed a number of figures wearing dark clothes, all of them masked, and it was hard to make out the background due to the low light in the video - but they were maybe in an abandoned building, from the looks of things. Or just a building that wasn’t in the best state of repair. The figure in the forefront was one that Crimson would recognize before as the boy in the yokai mask, who’d used twin knives in a close battle with Victoria. Seemed to have some kind of enhanced climbing and movement ability, too.

He was the one to remove his mask while looking directly into the camera, revealing a fairly average face - this wasn’t anyone special, or at least, it didn’t look like anything special. Like one of the extravagant villains who’d take on an exciting physical appearance to make themselves more memorable, or to fit their personal sense of style. This just looked like, well… Any random male of early twenty something years old from Tokyo. Nothing too out of the ordinary. But looks aside, this was one of the people behind the worst attack on Japan in recent history. Looks could be deceiving.

“Now that our actions in Shibuya have gotten your attention,” the boy started, in Japanese. “I’d like to introduce myself as Oni… Speaking on behalf of the Metahuman Underground. Now, I’m sure you’re asking yourself what that is… What this Underground could be. You see, the current system is stacked against us metahumans… You might not realize it from looking at superheroes, but the fact is, superheroes are only a minority within our numbers. Superheroes are placed on a shining golden pedestal for everyone while ordinary metahumans are looked at with distrust by the common person, something shown in policies around the world… In nearby China, metahumans are disappearing without a trace, despite committing no crimes other than being born with powers. Here in Japan, metahumans are subject to being watched without warrant by the authorities and their intelligence agencies, and for many, finding a stable job and friendships is hard due to the… Stigma. The belief that just because metahumans are capable of hurting others, they should be considered a danger.”

“Things like these do not just happen in the countries that I’ve mentioned. As metahumans who have experienced the wrong side of the tracks, so to speak, struggling to hold jobs and being driven out of neighborhoods thanks to our status at the same time this country and these people worship their superheroes that they are told they can trust, we have decided that enough is enough. This is what Metahuman Underground is. An organization of second class citizens looking for equal treatment… A rebel army, fighting for the rights of a group of people that has done nothing wrong except for existing… We know, however, that this won’t come without a cost, just as all rights movements throughout history have come at a cost. A cost to both ourselves and to others who stand in our way.”

One of the others, a seemingly female figure wearing a dog mask, stepped up to the camera, leaning closely into it, the only element of her face that was actually visible being one deep brown eye at the moment. “The Guardians have sold out their own people and continue to do so by ignoring our problems… For metahumans to get level, the first step is taking them down. And maybe then, after the public sees that they aren’t immortal, they’ll understand our plight…” she said bitterly.

She’d end the video by pointing directly into the camera, backing up to stand next to Yokai. “If you’re a metahuman with the Guardians… Ask yourself why. Ask yourself why you spend your days fighting crime and terrorists to protect so-called ‘regular’ people while your own suffer at the hands of them… Ask yourself what you’ll do when these ‘regular’ people inevitably throw you away when you’re no longer of use to them. And if you still want to betray your own people… Don’t be surprised when you get what’s coming for you from the Underground.”

The video ended abruptly, and the feed cut back to the news program. “...So far, two other attacks have been attributed to the ‘Underground’ movement - an attack on a Guardians office in Moscow, and an assault on the street against a pair of Guardians trainees in Chicago. Both cases are still under investigation by the Guardians and respective local authorities, and the same goes for the Shibuya drone attacks…”

It didn’t take long for the many Program members within the room to begin reacting.

“So we’re dealing with fanatics then.” Olympia scowled. She wasn’t the type of person who gave ideology much, if any, weight. “Or they seem to be fanatics. Not hard to fake it to cover over something else though.”

“We don’t have anything disproving it quite yet.” Chelsea commented, seemingly contemplating what had just been said. “Nor do we know how extensive they are, but for now we treat them like any other political extremist group. That’s all they are, just another group with metas with political motives.”

“Well, if there’s been attacks in Moscow and Chicago, that puts them in the US, Europe, and Asia. What’s more, whether they’re actual fanatics or not is moot, they’re acting like ones, and committing terror attacks. It’s going to rile people up, and cause problems for all metas, Guardians included.”

Victoria tapped her fingers as she spoke, an old nervous tick for when she was thinking. Considering how basically every culture and religion had spawned extremists, she had figured it’d only be a matter of time before something metacentric cropped up. She wouldn’t be surprised if anti-meta extremist groups started gaining force on the back of anything this new group did.

“Locations mean little, it just means they can buy a few plane tickets.” Chelsea said, tapping her fingers against her thigh. “Even the drones, in theory at least, could have been metahuman creations. I’m not saying this group isn’t an intercontinental terror network that’s just made its debut with multiple simultaneous planned strikes, but it seems more likely they’re punching above their normal weight. At least for now, I have no doubt that after this stunt they’ll be drawing in more recruits and support.” Chelsea paused for a moment, thinking.

“And villains too, outwardly for the ideology, inwardly for their own selfish aims.” She continued. “It isn’t a certainty, but it’s… Troubling.”

The news would soon cut to another part of the story, displaying images from the site of the attack once again while the newscaster spoke. “...Much of the credit for containing the attacks is going to Guardians personnel on the scene, including one Team Crimson, a Guardians team under the Futures Program which was credited for defeating multiple attackers during the fight that occurred on the ground…”

“They’re not dead, it’s a draw, you shouldn’t get credit for draws.” Olympia grumbled, glaring at the TV screen as if to will it to say something to that effect. “That’s just going congrats you didn’t die.”

“Mmm, in this case that is a win. They were targeting the event specifically, and most of us were missing our equipment. They caught us with our pants down and we all managed to survive, even while they had firebombs in the area.”

Victoria added, looking over at Olympia as she spoke. Her eyes then tracked to Noelle, who she suspected might have something to do with the press coverage. Though, she had no proof. Only suspicions, but she’d known Noelle for long enough they were stronger suspicions.


“It’s not losing, not a win.” Olympia shrugged. “But yeah, I’ll take it even if I don’t think we deserve it. Hopefully next time we’re not caught where all we can do is run.”


“I haven’t spoken to anyone about this,” Noelle pointed out with a shrug - the Guardians and the press hadn’t talked to them much at all after all this, the former because they were still figuring out just what had happened and the latter because the Futures Program teams weren’t the easiest to access at the moment… They hadn’t left the Heroplex since the attack, after all. “I guess we’re running with it?”

“Media stuff isn’t my thing, I’ll let the rest of you decide that.” Olympia shrugged. The media wasn’t something she had any experience dealing with, so she figured she’d let those of her team who did know about that type of thing handle that.

“Could just let it run.” Chelsea pointed out. “If they want to come to good conclusions about us without us doing anything, let them.”

“It’s not entirely wrong, several of us did face them down, we just didn’t win so much as got away.”

Victoria offered a shrug, and rubbed her temples. This was far more complex than she had expected this soon, but that just meant a greater challenge. What was bugging her was the seeming lack of direct attacks. Sure the masked people attacked them directly, but they could have had those drones attack people specifically, instead they were going after buildings.

“I think...they weren't out to kill us, at least not as their primary objective. They focused those firebombs on property damage, when they could have aimed them at the crowds, or us. They were sending a message.”

“It’s a terror attack, terror and getting the focus on them was the whole point.” Chelsea said. “Killing people en masse would attract too much attention of the bad kind. Property damage gets the focus on them to get their ideology and message out, but the lack of deaths means we’re not going on some crusade to bring them to justice immediately while dropping everything. Even killing us would make a potential martyr.”

“They were definitely fighting to kill…” pointed out Noelle, with a slight shrug. “I just have the feeling we caught a lucky break by not facing them when they’re properly equipped… Could have been a lot worse depending on what they showed up with, for me, I ended up in melee instead of a gunfight.”

“Wouldn’t call it melee for me but… Yeah.” Olympia winced, rubbing at her leg. They had metahuman healers, so it was nowhere near as bad as it would have been, but that didn’t mean it didn’t ache like hell. “The girl drew a gun on me, even if she never got a chance to take a shot. I think killing us would’ve just been a bonus though. They could’ve smashed a drone into the stage while a team was on it or something.”

“Like I said, we weren’t the main objective, just a bonus. I was busy fighting the knife boy that took his mask off for that clip, he was agile, and knew how to use those knives. I was lucky he didn’t seem to know a thing about my powers.”

She rubbed at her now healed hand, the itch of the glass was still a fresh memory. She’d broken bones before, and been cut before, but those were deeper than she was used to. It had been glass after all. She looked over at Noelle, then at everyone else in the room.

“Means they’ll probably target anymore Guardian events they can, I expect security to get a boost after this.”

“Brings up the question of what the main objective was, then… The drone attack was all automated, not like that took any attention from anyone on the ground,” Noelle pointed out. It was true, at least from what she had been able to see during the fight.

“So the other attackers didn’t just get mobbed by the heroes?” Olympia offered. “Like, there were… What, three, four of them total? If they’d attacked then they’d have just been slaughtered. The drones caused panic, distracted us, meant we couldn’t just smash them when they showed up. Plus it raises the profile of the whole thing. Shots of explosions and damage are like perfect camera-bait to get this on the news. It got our attention which seems to be, like, the whole point of this.”

They’d find themselves interrupted by another entrance from the other side of the room - and someone relatively important who was stepping through the doorway. Of course, the blonde woman wearing a business suit was relatively normal looking compared to some of the heroes within the room, but that didn’t change the fact that she was arguably more important than any of them… She didn’t have her name in lights like they did, but Brenna Evanson was known around these parts as the operations director of the Futures Program. Or, the one who handled the technical side whenever something came up, ensuring that the day to day operations required for the success of the Program were carried out properly.

For whatever reason, she was here right now.

Seemed to have her eyes on Crimson, too, and she made a brisk approach towards their members while others eyed her up from their tables or their standing positions, curious about her presence also.

“Team Crimson, I have to thank you for your efforts… Traffic is up by far to the Guardians web pages, and the ratings are through the roof for the most recent TV segment involving the Guardians here in Japan. Your actions have something to do with that, you know,” she said… She was jovial, even with the current situation, probably because regardless of what had happened, the Guardians gained something from it. It made people pay attention again after a period of relative peace had perhaps given them a sense of security, and conflict and rivalry were proven to sell.

“You’re welcome, I guess.” Olympia gave a small shrug. The media side of things wasn’t something she really knew all too much about, after all. “Least something came out of that other than broken bones.”

“Mmm…”

Victoria tapped her fingers again as she was thinking, she listened to Brenna of course, but what was on her mind was mostly trying to figure out why there were no casualties among the heroes. It felt like things had gone too well, injuries aside. She looked up at Brenna as she was speaking.

“Not surprised, people all over the world will be keeping an eye out for what the Guardians have to say.”

“Because of all the hype, we want to make sure we get the most of it and get Team Crimson and its members on a TV interview in the next couple of days. I’m sure it will be the biggest interview that any of you have done before, but well… We’ll be around to help you through it, don’t worry. I need to know if you’re all in, of course - more specifically, if you’re willing to play along with the running narrative right now,” Brenna continued. “You’re not just some heroes that turned up to the event and happened to make it out. You’re the brave young team that faced down evil and saved hundreds of civilian lives by putting yourselves at risk. Capiche?”

“No sense in changing the narrative, if everyone else is fine with running with that?” Chelsea said delicately, tapping her fingers on the table. “Everyone wins from the current one.”

“I’ll go along if everyone else does.” Olympia shrugged. She’d… Never done an interview before in her life, and this was apparently going to be the biggest interview in their lives, even for those who had done this type of thing before. She’d make do. She had to.

“She’s in… She’s just media shy,” Noelle said to Brenna, gesturing to Olympia - she couldn’t keep herself from punching Olympia in the arm slightly. The two of them might as well have been opposites when it came to media, publicity, and their experiences with both… They represented opposite ends of the spectrum.

“Y-yeah.” Olympia nodded. “Not used to media stuff.” That was an understatement, given she’d never done anything related to the media. Vigilantes didn’t exactly need PR.

“Yeah, no problem.”

Victoria had never been on this side of it before, but she’d seen it a few times. Been to a few interviews with her mother when she was younger as well. They’d likely get a more complete ‘guide’ of how to respond on the interview, especially given the sensitive nature of the topic. Not all the bodies were found yet, and people were going to want answers. This wasn’t going to give them that, but it might placate some of them while the investigations are still underway.

“And if you find enough pieces of those drones, I can put them back together pretty easily, might help.”

“I’ll direct that information to the field teams working on recovering the evidence… And the local authorities. Always a bit of a debate on who gets what pieces of evidence in these kinds of things,” said Brenna, with a nod. “And it doesn’t matter how media shy any of you are… You’ll learn, with help. Anyway, feel free to spend the next couple of days healing and recovering, be sure to head to the medical staff if you need anything stronger than what you’re on now, and later in the week you’ll pick back up with training… Public isn’t going to want to see you sitting out of action for too long. You’re known now, after all.”
“And everything that brings.” Olympia muttered, mostly to herself. She was going to have to learn to deal with the media sooner or later, even if she felt she was being thrown in the deep end to a degree.

“You can ask for help, you know,” said Noelle, slightly indignantly as she shifted her eyes to the side to look at Olympia. “Not everyone’s born to this shit.”

“Always been more of a not ask for help and then probably end up drowning type, but that’s normally since I go headfirst into whatever I need help with.” Olympia said dryly. “But I’ll take anything I can get at this point, I refuse to let myself be a weak link in this team.”

Which was the point where Noelle shifted, facing Olympia directly. “I mean… I’ve offered help, you know… If you decide you want to accept it,” she said, a slight challenge in her voice, like she was asking for Olympia to make a decision either way. “I’m not an expert on teaching in specific but I’d like to think I’m a good person to look up to with this kinda thing.”

“Then I’ll take it. Wasn’t expecting to get thrown into big interviews quite this early, figured I’d get a bit of time to get used to handling it but doesn’t seem luck’s going my way.” Olympia shrugged again. “Never been the best learner, but having something staring you in the face does wonders for motivation.”

“Seize the motherfuckin’ day,” Fox said with a shrug, not having paid much attention to most of the conversation other than the recent part. “You ain’t had a chance before but you have a chance now. Use it, or something,” she added, before standing up and putting on the pair of Dior shades that had become part of her signature look. “Well, if that’s everything we’ve gotta talk about, I’m headin’ out.”

She’d generally been on the outskirts of things since joining the team, although it hadn’t been long, and the ‘incident’ the day prior between her and Victoria hadn’t helped things… Had only hammered in her status as a loner, who didn’t feel obligated to hang around the others unless it was for some team related reason. And now that the thing they all needed to be around for was done, she was predictably ready to head off on her own once again.

“If there’s nothing else, I believe I’ll be heading off too. Still got to find a bladed weapon that’s suitable for carrying at PR events.” Chelsea said as she stood up. She wasn’t going to let herself go unarmed again, not with the potential for future attacks. The issue there, of course, was carrying a weapon when you wouldn’t need one, and that meant negotiations with marketing over what was acceptable.

“You’re in Japan… Tough luck getting them to let you open carry something big,” Noelle said, leaning back in her seat… She’d hang around a bit more, for now anyway. She didn’t have anywhere else she had to be right now, which was a change from how it was sometimes for her, considering the frequent training she did and how often she ended up pulled away for family things.

“Yes, I’ve learned that.” Chelsea let out a laugh as she turned away. “Probably going to have to settle for a dagger, but better a dagger than nothing.” She walked off, waving behind her. Olympia settled back into her seat, seeming content to just sit there and watch the TV. She wasn’t too fond of walking right now, what with her legs still being sore from the fight.

Victoria stood up to head back to her room. She had some design things she wanted to finish sketching up before she got to busy with anything else. She gave everyone, including Fox as she was leaving, a goodbye wave. She’d see them all soon enough, first she had work to get done. Actual work, not busy work. Then maybe she could focus on whatever else they asked of her.

[Durmatagno]

SEASON 1 EPISODE 6 // RIVALS

Collaborative post between Forest State, Lunas Legion, & Durmatagno

DATE // June 9th, 2023
LOCATION // Central Tokyo, Japan
CAST // Team Crimson

---

A return to training would be in order soon for the members of Team Crimson, who had wrapped up the couple of days of rest they had been given and were now starting to return to their duties. Those duties included a variety of things, but perhaps the most intense in the list of exercises and training methods was team combat, pitting different teams from the Program against each other in group fighting, with the aim of sharpening their skills against human opposition rather than just targets. For now, this style of combat wasn’t using powers… But that was just for now. There was a chance that could change in the future as they grew more experienced and gained better control of their abilities.

It looked like the first matchup was set to be contested by Team Crimson and Team Gold - the former of which had picked up fame during the Shibuya attacks and the latter of which was flying under the radar for now, despite their members very much preferring it to be the other way around… Yes, it could be said there was a certain discontent around Team Gold. Would it come up during the matches? That remained to be seen.

One of the benefits of living in such a large and advanced building was that the training arena and such were built right into the structure - there was no need to go to a gym elsewhere when all of the workout equipment and combat training space that one could need was stocked in the Heroplex, and the facilities here were additionally more advanced than the ones that could be found at most other places, with more technological integration…

The main training floor was the place the team was supposed to show up right now, at 3:00 PM sharp, for the exercise that’d been scheduled by the staff the day before. And everything was set up there. Circular training ring, wide enough for two teams to duke it out and still have space. Analytics equipment, to capture the performances of those who stepped inside. And instructors were on hand, to guide the exercise. The only thing left was the participants.

Victoria was early, she didn’t want to be late to something like this, and she had a bad habit of losing track of time. While she waited, she scratched at her palm where the scars shined silvery-white above the rest of her skin. Things had been tense with Fox since the debut day, and Victoria hadn’t had time that day to think about why. Now she knew why, she’d made a mistake, and miscalculated. She’d just wanted to spend a few minutes getting to know Gina before letting Fox do whatever she wanted and moving on. She hadn’t said anything about it, and it’d upset Fox. She wasn’t the type to talk to people, but she needed to figure out a way to apologize. That was what occupied her mind while she waited.

Olympia sauntered in with a confident stride, whistling to herself while she waited as a distraction. She wasn’t exactly happy with the nature of the exercise, but she’d deal, scuffing her heels against the floor eagerly. She wasn’t someone who avoided fights, hell, she enjoyed them most of the time.

By comparison, Chelsea showed up dead on 3:30 at a slow, almost reluctant pace. She had no weapons, which meant in this exercise she was all but useless. She relied on weapons for offense, and her powers otherwise were only really suited for distractions. And in a five vs five, distractions didn’t win fights. They could help, sure, but they were never decisive. She wasn’t going to be much help here and she knew it.

Fox didn’t speak to Victoria when she showed up… Or look at her. Then again, while it was clear she was avoiding looking in her direction, she hadn’t exactly spoken to anyone - her tense demeanor was a contrast from Noelle’s more relaxed walk in, and it was perhaps added to by the fact that Gina was present at the moment as one of their instructors, although not all of the staff had shown up yet… They had a little bit of time before the fight would start.

The other team was showing up, too - Gold was perhaps a decent counter to Crimson when it came to their role and their marketing as a team, and if anything, they even had them beat in one or two areas. Their compositions weren’t too different… They were both ‘pretty girl’ teams that had enough competency to them to hold their own outside of that context, but the lineup in Gold leaned a bit more foreign and European with one Russian, a pair of Italians, a Syrian, and one lone member coming from France. The intent wasn’t that unclear when it came to their marketing, they were both the ‘European’ and the ‘Eastern Bloc’ team while Crimson had a more North American lean and Azure drew heavily from Japan itself and from Korea.

As far as their actual skills in the field went, it was hard to give too definitive of a statement on them since they hadn’t seen action in the same way that Crimson had. One could only make predictions based on what they looked like on paper in terms of abilities - the Syrian had some of the most obvious abilities on the team with absurd strength, something that was fairly simple and easy to explain, but the Russian that could be considered the de facto leader so far had a more complex power which hadn’t been fully explained on paper yet… Apparently it had to do with information. While the others had more mixed skills, the twins apparently being able to create weapons from nothing and the Frenchwoman having some kind of healing ability.

It’d take time to see how that composition did in the field compared to Crimson’s, but Gold wasn’t lacking for firepower, having the ability to bring heavy firepower to any fight, anywhere. The rest of their members simply had to support that firepower, and if the rumors were true, their leader’s ability would be very useful for that.

And so, Gold was confident as Viktoriya Kashina, Dana and Paris Gatti, Fayza Ghazaway, and Leane Dennel entered the training arena as one group, eyeing up their opponents as they made their way towards the ring. Not far behind them was the last instructor that the Guardians were waiting on before beginning the exercise, although this instructor was an important one… Danil Chaikovsky was not just someone from the hero business, but someone that was former special forces, and entirely worthy of being the head combat instructor. Gina handled many things in the general sense, but when it came to combat, Danil was the main man around here, and the one that’d have the most direct role in overseeing this competition specifically.

“I’m sure you’re all ready to fight after those rest days,” Viktoriya said towards Crimson, upon her team reaching theirs. “I mean, you did a lot back there in Shibuya,” she added… Even with her thick accent, it could obviously be recognized as a sarcastic statement. She knew the truth, which was that they had fought for a bit before leaving, and that they hadn’t exactly ‘stopped’ any of the enemies. The truth that the stories about them saving hundreds of people and taking out villains single handedly were simply rumors that the Guardians had decided to run with instead of correcting.

“Talk to the media and marketing, not us.”

Victoria said, looking at Viktoriya. She understood some of the hostility, no one wanted to be the one left out, and Crimson got a lucky PR boost. Probably because they were the ones cameras caught fighting the attackers, even if the others were all doing something. Victoria was mostly a relaxed person, her stresses all came from overworking herself, not from things like this. They could be angry at Crimson all they wanted, but Crimson had just decided to think alike, they hadn’t come up with or promoted the narrative. Victoria glanced over at Fox, she still had to figure out how to apologize to her.

Olympia said nothing, just crossing her arms, foot still tapping impatiently against the floor. She was used to dealing with taunts, and it would take far worse to get through to her. Not that she really cared about the fight’s aftermath in the first place.

“I mean… It’s not surprising the Guardians decided to promote the pindos over us,” Viktoriya said in reply, keeping a calm face and holding her ground, even against the much taller Victoria. Although, Fayza was much closer to being a match for Victoria, and showed no nervousness as she stood just behind Viktoriya, looking Victoria in the eye. “Just enjoy it while it lasts, I suppose… All that talk might come crashing down if the public hears about you guys getting smoked in training… Specifically, smoked by the real supergroup here.”

“Mmm.”

Victoria wasn’t a talker, she was a doer. She just shrugged and waited for it to begin. This interteam competition was stupid to her when there was bigger threats, but it was all apart of the program to begin with. They were competing against each other, so she’d have some fun with it. See how these people did without powers or weapons. She pegged Fayza and Viktoryia as being good and alright, but she didn’t have much of a read on the others. They’d see how this went.

“You’re not the only big one around here,” Fayza said, taking a hard step towards Victoria while Viktoriya and the others moved towards the ring in the background, reaching out to grab her collar… She was intense, didn’t care about potentially kicking someone off. The psychological advantage from getting into the head of the opponent was more important for her, and she’d keep a tight grip, leaning in to slightly knock her forehead against Victoria’s. She was one of the only people around here tall enough to do so, being only about an inch shorter.

“Oh I know that, I can see you just fine.”

Victoria smiled, not friendly, but not really...hostile either. Just an odd smile. She didn’t flinch or pull away, this wasn’t the first time she’d dealt with this, and it wouldn’t be the last. It would be entertaining to see how this went in the ring, especially if powers weren’t allowed.

Fayza moved on with the rest of her team, leading to Danil walking up to the ring, which had a metal fence around it, and gesturing for both teams to come on and get inside. “Any disputes between the two of you, you can settle in the ring, get a move on!” the instructor commanded, and Noelle was the first to start moving for Crimson.

She’d been silent during the interaction but it didn’t mean she hadn’t been paying attention. “Rivals are getting a bit uppity… Only one way to sort that out,” she said, looking over her shoulder towards the others as she shed her jacket, revealing the top of her hero uniform underneath as she kept moving, pushing her way through the gate and climbing into the ring.

“Time to get my ass kicked, I guess.” Chelsea sighed, slowly following Noelle into the ring with notable reluctance. This was the exact thing she was worst at, given her power-set. Olympia said nothing as she entered, muscles tensed up, an almost eager grin on her face. She just enjoyed fighting, doubly so when a win or a loss didn’t matter to her.

“This is what training is for Chelsea, you’re not always going to be able to fight the way you prefer, gotta be ready to fight in other ways.”

Victoria climbed into the ring behind Noelle and Chelsea. She was expecting her to get matched up against Fayza, and Fayza definitely knew how to fight. They were going to go head to head, and Victoria might be able to hold her off, but she doubted she could win on her own. If only because she was a fist to fist fighter to begin with, where Victoria preferred her armor to help her with fighting. It boosted her physically, without it she was strong, but not that kind of strong, melee had never been her focus.

“Three rounds of five minutes… No active powers, no weapons… Are you ready? FIGHT!” said Danil, when both sides were in the ring and lined up… And it wouldn’t take long for the fight to begin from there, with Viktoriya surging forward and leading her team from the front while Noelle took a more conservative approach - it was Fox that came forward to meet Viktoriya, going into a grappling battle with her as the two clinched immediately, but the one who was making the most aggressive move was Fayza, who took a running start as soon as the signal had been given and propelled herself into the air, one knee extended forwards in an attempt to catch Victoria with a flying knee attack while Dana and Paris focused their attention on Chelsea.

Chelsea stepped backwards, unsteadily moving into a stance. She wasn’t an unarmed fighter, never had been; she was a swordswoman, she used blades not her fists. No, she was most likely going to get her ass kicked, doubly so given how she was facing off against two opponents.
Olympia, by comparison, hung back, watching and observing for now; in terms of skill she knew she was the single most dangerous combatant in this arena, it was a matter of picking her opposition at this point in time to make the most of that, hopefully decisive, edge.

Victoria had expected aggressive moves from Fayza, with her strength it was a simple matter of one or two solid blows knocking Victoria out of the fight. She pivoted and rolled to the side, letting the flying knee fly past her. She hoped back to her feet in a practiced motion, and whirled around, in a stance typical of one of the two ways she’d trained, Wing Chun. She couldn’t beat Fayza in a one on one fight, the strength was too much to overcome. What she could do though, was try to wear her down and give the rest of her team time to respond. If she could use her powers, it might be a bit more even, the electricity would help wear her down faster. Unfortunately she didn’t have that advantage. Instead she’d have to hope for lucky hits, outside help, or wearing her opponent down by just tiring her out. Not good options.

Chelsea would find herself unable to back up forever… Both of her attackers charged, aiming to drive her to the ground, although neither of them were experts at fighting with their fists either - it was hard to find reason to train such skills when being able to create weapons from thin air whenever they were needed… Except for in exercises like this, meant to avoid encouraging them all to rely on their powers exclusively. While Olympia, on the other hand, hadn’t been targeted directly yet but she would find that Leane was on the prowl, eyeing her up and approaching slowly and carefully, as if she wanted to avoid getting caught up in a sudden attack but still intended to make a move. Olympia, however, would receive some help, as Noelle showed up by her side, content to focus on one of the weaker members of the other team.

The fight between Victoria and Fayza was much more intense. She came to a stop after landing on her feet from her flying knee attack and spun around herself to face Victoria once again, her fists raised but otherwise not making a move just yet… But she did lash out with a fast leg kick, hard, aiming to wear down Victoria’s leg and potentially take it out from under her entirely, which would put Victoria on the ground and give her a chance to follow up with a potential hold or ground and pound move. There were many ways she could win this, really.

Chelsea’s eyes briefly flicked between her charging attackers, quickly determining that meeting the charge head on was not a course of action she could take without being taken out almost immediately which was something that simply wouldn’t do. Instead, she dodged, attempting to sidestep out of the way of the charging twins to her left, figuring she could at the very least distract them while the rest of her team handled the others.

Olympia glanced briefly to her side towards Noelle, slowly edging forwards, fists raised, one leg forwards, eyes watching Leane intently, a vicious grin on her face.

“You know I could take small fry here by myself, right?” Olympia asked, still grinning as she edged forwards, feet moving firmly and carefully as she started to circle around to one side, just waiting until she saw an opening. She might be vicious, but when it came to fighting, she could be rather cautious when she didn’t know quite what she was dealing with.

Victoria pivoted backwards, keeping distance between her and Fayza. She already had a plan in mind if she had to avoid the edge of the ring, but for now, she was avoiding where she could. She had a good sense of her opponents, and knew better than to fight this on Fayza’s terms. She needed to limit Fayza’s ability to attack. She kept her eyes locked on her opponent, using her hearing and peripheral to track the rest of the fighting. Her passive power wouldn’t help her here unless it revealed some implant, or inorganic pieces of her opponent she could work with. Unlikely, so she was working on luring Fayza to the ropes.

“Fucking pussy,” Fayza said when her kick didn’t connect, continuing to move forward slowly… She wasn’t going to spend the match chasing after someone that wasn’t going to actually face her… If she wanted to do that, she’d be doing running training instead. And so she slowed her pace down, keeping her fists up however.

“Call me what you will, but I’m not dumb enough to try and out muscle someone with enhanced strength.”

Names didn’t rile Victoria up, she had a cool demeanor and mind. She circled Fayza slowly, Wing Chun practitioners preferred to keep at an angle to their opponent, outside of where they could use their strongest attacks. If Fayza went for another wild attack, Victoria might be able to land a decent hit, but Fayza wasn’t stupid either, aggressive, but not stupid. She could see what Victoria was doing, or so Victoria assumed. This was as much a battle of wits as it was brawn, to see who would be the first to gain the winning hand.

Letting out a growl of frustration, Fayza simply switched focuses, taking a hard step away from Victoria and moving towards one of the other fights, instead launching herself in the direction of Olympia with the aim of taking her to the ground and getting her in a more compromising position for a choke… She was, of course, coming in from the side, which would make it a bit harder to spot her approach as it was happening, and by the time she jumped she was carrying quite a bit of momentum with her. If Victoria wasn’t going to fight, she would go somewhere where she would get an actual fight.

Olympia hadn’t moved in yet, still eyeing up Leane; but she thrived in combat like this, the chaos and unpredictability. She turned herself just slightly, angling herself to meet Fayza’s charge, foot sliding back to brace herself and fists raised defensively while watching for if Leane was going to take the opportunity to do anything.

Victoria responded to Fayza going after Olympia by suddenly switching styles, and going for a strong heel kick at Fayza, hoping to use the distracted focus and movement to connect a good blow. She was the one fighting Fayza, even if it was an avoidance fight. It was still a fight. She kept her face even but silently guessed Fayza wasn’t used to opponents that didn’t take the bait, and wanted to just get her hands on something. She needed to try and keep Fayza focused on her till her team could help her, not the other way around.

The kick, however, was cleared by Fayza who kicked off the ground to jump just over it before she kept going on her path towards Olympia, eventually jumping harder towards her, her strength lifting her quite some distance off the ground as she traveled quickly.

“You want to call me the pussy, but you’re going after someone already occupied. Fine, you want a real fight, come on, I’ll stop using avoidance.”

“You hardly deserve this,” Fayza growled as she let herself drop to the ground short of Olympia, spinning back to face Victoria, stalking back forward. She was frustrated now… Perhaps something to exploit, but on the other hand, none of her moves so far had been wild and uncalculated, even when she seemingly came into the match with a pre existing grudge. “I’ll rip your fucking head off, American…” she said in a lower tone, moving relatively low to the ground. The intent was rather clear, to shoot in and get a quick takedown when the chance presented itself.

Victoria crouched, in a new stance, one more suiting to Muay Thai than to Wing Chun. She didn’t like this, Fayza was far too aggressive for what was supposed to be a sparring match. She had trouble keeping a cool head, and that was dangerous for everyone, not just Victoria. She advanced and aimed a hook for Fayza’s ribs before stepping to the side. Nothing about Muay Thai prevented her from staying at an angle from her opponent, made straight attacks more difficult, more pronounced if the enemy was going to try it.


Fayza went low under the hook - wasn’t hard when she was already low to the ground - and she continued creeping forward… Just waiting for the chance to shoot in. But the bell would end to signal the end of the first round before she could make her move, drawing a sigh as she stood up once again, turning and heading towards the side of the ring that Gold had been assigned while Crimson returned to theirs for a brief talk before the fight picked up again.

“Fayza’s aggressive, and hot headed. I probably can’t take her in a straight fight, but I think I have her attention.”

Victoria said in a low voice, looking at Noelle. Fayza was heavy muscle, Victoria preferred to fight from a distance, she was trained, but she still preferred a cannon over a fist, even an armored one.

“I can keep her busy, just focus on taking the rest of the team down.”

“You mean you think you can.” Olympia pointed out, crossing her arms. “I mean, I’m not exactly volunteering here but if you’ve got her attention she’ll probably go for punching your face in first no matter what the rest of us do. Hold her up, think I might try taking on the twins this time since two of them versus me is still an unfair fight. For them.”

“I pissed her off because I wouldn’t fight straight the way she wants, now I will be. I expect to lose, I just hope to keep her busy long enough for the rest of you to do alright.”

Noelle was going to say something, but she’d turned and was watching the other corner where the other side was already climbing over the fence and heading out of the ring, for whatever reason. “I think we’re done here,” said Viktoriya, from the front of the rival group, as they stood beyond the fence, in the area that sat just around it. “When one of us doesn’t feel like fighting… None of us do, after all.”

“Aw.” Olympia scowled, crossing her arms, shoulders slumping in disappointment. “Didn’t even get the chance to enjoy myself. Well, since we’re done here, imma go find someone else who wants to punch shit. See you all whenever.” She waved behind her, turning and leaping in one smooth, power-assisted jump over the fence while Chelsea breathed a sigh of relief, not having fared particularly well in the first bout and dreading the second.

“Chelsea, you need more training for this kind of thing. Work on your hand to hand.”

Victoria said as she stepped out of the ring. With the fight over, the desire to fight was over. This was nothing to hold a grudge over, and nothing to really get upset over. She knew not everyone saw it that way, almost certainly not Fayza, but she would be damned if she was going to be drawn so low as to hold grudges over a sparring match. She expected Fayza might pull something if Viktoriya didn’t keep her reigned in, still, Fayza had skill. She insulted Victoria, but Victoria had been so wary because she respected the danger Fayza posed.

“If I’m down to my fists I’ve lost already.” Chelsea shrugged as she turned to leave. “Fists are a weapon of last resort, if I’m down to mine I’d much rather run than fight thank you very much since whoever my opponent is has disarmed me despite my power, so they’ll most likely beat me in hand to hand regardless.”

“Target on our backs already… Not that I’m not already used to it,” said Noelle, walking with the others, her eyes on Gold as they hung around the ring. “Never underestimate the person that’s hungrier… And I have the feeling that might be Fayza,” she added, shifting to get a closer look at her.

“She definitely has anger in her, don’t know if it’s at us specifically, but Olympia nearly felt it when I frustrated her to much. Good fighter though, bit aggressive, but knows her shit.”

Noelle simply nodded, saying nothing more as she looked towards Gina, who was approaching from the distance, probably to talk about whatever had just happened. Anyone not immediately in the ring probably wouldn’t have a one hundred percent clear view of things, after all… Wouldn’t have heard everything that had been said. “Gina asks, she started everything,” Noelle said in a low voice. She wasn’t going to have her team take the blame for the incident falling through. “I’ll catch up with the rest of ya’ll and her in a moment, I have to ask Fox for something first.”

“Okay...I’ll catch you later Noelle.”

Victoria waved, and turned to leave. Stopping for a second as she contemplated apologizing to Fox. She turned, and looked at Fox.

“And Fox, I’m...sorry about the other night, I shouldn’t have jumped in when you already said you were going to talk to her. Just took my chance to meet her, should have waited. I’m sorry.”

Before turning and leaving, she’d know what Fox thought later, Noelle had something she wanted to talk to Fox alone about. She wasn’t going to eavesdrop, not on her best friend, even if it was with Fox.

“Whatever,” muttered Fox, as Noelle looked over her shoulder and watched Victoria leave, eventually moving over to Fox and starting to say… Something. Noelle hadn’t talked all that much to Fox since they had been put on the same team, which probably meant that this was something relevant now that she was talking to her about. Unusual… But Noelle tended to have her reasons. If anything, it was just one play in some grand game of hers, the likes of which she had run back in high school while establishing herself as who she was right now.

It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t supposed to be easy. She was just good at shifting the pieces around to get to where she wanted to be.

[Forest State]

---

SEASON 1 EPISODE 7 // BEAR AND DRAGON
DATE // June 12th, 2023
LOCATION // Central Tokyo, Japan
CAST // Viktoriya ‘Orakul’ Kashina and Ki-nam ‘Tide’ Ryeo

---

It was a calm day somewhat in Tokyo. Nothing too major was happening, things had calmed down from the Shibuya attack, and on national television… Team Crimson happened to be giving their own retelling of the events and what they had done on that night. How they had become more well known than they already were because of their Program status, overnight, thanks to playing a big part in fighting off the villains that had attacked the city… Or that was what the narrative was, anyway. Wasn’t like the narrative was always true, or even usually true… There were too many interests at stake to stick to the truth a hundred percent of the time.

And while Viktoriya Kashina would have normally applauded the hustle, and looked at it as a bunch of people simply taking advantage of a situation that had fallen into their lap without them asking for it, this time was different. Wasn’t just anyone’s interests on the line, it was undeniably her own, and she wasn’t going to just let herself and her friends go down that easily. Success wasn’t quite a zero sum game in the Futures Program but that didn’t mean placement in the future wasn’t impacted by success within the Program… It’d be a crime to let Crimson run away with the competition with a head start if she had anything to say about it - if that happened, they could kiss their chances of a top rate assignment goodbye.

Even if really, all of the teams should be on even footing right now… Just so happens that Crimson was the one that benefitted from a few lucky camera shots showing them fighting the enemy, and the Guardians had ran with it and exaggerated the story beyond what had actually happened. Or so they said. She didn’t know if it was the truth or if Crimson was just receiving a marketing push, but either way, she didn’t care. If they were going to get ahead using underhanded means, she could be underhanded too…

Viktoriya Kashina is one of the more intriguing prospects in the Guardians.

She didn’t look like she was making underhanded plots right now, however. Her appearance was well kept and businesslike, and she remembered to keep a slight smile on her face most of the time, to keep people at ease around her… Although she was focusing only on one person, the one who she needed to convince. Sometimes, you didn’t need to head around talking to a bunch of people and trying to get them in on something. Sometimes, talking to one figurehead was enough to make all the other pieces fall into place.

The leader in question that she was speaking to right now, at a cafe in one of the more traditional and laid back sections of Tokyo, away from the hustle and bustle of the inner city, was Ki-nam Ryeo… Also known as Tide, because of his ability to manipulate the water as well as the ocean when nearby the coastline. Also known as the leader of one of the four teams that comprised the Futures Program, Team Azure. Unofficially, anyway. There were no official leaders at this stage, but each team had a general feeling about who their top member was. Just so happened that Ryeo fit what was needed for Azure’s leader, and he hadn’t shied away from the role.

The two of them couldn’t be more different from each other, though, at least in some areas. It was becoming a clearer and clearer fact, as they sat across from each other over coffee, Viktoriya attempting to explain the reasoning between her point of view here. It helped that she had the power she did… And that most people didn’t even know enough about how it worked to know if it worked on them or not. Which made a bit of sense… She had the damn power and she didn’t know everything about how it worked. Of course few others would have an accurate picture…

“I’m not asking you to do anything crazy,” Viktoriya said with a small smile. “Just to agree to us that if a chance comes up to get even a bit and mess with their popularity, we’ll take it. And that we won’t make training a cakewalk for them. Go a little bit harder against Crimson, yeah?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t think I’d end up in all this team drama shit when I ended up going for this career,” Ki-nam said, shrugging and looking away for a moment. “Can’t you just consider us a neutral party? A non combatant? A… Switzerland?”

“I could, but the fact of the matter is that Crimson is taking from you, too. They’ve gotten a head start for things they haven’t done, for whatever reason. Either intentionally or by accident, but either way, all of the rest of us competitors are getting screwed the same amount still. You can stay out of all of this if you so wish, but you only… Make it harder for all of us legitimate teams to reach the top spot…” Viktoriya replied, before pausing.

And then she found the right analogy. “We’re going to have to fight each other still… But think of this like a little ceasefire to focus on getting even with the one side that’s jumped ahead of both of us. A worthy cause, right?”

“I think I’m more of a straight shooting type… Not that you aren’t, of course. But you know what I mean. More experienced in typical hero stuff… Saving people, trying to protect some city, all that. The business side and the back and forth with different teams and franchises and stuff, all the rah rah shit, that’s never been my thing really. Guess it sounds stupid compared to you but I just want to get my job done, you know?” Ki-nam replied, before taking a sip from the coffee mug.

“Not that I have anything against you,” he added - he seemed to be a genuinely polite person, his words coming from the heart rather than from a script or an act. Which was interesting, considering not being out for any ulterior motives was kind of rare around the higher levels of the superhero scene. The levels that this Program hoped to recruit for. “But you might’ve asked the wrong person, you know?”

“Counterpoint… Even if you just want to become the best hero and not focus on all the other stuff, you realize you’re going to get a worse assignment if Crimson flies off to a head start over all the rest of us and runs away with it? LOok, it seems like the staff favor them a bit is all I’m saying. I just think that if we don’t band together and knock them down a little bit, we’re never going to have a fair chance to jump back ahead of them. Not like we can depend on having our own viral video like they do, or on the staff favoring us like them… They don’t,” Viktoriya stated.

“And when you work with me, you know that we’re not going to fail and this isn’t going to backfire on us. That kind of thing might happen with other people, but you should already know who I am… Just the latest in a line involved in everything from oil to superheroes to defense. Success runs in the family… I managed to get here and bring like two of my friends. That’s a tall enough task in and of itself… If I can handle that, I can handle what I’m saying. Which benefits you and helps you move on with the career that you’re looking for.”

She extended a hand, stepping up the pressure to try and get a response - a response that would be in her favor. “So what do you say? Are you going to sit and have someone else surpass your team for something they didn’t do? Or are you going to try and knock them off their peg?”

Ki-nam paused, contemplating the offer deeply, before extending his hand and taking Viktoriya’s. “I can’t make any promises, I’ll just say that I’m talking to the rest of my team and we’ll decide what happens from there. I don’t know what all of them would think about a proposal such as this… But it may find some support. Possibly.”

It wasn’t a promise but it was the best Viktoriya was going to get, and she smiled again, lightly. “That’s all I needed to hear. You won’t regret making this decision… There’s a saying that my family makes equipment that you can trust. And just like that, I make deals that you can trust. I think you’ll find that this is going to be a good one for the both of us…”

She paused, raising her glass slightly in a mock toast. “To allow both our teams a fair shot at the top.”

[Durmatagno]

SEASON 1 EPISODE 8 // OPENING UP

Collaborative post between Forest State & Durmatagno

DATE // June 15th, 2023
LOCATION // Tokyo, Japan
CAST // Team Crimson

---

Victoria looked left, then right, and chose to go down the right street. Noelle was with her, but today had been Victoria’s idea. She was just sort of walking around Tokyo, seeing what she could find that was interesting. She had little trouble seeing what she wanted to see, and was easy for Noelle to track, even in the dense crowds of the massive city. She stopped and looked up at the sign of some corner book shop, and passed by it, she had plenty of manga and books to read, she didn’t need to buy more...again. There was a bag with a few books on her arm, she turned to make sure Noelle was keeping up. Victoria’s stride could get her pretty far ahead, even if she wasn’t trying to rush. Her stomach rumbled, it was getting close to lunch, and there were plenty of options around, but she’d wait till Noelle was hungry to stop. She was also open to suggestions from Noelle, places to stop and check out, streets to turn down, and so on.

Noelle had been following after Victoria for the most part, happy to go where Victoria wanted to go, although she couldn’t deny that she was… A little restless for most of the time they had been walking around, recognizing that it was just one of those days where her mind was often on other things… Sometimes, she just got like that, wasn’t much she could do about it. It did cause her mind to travel at times, though, and her walk to be slightly more fidgety. “I dunno where I want to go, specifically,” she said, her eyes scanning the lit up rows of signs that contrasted with the black of the night sky… Would be a prettier sight if she could focus on it. “Then again… I’m not the most focused per say…”

Victoria raised a knowing eyebrow at Noelle, and looked around for somewhere they could go sit and eat. It wouldn’t help Noelle focus, but hey, there might be someone there that could help. She spotted a cafe, a bit busy, but it had open seating. She gestured for Noelle to follow, and walked inside, ducking low to fit through the door. Victoria knew exactly what was distracting Noelle, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it right now. Once seated, and waiting for their chance to order, Victoria did her best to not look...squished in the small booth, by her standards, but Noelle would have plenty of room.

“Noelle, if it’s that bad you should have told me before left.”

“Not like it’d help, it’s just one of those days, y’know,” Noelle said with a slight smirk creeping across her face, leaning back in her seat. “And I took acting classes… I’m good at covering these things.”

“You sure you’re going to be alright, I was planning on spending a few more hours out here, just wandering around.”

Victoria had ordered coffee for herself, she hadn’t slept but a few hours the night before, and wanted to keep the pep in her step, so to speak. Not that caffeine did much for her, but it helped that small amount, plus she just enjoyed coffee. She had her legs scrunched up tight so as not to be brushing up against Noelle, very little in japan was designed for someone of her size.

“If you need to head back, just head back.”

“Like I said… I’m good at just covering stuff up,” Noelle said, the slight smirk still on her face - she’d make light of the situation if she couldn’t get rid of it entirely, and she kept her own eyes trained on the table for now. “Not like we get to head out whenever we want, with appearances and training and stuff being a thing… Might as well not head back before we gotta.”

“Alright, just...making sure.”

Victoria nibbled as they sat there, not really sure what to say, just wanting something quick to eat before she kept wandering the massive metropolis. She took a sip of her coffee, and tilted her head, smirking slightly.

“So, what do you think of everyone?”

“Everyone on our team? Or everyone we’ve met so far since coming here?” Noelle questioned, drumming her fingers against the table absentmindedly, her eyes shifting between the table and Victoria. “Kinda an important difference there.”

“Either or, team first.”

Victoria mixed a little extra sugar into her coffee while she waited, and turned her gaze to the street outside. She had her hair down today, she usually kept it tied up to keep out of the way. It bothered her while it was down, got in the way, but Noelle had told her before it made her look cuter, so she tended to wear it down in public. Not that it helped.

“Hmm? I guess that Olympia is interesting,” Noelle shrugged, still looking at the table, tracing a circle absentmindedly using her finger. “If I do become team captain or whatever… I mean, I guess I already kind of act like I am… I have a lot to teach her. About a few different things,” she admitted. “Chelsea’s alright. Kinda from my background I guess, but she’s too stuck up. Fox is hot… I gave her some ‘favors’ in exchange for fucking up the cameras that were recording us and Gold a few days back. Decided it’s better if the shit that happened back there doesn’t leak.”

“Mmm…”

Victoria grunted as she was in the middle of drinking her coffee. Their food itself would be arriving soon, but Victoria wasn’t surprised that Fox was on Noelle’s radar. I mean, Victoria was and she and Fox looked decently similar. Lots of blondes on Team Crimson actually.

“Fayza is going to cause problems there, she’s hot headed, and aggressive, skilled, but easily riled.”

Noelle just shrugged, slightly neutrally. “She’s from a fuckin’ war zone, don’t know how much everyone was expecting from her. I guess she might do decent for Gold if she avoids saying too much about that and getting herself cancelled… She is in the west, after all. Then again, there’s a decent chance half of Gold ends up in Moscow or St. Petersburg no matter what. Their leader’s pretty connected with that area.”

“Russia has their own meddling down there, I wouldn’t be surprised if they get mad about things she says to. Marketing has a handful with keeping her in line, but then, we all are in our own way.”

Victoria shrugged as her plate was set down in front of her. She started eating, trying to get through lunch quickly so she could get back to walking around. She wasn’t a slob though, nor was she making a scene.

“Still, if she can keep her temper under control, she’s one to watch out for. Probably going to be popular to, with the right crowd.”

“I did my research… Vik’s family is the one that sold a lot of the planes to the Syrian Air Force, the more recent ones anyway… She met Fayza when they were down at a resort owned by their company in Latakia. Fayza herself, she’s from Damascus. About as loyalist as they come, when it comes to that whole thing… Of course, that might as well make her a PR nightmare for the Guardians in the west. The Guardians out east, in Russia and such, I’m sure they might think differently,” Noelle said as her own plate arrived - she hadn’t ordered much, just some light barbecue. “I mean, what are you going to do as a PR person when one of your clients jumps on Twitter and accuses one of your organization’s main countries of faking chemical weapons shit?”

She chuckled, picking up her fork. “You know, one of the benefits of doing research is that I know just where everyone stands in this little chess game that is popularity. Fayza becomes too much of a problem for us, it’s not that hard to bait her into getting herself cancelled. Or sent back to Russia, which is where Vik is probably going to follow if she leaves… Gold might not be friendly to us but they do stick together, to their credit. And as for Vik herself… It’s as simple as running a few ads telling the public that her family is the one propping up ‘war crimes’ in some third world country. There’s a good reason my family focuses on the media side of this business, not just the management side.”

“Those are extremes, save those for if they try to attack us in the same way. Besides, a little rivalry will prop up both teams a little, get us more screen time to face us off against each other. As for Fayza talking about Syria...some of the shit celebrities say in the west about it is worse than that, it’ll get buried under more outrageous comments in a week.”

Victoria took another sip of her coffee before she continued speaking.

“As for Vik, be careful about getting into a slugging match with her. I know you know what you’re doing, but given her family, so will she. It’ll get ugly before one of you wins.”

Victoria put down her sandwich, and wiped her mouth.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine, but that doesn’t mean it won’t take a few rounds, and each new round makes things much more complex.”

“Ehh. I can’t help it if I have killing instinct. You need to have it if you want to be at the top of anything… I know I have it more than any of them,” Noelle shrugged, leaning back. “I might be a hero, yes… But that doesn’t mean I’ve gotta play nice all the time or turn the other cheek and not throw the first blow. I’ll think about it all, but do you think we just became some of the top names in the business because of sittin’ around and playing fair with everyone? Ethier isn’t a hero company… That’s just fitting us into a box. We’re a ‘do what we need to do’ company and we’ve got ties everywhere to make it work.”

“Believe be Noelle, I know exactly how ruthless you can be. I’ve been with you what, six, seven years now? I’ve seen it. Just saying to step careful, didn’t say not to make moves, just said to be careful about them.”

Victoria finished her food and swung her legs out to the side of the table, they were starting to hurt cramped up underneath it. Her height generally caused more problems than it helped, and this was one of them. Even in the states or Toronto, she had a hard time finding tables she could sit comfortably at.

“Also never said to play fair, if it’s a business, playing fair is for PR stunts. I know that, and you know I know that.”

“What is she going to do, bomb me?” Noelle laughed with a slight dismissive tone - even if she knew that Victoria was right that she would be going up against someone else of similar stature. “They have their area and we have ours… Sometimes you gotta defend your turf. If we were in eastern Europe, you would have a point. But… I guess your judgement is decent. Still, I’ve only got so much fear for a Russian oligarch and her allies. She can try to pull up in Japan or Canada, I still have more support over here at the end of the day.”

“I’m not stupid Noelle, I know this. I just also know that we’re in a whole nother weight class now. Suppose I’ve always been more cautious than you, it’s one of the reasons you’ve had me do what I’ve done.”

Victoria stood up to stretch, and pulled out one of her new books to start flipping through it while she waited on Noelle. She was perfectly capable of carrying a conversation while reading. Multitasking came naturally to her, it was part of how she’d made it through school while trying to focus on her hobbies.

“A’ight,” said Noelle, folding her arms as she finished her own food. She didn’t seem to entirely believe what Victoria was saying, and she was perhaps slightly annoyed by having their high school escapades brought up as a point against her… Or at least what she perceived as one. “I won’t do much… But like I said, Ethier wouldn’t be anywhere if we weren’t bold. Maybe I’m just my dad’s girl too much at the end of the day.”

“Like I said, I’m more cautious, do what you want, just offering my two cents. You know I’ll back you, doesn’t mean I won’t offer commentary.”

Victoria was happy to wait till Noelle was ready to leave, she’d always been the more cautious of the two. Probably in her nature, if the slightest thing went wrong with a circuit or code, it could bring everything crashing down, so she got used to being careful and triple checking everything. It extended to her social and hard air quotes love life, when it had existed. It caused her problems as often as it helped her avoid some.

“Not trying to make you mad, just...trying to look out for you is all.”

“I just fear for your future ambitions if Vik is enough to scare you,” Noelle said, standing up and stepping into the aisle, gesturing with her head for Victoria to come on after her. “But believe what you want about our… Capabilities.”

“I’m not afraid, just cautious. When have you ever really seen me afraid?”

Victoria had been in knife fights, and lost, and hadn’t really been afraid. She wasn’t really afraid for herself, she was afraid for those she cared about. Though that could be her problems talking. She followed after Noelle, seemingly content to see where Noelle was going to take them now.

“And I know you’re going to do good, just...I’m starting to sound like a broken fucking record at this point.”

“I won’t say anything next time. I’ll just cross the Rubicon,” Noelle stated flatly, still defensive before she decided that it was better to just shift subjects entirely… Cautiousness wasn’t for her. Hadn’t gotten her anywhere, hadn’t gotten her family anywhere, and the opponent they were speaking of now hardly warranted a safe approach, at least in her mind. “Anyway… We still have some time to head somewhere else… Even if I still have my ‘problems.’”

Victoria sighed, she’d definitely upset Noelle. Not her intention, but she was always more cautious heading into things than Noelle. Noelle tended to just do, got her facts straight first, but tended to just do. She looked left, and right, then straight ahead.

“Well, you got any ideas of where you want to go? Big city, we can find almost literally anything to do here.”

“Dunno,” shrugged Noelle, still slightly upset but working on shifting her attention. “Don’t know the place all that well yet… And I don’t have a plug around here yet. And I think we’re a bit too known at the moment to hang around trap houses anyway… If they even have those in Tokyo.”

“Again, they have pretty much everything somewhere here in Tokyo. Uhh…”

Victoria was debating with herself as she looked around. She knew Tokyo had some of high tech plazas that were full of all different kinds of stores, they could find something cool there. There were parks, but that wasn’t really Noelle’s scene, if it was just Victoria she’d probably dip into a tech store, but she had already upset Noelle. Didn’t want to bore her on top of that. She made her choice, and pulled out her phone to get directions to the nearest plaza, it’d have some good clothes shops to, Noelle always had liked dressing up Victoria some, maybe the chance of that would cheer her up some.

“This way.”

Noelle simply nodded and followed after, curious as to just where Victoria intended to go… She was willing to follow, though. Trusted her judgement to come up with something decent. And she had committed earlier to staying out, so she would run with it, even if she wasn’t in the best of moods.

It took some walking to get where they were going, but it was a large plaza, basically a mall but not enclosed, filled with all kinds of things. Food stores, clothing stores, game stores, adults stores buried away, and everything in between. Victoria looked at Noelle and gestured around, the place was packed, mostly with people closer to them in age, it seemed to be a popular hangout for some of the nearby schools and colleges.

“C'est ici. Thought we might as well end on something like this. Plenty of faces, plenty of shops, and it was the only place nearby that might actually have somewhere I could get clothes. My wardrobe is still rather thin after.”

Victoria gestured at herself, Noelle would know exactly what Victoria was talking about.

“Well… You are quite up there in sizing… I’m surprised there’s anywhere around here with your sizes,” Noelle said. She shrugged. Shopping wasn’t the worst thing in the world, although she would find herself interrupted before she could move towards the store with Victoria, namely by the fact that a number of people had seemingly recognized them. That tended to happen at one point or another for heroes, but it was easier for them in specific both because Victoria towered over everyone and because they’d had their faces on TV recently, out of uniform as they’d conducted an interview about their role in stopping the Shibuya attack. It had given them quite a lot of national attention, and it was only a matter of time before they had to deal with a ‘flash mob’ like this. “Great… Now we’ve gotta take pictures.”

“They don’t really have my sizes, more they can get them in.”

Victoria sighed, she wanted to cheer Noelle up, not take pictures, but she put on a good smile, and would oblige. Next chance she got she spoke to Noelle.

“Been awhile since you’ve had a chance to pick out some nice clothes for me, thought you might enjoy it…”

Victoria sighed, she’d spoken badly at the cafe, and now her attempt to cheer Noelle up was being hijacked. Sure, the pictures were nice, and every little thing like this helped, but it hadn’t been what Victoria had wanted from coming here.

“Either that, or I was going to spend some time finding other hotspots you might enjoy while we were browsing.”

“Don’t worry so much about me… You do you,” Noelle said, before putting on a smile while the crowd approached them, more people showing up for pictures, which didn’t take that long individually but… In a plaza like this, there were quite a lot of people, and a large amount of them seemingly recognized them from the Futures Program and from the TV interview that had aired not long ago. Still, even while annoyed by the timing of it, Noelle’s acting skills didn’t drop. She was quite good at not showing her discontent, instead giving the same kind of smile that she might give to the camera for a photoshoot…

After some minutes, the crowd had at least dispersed enough for them to start slipping away back in the direction of the store, but it hadn’t entirely. There was at least one more person who recognized them, a redhead that stood out for being an obvious foreigner around these parts, who made her way up to the pair as they were approaching. “Victoria, I know you’re probably busy or something, but you don’t mind another picture, do you?”

Victoria nodded. And took a step away from Noelle for the picture.

“No, not at all.”

She shot Noelle a glance, one Noelle knew all too well, an apology. It was obvious by now that Victoria had chosen the plaza not for her sake, but Noelle’s. Victoria wasn’t big on crowds, and would rather still be in a book shop or a tech store, but this was more Noelle’s speed, so she’d gone with it. She posed for the girls photo, a practiced smile on her face.

“You can hold my camera, right?” said the girl, handing a Canon camera to Noelle before posing next to Victoria, placing an arm around her waist… Which caused Noelle to narrow her eyes, but she didn’t say anything, just nodding before she put another smile on her face - another fake smile, that was - and raised the camera, snapping the picture… Looked like a good and expensive camera, interestingly enough. The girl had been more prepared than someone who just had a phone on them.

Victoria was surprised by the sudden contact, but kept it hidden, once Noelle took the picture, she dropped the practiced smile for her more neutral expression. Her eyes were on the camera now, she’d never dealt with a lot of camera tech, even the video cameras on her suit were basically just adapted and not custom built. Her tech eye was never off, she could already see the thing coming apart in her mind’s eye.

“That’s quite an expensive camera for a random photo.”

She moved back over next to Noelle, and sighed. Looked like today she wouldn’t be able to do what she wanted to cheer Noelle up.

“And Noelle...tell you what, tomorrow we’ll do what you want to do, an apology for bringing up a sore topic back at the cafe.”

“It’s fine,” Noelle said with a smile - another fake smile, a smile that concealed a lot of other feelings behind it. She wasn’t going to show all that in public, however, and so to most people that didn’t know her, and maybe even to Victoria, it’d look like she was feeling a lot different than she actually did as she handed the camera back to the other girl.

“I use it for work, so…” the girl said. “Or I’m trying to, anyway. I’ve been trying to uh… Start a career in journalism… Superhero stuff specifically. Always taken my own pictures.”

“Mmm, really? Camera like that, you must be doing decent by now.”

Victoria kept the pleasantries up while she studied Noelle. She knew Noelle was mad from the cafe, but it seemed, more now. She sighed, so far she’d made three fairly bad mistakes since joining the program. Maybe that’d been a mistake to. Pissed off her teammate, pissed off someone that could beat the shit out of her, and now she’d managed to piss off her only real friend. Maybe this was a mistake…

“I mean… It’s a part time thing for now, but I’ve gotten to get up close to my heroes a few times, so I guess I can’t complain about the pay… Happened to run into you by chance, though. Just happened to be shopping around here and taking some pictures of the city,” the redhead said, with a grin, pressing her hand to Victoria’s abdomen. Which wasn’t hard, given that it was much closer to her height than Victoria’s face was. She was quite shorter. “So I guess it’s my lucky day, huh?”

“Guess so, what kind of pictures you get today? Tokyo’s pretty varied.”

Victoria glanced at Noelle, she could tell Noelle’s focus wasn’t on her anymore, but on the redhead now. If she had to guess, it was when the redhead had focused on Victoria and ignored her that that had started. She didn’t say anything, Noelle hadn’t said anything so she wasn’t going to prod. Instead she glanced at the clothing store she had been heading towards, she had been looking forward to expanding her wardrobe a bit.

“What’s your name anyway, you already know ours.”

“Sinead… Sinead Blackridge,” the girl said. “Not from around here, like you might’ve been able to tell. I’m from the States, Chicago specifically,” she added. At the same time, Noelle had sighed and started to pace off, although she wasn’t heading for the store but rather disappearing into the crowd without a word, heading in another direction, not having made it clear where she was actually going. Maybe she was headed back to Central Tokyo and the Heroplex, maybe she was going elsewhere… She hadn’t said anything to indicate either way.

Victoria sighed as she watched Noelle stalk away. Today had been a bad idea in general, it seemed, for what was the point if they didn’t both enjoy themselves. Victoria sighed, and the familiar weight on her grew a little heavier. She just couldn’t help but keep messing things up these days. She muttered to herself.

“Devront faire face à cela plus tard…”

Before turning back to Sinead, the practiced smile back on her face even if she felt she didn’t deserve to smile right now.

“Well Sinead, nice to meet you. I’d offer lunch but I just ate.”

“I mean, I’m sure we could find somewhere to go,” Sinead said with the grin that she’d had before, glancing around in the direction that Noelle had went and easing closer now that it was clear she was alone with Victoria.

“Well I had been planning on going clothes shopping, but Noelle was going to pick some things out for me and well...she’s gone now. So I suppose I can go about anywhere at this point.”

Victoria’s eyes were again looking off in the direction Noelle had disappeared. Looks like her research project for Noelle was going to have to be rushed, maybe she’d pull an allnighter tonight for it. Either way, she knew it would be one of the only ways to cheer Noelle up that Victoria wouldn’t fuck up.

“Anyway, I’ve got some free time, spent most of the day so far just wandering around Tokyo, getting to know this little section.”

“Well, I’ve got a place of my own if you don’t mind that it’s one of those little one person apartments…” said Sinead, shifting on one heel with her hand on her chin, thinking. “Or I could check our where you’re living… I hear you guys get it nice in the Futures Program.”

Victoria raised an eyebrow at these comments, that was rather fast. A pang of suspicion that she was being used for info rang through her, but she didn’t act on it for now. Instead she just chuckled.

“I’d like to see how well I’d fit in an apartment like that. As for where I’m living...it’d take time to get you cleared to visit, especially as you’re a reporter, they like to be on top of as much of that kind of thing as they can manage.”

“Don’t think the Guardians are that strict on people that other people bring in… I mean, I know some of the big city heroes like to party it up and bring people back,” chuckled Sinead, but she shrugged. “If you want to try out fitting in my apartment, we can do it though, you probably have to lean down a little bit but it’s big enough to have everything that matters… It’s the authentic starving journalist lifestyle.”

“Mmm, you know what, why not. You can come check out my place, it’ll be more comfortable for both of us than me trying to squeeze into an apartment designed for someone several feet shorter than me.”

Victoria shrugged, maybe she’d been wrong about how long it’d take, she hadn’t thought to look into that. Didn’t think she’d have any visitors besides her mother and maybe her sister. She looked down at her phone to get the directions to head back, and gestured for Sinead to follow. She glanced back at where Noelle at disappeared one last time, and resolved to make this right by morning.

[Forest State]

SEASON 1 EPISODE 9 // PROBLEMS

Collaborative post between Forest State & Durmatagno

DATE // June 17th, 2023
LOCATION // Central Tokyo, Japan
CAST // Noelle ‘Lux’ Ethier & Victoria ‘Remix’ Fawn

---

Victoria was at her desk in her room, pencil to paper, sketching away. Right now wasn’t work, no it was different. Noelle had been upset with Victoria for a few days now, and she wanted to make things right. First she’d started by letting Sinead down a little easy, so as not to kick up a fuss. Next she’d given Noelle a list of...interesting locations that she knew Noelle would appreciate. That was waiting in Noelle’s room now, and Victoria had gotten no response of that yet. So while she waited, she sketched. Buildings, people, a few crazy ideas, but mostly just random sketches. She knew what she was going to do, what she wanted to do, to properly apologize to her best friend. First though, Noelle had to be willing to talk to her, and that was what she waited on. She knew better than to press Noelle when Noelle wasn’t in the mood to talk. It tended to not go well, as Victoria had learned firsthand, though not aimed at her. She sighed and crumpled up another failed sketch, throwing it into the growing pile from the overflowing basket. Her mind wasn’t invested in this, it was to worried about how she’d screwed up. She put pencil to paper, deciding that if her mind was going to be stuck worrying about Noelle, then Noelle could at the very least be the ‘muse’ for her next sketch.

It wouldn’t be long, though, before Noelle just showed up… Knocking on the door for a moment before just stepping in. Wasn’t like she was a stranger to being around Victoria’s room, they showed up at each other’s rooms often enough that it was hardly surprising when she walked right in. “I saw what you wrote for me…” she remarked simply, her voice even - a neutral tone that hardly said anything about what she felt about all this. “I… Appreciate it. Even if I hope you understand why I was upset in the first place.”

“I do, about...both things.”

Victoria wasn’t going to inflame things by just pointing out she was concerned. She was always concerned for her friends, and it made her cautious about what they did, even if just in theory. She put down her pencil, and stood up so she could face Noelle.

“Look I’m...I’m sorry about two days ago, for everything. It was supposed to be a nice day for us and I ruined it.”

“Don’t worry too much about me…” Noelle said, folding her arms and shifting her eyes to Victoria once again. “I’m just saying that this Sinead you were talking to… Well, if she did that shit in high school with ignoring me and such, I’d have beat her up for it. You know that, I know that. And yes, this isn’t high school…” she added, her voice trailing off as she stepped slightly closer, looking up at Victoria. “But it just makes me wonder where you stand these days.”

“Don’t worry about Sinead, she’s gone. I wasn’t going to make a scene in public and she had me...distracted.”

Victoria looked down at Noelle, a little offended that Noelle would question her loyalty. With all Victoria had done for her, and stuck with her through...it hurt. It wasn’t as deep as her straight up calling Victoria a traitor, but it hurt. Still, she pushed it away. She was used to it these days, or more accurately, used to feeling very little. In a way, it was reassuring to feel the hurt instead of just being numb. She hadn’t treated Sinead harshly, she was a member of the press, and had helped Victoria, in her own way, but she’d made sure she was gone. At least from personal interactions, the hoped Sinead wouldn’t show up again for some other reason.

“We won’t be seeing her again, at least not unless she makes it into a press event.”

“And again you underestimate who you’re dealing with if you won’t even stand up to a simple journalist… As if I don’t know dozens more. As if my family isn’t involved in the press… She could complain if she wants. It’s her own damn problem caused by her, and she doesn’t have credibility… It would be, as they say, fake news,” Noelle stated with a slight sigh. “And sure, you didn’t want to make a scene… But I didn’t know that meant playing along with everything she was doing.”

“Look, she was flattering to me, I played along, got what I wanted, and dumped her. I know you can leverage that power, I can leverage my own connections when I want to, but it seemed a waste to use it on some indie reporter with only a blog.”

Victoria kept herself calm, but again the hurt was pounding at her. Noelle was judging her, and harshly. If Noelle wasn’t her friend, Victoria would have laid her out for it, but then the hurt was also because Noelle was her best friend. Victoria folded her arms as she defended herself, it’d been months since anyone had been interested in herm at least that she’d noticed. Even then, Victoria had just gotten some fun out of it, and dropped the girl. She didn’t like doing that, it’d been done to her tom many times. But for Noelle she’d do it, without even being asked.

“You’re a fucking superhero now,” Noelle said calmly. “You’re going to get pulled in a lot of different directions if you go along with whoever’s flattering you. We just had our faces on the news, after all, and even here in the junior ranks you know people follow our careers… Shit, you’ve been around it all as long as I have, it’s not like I’m saying something revolutionary towards you.”

She sighed, pausing and shrugging. “Look, I’m sorry if I sound harsh… And don’t get in your feelings about this. But I just don’t get the feeling you’ve got much trust in me, I guess. I don’t work with many people on even footing… And when I do, it’s with people that I trust. But I’m just saying it’s seemed like you don’t trust me to handle shit, recently. I get it, you’re lonely and all that… I’ve tried to help with that since I’ve always been better with handling those kinds of things and you just blew it off and gave up, but even though you won’t get with anyone I suggest to you, you’ll mess around with that stranger that I didn’t like? And back at the cafe, you doubted my capabilities… You still seem to doubt them considering you thought Sinead might be a problem for us.”

“I came here to make things better, not worse,” she added. “But you’ve gotta see things from my point of view sometimes. I’ve got my own problems too, damn it, I don’t need more of ‘em because my best friend doesn’t believe in me. Unless you believe the hype too, that I don’t have problems and that I’m just some perfect leader.”

“Noelle...of course I trust you, but...you’re also my only friend. Of course I’m going to worry, especially now that we’re dealing with new players. I don’t doubt that you could beat Vik, I’m just...paranoid about what might go wrong if you do. As for trying to help me by setting me up...I didn’t know them, and until recently, I didn’t trust myself to do much of anything. Then right as I’m starting to think I might be able to risk it again, someone shows up that’s interested in me? It wasn’t easy to resist, and obviously I failed. Even then, I still dumped her after some quick fun, and that wasn’t easy either, but I did it for you.”

Victoria sighed. She didn’t like making things difficult for Noelle, hated it in fact. It was rare that she did, but this was fresh and thus a fresh worry. Everytime it happened she worried Noelle would be done with her. Not this time it seemed, but that worry was still there.

“I know better than probably anyone that you have your own problems, I never meant to add more. I was just...worried about my friend because you’re my friend, not because I think you can’t handle it. Sinead is gone, I’ll let you handle Vik. I’m sorry okay, I never meant for any of this stupid shit to happen.”

“Never asked you to get rid of her… I’m not going to complain that you did, just don’t come back later and blame me for it, eh? I might’ve hated it… But you know I’d have stuck around regardless of what happened,” Noelle said with a slight sigh. “Thing is… I think you’re dead wrong on some things. On being paranoid about what might happen with Vik, about the whole Sinead thing. But what the fuck ever. You’re going to think you’re justified… I’m going to think I’m justified. You get the idea. I can’t say too much more about how I feel, so I’ll just say that I’ll probably be in Quebec City for a bit to clear my head of all this… And then maybe we can not talk about it when I get back.”

“I...alright, sorry Noelle.”

Victoria looked over at her bed where she’d had her phone resting, with directions to a different, slightly closer to the heroplex plaza. She’d been planning to try and finish what Sinead had interrupted, but it seemed like that wouldn’t happen for awhile. She picked up her phone and moved to delete the directions, but hesitated. Instead she saved them, so they could use them when Noelle got back.

“Guess we can start the clothes shopping when you get back then…”

“I suppose we’ve both hurt each other,” Noelle admitted… She didn’t see another option, though. Leaving for a bit and thinking things over and then coming back and not speaking about what happened before just seemed like the safest route in terms of avoiding any more problems. Not that it was foolproof in and of itself - the subjects they had spoken about now might as well have still been a minefield that could jump back into relevancy at any time after they were together once again.

“And I don’t think I’m justified, paranoia is a bit irrational. I knew I fucked up with Sinead to, but the temptation was strong and...I should just shut up now.”

“And I guess I should leave, since you’re not going to like it if I say anything more,” said Noelle, stepping away and lingering around for a few moments more before she made her move through the door, stepping out of it and shutting it behind her as she quickly made her way through the hallway to her own room, closing the door behind herself in there almost immediately afterwards too. Right now, she didn’t particularly want to be around anybody.

[Lunas Legion]

SEASON 1 EPISODE 10 // PROMO

Collaborative post between Forest State & Lunas Legion

DATE // June 30th, 2023
LOCATION // Central Tokyo, Japan
CAST // Fox ‘Heartbreaker’ Liao & Chelsea ‘Duelist’ Bianchi-Costa

---

The time since Noelle had departed had been… Calm. Not too much had happened as far as getting into the field, the team had gotten into the pattern of training, and there hadn’t been much in the way of further disputes with other teams. The opening week or so had been interesting but it seemed that right now, things were stabilizing so to speak. Team dynamics getting set. Instructors getting into the basics of what they’d be doing in the field. Not everyone that was on the team already had a hero background, after all - some weren’t picked for what they had done, but for what they could do in the future. Some faces were more or less established to different extents, other ones… Still had to make a name for themselves.

Fortunately, the Guardians were quite intent on making sure that happened before they could hit the field for real. The events of the Shibuya attacks had gotten their faces on the news and brought them some popularity… That was just a start, though. Something that had to be capitalized on if they wanted it to have long term effects. And the marketing department pretty much existed for that purpose: to make sure that regardless of what happened, the members of the Guardians kept their status, or rather, their public role… They were stars.

It was one of the first things they had to learn here at the Heroplex.

It was also the reason why Marketing Director Mi-ja Bak was observing two members of the team specifically, as they stood in front of a green screen, a camera crew taking different pictures of them in uniform while they posed with various weapons… Not the most practical weapons in an actual fight, at least in Fox’s case considering most of the time her power alone was the best asset she had in any situation, but it looked good for the posters and advertisements and such. They’d also find out, potentially for the first time, just how much more was involved in modeling than just standing around… There were instructions from the director of the photoshoot. A lot of them. And it was busy work.

Still, it was the kind of work that Chelsea was used to, given her background in a Swiss hero team; more time was spent posing for the public and making money rather than hunting down what few villains there were, and it seemed that was true even over here. She shifted the sword she’d been given slightly, mentally glaring at the impractical weapon but none of it showing on her face through practice. She knew swords, and she’d sooner take a butter knife over this terribly weighted and over-curved abomination.

The cameras continued clicking, at least until the crew behind them had the shots they wanted. And until Mi-ja decided that she had a reason to speak directly to her subjects for once, interrupting the regular operation of the camera crew which had otherwise done its thing without any instruction from her.

“Alright, that should be good for that shot,” she started, pacing in front of the green screen and turning her eyes towards the two heroes that were standing just by it. “Moving on… You two have pretty good chemistry so far, or so I’ve been told by the emails that were sent in about what I have to work with on this team. Let’s see some of that in some of these next shots… Figure out how to make it work, you have a bit of freedom here.”

“I’m not even sure what to do…” muttered Fox, who wasn’t typically the one to be found in front of a camera or green screen, and had mostly been following along after the instructions of the director - simpler things like showing off the uniform or holding up weapons, not… Trying to show the chemistry that was between her and Chelsea. Something she didn’t 100% understand herself at this point in time.

“It’s not that difficult, or at least I never found it to be.” Chelsea said, looking over the cameras, taking mental note of their positions. “Back to back’s a classic pose so we can try that first, given they’re giving us freedom for once. Besides,” Chelsea smiled. “We’ve not quite got infinite shots, but we can change them until they’re just so.”

“As if I’ve ever been good with posing and shit… And I’m a lot taller than you,” Fox said, although she listened, turning to pose how Chelsea had mentioned, not sure where to look and eventually settling for looking back in the direction of the cameras with a hint of awkwardness. Wasn’t like she had ever done this before - this was a pretty big jump from running the streets of Hong Kong and doing hero things as a… Simple way of hunting adrenaline rushes, more than anything.

“See, that’s why I’m here. For all this ‘posing and shit’ as you put it. I know what I’m doing, so I might as well help out.” Chelsea chuckled, deftly stepping so she was back to back with Fox, held held up and straight. “We look at the cameras for this one, straight ahead for the next.” Chelsea added, turning to face directly at the camera.

“I… Fine, you know best,” Fox settled, going along with the instructions as there were more flashes in the background. They’d gotten quite used to the sight of that and the sound of the clicking already. Until it stopped, and the crew seemed satisfied with what they had gotten so far.

“Get your hands on each other, we’re going to need something for the shippers,” said Mi-ja, gesturing them closer together as she stood up from her seat near the back, behind the main staff. “This one’s a directive directly from the top. Don’t know what you guys did but I guess you managed to get the attention of the Program execs somehow.”

“They like doing things like this with teams.” Chelsea said, looking over her shoulder and sighing. “Pair up some of the heroes, imply they have things, sell it for marketing and ads and more importantly the zealotry it tends to bring out.” Chelsea stepped around so she was in front of Fox; given the size difference, it was the only way they’d be arranged in photos where they were being ‘shipped’. “Put your hands wherever you would as if I was your girlfriend, you know yourself better than I do so you can position them more naturally.”

“First off, I’ve never had one, and second off, do we have a thing?” asked Fox, not moving just yet as she contemplated what to do in this situation - she was generally confident, yes, but that was when she didn’t have a camera in front of her face and the knowledge that they were taking pictures for possibly millions of people to see. “I mean, I’m not saying I’m not experienced… It’s just that… You know. I’m a bit of a player. Romantic shit’s never really been my thing.”

“Do you want a thing?” Chelsea asked bluntly, deciding not to try and avoid the matter and just address it instead. “There’s a first time for everything, and I knew what I was getting into with you if we are going to be one, so really it’s all up to you. I’d like us to be a thing, at least.”

“I dunno. It’s never been my kinda thing,” said Fox, pausing and thinking about it for a moment before she finally moved to put her arms around Chelsea - slightly awkward because of the size gap between the two of them but she managed, wrapping both of her arms around her abdomen. Although, the photographers would certainly be annoyed that Fox’s calm face had been thrown off by the current discussion. Took a lot to shake her, this was one of the few things that could come close.

“Just give it a shot, see how it goes.” Chelsea said, face still a serene mask of calmness despite her own nervousness, letting the faintest hint of a smile creep out for the photographers. “We’re stuck on a team for however many years regardless, may as well make the best of it.”

“I’ll… Think about it,” Fox settled eventually. It also wasn’t often that she had to make decisions like this, and so when she did have to make them, she’d spend some more time thinking about it than she did with most things.

“Alright, that should be good!” Mi-ja called out, and Fox pulled away once she was able to do so, stepping away with a hint of awkwardness. “I don’t think we have any more shots that we need for now… I’ll call either of you if something else comes up, alright? Have to get these ones edited and ready to use first… You should be dismissed for now.”

“Yes, that’s fine.” Chelsea nodded towards Mi-ja as she stepped away from Fox and looked back up at her. “And that’s fine, take all the time you need. Not like either of us is going anywhere for quite a while hopefully, and no hard feelings if you say no. Just friends is fine too.”

“It’s just… I dunno,” shrugged Fox as she moved to walk back towards the corridor they had come from. “Everything’s already been frustrating enough since I showed up here, I dunno if I also need someone telling me to have less fun ‘cause I have to act like I’m in a relationship or something. I don’t know if you’d even like being in a… Relationship with me. I’m not your average person.”

“Average is just another term for boring or uninteresting most of the time.” Chelsea said, following after Fox. “You don’t really need to act like you are, not all the time at least. Hell, marketing might scream at us if you do. Just be yourself, have fun, do your thing, throw the occasional romantic thing my way to remind me I’m special every once in a blue moon, I’m not going to try and cram you into some idealized cookie-cutter or something, that’d ruin the you I like the company of.”

“Didn’t know you thought that highly of it in the first place,” Fox said, stepping out into the hall, and looking out at the city view that they could see from the glass wall just ahead of them, quite high up. “If you get jealous easily… I’d warn you to stay away. Because I’ve… Never been good at tying myself down. To one place, one job, one… Person. Just telling you now, ahead of time. Before you end up mad at me for it.”

“I’m not exactly someone who bares themselves out to the world. You’re the only person on the team I’d really consider a friend on the team, hence why you get to hear about it.” Chelsea said as she stopped beside Fox, crossing her arms. “And I suppose I might get a bit jealous, a bit mad, maybe for a while, but then I’ll remember who I’m dealing with and why I like you in the first place.” Chelsea added, smirking and lightly elbowing Fox in the side. “If I do, for whatever reason and despite knowing what I’m getting into in full, I’ll apologise for it quickly afterwards, okay? Promise.”

“If you wanna risk that… I guess we can give it a try,” Fox said reluctantly, wondering in the back of her mind if she would come to regret what she was saying now… But she had never been the cautious type. Someone more cautious might have stuck to their notions and not budged. But Fox… She did have a tendency to jump into things. She could just hope that this time she was jumping into something that would turn out well, and not something that she’d question her decision on when the dust had cleared and it was possible to get a 20/20 view of the past.

“And here I thought I was the cautious one of the pair of us.” Chelsea laughed, leaning her head against Fox’s shoulder. “But I suppose I do. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that. Anyways, what’d you want to do now? Still plenty of hours in the day.”

It took Fox a moment to reply, considering she didn’t have an answer on hand right away. “I dunno… Haven’t done a ton of relaxing since getting here, really. Maybe head out driving. It’s usually a good enough distraction from the other stuff…”

“Yeah, we can do that,if you don’t mind me coming along. Your car’s pretty nice. Mine’s still back home, shipping it out is… Problematic.” Chelsea nodded. Mostly she hadn’t seen the need to get her own car shipped over, not to mention it was a long way from Switzerland to Japan. “You’ll either love it or you’ll hate it if you want to see pics.”

“You kind of seem like a black sedan type of person to me,” shrugged Fox as they continued, ending up in an elevator that would take them closer to the garage on the lower levels. “Then again… I haven’t seen it, so I could be wrong.”

“Please, I have to be a bit eye-catching somehow.” Chelsea rolled her eyes, following after Fox. “I’ll show you pictures when I get back, I have a black sedan for when I have something formal or for driving to work or whatever, but it’s hardly my pride and joy. It’ll be a surprise.”

“We’ll see,” Fox said… They moved through the building quickly until they were in the garage. There were multiple levels and a number of spots of course, but Fox seemed to know just which one she was going for, and she walked until they were standing outside of her red Ferrari, one of the first things she’d bought after joining the Program and acquiring sponsors. “...Guess this is our first time going anywhere together as a ‘thing.’”

“Yeah, but I can’t really object.” Chelsea said as she moved around to the passenger side, leaning on the roof of the Ferrari. “Drive until we get bored or we see something interesting to stop at?” Chelsea added as she opened the passenger door, climbing inside.

“Guess that’s what we’ll do…” said Fox, shutting the door behind herself as she entered the driver’s side, switching on the engine before shifting gears and stepping on the gas to tear out of the parking spot quickly, causing the roar of the engine to echo around the confined space of the garage as they tore towards the ramp that’d lead down to the street… But even though she’d taken this path many times, the circumstances were still very much a new thing to her.

[Forest State]

---

SEASON 1 EPISODE 11 // FIRESTORM PT. 1

Collaborative post between Forest State & Lunas Legion

DATE // July 15th, 2023
LOCATION // Tokyo, Japan
CAST // Noelle ‘Lux’ Ethier & Olympia ‘Gladiator’ Galatas

---

Tokyo was a dangerous place…

That wasn’t to say that it was the same as some of the more crime riddled places of the world, but the large population and the presence of metahumans always meant there was never a shortage of people willing to do harm rather than good with their abilities. Maybe it was a cynical outlook, but it seemed like out of the metahumans who stepped away from a normal life, there were more villains than heroes - more people to be stopped than people on the job of stopping them. It was an uphill battle for those who did stand up for the side of justice… Even if their own motives weren’t always in ‘the right place.’

And then sometimes, there were incidents like this… The one that had hit social media within a minute of it happening, that had already caused a number of civilian deaths, that had captured the attention of the country in the span of moments as news stations switched from their usual coverage to showing the scene in downtown Tokyo… Incidents like this where no one even knew if a metahuman was involved. But from the scale of the destruction, it was expected that the result would be something along those lines.

Sure, maybe it was terrorism, or maybe it was one person who’d gone mad and decided to go out with a bang - maybe literally in this case, considering the situation and the fires that were rising above the city streets. There had been an explosion, definitely. But just because it was possibly terrorism didn’t mean the perpetrator was human… This wasn’t ordinary. It was the kind of thing, though, that was far easier when powers were brought into the mix.

The building belonged to XR Industries - they’d come to prominence in South Korea after World War Two, and had been one of the largest conglomerates to emerge from the Korean War. Expansion to Japan had only been a matter of time and it was said that XR rivaled even the domestic Japanese electronics industry when it came to producing the most cutting edge of technologies. And yet, right now, the headquarters of XR of Japan was on fire, a gaping breach left in the side of the building where the explosion had presumably happened, twisted steel visible and shattered glass lining the ground below. The authorities said the building wasn’t entirely stable. The Guardians had been called, and they were currently consulting with metahuman engineers to see if it was possible to make a quick set of repairs that would keep the building collapsing.

As one of those engineers had said, “it had to be a 5,000 pound bomb or something alone those lines.”

Could the crime be corporate in nature? Possibly, but that didn’t rule out a metahuman being involved - if anything, it made it more likely. Someone with corporate connections could spend more hiring a metahuman to do something like this… Most terror groups just trying to push an agenda didn’t have the resources to plan something on this scale. Although, them having an inside man wasn’t impossible. Or a metahuman acting alone, or even a regular non metahuman who simply had the resources and know how to make something like this happen conventionally.

The fact that they didn’t know which of these theories was true was the reason why out of all the government agencies that would be interested in this, the Metahuman Affairs Department was one of the first - as a part of the Ministry of Justice, they handled metahuman related tasks that didn’t fall to the Guardians or local authorities… And terrorism was one of the fields they covered. It wasn’t guaranteed that there was a metahuman involved.

There was just good reason to believe that there was. Good reason was the only thing that the MAD needed to get themselves involved.

Ayami Fukasawa, MAD Investigator.

“Ayami,” said a male voice, stirring his coworker from her smoking break, just outside of the Department’s headquarters in Tokyo. “You know… Smoking ain’t good for you.”

“Nice to see you too, Kazuma…” Ayami replied in a sarcastic tone, looking up and standing straighter off of the wall, smoothing out the business suit and skirt that she wore. “Doesn’t matter. Med tech is better now - if I have problems I’ll just have them fix them.”

“Never been one to put that much faith in technology. More power to you, I guess,” Kazuma said with a slight shrug before gesturing away from the alleyway where Ayami was standing. “Came here looking for you because the Chief says you aren’t answering your phone.”

“Oh? Huh, I think I had it off. Didn’t feel like all the distractions,” Ayami admitted, taking her phone out of her jacket pocket and checking to see if she indeed had missed messages. “There a reason I’m needed or…?”

Her coworker would just smile at her. “Big shit is going down… Well, check your phone while we walk if you don’t believe me. Hell, I’m pretty sure Chigusa is going to chew us out just for not getting to her office as soon as it happened… It’s been like thirty minutes or something, but apparently we’re supposed to head down and check it out already…”

“Give me the lowdown, if it’s so important. Preferably quickly.”

“Massive explosion at the XR Industries of Japan HQ, possible terrorist action. They’re saying if nothing is done soon, the building might come down… Guardians engineers on the scene - you know, the metahuman ones - looking at it and seeing if there’s anything they can put up to keep it from collapsing under the fire. Bunch of people already dead. More injured. And you know, they’re already talking about how this might cause an incident with Korea, a lot of people are thinking it happened because XR is a Korean company. It’s a total shitshow, apparently we have to look into it ourselves and see if there’s metahumans involved,” Kazuma said with a slight shrug. “Not sure if we’ll find anything but shit, ‘least it’s not boring.”

“Mmm,” muttered Ayami. They had their work cut out for them as they entered the large building ahead of them, both of the pair curious about whether or not the MAD would end up drawn in further with this case… It was unusual to say the least. From the sound of the scale of it, it would dominate national headlines for weeks… Could this be the first time the two of them had a hand in dealing with something this big? They’d just have to wait until they reached the Chief’s office and see for themselves…

---

“Now that’s just… Fuckin’ weird.” Olympia commented, mostly to herself from where she was sprawled out across a couch in the Guardians lounge, a bored look on her face. She couldn’t quite pin it down, she was used to dealing with things of a lower level than this, but it just seemed… Off to her in some way. No known motive, which, in her own experiences of being a vigilante, was by far the easiest way to figure out who did what, but they’d used a rather large explosive and that meant resources.

So it wasn’t just some random attack. Which was where it got weird in her head. Corporations didn’t just get bombed. Embassies, government buildings, public places, landmarks, big, obvious things… Those all tended to attract terrorists, but some random corporation? They didn’t just end up with massive explosions. She couldn’t get very far just hypothesising though, so she sighed and turned her attention back to the news broadcast. Wasn’t like she had much better to do right now.

“You’re wondering why some place like XR of Japan would get hit by something like this.”

The voice behind her was one that hadn’t been heard in… Weeks. The arguable leader of their team, even if she hadn’t technically been crowned with that title yet. One of the more recognizable members of the Program, and definitely one of the most ambitious - Noelle Ethier, of course, who had recently been away in Quebec City. According to her, it had been to clear her mind. For those in the know, it was clear it was because of the… Turbulence of her early time on this team. “I sure picked some time to come back at…”

“Suppose you did. Welcome back anyways.” Olympia gave a lazy wave behind her, not turning to look, more focused on the news in front of her. “I’m not like a cop or anything, but vigilante-dom means you kinda end up with a knack for this stuff, and that-” Olympia jabbed a hand out angrily at the screen. “Makes no sense. If it was a terror attack, they’d do something more… Public. If it was corporate, why would they bomb XR in Japan and not back in Korea? If it was anti-Korean, why a company and, I dunno, not the embassy or a consulate or something and why hasn’t some group claimed responsibility already? If it was political, last part again. Makes fuck all sense, and the fact that it’s a 5K pound bomb means it ain’t some random attack outta nowhere. That takes resources to make and use the thing, can’t just pack it in a suitcase. You’d need, like, a missile.” Olympia groaned. “It fuckin’ offends me with its unknowness.”

“Counterpoint… XR is a big company. Big enough to be one of the faces in Korea - they have their fair share of enemies around here. They stretch into pretty much every industry and there’s some people that aren’t happy about seeing XR owned K-Pop groups on TV all the time here and seeing the big Japanese electronics companies having their market share cut into by a foreign rival like this… Or so I’ve heard. It’s been written about,” Noelle stated in reply, pacing behind Olympia, her eyes directed towards the television. She furrowed her brow - she wasn’t sure of the situation either. She could simply offer more context for it. “So I think striking XR could be a blow to its parent nation… But like you said. No one has come forward exactly. But as another scenario… What if this was a corporate conflict gone hot? Big explosion might have a purpose - take out something or someone. And leave no one around the blast site as a potential survivor.”

“Basically…” she continued, stopping her pacing and turning her head fully to face the TV, folding her arms in thought as she allowed her words to trail off and lingered. “Someone might’ve wanted someone else dead. But if it really was a five thousand pound bomb… You have to include the prospect of an inside man. Which might complicate it, might not. I mean, how would some random infiltrator sneak in something that heavy? You need equipment just to carry it.”

“If you want someone dead, you send a much smaller bomb to their house, not a… Bomb that large to their office.” Olympia shrugged, rolling over to look up at Noelle. “Or you hire a sniper, or a metahuman assassin. Not blowing up half a building to kill one guy.” Olympia paused. “Unless, well, the whole point is killing someone without it being obvious they’re a target. As for the whole corporate war gone hot, one, hell of a way to announce it, two, why Japan and not Korea? If they can get a 5K pound bomb or missile warhead or whatever to level a building here, they could do it for their HQ is Seoul, or somewhere else in Korea. Hits closer to home for XR. Nah, they picked this building specifically. And they picked such a loud, public and destructive method specifically. Only question is why and we have zero fuckin’ clues on that.”

“If one person was based out of this building, that might be the reason why it was the target… Then again, I can’t say I know for sure. There’s still holes in the theory. How they were able to get the explosives inside, why they went with the method they did, why there’s no one claiming it if it was meant to be a public thing… Hmm. I have the feeling we’ll see a lot more about this on the news,” Noelle shrugged. “It’s a pretty long fucking way from being over.”

“Inside, well, how I’d do it is find some low level guy, like a janitor. Give him a shit-ton of money to move parts of the bomb in one at a time and instructions on how to fit them all together. If you can even split a bomb up like that.” Olympia shrugged. “Either that or teleport the thing inside. Put it in a truck, guy with power to teleport objects within visual range dumps the bomb into the building. Kaboom. But if they’re going after one guy, and they’re doing it loud, then we probably better wait for a known casualties list. Pick out possible targets, lends more weight to the big flashy terror plot but actually assassination theory.”

“Until we see more from the site… Hard to tell what happened. I’d be interested in seeing if there’s a… Well, some kind of weapons loader present or if it’s like you said, and powers were used. The remnants of a loader, anyway. Would have been destroyed in the blast, but there should be some fragments,” Noelle said before pausing, looking at Olympia directly. “I like your thinking, though… You seem smarter than most vigilantes. A lot of ‘em are dumb as shit, but I guess that’s why you got out from it and ended up here.”

“Thanks, I think. I had a pretty good group, so that helped.” Olympia sighed. “Sure, we had our share of stupid moments, but once you realise it’s kinda pretty fuckin’ stupid just prancing around a city hoping to run into bad guys to kick ass you have to start doing research, getting into heads. That and listen in on police bands. Stupid vigilantes don’t remain vigilantes or stupid for long.”

“And you made it out,” Noelle said plainly. Not really a true statement, but more probing Olympia and seeing how she reacted - testing her reaction and her ideas about leaving the… More amateur and grimier side of hero work. Perhaps how she felt about it, and adapting to life around the Heroplex.

“Suppose I did. Kinda miss it in some ways.” Olympia said, staring up at the ceiling. “It’s… Weird. Not having to have a timer on everything until the cops or actual heroes show up whenever you’re doing stuff, everything PR related and not just posting shit out onto the Internet for shits and giggles and trash talk. Not having to hide it is the oddest part. Kinda surreal, when you’re having to wonder ‘shit how do I explain these injuries’ while trying to balance however many part-time jobs at once and now I can walk around with my face out and not worry about a thing.”

“Let me give you a word of advice… You aren’t on the streets anymore. Can’t really just post shit on the internet anymore. Not everyone is going to like you. Some people will dig through everything you’ve ever said, looking for faults. And considering you’re from… A more blue collar background, you’ve probably said a thing or two that might get on the nerves of the more… Sheltered types. You’re not that big now, relatively - at some point, you might be. Ain’t a matter of if you piss someone off, it’s a matter of when,” Noelle stated calmly, offering a slight shrug. “So you know, it’s better to find the old parts of you… The parts of you that wouldn’t jive with this… And kill ‘em now before it’s a problem. If you really want to go all the way with it, that is. Some people prefer to fly under the radar… Obviously, I’ve gone the complete opposite direction but at the end of the day, I can’t blame them. Not every part of the game’s for every person.”

“Kinda hard to just decide to kill part of you.” Olympia said, shifting her hands so they were behind her head. “Not exactly afraid to piss people off either, but not exactly PR friendly to piss people off now is it? And that’s how you get cnnedd” Olympia sighed, shutting her eyes. “Not exactly the type of call I can make at the snap of fingers, and I’ve got, like, two years or something as a trainee here, so I’ve got time.”

“You think I like that side of the business either? I’m not saying you should be afraid of pissing people off… I’m saying that if you piss the wrong people off, they’ll fucking destroy you. All the heroic feats in the world aren’t going to matter if enough people that have sway with this kind of thing decide they have something against you… Sure, there’s some people that are immune. You know, the ones established enough to survive it. But you’re not exactly that established, are you? Sure, some people will support you… Plenty of ‘em will just jump on the bandwagon to destroy the ‘problematic’ Guardians trainee. Only way to win one hundred percent of the time is not to give ‘em something to get you with in the first place,” Noelle continued. “There’s a reason… Why there’s a lot of metahumans but only so many of ‘em are here. It’s not just a demanding job in the physical sense.”

“Yeah.” Olympia said, pausing for a moment. “I know myself, and sooner or later I will fuck up somehow. Probably. This ain’t what I’m used to after all, so I did what worked back when I was a vigilante and we pissed off… Someone slightly too powerful for us to handle. Lay low, keep an eye on things, in this case see how shit works, not do anything that could be remotely considered stupid.”

“There’s a staff around here for a reason. You know, Brenna has this title saying she’s the director of operations… What do you think ‘operations’ means? Yeah some of it is logistical shit like making sure everyone that lives in this complex has stuff to eat and keeping the pipes working right and shit, but some of it is managing us. Keeping us from walking into anything that’s going to backfire. There’s people you can talk to about that kind of thing. Planners, I guess. You’re not used to it, I suppose, but well… It’s a start,” Noelle stated. “And my family’s company handles that, among other things. The staff around here do stuff for us for free, though. I’m not that generous, all things considered… Even if I’m telling you this stuff now because you’ve impressed me.”

“Not sure how I impressed you, not like I’ve done all that much bar hold my own and not fuck up and get myself shot, again, but thanks anyways.” Olympia said, smiling as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, leaning against the arm of the couch. “Not exactly used to having any support structure or help or whatever at all, more used to the get thrown in metaphorical deep end and learn by not drowning type of thing. I’ll drop by her at some point, probably later on today since fuck knows just lazing around in front of the TV is gonna rot my already limited number of brain cells.”

“Trying not to drown is only going to work for so long. Especially when you’re not just up against low level villains and petty criminals, but legit opponents, even setting aside the stuff with PR and the like. You’re not just trying to keep your head above the water… You’re trying to climb up from the depths while you’re being circled by sharks. Never forget what business you’re in just because it’s glamorous sometimes. If it was easy… Everyone would do it,” Noelle concluded. “And as for what I saw… Let’s just say I like your intuition. Not everyone’s got it. I’d rather have you on this team than someone with a bunch of powers and experience that can’t think. We’re going to make million dollar moves at Crimson… You’ll presumably be a part of it.”

“I’d hope so, since if I’m not I’ve been kicked off.” Olympia said dryly, grinning slightly. “And honestly, that type of struggle’s the type of thing I live for. Sure, it might be stupid, but I need something to fight and overcome, the harder the better. Doesn’t mean I go straight for the hardest asshole available, gotta work your way up to that, but thanks for the advice on the working the way up there. God knows I’ll do my best to keep my dumb ass from getting itself thrown out the window, literally or metaphorically. It’s not fun and I speak from experience.”

Noelle paused, shifting on her heel and then tossing her phone to Olympia, waiting for her to catch it. “You can take my number,” she said. “If I’m going to push to be captain or whatever when they name those, I might as well look after my team. Even if it means giving up some free help that I might not have done usually. Sometimes… Being a leader’s more important.”

Olympia caught the phone with one hand, her power having given her fairly good reflexes so she didn’t even really think about the motion. “I won’t abuse it, not exactly used to help being available.” She said, looking down at it before looking back up at Noelle. “Thanks, though. For the I haven’t been counting how many times I said it. I’ll figure out some way to pay you back eventually for the help, still owe my teammate a decent amount for paying someone to heal my younger, dumber self multiple times.”

“Sponsor cash is where it’s at. But then again… I imagine you’re new to that also. I guess I can call about it, later. It’s not always fun to deal with,” shrugged Noelle. “But at least it tends to get you free shit and cash to spend on what you actually want.”

“I’m new to literally all this so yeah. Although my view on cash is probably massively skewed compared to yours, most cash I ever had was, well, in hard cash and we kinda stole that from a drug dealer one time.” Olympia nodded. “I’m sure sponsors will come up eventually, so if you could tell me how not to get fucked over that’d be great.”

“You want to go into further debt with me?” Noelle chuckled, raising an eyebrow. “Although, I’m not that demanding of a person… Not for my friends, really. I can figure something out. Tell you a couple things, tell you a couple people to call. Obviously I pretty much grew up with these kinds of people, contract lawyers and stuff, all around me. So I know how they operate pretty well.”

“I mean, I’m in deep enough debt already probably so I’ll take it.” Olympia shrugged. “Better it’s all with one person, makes it easier to keep track and not butt heads. Power’s kinda begging for sports companies and the like so it’ll probably be one of those, if I get lucky that is.”

“Mmm. I’ll see what I can do,” Noelle stated, nodding. “I’m going to look for the others and see what they think about this whole XR thing, but I’ll make sure to call you later,” she added, taking a few tentative steps to the edge of the room and the doorway that was located there. She turned, flicking her hair out of her face and pressing a couple of fingers to her lips before blowing a kiss in the direction of Olympia… Her typical extravagant style, maybe, or something more. Was hard to say which it was. “Au revoir…”

“Antio.” Olympia said, waving a hand lazily in Noelle’s direction as she watched her leave, turning her attention back to the news and settling back into her sprawled out position.

[Durmatagno]

SEASON 1 EPISODE 11 // FIRESTORM PT. 2

Collaborative post between Forest State & Durmatagno

DATE // July 15th, 2023
LOCATION // Tokyo, Japan
CAST // Noelle ‘Lux’ Ethier & Victoria ‘Remix’ Fawn

---

Victoria frowned looking down at the notebook open in her lap. With how badly she’d been messing things up lately, she’d decided to just immerse herself in her personal projects again. What she was currently working on had long only been a theory. Programming wasn’t her strongest skill, though she could do it, she’d programmed her HUD after all. She believed the true potential of her suit wouldn’t be unlocked without a simulacrum running it. Not a true AI, not that was beyond her capabilities, and way to much for her smaller suit, maybe the heaviest designs she had sketched up, but nothing she’d built. Intelligent, able to talk, and respond to commands as well as adapting to new situations, sorta a mid-point between general computer guidance and true AI. She sighed and closed the notebook, it was just theory in her shorthand so she didn’t worry about anyone else finding it. Her concern now needed to be the recent attack. Still, having worked on this a little would help her focus. Standing up, she stretched and left the notebook where she’d been sitting. She had to actually do work now.

First though, first was one of those things she’d messed up, and hard. She sighed, and took a deep breath. This wasn’t going to be pleasant, but it was something she’d have to do eventually. Might as well do it now while she still had the nerve. She took one last deep breath, and went to go find Fox. After a few moments, she found her, and stopped nearby. She looked at Fox straight, Victoria was many things but a coward was not one of them.

“Fox, can we...talk about this Gina thing?”

Fox happened to be in the gym at the moment, working on toning her muscles further through striking at a punching bag that was hanging from the ceiling - her body slicked with sweat, although she didn’t look too tired, and a pair of eighteen ounce gloves on either hand. She paused when Victoria entered, however, dropping her stance and swinging her head around to face the source of the disturbance. “Didn’t you already say what you were going to say with that?” Fox asked plainly, not really amused by Victoria approaching her but not turning her away either. She too, after all, was curious about how this would end up resolved eventually.

“Look I...I legitimately didn’t mean to get in your way that day. Just wanted a few minutes to talk before moving on because I had no clue how long you were going to spend with her. I should have said something, instead of just tagging on and interrupting you. I’m sorry Fox, I don’t have any real interest in Gina, just wanted to meet her real quick.”

Victoria wasn’t saying everything, she thought Gina was hot, but then, it was hard not to. Still, no one she barely knew was worth fighting over in Victoria’s mind. It was plain to her that Fox wasn’t going to stop being angry with her unless she took steps to make Fox understand she wasn’t going to be doing anything with Gina. Oh she wanted to, but she wouldn’t. Victoria kept her word, even if the person that knew that best had also been hurt by her, she wasn’t going to stop keeping her word just because she really disliked herself right now.

“And you picked that time?” Fox said, raising an eyebrow and turning to face Victoria directly. “Look, I can’t know what’s in your head or anything, I also don’t have a lie detector, I can just tell you how it looked… Which is why I’m tryna’ get you to back off, I suppose…”

“I’m not great with people, it was just a big social event so I used to talk to her for a bit, and yeah, the timing was shit. No need to get me to back off, I was never after anything in the first place, except maybe a new friend.”

“As if you didn’t know damn well what you were messing with. Going to Gina just to look for… A friend?” Fox asked, pacing back and forth now, letting out a slight sigh. “I mean… Not impossible. Don’t know if you’re the person I want to take at your word, though.”

“I don’t have much luck swinging at people, don’t believe me you can ask Noelle. So yeah, at that point in time, I was just looking for a friend.”

“So you’re asking me to back off or something?” Fox asked, stopping where she was and shifting her eyes to Victoria, reaching up with one arm and wiping the sweat off her face. “Like I said, don’t know if I should take you at your word… But meh. Guess I can manage to get along.”

“All I’m asking really is to not be constantly angry with me, at least over this. I fuck something else up it’s understandable, but this...this was entirely my fault, and I’m tellin’ you I’m not going to mess with Gina.”

“I’ll hold you to it… But I stick to my word, too. Break yours, and we’ll have problems. I’ll stick to mine, assuming you don’t,” Fox shrugged eventually - not sure what she was agreeing to, entirely, or rather not sure about how good of an idea it was, but she figured if Victoria did go back on her word… She’d have more of a justification to be upset. And to make things a bit more open.

“Understandable.”

Victoria didn’t want to say much more so she didn’t have another foot in mouth moment. She still had to keep in mind to pretty much never mention Sinead or anything around her to Noelle again. She supposed this would be much easier, just don’t mess around with Gina. She nodded, and turned to let Fox get back to what she was doing. Victoria wanted to get some quick work done on her suit before they deployed again.

She’d find herself interrupted, though, by one of the faces that was more important around this place - the operations director, Brenna Evanson. Seemed there was something important happening, if she was looking for someone in specific, considering the entire facility and all of the people in the Program were technically under her jurisdiction. Which meant that when she was looking for one person in specific… It was usually because of something relevant.

“And there you are… How much do you know about the situation downtown? Come on, start walking with me… We’re working on a deployment about that right now. Some of you from the Futures Program are coming along,” Brenna said quickly. “So let’s not waste much time.”

“Uhhh, nothing? Up until literally five minutes ago I was in my room working on something for my suit.”

Victoria didn’t know what was going on, but if they were bringing them along, it was serious but not so serious that they were scrambling everyone. Explosion? Armed Robbery? Big Meta threat? She had no clue, just now she knew that her HUD tweaks and getting the power infrastructure ready to support an increased load wasn’t in the cards for now. Instead she’d be deploying.

“What’s going on?”


“Big explosion happened at XR Industries of Japan, most likely some kind of terrorist action… Lot of building damage is on our hands, people are dead, and generally things are shit at the moment,” Brenna explained as they started walking. “Everything’s already said and done right now but we’re sending down a few people to investigate around the scene of the attack. Or one of the attacks, anyway. Other things have happened in Tokyo, but it’s hard to see if this is connected to anything else… Part of the reason we’re investigating. That, and getting people there before the Ministry of Justice can take over the case.”

“Right…”

Victoria’s mind was already thinking more about what she could do than what happened. That’d take time and evidence to piece together. Both things she could help with. Maybe. Probably. Hopefully. Anyway, she was better suited for dealing with investigations than most, her powers helped give her a unique insight into things, especially when combined with her general training and skills.

“Your friend that just got back today is also heading on this trip. So if you’ll follow me, you can get changed into your armor and go over things with her before heading into the city. But avoid spending too much time on that. It’s all of the essence,” Brenna stated as she kept up her brisk pace and headed in the direction of the locker room where Crimson would usually get ready before going into the field. Today, however, they weren’t just heading out for something minor like a few patrols or a public appearance. Even if it was said that things were said and done… It was had to shake the sense that there was a certain danger to this assignment. Whoever had staged this, after all, was quite strong. “You can receive further information about the situation as you deploy.”

Victoria nodded and easily kept pace with Brenna. Thankfully one of Victoria’s big concerns with her base armor was the speed of putting it on and taking it off, though it had locks built into it. Once they got down to the locker room, she’d be able to get ready pretty quickly. From there she’d be able to spend that little bit of time to go over things before they deployed. Hopefully things weren’t as...strained with Noelle now, she’d missed her...only friend. Only friend she could see regularly anyway.

The locker room was laid out as it usually was - different spaces for the different members of the team, a table in the middle, seating near the corners. The color scheme matched that of the team itself, the different teams having different rooms. In the case of Crimson, theirs had a white design with crimson highlights, the team color also reflected in the lighting which was a dim red that cast an interesting glow over the room. Seemed fitting enough. They might as well be on red alert right now, and it seemed like the light just reflected that.

Victoria’s armor was already waiting for her inside, and she would also see a face she hadn’t seen in weeks. Noelle was already prepared, but waiting for Victoria to come and get ready after having received a similar briefing. “Long time, no see,” she said, offering a slight wave but otherwise staying where she was against the wall when Victoria entered. “It’s a pretty… Interesting day to come back to…”

“Good to see you Noelle.”

Victoria moved up to her armor. In this powered down state the armor had to be manually unlocked, which didn’t take Victoria long. She’d practiced it plenty, just to make sure she could put the armor on as quickly as possible.

“Missed whatever happened, Brenna gave a quick brief, but I was...working in my room.”

Victoria pulled her armor on, starting with the greaves and boots, and working her way up. The helmet was the last thing, she pulled it over her head and powered up the suits battery. Even if she was powering the suit herself the battery needed to be on to recharge, looked good for now, but she wanted to be sure. She grabbed one of the two cannons she’d dubbed metakinetic cannons, a long explanation, and attached it over her left hand, where it unfolded to let her hand still be free. When she activated it, it would move forward and remerger as a functioning channel for her powers, creating the cannon that she needed.

“You got any details other than bombing, possible terror strike?”

Her voice was slightly muffled by her suit, but still clear enough to understand. In the field she’d just go straight to comms, and had a built in mic just in case.

“There’s a lot of things it could have been… It’s hard to narrow down details when the Guardians haven’t seen much of the crime scene yet. And it’s not like everyone else knows much, either… Whether that’s the means it was carried out exactly, what the intention behind it was, or who did it in the first place. I had a theory about a corporate conflict going hot, but there’s some things that make that less likely, but there’s also things making all the other theories less likely, too…” said Noelle in reply, starting to move towards the set of doors at the other end of the room. “So basically… No one knows anything more than anyone else at this point.”

“Kinda guessed, was just curious.”

Victoria moved to follow Noelle, now that her suit was on her other prep could be done in transit. Double checking what few computerized systems there were, making sure the HUD was linked to the cannon. She didn’t expect combat, but if they had to fight she could. No, she was expecting her HUD to be her most valuable tool here for sifting through the crime scene.

Noelle just nodded as they walked through the doorways, through another hallway, and towards an elevator where they would be joined by Brenna before going down towards the garage - from there, an armored van with the Guardians symbol on the side, the vehicle itself painted in dark blue, was already waiting for them. Wasn’t always the means of transportation they used, of course, with air travel being the quickest and easiest way of getting somewhere, but when the distances were short enough there was some merit in using a van like this instead. The back of the van was opened. Noelle was inside first, and then Brenna moved over towards it and looked at Victoria. “Better get inside… The ride is only about five or so minutes from here.”

Victoria didn’t really need to be told, she was already climbing in. Her size made things a little awkward, she always took up way to much space, but it was better than normal planes. She hated flying, even first class was cramped for her. She took her seat and waited while the last diagnostics finished before she worked on syncing the HUD to the cannon. She was practiced without the HUD assist, but it made things easier. She looked over at Noelle, visor hiding the look on her own face. She was worried Noelle was still angry with her. She leaned back and settled into her seat, moving her eyes away, no need to bring anything up.

Noelle didn’t say anything for now. She didn’t keep her eyes on anything in particular as the van accelerated and headed for the garage exit and eventually ended up moving around the Tokyo traffic to get onto a path towards their destination. There seemed to be an influx of emergency vehicles on the road at this moment. Made sense, considering how close they were to the place where something major had just went down. They took longer than Brenna had predicted, but only by a small margin. And then the van came to a hard stop and pulled to the side of the road.

When the doors opened once again and they stepped out, they would see the crime scene in full in front of them - smoke was still billowing out of the gap in the building, where the explosion had hit, due to the fire that was currently being controlled as best as possible. Remnants of shattered glass and broken steel were still on the ground, having not been moved since the event itself. There were also lines of police tape blocking the street. Personnel were on hand, both from the regular police and from the Ministry of Justice. The Guardians, of course, would be able to get through with no problem. That wasn’t the case for everyone. The area was pretty restricted at the moment, and blocking traffic completely.

“Come on, we’re going to take a look at the damages for ourselves. Or what we can get to without heading too close to the section of the building that’s still burning, anyway,” said Brenna, ducking under the police tape and continuing on, the eyes of some of the other personnel shifting to look at the new group of Guardians that had shown up.

Victoria climbed out and stretched, looking around. First thing she did was channel into her suit to keep the battery charged up. Didn’t have to worry too much about her channels right now, so she was going to make sure her suit could keep going. After that she channeled electricity into the HUD, which would give her a clearer map of the electricity in the area than her own eyes could. She turned her focus to the building, even with the fire raging she should be able to track down roughly which room was the one this had started in, or at least narrow it down to be fairly close. The wiring damage would give her hints, as well as where the fires were still raging. It was only a start, and fuzzy at that, but they had to start somewhere.

Brenna already seemed to have an idea of where to go, however, from the reports the Guardians had already received on what had happened. There was a winding set of stairs in the lobby, and she led them up a number of floors using them, until they ended up on the one floor in specific that marked the initial point of attack based on what the authorities knew. “Here we are,” she said. “The area marked off by tape is believed to be where the explosives were,” she added, gesturing to a spot which wasn’t far from the window. It explained why the damage was so visible from the outside. “Outside of that… We know that this floor was mainly used by the research and development department. Which is quite large, obviously, since XR specializes in advanced electronics and the like. The explosion itself was said to go off while work here was still going on - you’ll find that towards the other end of the floor, that was far away enough to not get wiped out, much of the surviving equipment is laptops that were dedicated towards this field.”

Victoria tracked her eyes around the room, she could already see plenty of non-obvious evidence from the bomb. Well, non-obvious to unaided eyes. Electrical shorts, ripped wiring, and so on. The surviving equipment was probably going to have hints as to what happened, but that’d take time to go through. Well, they knew what happened, more what the motive was and who.

“There any security footage? I might also be able to get some damage equipment, computers and the like, running again.”

“The explosion itself wasn’t caught on camera… Just the effects on the area around it. Not enough coverage to get it itself,” Brenna said, shaking her head and letting out a slight sigh. “Which is why our most likely route for figuring this thing out is going to be piecing together fragments from the blast site and seeing what we find.”

“Like I said, I can probably repair any salvageable equipment, and if we can find enough of the bomb, piece the casing back together, though that’ll take longer.”

Victoria looked over at Noelle, wondering what she was going to do. Victoria’s role in these sorts of things was fairly obvious. Machines, be they mechanical or electrical, tended to be easy for her. It was her easier to explain power, and it made piecing things together much easier for her.

“Casing alone will help the investigation.”

“As far as I know… The ones handling it right now are from the Ministry of Justice. Over there, in the blue and white jackets,” said Brenna, pointing towards the blast scene. “We’ll have to go through them if we want to do much with that beyond speculation…”

Noelle, meanwhile, said nothing. She was opting to observe, to take in the situation and who they were dealing with and any clues that could be picked up, rather than speaking her mind right now… They weren’t the only ones here. There were some others from the Guardians. The Ministry of Justice was here. If anything, Crimson found themselves not exactly in the highest spot in the ‘rankings’ of who was in charge.

“We’ll see, just saying, my powers make me particularly suited for piecing that stuff back together, same way I offered with drones”

They’d find themselves involved in a conversation with the Ministry of Justice soon enough, however, as a pair of jacketed agents approached them, their walk making it pretty clear they were headed for the group of heroes in specific and not just anything else around the floor. “More Guardians?” the first of the agents replied. “Seemed like there were enough of you around here already… This is a matter for the Ministry of Justice and the Metahuman Affairs Department,” the young woman added.

“I believe metahuman involvement isn’t off the table, which would very much make it a Guardians issue… If you can prove that there wasn’t metahuman involvement, I’m sure the Guardians will send their people back,” Noelle replied smoothly. Because really, technicalities were the best way to reply to an argument like this. An argument about jurisdiction.

“Well yes - that’s why the Metahuman Affairs Department, which me and my partner are a part of, is here. However, this is… A case of terrorism against Japan, and no active villain threat has been revealed yet,” the agent replied, furrowing her brow slightly at Noelle’s counter. Maybe she just hadn’t expected one to come.

“The Guardians handle more than just famous villains. We have as much right to be here as the MAD does,” Noelle said eventually, folding her arms and not budging, her voice calm but also resolute. Like she had decided on her path already and there wasn’t anything that could get her to change it. And so, she stated her words as a fact, not as just something she believed.

But the agent wasn’t a quitter, either. “And sending heroes in training, too? We need hands that will work on the investigation… Not ones here for PR pictures.”

Brenna, of course, was the best person to interject into the conversation given her status as the highest ranking person in the group of heroes. Even if she herself wasn’t a hero, but just someone who managed them well. “Look, if your department is covering the evidence collection and forensics already, I’d like to know if there’s anything else that can be done to help the investigation. My heroes are serious about actually doing something.”

Both of the agents gave them a look, as if they were deciding - but it was the somewhat softer one, the male, that said something finally after that brief moment where the heroes likely would’ve missed whatever knowing look had been exchanged. “There’s a number of people that are going to answer some questions about this. One of the ones that we’ve been able to get our hands on so far is the supervisor for this floor and the couple of floors around it… Guess you could call it the department. We don’t know if it will lead to anything. But asking questions could be useful.”

“It should be up to your speed,” the other agent said. With the clear implication that something more complicated wouldn’t be, due to a lack of talent for the heroes.

Victoria pulled off the helmet of her armor, she’d seen all she was going to see with it alone for now. She looked at the agents in front of her, and gave them a reassuring smile.

“Look, I know you don’t trust us because we’re still in training, but I built this armor myself. We just want to help, and with me, that means I can help piece together the casing, or salvage damaged equipment to see what can be pulled off it.”

She doubted they’d take her up on the offer, but tech was her specialty, aside from being big, and she loved working with it. Even if it was just piecing a bomb casing back together, she felt her talents were applied better somewhere other than talking to people. That was Noelle’s territory.

“With all due respect,” said the female agent. “It’s easier to handle these things without the media circus - there’s already enough Guardians here. What are you going to do that our own forensics department can’t do with less frills?”

“My particular powers are specialized towards building and repairing things, I can repair equipment, and put together that casing faster than most anyone without powers.”

Victoria didn’t take offense, they were young, and there was tension between the groups. She was just interested in getting this investigation moving more quickly.

“And thanks to how my power works, I know I’m putting it back together how it originally was, and not just one way it could be. That level of certainty is rare even among the most experienced.”

“If you want to give it a try, fine,” the agent said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the taped off part of the floor. “Forensics team is taking a look over there. See if you can do better.”

“And I suppose I’ll handle looking into the supervisor,” Noelle said with a shrug - she wasn’t going to follow Victoria into something like this. It was far from being her area of expertise.

Victoria nodded and stepped away from the group, shooting Noelle a smile and a thumbs up before she turned to approach the forensics group. She didn’t put her helmet back on, instead attaching it at her hip for now. Slightly awkward, but people had an easier time trusting her if she could see her face.

The actual scene wasn’t too remarkable, given that the blast site itself now consisted of just a hole in the floor which was taped off, and the explosive device obviously was now only made of a number of small fragments which the forensics team was working on gathering. But there were rough ideas already of just what the fragments were and what had happened - or rather, ideas about the means that had been used to cause what had happened. Seemed like a military based weapon, or so they said anyway. In this case, no one quite knew the truth.

“You can take a look at what we’ve gathered on one of those tables over there,” one of the forensic analysts told Victoria, gesturing to a spot offset from the blast site, where a few people were already working or delivering more fragments.

Victoria nodded and moved over to the table, starting with letting her machine empathy do the work for her. Not everything was here obviously, but it’d do it’s best, and she could start to piece things together after it started identifying the pieces.

“Let’s see what we’ve got…”

The pieces weren’t exactly much to work with, and it was debatable if they would ever have enough to work with. However, there was a chance they would get enough to tell them with a decent amount of certainty what had happened. At least, from the fragments that were gathered here… It would appear that this was indeed some kind of military weapon, based on the shape of what fit together and the type of residue that could be identified on the pieces.

“Yeah, definitely military, let’s see how much of it we can piece together.”

Victoria made sure no one was going to stop her before she started manipulating the fragments. Her gloves would keep her from contaminating the stuff, so now it was a matter of putting the fragments together best they would go. It’d probably just be in different clumps, but she was able to orient the thing so that if she had a corner, everything else was relative to it. It’d start giving them a rough shape, and from there, perhaps a specific kind of explosive.

While she worked, she channeled her electricity into her eyes and individual pieces. Any surviving wiring or circuitry, as unlikely as that was, would light up in her eyes. Furthermore her channels wouldn't hurt the fragments, nor leave any marks. Chances of this giving her any workable information was low, but it happened sometimes. Wiring in particular could survive under surprising circumstances, as if she found some, she might be able to use it to narrow down a specific model, which would make it easier to track down who supplied or used the thing.

As far as what could be traced, Victoria would find something peculiar - seemed to be a weapon that might have its roots right here in this very building, one of the ones produced by the wing of XR Industries that dealt with defense. Ironic? Very. But… It was hard to deny that there was at least some evidence there that this was the case. It didn’t seem like a mistake.

“Aha! I’ve found something!”

Victoria turned to look for the agents in charge of the investigation and waved them over. It’d be easier to show than just tell them. This way she would have some proof.

“Come here, this could be, no, is fairly important.”

“I sure hope it is,” the female agent who had talked to Victoria directly said, as if she didn’t full believe yet that Victoria had managed some important discovery for real. But she would listen, at least, and she and the other agent moved back over to the table to see what Victoria had found.

“It looks like the device that was used is of XR make, made by their side of things that deal with defense.”

Victoria pointed at individual identifying marks, including obscured ones. It was only a small step, but it meant that this could have been domestic, not foreign.

“Whoever did this could have been an employee, more importantly, they had access to the defense side of things. Might be an ex-employee, but it’s an origin of the device, and a possible motive. If we can find enough to piece together at least a partial serial number, we can even find out where it came from, or went missing at.”

It drew a pause from both agents, before the male one said something. “I see. We’ll continue looking into it… See if other things come up that support the idea,” he said. They hadn’t come in expecting to get much from Victoria, but if it was true, it did… Add a different dimension to the case, so to speak. One that had to be considered. There weren’t enough fragments right now to piece together more and get something like a serial number, but if they had a good idea of what the device was in the first place, narrowing down other things within the investigation would still help them out…

There was a longer way to go for this all then it had seemed at first - what had been thought to be a simple attack prompted by national disputes or corporate rivalry might just be far more complex.

[Lunas Legion]

SEASON 1 EPISODE 12 // MASKS

Collaborative post between Forest State & Lunas Legion

DATE // July 18th, 2023
LOCATION // Central Tokyo, Japan
CAST // Noelle ‘Lux’ Ethier & Olympia ‘Gladiator’ Galatas

---

Olympia was restless. She wasn’t exactly used to not having something urgent to do that absolutely needed her attention, whether it be one of her various part-time jobs, meeting up with one of her fellow vigilantes to just go out and see what trouble they could find on the streets or just going out and doing whatever they felt like doing at the time. But it meant she wasn’t good with long periods of downtime, which, it turned out, most of the stuff here was to some degree or another.

So she’d done what she usually did on one of those long days with absolutely nothing worth doing to do, find a couch in one of the common areas, flop herself down over it like a cat, and waste time watching whatever she could find on TV that was half-interesting. Maybe she should take up kendo or something, she mused, eyes half open as she watched the TV with unfocused eyes. Would at least give her something to do for a bit, even if she’d get bored beating everyone at it eventually.

She’d be interrupted by the appearance of Noelle, however - probably coming to tell her something about what they had talked about before. Career matters. Contracts. Endorsements. That kind of thing. Noelle had called a few times since their first talk, and they’d made some progress. Now, she likely had some kind of new development… Though she didn’t say anything about that so far, instead preferring to make a remark about Olympia’s current activities.

“Sitting around again?” Noelle asked, raising an eyebrow and folding her arms as she stood next to the TV. “You could be using this time to keep working…”

“Maybe I just felt like being lazy again?” Olympia shrugged. “I know, well, you know how little I know about the PR side of things so there’s not all that much I can do there alone, and I was able to fit the whole shooting bad guys part in between multiple part time jobs so I know how to fit training for that into like nothing. Might go fly later, been a while since I actually had a good chance to stretch the non-existent wings.”

“If you’re going to take time to relax,” Noelle said, not moving as she observed for a moment. “Do it to the fullest. Throw a party, head for a nice drive, do some coke… Just sitting around and watching TV is… Well, I’ll just say that you can do a lot better. Act like it.”

“Nah, this ain’t relaxing, I said I was being lazy.” Olympia smirked slightly, shifting around. “It’s about putting the least effort into something and pretty much sleeping while not actually sleeping. If I wanna relax I go fly to somewhere, hell of a lot of under-appreciated nice views out there if you go looking.”

“Look at where you are right now. You’re with the Guardians. Putting in more than the minimum is, at the least, appreciated,” Noelle countered, rolling her eyes ever so slightly. “Don’t just let me tell you that… Embrace it. Think about it. I can tell you about how to get ahead around here all I want… Not going to help much if you don’t execute, just saying.”

“Eh, true.” Olympia rolled off the couch, hovering in midair before sitting up. “Plus I’m gonna either get sore, bored or both if I sit around for too long, but everyone needs some time to just laze around and do a bit of nothing. Just a bit bored and restless, I guess.”

“Like I said… If you’re going to take time out of working, either put it back into yourself or do something that’ll actually give you more back in return. Doing nothing isn’t anything but a waste of hours in the day,” Noelle shrugged, walking around behind Olympia and placing her hands on her shoulders. “But if you’re ready to do something… I have some things to show you. Well, you could say I worked with my family for a bit on some of your career stuff and came to some decent conclusions.”

“Pretty much always ready to do something, I’m lazy when I just want time to pass.” Olympia said, looking back over her shoulder. “But anyways, no need to keep me in suspense, say whatever you’ve got for me. I know I need something to do and it’s not like there’s much else out there right now.”

It was then that Noelle gripped with a firm hand, massaging Olympia’s shoulders as she spoke. “I talked with one of the best designers I know, had some modifications made to your costume design. An overhaul, if you want to call it that. It looks better than what you’re going out there now with. Might not be what you’re used to, but I put it together with what you need in mind, not necessarily what you want.”

“Well, might as well take a look. My experience with costumes is mostly the best ways to hide body armour and faces, so… Not the type of thing anyone here’s going for really,, so I’ll take you and your designers word for it being what I need over what I want.” Olympia said, relaxing. She was the type to tense up easily, as if expecting to have to punch something at any moment. “Nothing, like, too crazy or out there I hope? Flight’s helpful for not having the most practical stuff, even if that’s what I like.”

“You can just come and see for yourself,” Noelle said with a slight shrug. “I had the company put together a prototype version, it’s in my room right now. I wouldn’t say it’s too outlandish or anything, maybe a bit more… Eye catching than what you have now. You’re a bit too high up to get away with going out in something boring, you know.”

“Kinda hard to do anything but boring when you’re putting something together from whatever you can buy in cash and isn’t too distinctive.” Olympia said. “Actually tracked down one bastard by costume purchases one time, went a bit too distinctive and didn’t buy in cash. Money trails are fun like that if you have someone who knows what they’re doing, but that’s like ancient history at this point.” Olympia added, starting to walk in the direction of the rooms. “Anyways, c’mon. Let’s go see whatever you’ve got for me.”

Noelle moved her hands, following after Olympia as they headed back around the facility towards the dorms, and in particular the one that Noelle called home - it was smaller than what she was used to living in, although none of the dorms were quite small by normal standards, but well decorated. They’d had enough time to make their dorms look how they wanted them to, and hers had some reminders of who she was and where she was from. Her status showed in the things she chose to furnish her room with, the expensive choices and designer brands reminding anyone who saw the room that money wasn’t a problem for her. And in some places there were more personal things, photographs from her past, from back when she had first risen to the heights that she was at now… She had a longer history than most, even if much of it had been spent watching the industry from the background rather than taking part in it.

“This is it,” she said, gesturing to her bed and the clothes that she had laid out in it. The new costume for Olympia, apparently - black shorts, a matching sleeveless top that wasn’t afraid to show a fair amount, as it basically didn’t cover any more than a sports bra, and an angular golden mask that basically just covered her eyes and a small bit of her upper face, more to highlight the style than to really hide much, the sides of it flaring out into golden spikes. It was also highly reflective, a contrast from the plain black of the rest of the outfit, which was also complimented by a pair of fishnet leggings. “Not sure if it’s what you’re expecting, but this is far better than anything you’ve bought with cash before.”

“I was running with a balaclava, ski goggles and whatever black clothing I had clean that day.” Olympia laughed, eyes surveying the costume. “Not entirely sure what I was expecting from this, but I can dig it. Far cry from the old one at the very least.” She stretched over, picking up the top and looking it over. “Would prefer if I had a bit of armour, or elbow and knee pads, but I can deal. Better to not get hit in the first place than need armour to save my skin.”

“Armor isn’t aesthetic,” Noelle said simply, as if it was just a fact of life, before taking a step to the side and gesturing to the outfit before she chuckled slightly. “Guess you can try it on now… Measurements should be right. Then again, it’s a prototype version, can be changed if the fit isn’t right still. Unless… You happen to be shy around me.”

“Do I look like a shy person?” Olympia stated bluntly, already stating to strip off her top, throwing it aside and pulling on the top for her costume. “Not a show off, but not shy. Not exactly used to privacy.” She changed in silence, not really bothered by Noelle being there, quietly humming to herself as she finally picked up the mask and slipped it onto her face. Well, that was being generous, more of a visor.

“Well, how is it?” Olympia asked, leaping up off the bed and hanging in the air, motionless. “My eye for this kind of thing is shit since aesthetics as you put it is not my thing. At all.”

“It fits my tastes,” Noelle said in an even tone, looking Olympia up and down before nodding in her direction. “And I’m sure the Guardians will appreciate having you in something more eye catching than before, too. They should probably be paying me for improving on their design…”

She paused slightly, a hand resting on her chin as she kept her eyes on Olympia. “As for shyness… No, I wouldn’t say you look like one. I suppose I only suspected it because you already know what kind of a person I am.”

“Doesn’t bother me.” Olympia shrugged, not moving from where she was. “I figure people are people, as long as no one complains or objects whatever goes, plus I figured I might as well get used to having an audience even if it’s just for something like that.”

“Mmm. I suppose you can change back now, I’ll tell my designer that this one is a keeper…” Noelle remarked, not looking away as she took up a spot against one of her dressers and leaned against it. She chose not to say anything more about her previous statement, even if from the sounds of things it seemed like she had left at least something unsaid.

“I’ll probably end up wearing it a bit in the next few days.” Olympia said, taking the golden visor off first before pulling her top off, starting to change back as she continued to talk. “Need to see how it affects my movements when I fight, it won’t be much but it’s a matter of getting used to the tiny differences and how it feels.”

“Right… I’m sure there will be training and such for that,” Noelle said, pausing and not taking her eyes off Olympia before she finally took a step forward, placing her hands on her side before Olympia could put her previous top back on. The meaning of the gesture wasn’t entirely clear at this point, but she leaned close, her face also hovering not far from Olympia’s neck while she maintained her calm demeanor, saying nothing.

Olympia, likewise, said nothing, cocking her head slightly to one side and looking down at Noelle with a slightly confused expression, not entirely sure what to do in the situation. Noelle, however, kept her hands where they were, not showing any reduction in confidence from her sudden actions. “You feel like we have decent chemistry, right? I mean, I’d like to say I’ve connected with you more than I have… Most people around here,” Noelle stated, her tone not wavering either.

“Haven’t exactly gotten a chance to talk with much of the others.” Olympia shrugged, doing her best to seem nonchalant about this whole situation, shoving down her own internal panic with practice. “Too busy doing my own thing and none of them are the types I’d usually run with. Even you aren’t, but… I guess we mesh alright.”

“I just think we could mesh in more than one way,” Noelle continued, tightening her grip as she shifted her hands, her arms wrapped entirely around Olympia right now, and her breathing picking up ever so slightly - one sign that things were different, and even if it was a subtle one, it was one that Olympia herself would be able to not just notice but feel, as Noelle pressed herself up against her.

Olympia shut her eyes, still outwardly calm even if internally she was panicking. There was a reason she still did martial arts, and it wasn’t to learn how to fight. “If you think so, I can’t think of any reason why not.” Olympia said slowly, her voice low.

“Well… I suppose your fear would be the reason,” Noelle remarked. She was fairly good at picking up on these things, but she stayed where she was, waiting to see how Olympia reacted.
“Not the best at dealing with people things where a fist isn’t the ideal solution.” Olympia shrugged, sighing. “Punching or the closest thing is just… Simpler than trying to puzzle everything out, but I think literally everyone would be scared a bit if they were where I am now. Fear’s just a reflex like any other, and I’m not exactly used to... This type of thing any more than anything else that’s happened since I stepped off that plane.”

“I can have a gentle hand with some things…” Noelle admitted, pressing her lips to the back of Olympia’s neck in the process as she shifted her hands, taking one of Olympia’s in her own hand and moving from behind her to guide her towards the bed that was in front of both of them. “So I believe I can… Help you get used to this whole thing. If you want…”

“I won’t object.” Olympia said simply, nodding and letting Noelle lead her. Not how she’d expected things to turn, but, well, she wasn’t going to say no. And so, Noelle would pull her onto the bed, their lips finally meeting and any of the built up tension that had shown up in the past days between the two of them… Getting released right now. A feeling that both of them would be able to notice, and a weight being lifted off both of their shoulders that neither of them had fully realized was there before.

That wasn’t to say that everything would be simple once the morning came, but for now… They were both too wrapped up in getting release to care.

[Forest State]

SEASON 1 EPISODE 13 // FEELIN' SO HIGH (BUT TOO FAR AWAY TO HOLD ME)
DATE // March 9th, 2021
LOCATION // Toronto, Ontario
CAST // Noelle ‘Lux’ Ethier

---

Toronto, Ontario - the largest city in Canada, the cultural capital, and the crown jewel of the Ethier business empire. It was from here that the will of the family radiated out, influencing things across multiple fields. Real estate was one of the biggest ones but ties in the media were valuable, their value not being lost on company patriarch Alexandre Ethier… And those media ties also helped with the other business that the family was known for. The one that put them on the map for the average person, really: the superhero business.

Half the heroes in Canada who were worth a damn were represented by the company or worked with them in some other way. More than that had some kind of tie to Ethier either directly or indirectly. With Canada not being as big as the United States in terms of population and superhero density, considering that there were also less major cities and there was a lower crime rate overall, it wasn’t near as hard to monopolize. In a way, that was what Ethier had done. Toronto was recognized by many as a ‘world city’ when it came to ranking the superhero cities of the world - out of all the ones out there, it was one of the top tier ones. Superhero fans from around the world paid attention to the things that went on there, and the back and forth between its crime fighters and its villains. Some called it the New York of the north. Others praised it because a number of international heroes had started their careers here, treating the city as a sort of proving ground to show their worth to larger market United States teams.

Regardless of the reason why, it was at the forefront of the hero game and Noelle was at the forefront of the Toronto scene before she had ever signed for a major team… Because she was the eldest of Alexandre Ethier, of course, the first out of three children, all of them born to different mothers. Their mothers all happened to be heroines, too. Some said that Ethier was simply cold and didn’t want to stay with one partner despite having a child with each one. Those closer to the truth, including Noelle, believed that the answer was less devious than that… Their father simply didn’t have interest in a relationship at this point, but still had an interest in a family. In passing on the lessons and practices of the world behind the superhero scene to a set of children who could continue the company in the future. Sure, he had high expectations, but he rewarded his children greatly when they succeeded. What he asked of them wasn’t always easy, but they had more support in what they did than most could dream of.

Noelle didn’t begrudge the weight that was put on her shoulders by being the eldest, the daughter of Alexandre Ethier and the American superheroine that was called Demon. Rather, she accepted them openly. Was ironic, really. She’d ended up with the same light powers as her father, although she had her own variations on them. Hadn’t inherited the abilities of her mother, as far as she knew. She had a sister, Janine, and a brother, Cyrille, but out of the three of them she was the closest to being like the one that had brought the family company to fame in the first place - her father. Which was another reason why it made sense for her to follow after him the most, and have the most pressure on her to succeed in that. The others just weren’t in the same position she was in.

And now… All of that was coming to an apex. It was no longer time for her to just talk about it, but to actually move up and join one of the premier youth squads in this country. Supposedly everything she’d dreamed about, so she couldn’t look back now, right?

She stepped inside a rather plain conference room, but she was wearing her uniform - of course she was, there would definitely be pictures. It was made out of composite material to be both flexible and functional, and it stuck to her body and covered her entirely, running from her neck down to her ankles… Almost like a wetsuit, except it was far more functional than that when it came to moving around in it on land and fighting in it. The main color was white, with streaks of red highlighting it, and one of her signature rapiers was at her side. Of course, she could just make one using her light constructs, but sometimes it looked good to have a real one on her. She mainly did it in public, really. In battle, she’d trust her own constructs before she trusted the blade that was at her side right now… Hers could hit harder, and were harder to break.

On the table in front of her, was the contract that she needed to sign. There were some reporters… Which was expected. She was one of the most followed junior hero prospects, after all. Her junior debut would have a lot of anticipation, and she was about to take the first steps towards it. She smiled for the cameras. The well practiced smile of someone that had been to acting classes, and who was well trained in this type of thing. And then she moved, walking over to the table where the contract was and sitting down.

Her father was there, executives were there… Most of the people that she’d consider important right now were there, really. Not her mother, though, but then again, her mother wasn’t around all that much. She was in New York more of the time, or sometimes Los Angeles, but it didn’t matter because she had never been the closest with Noelle anyway. So other things were on Noelle’s mind than the fact that she was absent from today.

The contract in front of her, of course, was for the Toronto Snowstorm. The name maybe sounded somewhat generic, like it was just another regional team, but the fact of the matter was that this was the premier youth hero squad in Canada. Also owned one hundred percent by her family’s company. She was practically a member of it by default, but this would be the start of her real career - both as a hero for a major team and for the Snowstorm. The cameras clicked as she held the pen in her hand, on the verge of making that decision…

She looked up, smiled once more too. Then, she brought the pen to paper and wrote her signature on the line, not breaking her expression while she did so… It was practiced, of course. She’d done it a few times in private. Run over how she wanted to do it, went through the motions and the expressions for a few times. This time, she was doing it for real, however.

The signature was on the paper, and she was now a member of the Toronto Snowstorm…

She did what was expected of her, standing up for more photographs next to the contract, smiling the whole time.

---

She stepped out of the room. Just about everything had gone as planned - she had signed the contract, taken pictures, given some quotes to the press… And now she was walking through the halls of the company headquarters, her mind elsewhere, only stopping when she reached a room where there were another set of TVs… One of the break rooms, she supposed, judging from the fridge in there and the other few employees that were occupying it at the moment. The TVs were playing from one of the entertainment channels, which was showing some news show about superheroes. Stopping, Noelle listened in.

“...Canadian top prospect Malou Azema finalized the decision to spurn the Guardians for the Global League of World-Stars, and join one of the first mixed nationality teams in the People’s Republic of China in the process… Azema has signed for the Shanghai Jin Shi, one of the teams announced in the most recent round of expansion for GLOW. The younger organization has captured more of the Chinese market than the Guardians so far, with the older rival being banned from sending foreign heroes into the country. Since striking a deal with the National Metahuman Administration, the Communist Party of China controlled organization responsible for managing metahuman affairs in the country, GLOW has announced new teams in Shanghai, Chongqing, and Guangzhou…”

Noelle lost her focus for a moment, thinking on the situation… The Global League of World-Stars was the rival organization to the Guardians, but they were younger and they had only shown up in recent years. They had a bit of a younger and more innovative twist to them, but it remained to be seen if they would have success long term. Most of their backing came from a few rich people so far, who wanted to see them do well and owned stake in them. Whether or not they could support themselves beyond the initial investments was unknown to most, but their direction and branding had gotten the attention of many. It was hard not to notice the organization that was meant to be the more ‘fun’ alternative to the Guardians. They’d also gotten into some places the Guardians hadn’t. While the Guardians were heavily restricted in China, GLOW was more willing to cooperate with the government - and they had been rewarded for their loyalty with three big city teams.

One of them would have Noelle’s youth teammate as one of its key members. Noelle herself had received offers, promising quite a lot of money to join them… But she had rejected every one. Why? Because that just wasn’t her. Sure, it was a lot of money, but she had things to uphold back home. And running off to join an upstart league of heroes rather than staying with the team owned by her father just didn’t jive with that. Hadn’t been able to convince everyone she knew to make the same decision, though.

Her attention was drawn back to the screen when the shot switched to that of Malou herself, her distinctive blue hair making her immediately recognizable. She was wearing the red and gold uniform of her new team, and speaking to someone that was interviewing her. It looked like the interview was happening out in Munich, where the headquarters of GLOW was located. It kind of made sense, in a way. The Guardians had America on lock, and so their competitor would rise from elsewhere in the world. In this case, it was Germany.

“I went with the Global League because… I wanted to forge my own path and they offered me the best chance to do that… There’s not a lot of American heroes that get the chance to go to somewhere like Shanghai, so I’d like to thank GLOW for giving me the opportunity…”

Her own path.

Away from Canada and away from the Ethier company.

“Of course, coming from Montreal and living in Toronto for my training, I’m going to miss Canada, but like I said… It’s a once and a lifetime chance. I think I’d have to be crazy to say no to it,” Malou continued. Noelle turned and took her leave, not listening to the rest of the interview, instead moving down the hallway without making her presence known to the employees in the break room she had just been standing outside of. There was no need to have them asking why she had been hanging there.

“Your own path, huh…” she muttered under her breath, her posture slumping a bit more than it had before - generally, when she was in uniform, she stood straighter, taller, and all around made herself look better than she did now… But she had her reasons for letting herself slack off with this.

Even she couldn’t keep it up all the time.

---

The summer sun came through the window and woke Noelle up, but she was the type of person to get up earlier than most - if she had gone to bed the night before, that was. She wasn’t a stranger to late nights… If she felt like it, she could stay out just as late as anyone, either working on her career projects. She could do both with the same intensity, unlike some people who were all play and no work or all work and no play… She wasn’t the most balanced person but there was a balance to her in her own way.

When she woke, she quickly realized that Olympia was still in her bed, blinking a couple of times before moving as to not wake her, sliding to the ground carefully. Her feet hit the ground with only a light thud - she moved carefully, cleaning herself up quickly in the bathroom before stepping out and pulling on the first workout outfit she could find in her drawer, as well as the rapier that she sometimes kept at her side.

She looked back at Olympia. Sometimes, she talked in her sleep. She wondered if Olympia had heard her, although she tried to make it a point to fall asleep last, if she was around other people. She wasn’t too sure if she had done that this time, but based on her thoughts during the night and while she had been asleep, she wasn’t all that sure she wanted to accidentally bear anything to Olympia through her sleep talking… Certain revelations, certain things about her, could come later.

For now, she was headed out to work out and clear her mind before Olympia woke up. Hopefully, she would be back by then.

But as for Noelle, the previous night had brought back some other things to the fore of her mind that she had to get rid of before she’d be able to come back. And so, while most of the Heroplex was still sleeping, she departed.

[Durmatagno]

SEASON 1 EPISODE 14 // SUSPECT

Collaborative post between Forest State & Durmatagno

DATE // July 20th, 2023
LOCATION // Central Tokyo, Japan
CAST // Noelle ‘Lux’ Ethier & Victoria ‘Remix’ Fawn

---

Victoria chewed on the end of her pencil, not that she really needed one. Her power(s) could do amazing things, but now she was down to fiddly things that took time to sort out. She had the fragments of the explosive in as complete a state as she could get, and a model of the same type to compare it to. Fine details could be important in these sorts of things, even revealing what the missing pieces were, or modifications that could help identify the culprit. She took the pencil out of her mouth and looked down at the paper before her, right now she was noting minor differences, things that could probably be explained by detonation, but all the same could reveal something. If they didn’t, the paper could be scrapped, if it did, her due diligence would help the investigation. So far nothing, just warping and scorching of metal caused by the explosive, no new information there, other than maybe the exact strength of the explosion, but she doubted that was new either. She scratched at her head and leaned back in the chair, moving her focus to the model she was using for comparison. Maybe she should tackle this from another angle. Why this explosive, why that building, only one of those things she could possibly answer here. She picked up the model and looked at it, then stood up, putting it back down and stretching. Maybe some coffee would help clear her mind.

The door to the analysis room swung open.

Someone entered, although it wasn’t one of the members of the Ministry of Justice and the Metahuman Affairs Division. Rather, one of her teammates - Noelle was standing there in the doorway, having come from another part of the Tokyo office to inform Victoria of… Something. “I assume you’re still working on going over the fragments they took from the site,” she said first, looking over the scene in the foreground.

“Yeah, and at this point it’s slow. Power did all the work it can for now, now it’s just muscle through and test everything, hope you find something of use.”

Victoria yawned. She’d missed out on a bit of sleep the last few nights, working on other things, worrying, or just not being able to sleep. Wasn’t the worse she’d done, not by far, but the coffee would help either way.

“Was just going to get myself a latte or something.”

“We might have already found something out…” Noelle said, shifting on her heel and placing a hand on her chin, pondering it. “But not from analysis. Sometimes the answer comes from good old fashion talking to people, you know. Back the other day, I talked with the supervisor that happened to be in on the day that this happened. Some of the questions there led to us finding something else out… Mainly, the one employee who happened to work in that department that was also seen in munitions on that specific day. We’re still figuring out exactly the bomb ended up where it did. But… We might have a clue on who put it there.”

“Well that’s good news, either they did it, or we cross another suspect off the list.”

Victoria didn’t keep going. She really wanted some caffeine, but talking to Noelle was worth waiting on it for.

“It does seem likely it was an employee, and it seems likely it was someone that had easy access to the explosive and not someone that had to get through even more security to steal it. Still, a motive would help things greatly, and that isn’t something I’m likely to find piecing together shrapnel and casing.”

Victoria moved to scratch her cheek as she thought. She turned back to look at the desk she was using, then back to Noelle.

“Either way, I’m looking for modifications, or anything that can tie this bomb to a particular person right now.”

“It might not be worth it to bother looking at this stuff when we might be able to find out more about what happened directly from the source that was involved with, well, making it happen,” Noelle stated, stepping further into the room. “We have a suspect,” she added, taking out a paper photograph, gesturing to it. It didn’t look like anyone out of the ordinary - the image displayed a twenty something Japanese man, no different than any of the others working away in this city, and dressed in similar attire to someone that worked in the typical office environment. “Hiroto Kato. Mid ranking R&D person, but would have been assigned to the floor where the attack happened. Was at work that day. Was handling some task in munitions earlier. But obviously… Considering we haven’t yet been able to find out what exactly that task was or how it was assigned, you can see why Kato is on the list of suspects. The entire situation… Is dodgy.”

She shrugged, continuing. “To top it off and make things stranger, it seems Kato has left for now. He was recently on board a flight to Bangkok, and this obviously happened not long after the attack. Moving from the scene of the crime? It’s… Well within the possibilities.”


“Oh yeah, I’d peg him to either be the fall guy, or the culprit. Either way he’s almost certainly involved, even if it’s just being set up.”

Victoria looked at the photograph, doing her best to memorize the face while she stifled another yawn. She looked back at her desk again. That was what she was good at, fighting she was decent at, talking...not so much. There was a reason she was muscle for Noelle, not a rival after all. She turned back to her friend, and smiled.

“Still, progress is progress, even if we have to worry about hazy international jurisdiction to actually find the guy. Either way, this is getting more elaborate by the breakthrough, beginning to wonder if it’s more than a guy snapping, or trying to get revenge.”

“The bomb used for the attack couldn’t have been prepared by one person. It’s thousands of pounds and setting it up for what happened isn’t really the kind of thing some random person can do. Moving it, getting it ready to go… It’s a multi person thing, like you’re thinking,” Noelle said, before sighing briefly. “But because it’s been slow getting into the deeper details, we don’t know much more than that at the moment. The Association supposedly wants us to head to Bangkok.”

“It’d make for some good video, and they think nailing the suspect is something we can handle without too much danger,” she explained. “I’ve already said I’m going. I don’t know about you. Not really the toughest thing, arresting some office worker hiding out abroad… But it looks like ‘hero stuff’ to drag a terror suspect away in handcuffs, so.”

“Well I don’t have much more I can do here that isn’t just muscle power. Before I go anywhere though, I either need some sleep or maybe a shot of espresso.”

Victoria chuckled lightly at her own stupid joke, one she doubted anyone else would find funny, but hey, it tickled her so what did it matter.

“Though I’d stay on guard, if this is a conspiracy, I doubt they’d leave a weak link without some kind of fail safe, be it protection or a way to silence him.”

“We don’t know what it is at this point… But yeah, it’s not just a simple one person case like we thought it was. Guess everyone kind of knew that from the start. We’re all pretty certain about it now, though,” Noelle said with a slight shrug. “And I also heard that we’re going to get another team member when we show up there. It’s part of why they’re making it into a TV thing with extra press even though we’re just there for one person. I don’t have a lot of details, just that she’s international and she’s not green to this kind of stuff like some of the others. As for why we’re getting a sixth member, I don’t know… Decision came from the top, not anyone around the staff.”

“Who knows, there’s like a thousand little things that go into decisions like that. Come on, we can talk while we walk, I…really need a coffee of some kind right now. Haven’t had a lot of sleep in the past couple of days, ad it’s only partially my fault this time.”

Victoria waited to see if Noelle was fine with this idea, one way or another she needed coffee soon, but if Noelle would rather avoid it, Victoria could wait a little while longer. She didn’t want to, but she could. She offered Noelle a smile, Noelle had been there during some of the worst of Victoria’s sleep deprivation, she would know this was only the middle of the scale by Victoria’s standards.

“I’m surprised you even consider this a case worth losing sleep for,” said Noelle, stepping outside of the room and into the hallway, nodding in the direction she was waiting for Victoria to go through… Wasn’t like this was exactly a personal case to them, and not everyone even wanted them to be on the case. Would have been easy to slack off, and they’d have legitimate reasons if they dd so.

“Actually I lost sleep over a personal project, and just a short bout of insomnia, just already arranged to be here today and wasn’t going to cancel on them. If this was a personal project I probably wouldn’t have put it down to get the coffee in the first place. By my standards I’m kind of taking it easy on this case, still, should probably stop before I start to actually lose sleep on this case.”

“You should take some pills for that,” Noelle said calmly and matter of factly. She was used to Victoria not getting enough sleep - didn’t mean she had entirely accepted it, despite knowing it probably wasn’t for the best. It wasn’t the first time she had said something along the lines of what she had just said now. And maybe it wouldn’t be the last time either. “Otherwise, it’s going to come back and bite you sometime when it matters…”

“Insomnia doesn’t bother me too often, I usually lose sleep because I just forget to sleep. Still, maybe I should have a prescription just in case. Getting more rest is probably a good thing.”

Victoria leaned against the counter after she poured herself a cup of coffee, looking at Noelle. Victoria had said this before, though her tone was much more noncommittal than it was now. New city, new life, maybe trying to fix her sleep issue should actually be on the docket.

“Sorry, this latest project is something a bit beyond my normal expertise, so it’s taking some time to figure out, and it’s nowhere near done yet.”

“Lot more to worry about here than just projects. Do something fun sometime, eh? And I don’t mean fun in the sense of sitting in front of some bench and putting something together. I mean fun in the sense of doing something that’s actually living. Just something to think about… I’m not you. If you wanna stay up and spend your time like that… I can’t stop you,” Noelle replied, her voice calm.

“Oh come on, I get out two, three times a week...I don’t just sit in front of my workbench. I haven’t done that since...Sophomore year I think. Sure I haven’t been getting out much lately, but I’ve been busier than normal. With things winding down and my side thing being slow, I’m going to have to find something to do soon enough.”

“It’s Tokyo… It’s a big city. You’re working a big job right now. Lot of stuff is changing. I might have found myself someone special, for fuck’s sake. Everyone else is just having the time of their life with this job and stuff, too,” Noelle said before she let her voice drag off. “Guess my point is, don’t get wrapped up in projects and miss it.”

“I try Noelle, you know that. I’ve been a little worse lately, but even now I’m doing much better than when you first met me. Got a few places I plan to go next time I go out into the city, got some games I want to pick, some new books to read. I’m not just working on projects anymore, just...don’t have many people besides you I talk to.”

“There’s nine million plus people here. I’m sure a few of ‘em make for some decent talks,” Noelle replied. “Not sayin’ to do anything drastic, just work on it… Sure, you might not talk to a lot of people. But you don’t exactly try very much. I think you’re better at it than you give yourself credit for.”

“Maybe, the places I’m thinking of visiting are public places. We’ll see what happens, but I’m still not good with people. I understand machines better than I do people, and when I fuck up, I can actually fix it, not just make things worse.”

Victoria hid a bitter smile as she took a big chug of her coffee. Her problems with people were fairly deeply ingrained, several fairly explosively bad relationships had helped cement them. Didn’t mean her perception of herself couldn’t change, but it meant more than just encouraging words.

“Either way, I’m not drinking, I’m mostly getting enough sleep. I suppose being less of a shut in is as good a next step as any.”

“We’ll see… You know where to call if you need help with it,” Noelle said. And really, offering it was the only thing she could do. She couldn’t inspire a magical change in anyone else overnight. She could simply pass on advice from her own experiences and try to solve problems… Fortunately, she was involved in enough to be quite good at that job…

“I mean, I might need a good wingwoman someday soon, and besides, it’s always nice to have you there. You’re welcome to join me anytime y’know, don’t need to ask. I’ll tell you if I want to be alone or something.”

Victoria filled herself a second cup of coffee, adding a little more sugar this time. Her love life was crap, her social life was crap, but the only ways to improve them was to keep risking further pain. Maybe if Noelle was there she could prevent a bad night from turning into a disaster, at least, depending on the kind of night.