Chapter 3

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17

The next morning was a Saturday, so I didn't have to go to school. Also, I slept in, as to prepare for the 14-hour flight from Georgia to Japan. When I asked my father about what was going to happen at my current school, my father told me he called the teachers last night and had me transferred to U.A, so I was good to go.

I had packed some clothes of mine, some of my favorite CDs, and a couple of choice books I had into a large luggage case, and a red and black backpack. The clothes I decided to wear were my black stocking cap, red and black hoodie, a black t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and white and blue sneakers. Afterwards, my father helped me get my suitcase into the car, and then we both got in, him in the driver's and me in the passenger side. Then we began the long, one hour drive down to the airport. The time we left at was around 1:00pm, which would get me there around 2:00pm, and allow me to get through customs and all the other things I needed to get to.

After about an hour of driving, listening to music, and some idle chit-chat between me and my father (not that we really talked that much), we arrived at the airport.

"So, you will send me the rest of my stuff, right?" I asked.

"Of course; I'll be sending it as soon as I get back." My father replied, somewhat cheerfully.

"And where will I be staying while I'm in Japan?"

"You'll be staying with a caretaker. He owns a house in Japan, and you'll be living there with the other five foreign students."

"Right!" I said cheerfully. "Well, see you later father!"

"Wait a minute…" my father said before I got I out.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I just want to say, I'm proud of you…" he said, putting a hand on my shoulder, a smile on his face. "You're one step closer to becoming a villain…"

I smiled back and replied, "Thank you, father; I longed to hear those words."

Then his smile faded, and he said, "I also know what you're up to."

"What?"

Suddenly, his hand moved quickly from my shoulder and clasped around my neck. He then said in angry tone, "Don't play games with me, boy! I know what planning on doing! You think you can get away from me and become a hero, don't you?!"

"What makes you say that?" I asked. "I said I would do it, and it's going to help you become a villain!"

He tightened his grip and replied, "I know you well, Joshua! You shouldn't have made that comment about never becoming a villain, otherwise I would've been oblivious!" He then let go of my neck. "Luckily, there's always a contingency plan. I had a talk with Mister All for One about what would happen if you were to turn, and he's posting an agent of his to keep an eye on you. If you decide to go rogue and tell about us, the agent will assassinate you, and we'll find somebody else to take your place. And if all else fails, I'll be coming to see you, and when I do, I'll yell so loud it'll make your eardrums bust! So, the way I see it, you have two choices: Either follow the plan, or die and get thrown into the sea. Your choice…"

I froze; it was the fear tactic again. I hated it whenever he used the fear tactic on me. I then sighed sadly and said, "I won't go rogue… I'll do the plan to become a villain."

"Good…" my father said. He then looked at the time in the car and said, "And since it is about 2:05pm, I don't have the time to give you a screaming. So, get your bags and get moving, before I change my mind…"

I nodded, and then I got out of the car, got my backpack and luggage bag from the back of the car, and then went into the airport. Before going in, I looked back one last time to watch my father drive away. After he left, I sighed sadly and then went in.

After I got my ticket for Japan and went through the security checkpoints, I wandered around the airport to find my gate. The flight was at Gate 8, so I had to make quite the walk to get there. But then, I finally arrived around 3:30pm. And, I was able to spot the other students who were going with me. There were five of them, and they were sitting in a circle, playing go fish on the floor.

"Excuse me?" I asked, causing them to look at me. "Is this the American group that's going to U.A?"

"Correct!" said one of the students, a boy with large, angelic wings on his back. He then stood up and said, "You must be the new guy, huh? I'm Zilo Shiloh, pleased to meet you."

"Joshua Rourke…" I replied, shaking hands with him.

Zilo Shiloh was sixteen years old. He seemed pleasant enough, and he was quite interesting to look at. He had brown hair cut into a mid-fade haircut, blue eyes, and fair skin. He was also fairly muscular, and well built. The most interesting feature he had were the large, angelic wings on his back, which must have been his quirk. They were colored white, and were huge! The clothing he wore was a black, zip up sweatshirt with holes cut in the back for his wings, a dark-green shirt with holes cut in the back, black sweatpants with a white stripe on the sides, and black running shoes with white laces.

"About time you showed up!" a girl said cheerfully, getting up from a crossed legged position. The interesting thing about her was that her hair and skin were pure white, and her eye color was gold! "We didn't think you'd make it. I'm Sunshine DeMorris."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Joshua Rourke." I replied, shaking hands with her.

Sunshine DeMorris was also sixteen. Like I had said before, she had pure white hair and skin, which made it look like she was glowing. Her hair was long and shaggy looking, and it reached her shoulders. She had golden eyes, which was quite an interesting trait. She was thin, yet muscular, and her clothing consisted of a black headband, a white t-shirt, white cargo pants, and white sneakers with white laces. Her whole ensemble made her look like she could blend into a white background!

After I shook hands with Sunshine, the next kid introduced himself. He was a tall, lanky looking fellow, also sixteen years old. He had blonde, somewhat long hair, a clean-cut face, tanned skin, and a smile with a tooth missing and a toothpick hanging out of his mouth. He was dressed in a brown, buckskin jacket, a blue t-shirt, a white cowboy hat, dark blue jeans, and brown cowboy boots.

"Howdy!" the kid said. "Larry Jenkins, at your service!"

"Joshua Rourke, and same to you, cowboy!" I replied, shaking hands with him.

"Margaret Tanner…" the next kid, a girl, said while doing a mock salute. "Pleased to meet you."

"As to you…" I replied, saluting also. "Joshua Rourke is my name."

Margaret Tanner was fifteen years old. She was shorter than Sunshine, and she had straight, orange hair, fair skin, and a somewhat thick build. She wore black reading glasses, a dark blue sweatshirt, grey gym shorts, and white sneakers.

The only one who didn't introduce himself was a kid who was still sitting on the ground. He was fifteen years old, had long, shaggy blonde hair that hid one of his eyes, green eyes, and pale skin. He was short, skinny, and had a nervous look on his face. He wore an oversized grey hoodie, a black shirt with no sleeves, blue jeans, and white running shoes.

"That's Maddox Walters." said Zilo. "He's very shy around people that aren't close to him, but give him some time and he'll warm up to you."

I squatted down to see him and said, "Hi kid, my name is Joshua Rourke."

Maddox smiled and did a small wave, but he didn't say anything.

"So, what's your quirk?" Larry asked.

"Me? Well, I have a hypersonic voice, meaning my voice is really powerful. Also, I can channel sound through different parts of my body, such as my hands and feet." I replied, getting up.

"Wow! You'll have to give us a demonstration sometime!" Margaret said excitedly. "My quirk is I can absorb and take on different qualities of the elements. For instance, if I touch metal, I can turn my body into metal. If I go into water, I can turn my body into water, and etcetera, etcetera…"

"Cool." I replied. I looked to Zilo and said, "I'm guessing your quirk is those wings of yours."

"Correct!" Zilo replied, patting one of his wings. "These babies help me to fly, and they give me super strength and super speed! What's also cool is that they turn black whenever I'm angered, as to intimidate my opponents!"

"Hmm… Interesting…" I replied. I then turned to Sunshine and asked, "So how about you, what's your quirk?"

"Light Manipulation." She replied simply, making her hand glow. "I can manipulate light and make it shoot out of my hands, I can use it to glow in the dark, and I can use it to blind my opponents."

"Wow…" I said in surprise.

"Yeah, and she doesn't need a flashlight!" laughed Larry, earning him a playful flick from Sunshine. Larry then said, "As for yours truly, my quirk is that I have elasticity. I can stretch my limbs to incredible distances, and can shapeshift my body into different shapes and proportions!" And just to demonstrate, he made his arm stretch to the ground, around the floor, and then back to normal proportions.

"Wow!" I said, amazed at the vast variety of quirks. I then looked to Maddox, who got off the floor and was hiding behind Sunshine. "And what about you, Maddox? What's your quirk?"

Maddox didn't reply, but only hid behind Sunshine.

"Uhh… Maddox doesn't like to talk about his quirk." Zilo spoke up. "His quirk is extremely powerful, and if it was known by everybody, he'd be greatly feared. Only his close friends, such as us, know it."

"Oh…" I replied. I then said to Maddox, "Well, either way, cool quirk."

"Th-th-th-thank you-you…" Maddox stuttered a reply.

"Hey, he can talk!" I said in mock amazement, causing everybody to laugh and even Maddox to smile a little bit.

For the next two hours and thirty minutes, we played cards, showed funny videos on our phones, and talked about our lives. Even though I just met these people, I was beginning to feel like they were old friends, even family.

I learned that Zilo and Maddox lived in the same neighborhood and also lived in Georgia, while Sunshine lived in South Carolina. The two lived about an hour's drive from where she lived. Larry had originally come from Texas, while Margaret came from Maine. They all met online, and even had a get together every now and then. When they heard about U.A doing an American transfer project, they signed up and were picked to be the ones to represent America over in Japan.

I told them about where I came from, how I moved from Wisconsin, then to Kentucky, and then to Georgia. I also made sure not to mention that my father was actually a villain, and I was forced to be an agent of destruction for class 1-A. If they found out about that, they would probably inform the ones in charge, and the plan would fail, and my father would blow my eardrums right out of my head.

Around 6:00pm, just as the sun was setting over the horizon, the gate to the plane opened up. The six of us got out our passes, and we began boarding. Luckily, we all had seats together. I had a window seat, Maddox was in the middle, and Sunshine was beside him. Margaret had a window seat, Larry was in the middle, and Zilo was beside him.

After a few minutes of riding around the runway, the plane finally took off. As we flew up into the sky and through the air, I looked over at Maddox. He had a nervous look on his face, was breathing rapidly, and he gripped Sunshine's hand tightly.

"First time flyer?" I asked.

Maddox nodded in reply. Sunshine just smiled and said to Maddox, "We'll be okay… We're not going to fall…"

This seemed to calm Maddox down. He let go of Sunshine's hand, and nodded once as a thank you. He then began fiddling with the small TV on the back of the seat in front of him. Sunshine smiled, turned on her phone (which was on airplane mode), and began listening to her music.

As for me, I stared out the window. A few inches of glass and plastic separated me from the world, and I watched as the ground disappeared and the setting sun stood clearly in the sky. I then turned around to look at Margaret, who was playing a game on her TV. I turned again and saw Larry watching a movie on his, and Zilo was sound asleep.

I then felt Maddox tap me on the shoulder, and I looked and saw he was offering me a piece of bubblegum.

"Chew th-th-this…" he stuttered. "Keeps ea-ea-ears fr-fr-from pop-pop-popping."

I took the piece, popped it in my mouth, and replied, "Thank you."

He bowed his again, and then went back to watching a movie on the small TV. As I chewed the gum, I looked at Maddox, and I started wondering what quirk this kid had. Whatever it was, it had to be really powerful, or otherwise, he wouldn't be so nervous about revealing it. Maybe it was really dangerous, and he couldn't control it when it activated. Either way, he was quite the mystery.

Even though the gum had sugar in it, I was beginning to feel rather tired. I rolled the gum into my cheek, and then rested my head against the side of the plane. I felt my eyes get droopy, and I quietly fell asleep. Here I was… on my way to Japan.

Author's Notes: So, this was a long chapter. I made it kind of long cause I wanted to introduce some new characters to the story! Also, I want to give a shout out to "tiguylerobot" and say: Yes! I have seen Inhumans, and that's where I got the idea for Joshua's quirk.

Also, I want to give a shout out to "Chance Green G King" and say: I like the names for Joshua! I think I'll choose the name "Screamer" as his hero name! Thank you for giving me the idea!

R&R,

Heroboy005