Academy of Heroes 2

[Camila]

Ina rushed down the hallway as fast as possible, being at the complete opposite side of the academia right when Naomi called everyone was quite unfortunate. As she approached the room where the meeting was taking place she slowed down her pace to catch her breath. Ina walked towards the door, to her surprise, there was another person holding the door for her, seeing someone else being late kind of relieved her from the anxiety already building up in her thoughts. She smiled at the armored guy, "Thank you" she said in a whisper loud enough for him to hear as she walked inside the room. Ina stood close to the group of people and took a glance at everyone in it, trying to catch up on the conversation as well. She wouldn't interrupt someone's conversation. Doubting someone would fill her in the details, Ina focused her eyes on Naomi waiting for the teacher to notice her and get and catch up on what she missed.

[Devour]

On the arrival of the two remaining students, Naomi felt a small surge of relief. She remembered Irina and Kalte as two students in which she saw great potential. Irina came from the blood of two of the greatest heroes who ever lived. Even if her powers hadn't developed fully--even if Naomi could sense the incredible burden her heritage placed upon her shoulders, she knew in her heart that this girl had what it took to be a hero.

And Kalte... He was a stone golem of a man. His presence made her feel much better, simply to know that there was someone who could help her keep her students safe. The suit of cold steel which he wore around him would be a barrier between them and death. Even if he was inexperienced himself, she could feel a powerful sense of duty and purpose from within him.

Naomi brought the two of them up to speed and answered the questions she could, doing whatever she thought would help these heroes come to terms with this horrible news. It warmed her heart immensely to see some of them trying to cheer each other up. She allowed them to write on the board, knowing that words of encouragement would mean much more coming from people who were just as scared as they were, rather from the one in charge.

Although she would never say it or let it show, Naomi was just as scared as the rest of them.

"Okay. I'll try and bring everyone up to speed before we go." She said. The girl plucked the piece of chalk out from Angel's fingertips, and with her other hand she took a piece of twizzler, providing a warm smile as she stuck it in her mouth. "According to the Headmaster... what has emerged from the Tumor is an enormous fortress. We don't know much about it yet, except that it seems to be producing a constant stream of... some sort of intelligent monster? They're incredibly hostile and have been seen using teamwork and tactics as they tried to break through the world's forces surrounding them. But so far they can't do much but make a lot of noise and give us a hard time.
"There is far too many types of them for me to describe, but..." Naomi drew a small perfect circle on the board, labeling it as the Tumor. Around the circle, she drew another line of wavy smoke around it. "The real threat is a sort of Curse that seems to be spreading out from its center. It covers the sky and blots out the Sun, and everything underneath the smog of this curse becomes effected in strange ways. Missiles aimed at the Tumor lose their targeting and veer away--people lose their minds and become no different than the other monsters, turning incredibly hostile while retaining their intelligence. This curse is spreading, day by day, and it will only be so long before the smog reaches the world's lines of defense. They'll have no choice but to fall back, and as they do that things will become worse and worse." Continuing, Naomi drew a third circle around the waves of smoke.

"Being forced to spread out further will weaken the world's defenses. Eventually, that will lead to our lines being broken and cities becoming swarmed by these creatures. If this front line falls, the country will descend into violence and chaos. The curse will only continue to spread, and..." In a swift motion, Naomi erased her drawings and drew in a small sketch of the Earth itself. "If it expands at the rate it is right now, the rest of the world would only have one or two years left before the smog reached them as well. Life as we know it will be over." For a second, Naomi allowed her voice to become hard as iron. "This is why it's so important that we do what we have to do. It is up to us to go to the heart of this Tumor and destroy its core, while its forces are distracted trying to break through our front lines. We are the only ones who can do this."

Silence reigned. Naomi allowed minutes to pass by, letting everyone absorb this information. It was to Naomi's surprise that Sidnee was the first to speak up. "If... If this Curse thing makes people turn evil when they're underneath it..." She hesitated, as if scared to hear the answer. "Won't that make us turn evil too?"

Naomi smiled. It was a good question. "No. For some reason, those of us who have been gifted these powers seem to be immune to it." The smile turned to something almost smug. "I know this because I've been there myself. That's why they've decided for me to lead you, even though I'm not the strongest out of us. I'm the only one on the planet who has been to the Tumor, and lived to tell the tale."

"How, though?" Theo spoke up. "Aren't there, like, hordes of monsters coming from there?"

"Yes. Definitely. But they were far too distracted to notice me." Naomi guiltily noticed her own smug satisfaction, as if she were bragging. "Besides--my own abilities make me very useful for infiltration. Speaking of which..." She turned to Isalah. "I'll make sure to tell you what they are. Soon. But now that everyone is here we have much more important things to figure out. Such as today's Mission."

Naomi erased the picture of the Earth, and she hastily drew the outline for a small checklist.

"Today, we are going to secure a small base behind enemy lines. A place where everyone can rest and eat in safety. Where we can safely bring supplies in via helicopter and brief you on every new mission. The military is going to do everything it can to help us while we're new." As the first bulletin on her list, Naomi wrote Secure a Base.

Beneath that bulletin, she wrote more points beneath it, writing as she talked. "First, we're going to all going to enter a Helicarrier which will take us to the other side of the country, next to where the front lines are currently. From there..." More jotted notes. "We'll be smuggled into enemy territory, where we'll need to find a good place to set up a base. Easy enough, right?" She gave the class before her a reassuring smile. "And then..."

Although strained, she did not let her smile fade away. "And then we're going to have to secure the building ourselves. It will be up to us to kill whatever monsters we may encounter. Before the end of today, we are going to see combat. We're going to have to kill--even if it's the lives of monsters who want to destroy the world. They're going to try and kill you, too."

She allowed another moment of silence. "But, everyone... They won't stand a chance against us! They have never seen the likes of us before. We have powers that defy the laws of nature." She could feel the fires of determination within her. "They'll see us and think we're no more than a harmless band of students, and as they underestimate us, we will win! We will grow stronger, and with that momentum they will struggle and fail to find an answer to us as we penetrate deeper towards the Tumor, until it's too late and we're already there. Together, we'll be unstoppable, and we'll enter its heart and take out the one in charge of everything. With his death... every single living monster beneath him will die as well." She made the plan sound so simple, even if it wasn't.

All they had to was travel to the Tumor and kill one guy in charge, right?

Yeah... It would be much more difficult than that. But it didn't matter to Naomi. Everyone would become stronger and stronger, battle after battle, and she believed in her heart that they had what it took to succeed. Even if few others shared her thoughts.

"For now..." The girl spoke up again. "Everyone, please make any preparations that you haven't already. We have thirty minutes. The Helicarrier is waiting for us on the roof of the Academy, and we'll meet there to begin our first mission. And please..." Naomi looked every student in the eyes. "Please come to me if you need someone to talk to while all this is happening." She provided one last smile of encouragement. "It would be impossible to overstate how much I care for each one of you."

[MrSkully]

She waved at the newcomers, a girl with pretty red hair and...someone in an impressively looking armor, covering them form head to toe. When Naomi took a piece of chalk and a twizzler from her, Angel smiled back, and watched for a moment, before she walked back up to where she was sitting previously. Once more she sat on the table, this time with her legs crossed, and she listened to the briefing, leaning slightly forward. When the room succumbed to silence, she felt an urge to let out a prolonged whistle to break it, but as soon as she breathed in to do so, the quiet girl from behind her spoke up. Probably for the better, actually. She listened further to the questions asked, and answers given, and her own doubts were dispelled on after the other. Funny, that in time of such dire need humanity's favorite toys were to fail them.

"Yeah!" When Naomi finished with a speech, Angel's fist shot out into the air with such enthusiasm that the table beneath her wobbled dangerously. She slammed both her hands down and stiffed her body to keep her balance and smiled sheepishly, kind of looking around if anyone else still shared her 'excitement'.

[SpacePunk]

When Theo was called into the classroom, they had made a joke about death, not knowing that it might be closer than they first thought. Now, they were thinking about death more than usual. Theo was depressed. Anyone could tell. But the more they thought about dying, the less they wanted to. The idea of suddenly loosing concisouness and not existing scared them. They flinched at Angel's excitment. How was she not scared? Was she hiding it? She had to have been, no one in their right mind could be excited to go on basically a suicide misson.

But the world was counting on this group of rag-tag heroes. If they got out of this alive, they could go back to their mom and grandma's place. They could show them that they made lemonade out of the lemons--the lemons being their powers. They stood up along with Angel. "Okay, I'm not as excited, but I'm ready to be the white blood cells this world needs and get rid of this tumor. I have no fear...well Actually one fear, and it's death, but other than that no fear!"

[ErrorBlender]

Francene did not share any of the student's enthusiasm. None of it. At all. The two newcomers came in but she was too shocked to hear how easily death was shrugged off by Naomi, as if going nearer to this tumor was an everyday walk. She had to speak. She had to say she wasn't ready for this; death wasn't for her. She endured pain, torment and suffering all her life before the Institute! She wasn't going back to it!

But she had no voice.

Even then, no matter her protest and complaint, her voice was muted. All Francene did was stand from her seat, much like Angel did, but her message to them all was a soundless squeak. She blinked, grit her teeth and closed her eyes. "I... I'm going to the advanced technologies department. T-to prepare."

Before anyone else could stop her, she darted out of the room and into the hallway in the direction of the department. It didn't take long for her to reach the door to the department and as expected, it was locked with a keypad right at the side of the door. She stared intently at the keypad before smiling.

Hi there, Keyes. Been a stressful day for me today. Hopefully it hasn't been for you. May I ask that you open? Her thought waves shifted in wavelength, adapting to the air as if they were neurons and flowed into the circuitry like commands. Technopathy was a rare and oddly modern power, how it came to be in the first place, it was a mystery. Perhaps it wasn't its natural form to begin with.

[Devour]

Francene did not share any of the student's enthusiasm. None of it. At all. The two newcomers came in but she was too shocked to hear how easily death was shrugged off by Naomi, as if going nearer to this tumor was an everyday walk. She had to speak. She had to say she wasn't ready for this; death wasn't for her. She endured pain, torment and suffering all her life before the Institute! She wasn't going back to it!

But she had no voice.

Even then, no matter her protest and complaint, her voice was muted. All Francene did was stand from her seat, much like Angel did, but her message to them all was a soundless squeak. She blinked, grit her teeth and closed her eyes. "I... I'm going to the advanced technologies department. T-to prepare."

Before anyone else could stop her, she darted out of the room and into the hallway in the direction of the department. It didn't take long for her to reach the door to the department and as expected, it was locked with a keypad right at the side of the door. She stared intently at the keypad before smiling.

Hi there, Keyes. Been a stressful day for me today. Hopefully it hasn't been for you. May I ask that you open? Her thought waves shifted in wavelength, adapting to the air as if they were neurons and flowed into the circuitry like commands. Technopathy was a rare and oddly modern power, how it came to be in the first place, it was a mystery. Perhaps it wasn't its natural form to begin with.

Unlike what one would expect... The key pad answered back in a silent voice of its own.
Hello! That's sorry to hear. You're allowed in here, right? I can let you in if I know for sure...

[ErrorBlender]

Not without a professor I'm sure! But there's this thing going on right now. You're out of the information loop so let me clue you in! Francene was a completely different person in her mind and by extension, to machines. All her torment and suffering, all her hardships were made survivable by her ability to speak and confide to otherwise inanimate circuitry. Her mind and self was more open to the cold metal than that of warm flesh and in that, showed comfort in speaking to them. The technopath opened with her day then with the announcement. She made sure to include how downtrodden it felt to be called without warning or explanation but felt a bit guilty about trying to get the keypad to show sympathy. Next she closed with how scary it was to be the chosen few and explained she needed to get in the room to gather her nanomites and prepare them for utilization.

I've been here before, with a professor. I've said hi a couple of times before, haven't I? She giggled then looked at the keys intently. I've been working on those 'mites for some time now. I guess this is the perfect time to use them right?

[Devour]

Not without a professor I'm sure! But there's this thing going on right now. You're out of the information loop so let me clue you in! Francene was a completely different person in her mind and by extension, to machines. All her torment and suffering, all her hardships were made survivable by her ability to speak and confide to otherwise inanimate circuitry. Her mind and self was more open to the cold metal than that of warm flesh and in that, showed comfort in speaking to them. The technopath opened with her day then with the announcement. She made sure to include how downtrodden it felt to be called without warning or explanation but felt a bit guilty about trying to get the keypad to show sympathy. Next she closed with how scary it was to be the chosen few and explained she needed to get in the room to gather her nanomites and prepare them for utilization.

I've been here before, with a professor. I've said hi a couple of times before, haven't I? She giggled then looked at the keys intently. I've been working on those 'mites for some time now. I guess this is the perfect time to use them right?

In its response, the piece of circuitry almost sounded apologetic. I'm afraid I'm too simple to understand the worries you feel. It said. But I hope everything turns out okay for you! I'll let you in.

With the sound of a small click, the lock before Francene turned green and unlocked.

[Boomerang]

Sidnee looked up at Naomi as she started talking to the group; once again, she attempted to lift everyone's spirits with encouraging words and hopeful scenarios. To some, it worked, and they were ready to take on the world. The others, however, were unconvinced. Francene ran out of the room as quickly as she could, and it was easy to tell that Theo was wrestling with his own inner demons. Sidnee didn't quite know how she was feeling, and it scared her.

As the group began to slightly disperse in preparation of the Helicarrier, Sidnee came to the realization that she didn't have anything substantial to take with her that wasn't on her person. Clothes, I guess.. she thought to herself. "I...I'll see you guys in a little while," She said softly, turning and speed walking to her dormitory. Once Sidnee got into her room, she grabbed a bag and quickly started throwing clothes and miscellaneous items inside. She had her clothes, her sword, and her self...there wasn't much else, was there?

With that, she walked away from her room for what may very well be the last time, locked her door, and walked toward the roof of the Academy where the Helicarrier--and hopefully some of her comrades--would be waiting for her.

[Aquila]

Isaiah had sat back down when the teacher took control again. She still hadn't told them her power and he made a mental note to ask her when he had the time. He could feel himself shake as the woman detailed what was to happen. The boy balled one of his hands into a fist and grabbed it with the other, tightening his hold as to calm himself. What shook him wasn't excitement like Angel, it was simply anticipation. He did not look forward to killing again, but it was the mission. A slight grimace crossed his face as those four words brought back throat-burning memories.

The captain would end every briefing with. "For it is the mission." And the response was always "And thus it is our duty." Isaiah found himself mumbling those words and it brought upon him a strange calmness and he stopped shaking. This was what he was trained to, made to do.

He got up, a smile back on his face. "Well then, I best go and get my things." And with that the boy excused himself, giving the newcomers a slight nod and simple hello. Isaiah made his way back to his room and locking the door behind him, pulled a long black case from out the closet. He flicked the latches off and opened the case to reveal his weapon of choice.

Spoiler for The Weapon in Detail:

Show

The black crossbow was the length of a springfield rifle, its stock resembling one as to create a sleek look as well as comfortable one. However, it didn't slim near the end, rather it narrowed slightly in the middle before fattening again, ending with a flat face with two fang-looking protrusions on the bottom. The bows themselves were folded inward as to make it easier to store and could easily be set and locked into place. The four pieces created a 4' X, and manufactured in compound fashion so their combined draw strength was enough to pierce most conventional armors. Loading the weapon was a two step process, he would wind a secondary string back, which would then operate a pulley system that would pull the main strings back as the compound design required the machine assistance. He would rest the weapon against the floor with his foot on the fangs for leverage. Once he wound it to the first lock, he would use a crank to pull it back to the second lock which would then also prime the trigger. The crank is a detachable lever that would be screwed on while the reel device is set on the bottom in front of the trigger guard. The frame is completely made of wood while the strings of synthetic fibers that boasts a high tensile strength. The crank, wench, and bows are made of carbon.

The bolts are 2' long, with the entire body made of porcelain, which boasts a dangerously sharp edge as well as surprising durability. The heads possess within them thick grooves which are used to store the venom he licks on. Normally the porcelain's weight would be detrimental to the performance of arrows, but bolts possess heavier bodies as well as a lack of thick fletching. The arrow heads are more dart shaped than triangular. He has sleeves of the ammunition lining the brief case, they're in personal packages of 10 that fit perfectly in a quiver that can also be hooked onto the crossbow. It's on a pivot so that when he swings the crossbow, they stay level to the ground so they don't fall out.

There was also a knife that he could add to the end as a bayonet or simply use on its own, it also has the added task of sharpening his arrowheads.

He wiped the body of the crossbow down with oil and plucked the strings to make sure they were taut and there was no fraying. He loaded a package of bolts into his quiver then shut the case, locking it back up. Isaiah picked up the box and slung it over his shoulder before making his way to his desk. Against the desk was a mirror that was flipped to its back where hung postcards of everywhere he'd been. He would tell people they were sent by his family but the writing on the back was all by him, the signature, the "I love yous" the x's and the o's. He flipped the mirror to the other side, revealing its broken shards, fragments that only revealed pieces of his face. One could see where his fist met the glass, circular indents that spider webbed outwards. "My parents are nature photographers." His eyes met in the multiple pieces, making him look more like a monster than he already saw himself as. "And I'm just a boy who wants to save the world." He spun the mirror back and wondered if he should take any of the postcards with him or mementos. Deciding against it, the boy gave his snake a mouse to tide it over while he gave a fish to his jellyfish. both were more than capable of simply resting until he got back, the food would tide them over for the time being. With one last look at his room, he headed out and went to the designated landing zone.