April 1st - Arrival

[cartesio]

Arrival

It feels more like waking up from a very restful night, instead of the jarring feeling of waking up in an unknown bed. That feeling may not last long, though, because you're definitely not looking up at any ceiling you're familiar with.

It's some kind of motel room -- maybe cleaner than you'd expect from such a place. There's a comfortable bed, a trunk with a military uniforn and a gas mask and enough space to stash whatever you get during the next two months, a closet with a familiar outfit or two...no other belongings in this room, and certainly no answers as to why you're here.

There's one thing that may bring more questions than answers: a calendar. Today's date is marked there: April 1st. Happy April Fools day? The entirety of April and most of May is empty, but the week from May 21st to May 25th is filled with one word:

END

The moment you step out of your room with AC you're hit by the warm, sticky air of Cartesio. Today is a rather dry day. You're not the only one who seems to be lost -- other people come out of their rooms. At some point, once you get to the lobby, you find a few things of interest: a guestbook, a rack of maps, and a note pinned to the wood of the counter:

"Meet me at the Lodge in two hours -- The Sergeant"
You now have a place to go to in two hours. In the meanwhile, how about you get accustomed to the motel and the town?

Links

IC Rules
Guestbook
Room Assignments
Locations

Comments

[icariot]

[Hawks has been in many motel rooms through his career, and he can't say he's ever been in one that he's never checked into himself, or one that comes with a gas mask of all things. And a military uniform? Except while it's a similar enough size for him to wear, there's no modifications for his wings. That's odd, when he has such a recognizable quirk...

All of this sets him on edge.

The heat that hits him makes Hawks wince as he moves out of the room and to explore this place. There's more rooms on this floor, including laundry and storage areas. Nothing seems too out of place, so he moves through one flight of stairs to the lobby.

There's a decent amount of people milling about, but none that look like they have any more knowledge than he does so far, and none that are immediately recognizable. He'll collect a map from the rack before moving to the guestbook. He certainly didn't put this information in here, that's for sure, and it doesn't look like any registry he's seen from hero work before either.

Hawks will loiter for a couple minutes looking over the map before going outside to explore the town. Flying always helps one to keep a clear perspective.]

lobby;

[kingbomber]

[ Bakugou's in the lobby and looking through the guestbook, flipping through the pages. ]

What the hell's all this?

[ Immediately, though, he'll turn his attention to Hawk. Looking a little confused for a split second before vaguely irritated. A Hero's stuck here too? The number two one?!

What the hell...? ]

...What the hell's going on here? How did you get stuck in this place too?

[icariot]

[Hawks had been keeping half an ear and eye on the going-ons of the lobby, and at first the angry voice doesn't register as someone familiar. When the tone clearly starts pointing to him, he takes the kid's appearance in more fully-- he might not recognize the yelling from the Sports Festival broadcast, but Hawks definitely recognizes him from the Kamino incident. He couldn't attend, but that broadcast was everywhere.]

I'm not sure yet, kid. I was at my apartment in Kyushu before waking up here, and I'm not exactly easy to sneak up on.

[kingbomber]

[ That's not good at all.

Someone managed to get the drop on someone like Hawks? What kind of villains were they dealing with here? ]

...Damnit, that doesn't make any sense. How'd anyone manage something like that? Some villain must have used a Quirk or gotten lucky to get the drop on you.

[icariot]

It could have been some kind of gas-related quirk, like Midnight’s. [Hers is well-known enough, plus she was a teacher at UA. Bakugou would have to know about her quirk.] If they could dose my whole building without it losing potency, that could be one way to get me, but that doesn’t explain A) how they knew where I live and B) how they got past UA’s security on you. That’s not including why they picked us, or why or how they picked up any one else that’s here. That’s not a common quirk type either, so it’s not a very likely situation at all.

[Hawks rolls his shoulders and wings in a shrug motion before waving one hand] That’s all hypothetical though. I want to collect some more information before setting a plan of action.

[kingbomber]

Maybe it was some other type of unique Quirk; ever since that warp gate asshole, I wouldn't be surprised if someone's got something rare out there just to make things difficult.

[ Speculation, sure but it's better than just sitting on their asses and twiddling their thumbs. ]

That Sergeant guy probably has more information. Once he gathers us all together he's probably going to make one of those huge, dumb speeches about his evil plan and all that.

[ So, he thinks that'll be a good time. Too bad Bakugou just tries to bumrush the guy and screams obscenities for the whole few hours they're down there. ]

[icariot]

It’s a valid suggestion, although warp quirks are probably even more rare than gas quirks, especially ones as strong as the villain Kurogiri.

[Not just twiddle their thumbs! Hawks has been trying to memorize profiles and other useful information. You never know what could come in handy.]

Probably will make a big speech, but that’s always a perfect opportunity to gather information. Stay quiet and listen long enough and people start to reveal more than they’d like.

[kingbomber]

Yeah, they are.

[ Bakugou definitely had kept the guestbook in mind for now, anyway, all of that information tucked away. It was just a good idea in general. ]

I'll give him enough time to rattle away enough, but after that, waiting around and listening won't do any good at all. If he's expecting this to not blow up in his face, he has another thing coming.

lobby

[burgerprince]

[Jughead's seen some shit but, looking at Hawks, that's...some shit.]

What the-

[He's just gonna stare for a moment to make sure this is neither a hallucination nor elaborate cosplay.]

Dude, wings?

[icariot]

[didn't your mother ever say staring was rude

Hawks is going to stare back for several moments before raising one eyebrow and spreading his wings out to loom around them. They give a single lazy flap to blow air at Jughead before pulling back near his shoulders, aware that there's people who probably don't want to get smacked nearby.]

Yep, wings.

[burgerprince]

[God. Ok. Give him a moment.

He’s cynical and jaded now but what kind of loser kid never idolised superheroes? This is so much to take in and it’s all incredibly cool and bizarre at once.

He takes a breath, briefly touching his face in thought.]

...How?

[icariot]

[Congrats kid, you’re officially meeting the Number 2 Pro Hero in Japan. Which, while heroes are pretty common to run into where Hawks is from, most people don’t get to meet the #2 Hero as much. He doesn’t walk places that often when he can just fly.

The question throws Hawks for a loop though.]

....I’m not sure what you mean. It’s my quirk? It’s a pretty recognizable one.

[burgerprince]

[what the hell where's the #1 superhero this is bullshit]

Quirk?

[He sounds incredulous.]

No, no, see my hat? That's a quirk. That's - [He gestures to the wing thing.] That's full on eccentricity.

[icariot]

[first you stare, now you can’t respect a guy’s sick leave? wow who raised such a heathen]

Pretty sure a hat isn’t a quirk, unless it’s covering some kind of physical manifestation of something else.

[Wings aren’t even Hawks’ eccentricity. That belongs to his love of chicken foods of all kinds as a birdman.]

[burgerprince]

[the answer is no one good and that's the problem]

It's a quirk. It's quirky. It's my...thing that sets me apart from everyone else.

[Jughead's claim to a stable identity: one (1) stupid hat.]

[icariot]

[RIP]

I’m not sure where you’ve been the last hundred or some years, but Quirks have been around for a while. Most are unique to a person, though themes usually run through families.

[Hawks says he doesn’t know where you’ve been, but he’s pretty sure it’s a toss up between “under a rock” and “hippy commune with no outward appearing quirks”.]

[burgerprince]

[He just...squints at that.]

Are you getting existential about this or are we running on different definitions here?

guestbook

[pecker]

O-Oh, wow...

[Niwa blinks in surprise seeing a guy with wings, but she's not staring as hard as some might. What do you mean casually having animal traits isn't normal - well, it's not for a civilian, but look at this guy, nothing about him suggests he's that. If he was from the Niwa clan she'd obviously know, though. Well, really, she'd like to think that if he was anyone important she'd have known. With that decided, she shelves her curiosity for now and focuses on the situation. He has a book in his hands, and it looks important. She approaches, careful not to look too assertive but still friendly.]

Um, hello! Do you mind if I ask what you've got there?

[icariot]

[Where Hawks is from, people having odd traits, including animal ones, is more normal than someone who's "normal" looking, so Niwa's green hair is an almost welcome sight.]

Hey there. This [he gestures with the book before offering it] is the motel's guidebook. It has the guests staying here listed.

[Another appraising look] "Warrior of the Chicken"?

[pecker]

It actually says that?

[Well now he's got her attention, so she'll take the book without even answering the question. She's going to flip through it, and she actually looks sort of impressed.]

They sure know some dangerous information....

[icariot]

Yeah, it's got something like that for everyone. [Hawks gets the nice generic "Hero". Much better than being listed by his actual rank.]

Would you say it's 'dangerous' information? Mine is all pretty common knowledge, though I'd contest the 'nosy' part.

[If anything, Niwa's info also fits pretty well in Hawks' world. Espionage isn't generally a mainstream hero trait, but the rest could have put her as a hero with a slightly dramatic quirk name. The "control birds" part is piquing his interest, considering his own birdlike quirk. It probably wouldn't affect him, but he's also never ran into a quirk like that.]

[pecker]

[Yes, it does say that. She made sure to flip past Hawks's page before checking out her own. Hero is a pretty laughable sounding occupation to her, though - not that she'll actually say that.]

Well... Mine is definitely more of a 'secret identity.' For starters, this has my real name, Ryouka Niwa, but people would normally just call me 'Niwatori' when I'm acting as the Warrior of the Chicken.

[It literally just means chicken. Who knew she was one of your likes??]

Anyway, no one really knows about me, so it's a little dangerous in that respect....

[icariot]

[It’s okay, Hawks may enjoy his job, but it wasn’t exactly his choice either.]

Would you rather be called Niwatori or your civilian name?

[“Hawks” is his hero name, his personal name is a well-guarded secret even this place hasn’t taken yet, and he knows to respect other people’s name choices. Plus Niwatori could still be some kind of lower ranked hero, even if she hasn’t reacted like she recognizes him. That last comment almost makes her sound like an Underground Hero, which is plausible.]

[pecker]

O-Oh.... I guess my real name is fine! It's the one in the profile after all! But if you see me wearing feathers you can call me Niwatori... I think that's how the double life thing is supposed to work.

[She smiles sweetly, although her words are consistent with people mainly knowing only one or the other. She doesn't know anything about all of the Hero stuff he might think she is, but changing the subject back to him might shed some light.]

...After all, "Hawks" probably isn't your real name, right? Just a little guess.

[icariot]

“You think”? [Okay, anyone who’s an actual hero would know about hero names with more confidence than that, She must not be one, or not have the education for it. Even most children know more than she seems to.

This is obviously going to mean work.]

Hawks is my hero name, yeah. This, [a wave up and down to indicate his aviator style outfit] is my hero costume. Can’t say I’m likely to walk around not in it, since the other outfits here aren’t exactly a good fit.

[no wing holes, you see]