Act 1: Into the Light

Chapter 1: Beneath the Surface

The private jet shook as it kept its constant speed through the air. The silence beside the engines whirring, and the air zooming past was all white noise that only seemed to calm David as he sat in a quiet comfortable leather chair in the back of the only area he was allowed in. The Atlas workers had taken his phone and done who knows what with it. He just wished had had it so that he could at least have some music as well. Ivor had promised that he and his classmates would get them back once they reached before he left David on the jet when they reached… well, where their 'facility' was.

He had at least been allowed to keep his bags that had no electronics in them, which was almost everything.

The teen laid back into the leather as he took a deep breath. The white noise from everything and the warmth from the chair only proved to amplify his exhaustion from the past twenty-four hours. He closed his eyes and thought for a bit, not feeling any motivation to take action on something. He couldn't tell if his lack of a will to do anything was from the anticipation of seeing his classmates, or if getting nearer to his goal only made him have tunnel vision on it. So David did the only thing he knew how to do when he was bored and sifted through his shirts with axolotl puns on them to find his book from his bag that had been sitting next to the chair.

He pulled out a blue mechanical pencil from his jeans and pulled the cover open to the pages. He flipped through them trying to find the place he had left on, and then found himself on the next blank piece of paper. He stared at it for a moment and started habitually chewing on the eraser as he contemplated how he would continue the story.

How the hell had his father done this? The guy was a book-writing machine, and he could never understand how he had busted out three, five hundred page books a year. He was really beyond anything David could hope to achieve at his current skill level.

Not too long after chewing on the pencil and listening to the white noise of his surroundings, the creative flow started to come in. The smile that came on his face as the gears in his brain started to churn was a very rare sight that not even his mother had seen for what seemed like years. His pencil hit the paper immediately, and the room was then occupied by the noise of a pencil going out at what seemed mach five.

The plot of the book he was writing was interconnected to the world his father had created, but it was far enough of a spin-off that he could take whatever creative liberties he wanted. But whenever he thought of a completely new idea, he'd shut himself down out of fear it would be too far from what his father had intended. This whole world centered around the basic concept of a simple teen with no magic trying to fight in a world filled with it. For a time, it was incredibly unique due to his father's writing style. But, sooner or later, other authors followed.

Soon the entire concept became so cliche that the original concept of it was lumped in with the others that had oversaturated the idea in the first place. So here David was, trying to write in an oversaturated market with an idea that was different enough that it at least seemed unique to him.

The first thing David did when he first started planning was make a protagonist that kept the core of the story idea but put a twist on him. Sure, he wasn't adept in magic like the original protagonist, but he instead started to use technology to try and keep up with his teammates. At the time of when he first started writing, he had the entire thing planned out. The problem is that a story can change with the writer's wants from it.

After he read the plot out to one of his friends, they showed a visible uncomfortableness with the protagonist dying. It probably was due to the fact he was quite literally imploded, and that David explained it in rigorous detail, but that was beside the point.

So the death of the character was changed, but in turn, that affected the entire point of the protagonist's character. Which then caused a butterfly effect that just screwed up the entire story. So the teen started from scratch and found himself with the plot he was currently writing for. After just ten minutes, he had at least fourteen pages filled to the brim with his writing. The creative juices that were fueling his mind was one of the few things David knew he had going for him after all these years.

His brother had always told him that he'd be great at something, but… he couldn't help but feel that that 'something' hadn't come yet.

Much to his dismay, the plane started to experience some turbulence after David got to his twenty-third page. And just like that, the gears stopped turning and the teen's pencil froze just short of filling in the last sentence of a battle scene. Even after the plane found its way to being a smooth flight again, he couldn't bring himself to continue.

"Just great…" He said to himself out loud as he started to pack his book back into his bag. He grit his teeth in frustration as he found himself in the similar situation of sitting in the chair not having anything to do. On one hand, he would've looked up some videos of axolotl care tips, or just watched his in her tank at home. But neither of those options were available no matter how much he wished otherwise.

He thought of sleeping again, so he began looking through his bag again, this time looking for his insomnia medication so as to not have a repeat of what happened on the bus after he woke up. When he did happen to find the pill bottle, the intercom broke the long-lasting peace and quiet.

"Connor, get your items ready and prepare for extreme cold. We've reached Atlas' home base."

He rolled his eyes and walked over to a couch that had been adjacent to his seat and picked up a white beanie which slipped on his head, a scarf that he then wrapped his neck and covered his mouth, and then finally took the black winter coat that seemed more like a trench coat more than anything. After everything was on, he threw on his backpack and sat back down in the chair waiting for the plane to land. After a sudden change in direction, the jet soon found itself on the ground and rolled to a stop not long after. The teen grabbed his two duffel bags and walked to the doorway as it folded open.

He prepared to walk down the stairway that had been prepared for him, which was interrupted by the blast of snow hitting his face as he went down it. The wind threatened to knock him over, but the heavy bags seemed to at least help him stay on his feet with the added weight. Each step was harder and harder than the last as he became increasingly worried about slipping or the wind knocking him over. When he did hit the ground, he felt the softness of snow cover his boots.

Before he had a moment to collect himself, he felt the touch of hands on his shoulders as they guided him forward. The snow falling made it almost impossible to see five inches ahead of him. But whoever these people were seemed to know exactly what they were doing. They eventually reached a black shape large, and David saw a motion through the snow. When it hit the top of the black shape, it made the sound of leather hitting metal. The sound of a door unlocking was heard, and the teen was essentially thrown into a heavy-duty military truck.

Before he even had time to recover, the door was slammed, and he was speeding on his way to God knows where. He wiped the pent-up snow off of his face and looked to see the windows entirely black. More than likely heavily tinted on both sides. The back seat was also cut off from the front of the vehicle by a sheet of metal. When David made a move to touch it, he was interrupted by a bump in what would've been the road. Speaking of roads, where even was he? The teen was run from his town in a bus to a random jet, and then found himself in a heavy-duty vehicle that was now speeding through some sort of snowstorm? When Ivor had said Atlas' facility was in a secure location, he didn't think it'd be in the middle of nowhere!

The drive went on for what seemed like five minutes before it went to a sudden stop that almost threw David headfirst into the metal in front of him. The door was seemingly ripped open, and he yet again found himself being dragged out of the vehicle he had been using. This time, when he was pulled out, he found himself in front of a medium-sized wood shack. When he turned to look for the people who had gotten him there, he already saw the lights of the vehicle speeding away through the storm.

He put his hand above his eyes and stepped through the snow towards the structure. He placed his bag down and felt along the wall for a bit. When he finally found what felt like a doorknob, he turned it and practically fell into the shack. He stumbled a bit as he got up, and quickly grabbed his other bag outside. It was pitch black in the room, but when he shut the door, a small lightbulb in the center of the room snapped on. When it did, he found himself on a metal floor, with none other than Ivor standing across from him.

"Ah David, it's good to see you in one piece."

Said teen grunted as he took off his hat, scarf, and shook the snow off. "I don't feel like I got here in one piece." The man let out a small laugh as he walked over to David. After the snow was cleared off from his face, the teen saw Ivor was in an entirely black suit with a white dress shirt and black tie. The logo of Atlas was on one of the breast pockets.

The principal put his finger to an earpiece, as he then spoke. "Start the lift."

Before David could even understand what was happening, and just when he thought he had gotten his bearings, the metal floor started to dropdown. The clanking of metal was heard as it dropped down further and further. The speed at which lights ingrained in the wall passed the floor made it clear that they were descending at a rather modest pace. The teen stood there almost falling over multiple times as he tried to find his balance. Ivor and he were silent for what seemed like a solid two minutes before the principal spoke. "Now David, I apologize for the… rough journey. But I assure you, this was all for the safety of you and your classmates." He spoke with a tone that displayed a sort of monotone that matched that of his old teacher. He had clearly been rehearsing this for god knows how long. "I'd personally like to thank you for joining Atlas. I know it's been hard for you and your mother for the past few years. But now isn't the time for mourning."

David stood still as Ivor walked over to the side of the lift across from where the teen had entered. The principal stood there staring at the wall for a second before speaking. "This lift was inspired by a friend of mine from Japan with a Vampiric quirk. He runs a foundation that has a similar purpose to that of fist to fist therapy. While I may not agree with all of his methods, it's worked enough for us to have the facility's initial planning based on it." He chuckled a bit to himself before he continued speaking. "I will admit, while our floor plan may not be almost a literal maze, we have taken every measure to ensure your safety here. So I would like to preface,"

He turned and made eye contact with David for a second.

"Do not attack your classmates, and respect their cultures. I've used my quirk to give everyone the knowledge of how to speak the English language to the capacity their age would allow. So while we may have someone from Brazil, they know English just as well as you do now."

Ivor turned back and faced the wall.

"Oh and David... welcome to Facility A"

Almost immediately after he was done speaking, the wall changed to that of one made of glass. The lights of the facility almost blinded David before his eyes adjusted, and when they did, he saw a bird's eye view of the entrance to the facility. The entrance hall had the flags of every single country that the students were from hanging from the ceiling. The white of what seemed to be marble flooring combined with white walls made it look impeccably clean. The back view past the entrance hall showed that the facility's walls were almost impossibly tall. At least fifty meters from what he could tell. Across from the glass wall was the red A from the logo on the wall above a metal gate. The caution signs on it in at least fifteen different languages being there as another precautionary measure.

He could see a group of what seemed to be 10 people at the least. Even from far away, he could spot at least two with white hair, and what seemed to be horns on one of them. The closest to normal appearances from what he could tell was what looked to be a girl with blue hair. The weirdest appearance being a tall guy who looked like a dragon. But he didn't get long to see anymore before the glass yet again transitioned to metal. David grabbed his bags as the lift slowly came to a stop in front of heavily armored doors. Some clamps released the hissing of machinery was heard as they slowly opened. "Go, I will speak with you all soon," Ivor whispered.

The teen felt himself gulp as he walked forward and felt the metal turn into marble as he walked. He was honestly starting to regret wearing one of his axolotl shirts at that moment. The lines upon lines of luggage along the walls showed that pretty much, if not all of his classmates were there. Said classmate's eyes turned to him as he approached. The brown, red, blue, green, and whatever other colors came from the crowd made his eyes avert to the ground as he made his way to them. He eventually stopped in front of what would become his classmates and looked up, silver meeting the multitude of colors in front of him. A voice then came from the crowd, clearly Japanese in accent.

"Really, we waited TWO HOURS, for this?"

The owner stepped forward; long white hair that dropped past the owner's nose spiked up in the back, black eight-inch tall horns, pointed ears, a black tail with a backward heart at the end, and red eyes with a black marking starting at the forehead going down the center of each met David as the height of the teen was just a tad over his. He was wearing a quite large baggy white sweatshirt which was complemented by blue jeans with a large rip on the right knee. The Irish teen squinted his eyes and gave no response. He had dealt with tons of these types of assholes because of his familial connections, although it didn't stop him from hoping those types of people wouldn't be in Atlas. He should've figured otherwise. "Hey dumbass, I'm talking to you!" He snapped his black clawed fingers in front of David's face and showed a few of his teeth as he smiled. They were incredibly sharp, and their pure white reflected the industrial lighting in the ceiling.

The boy rolled his eyes and attempted to move past this inconvenience, but was stopped by their left-hand landing on his shoulder. "You're telling me that the LAST dumbass to be here was a fucking tourist?" came out of his mouth as he lightly tapped the art of the face of an axolotl on the center of David's shirt. The black-haired boy stopped for a moment and eyed his adversary. The silver and red of the eyes cut into each other, the bitter connection that was starting to form made David's blood boil. He grabbed David's shirt and pulled the boy forward, faces mere inches away from one another. Their eyes locked as pure malice went between them. "Listen here you silver-eyed little shit, when I say something, fucking, RESPOND." The Irish teen grabbed the arms of the white-haired boy and tightened his grip around them.

"And what are you going to do if I don't?" he said with a sort of tone to see if he'd actually go any further. The sharp teeth that had once formed a smile quickly turned into that of a frown as he prepared himself for further confrontation. However, they were then both interrupted by a new voice. It was German in accent and had a hint of an authoritative tone to it.

"Both you shut it, and actually act with some decency! We haven't even been here for a day and you're already going to attempt to kill one another?"

The owner stepped forward and was of similar height to David. He had broad shoulders and a very muscular body. The oval-shaped Emerald green eyes he had looked familiar to David as he looked over. The more he saw, the more he realized who he was looking at. The jet black hair styled into a slicked back quiff, the sports clothes, and the facial shape…

"Volker?"

"Volker!"

The call of a younger individual was ringing in his ears constantly as they soon found each other in the maze. Volker had always really seen himself as the committed type in all honesty. If you put your mind to anything, then that could be achieved if you worked hard enough. His father and beyond were proof of that. However, the one thing that he had never really been able to commit himself to was friendships. It was just so much work for something that any point could break into a million pieces. However, when he was little, he had kept one person outside of his family close to him.

"Come on Volker! I really wanna see the garden!"

The eight-year-old David had said to him while dragging him through a hedge maze. The black beanie over his head, and autumn clothes he was wearing zooming past the green. "Come on dude, is this really necessary?" The other small boy just laughed and rushed forward more.

"You betcha!" he responded quickly with a cheery tone. The constant turns they were taking were almost nauseating in a way. One second they'd be running down a long and narrow pathway, and the next they were taking ten different turns in the span of seconds. The more their shoes hit the ground, the closer and closer they got to their goal. Or at least that's what it seemed like to the eight-year-olds as they continued a full sprint that only a child could try and hold for a long period of time. Eventually, after a few rights, they finally reached the end of the maze and were subjugated to what would be to a normal person, an incredible sight that Volker had long since been used to.

In the center of a thirty by thirty-meter square area was a gigantic, absolutely beautiful fountain. The water flowing from its constant stream filled the silence as the boys just stared at the sight. Rows and rows of flowers of different kinds were along the edges of the garden. There were stone paths to navigate through the multitude of fauna that had been planted and grown, and it didn't take long for David to start moving along and looking at all the plants.

"Just remember that my father said not to touch anything. I don't think it'd be a good idea to-" The German was cut off by David quickly turning his attention to the pathway that led opposite where they entered past the fountain. When he started to walk down, Volker quickly made his way to be at his friend's side. This time, the pathway led to an absurdly large lake that spaned. They walked down steps made of marble and went to the deck that had been installed and just looked at the water. The quiet atmosphere of the garden and maze itself had lent the fish to almost always freely swim near the surface of the water without any danger of predators.

David plopped himself on the polished wood and just watched the fish swim around, to which Volker followed. They sat there enjoying the sight of the aquatic animals freely gliding around the water. "So how was your dad's surgery?" Volker asked, with a hint of worry.

The Irish boy gave a nervous laugh before looking up towards the bright blue sky. "It went well, and really, he beat it this time like it was nothing!" He had a hopeful tone to his voice as he spoke and smiled a bit. "Dad said he was gonna get the new book out this week too! I can't wait to read it with Lucas! He hasn't been around because of hero work, but he promised he'd be with us after we leave for a bit!"

"What about your quirk? Has it manifested yet?" Volker asked. David looked away for a second, obviously agitated by the question. But the boy quickly turned back to face his friend.

"Well Lucas said that his came in when he was ten, so I'll hopefully get it by then!" Volker smiled as he listened to David talk, and kept his attention on him. The smile on his face was wide and full of energy. Which was a large contrast to the person he saw in front of him now.

Volker looked on as David ripped the white-haired boy's hands off of him and brushed his shirt off. He rubbed his eyes and looked confused at the boy across from him. The energy he had once owned was gone and was replaced by something that the German couldn't put his finger on. The last time he'd even gotten to see him was after the funeral, but even then it wasn't this bad.

"David, I see that you..,"

"Yeah, I know," said David as he rubbed the back of his head. "Been a while hasn't it?"

Volker smiled a bit as he looked at his friend. "Oh, so you two fucktards know each other?" Said the white-haired teen with an agitated tone.

"Yes, and if I remember what Mr. Karkotsky said, your name is En? If so, with all due respect, go and find someone else to annoy." David walked away as the now named En gave him a death stare. He looked like he wanted to say something, but was kept silent by Ivor having finally decided to come forward. The crowd's whispering and laughing went quiet as everyone moved out of the way for him. The principal moved to a large metal door similar to the exit from the lift and stood there silently for a few seconds.

"Greetings everyone! I am honored that you all chose to join Atlas, and that you fully committed yourself to being a hero. The rules of our facility will be on a list ready in your dorms, and all I personally ask is that you make sure you are ready for the coming trials."

He snapped his fingers as the hydraulics in the door began to work, and it immediately opened to reveal a gigantic room with a red line wrapping along the walls. In the center of the floor was the outline of a circle with a hollow center that housed the logo of Atlas. From the outline of the circle led into four different pathways painted onto the marble floor that each led to another hydraulic door that was open in the center of the other walls in the square room.

The students grabbed all of their belongings and bags as they walked through the door with Ivor. As they entered, they then saw groups of couches and chairs in each corner of the room, and the industrial lighting was almost blinding. Ivor stopped them in the center of the room and motioned to the left from where they had entered.

"That's the classrooms with a changing room and public restroom to accommodate yourselves in case of some sort of accident. There, you will be studying topics like heroic's history, hero laws, and general education. Do keep in mind, you will only spend half of your week there." He then motioned to the opposite wall from which they entered. "That is the lift to the second floor. I'll be giving you a tour of that tomorrow, but that is where you will be led for physical training and simulations." Ivor then finally turned to the right and began walking forward. As everyone followed and went through the door, they found themselves in a room similar to the commons area. The difference was that to the left, fourteen doors, each with a member's name on it, were wrapped around the wall in an equally spaced manner. In front of them were chairs and couches surrounding a few TVs equally sparsed throughout the room. Opposite from that side to their right was kitchen tables in front of a lunch line that was active with multiple chefs cooking something that gave off an amazing aroma. "This is the dorms and your cafeteria. This will be where you'll not only be sleeping, but eating meals specifically made for you to be in top physical condition."

"Now then, I suggest you all deposit your things and get your dorms ready for tonight. You'll have an hour before your dinner is ready, and then two more before lights out." He motioned at the dorms "Thank you for your time, everyone, I'll be sure to awake you all tomorrow before the alarms over the intercom kick in." With that, Ivor departed and left the students alone. Some had already taken the initiative to go to their dorms, which left David mentally trying to collect himself, and a girl to his left struggling with one of her bags as some stuff had fallen out of it.

Her grunting caught his attention as David looked over at her. She was somewhat tall at five feet and five inches with thick hair that was cerulean in color and fell in waves down her back, curling slightly at the ends. Her bangs were cut almost completely straight to hang above her eyes, one sidelock left to hang down to her chest, while the other was pulled back along with a small section of hair to form a small high pigtail at the upper left corner of her hair. She was tan and was clothed in a white crop top with stars over the chest and blue jorts. "Uhhh, do you need help?"

She looked over at him, her brown eyes essentially stabbing daggers into his soul. "If I needed help I would've asked for it." came out of her mouth with what seemed to be a heavy Greek accent and harsh tone to match.

She grabbed her last item and made her way to the dorm door labeled 'Alexis Ho' and quickly opened the door before closing it behind her. David was frozen there out of confusion but left it be as he approached his. He opened the door and found a square room with a bed to the left wall with a door leading to a bathroom next to it and a dresser and shelf along the wall across from him. To his right was a desk with a computer and closet next to it.

He dropped his duffel bags onto the ground in the center of the room and sat his backpack on his bed. Before long he found himself putting all of his clothes on hangers in the closet, his books on the shelf with a few other decorations, and a few extra items throughout the room.

After a solid fifteen minutes, he was taking the final few items out of his backpack, before grabbing one final book. As he reached to put it on the shelf, the sound of paper hitting the floor broke the silence he had found himself in. When David looked down, an envelope was at his feet. It had writing on the front that said 'To David" in an extremely fancy cursive font. He picked it up and stared at it for far longer than what was completely necessary, and looked about ready to open it before stopping himself. 'Not yet…' He thought as he sat it on the bottom of the shelf next to a picture of him and his mother who was a barn owl mutant, and another he didn't see due to how quickly he set it down earlier.

After putting his bags in his closet, David laid on his bed and looked at the ceiling. He had finally gotten to Atlas, and what felt like such a large occasion felt somewhat empty to him. He sighed to himself and thought about taking some medication so that he could sleep before a knock on his door interrupted that idea. He walked over and opened the door to see Volker standing there ready for him.

"Just thought I'd tell you that the lunch line is open. Thought you would prefer to catch up for a bit." David nodded and closed the door behind them as they walked over to the line that had long since been filled with their classmates.

"So, it's been around three years right?" David asked as they entered the line.

"Give or take. The last time I saw you was at the funeral." Their looks soured for a moment at the memory before Volker quickly moved them along to a different topic. "So how was your journey here?" The Irish teen scratched his neck as he thought about how to phrase his response.

"Let's just say I had almost no time to really think about what was actually happening." Volker let out a small chuckle after hearing David and quickly stopped himself.

"It sounds like your travels were a bit rougher than mine. I'm guessing they got you here in the middle of the snowstorm?" David let out a small nod as they grabbed their trays from the far left of the counter and let the chefs of varying appearances put food on them.

Volker gave a small sniff to the food and gave out a small 'hmph' as he looked over at David. "Surprising, it smells somewhat good." The Irish teen followed and found that his friend's words were pretty spot on. The pork, carrots, peas, and a multitude of other fresh food items decorated the trays as if a professional chef had touched them. Atlas hadn't spared any expense, making David wonder a bit on who their teachers would be for their time at the facility.

After leaving the line, they found themselves standing in front of their classmates at a multitude of tables. He could tell there were already some friend groups starting to form, and he for one was very keen on keeping close to Volker since he had no clue to go. Or that would've been the case if he didn't see the same girl from earlier sitting alone at a table."What about over with her?" asked David. Volker shrugged as followed the Irish teen as they approached. The girl looked up from her food and gave almost no reaction to them. "Hey, I'm sorry if I made you mad earlier, I-" David was cut off by the girl making a cut-off motion with her hand before she swallowed her food.

"No, it's fine. I just had everything handled. If you want, nobody's sitting here besides me." David looked over at Volker and shrugged before they put their trays on the table. "So, your name is Alexis right?" David asked.

"Yeah, Alexis Ho, but you can just call me Alex. I'm from Greece, and from what I can tell you have to be… Irish right?" The teen nodded and took a bite of his food as Volker joined the conversation. "I'm guessing the heavy accent gave it away?" the German questioned. Alexis nodded as she took another bite of her food. "Yeah, where I live we get a bit of tourists here and there. So I've seen a few Irish people come through." David looked over at her, a look of interest crossing his face. "So I hate to phrase this weirdly, but, what all goes on in Greece? My… family use to take me to see Volker a lot in Germany so it's always interesting to hear about different cultures." Alex turned her head a bit and looked up, thinking for a few moments.

"Well, there's the occasional riot here or there, and tons of people fighting in tournaments. Comparing home to anywhere else is kinda weird. Because, you know, It's all I've ever really known." she replied curtly. Volker turned his attention over from the table and spotted something before getting Alex and David's attention. "Hey, looks like there's someone without a place to sit." The person he was referring to came into view as the two turned their heads. The first thing you noticed about him was his white puffy hair that was almost in the shape of an afro on his head, which dropped down a bit past his chin with bright blue eyes to match. He had a bit of a goatee on his face and was around five feet and nine inches. He was quite burly and looked a bit confused as he looked around for a place to sit. "Got it." was all that came out of Alexis's mouth as she got up and walked over to him.

There was a clear look of surprise on his face as she spoke to him, and when she motioned over to the table, he quickly nodded and followed her as she began her way back. The albino sat down in a chair next to Volker, and slowly laid his tray on the table. "So, what's your name?" asked Alex as she took her seat back.

"Uh, my name's Hugo. Nice to meet you guys," he said with a hint of a Danish accent. David looked up from his food and gave a quick nod as he was chewing. Volker, who had just finished chewing, repeated David's question from earlier. "So, where are you from?" Hugo took a bit of his food and finished rather quickly, probably due to his canine teeth being a bit bigger than your average person. "Denmark. But so far coming to Atlas has been a nice change of scenery."

There was a small bout of silence between the group before Alex quickly picked the conversation back up. "So in my family, we have a tradition where we go around the table and talk about something that affected our view of the day. So David is your name right?" she asked the black-haired teen. He nodded a bit and swallowed the last of his food. "Yeah, and… I guess the ride on the jet was a bit nice? I got to write a bit in one of my books so I enjoyed that." Hugo and Volker turned their attention away from the food and looked over at David. The mention of a book more than likely being why they did so.

"So you're a writer?" she asked, looking at him curiously. "Yeah, my father left me a few books with no words in them for me. After he… sorry," David took a moment to throw the thought out of his mind before continuing. "He was a brilliant writer, and he and my mum thought I was too." Volker nodded a bit and interjected. "You got that right, I remember when we were little and you were able to come up with these quite interesting stories right on the spot."

Hugo eyed them both as a question came to his mind. He hesitated at first, hoping it wouldn't come off as rude. "Soooo, you two know each other?" he asked. Volker nodded as he finished the last of his food.

"Yeah, we've known each other since we were around four years old. His brother interned under my father." As the conversation continued, David's focus on it didn't. The mention of his brother made the teen quickly find himself lost in his thoughts. The existential dread that overcame him was terrifying, and he had no way to describe it. After a while, he felt Volker shaking him as he came to. As David looked around at everyone, he could see the clear worry on their faces.

"Are you okay?" Volker asked. "You look like you're out of it."

David wiped his eyes and looked down, avoiding as much eye contact as possible. "Yeah, just… a bit tired is all." He said as he stood up from his chair. "It was nice to meet you guys, but I think I should probably be getting some sleep. Maybe we can catch up a bit more tomorrow Volker."

"Yeah, it was nice seeing you. I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Volker said back to him. He had a clear look of worry across his face.

"It was nice meeting you, hopefully we'll all be able to talk again later." Said Hugo as David began his walk back to his dorm. He opened his door, and when he closed it behind him, David put his back against it as he slid down the door, trying his hardest to try and keep his composure. David, no matter how hard he tried, just couldn't stop thinking about him. He felt like he wasn't worth being in that dorm. It should've been someone else in his eyes. The constant anger and regret boiling inside of him deciding to come out at this moment was rather unfortunate due to the fact it was literally his first day at Atlas. But all he could do was sit there and sulk his ass off like a useless idiot. He eventually stopped himself as he took deep breaths. 'In through the nose, out through the mouth.' he kept telling himself as he started to calm down.

He put his head against the door as he looked up at the ceiling of his dorm and just stared for a few moments.

After the labored breathing ceased, he slowly stood up and walked over to his desk, and grabbed the pill bottle he had sat there earlier. After taking the Insomnia medication, he went into his bathroom and changed into a white T-shirt and black shorts. After coming out of the bathroom, he tossed his dirty clothes on the ground at the foot of his bed before getting under the covers and facing the wall. After trying to get comfortable, and turning over to his other side, he came face to face with a photo he had sat there earlier. The black hair, bright blue eyes, and big grin of his brother stared back at him from the shelf.

'Lucas… I wish you were here.'

Was all David could think to himself as he slowly but surely lost consciousness, soon falling asleep into darkness as the thoughts of his brother consistently rang through his mind.

Well that concludes the first chapter of An Age's End! I'm exceptionally happy with the characters I've gotten, and excited to get this show on the road! Again, I'd like to thank everyone who submitted, your interest means the world to me.

Now with Chapter 1 out of the way, teacher submissions will now be open! Just a few ground rules for these submissions.

1) I will only be taking 11 submissions total, nothing more, nothing less. The due date for these are June 2nd.

2) They MUST be older than 21, unlike the students, the teachers have to be the best of the best.

3) Same rules of students apply aside

4) There are nine categories for the subjects the teachers will be tackling. Here they are with a short description.

Classroom Orientated - These teachers will mainly be teaching in a classroom on Floor 1

Heroic's History - A teaching role focused on the history of heroics, and how it evolved from the dawn of quirks.

Hero Laws - A role focused on how hero laws have evolved, and which ones will be the most important for their times as a hero.

Negotiating - A role focused on hostage negotiations, and also acts as a psychology class in some aspects.

General Education - The stuff that basic schools cover like math, social studies, chemistry, and the like. There will be TWO teachers for this position. Everything else is only one teacher per role aside from the Nurses.

Physical Orientated - These teachers will mainly be focusing on the second floor of Atlas, and will be using the simulation chamber, pool on the third floor, and gym.

Simulations and Situations - This teacher will be focused solely on the simulation chamber to put students through different scenarios and circumstances.

Martial arts and more - This teacher will focus on using the simulation chamber for tournaments consisting of classmates pitted against each other. They will also do one on one sessions to teach students certain fighting styles they picked.

PT - This teacher will be focused on the pool and gym to physically train the students, and get them as physically fit as efficiently as possible.

MISC.

Nurse - Obvious role, and I will be taking two.

Counselor and Therapist - This staff member takes the role of counselor and therapist in case of students needing some form of mental help. This staff member is essentially second in command to Ivor. So this spot will be very closely monitored and picked.

Here's the edited form:

Teacher Role: (Put which of 9 categories you are going for,)

Name: (Please give a first, middle, and last name.)

Gender: (Self Explanatory.)

Sexuality: (I really don't care what goes here, with what is planned, romance won't be a large factor in this story.)

Age: (21 at the youngest)

Birthday: (Just give a month and day.)

Nationality/Ethnicity: (Self Explanatory)

Appearance: (Everything including scars, mutant features and the like should be here. Make sure to include everything like eye shape, face shape, hair, and the important details of what your OC looks like.)

Clothes: (Feel free to leave as many outfits as you want. Only two outfits are required. First, what's their casual clothes? The second outfit that is required will be later in the form.)

Speech Pattern: (Just give a general description of how your character talks. If you want, you could even include a voice actor as an example.)

Personality: (In my opinion, the second most important part of an SYOC form. Please make this as long and descriptive IF possible. However, there is beauty in simplicity, so it can be simple. But, I will not accept anything that is under 2 paragraphs.)

Likes: (What are some things your character likes? Three at minimum)

Dislikes: (What are some things your character dislikes? Three minimum here as well.)

Fears: (Do they have a fear that relates to their backstory? Or do they just find spiders creepy? List a few here, try and make it around five.)

Backstory: (This is the MOST important part of an SYOC form for me. This has to be descriptive and long so that I can set things up for later, and make sure your character can fit into the plot. Make sure at the very least it is 2 paragraphs! I would like 3, but I won't make that the requirement.)

Plot Points: (Setting backstory and personality aside, this is the part of the form I am most looking forward to. As long as this isn't too overbearing you can add ideas as minor as them cooking their favorite food because they feel homesick, to them dying in a heroic battle to the death.)

Dorm: (Yes, even teachers get dorms.)

School Name: (Same with students, they're being sent from a multitude from across the world.)

School description: (Give a general outline of how your character's school operates. Is it run by a principal with an iron fist? Or is it run by a council that sees to it that students have as much freedom as possible?)

Hero Name: (Self explanatory.)

Hero Costume: (I absolutely LOVE hero costumes in SYOCs. Please be as descriptive as possible, and make sure to mention where gadgets would go if they have any. However, do keep in mind there is a separate category to explain said gadgets.)

Gadgets: (Depending on how complex the gadget is, is how long the description should be.)

Quirk Type: (Is your character's quirk an emitter, transformation or mutant type quirk?)

Quirk Name: (What is your character's quirk called? Be utilitarian if you feel like, but clever names get extra points)

Quirk Description: (PLEASE be descriptive here! Give a description of how the quirk works, and what it does.)

Quirk Strengths: (At minimum, this should have three.)

Quirk Weaknesses: (Same as above.)

Fighting Style: (Just give a basic outline of how they fight here.)

Special Moves: (Give a list of big hitting moves that your character has, or will learn in the future. You could also give a time when you'd want them to have their move revealed.)

Stats: (Allocate the following statistics on a scale from A to E, with A being the best and E being the worst. S is a theoretical score above A but should be reserved for ability on or around All Might level so is not wholly realistic for student submissions.)

Strength: (A straightforward measure of your character's physical stopping power. How hard can they punch? How much weight can they lift? Assume no quirk use is involved in this measurement unless it is a mutant type quirk)

Endurance: (A straightforward measure of your character's physical endurance. How much punishment can they take before giving in? How long can they keep up a physical activity like running or fighting?)

Quirk: (How powerful is your character's quirk in an objective sense? or how good are they at using it? A weak quirk used exceptionally well is just as worthy of an A and a powerful quirk used moderately well.)

Intelligence: (How smart your character is. How good are they at academics or formulating battle strategies? Can they make deductions about their opponents? Are they a top scorer in class?)

Technique: (What is your character's level of technical proficiency with their abilities? Are they a martial arts master? Have they spent years of their life studying and applying their quirk to the limit? Or are they a flailing drunken idiot?)

Teamwork: (How well can your character operate in a unit with other people? Do they take orders well? Can they lead a team to victory? Do they know how best to synergise their abilities with others? Are they a gruff, antisocial lone wolf?)

Quotes: (Some examples of how your character speaks, some things that they might say and common turns of phrase that they would use.)

Music Themes: (If you pay attention to the story, you'll see a few musical references in there. As such, I'd like some music that'd represent their overall personality. Feel free to post whatever in this category!)

Additional: (What information do you want me to know about your character that wasn't covered in the above criteria?)