Duoya

《 H. E. R. O. 》

---

They say that meeting when meeting your stars, they're nothing like you expect. Clearly, whoever said that hadn't met Starbright! Chad had interacted with many heroes in the past at various conventions and meetings, but he had never spoken to Starbright directly - only seen him perform on stage. Not only was he a nice guy in person, but Starbright was even professional as well - thinking about the mission first and foremost!

While Chad was very engrossed in his Starbright-induced daze, he was brought back to reality when he heard a voice he hadn't earlier. Standing behind Bypass were two other girls - he couldn't remember either of their profiles since he only skimmed them and they weren't in costume, but he felt bad that he hadn't addressed them earlier. He was about to greet the people he hadn't met and ask for their names when the taller of the girls glared at him angrily.

“I’m Patricia, by the way, or Aria. Whatever the hell you want, I don't care. And he didn’t save us. We saved ourselves, because we’re real heroes, unlike this third-rate poser over here.”

Well... She was a bit rude towards someone like Starbright, wasn't she? After all, he did come to save them from trouble, even if he might have been a little late. Chad chose to refrain from commenting, however - he didn't know anyone present, and all of the girls that were there had just escaped from being kidnapped by a FREAKING SUPERVILLAIN. Anyone would have been a bit aggressive in that kind of situation, so Chad decided to refrain from getting a negative impression of the girl.

Starbright didn't seem to think the same way, however. After Aria threw the camera that the Paparazzi with Starbright had, he started grilling her pretty roughly. Chad kind of felt bad for the girl at this point - it was never fun to see someone get yelled at, especially after they just broke something expensive. Chad broke a vase his mother owned one time, and he was in tears by the time she was done talking to him.

Turning his attention back to the situation at hand, Chad chose to remain silent. It was kind of awkward, even after Starbright apologized for his outburst - besides, it wasn't like Chad knew anyone there. Yeah, talking would probably be the wrong thing right now. Instead, he followed the others through the portal that Grace just created, and by the time he emerged at Club 27, he was dry heaving in his helmet. Chad was very glad that he was still on a cut and hadn't eaten today, because cleaning vomit from the inside of his suit would have taken a long time. He was also glad that he had super speed - if he was lucky, he could minimize the amount of time he'd have to use portals like that for transportation.

"Also joining us is a much younger hero, Chad...he's a character, for sure, and I'm sure there's plenty of work to be done in regards to his abilities, but I'm confident he'll be a very capable hero soon."

Chad quickly fixed his posture and ceased his dry heaving, holding his hand in a thumbs-up position while smiling beneath his helmet. First impressions were everything if Drama club had taught him anything, and Chad felt that he already made a few people view him a little less respectfully than he wanted them to. In the end, it didn't really matter too much though - he'd have plenty of time to fix any relationships he might mess up now that he was A FREAKING SUPERHERO!!!

After Powers' left, Chad turned to the other heroes present and tried to introduce himself properly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all - I'm, uh, Chad. Or you could call me THE BULLET, if Secret Identities are what you guys are into... haha..."

Jeez, it was... a lot more difficult to keep the whole Heroic Attitude going when there were so many actual Heroes in the room. Not to mention how awkward everything seemed to be. Chad had to keep reminding himself that these people were held captive by a supervillain, and he would probably need to wait a while before he could really get to know them. Whatever the case though, he was just glad he was finally a part of the team! Today was one of the best days in Chad's life!

---

Today was one of the worst days in Chad's life.

So as it turned out, becoming a Hero was a lot more work than Chad initially thought. He had to fill out several forms, sign waivers that prevented him from suing HERO in the event that he sustained permanent injuries, set up an automated payment account, and dozens of other things that mentally exhausted Chad to understand. And when he finally thought it was over, he had to actually go through the application process by doing an examination - and while the Physical section was fun, everything else just made Chad feel bad about himself.

Of course, the nice lady that helped Chad get through the paperwork did tell him that the process was significantly more complicated and lengthy for him than most others because of how... unique his application was. As a result, it took 6 days just to get through all of the paperwork and take the proper examinations. After he finished everything, he was told to wait while they processed his application.

And after spending nearly all day sitting next to his phone, the only call he received was how he was overpaying for car insurance, despite the fact that Chad did not own a car. It was so stressful that Chad had even used one of his vacation days just to make sure he wouldn't miss it. After all, it wasn't like he'd need the Pizza job for much longer after he started getting a Superhero's paycheck!

That's what the problem was, though... Percy was the one that called Chad to watch the announcement that appeared on the TV in his office a few minutes ago.

The reason today was so awful was that, apparently, Chad would not be employed at HERO. The only reason that he even managed to apply in the first place was that Powers took pity on him and didn't arrest Chad immediately. And while Chad used to be a fan of Seraph in the past, he had managed to talk to several people that worked in HERO over the last week - and none of them had anything good to say about him or the rest of the Wings of Law.

Now that Seraph was taking over, it was unlikely that Chad would ever manage to get hired, especially considering he had run straight to HERO One in search of a job.

...Wait a second. More importantly, the photos they showed of all those dead people looked super real! That was bad... Chad didn't really believe that Aria would kill a bunch of people, even if she was the child of a supervillain. Not because he knew her in any real way - after all, he had only been at HERO for a week, and most of that was spent by himself or with staff rather than actual heroes. No, Chad knew Aria was innocent because a Hero wouldn't kill a person - let alone a whole room of people.

Chad thought over his options carefully - he hardly knew any of the people at HERO and Seraph said they would be brought in for questioning, so contacting them somehow would be difficult at best and impossible at worst. Club 27 was probably covered in police officers, and the only thing Chad would accomplish by investigating the crime scene would be to get in the way of anyone trying to find the real culprit. Going to HERO One to question people was just plain stupid, he had already done that a week ago and he got slapped so hard he was knocked to the ground.

Nope - the solution, as always when it came to Chad, was to not think. Grabbing the IDD he had hid under his bed, Chad quickly grabbed the gym bag containing his Costume. After a short walk to the gym, Chad changed clothes and was blaring down the streets of Watervale. When it came to speed, Chad was probably one of the fastest people in Castleburg. It might take a few hours, but Chad felt confident that he could comb most of the city and run into someone that would be useful. Maybe a Hero that could help him contact the others, one of the Wings of Law that he could question in some way - or, as Chad was hoping, he might manage to find Powers and ask why he would leave HERO to a guy like Seraph.

Of course, Chad hadn't thought ahead enough to think that Powers was probably kept in a secure location that wouldn't be detected by an IDD. Or realize that an IDD could easily be tracked by EAGLES.

Kairelith: Transported to Another World [Isekai Theme] ~Reboot

Sounds interesting - count me in!

《 H. E. R. O. 》

@Hitman@Jumbus

---

Some people might not know this, but crashing through a door of solid wood doesn't feel very good at regular speeds, let alone superhuman ones. And tumbling on the ground isn't much better. Chad knew that he was tougher than most, but even he felt a little beat up as he rose to his feet.

At the very least, now he was actually inside the Movie Set - it was like going back in time, dirt roads and roman style buildings dominating the landscape. Chad wasn't very well educated on roman architecture however, and the only structures he recognized on sight was the Temple and the Coliseum. Chad covered his nose and mouth to block out the sudden stench that assaulted him - massive, charred corpses littered the ground a short distance away. The heat from outside was even stronger here - and considering he read his file, Chad felt pretty confident that Firebird had been the one behind this. The corpses were far too large to be human, but Chad still did his best to avoid looking at them.

Moving forwards, Chad decided that the Coliseum would be his best bet to investigate first. If Chad was a crazy roman themed supervillain, after all, having Superheroes fight each other to the death would be pretty badass! Hell, that'd probably be a good idea for a story on his blog! Chad was about to reach into his pocket and pull out his notepad and pen when a strange portal manifested itself right in front of Chad. The Hero was prepared to immediately run around it and towards the coliseum when he stopped himself. Bypass was kidnapped, and her power was to make portals.

Stepping out of the portal was Bypass, albeit more roughed up than the picture Chad had seen. She seemed to look Chad over before speaking, causing the Younger hero to step back.

"Who the hell are you?"

Chad did his best to assume a Heroic (read: Stupid) pose as he spoke.

"I'm the man of a thousand velocities - THE BULLET! I race through Castleburg with the speed and justice of a Bullet, ready to stop evil at any turn!"

Chad seemed to deflate slightly as he came to the end of his introduction, however.

"I was, uh... also supposed to save you guys... Is there anyone else that still needs saving, or did I mess up my first-"

"Hello? Can you hear me? Are you from HERO or are you a villain?”

Chad jumped and turned around with incredible speed, shocked by the voice behind him. Was there really a guard that Chad had not seen, or did Pandora arrive (and have a deeper voice than he remembered) to provide help?

Chad didn't recognize the voice without the copious amounts of autotune, but he could identify the man from sight alone. Even with his mask on, anyone present could tell that Chad was shocked by the fact he was shaking.

"Oh my god... IS THAT STARBRIGHT, THE GREATEST HERO TO EVER LIVE?!?!"

Chad quickly patted his pockets before cursing under his breath - normally he carried a poster of Starbright just for kind of situation, but he hadn't brought it with him for fear of damaging one of them.

"I-I'm the Projectile of the Gun of Justice, THE BULLET! I'm a new H-hero, and your biggest fan!"

Chad had to use every bit of willpower he had not to run back home and grab his Collector's Edition Starbright Poster (Only sold with the first 100 copies of his Bright as a Star album). He didn't even notice the paparazzi standing next to Starbright, and barely remembered that Grace was still present.

"D... Did you come to save the kidnapped heroes with your incredible posing and blasts of light!?"

Fate/Glimmering Oasis

Charlotte nodded as King Mu spoke - surveying the area was important, especially when there was so much devastation nearby. Charlotte mentally checked in with her familiars as Mu continued to speak, attempting to find the source of the flames as he asked. They were somewhat difficult to tell from the ground because Charlotte could only use the smoke as an indication, but with an aerial view from her familiars, the flames seemed to be strongest to the East of the bridge. It was also the most noticeable thing about the place they found themselves in and considering Charlotte's natural affinity and the durability of Servants, they would have an advantage in the place where flames are strongest.

When Charlotte unlinked her senses from her Familiars, she was greeted with Yasuke dressed in his Noble Phantasm. She jumped back in shock before regaining her composure, remembering that the man was not some metal demon looking to kill them, and was just her ally.

Yasuke's request was reasonable enough - Charlotte didn't doubt her own abilities, especially in a place covered in flames like this. Daniel however, at least to Charlotte's knowledge, wasn't resistant to fire - and even if he was, he might get crushed with rubble or choke on the smoke before he burns to death.

"I already sent out some familiars, and I know where the flames seem to be strongest. I'll have them keep an eye out for the others, but spotting a single person in this place might be a bit difficult - especially since it's already dark. I'll keep at it, Lancer, but we should head to the most noticeable place if we want to meet up."

Turning to her final ally, Charlotte continued to speak.

"Do you have any ideas for what else we should do, Arc-"

A chunk of clay flew up from the riverbed a short distance away, stopping Charlotte mid-sentence. Followed by another, slightly closer impact. The impacts continued to occur, and Charlotte could see the Bridge that served as a landmark appeared to be collapsing. Well, collapsing more than it already was - several of the impacts tore through it like wet tissues.

Charlotte spotted it, flying high up in the sky and moving incredibly fast. Far, far faster than any bird or airplane that Charlotte knew of - and it was flying straight at the small group.

Whatever the flying machine was, it was dangerous. Charlotte could tell that staying still and doing nothing would get her and possibly even her servants killed. Her mind faced as she thought of possible actions she could take. Her familiars weren't high enough to damage the plane, and even if they were, it was so much faster than them that it wouldn't make a difference. Lancer couldn't fly, and she didn't know if his musket had enough range or accuracy to hit a flying machine that high up. That left only Mu and Medb.

First of all, Charlotte needed to find cover. She was standing in the middle of a barren riverbed, and the minuscule cover that the bridge provided was scattered to the wind. Charlotte felt she could climb out of the riverbed before getting shot, but then she would have to find cover that was stronger than the bridge of metal and concrete.

"Lancer, I'm in your care - cover me!"

Charlotte made a break for the Western side of the riverbed, running as fast as she possibly could. It led to an area that was less destroyed, and which may have even a small amount of cover leftover. In most normal situations, Charlotte would run headfirst into a conflict gun blazing. Whatever the hell was chasing them was clearly not there for a fair fight though, since it was flying thousands of meters in the air. And if that thing wouldn't fight on the ground like a man, then Charlotte didn't feel guilty running away.

As she made it to the wall, Charlotte sent out a message to all of her servants using her mental connection with them.

"Archer, Caster - how many Command Seals would either of you need to bring that thing to the ground? I have three left!"

Charlotte was very thankful she hadn't already used those brands on her hand during her brief stay at Chaldea. After being explained what they did by some Chaldea staff, Charlotte wanted to avoid using them due to the fact it forcefully manipulates a Servant... But if there was a time her servants could use a boost, it was probably now.

If she was lucky, she would have enough to avoid getting hit by whatever destroyed the remnants of the bridge. And if she wasn't that lucky, at least she could use them to help everyone escape more quickly.

@Heavy Snark@Scallop@Red Alice@Reflection

《 H. E. R. O. 》

@Hitman

---

Running was one of the things that Chad liked most in the world - even before he received his powers, He was one of the best running backs in the entire state. When he scored touchdowns and heard the cheering of his teammates and fans, Chad felt useful and appreciated. Chad enjoyed that feeling, and even though he didn't feel it as much since gaining his powers, he still liked to work and help Percy with anything he could.

As he flew down the various offroads and alleyways of West Watervale, he wasn't feeling very useful at all. His first interaction with a Hero ended with him getting mocked - Chad even began to think that Pandora was making fun of his name and saying wrong on purpose! That caused him to stew somewhat, since it happened all the time on his blog. Pandora, now that's a weird name - it had nothing to do with digging through the ground! Street Shark, now that would be a cool name. Or Malicious Mole, if she was a villain.

A sudden beeping and vibration of the IDD he held caused Chad to slow down, skidding to a stop a moderate distance away. It couldn't have been Pandora, could it? Chad had run the complete opposite direction that she seemed to swim in, so unless he was really unlikely, that had to mean he was kind of close, right? Chad continued to lightly jog in place as he pressed the small button on the side of his device, attempting to use the communicator function.

"Hey, uh, I got a ping off my IDD, I think I might be clo-"

Halfway through his sentence, the device began vibrating and beeping again - Coordinates were coming in, Chad had watched enough Spy Movies to know that they were coordinates by just looking at them. They seemed t automatically go through the GPS on the device, quickly showing an area that the kidnapped heroes were probably located. Downtrodden from his lack of usefulness, Chad pressed the side button once more and spoke into it.

"False alarm, I'm going to the coordinates now..."

Well... So what! Sure, Chad couldn't find where the heroes were, but at the very least now he knew where they were, right? That meant he could be totally badass and save everyone, and then say a sick oneliner just like in the movies! That helped raise his spirits significantly. The real question was what to say...

Chad blasted down the side of the road, headed to the area that was sent to him.

---

Chad had originally scouted out the eastern border of the location, having been unable to see the massive movie set that occupied most of the area. He hadn't seen Pandora on his way there, but he wasn't especially worried about her - If Chad could swim through the ground, he probably wouldn't hand out on top of the land too much either. By the time he finally encountered the concrete cube of a movie set, the beeping on the IDD was becoming incessant. Chad found how to mute it fairly quickly, and chose to do so now that he had finally found the kidnapped heroes.

Chad clearly knew he was dealing with, seeing the advertisement for Marcus Aurelius on the side of the set. He had watched the film, and while it was fairly accurate to the actual Roman Emperor's life, the Marcomannic Wars portion was a total snoozefest and the ending was anticlimactic as hell. Chad was apparently in the minority since everyone on the imageboards he went to said that he 'just didn't get it.'

Chad shook his head, trying to remember what his train of thought was. That's right - Nero. If anyone decided that a movie set for a roman Emporer was a good idea, it was most likely that guy. But how the hell did he kidnap a bunch of heroes, one of which could teleport? That thought bounced in his skull, and Chad began to sweat in the heat and anxiety. Why was it so freaking hot suddenly!?

Chad ran straight towards the building. Thinking never worked out - he spent a month thinking about how to join H.E.R.O and it did nothing for him. The second he started actually doing something, things seemed to work out just fine. The ground was littered in gravel, holes, and various other obstacles that Chad avoided with fast reactions. The heat was more concerning than anything else - Chad's suit did not breathe well at all.

Chad had to circle the building before he managed to find an entrance. Whether it was to remain inconspicuous or simply because they were busy restraining the kidnapped heroes within, there were no guards posted outside. Of course, the door wasn't unlocked - supervillains were evil, not stupid. Chad paused briefly, before running away from the doorway. Even if the doors were locked, they were still made of wood.

A loud crash could be heard by anyone even somewhat close to the entrance, as Chad ran through one of the doors. He then proceeded to tumble across the ground for several feet before slowing to a stop and slowly rising to his feet. Thanks to his durability he didn't break anything, but he would have some bruises the next morning from that tumble. It was at that moment Chad realized, instead of charging at the door like a bull, he probably could have just punched through the door really fast and unlock it.

He would probably avoid telling that to anyone that asked.

Fate/Glimmering Oasis

After Medb arrived, Charlotte quickly relaxed from the anxiety she began to feel. It would have been very unfortunate if the group was going to Ray-whatsit without her, especially considering the fact that it seemed like a big deal. And while Daniels's suggestion was probably the smartest thing to do if Charlotte was not in contact with her servants, Charlotte didn't feel very comfortable using the mental link that she shared with her servants. It always felt... a little invasive? Charlotte just didn't like to use it outside of an emergency.

Charlotte tried to ignore the more lewd connotations of what Medb had told her via their link, and just flashed a smile.

"I'm just glad you managed to find us, Archer."

As Mu began to leave the canteen for the Rayshift chamber, Charlotte made sure to try and remember the word for the next hour or so. She had no idea how long these things usually took, but it would have been pretty lame if she needed to ask her servants for help and ended up embarrassing herself.

"Alright, lead the way Caster! C'mon Archer, Saber - it's time to finally let loose!"

The Rayshift Chamber was truly incredible, even by an institute like Chaldea's standards. Charlotte couldn't even begin to understand the pieces of technology around her, and instead chose to mimick whatever Daniel or Raphael did. After all, They had to have been in this room a few times at least, right?

When Raphael said there was no time for speeches, Charlotte frowned slightly. She hadn't been planning one, but at the mention of them, she realized now would have been the perfect opportunity to give an inspirational speech, or at the very least have a cool monologue! Thoughts of what she would have said were wiped away when she saw the coffins, however. Even if they were all hi-techy looking, they were still clearly coffins...

It only took a reminder of the schedule for Charlotte to go inside, however. She wasn't scared of something like a coffin, even if it was incredibly unnerving. She chose instead to think about whatever mission she was about to do. From what little she remembered when the process of Rayshifting was explained to her, it was kind of like teleporting... just through time and dimensions.

Any thoughts she had were blocked by the Coffin closing and the deafening silence that followed. That was pretty concerning.

Next thing Charlotte knew, she wasn't in a coffin anymore.

---

Charlotte could tell there was fire without even seeing it. It was the smell - choking, but faint. Something that shouldn't burn was on fire, but it was a fair distance away. This suspicion was confirmed when she opened her eyes, seeing smoke rise into the sky from a bridge a distance away. While most would be terrified of the experience, the smells and sights had the reverse effect on the previously anxious Charlotte.

Rising to her feet, Charlotte calmly investigated her surroundings. Clay was beneath her feet, cracked and dry, and there were fish bones scattered all around nearby. A river that had dried very suddenly, and judging by the presence of the bones and the burning city, it was probably pretty recent. Just from the way the smoke rose in the air and the direction of the wind, Charlotte could already tell where the flames were strongest in the city.

When she finally noticed that Daniel and his servants weren't present, Charlotte came back from her almost dream-like stupor. She didn't have time to get lost in the fire around her, even if this was the biggest one she had ever seen. What was more important was finding the others, and more importantly, finding out why the hell they were sent here...

Then again, they could have been sent to worse places, right? At the very least, this was something Charlotte was used to.

The first order of business was finding the others, especially before anything bad happened to them. Just because Charlotte was able to handle fire better than most and Servants were far more durable than a human could hope to be, she didn't know how well Daniel could handle flames this intense. And besides, something that started a fire this massive was probably more dangerous than the fire itself.

Charlotte pulled down her sleeve, revealing a damp cloth bandage wrapped loosely around her arm. One of the symbols engraved on the bandage seemed to smolder and burn as Magical Energy flowed through the Code, and a small ball of fire seemed to erupt from it in a burst of embers and ash particulate. The Wisp quickly began to ascend into the sky, already aware of its Master's desire. Three more burst outwards and followed the first into the air, before splitting up and moving towards different directions. While it was far from an incredible method of searching, it could cover a lot more ground than Charlotte could alone.

When she realized her Servants were only a short distance away, Charlotte jogged over to them, taking care to avoid the larger cracks that had formed in the riverbed. She didn't even need to crouch to avoid smoke, since the riverbed itself was fairly deep compared to the street.

"Hey guys, how awesome is this! Talk about a first mission, this is badass!!"

Charlotte paused and quickly tracked back, remembering what was important.

"Oh, uh - where do you guys want to check out first? I was thinking we could probably go towards the source of the fire. Y'know, to find out what caused all this?"

Unlike her fellow Master, Charlotte didn't even think of trying her communicator. She wasn't used to the device and didn't realize that in most other situations, it would be incredibly useful for finding the location of allies.

@Scallop@Red Alice

Fate/Glimmering Oasis

The fact that all the cooking roles were occupied by a single person was still a bit confusing to Charlotte - even if calling them a single person was wrong, and they were all really machines that looked like the same person. Charlotte hardly understood the concept of an animatronic in the first place, even when it was explained to her by some of the Chaldea staff.

It didn't matter much when the food finally came out, however. Charlotte was excited to start eating and quickly poured enough syrup on the stack to cause any reasonable person distress. She noted that there weren't any peppers - a disappointment, considering her affection for spicy foods. She was only partially into her meal, however, when another person joined the table.

"Apologies for my absence, the pursuit of eternity brought me away from my usual duties. Lancer, I am pleased to see you have kept us tethered to this mortal coil whilst I was busy, Master I suspect you engaged in behavior with risk attached? A treacherous road that could harm not only yourself but the three of us as well."

"Caster, we were just going to start looking for you! My skill as a Master must be so great, I didn't even have a chance to do anything risky before our quest was completed..."

Charlotte rubbed her chin and adopted a smug grin, before returning to her meal. She listened to Rapahel as he talked to the others at the table, but perked up and stopped finished her meal as he addressed her.

"Miss Charlotte, I will not be able to assist you in finding Miss... Medb, simply because her entire existence offends me in much the way Daniel's Saber candidate does."

"Dang, that's pretty crappy... Well, we'll probably be able to find her on our own. Especially if finding Caster was any indication!"

Charlotte didn't process the insult that Rapahel directed at her servant, more distracted by the fact that she would need to find her final Servant if she wanted to go to the Ray-something place without feeling guilty. After all, they were all a team, so they'd need to meet up soon, right? Charlotte turned to Yasuke and Mu as Raphael left the canteen.

"Alright... Do you guys have any idea where we could find Archer? I'd really like to find her before that storm Rapahel was talking about shows up."

@Reflection@Scallop@Heavy Snark

《 H. E. R. O. 》

---

Chad did his best to listen and comprehend the situation he was in - he was a HERO! The thing he had been dreaming to be since he was a child! And that wasn't even including the fact that he had just been assigned a badass mission from THE INVINCIBLE WARMONGER! If Powers' slap hadn't hurt as much as it did, Chad would have removed his helmet and pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

Because of all of this, Chad felt that listening to Powers was of vital importance. Not even mentioning Starbright distracted Chad, although the young hero did strike a small pose when he heard the name. It was a force of habit from listening to the celebrities' songs, one that Chad was trying to break since he was entering the field of Hero work like Starbright. He immediately stopped posing, however, when he learned about the nature of his mission. A group of heroes were kidnapped? Chad didn't have any idea who they could be considering it happened only recently.

Chad paused as he started to think more deeply on the matter since it wouldn't help, and he didn't want to lose track of what Powers was saying. When the older man pulled out a small cube, Chad became especially focused. He leaned in slightly as he spoke.

"What's that thing?"

"This device is a multi-purpose tool called an IDD. Irregularity Detection Device. It's a very common tool for our restorative units, and its interface allows for the detection, isolation, and identification of nearby scientific anomalies. In short, unless all of the heroes are really drugged up, this device should flare up once you get anywhere near them."

Powers tossed a small cube towards Chad, which the Hero caught easily. The thought of using his powers to catch the device and appear cooler crossed Chad's mind, but he avoided doing so - while it did look much cooler, the last time he had tried to catch something using his power, Chad ended up smacking his phone into the floor at over 80 miles per hour. And he assumed that the IDD was significantly more expensive than a cheap phone.

"Wow... This is one of the coolest things I've ever gotten, maybe ever..."

"The profiles of the missing heroes are also loaded into the device. Obviously, it's a big city, but your powers let you cross it fairly quickly, I imagine. I'd check out Brookside and Watervale first- it's probably easier to abduct people there than anywhere else."

Chad poked the device inquisitively but made sure not to touch any unlabelled buttons. It was lacking a bit in aesthetics... but it was still SO COOL!!! Although it did make Chad wonder - would it react to him running around while carrying it? That would complicate things a bit. Maybe that was what Powers was working with when he tapped the interface?

"Once you've found them, report back using the device. There should be a communication button on the side there. We also have a GPS on that device, so once you give us the call we can get reinforcements into the area ASAP."

When Powers began to leave, Chad nodded in response to the man's advice. Searching Watervale and Brookside first was a great idea - Chad was aware of the kidnappings and crimes that were common there, but more importantly, Chad was familiar with the region. The rest of Castleburg would be much more difficult to navigate since Chad would have to run slower or risk hitting buildings or other people.

Messing with the IDD was unfamiliar, but Chad managed to find the profiles that Powers had mentioned. The information there might be able to help narrow down the possible locations...

Tempest - he was a Hydrokinetic, so maybe they would take them somewhere without much water? Then again, water would be helpful against Firebird... The next few people didn't give much information. Aria could be stopped with powerful headphones, Spacewalker's countermeasure was difficult to replicate - most of their weaknesses didn't rely on locations!

Wait, they had Bypass?! How the hell did they stop her from just teleporting away? Chad shook his head and stopped reading there. He had limited time as it was, and this was clearly not helping him. It was at moments like this Chad wished he had Super-Reading along with Super-Speed...

Chad probably should have known he wouldn't have deduced their location from their weaknesses - if it was that easy, H.E.R.O would have done that already. He'd have to just brute force the search, starting at Watervale and moving from there. Chad made sure to have a good grip on the IDD, angled himself towards Watervale, and started running.

Slowing down was not as successful as it was arriving on Savior Island. Chad barely managed to avoid crashing into a building on the waterfront and had to slow down over another 30 feet before he came to a stop. The device hadn't seemed to react in any way while he ran, so Powers must have set it to not trigger in response to Super-Speed! Or it was broken, but Chad really didn't want to consider that possibility.

Chad attempted to reach for his phone before realizing he didn't have it on him - he left it at home to avoid losing it while running. Instead, he opened the GPS on the IDD and found a good route to follow. Chad usually avoided the seedier parts of Brookside and Watervale, and as a result, was less familiar with those areas. But those were the places he was checking out first - if Supervillains were going to keep Heroes kidnapped and secured somewhere, it had to be somewhere without many people. And if it wasn't in Watervale or Brookside, Chad would check... East Flank, probably? And then... Well, Chad would decide what to do if things came to that.

Chad nodded as he finished plotting his route. Then, he started to run.

Fate/Glimmering Oasis

Charlotte was only a few feet away from the others when she heard another person begin talking, and she turned to identify them. She nodded at the new arrival as he addressed her, flashing a grin as she did so.

"Good to hear you're joining, Raphael! I'm always willing to share a meal with others, even if you guys don't really need to eat! You don't mind, right Lancer?"

Charlotte didn't even register the physical contact as Raphael placed his hand on Charlotte's back, considering she was fairly open with physical contact. She was more so focused on the whispered comment on Daniel's compatibility. She ordinarily would not condone talking behind someone's back, but it would have made everyone upset if she called Raphael out on that at the moment. Instead, she quickly whispered a response to the painter.

"I don't mind Daniel, I've known far less agreeable people. Besides, being difficult to work with isn't that important to me - as long as you guys think he can help, I'm plenty happy."

When they've finally arrived at the Canteen, Charlotte tried to spot her other servants - Caster specifically, since she had questions to ask him about Flame Magecraft. When she failed to spot them, she resorted to moving to a random unoccupied table instead. She'd have to find them at a later time, it seemed.

As the others ordered, Charlotte spent time perusing the menu. Normally she would have gone with something like Barbeque, but since it was morning, it didn't appear like the Canteen was serving any... The thought of making a request came to mind, but it wouldn't be worth all the effort when there were plenty of other things to eat. Besides, she was new here - pissing off the chefs wouldn't be cool.

"I guess I'll have Pancakes - do we have any peppers that I can have?"

She missed most of what Yasuke and Raphael were talking to each other about, but now that she had ordered her breakfast, Charlotte's attention was brought back to something important.

"Actually, do either of you guys know where Caster and Archer are? I haven't seen them yet today. If not, we could go on an adventure searching for them, Lancer!"

Charlotte paused for several seconds, mulling over Raphael's responsibilities and tasks at Chaldea. She eventually decided that it wouldn't be a problem to invite him, even if Yasuke didn't seem to be too friendly with him.

"You could come too if you want, Raphael - you're probably busy with the whole Ray-whatever thing, though."

@Heavy Snark@Reflection

《 H. E. R. O. 》

---

"Yes, for the love of God, please get up."

Chad rose to his feet somewhat unsteadily, more a result of his anxiety at the prospect of going to prison rather than the collision. Chad was a few feet away from Powers when he found his balance, and on guard, in case the older man attempted to slap him again.

Chad couldn't tell if Powers noticed this in any way, but the older man probably did notice Chad's posture becoming less tense as he spoke. For a normal person, the thought of putting themselves in harm's way was an incredibly dangerous, terrifying, and usually unnecessary prospect. Even a person with superpowers would prefer to avoid a situation like Powers was describing - a terrorist with the ability to destabilize an entire city was horrifying to imagine, let alone directly go up against.

And if it wasn't the prospect of fighting a superpowered terrorist that scared a person, the very real fact that death was extremely common in the field would probably do it. Chad had actually never thought about dying as a hero before - his visions of death were usually much more mundane. Things like getting hit the wrong way in a tackle, or falling from too high, or breathing too much helium for too long. Maybe it was his love of the theatrical and dynamic, but rather than turn Chad away from the job, Power's statement only made the young man more excited to become a hero. Dying in a blaze of glory, after all, was far superior to sputtering out with a whimper. At least, in Chad's mind it was.

And that wasn't even mentioning the fights! Slamming into another person with all his power was exactly the thing that Chad needed - at least, in his opinion. He had been training his power ever since he discovered it, and while running down the road was pretty fun at Mach speed, Chad knew that H.E.R.O was the best way to master his ability. Percy had always told Chad that becoming the best version of themselves was what a lot of people would wish to accomplish - and Chad had followed that advice as much as he could ever since he heard it in Middle School. He trained hard, followed a strict diet during his cuts, and he studied things as long as they actively interested him.

Becoming a hero was simply the place Chad thought he could be the best version of himself. And being able to help people wasn't bad either!

When Powers extended his hand and finished his warning to the man in black, Chad was slightly taken aback.

"Wait, I'm starting right now?"

Chad shook his head and zipped over to Powers, grabbing Powers' hand in both of his own and shaking it very quickly.

"I-I mean definitely! I'm in, I'm in, I promise! Oh god, I haven't been this happy since I became a Co-admin on the Heroes in Lavender Fanclub! Hell, this is infinitely better! You're a God, Mr. Powers, I swear you won't regret this - I'm pretty fast, y'know?"

Chad finally let go of Powers' hand and did his best to adopt a more serious demeanor, considering how serious Powers' speech had been only a minute or so prior. As a matter of fact, he even held back from asking again about the Invincible Warmonger poster!

"But, um... if you don't mind me asking, what's so important that we're skipping over my registration papers?"