Deep in the chilly woods of North Michigan, a faded green military jeep wove between the trees, branches cracking underneath the rumbling tires of the vehicle and leaving behind deep, muddied tracks. Ahead of the jeep lay a similar tangle of tracks leading deeper into the forest, creating a crude road which the driver followed loosely. Sitting underneath the cloth cover of the car in the back was an anxious Colette, who had been driven out over an hour into the woods following her run at the entrance exam for HCC Midwest. She gripped her phone between her hands, clutching it tight despite the absence of service this far from civilization. Her eyes were fixed around one foot in front of the jeep at all times, though this late into the evening it was hard to see much farther through the vegetation. However, even Colette's anxious vision couldn't keep off the approach to the HCC, a brutalist concrete structure buried deep in the woods. The jeep decelerated lazily as Colette tried to corral her nerves with deep breaths and rubbing her palms. At last, the vehicle came to a full stop and Colette hopped out onto the crisp leaves underfoot.
"Your belongings are in the trunk. This is your stop, the reception is just through the doors closest to us." The soldier who had driven Colette to the HCC leaned out the passenger side of the vehicle, and he seemed to possess a mutation Quirk, though hard to discern in the night. Perhaps seeing visible hesitance on his passenger's face, he offered to take her back at the expense of extensive check-ins for security reasons. Colette gave the thought serious consideration for a moment before taking a deep breath to steel herself.
"No! I… I studied so hard to pass the entrance exam, I never thought I could make it into the school, let alone be a hero and save people… But I'm here now! I can't pass this opportunity up! It's my chance to be a hero!" Colette feebly lifted up a fist to punctuate her speech, a nervous smile spreading across her face. The soldier paused for a moment, shrugged apathetically and pulled himself back into the driver's seat. Colette scurried to the back of the jeep and grabbed her meticulously packed suitcases, as well as her duffle bag and her totes.
As the jeep drove off, she struggled towards the double doors to the facility with three bags slung over her arms and a suitcase in each hand. She propped her luggage up as she stood before the doors, placing her hands on the cold handles as electric butterflies darted in her stomach. Everyone she would spend the next four years of her life with were behind these doors. The heroes that would hone her into an awe-inspiring hero were behind these doors. Her new home was behind these doors. Slowly, she opened the heavy metal doors and looked inside the sparsely populated room behind them.
Colette's eyes were slow to adjust to the dimly lit room, somehow feeling darker than outside. After pulling her suitcases in she grabbed the corners of her glasses and lit her fingers up, allowing her eyes to slowly adjust to the ambient light so she could get a good look around. Colette had expected to find herself in some state-of-the-art training facility, but instead found herself with about a dozen other people in an old schoolhouse cafeteria. Food sat on the counter to be freely taken, along with the remaining puddle of an upturned punch bowl. Colette's heart dropped through her stomach. She had seen pictures of the hero schools in Japan, and the one on the West Coast; sleek, high-tech, and fashionable, she had expected the new school to match. Was this really where she was going to live for four years?
As fading fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, Colette scanned the room, both taking in her new classmates as well as trying to find a spot to sit. The room lacked energy, a few of the students held conversation with a clear lack in enthusiasm, some sat around the room deep in study, and one girl was out cold, drowning in a pillow of her own hair. Most people gave Colette sideways glances at best, or outright ignoring her otherwise. As she walked around the outskirts of the cafeteria, scouting the room for a spot, she passed by the vending machines where a thin, greasy boy was browsing the selection.
"Pretzels it is!" Colette overheard as she walked past him, not paying him much attention. She heard a snap beside her and instinctively looked over, but the boy was still looking at the vending machine. The machine's lights started to flicker and the racks of the machine began rotating unpredictably. He must have a technology Quirk, Colette thought in amazement, but was soon cut off as the strap to her duffle bag slipped out of the buckle, causing it to careen to the floor, zipper wide open. Colette gasped and dropped to the ground, startling the boy who turned around to see her scooping up a raggedy teddy bear in her arms.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were standing there or I would have warned you, I just wanted some pretzels, all the food here is cold and-" The boy took a deep breath as he collected himself and held a hand out to Colette, offering her help from the floor. "My name is D, my Quirk screws with things around me. I can mostly aim it, but it doesn't work perfectly." With trepidation, Colette reached out and accepted D's help. She dusted her stuffed animal off gently before returning it to her bag, and followed up by dusting off her sweater.
"D? That's an… interesting name," Colette commented, slightly shook as she restrung her duffle bag through the buckle. She looked at the boy with a sour expression. Even if it was an accident, D needed to be more careful using his Quirk uncontrolled like that. What if there was a citizen on life support nearby, or an emergency vehicle, or what if he was on a plane? Colette scolded her classmate thoroughly in her mind as he turned to the vending machine and gave it a solid kick as pretzels fell to the opening with a thunk.
"I was named after my dad, it's complicated but I'd rather not get into it. It's just much easier for me to go by D, believe me." D held out a bag of pretzels towards Colette. "Here, I got two of them. Trust me, it's way better than what they're serving here, or what's left of it anyways." Colette paused for a moment, thinking how she would be spending four years with D, and slowly accepted the pretzels.
"Thank you. I'm Colette, I'm here because I want to be a hero like- well, that's obvious I guess!" Colette laughed awkwardly, placing the pretzels in her food tote. "Um, I really like Miss Solar, she really resonates for me and motivated me to try being a hero. Who inspired you to come here?" D glanced away with a near-grim expression on his face, clearly thinking hard about something, before returning to face Colette with a smile.
"You know, I just always adored the greats, like All Might or Endeavor. I know my Quirk isn't anything like theirs, but it's hard to resist the call of all that glory, you know?" D popped open his bag of pretzels and popped one in his mouth, audibly crunching it. Colette nodded politely and turned back to try and find a place to leave her stuff. As she began to walk away, D followed close beside her, chewing away at his pretzels. "You know, you're the first friend I've made here today, everyone seems really closed off from each other-" D paused to swallow his mouthful of food before continuing. "We're gonna be classmates for a while now, and maybe even work together as pros. You'd think people would be a little more open to networking."
As Colette tried to drown out D's rambling with her own thoughts, she saw a pair of mutant Quirks waving her down joyfully at a table near the corner of the room. With her new companion nagging away at her, Colette approached the table and saw the two students up close. One sported big compound eyes, fuzzy green skin, and a pair of giant intricate wings on her back. The other had shiny red skin, a pair of jointed antennae, and a single giant claw. Relieved to finally put her luggage down, Colette slumped down onto the bench, D sitting himself down right beside her.
"Hello there! We noticed that you were looking flustered after you arrived so we thought it amicable to invite you to sit with us!" The winged girl was the first to speak, and while her eyes were heavily mutated by her Quirk they still radiated a genuine joy from them. "My name is Virginia, it is a pleasure to meet you!"
"Oh, well, thank you for inviting me over, I'm-" Colette's introduction was cut short as the other student spoke up with a fervor.
"I'm Rusty! Er, m'name that is, not my skin. I'm pretty much what you expect, basically a lobster but smarter!" Rusty introduced himself with a goofy glee, while D held up his forefinger and thumb close to each other, mocking Rusty's intelligence.
RUSTY LONG
QUIRK: LOBSTER
Rusty can do pretty much anything a lobster can. His hard body protects him from sharp hits, his gills allow him to breathe underwater, and his antennae give him awesome sensory abilities. His claw packs some serious power behind it too!
"Rusty! It is rude to interrupt people when they are introducing themselves!" Virginia's glee broke for exactly one sentence to briefly chastise her friend before turning back to Colette with a smile. "Please forgive my companion, you were saying your name was?" Colette cleared her throat as she adjusted her glasses.
"I'm Colette," she began, stretching her arms out in front of her, "my Quirk lets me, well, glow, basically." To demonstrate, her fingertips began to light up before emitting small beams of light from them.
COLETTE CLARK
QUIRK: LIGHT UP
Colette's Quirk allows her to produce light of varying colors and intensities from her body. This can illuminate parts of her or be extended into beams like a living flashlight!
Colette herself looked only bemused while Virginia and Rusty seemed astonished by the Quirk, both their mouths open.
"It's not much of a Quirk for a fight, but I've always really admired Miss Solar and if there's any chance I can learn how to use my powers like she can, I think I could be useful sometimes." Colette's fingers dimmed back down afterwards and she looked back at her new friends.
"Do not sell yourself short, Colette! Your Quirk is amazing!" Virginia looked enamored with the demonstration as she complimented Colette. "That would be incredibly useful for rescues during the night, or underground!"
"Yeah, or you could use it for secret spy stuff, like sending a message secretly across a room. Oh, I'll help you come up with some signals!" Rusty chimed in with his praise as well, and Colette could feel her heart swell with pride. "Besides, yours is way prettier'n something like mine, I look like some kinda action figure." Rusty moved his arms robotically for emphasis as he continued.
"Oh! You can leave your suitcases and bags over against the eastern wall!" Virginia pointed to a wall away from everyone else, something of an alcove, where a handful of bags were placed haphazardly but discreetly. "You look exhausted from having to carry your stuff around, please take care of yourself!"
"Thank you so much for telling me, Virginia! I'll be right back!" With effort, Colette gathered up all her possessions and headed over to the wall. Like clockwork, D got up from the bench and continued to talk with Colette, who was quickly growing tired with him.
"Wow, they're pretty easily impressed. I mean, don't get me wrong, your Quirk is neat and all, but it really doesn't have that raw power that someone like Solar has, or the stylish appearance of Edgefold. I'm sure it'll get better with training, that's why we're all here, but if that's all it takes to impress those two how are they going to deal with meeting pro heroes?" Colette dropped her luggage to the floor by the wall before turning towards D.
"Look, I'm… I'm really self conscious about my Quirk. Right now it isn't more than a party trick to help me find my glasses at night, but-" Colette's complaint was cut short as the doors to the cafeteria flung open with great force and a built girl marched in.
"Alright, which one of you said it!?" The girl bellowed out, commanding nearly everyone's attention. Her outfit was athletic, too athletic considering the weather this time of year, Colette thought, and she wore a jean vest over it. "Ain't no one is gonna beat Daisy at arm wrestling!" In response to her yelling, an extremely bony boy stood up with a devilish grin on his face.
"Oh I'm the one who issued the challenge, I'll take you on no problem, I bet ten bucks on it!" He walked over to the middlemost table, the same one where the girl from earlier was still passed out. Daisy shot a violent grin back and marched over to the same table, sitting down with an audible thunk and slamming her elbow onto the table. The skeletal boy followed suit and the two locked hands together. Even without knowing their Quirks it looked like Daisy was going to destroy her challenger, her arms several times larger than his.
The two began, and Colette could see both their muscles flexing with intensity despite neither's arm moving so much as an inch. After about a minute of this stalemate, Daisy's arm started to crystallize into a brilliant white diamond. Colette watched with amazement as her arm up to her elbow become solid crystal, translucent enough for her to see through. Despite this, the boy, though clearly straining, still kept his arm locked in place.
"Now see, that's a marketable Quirk. People like you or me, we're backline heroes at best, or sidekicks supporting the pros. But if you can turn your arm into diamond, people will rally behind you. What was it you were saying about your Quirk?" D's words sounded genuine but they cut deep into Colette's heart as she looked from Daisy's crystal arm down to her fingers as she made them glow and then go out.
"Never mind about it, I just want to sit down again." Dejected, Colette walked back to the bench with her new friends and sat down, putting her head in her hands.
"I just don't understand how you can get into a hero school like this and just barge in yellin' for people to fight you." Rusty expressed his concern as his face dropped from his gleeful persona earlier. "You can have as flashy a Quirk as you want but it's gonna be real hard to get people to look up to you as a hero if you treat people like dirt."
"I strongly disagree, half of being a hero is the looks, people won't look up to you if they won't even look at you." D debated while both Virginia and Rusty just looked puzzled. "Oh, I never introduced myself, I'm D, my Quirk lets me break stuff around me, it's good to meet you all." While Rusty took up verbal arms with D, Virginia looked over at her distraught friend.
"Colette, please do not compare yourself to her, or to anyone else. Your Quirk is beautiful and it will bring people joy like it brought us joy. Even the greatest heroes have their detractors, and Colette I believe you can be a great hero." Virginia's words were spoken much softer, rather than the excitement they had been in her earlier conversations. Colette's heart once again rose from her gut to her chest and sat up straight. I believe you can be a great hero, the thought get resonating in her mind, it was everything that she wanted to hear right now.
"Virginia, thank-" Colette was cut short by a clamorous thump, who spun around to see Daisy having finally won the arm-wrestle, her entire arm frosted over in diamond and her foot braced up on the table. The boy laid on his side, arm twisted as the victor stood over him with a smirk.
"Like I said, ain't no one can defeat Daisy! Now I'll take my money, thank you," Daisy's gloating was cut short as one of the studying girls slammed her textbook against the bench, Daisy craning her neck to look at her. The girl was relatively plain looking, with straight hair that reached nearly to the floor and sleek glasses that her intense eyes stared over. Her hair was dark, but as she stood up it began to change color from a dull orange to a bright red.
"I'm sure that it's really exciting to show up and show off your big muscles and flashy quirks, but do I really need to remind you that this is a school?" The agitated girl held up the book she had been reading, something to do with the fundamentals of Quirks. "Some of us came here to study so we can be effective, responsible, heroes…" Her words became increasingly muted and her hair darkened back to black as Daisy had hopped off the table and began striding over to her. Daisy stood for a moment in front of her before pulling the book out of her hand and flipping through the pages disinterestedly. "Hey!"
"What's your name?" Daisy's question came out more like a command as she continued to examine the book. The other girl stared at her with a fiery intensity before clearing her throat.
"My name is Faith. I am here to study and become a hero so I could bring some order to this country. You will return my book to me and go back to scraping rocks together for warmth, you neanderthal!" Each sentence was louder, and with each one Faith's hair turned brighter and brighter red, starting to curl into wisps towards the bottom. Daisy finally looked back at Faith with a playful smile, still holding her book away from her.
"You've got some spunk, don't you, Faith?" Daisy tossed her book back onto the table as she addressed her. One of her arms turned to diamond once again. "Looks like I'll just have to beat it out of you." Faith grabbed her now vibrant hair in response, wrapping it around one of her knuckles and looked ready to fight.
"Enough!" An impossibly massive voice bellowed from beyond the crowd that had now formed. Even the sleeping girl finally woke for this voice. Some students turned in confusion but Colette's heart fluttered, she would know that voice anywhere! She wheeled around in her seat to confirm that, in fact, Miss Solar stood in front of the crowd, arms crossed. "Being heroes in training as you are, you had better develop a thicker skin. Perhaps you'd be better to learn that from Armoraider than me, however."
Colette couldn't believe her eyes, there was her hero, her idol, Miss Solar standing only feet from her. Solar was massive, standing seven feet tall and commanding attention with her signature Quirk Daybreak, a Quirk which gave Solar a miniature star for a head. Colette turned to Virginia and silently mouthed her excitement. Miss Solar? Armoraider? She couldn't believe her dreams were coming true on her first night at school.
"You're here to become heroes, so you're expected to behave like the adults you are, not act like schoolchildren on the playground. The government's taking a risk in sponsoring a school like this, and if you want to see this school improve you need to prove that taxpayer dollars are being used well here." With her arms crossed and a somehow stern expression across her featureless face, Solar continued. "Our maiden class has 20 students, and as of now all have arrived. The choice is yours, but I would recommend trying to get on the good side of some of the students here, you'll be stuck with them for the next four years if you want to go pro. Now, Foghorn, if you'd please start with the dorm assignments?" From behind Miss Solar came a tall, thin hero, wispy from his clothes to his hair. Foghorn's here too! Colette was beside herself with excitement.
"Alright, if you'd like to continue to beat each other senseless before the first day of school, be my guest. Just know that once we leave, those doors," Foghorn pointed a finger at the interior doors the pros had entered from, "are going to be locked. If you're interested in sleeping in real beds and resting before your first day, however, you'd best listen up. On the boys side: Rusty and D," Colette looked over to see the two of them exchange a thumbs up, "Cedar and Lee, Fran and Auden, Zeke and Lyric,"
"Oh, actually I'm-" A student with fair features and lavender hair chimed up, but was silenced by Foghorn clearing his throat.
"Al and Eppler. Your rooms will be down the hall to the left, your names are on the door so try not to get lost. Next up, the girl assignments," Virginia grabbed Colette's hand and shook it with anticipation. "Sasha and Vesta, Faith and Poma," as Faith stood up the drowsy girl got up with great speed at the promise of an actual bed and the two went to get their bags. "Tessa and Jett, Starr and Virginia," Virginia had a sad expression as she took her hand back and mouthed the words 'I am sorry'. Hurt by the knowledge that she wouldn't be sharing a room with her friend, it dawned on Colette that only one person was left to room with.
"Colette and Daisy." Colette's heart plummeted at the thought of sharing a room with someone like Daisy. The words rang through her ears like a gunshot as Daisy shrugged and went to get her stuff. "Girls, your rooms will down the hall to the right. Class starts at 8 am on the dot, so meet in room 130 then. Don't be late." Colette stood in place, frozen as she felt her world spin around her faster and faster, anxiety gripping her until she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey," Daisy's voice caused a shiver to run down Colette's spine. She turned to face her new roommate. "You'd better not snore." From any other person that might have been a joke but from Daisy it was a threat.
The rooms were decent sized, each one housing two beds, two desks, and two dressers, and as Colette entered she saw Daisy lifting some small weights on her bed. Daisy had only brought a gym bag with her, the contents strewn over her bed.
"Why did you bring so much shit?" Daisy questioned Colette without so much as looking away from her workout. "You know they're letting us go home for personal stuff next week, right? Why haul all that junk here now and not then?" Colette was still putting her bags on her desk as she was interrogated.
"Well, I… I mean, my mom packed my bags for me. We didn't know what the weather would be like, so we packed precautiously." Colette gestured at both her suitcases. "I have snacks in one of my tote bags for the trip and in case I get hungry while studying," Colette lifted the bag up and put it on her desk. "My other tote bag has electronics, I've got my charger for my phone, my laptop, my tablet," Colette placed her other tote on the desk, "you know, essentials. My duffel it's… well, it's just personal things, not important." Colette quickly slid the bag under her bed. Daisy had stopped her workout to look directly at Colette.
"Personal stuff? Like what, a diary?" Daisy threw her weights onto the floor by the bed and threw her clothes haphazardly into her gym bag, tossing it onto the dresser before flopping down onto her bed. Across the room, Colette was carefully sorting her laundry into the dresser. "What was your name? Callie?" Daisy yawned loudly as she stretched. "Colette, that's it. Colette, how come you're so weird?" Colette felt her anxiety spike with this question, the first time Daisy had turned her aggression onto her. "You clearly don't work out, you've been hiding away from everyone, how come you wanna be a hero? You'll end up killed or worse if you ain't prepared, and you ain't." Colette closed her drawers, her clothes put away, as she changed into her pajamas.
"I… I want to be a hero because I want to make people feel good. I have this dream, I want my light to shine around the world and inspire people to be better, I want-"
"Yeah, forget I asked, that's poetic and all that shit. Hit the lights before you get into bed." With that, Daisy closed her eyes, sprawled across her bed in her workout clothes, as Colette looked at her. If she couldn't survive a roommate, she could never be a pro hero. Daisy terrified Colette, but she was right, she wasn't ready at all, that's why she was here.
And yet Virginia's words continued to play through Colette's mind as she tucked herself in and closed her eyes. Even the greatest heroes have their detractors, she had said. ...and Colette I believe you can be a great hero.