My Hero Academia
Tales of the Wanderers
Backrooms Level One
Outpost Alpha
Part Two
[Tom's Diner]
Tom's Diner. A resting place for those who need some R from the horrors of the backrooms. Here, wanderers socialize with each other for information on backroom levels, new or existing entities, and trading objects. It is here that Rebecca and Claudia make their way to the diner, and they notice some people continue staring at them like before. Mostly out of curiosity or distrust due to how weird they look or thinking they're hostile entities just pretending to be friendly given the information they were given via communication devices they had on them.
"I get the feeling it's going to be a while before we can feel less anxious when walking through this place," Claudia said as she followed Rebecca, who led them to the diner.
"At least they're distrustful due to how we look instead of thinking we're villains. Lord knows it was a pain not getting hounded by wannabe student heroes that want revenge because of dear old daddy." Rebecca said before pausing upon realizing something. "Come to think of it…you would think they would do a background check on some of the students that would have it out for me due to daddy's past crimes."
"Well, you know how the school can be. Focus more on students' quirks than their family background. That might be a good thing because I prefer not to return to Scotland anytime soon.
"Well, I doubt they'll say anything about it now, given what Marko mentioned about this place. By the time we get back, everyone we know will be dead due to old age or something along the lines of that." The cat girl said as she looked up in front of them to see an old classic diner that looked like it was made in the 1960s or so. "Looks like this is the place. Let's try and make a good impression on the folks,"
"Yeah, good impression." Claudia scoffed as they entered the diner. Upon entering, they noticed people inside conversing with each other, forming groups and looking over information about certain levels of the backrooms or enjoying a hearty meal after a hard day of work exploring different levels of the backrooms.
"Wow, look at this place. It's like we are in something from the seventies or something similar." Rebecca said while admiring the inside of the diner. "Kind of nostalgic if you think about it."
"Yeah, it does," Claudia said before walking past her friend and heading towards the counter. "Come on, let's see what they have on display food-wise." She said as Rebecca quickly followed after her. As they made their way to the counter, they noticed a tan-skinned man wearing a black long-sleeve shirt, navy blue jeans, dark brown boots, and an apron with the words "Kiss the Chef" on it. When Rebecca cleared her throat to get the man's attention, he would turn around to see the two students, though he was surprised by their appearance. "Howdy, you must be Tom, right?"
"I am, yes…I take it you two are new wanderers that ended up here?" He asked as the two nodded. "Let me guess, you two happen to no-clip through reality during a cosplay event?"
"Cosplay event?" Rebecca asked.
"Yeah, a place where people dress up as their favorite characters. I never went to one, but I've seen many folks wearing weird getups like you two have on now."
"Sorry, we've never heard of such an event like that. We're hero students from Japan who ended up here due to no-clipping through the bathroom floor." Claudia said as she noticed Tom's unconvinced expression.
"Sure you are, and I'm the king of Siam." He said in a joking tone. "I get that you're trying to stay in character, and you might be using that to cope with your situation, but this is the backrooms, kids. This is no place to play around in."
"Claudia, show him," Rebecca said as the fox girl raised her hand before thrusting it into a small portal she had made. Another portal would appear in front of Tom as the fox girl bopped him on the nose for a split second before pulling her hand back, and the portal vanished. The older man and those present were surprised as silence fell upon the dinner. "So, you were saying~?"
"What the fuck was that!?" Tom asked as he glared at the two. "Who the fuck are you two?"
"I'm Rebecca Springs, and the girl who bopped you on the nose is my partner in crime, Claudia Midgard." She answered as the fox girl waved at Tom. We're hero students from U.A. High School of Japan, and as of now, new members of the major exploration group~."
"Do you have any proof of that kid?" Tom asked as Claudia noticed some of the people in the dinner slowly reaching towards their sides. Given what she could see, they were slowly reaching for their weapons, which included handguns, bats, knives, metal poles, and a few other miscellaneous items.
"You can call Professor Paige to see how she was the one who called us here for help," Rebecca answered. She noticed Tom reaching for a communication device and activating it. Upon doing so, an image of Paige appeared in front of them as she spoke.
"This is Paige. How can I help you?" Paige asked before noticing who was calling her. "Hello Tom, how can I help you today?"
"Um, we have an entity encounter in the diner. They're saying they are new M.E.G. members, and I'm finding it hard to believe that."
"Right, I should've made an announcement about that. But you have nothing to worry about. They are indeed our newest members of the major exploration group. Specifically, they'll be dealing with search and rescue missions and entity eliminations if possible." She said, which caused Tom to look over at the two for a moment before looking back at Paige.
"...Are you sure…they seem a bit…suspicious."
"Weird as they may look, they are entities willing to help us. Especially when one can make portals to other levels and the other can kill entities with just a flick of a finger."
"You're joking…right?" Tom asked as he looked at the U.A. students who demonstrated their power: Claudia, who made a portal that led to Paige's office, and Rebecca, who fired a small beam at the trash can next to her desk.
"Well, that saves me time to take the trash out," Paige said before noticing Tom and waving at him. So, do you think you can give them something to eat?"
"Um…yeah, sure," He said before looking at the kids. "What would you two like?"
"We'll take two burgers, please. I'll have mine without pickles, and Rebecca will have no mayo on hers." Claudia answered, and Rebecca nodded in agreement.
"Alright, I'll have your orders ready within five to ten minutes." He said before walking off.
"If you two are done demonstrating, mind closing the portal to my office?" Paige asked as Claudia snapped her fingers to make the portal vanish. The moment she turned around, she noticed the people in the cafe staring at them in disbelief at what they saw.
"Like we said before, I am Claudia Midgard, and this is my friend Rebecca Springs. We'll be working with you all for some time, so I hope we can be best friends during our time working together," Claudia said as Rebecca bowed to the people in the diner. There was a moment of awkward silence hanging in the air before they slowly looked away from each other and began conversing with each other and moving away from the pair.
"Suppose it should be expected that this would happen. We can't win the people over with just good looks and charms." Rebecca said as she leaned against the counter.
"Yeah, it's worth a shot. I guess we'll have to eat in the rooms they'll be giving us once we get our food," Claudia said as she looked up at the ceiling of the diner. Hey, you know I got your back if anything happens, right?"
"Of course I do. We've had each other's back since we were kids."
"I know, but this is a bit different. We're in a multidimensional place where hero society rules and whatnot doesn't apply here."
"I… don't think I follow what you're saying."
"We're free to be whoever we want to be, airhead. The rules of being proper heroes for society don't apply here. We no longer have to hide behind a facade; we can just be two kids trying to find our way back home or find a place to call home if we're stuck here." She said before placing a hand on Rebecca's shoulder. "We can even open up a coffee shop here if you want. Just say the word, and I'll do my best to help you."
"...Wow, I wasn't even thinking about that…" Rebecca said as she pondered some ideas after hearing Claudia's explanation. "I want to see where this will lead before doing anything else. If we can get back home with Paige's help, that'll be a good thing. But if we can't, we could open up a business in the backrooms involving coffee."
"So you're going with the plan of trying to find a place out of here?" Claudia asked as Rebecca nodded.
"Yes, we did agree to help Paige after all. Plus, I want to see what this place has to offer. Remember what we got from those crates? We're set for life if we were to head back home.
"Remember the monsters that we fought on level zero and one. There will be more depending on the level we enter, not to mention that monsters are only some of the things we must focus on. People will try and hurt us, or worse. Are you prepared to take them down if you have to?"
"Ah…right… I'm gonna go with a slight maybe on that one."
"Suppose we'll cross that bridge when we get there, but for now, we'll just get something to eat before calling it a day," Claudia said as she heard footsteps coming from behind. Turning around, she saw Tom walking over to them with two bags and placing them on the counter.
"Here you go, two classic burgers with french fries and a drink," he said as he watched the two take the bags. "I figure you wanted to eat something that wouldn't draw so much attention to you both."
"Aw, thanks for being considerate of our well-being, mister. We'll be sure to pay you back next time when~" She said as Claudia's eyes lit up for a moment as the pair were teleported back to H.Q. The moment they left, conversation within the diner began, only this time, they talked about Claudia and Rebecca.
"Serious? They're part of M.E.G.? Paige must have lost it if she's willing to trust those entities," said a dark-skinned male as his companions nodded.
"You don't think they have some kind of mind-controlling powers, do you? It would explain how Paige would even consider letting them roam around the place, " said a light-skinned female.
"I bet they're just pretending to be friendly, so we'll lower our guard and kill us with an army of monsters. You saw what that weird fox girl was able to do. She could open portals like it was nothing."
"We better keep our distance from this place, more specifically from those two for the time being," said a random male, as some of the other explorers nodded in agreement. Tom simply rolled his eyes at their conversation as she returned to the kitchen to finish up the orders he had been given by some of the explorers in the diner.