Chapter Text
Baruru kicked open the hotel door. “We’re here!” The door banged against the wall and swung back towards her.
She caught it sheepishly.
“Don’t do that.” Charlie deadpanned. They stepped in front of her and glanced at the wall, checking for any significant marks.
“Sorry, I’m just really excited!” She held open the door for her two friends, mussing up her hair after they all entered.
“Is that for more static or stimming?” Charlie inquired.
“Both!”
Kiara giggled at Baruru’s excitement, her gaze then wandering around the hotel’s lobby.
“You can’t really blame her though can you?” She asked Charlie quietly. “We might be accepted into the best hero school in America!”
Charlie gave a little shrug and let out a noise of agreement.
“Nice!” Baruru lightly punched Charlie on the shoulder, before going back to frizzing her hair.
“I’ve been mortally wounded. How shall I go on, when you have committed this grievous crime against me?” Charlie left no emotion in their face or their words, but it made it all the funnier for Baruru.
Kiara smiled at the two, and walked to the key counter.
“I need the keys for Kiara Sony, Baruru Tatchi, and Charlie Adgate.”
Receiving the keys she turned to her squad and gave them their pairs. “We should head to our rooms and unpack.”
Baruru made grabby hands at her pair, while bouncing up and down.
“Yeeeeeeee!!!”
Charlie patted her on the back.
“Excited.” Their voice lilted at the word.
Baruru turned to them.
“Aw, sorry you didn’t end up rooming with us. It would have been cool, but rules are rules I guess.” She shrugged, though the movement is lost in her rhythmic bouncing.
Kiara tightened the grip on her key.
“At least our rooms are close together.” She gave a reassuring smile, grabbed her bag, and adjusted her glasses.
“Let’s quickly unpack and head to the conference hall.”
Jen finished unpacking all of her things, then laid on one of the beds. She sighed deeply as she crossed her legs.
I hope my roommates aren’t annoying.
Her gaze drifted to the two unoccupied beds.
The door handle to the room started to jiggle, before the whole thing slammed open, rattling the entire room.
“Fucking finally!” Taison exclaimed as he sauntered into the room, his brother following close behind.
“Oh hey~! We got a pretty cute roommate.” Taison tried to lower his voice so only his brother could hear, but Jen still heard. “I’m Taison! This is my bro, Maison.” Taison smirked, his voice returning to its normal volume.
Jen raised half of her upper lip in a sneer.
“Jen. And I can’t believe I’m stuck with someone as...” She gestured to the entirety of Taison. “Yeah, y’know what? Looking in a mirror is a good enough roast for you.”
She locked eyes with Maison. “You seem cool though.”
Maison signed out a response.
‘You seem cool too. You don’t seem like someone who takes any shit from anybody else either.’
“Thanks.” Jen jumped off of her bed and headed to the door. “I’m going to the conference hall. Nice meeting you Maison.”
“What about me?” Taison sputtered, furrowing his eyebrows.
“Oh right! Fuck you.” She spat over her shoulder, leaving behind an affronted Taison and a bemused Maison.
Allegra is alive. She realizes what a silly thought that is.
She knows that it’s a silly thought but it's really not.
She has been alive, and has memories to prove it.
She has memories but they are not real. They are shaky and moldable.
They could be a̵n̶y̸t̷h̴i̷n̶g̶.
She has been alive and has memories of the past-
Fourteen.
-fourteen years of her life.
I guess I’m fourteen.
Fourteen, she is fourteen, definitely not a new-born.
W̷͇̪̍h̸̘̝͛̾a̸͈͔̔ẗ̵̩́͌ ̸̭̉̑e̴̥̐l̵̢̠͊ş̴͠e̴̦͋͝?̷͒͐ͅ ȟ̴̡̢̬̻̖̱̩̩̲̪̦̝͎͖̤͔͈̥͈̘̰̖̦̻̩̮͒͌̓̉̈̽͛̀́̑͐͒̈́̒̒̏̈́́͋́͘͘͜h̴͉͕̤͎̳͉͚̘̱̘̪͖͚̬̪̘͎̘̠̲͈̣̤̳̤̰͚̻̩̻̰͂͜h̸̡̨̨̡̩̯͙̯̟̦̺̩͚̭͙͕̻͖͚͚͕̻͋̂̈͌͌͐͋͒̚ḩ̶̢̡̢̨̧̛̛̛͍̦͇̟̯̬͕̙̗̠͈̬͔͚̤̯̝͔̠̭͈̞͚͙̟͓͚̞̮̠̘̬̲̮͉͓̭̲̯͓̳͔̖̠̿͑̉͋̍̃͂̅̆̈͋͐̂̀͆̀́̃̓̆̓̌̾̏̒̾̊̒̌̈̓̏́̇̽̉̕ͅͅh̶̢̧̰̭̫̳̜̝͈̻̹̙͇̮̻̀̑̓͆͌̔̿̀̃͛͊̎̏̇̕͜͜͝͝
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a plane ticket going from Illinois to Colorado.
Of course, how could she forget that she lives in Chicago?
Of course she forgot, she has never been to Chicago.
W̶̠̳̺̫̲̊̈́͌̂̿͝h̵̩́̍͛̈͑͠a̷̧̩̟t̴̨̥̦̗̥̜̪̹͛͗̕ ̴̺̋́̓͒̃į̵̡̜͙̯͕̻̜͊̏͛̂͛s̶̼̭̈̎̕͝ ̶̞̤̗͓͍̮̈́̇̄́́͑͠g̴̻̫̞̲̥̪͔͚̊̃̋̊͘͝ǒ̶͎̱̪̟̮̑̎̋i̷̪̪̫͑̋̿n̷̡̪̬̘̈́̒̉͒̏̚g̷̗͖̙͇̲̅̋̕ͅ ̸̧̠͍̦̝̞̯͙̒̓̈́͘ͅȍ̷͕͇̱͉̖̬͙̲̔̅n̶̻̼̖̅͐͂?̸̪̬͇̜͉͚̮̤̟̄͑̐͒̏̚͝
She wonders how her family is doing.
Ẅ̵̢͍͖̹̖͎̗̱̗̹̤͋̔h̶͕̒͛̈́̇͗̑ǫ̸̛̣̲̮̦̱̔̐̌̈́͐̑̒͘͠ ̸̢̢̡͇̳̭̺̻̼̀͘á̶̢̛͕͎̼̬̬͙̦͍̔͋̈́̏͘r̷̢̼̣̙͉̙̰̝͕͓̹̀̎̎̄̿̊͒̄̋̚ë̴̝̼̺̭́́̎̅̈́͋̒ ̶̙̜͖̃̾̑̋ť̶̼̝͊̅̑̏̈́h̷͍̔̒͆̽́͆̍͛̈ę̸̛̮̰̲͛͗́̈́͌̔͘͘y̷̧̛̌̾̀̿͋̅̍̆͠?̷̛̳̤̰̪̮̖̌͗̀̀
D̸̨͖̮̩̟̳̩͉͙͂̏̉͑̈͑̿̇͆͋̅ͅo̴̠̯̥̮̞̰̪̜͚̞͊̆͊̋͊̔̉̋̋͊̿ ̶͚̮̰͓͓̙̣͎͖͆̆̐͒̅̎͂͗I̸̢͖̖̩͈̲̫̠̩͂̃̋͆͝ ̶̠̣̼͍̙͚̖̮̹̝̆̒̓͂̔h̷̪͓̟̺̙̠̯̯̝̎a̶͍͙̓̆̆̓̽v̶̳̈͗̅̽̾̀̕͝͝ē̷̛̳̦̠̗̝̺̞͓̫̖̏̄͒͝͝ ̸̨̤͇̦̥̥͖͎̭̯̻̓̎̈̊̆̍̍̔̏͘a̵̡͔̘͆͂̓̽̏̈́͌̀̇̍̂ ̷̧̼̂͆̇͛͌͒̋̏̚͜͜f̸̛̲͎̟̙̯͔̮͎́̇̑͗͂̎̌̐̇͋̕ȁ̴̧̯͍͈̘͈̈́̊͑̆͝m̸̢̛̝̫̞̲̘̹͉͎̥͂̎͊̈́͘͝ḭ̷̰̫͋̐̇͒̑̕l̶̢͙͕͓̜̼̤͖̥͎̣̀͒̿̓̎͒̋̀̚͘͜y̸͍̣̬͎͈̻͎̬̳̞͆̄̆͜?̷̡̘̱̺͕̣̬̗̬̮̉̆̚
À̷̢̻̺̳̣̘͚͙͙̮͇̲͓̩̬̕ͅm̷̛̜̟̠͕̘̰̆̊̓̆̾̈́͒̏̉̓̌̔̽ ̵̡̢̻͉̝̠̼̳͚̯̦̙̟̑͐͊̅̉̌͒̉̀̂̾͘̕͝Į̴̢̣̹͓͚̭̗̫̟̗̗̼̳̗̉̅͋͗̀̽̑̄͂͋̆͝͝ ̴̧͎̳̱̜̪͚̲̜̈́̄̽̃̿̔͘͜ȁ̶̡̨̢̨͔͉̬̰̠̝̹͎̭͔̝̟̒́̉̽͒͗͜͜l̶̜͍̏̑̅͆̅͑ǫ̶̲̫̮̬͇̥͇̰̬̠͚̙̳͉̭̻̬̲̒̏̄͒̋̄̇̑̐̈́͐̽̔͛͌̓͆͜͝ṉ̵͂̋̽̈́̋͌͋͂͑̚̚ẹ̵̛̥̰̥͎͎͖̟̤̠͚̭̜̑̔͐̇͊̐͛̆̂̔̈́͆͠͠͠͝ͅ?̷̧̡͎̻̠̜͍̬̝̰̭͎̋̈́̋̏͗̌̇̀̑̄̓́͌͑̅̕̕̚͠͝ͅ
She can’t believe she’s here.
Where am I?
Ready for the entrance exam.
What-?
This will make or break her career as a hero.
Hero? Do I have super powers?
So she̶ has gotta̸ give it h̴e̷r al̴l̴.̶
h̵̢̡̛͕͚̙̗̞̠͎͉̹͕̻̠̥̭̹̬̰̞͑̾̆̋́͒̍̿̈́̈̽͑̂̎̒̈́̐͘͜͝ȟ̴̢̡̨̡̛͙̙͇̮̳͉̤̹̳̩̫̺̱̳̝̬̞͓̟͇͕͍̻̟͇͕̌͛͑̈́̅̃̇̈́̅̂̔͌̌̓̃̋̐̇̈̅̈́̄̐̓͘͜h̴̛̛̛̞͚̳̼͇̫̳̪̹̘̘̜̯̯͗̔͊̄̉͌͋̅͆̔͊͐̆̃̐̋͐̋̃͗͗̋̽̅̊̊͒͆͗̆͊͊͒̊̾͂͛̌͂̊́̈́͘͘̚͜͝͝ͅh̸̢̼͙͇̠̟͎̘̮͍͙͙̩̳̫̐̾̍̾͠ͅĥ̶̢̢̛̥̘̺͇͚̥̈́̓̏̉͂̎̎̆̈́̈́̅̏̿̌̅͐̓̊͌͆̋̍̄̾͋͛̒̋̒͑̏͗̋̄̐̀͌́̎̕͘̚̕̕͘͜͠
She finishes unpacking, and heads down to the conference room.
Allegra arrives at the conference room and finds a seat.
How did I get here? I was just at a hotel room!
Despite getting a little lost,
I didn't get lost... I don't eve̸n reme̸͔̔mber walkin̷̫͌͐͂̕g here.̶͕̦̝͍̈́̂͘.̶̙͑̓̕.̶̲̜̠͌
She managed to make it here on time.
On tim̵͖̅̌e for w̶͓̽h̸̪͝a̴̓͜t̵͉͘?̵͙͑
She gets comfortable in her chair and waits for the orientation to start.
A short yet lengthy woman with long, black hair slowly made her way on stage. She wore a black suit that was tight on her muscular form.
She stood behind the podium, resting her hands on the smooth wooden surface. Her eyes pierced the crowd, scanning all of the potential students that may be joining her school.
She took a deep breath before beginning.
“Welcome students. My name is Angel Dator, also known as the Legendary Hero: Mama Hawk. I am the principal of Colorado Prep.”
She waited for the applause to quiet down before continuing.
“As you all should know, 20 of you will be chosen for each of the four courses we offer at this school: hero, item devs, sleuth, and business. I want you to keep in mind that even if you are the child of a Pro Hero, you will still have to take the test like everyone else.”
Her gaze fixated on Jackson, the son of the Number One hero in North America, King Lizard, then switched to her own son.
She took another deep breath, calmed her nerves, and continued her speech.
“The heroes, sleuths, and support item developers will be assigned together to perform a mock mission. Considering that this group of students is much larger than previous years, there will be three applicants from each course that will be sorted into a group. Business students will be doing a separate entrance exam with Daniel Dator.”
She motioned to the feline-like man and he stood up. He waved with a paw before sitting back down.
“The sleuths will gather intel about the mission, the support item developers will give their items to the heroes, and the heroes will pull off the plan that all three will create. The support item developers should have already created their items and sent them here, which will be handed out to their respective teammates when the mission starts.”
Angel looked down at her note cards and shuffled them to the cards she needed to read off.
She smiled at the students and folded her hands together.
“If the support items break or malfunction during the mission, the student responsible for its creation will have a chance to redeem themself after the mission is complete.”
“Tomorrow you will all perform the written part of the exam. It will be approximately three hours depending on how long it takes you. Afterwards, you will be completing the practical exam with the students you were assigned with.”
“From the 3rd to the 10th, we will examine the footage and results of your exams, and choose which students will attend our school. Make-up simulations will also take place during this time.”
A shout is heard from somewhere in the audience, “How do we get graded though?”
Angel glared in the direction the shout came from before regaining her composure and answering, “The support item developers will be graded on how well their item works, the sleuths on all of the intel they collected and if they were detected or not, and the heroes on how well they executed the plan. The teams will also receive extra points if the mission was a success.”
She smiled widely as her hands dropped from the podium.
“Good luck to you all! Get a good night’s rest for your exams tomorrow!”