Here we are, Chapter 2. To everyone who has already submitted a character, thank you, there have been some really outstanding submissions so far, and I really enjoy seeing how creative people's characters can be
Asano slowly made his way down the crowded city street, trying his best not to disturb anyone as he pushed past people and ducked through gaps. His hands were shoved deep into the pockets of his jacket, and he kept his head down in an effort to blend in with the crowd as he observed the people around him.
His focus was drawn to one person in particular, a blond man in a clean suit jacket, a few metres ahead of Asano. He was making his way through the crowd at a similar pace, the only difference being that Asano was making an effort to not disturb anyone more than necessary, while the blond man seemed to go out of his way to accidentally run into people and following that with either a show of apologising to the other party, or a helping hand reaching out to grab their elbow and steady them.
During more than one of these incidents, Asano had a good view of his other hand, which dived into their pockets or bags, snatching phones, wallets or other valuables without them noticing.
"Pickpockets," Asano muttered sourly, only loud enough for himself to hear. "I hate catching pickpockets,"
He continued to watch the thief pick his way through the crowd, maintaining enough distance that he wouldn't get noticed but close enough that Asano didn't lose the guy at a turn. Tailing someone like this was a practised habit for Asano, so he quickly fell into stride as his mind drifted off, scowling at the thought of dealing with the aftermath of this. He couldn't just drop the stolen goods off at a police station without raising unwelcome questions, and he was in an area he didn't know all that well, so he didn't have anyone he trusted to do the cleanup for him. He could just drop them off with a note explaining things, but he was pretty sure his fingerprints were on file, which would be an additional hassle he didn't want to deal with right now. His final option, giving them away to charity, always felt like the worst option. It was either leaving the work of getting things back to their proper owners to the charity workers, who were already too busy, or giving money that didn't belong to him to charity, neither of which sat right with him.
His thoughts were interrupted by the blond haired thief suddenly changing course, cutting across the street to duck into a nearby alleyway. Asano slowed down, waiting till he was sure his target was out of sight, before quickly following him across the street, abandoning all the care he had taken to blend in with the crowd and drawing the curious gazes of a few people on the street, but he didn't really care about subtlety anymore. He stopped just outside the alley, and peeked around the corner to observe the situation.
Just inside the alley, a large dumpster blocked off most of Asano's line of sight, but he could still see the pickpocket further down the alley, muttering to himself as he picked through his pockets, producing the wallets and other valuables he had stolen, and tossing them in a pile on the ground. Asano crept forward, taking cover behind the dumpster, as he listened to the thief talk to himself.
"Two-thousand, three-thousand, three fifty," He counted aloud, as he opened wallets and pulled out cash with a practised ease, slipping the cash into his pockets and throwing the wallets into a separate pile. Any other valuables, he slipped into separate pockets, not bothering to try and appraise them.
"Alright, showtime," Asano muttered, as he pulled off his jacket, hanging it on one of the dumpster's handles. Underneath, he wore a short sleeved grey shirt, decorated with illegible writing long since faded away from constant wear. But what really stood out were his arms. His left arm was normal, though skinny and decorated with a few bruises and almost healed cuts, but where his right arm should have been there was instead a shifting black mass that only barely resembled an arm. It hung limply at his side, as if it was dead or asleep, but at a closer look, it appeared very much alive, pulsing and shifting as though it had a mind of its own.
"My way first," Asano said to himself, and a shiver ran down the black limb, as if it was voicing its own opinion on his statement. But Asano ignored the arm, rising from his position behind the dumpster and charging towards the pickpocket.
" Hey! you got the time?" He shouted towards the blond man, trying to draw his attention.
"Yeah, its-" The man began, turning to face Asano. But by the time he had turned to face him, Asano had already attacked, sending his left fist out and punching the man in the face with all the force he could muster, breaking his nose and sending him tumbling backwards, landing on the ground in a heap of limbs. The thief groaned in pain, clearly disorientated, and he reached up on hand to grasp at his nose. "What the hell, man?" He complained, "The hell are you doing?"
"Shut up," Asano replied, as he started rifling through the man's pockets with his left hand, pulling out the wad of cash and other valuables, and placing them in his own pockets "I'm taking back what you stole, so stop moving, unless you want me to punch you again,"
The man stiffened at Asano's words, a fearful expression growing on his face as he began rapidly blinking, trying to clear his watering eyes and get a better look at his assailant.
"You don't look much like a hero," The man said, but he flinched back and hid behind his arms as Asano raised his fist with a pointed look.
After Asano finished reclaiming the stolen valuables, he returned to his feet, looking down at the cowering pickpocket.
"This is your first, and only warning. If I catch you again, I'll put you in the hospital. Got it?"
The thief didn't answer, instead just nodding his head, still looking warily up at his attacker. Asano gathered up as many empty wallets in his left hand as he could, and began to walk out of the alley.
The thief struggled to his feet, glaring at Asano's retreating form. "You're no hero!" The man called after Asano, "You're just a violent thug! You think just because you're hunting criminals you're better? You're as much of a criminal as I am!"
Asano didn't respond to the man's taunts, which only emboldened the man.
"You're going to end up in prison, right next to the people you've attacked. You'll be dead in your cell before the first night is up."
Asano stopped walking, and his fist clenched, but he still refused to turn to face the pickpocket. The thief didn't seem to notice, instead, seeing that his taunts seemed to be having no effect, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
He charged Asano, and swung a wild haymaker towards the back of his head. But before his fist made contact, something happened. The strange black arm that once hung limply at Asano's side shifted suddenly, moving more like a liquid than a limb, as it flowed unnaturally upwards, placing itself between the thief's attack and Asano's head. The pickpockets fist struck the black mass and stopped, the limb absorbing all the force of the attack. The blond man stared in shock as the mass flowed around his fist, enclosing it and holding it in place as Asano turned to face the thief.
"I warned you," Asano said, as the black substance began to twist the thief's arm, forcing him to his knees, "You still want to try fighting me? Or can I let you go without an ambulance ride."
The pickpocket didn't speak, instead urgently nodding his head as he winced in pain. The black limb retracted, returning to its original position at Asano's side, as he turned away from the blond man once again. "Glad we could end that peacefully," Asano called back over his shoulder as he walked away, stopping to retrieve his jacket before he disappeared back out into the crowded street.
Asano quickly split off from the crowd, taking a lesser used side road to give himself some privacy as he surveyed his reclaimed goods. He had no hope of returning the cash to the wallets, so he just had to hope for the honesty of the victims to shine through. He sat down, leaning back against the wall, and dug around in his pockets, withdrawing a plastic bag and a weathered paper map. He deposited the stolen goods in the plastic bag, and unfolded the map, laying it across his lap as he scanned across the city streets for a police station. But a ringing alarm broke his concentration, and Asano watched as a parade of police cars sped past him, sirens blaring out into the night. Asano watched as the cars passed by, before folding up his map with a sigh. "Guess the night's not over yet," He said quietly, as he scooped up the plastic bag and raced off after the cars.
Armarhino cut an intimidating figure, something he blamed mostly on his Quirk. He towered over most others he met, standing at an easy ten feet tall, with broad shoulders to match. His back was plated with a tough grey armour, strong enough to resist anything from barehanded strikes to gunshots, though a few of his superhero colleagues could definitely cause him some injury. The plates stretched down his arms and legs, protecting his limbs, and giving his punches substantially more mass behind them. All in all, his Quirk made him well suited for his occupation, which is why, on a calm night like this, while most others were relaxing after a long day at work, he was out on patrol, walking the streets to make them safe for others.
A buzz sounded off from a small device attached to his belt, drawing his attention as he unclipped it from his belt, flicking it open to expose a small digital display. HIGH RISK ALERT flashed across the screen, as the GPS showed him the fastest route to the site of concern. Armarhino pressed one of the devices buttons, and the screen flashed green, the alert replaced with the word ACCEPTED. He returned the device to his belt, and crouched down, leaning from one leg to the other to stretch out his leg muscles. He rolled his shoulders, and took off at a jog, his footfalls echoing off the surrounding buildings as he followed the GPS towards the target location.
By the time he arrived at the location, the police had already arrived at the building, setting up barricades and parking vehicles a short distance from the double doors of the grand hotel building they had surrounded. Armarhino slowed down as he approached, glancing around for someone with authority. He spotted the hastily assembled command centre, and made his way towards it, fumbling around with his belt in search of his hero licence. He wasn't exactly a top ranked hero, so it came as a surprise to him when he was recognised, as the officer standing guard outside of the command tent snapped to attention, saluting him before pulling the tent flaps to the side, ushering him inside.
Armarhino followed the officers instructions, bending almost in half in order to squeeze into the tent, which only had enough space for him to stand hunched over. Inside, he was greeted by a police captain, looking over the blueprints of the hotel's interior, as he planned out the police assault on the hotel. Armarhino cleared his throat, and the captain's attention snapped to the hero.
"Armarhino, reporting for duty, sir," The towering hero spoke, "What's the situation?"
"You're the hero who accepted the call?" The police captain said, as he inspected the hero. "System knows what it's doing, I called for a combat specialist, and you fit the part to a T,"
"It was either this or square dancing," Armarhino said casually, as the captain walked past him and out of the tent, "What's going on in the hotel?"
"It's a hostage situation." The captain answered, as Armarhino followed him out of the command tent, "One guy, stormed the lobby with a rifle and took about thirty hostages, and moved them out of sight from the windows. We can't get a sniper in position to take him out, and if we try to storm the lobby ourselves, he could start shooting at any moment." They stopped at the police cordon, as close as they were willing to get without risking the hostages. "But now that you're here, we've actually got a good shot at resolving this," The captain finished, as he turned to salute the hero. "So, we're at your disposal sir, what's your plan?"
"I'm going to go in, and try and talk him out of this." Armarhino said decisively, his attention focused on the hotel's doors. The police captain stared at the hero with a shocked expression, his mouth opening and closing mechanically as he struggled to form words.
"You're going to… talk? With the hostage taker?!" The captain asked loudly, drawing the attention of a few bystanders.
"I don't really see any other way to avoid anyone getting injured," The hero replied.
"But, you're a combat specialist, aren't you?" The captain protested, "Aren't you better off… you know, fighting him?"
"Maybe, but I'd be putting all the hostages at risk if I started an all out brawl in there." Armarhino answered, "Don't worry, I'm a trained negotiator, and I'm the least likely to get hurt by going in there." He turned, and walked back to the command tent, "I don't suppose you have a negotiator's vest in my size, do you?" He called back over his shoulder to the captain, who remained rooted to the floor, as he gazed at the towering hero in utter bewilderment.
Asano gave the mob of police officers and cars a wide berth as he circled the hotel. He didn't think he was a wanted man in this town yet, but he also didn't want to try his luck. On the other hand, he wanted to get a better look at the situation, and he knew just how to get one. The police had staked out every possible entrance with armed officers, rifles slung across their chests, but they weren't keeping an eye on the doors anymore, instead they were relaxing, chatting with each other about something Asano couldn't hear. He kept moving, walking all the way around to the back of the hotel, and arriving at the delivery bay. The police officer was distracted, so Asano slipped past him. The back door was shut, and any attempt to open it would have no doubt alerted the officer, but the large garage door was open just enough for Asano to, with a bit of effort, squeeze under, granting him entrance .
Inside, he had to let his eyes adjust to the lack of light, but his patience was rewarded by the sight of an empty delivery area, along with what he was really looking for, the elevators. He slipped off his jacket, dropping the bag of wallets with it, and wrenched the elevator doors open, his right arm worming its way between the metal doors and forcing them apart, revealing the empty elevator shaft inside. High above him, the elevator hung silently, granting him access to the doors on the floor above him. Asano grinned eagerly. A plan was starting to shape in his mind. He searched around, and found a stack of folding chairs, so he grabbed one and wedged it between the elevator doors, holding them open while he climbed into the elevator shaft and up the wall, positioning himself just below the door to the ground floor. He opened the doors just enough to allow him to peek out into the lobby, and observe the situation.
His small observation window didn't give him all the information he wanted, but he had a clear view of the hostage taker. He was armed quite heavily, with an assault rifle clutched in both hands, and a pistol tucked into his pants. He wore a bulky overcoat, and his head was shaved messily, leaving patches of missed hair in hard to reach places. His eyes were constantly flicking from one group of hostages to the other, pointing his rifle seemingly at random spots around the room. His erratic behaviour and heavy weaponry filled Asano with a sense of dread, as he watched the hostage taker aim his rifle at a hostage, who shrieked in horror and crawled backwards, trying to dig himself further back into the group of hostages.
Asano gingerly let the elevator doors shut themselves, as he eased himself back down to the bottom of the shaft. Trying to charge in there like a maniac wouldn't achieve anything but getting him killed, and probably most of the hostages too. As much as he didn't like it, he couldn't do anything but wait until an opportunity presented itself to him. He sat down in the elevator, a wry smile crossing his face.
"Where's a hero when you need one, huh?"
So far, 7 out of the 19 slots have been filled by the following characters
1) Connor Smith (Omnipotent X)
2) Lucina Eventide (DragonStorm88)
3) Yuwaka Arai (MysteryAgain)
4) Kirimeku Orail (Hazzamo)
5) Ingrid Mugen (Wish Upon a Sol)
6) Devon Manson (The Imprisoned of Hell)
7) Sakiko Mizushima (POMForever)
