Jumbus

【 Spy High 】

Oliver "Static" Woods

B A S I C S

N A M E
Oliver Gordon Woods

N I C K N A M E / A L I A S
Ollie

C O D E N A M E
Static

A G E (G R A D E)
Junior (16)

P L A C E O F B I R T H
Amity, Maine

G E N D E R
Male (he/him)

A P P E A R A N C E

P H Y S I C A L D E S C R I P T I O N
Oliver stands a little bit shorter than average. While he thinks he has more room to grow, he is yet to accept he was an early bloomer. He isn't particularly muscular and is generally a bit less fit and more thin than the average student at Prom. Which is still reasonably fit. His posture tends to be laid back.

H E I G H T
5'10"

W E I G H T
139 lbs.

E T H N I C I T Y
Caucasian

P E R S O N A L I T Y

P E R S O N A L D E S C R I P T I O N
Bolstered by just his acceptance into Prom, Olly has confidence in his stride. The reality of him just being a big fish from a small pond is yet to set in fully for him. The concept is slowly dawning on him though, particularly with his poor performance in some aspects of the grading. He isn't hot shit in Prom, he is just one of number of others equal to him in their own way. Despite him respecting each classmate as an equal, he has yet to accept that.

Oliver is quite introverted, but is quite capable of socialization. He tends to make himself go into social situations as he knows he needs to improve on his communication both in and outside of missions.

Ollie has an unusual outlook on missions and by extension his time at Prom. He does this for entertainment, he seems to display minimal interest in the tangible duties and benefits of the job in comparison to other students eg Ivy League set ups and a duty to save the world. This isn't to say he isn't driven to succeed, quite the opposite. Ollie is takes every opportunity to learn and improve his craft and take failures rather gravely outside of training scenarios. He has been known to request footage of training scenarios to review and endlessly study.

L I K E S

• Strategy Games: During free time or under need to destress, Ollie plays strategy games. Age of Empires 2 is his favourite.
• Tech Study: Ollie loves tinkering with tech. Any thing new he comes across brings a compulsion to pick it apart and see how it works.
• Skating: There are some exceptions to Ollie's general disinterest with sport. Skating is the main one. He skates to high school.
• Improvising: When the original plans falls through, he sees recovering from that as a challenge.
• When a plan comes together: Ben likes to have things charted out ahead of time, and loves to craft a good game plan, whether that be before a football player or a high-stakes operation.

D I S L I K E S

• Taking someone's orders when their plan is flawed: "I don't follow a failing plan, its as simple as that. You can't force me in to losing."
• Tests of strength: Ollie isn't strong and he can be insecure about that. He doesn't like being confronted with it.

G O A L S

• Become a leader: Ollie has a goal to prove himself and extend his abilities as much as possible
• Stay in this life: Ollie knows this life won't last. He intends to fight that. If he gets his memory wiped he knows that he will likely still be trying to reach out to these agencies to no success. A wasted life.

F E A R S

• Stagnation: Ollie has to continue rising.
• Failure: As with any profession, failure is to be feared.
• Becoming ordinary: Ollie will not return to his old life.

S E X U A L P R E F E R E N C E
"Wouldn't you like to know"

H I S T O R Y

B R I E F B I O
Oliver grew up in Amity, Maine. That about sums up his early life. To put it simply he was a big fish in a very small and mundane pond. He didn't struggle with his subjects and he didn't care a great deal for sports, so he ended up with a lot of free time. He played around with various hobbies to pass the time and was quickly drawn to technology, strategy games, and weird indie music. And while the last of those three ended up being a strange phase, the other two remain some of his top passions to this day.

But in the time and place he was in, this all meant nothing. Amity, Maine isn't exactly known for producing brilliant engineers and the sort. That was for a good reason, there is nothing there. Looking at the prospect of his potential being wasted, Oliver decided he needed to make a statement. He always heard about men in black and stories like that, maybe he could be loud enough for them to hear.

In a particular classified location, all security cameras went off at once. Oliver, using some homebrewed tools, was able to make his way into the security room. In the adrenaline of it all succeeding, he didn't question why the room was empty. All he did was count down until the cameras would come back online. When they did he would have his arms up leaving the facility untouched aside from the fact that he was now inside. 5... 4... he couldn't help the smile spreading across his face 3... 2... he feel unconscious.

Oliver woke up in an interrogation room. PROM explained to him that they had been watching him for a while. They knew about his plan and laxed up on security to make it more possible. I was a test. They then gave him an offer. It was an offer he couldn't refuse.

S K I L L S E T

T A L E N T S

• Strategy/Planning: Any situation, any challenge, any twist. Ollie has a plan and some things up his sleeve.
• Disruption: "Make them blind, deaf, and mute. Then they don't have a hope of winning."

G A D G E T S

• EMP Grenades: These grenades emit a pulse that disables electronics for a very short time. But it forces every system in the area to restart which can be disastrous for larger systems. They can be put on a timer.
• Comms jammers: These are devices that can be set up on any surface. As long as they remain functional only a very small bandwidth of frequencies may pass through in an area around it. These are set to allow PROM comms to pass through.
• Burrow Cams: A device that can burrow through a wide range of surfaces offering visual on the other side.tle dart.
• Tracker Mites: A gun that can fire small tracking chips. Due to their incredibly small size they are difficult to notice when attached, but they cannot emit a powerful signal so their emission range is quite low. The feedback to a tablet on Static's forearm that can read the position of the tracker. Static often gets someone else to shoot the gun due to his lack of aim. While not immune to EMP, they are designed to operate well under sudden shut off and restart conditions making them resistant.
• Field Medic Kit: After a few too many allies getting wounds in the field, Ollie thought it nessecary to learn the medical field. Well, at least enough to patch people up. He is still learning.

Videos in theme with Static's specialization

Arc 23 Spoilers

Ollie is confronted by Tony Tenor of the infamous Blues Mafia

Grading

Grading

Strength: C-

While capable and fit for the average teen, he does not stack up very well compared to other Prom students. He is not particularly strong or fast.

Intelligence: A

He makes standard high school subjects seem like a cake walk. He does not need to study long hours to grasp subjects at all.

Close-Quarters Combat: D

His lack of strength and speed hinder him greatest here. Although he is able to read his opponents moves sufficiently, he is unable to capitalize on it because of his lack of ability. His attacks are slow and can be easily read compared to other students.

Firearms: B-

He has memorized effective ranges and can count magazines to the last bullet to most firearms in the armory. However, this does not make up for his sub par ability to aim. He is suited to close range firearms like shotguns.

Concealment and Disguise: B+

Good capabilities with concealment given the option he is much more capable of this. His disguises could use some more work particularly in his voice work.

Strategic Thinking/Leadership: A-

Can make up solid plans on the spot and can execute them effectively. He has some trouble communicating his ideas.

Mental Agility/Intuition: A+

With a change of situation, he can formulate and execute a new plan at the drop of a hat. In test simulations, he could only be caught out by events that weren't logically possible.

Hacking/Computer Operation: B

While he is capable, he ends up being only average at this. In his words 'I would rather pull out the plug than bother with all this'. This, of course, is not always the best course of action.

Observation/Interrogation: C+

Struggles to read body movement in an interrogation setting. Additionally, he isn't very capable on intimidation.

Linguistics: C+

He knows French quite well in theory but his pronunciation needs work.

Teamwork/Cooperation: B

Capable of team work and following orders, until he disagrees with them. If a plan outright fails, he has a tendency to revert to his own plans. These negatives however are not frequent enough to give a lower grade.

Relationships

Binx

Static and Binx constantly butt heads on missions. He gives out orders in accordance to his plan and she ignores them. For good reason, Static is younger than her and fails to communicate many details of his plans.

This changes outside of missions, they get along out of an equal interest in developing tech and devices.

"I mean yeah, I think up a flawless plan and she just goes off and does her own thing. That can be frustrating. But when it comes to being back at Prom, honestly I take notes on her approach to design. It seems effortless to her and she can make the same thing at the same power with cheaper components. Shes clearly done a lot more hands on learning with this kind of stuff. Where I was just hitting the books at home for the longest time. So yeah when I see a place I can improve, I take notes."

Bug

Static and Bug have a mutual understanding of making each others lives harder through constant pranks and jokes on each other.

"People who say that bugs can't do harm clearly don't know history. Every time a group of people are working on crops or keeping cattle, a big swarm of bugs come in to ruin the day. Its why coding mistakes are called bugs and its probably why Agent Bug took that codename. I can't tell you how many times I have been working on some digital gizmo and its suddenly turns off or starts to blink weird colors. Only for me to look across the room and see Em laughing. Its half the reason I work in analog as well now. You might ask why this does bother me? Well, its because I do the same shit right back.

Aster and Honey

The are a few agents which Ollie would prefer to keep relations strictly professional.

"Whether its being intimidated by them or if they just bum me out. I don't think its in my best interested to get close. On second thought its a mix of both."

Kingfisher

While the two keep pleasant out of mission relations, Static appreciates Kingfisher during a mission a lot more.

"What is there to say. He is good at dispatching people and can operate in a team well, there isn't a better person to have on a team. He could lighten up a bit though."

Babel

The two are both willing and able to help each other in areas of spy life that the other is struggling in. They also play strategy games together and Carmen has even managed to get him to branch out to other games.

"Carmen, yeah, shes quite a popular for a new recruit huh. I mean she didn't get nearly as much of a hazing as I did last year. Mind you its probably for the best, the seniors last year had some dickheads. Anyway yeah Carmen, shes cool. I don't hang out with her as much as some of the others but when we do its a good time."

Wahrheit

Static's opinions on Eric change depending if its on a mission or not. Out of missions their interactions are generally pleasant if a bit sparse with the occasional game of chess (which Static loses the majority of). But on mission, Ollie has no way to describe it outside of being afraid of the guy.

"I mean its not as if we don't get along on missions. We convene a lot when it comes to an initial plan. Two heads better than one and all. Plus he is the perfect eye on the outside with a good vantage point. But he is just so stern and cold all the time. It kind of bums me out man. Oh and don't even get me started on the interrogation thing. I won't stay in the same room while he's doing it. Never have, never will. You see him bring in tough guys, like tough guys. They just don't come out the same. So yeah I'm scared of him. If I was ever in a situation where I had to be question by him, I can't imagine."

【 Spy High 】

Oliver "Static" Woods

B A S I C S

N A M E
Oliver Gordon Woods

N I C K N A M E / A L I A S
Ollie

C O D E N A M E
Static

A G E (G R A D E)
Junior (16)

P L A C E O F B I R T H
Amity, Maine

G E N D E R
Male (he/him)

A P P E A R A N C E

P H Y S I C A L D E S C R I P T I O N
Oliver stands a little bit shorter than average. While he thinks he has more room to grow, he is yet to accept he was an early bloomer. He isn't particularly muscular and is generally a bit less fit and more thin than the average student at Prom. Which is still reasonably fit. His posture tends to be laid back.

H E I G H T
5'10"

W E I G H T
139 lbs.

E T H N I C I T Y
Caucasian

P E R S O N A L I T Y

P E R S O N A L D E S C R I P T I O N
Bolstered by just his acceptance into Prom, Olly has confidence in his stride. The reality of him just being a big fish from a small pond is yet to set in fully for him. The concept is slowly dawning on him though, particularly with his poor performance in some aspects of the grading. He isn't hot shit in Prom, he is just one of number of others equal to him in their own way. Despite him respecting each classmate as an equal, he has yet to accept that.

Oliver is quite introverted, but is quite capable of socialization. He tends to make himself go into social situations as he knows he needs to improve on his communication both in and outside of missions.

L I K E S

• Strategy Games: During free time or under need to destress, Ollie plays strategy games. Age of Empires 2 is his favourite.
• Tech Study: Ollie loves tinkering with tech. Any thing new he comes across brings a compulsion to pick it apart and see how it works.
• Skating: There are some exceptions to Ollie's general disinterest with sport. Skating is the main one. He skates to high school.
• Improvising: When the original plans falls through, he sees recovering from that as a challenge.
• When a plan comes together: Ben likes to have things charted out ahead of time, and loves to craft a good game plan, whether that be before a football player or a high-stakes operation.

D I S L I K E S

• Taking someone's orders when their plan is flawed: "I don't follow a failing plan, its as simple as that. You can't force me in to losing."
• Tests of strength: Ollie isn't strong and he can be insecure about that. He doesn't like being confronted with it.

G O A L S

• Become a leader: Ollie has a goal to prove himself and extend his abilities as much as possible
• Stay in this life: Ollie knows this life won't last. He intends to fight that. If he gets his memory wiped he knows that he will likely still be trying to reach out to these agencies to no success. A wasted life.

F E A R S

• Stagnation: Ollie has to continue rising.
• Failure: As with any profession, failure is to be feared.
• Becoming ordinary: Ollie will not return to his old life.

S E X U A L P R E F E R E N C E
"Wouldn't you like to know"

H I S T O R Y

B R I E F B I O
Oliver grew up in Amity, Maine. That about sums up his early life. To put it simply he was a big fish in a very small and mundane pond. He didn't struggle with his subjects and he didn't care a great deal for sports, so he ended up with a lot of free time. He played around with various hobbies to pass the time and was quickly drawn to technology, strategy games, and weird indie music. And while the last of those three ended up being a strange phase, the other two remain some of his top passions to this day.

But in the time and place he was in, this all meant nothing. Amity, Maine isn't exactly known for producing brilliant engineers and the sort. That was for a good reason, there is nothing there. Looking at the prospect of his potential being wasted, Oliver decided he needed to make a statement. He always heard about men in black and stories like that, maybe he could be loud enough for them to hear.

In a particular classified location, all security cameras went off at once. Oliver, using some homebrewed tools, was able to make his way into the security room. In the adrenaline of it all succeeding, he didn't question why the room was empty. All he did was count down until the cameras would come back online. When they did he would have his arms up leaving the facility untouched aside from the fact that he was now inside. 5... 4... he couldn't help the smile spreading across his face 3... 2... he feel unconscious.

Oliver woke up in an interrogation room. PROM explained to him that they had been watching him for a while. They knew about his plan and laxed up on security to make it more possible. I was a test. They then gave him an offer. It was an offer he couldn't refuse.

S K I L L S E T

T A L E N T S

• Strategy/Planning: Any situation, any challenge, any twist. Ollie has a plan and some things up his sleeve.
• Disruption: "Make them blind, deaf, and mute. Then they don't have a hope of winning."

G A D G E T S

• EMP Grenades: These grenades emit a pulse that disables electronics for a very short time. But it forces every system in the area to restart which can be disastrous for larger systems. They can be put on a timer.
• Comms jammers: These are devices that can be set up on any surface. As long as they remain functional only a very small bandwidth of frequencies may pass through in an area around it. These are set to allow PROM comms to pass through.
• Burrow Cams: A device that can burrow through a wide range of surfaces offering visual on the other side.tle dart.
• Tracker Mites: A gun that can fire small tracking chips. Due to their incredibly small size they are difficult to notice when attached, but they cannot emit a powerful signal so their emission range is quite low. The feedback to a tablet on Static's forearm that can read the position of the tracker. Static often gets someone else to shoot the gun due to his lack of aim. While not immune to EMP, they are designed to operate well under sudden shut off and restart conditions making them resistant.
• Field Medic Kit: After a few too many allies getting wounds in the field, Ollie thought it nessecary to learn the medical field. Well, at least enough to patch people up. He is still learning.

Videos in theme with Static's specialization

Grading

Grading

Strength: C-

While capable and fit for the average teen, he does not stack up very well compared to other Prom students. He is not particularly strong or fast.

Intelligence: A

He makes standard high school subjects seem like a cake walk. He does not need to study long hours to grasp subjects at all.

Close-Quarters Combat: D

His lack of strength and speed hinder him greatest here. Although he is able to read his opponents moves sufficiently, he is unable to capitalize on it because of his lack of ability. His attacks are slow and can be easily read compared to other students.

Firearms: B-

He has memorized effective ranges and can count magazines to the last bullet to most firearms in the armory. However, this does not make up for his sub par ability to aim. He is suited to close range firearms like shotguns.

Concealment and Disguise: B+

Good capabilities with concealment given the option he is much more capable of this. His disguises could use some more work particularly in his voice work.

Strategic Thinking/Leadership: A-

Can make up solid plans on the spot and can execute them effectively. He has some trouble communicating his ideas.

Mental Agility/Intuition: A+

With a change of situation, he can formulate and execute a new plan at the drop of a hat. In test simulations, he could only be caught out by events that weren't logically possible.

Hacking/Computer Operation: B

While he is capable, he ends up being only average at this. In his words 'I would rather pull out the plug than bother with all this'. This, of course, is not always the best course of action.

Observation/Interrogation: C+

Struggles to read body movement in an interrogation setting. Additionally, he isn't very capable on intimidation.

Linguistics: C+

He knows French quite well in theory but his pronunciation needs work.

Teamwork/Cooperation: B

Capable of team work and following orders, until he disagrees with them. If a plan outright fails, he has a tendency to revert to his own plans. These negatives however are not frequent enough to give a lower grade.

Relationships

Binx

Static and Binx constantly butt heads on missions. He gives out orders in accordance to his plan and she ignores them. For good reason, Static is younger than her and fails to communicate many details of his plans.

This changes outside of missions, they get along out of an equal interest in developing tech and devices.

"I mean yeah, I think up a flawless plan and she just goes off and does her own thing. That can be frustrating. But when it comes to being back at Prom, honestly I take notes on her approach to design. It seems effortless to her and she can make the same thing at the same power with cheaper components. Shes clearly done a lot more hands on learning with this kind of stuff. Where I was just hitting the books at home for the longest time. So yeah when I see a place I can improve, I take notes."

Bug

Static and Bug have a mutual understanding of making each others lives harder through constant pranks and jokes on each other.

"People who say that bugs can't do harm clearly don't know history. Every time a group of people are working on crops or keeping cattle, a big swarm of bugs come in to ruin the day. Its why coding mistakes are called bugs and its probably why Agent Bug took that codename. I can't tell you how many times I have been working on some digital gizmo and its suddenly turns off or starts to blink weird colors. Only for me to look across the room and see Em laughing. Its half the reason I work in analog as well now. You might ask why this does bother me? Well, its because I do the same shit right back.

Aster and Honey

The are a few agents which Ollie would prefer to keep relations strictly professional.

"Whether its being intimidated by them or if they just bum me out. I don't think its in my best interested to get close. On second thought its a mix of both."

Kingfisher

While the two keep pleasant out of mission relations, Static appreciates Kingfisher during a mission a lot more.

"What is there to say. He is good at dispatching people and can operate in a team well, there isn't a better person to have on a team. He could lighten up a bit though."

A Song of Shadows | Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

Having backed up since antagonizing Scorch, Blue had stayed around near the back doing his best to look like he didn't care. It was quite the opposite however. The Pokemon here didn't see only directly in front of them like his friends. They had goals and interests outside of the next theft or fight thats going to keep them feed. It was encouraging. Made him think that his decision could be right after all.

But it was his time to step to the plate and introduce himself.

"My names Blue, because of my blue skin. Its not very creative I know. I have been in a good deal of fights since coming to this city, among other things. I've won some, I've lost some, but I have proven myself on that front. I'm here to see what all the fuss is about. Yeah thats about all I have to say."

Blue continued to stay where he was.

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Starbright strode out of the plain and onto the docks. He treated the whole thing more or less like a cat walk, despite the lack of media. It was almost alien to him, the feeling of not being watched through a lense. He couldn't really say that he had ever taken a proper vacation. Sure he had been around the world plenty of times, but that was always for a tour or an interview. He never had much time to explore around before it was off to the next location. Unless of course, it was to post a picture of himself at some land mark on social media. Not like he was complaining of course, Starbright loved his job and couldn't imagine a world without it. But now he was looking at multiple weeks away from it. Which may leave someone to question, why was he here?

Well it was quite simple, Starbright couldn't go up from where he was. His whole life he had lived with the thought that there would always be another mountain to climb. But now he was at the top with his whole life ahead of him. What else could he do? Starbright dreaded the thought of stagnation. In his industry that just meant slowly fading away. So lost for answers or purpose, he looked toward other industry legends and came out of it with two options. Alcoholism and hard drugs, or a vacation. So a vacation sounded nice and now here he is, relaxing... he guessed. It was still an uncomfortable feeling for him but it had to be done. Maybe he could think up the next stage of his life here.

Starbright was wore red trunks, black flip flops, and aviators. The only thing covering his chest was the white and blue towel he had draped over both shoulders. The bag he carried off the plane is just as big as you would expect. "Well if you don't mind, I am going to get myself packed in. As you can see there is a lot to pack. After that though, I will be back playing beach volleyball. In case, anyone feels like losing." He said with a confident smile.

Starbright started to head off on his merry way to his villa before turning around with slight furrowed brow as if he was thinking. "Or winning if you're on my team. I don't know if I made that clear..." He begun to turn around before turning back yet again with a confident smile "the point is I will be winning." Starbright then finally walked off proceeding to his living arrangements. He needed to work on his friendly smack talk.

---

Christina had put to rest Yui's thought about a copycat killer by mentioning the Baron's powers being the 'murder weapon' so to speak. It saved one avenue that needed to be investigated sure. But it also mean there was no way she was avoiding the boat.

"I'm sorry but do I know you? Are you one of the new transfer Heroes I heard about?"

Unlike the ask about peoples connections to the gangs, Yui was prepared for this one. "Well I'm not surprised you don't know me. I've been here for a few years now, but I haven't really made myself known. It was really after the whole EAGLES thing that I decided to change that. HERO needing more heroes and all. I thought I might as well start making a name for myself, instead of letting some exchange hero do it for me." Yui turned her head toward Brooke, she of course didn't mean it as a negative and tried to keep it more positive. "I mean no offense of course Ms McMaimKill, I'm sure you will do great here as well." She said with a smile then turned back to Alpha. "But yeah, I've kept my head out of the way. I shouldn't have any problems."

"Which reminds me. Lets face it, I'm not exactly going to pass for an Irish gangster now am I. I'm not really cut out for being a fake hostage either. So just let me look out for my own disguise. You could say that this sort of thing is an unofficial power of mine anyway." The best lies come from telling the truth, or at least thats what she heard anyway.

@DarkRecon @Zoey Boey

《 H. E. R. O. 》

---

Yui was nervous. She was called in for a meeting in HERO One and she had to pretend as if she has been here before. The tower was a winding vertical maze without a person she could call to help find directions. Yui's best shot at navigating the building was the occasional map and room markers. She eventually found the meeting room, but had arrived late. Yui quietly took a seat near the back and leaned back on it, trying to give off a look of experience. But that was far from the case. Yui was nervous. Without the ability to smoke in HERO One, she resorted to twirling a dagger continuously around her hand under the desk. Smoking was a bad habit anyway.

The twirl of the dagger grew gradually faster as the meeting went along. Her first mission could not have been worse for her. An undercover mission into a gang meet up seemed like a nightmare. And for what? Some geriatric hero hunter. He probably doesn't have much left in him until his hips give out anyway. But a mission is a mission, she wasn't about to screw up this gig now with some petty fears. Besides, outright rejecting a mission like this would be a bad look.

The Black Baron was something else though. While the man was before her time, she sure as hell heard of him while she was in the Devils. As far as anyone knew, he was did not have any powers. Well it would just be assumed, it would be mighty hypocritical from him to go around taking care of poison with poison. But for an unpowered person to take down that many heroes and even give Powers a run for his money? Yeah you could say he was a legend. Any nobody goon off the street could hear the tale and think they could be the next Black Baron. The motives for his attacks never came up to much in the stories, so it was easy to place yourself in the shoes and think you could do the same. Still, Yui was surprised to hear that he was back after 35 years. The boogeyman walks again, or was he?

Yui's brow furled ever so slightly at hearing Alpha's speech. Although she didn't know the guy and knew for a certainty he didn't know her past, she couldn't help but feel like it was directed toward her. "With all due respect Mr... Sorry I didn't catch your name. We all have some 'dirty laundry' with these people. I assume most of us has had a brush with them, and quite a few have put their guys away to Coldwater. Hell, some here even toppled the Guglianos." She tipped her head over to Blake's direction before continuing. "For one reason or another, I think we all have our faces on these peoples' radar. We just have to make our covers good."

Yui didn't recognize what this sheet was, but she saw the space to write a name up the top. The Koshiki Witch, she was going to use her old identity. She never really told the Devils she was leaving. Yui just disappeared without a trace. It would be easy enough to convince them that something else happened. Then for the other heroes, she can just convince them that her cover is really good. That's the only way she was going to get through all this without either side trying to get her.

"Besides how do we know it isn't just a copycat killer? Seems a lot more reasonable to me that some upstart is trying to fill the shoes of the Black Baron than some geezer trying to start up his youthful years again."

---

《 H. E. R. O. 》

---

Yui had been keeping a patrol in Athens since HERO took back over. She stopped a couple robberies, a shoplifting incident, and even an attempted murder. None of which were meta human criminals, but she was proud of her work none the less. In her short time of crime she had yet to find someone who she recognized. Well, until today.

Joey Goodman was anything but a good man. He was the drug dealer in her neighborhood growing up. He didn't care about the buyer or their age. He even got a few of her friends hooked. Luckily he got a reminder that he was selling on Koshiki Devils turf and she never saw him again. Although, the fact that he was living and breathing before her now meant that he was allowed to live. Probably went to go screw up some other neighborhood. How many lives did he destroy before he was here today? It must have been 10 or 11 years since she last saw him and the only thing that changed about him was the place he was selling. The man sickened her. He didn't seem to recognize her, so that was good.

Yui had cornered Joey in a New Athens alleyway. He remained in that corner under threat of the various blades that surrounded him. Meanwhile she kept a few metres distance, just pacing back and forth watching him. He squirmed like a rat, gone was the confidence he exuded back in the years. Guess he couldn't handle danger. "So let me get this straight. You thought because of the whole EAGLES thing, you could just waltz your way into New Athens and no one was going to be around to stop you? Is that right?" Her anger got the better of her a little bit, her blade drew ever so slightly closer. But she pulled the back that little bit when she noticed. "Yeah... yes yes, I'm sorry I don't know what I was thinking. Just let me go, I'll do whatever you want." Ignoring the pleading, she continued. "Do you know if anyone else got the same idea? To come to New Athens." "Oh, haha, I see what you are getting at. You want a c-cut right? How much do you want?" Yui gave him a light cut on the hand for that remark. "Ah! Shit! That hurts. Alright alright, I don't think anyone came up. Its just me, they sent me up to test the waters. See if it was good to sell, you know." "Who sent you? Actually, I couldn't care less. Either way, I think its best something bad happens to you, so we can avoid having more like you in New Athens. Wouldn't you agree?" She let the blades get real close, Joey squirmed under the threat. Then Yui tossed some handcuffs over to him. "Chuck those on yourself. You're going to Coldwater." Yui still had to get used to saying that.

It took about five or so minutes for the police arrive to take Joey away. It was a job well done and she thought she would take the day off. It was already 4 in the afternoon, so she only had an hour left. With her free time, she drove over to East Flank and sat by the shore side. It was quiet around this time, most people go over to the west side of Castleburg to watch the sunset. But she was looking at something different on this horizon, HERO One. Yui hadn't been inside since she had put herself in the system. She was still too nervous to go in. What if someone recognized her? She chuckled to herself when she got down that train of thought. As if delaying it was going to help. What would they say 'oh you are that super criminal from the Devils? Oh well you did catch a few small time criminals so I guess you are good now'. Yui was more than smart enough to know that isn't how the world works.

Either way she has to go in some day. It only takes that leap of courage to do it.

Maybe a few more days.

---

Galarian Stories

---

Isla walked away on a high note from the cameras and continued back to join the increasing group. It was perhaps best for herself, Zeke, and well just about everyone that she was out of earshot for the last part. Or else she may have gone back in for round two. Perhaps someone on the outside may think that Isla would be able to see her continuing to brag about her claim to be the champion, or putting others down about falling from the minor league, as wrong. Unfortunately this is not the case, Isla has zero regrets for something like that and is incapable of seeing any of it as wrong. In her mind it was just the truth about what had happened and what was going to happen. So she just went to join the group with a skip in her step as if nothing was wrong.

Isla admired the flight show above her as she approached. She was still jealous about all that she needed a flying type of her own. All Isla could really do display-wise was produce a bit of chilly weather. Well, if she had brought her Pokemon. She had yet to get this whole gym thing and was not expecting everyone to have their Pokemon. She had never seen them come out on television, so she thought they might enjoy staying home in Chirchester. Isla knew Abomasnow hated the place anyway so it wasn't a hard choice to make. But she still kept Alolan Sandslash on hand just because he is too damn cute.

"I like your work Fi. I'm going to need to get a high flyer for myself one day."

---

The ceremony was great, better than she could imagine. Isla could never come to watch it in person and could only watch it from a screen with shaky reception during training breaks. It was breath taking. But the was one bit of criticism that she had. Why the hell was she not apart of it? Isla sat on the sidelines, the wonder of the ceremony clashing with her hurt of being pushed aside. She even got on her gym leader costume for it, which was boiling her inside. She would get the occasional person recognizing her from the audience and she would do her best smile and wave whenever that happened.

Once the ceremony was over she met up with everyone in the lobby. She finally took off her ski googles and beanie and let out a big huff, as if she only just gotten the ability to breath again. "Next time, someone tell me if I don't need to wear my gym leader gear. I just about boiled in there. Ski gear, in Motostoke of all places." She begun throwing the rest of the ski gear off of her as she returned to her previous light sporty outfit.

"I need a drink and a meal. You coming Zeke? I think I owe you at least a drink after today. Gotta make sure you aren't too bent out of shape about that whole thing, you know?" Isla lightly hit Zeke's arm as if to say 'no hard feelings'.

Someone may be surprised that Isla made no mention of the missing champ. She was bent out of shape about it, but it wasn't anything for her to call out yet. Why had she not appeared? It was something Isla cared about, the champion is the ultimate mountain to climb after all. But it wasn't something she could change and it didn't look like anyone else had a clue. Guess she will let the alcohol bring it up as the night goes on.

Mentions: Zeke@Prints Avoid Fiona@Psyker Landshark

《 H. E. R. O. 》

A Letter from a 'Friend'

---

It had been a while since Doppio set foot in HERO. He quit pretty unceremoniously, in fact, it was barely a resignation at all. It wasn't an easy road afterward. With no income to speak of, there wasn't a chance he could get his family out of Brookside. But there are ways to make cash if you look hard enough. It wasn't hard to find the Proving Grounds, and from there he rose in the ranks of being a fighter. Quick and easy money. You get big enough and you get offered a position in the gang, Doppio accepted. It was more money coming in and from his estimates his family will be out of Brookside by the end of the month. A goal that had taken him years.

So he had joined the Brookside Bruisers. They were comparable to Wyatts gang, the new top dogs on the block. But Doppio came to the realization, that it would always exist. Some big Brookside group to push peoples faces in the mud. It was best that he just get on top of it, control it from the inside. If they were as ruthless as Wyatt's gang, he would be trying to destroy it from the inside. But they weren't like that, there was some strange sense of honor in the group. Maybe this was the best Brookside could get. Trying to take down the Bruisers would just mean someone meaner and more ruthless would take the mantle.

Anyway HERO tower, Doppio was glad to see that his clearance hadn't been removed with all the EAGLES chaos that directly followed his departure. With a mix of his clearance card and using his power to pass other barriers, he was able to get to Power's office and slip a letter under his door. Then Doppio left, he carried himself with a lot more confidence since he was last seen by HERO and made sure to salute the security cameras on his way out.

The Letter for Powers

Dear Director Powers,

I will start by saying that I am glad you are doing well after your 'death'. As you know, many in my occupation would happy to see that and would celebrate the short lived reign of the late Seraph. But when the law system is as corrupt as it was, you can imagine that it would get rather boring for someone in my position. So on that note, I wish you good health for the remainder of your time as director of HERO.

On to the subject at hand, I believe you need help and it is help I can provide. With the recent EAGLES drama, Brookside was left to the dogs. You guys aren't too popular there anymore, or Watervale for that matter. The grasp of justice on Castleburg slips every time heroes like Wings decide to make asses of themselves, then less reputable people take advantage of that. I would imagine your ability to monitor criminals in those areas are low if you have any at all.

I believe we have some enemies in common, enemies I would like to erase. I know that Gugliano was not taken down by HERO, no hero would do something like that to anybody. As far as I know they could be responsible for that public execution of that hero as well. I am willing to give you eyes and ears in low places in the pursuit of these threats. An enemy of an enemy is just a friend you keep at arms distance.

Lets discuss terms. You know where to find me.

M

---

Mentions: Powers @Hitman

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Yui "Cerise" Maeda

Name
Yui Maeda

Hero Name
Cerise

Gender
Female

Age
23

Date of Birth
Febuary 17th

Physique
Fit, 5'7"

Blood Type
O

Locations
Avoids Brookside
Lives in New Athens

Occupation
Hero

Affiliation
Ex-Koshiki Devils
HERO

Tier
B

Personality
Yui is surprisingly happier than her backstory would let on. She takes challenges head on and won't hesitate to play the hero. Ultimately she is satisfied with the way this all has turned out and isn't wasting the opportunity.

This of course changes when the threat of her past comes back up.

Backstory
From birth Yui didn't really have a choice what happened to her. Her father was Koshiki Devils and as an only child she was expected to be Koshiki Devils as well. The fact that she developed powers at the early age of 13 sealed the deal. Not like she minded, she was raised in Brookside without a great deal of wealth to her name. The promise of some extra money sounded good, and her upbringing lowered her standards where she didn't care where it came from.

Yui got to live that life, getting a lot of money from being a metahuman member of the gang. But there were plenty of bad moments to balance it out. The Devils would always be looking to abuse her power in different ways to gain the upper hand in the turf wars. And after years of forced experimenting she developed an extra power. A way to manipulate the mind with her power. Yui hated it. She always felt wrong using it, as if she was intruding on someones very soul. But that was just her life, and this power was abused to its full extent.

The breaking point was when they brought someone in with a burlap sack over their head. Yui implanted the needle used for her power and went to work. She wasn't one to ask questions, no one asks questions. But that curiosity peaked, 'why was this person hidden? They had never done it before.' The only thing she was given before diving into this persons mind is that they needed to know all the information this person knew about the Wah Chings. It was the same as normal, what was special about this person?

Instead of diving straight for the memories she needed, she explored a bit. Some things piqued her interest. This person was schooled in Japan, they had been there for many years, and joined the Yakuza there. Was this man part of the Koshiki Devils? Diving further she came face to face with a child image of herself. The person she was doing this to was her father. After that she didn't waste any time. She got the information learning that he was planning on betraying the Devils, but that didn't matter to her. Yui couldn't let them know that she knew who this was, she just gave the information over and watched her father be dragged away still unconscious. She tried to hold back tears as she heard the gunshot a few minutes later.

Did they really think Yui would just go on as if everything was normal after that? She needed to get out, but the life of a villain was oppressive and hard to escape. What was she going to do, call the cops? No she needed a miracle and she got that wrapped in angels wings. EAGLES was the best thing that ever happened to Yui. HERO tower being left undefended meant that she could restart life. Though it meant she would have to use the power she hated.

Using the needle on a HERO 'tech guy' she manipulated him into changing the HERO database. She didn't want to screw with it too much. The Koshiki Devils kept her more or less a secret, so it was easy to erase herself from the database. But then she got him to register her as a HERO and make it so that she been there for just over two years. Yui erased any memory of this from the 'tech guy' and returned him to his home. Removing the needle, she promised to never use it again. It was time to start her new life as a HERO.

Yui avoids Brookside at all costs. Although her life is good now and she enjoys being a hero, she lives in the constant fear that the old life she erased will resurface.

Powers
Power: Hemokinesis

Yui has the ability to control her own blood but not with incredible force. Her main use is making daggers and katanas that she can control using this power. To make one, she coats some cloth with her blood and makes the handle grip out of that cloth. She also wraps that further with a thin layer of plastic for sanitary and general cleanliness reasons.

Power hidden from HERO

Using a sewing needle with her blood on it, she can insert this into the back of someones neck to insert her blood into their brain. From there she has an incredible control over their brain, even being able to induce nightmares while they are awake and reading/editing memories. This takes a lot of focus to do and she has to completely concentrate on it to pull it off.

She hates this power and swore never to use it again.

Nightmare Image

Weaknesses: She has no explicit weaknesses but no explicit invulnerabilities

The Sisters of the Dying Branch

---

The arrangements for who would sit in which of the two cars hadn’t taken all that long - Summer had decided pretty quickly that she wanted to ride in the Audi and so had rushed to sit in there. Once the negotiations were over, Charlie was going to be driving Maggie, Rowan and Kate to their destination. Once everyone had tossed their bags into the trunk, Charlie got into the car himself - Maggie was sitting up front, and Kate and Rowan had decided to sit together in the back. Once he clicked his seatbelt into place, he looked around at everyone. “Alright, everyone - do you all have your seatbelts secured? Because I’m not going to start driving until I’m fully sure that you have.”

“Yes, mom, we are secured.” Kate sarcastically says to Charlie while buckling their seat belt.

Rowan took a back seat with Kate. She had wanted to discuss a few more potion stuff with them over the trip. She still felt a bit bad having Maggie in the front seat. Rowan had only just gotten to know her and she had already picked up that her antisocial tendencies were larger than Rowan’s own. But Charlie was a nice guy, or at least it seemed so anyway, it would be good for her.

Even Rowan herself was wanting to get to know Charlie a bit more as they hadn’t really talked yet. Guess that's what you get when you keep yourself in the lab for the duration of the first days. Rowan felt better having two people she knew around anyway, it always helps her feel better when meeting new people. Maybe Maggie would feel the same, Rowan could hope at least. “I think we’re fine back here” Rowan said earnestly but broke away to a bit of a chuckle as she heard what Kate said.

Rowan’s inkling was correct, Maggie was quite anxious about sitting in the front seat due to her shyer mannerisms and inclinations. A full eight hours of talking to people… However, she was trying to turn a new leaf after all, and this could be a good thing. Out of all of the new witches at the coven house, Charlie seemed to be one of the most approachable. She had even conversed with him a few times already, which was a start. The girl looked over to the redhead in the driver's seat and slowly offered a smile, “Ready to go over here.”

Charlie smiled back at Maggie before looking around one last time just to make absolutely sure that everyone did indeed have their seatbelts on. “Alright, perfect. Let’s get ourselves going.” He put the key in the ignition and started the car, pulling out of the Coven house’s parking lot and beginning down the forest road that led away from it. He slowed down significantly for a moment to put their destination into his Sat Nav. He knew the roads around where he lived well enough, but when he got far away he’d definitely need assistance.

After a few more minutes of driving he reached down by his seat and pulled out a fairly large stack of CDs. “Shall I put some music on? I have a lot of genres here…” He said, glancing down for a moment. “Queen, The Rolling Stones, Oasis… Taylor Swift? I don’t recall buying that… You guys should have a look through these, I shouldn’t sort through things while I’m driving.” He split the CDs up and handed a few out to each of the car’s other inhabitants.

Kate and the others looked through the CDs collection while Charlie drove, and although Kate knew some singers like Queen and Taylor Swift, they didn't know any songs from Oasis and The Rolling Stones (beside Paint It, Black). While looking at all the CDs, Kate spotted one on the ground, they thought they accidentally drop it out or something, when they put it up however, the song titles looks familiar, like they sounds like they belong in the 2010s, Kate decided to check the front of the CD, to see who the singer is…...It was Justin Bieber….Without saying a word and having a straight face, Kate roll out the window and toss the CD outside.

“How about we listen to some good old Queen?” Kate asked the group while rolling up the window, basically feeling proud that they saved the road trip.

Rowan wasn’t much for music. While she had headphones and used them regularly, they would more be used for ambient noise or very mellow tunes to set a mood. She would leave it to Kate to choose the music and continue to look out the window at the landscapes passing by. Within the day they would be in a whole other world, hunting creatures of the night.

Sometime a bit later in the drive, Rowan tosses her note book over onto Kate’s lap. “It wasn’t very fair of me to look at your recipes before I trusted you with those components. You can have a look at mine, who knows you might actually learn something while you are at it.” Rowan spoke the last part with her very recognizable competitive tone. The whole offer had a very tongue and cheek vibe to it, although she did mean the first part earnestly.

If opened, the notebook looks incredibly messy. There are the traces of some neat notes at the start. But this has been vandalised with the chicken scratch of repetition. Many notes are scratched out only to have another value presented instead. It takes roughly 5 pages in her notebook for a single potion recipe, however this includes time taken for each stage and recipe portions to the nearest 10mg. Overall, this is the work of someone who spends far too much time perfecting even the most mundane of potions. The notebook is relatively new only containing, Darkvision (to help see in the dark), Vitalise (to make someone feel as if they are adequately fed and had plenty of sleep), Pridesbane (a poison that overcharges one's ability to be afraid), and Rowan’s potion number 9 whose purpose is unable to be determined and is certainly not well known like the other 3.

Kate jumedp a little when Rowan tosses her note book onto their lap, they really don't mind whoever look at their potion journal, just as long as they are not stupid kids or crazy witches who will used the jornal for evil. “Oh please, I may learn things from you but you can learn a thing or two from me” Kate says to Rowan with a smirk.

Meanwhile, Charlie was in the midst of a long tirade of a tangent about one of his favourite subjects which he was spewing out to Maggie, who had unfortunately gotten him started on the topic. “And so we’re sitting fairly comfortably in the second tier, but that’s obviously a precarious position, it’s a competitive league, anything can change. So we need investment to sign some new players, but the owners seemingly refuse to invest! It’s a major problem in the sport, why become the owner of a club if you’re not going to invest, it’s like-” He stopped suddenly as he became more aware of himself. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I’m rambling on, this must be really dull for you.” He quickly thought of a new topic to keep the conversation moving along. “Have you ever been to North Carolina before? I have, once-” He almost went off on a long tangent again, but managed to stop himself so Maggie could get an answer in. He did genuinely want to hear her talk, but he was like a fountain of words, once he started going he found it hard to stop himself.

The blonde tried her best to keep up with Charlie’s long winded monologue. Though she wasn’t passionate about sports in the slightest, the redhead was, so she attempted to pay attention to the intricacies that he discussed. Maggie was shocked though when he stopped himself and apologized. Most people knew that because the girl was quiet, she was a great listener, which meant they often did not censor themselves. “No, it’s okay!” She assured him truthfully. Maybe it was something about his accent, but the girl didn’t mind listening to him talk about the things he was passionate about.

“But, no, I haven’t really been before. We did drive through once on a road trip but I don’t count that.” Maggie replied, “I also wouldn’t count this as ‘visiting’ per say. I feel like this is more of a business trip than anything…” The blonde smirked and looked back over at Charlie. “You were starting to say that you had been to North Carolina before?”

Charlie chuckled. “That’s true, I suppose we’re not going to get much time to visit any sights, or go on a hike in the forest. We’ll be too busy for that.” He mused. “But, yes, I have visited North Carolina once. My mum took me on a trip down here to visit a friend of hers. She had a very large house that had a garden with a creek running through it. There was a tree by the creek that was curved perfectly to be sat on.” He said, clearly remembering it vividly, turning to Maggie for a moment and making an appeal to her main interest. “It was a perfect place to sit and peacefully read a book.. I’m sure you have a lot of places like that.”

As the redhead described the little oasis in his family friend's backyard, Maggie could just imagine curling up against the trunk of that tree contently and flipping through the pages of a novel, the creek running quietly in the background. “That sounds wonderful.” The blonde smiled at Charlie as they made eye contact. “My favorite place to read is the window seat in my bedroom- when it’s nice out I like to open the windows and sit there for hours… but that place sounds so much better.” Her eyes glazed over slightly as she let her thoughts wander, hoping that the group would return from this expedition with the opportunity to enjoy such a place and quiet mundane things. “Such simplicities that we don’t have the time for these days unfortunately.” Maggie commented dully, referring to the death wish of a mission they were sent on.

“It was pretty wonderful.” Charlie agreed, listening to Maggie describing the cosy reading area that she had located in her bedroom. “That window seat sounds very comfortable too.” He noted, before considering her concerns about a lack of time to enjoy simple things. “Well, we hopefully won’t be down here for very long, and they can’t send us on that many missions, surely, considering we’re still largely inexperienced. We’ll still presumably have a lot of the summer left to enjoy the coven house.” He smiled, trying to keep Maggie’s mood high. “When we’re finished in North Carolina, I bet we could find a perfect reading spot in the area surrounding the coven house. It is really beautiful around there, I’ve been spending a lot of time exploring, I get slightly bored if I’m cooped up inside a house for an extended period of time.”

The blonde girl’s lips curved into a cautious smile. Like Charlie, she also hoped that their time in Gary was short, sweet, and to the point, but it was best not to be too optimistic. After all, this could all end up in flames… literally. Didn’t she read somewhere that you could kill vampires with fire? Shaking off the last of the anxious thoughts that had surfaced, she focused on the good idea that the redhead brought up. “I think we could too. That sounds really nice.” Maggie replied excitedly. The promise of the two of them finding a quiet spot to delve into a paperback away from the busyness of the coven house was the perfect thing for the girl to look forward to when they eventually completed their mission.

---

A few hours into the drive Rowan decided to actually speak up about her train of thought. Before it had been the occasional talk about potions with Kate. Even some stuff outside of the coven like what school was like. But it always ended a bit too quickly because of the subject weighing on Rowan’s mind. “Sorry I uh, don’t mean to bring the mood down or anything. But has anyone given a good deal of thought to all this? What interest do vampires have with some nowhere town like Gary Carolina?”

Maggie had chatted with Charlie for the first part of the ride, simple topics like favorite foods and things (which caused the redhead to go on a tangent about Watford FC for a solid 20 minutes). But the blonde didn’t mind, she was just happy that there were no awkward silences. For the last 30 minutes or so, she had been scrolling through her phone, seeing what her mundane high school friends were up to on their Summer vacations. She could only imagine what the conversation would be like when they got back to campus come fall… it would start with her friends talking about their beach trips and abroad vacations, and then Maggie would have to create some elaborate tale to disguise the fact that she hunted vampires with her Coven. Normal stuff.

Speaking of, Rowan mentioned the fanged beasts- the first person to do so the entire drive. The blonde had guessed everyone was a bit anxious about it and so she wasn’t surprised they hadn’t discussed it up until now. She turned around in her chair to face the backseat. “Well,” Maggie started, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she spoke. “Smaller town means lesser resources for humans to defend themselves with. It’s easier to take over a place when there aren’t as many people to stop them. Plus, if it’s a ‘nowhere’ town, people are less likely to hear about it.”

During the car ride, Kate and Rowan have been talking about potions, it nice to catch up about what the potion duo have been making, they told her about Anxietyo-Begoneo and Marionette Hours, they also talk about getting some ingredients while they are at Gary Carolina, Kate have been dying to make a new potion.

When Rowan mentioned why the vampires go to small towns, Kate thinks about the question they ask to the group, why the coven is sending them, unprepared and inexperienced kids, to hunt and probably going to be killed by vampires? Nobody in the group didn’t answer the question, which is understandable, everyone is to focus on the mission but still. “Really? I thought it was because small towns are like snacks, they are the chips and cookies to the vampires, while cities like New York and San Francisco is a big feast, there is a lot of food on the table but it takes awhile to finish." Kate says to Maggie and they are not joking, they thought the vampires is going to eat the entire town.

Charlie shook his head. “No, I’m fairly sure Maggie is right. It’s far easier to hide away in a small town, it’s surrounded by forested areas and there’s less of a police presence. Perhaps the group of vampires that are in this town are injured or otherwise temporarily weakened… It wouldn’t be smart for them to continue on in a large city where there’s such a heightened risk of them being captured or further injured.” Charlie paused for a moment, ruminating the question he was about to ask. “Have any of you ever actually fought with a vampire before? Or even seen one?” He looked ahead into the road. “It’s a bit unnerving, I suppose…”

“I’ve done a lot of reading about them, but I’ve never actually seen one or fought one…” Maggie replied, recalling the stack of books she went through last Summer after hearing about Vampires in a local town. Luckily, they were stopped before anything could truly go awry, but still- scary stuff. “They really are sending us in blind, aren’t they?"

Rowan released her gaze from the window and sat back into her seat to properly join the conversation she started. “Taking over a town like Gary then. It shouldn’t take much for them to do it. Who’s to say they haven’t done it yet? I think we should be careful when we are going to our hotel.”

Rowan noticed the palpable drop in tone with the conversation she brought up. It was going so well before with her talking to Kate, Maggie talking with Charlie, and Bohemian Rhapsody playing in the background. Then she had to pipe up with the dour reality of what they were getting into. Maybe the other three needed that emotional escape. Her posture which before held one of composure dropped into insecurity. “I, uh, I’m sorry… I really want to enjoy all this. But it's only a few hours before we are in it. If we don’t come into this prepared, we…” Rowan really didn’t want to think about what failure would mean, but it kept creeping into her mind. “Well you know.”

Maggie was the first to jump in and reassure the dark haired witch. “No, it’s okay, don’t be sorry.” She replied, giving Rowan a nod. “You’re totally right- we’re only a few hours away and we need to know what we’re getting ourselves into.” The blonde looked over to Charlie, who’s eyes were focused on the road, and hoped he’d be able to provide some more context to the situation. “Charlie, have you ever encountered any Vampires before?”

Kate was about to ask their question again but then Rowan began to talk, saying sorry for bringing up the conversation. Kate rarely sees Rowan say sorry before, the two usually talk to each other with smart remarks but they don’t talk in a deep moment. Kate placed her hand on Rowan's shoulder “Yeah, don’t be sorry. Sure, the coven is sending us to our doom but guess what? Our group is stronger and smarter than everyone else. We got three badass potioneers, two witches that know the dark arts, two boys can make great charms, a lightning witch, hell, even Summer is good at illusion magic...Um, don’t tell her I say that.” Even in their pep talk, they always find a way to their jokes in there “My point is, our skills and our magic is awesome and it can kick some vampire ass.” Kate said proudly to everyone in the car, while hoping it made the mood light up a little.

When Charlie asks everyone if they see a vampire, Kate shakes their head “No, I do know a girl from my middle school who was obsessed with vampires from twilight….Don’t know where she is now” Kate says, they do think about that girl sometimes.

Charlie chuckled at Kate’s pep talk, before taking a quick sip of some water from a bottle stowed away in the car door. He took his eyes off the road for a moment to look at Maggie before he answered her question. “Well, I haven’t seen one, but I’ve had what you could call an encounter…” He paused before continuing. “Back at my previous coven, I was exploring the attic of the house, when I heard some commotion from downstairs… Yelling, things breaking, that sort of thing. It went on for about half an hour. Eventually someone came and got me. I found out that a group of vampires had attempted to break into the house… Luckily nobody was injured. It’s just a bit frightening to think about…” He finished.

Rowan was reassured by Maggie and Kate that bringing this all up was fine, it made her feel better. “Thanks… Still I don’t think it's a good idea to go into the hotel without our wits about us. We should group with the other car and scout it out together. If they’ve already taken over the town, I imagine that would be the first place they would think to trap. If we can get that place safe I think I can start doing a few rituals, I brought gear for it. Though I haven’t even seen a vampire outside of books so I am going in very blind here.”

Maggie felt badly that Charlie had experienced such a terrible thing at his previous coven but she was thankful that he had been safely tucked away in the attic. The blonde couldn’t even imagine what it must have been like, but she knew everyone would experience a vampire encounter by the end of this mission. “I’m sorry that happened to you.” She looked back over at the redhead, offering him a sympathetic glance. “You’re right though, Rowan- we have to assume that every part of the town has already been compromised. And we can’t trust anyone.”

Charlie nodded. “That’s very true. I suppose that actually makes our task easier than the other group’s… They have to search a whole city for whoever the vampires are, whereas we just have to search through a small town of probably no more than a thousand people. There’s only so many places they can hide there… Whereas in Baltimore, it’s virtually endless. I just wish the file that we were handed gave us a bit more information. But I suppose the whole point of this task is to test us, they could have sent out far more experienced witches to do the job.”

“Thank you! Finally, someone said it!” Kate says out loud “I mean, our parents and other witches from the coven have dealt with this before, so how come they didn’t send them?” After saying that, Kate just realized they just exploded out of nowhere. They sigh “sorry, I didn’t mean to explode like that. It's just that question has been bothering the hell of me all morning, I just want to say something” Kate says to the group.

Rowan spoke up to respond to Kate. “It’s a test. Sure they could send in someone who is experienced, but someday we are going to need to be those experienced ones. Though I wish they would give us some time before throwing us in the deep end like this.” Rowan frowned and looked downward as she remembered the consequences of failure. But tried to shake it out of her mind. “If we give this all we’ve got, nothing can go wrong.” Did she even believe what she was saying? Rowan is someone who kept her faith in the coven from day one, but along with testing their abilities it also appeared to be testing that faith. Surely the coven wouldn’t send us out unless they knew we could handle it, right?

---

The car was more or less quiet after that, until they passed the sign ‘Gary: 5 miles ahead’. The car arrived at night but even considering the time of day, the town seemed lifeless and empty. At least that's how it looked to Rowan anyway. It was a small town so it didn’t take long to find the hotel after Rowan gave a quick check on google maps. As agreed earlier, the group did not enter the hotel. Instead they would wait for the other car to arrive. Who knows what dangers lie in wait in this town.