Assembling for Training

## Oops01/10/2019

Fern was nervous as she wandered up to the headquarters.
While she tried to convince herself that she had no reason to be, she knew that wasn’t exactly *correct*. Not when she knew that her power could easily be seen as lame in comparison with others. Personally, Fern was a fan of her plant manipulation, just as she was a fan of nearly every plant she came in contact with. It was a well known fact by those that knew her that very few people were allowed in her bedroom. Boyfriends. Very close friends. Family. That was it. She wouldn’t trust anyone else around the precious plants she had decorating almost every spare space she had in there.
Other people weren’t quite as into the plants as her.
But even with her somewhat boring power, it was the people that Fern was truly worried about. The plant girl was never the best at *making friends*. She didn’t even know if people here were looking for friends, or if they kept it strictly business.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want friends - or whatever relationships she *could* get with these people - it was simply that she was a little too shy to be considered one of those outgoing and friendly people that others seemed to be drawn to.
But it’s not like she had much of a choice.
With a sigh, Fern pushed open the door to Headquarters and looked around.

## Mob Boss Peggy01/10/2019

Andy had started the day out so optimistic. For once, he was in *actually* good spirits, despite all of the stress. The backyard had been finished, crossing a major point off of his to-do list. Dealing with some of the others--- oh, hell, just dealing with *Leo* colored the pyromancer more irritated than he wanted to be, and he *knew* that it was stupid to have feelings like that.
Still, he was happy to briefly be in the warmth of the house. He set the lion cub down on a bundle of towels near the lit fireplace, where there was a little scratching post and a bowl of water.
They weren't *keeping* the animal, of course, but Andy's mattress and couch had some unsavory scratches gouged in them and he couldn't handle seeing more of them anywhere else.
Before going back out to the training grounds, Andy tempered the fire a little bit with his hands. Then, unexpectedly, the door opened. His heart jumped a little, because there were just a few people missing from morning training, and he dreaded that Marceline might've been the one to walk through the door.
But, *no*, it wasn't Marci, or Cole, or Tempest, or Sam. It was somebody *new*. Andy instantly recognized her. The kendo gi-clad man stood and straightened out.
"Um, hello!" He waved, with a jovial smile, brushing some of the hair from his eyes before he approached the young woman. "You must be... Flow-er...?"(edited)

## Oops01/10/2019

Fern hadn’t exactly been sure what she’s expecting when she entered the headquarters, but she certainly wasn’t expecting what she did see. It was much more... colorful than expected. Not that that was a bad thing. No, Fern loved color. Everything was colorful for her, down to the pots that held her beloved ferns. She loved all plants, but ferns had a sweet spot for her.
Maybe it was because of her name.
In fact, ferns were just such a core part of Fern Franklin’s identity that it was a pretty well known fact (to those that knew Fern, at least) that her ferns were more than plants. They were friends. They got individual pots with googly eyes, names, and personalities. If Fern seemed someone worthy - meaning they seemed to be a good person and had some special meaning to Fern - they received a fern. There were no true set guidelines to receiving a fern. It was just when Fern decided it was earned.
But back to the headquarters. See, Fern was a dreamer and had a tendency to get a bit distracted at times. Never when it mattered, of course.
Her eyes roamed the room to take it all in, eventually landing on the man heading in her direction and... was that a lion? She had to restrain herself from running forward to hug the animal. Hugging wild animals sometimes came with the side effects of uncontrollable bleeding, the loss of limbs, and death.

Fern gave him a smile. And it was a real one. Sure, lately some people had been receiving forced and faked smiles, but today wasn’t a bad day. No, she was feeling good. He received a *real* smile in return.
“Hello, sir,” she greeted, unsure of why she had inserted the ‘sir’. Politeness? Possibly, though she didn’t often call people sir. When he attempted her name, a small giggle-like laugh escaped before Fern could stop it. “Fern, actually, but you got the plant part right. Flower is a better option than... let’s say Ficus or Foxglove or Fremontodendron. Beautiful plant, but it would be a bit of a mouthful.”
As she talked, she clamped her mouth shut after the last word. And.... she was rambling again. She really needed to stop that.

## Mob Boss Peggy01/10/2019

Fern arriving at headquarters was so thrilling that Andy could hardly keep in his enthusiasm. Fortunately, she was friendly. Well, that much he knew just by communicating with her online. Still, people were different in real life.
Her little giggle was enough to make a laugh escape him too. "Fakus... Fromato... Tendrin... Well, yeah! Fern, then. Easy!"
Cheerfully, the pyromancer extended a warm hand. "I'm Andy! This is my house, I'm the Admin, err, *leader*... Torchlight. I've been super looking forward to meeting you! We elementals need to stick together, you know? A plant manipulator - *Wow!*"(edited)

## Oops01/10/2019

When he laughed in response to her giggle, Fern felt herself smiling. She never knew what to expect when she came face to face with people for the first people. Those that weren’t used to Fern and her simple excitement for life often viewed her as childish and naive. While that wasn’t completely true or false, she did prefer that people at least knew that she wasn’t just a large child. Oh well, that would come once people actually got to know her. She liked to think she was someone that could be counted on.
“Although... it would have been interesting to say my name was Fremontodentron just to see you attempt it,” she said. While she had considered that when meeting people in the past, she never actually went through with it. Maybe she was just too attached to her actual name.
Fern reached over to shake his hand warmly. “Your house is really pretty, Andy,” she said. “I’ve been wanting to meet as many elementals as I can,” she said with a small grin. Then she nodded. “Plants are kinda... my whole thing. You should see my apartment,” she said. There were many more plants than most people would even consider owning. But the young woman’s love for plants was easily demonstrated in the fern tattoo curling around her wrist and the small wooden leaf charm that she almost always found herself fiddling with. At the moment, it was safely tucked into her pocket.
After all, she wanted to make a good impression.

## Rose | Rhett | Marci01/10/2019

Pulling up without a care to Headquarters seemed to have been much simpler the three days prior but today it seemed a bit weird, for lack of better word. In fact, Marceline often moved on fairly quickly from things similar to the Valentine’s Day fiasco. Frankly, she would have been totally fine with not showing up this morning had it not been for the idea gnawing in the back of her brain regarding what would be said if she were the only one to not show up. This ideology was what ultimately sent her day into motion. Even if she wasn’t keen on spending her morning surrounded by people she barely knew right after a late-night shift, it seemed much more productive than just laying about enjoying the back of her eyelids until that night.

Regardless of what she’d been feeling an hour ago, somehow she’d managed to arrive and was currently staring at the front door. It was easy to pick up on the commotion coming from around the house though she assumed it would be best for her to go in through the front door. Swallowing her pride, the woman reached out and swung the door open. There wasn’t a time when she didn’t make such an entrance and that wouldn’t end now.

She did jump, however, upon coming in contact with a head full of curls just in front of her. “Uhm, darling, you mind moving?” Her honeyed words were shortly followed by a quiet laugh as she peered around the young woman just inside the doorway and found Andy there as well. *Fantastic.* Groaning inwardly, the dancer smoothly moved around the brunette cutie once the door was closed and wandered into the kitchen area. A part of her wanted to get a drink while the other just wanted to go home.
“A new addition?” She inquired with a broad grin. “I’m Marceline, who might you be?” After a couple minutes she returned to the pair with a glass of whatever alcohol she’d grabbed first. Glancing from the new face to Andy, her grin faltered. Luckily having this new person in her midst helped distract her from the awkwardness threatening to break out. Not only that but Marci had caught onto what the young woman had been saying. “You control plant life?” She wasn’t quite sure about how that could be of use but trusted in Andy to find some way of bringing out the potential in her power.

January 11, 2019

## Mob Boss Peggy01/11/2019

Andy didn't think he would ever be able to pronounce that word. He shook her hand for a second before releasing her and shook his head a little tilted when she complimented his disaster of a home. It was such a terrible mess, and so, so cluttered.
"My aunt Jennie loved plants. She used to own this house. When she passed away and left it to me, I found a big garden in the basement. Turns out she liked to grow plants just to smoke 'em. Before you ask, I didn't keep any. Well, except one." Tucked inside his disaster of a bedroom there was a lone marijuana plant that had served him well over time, but others didn't need to know about all of that. "Anyway! Thank you for coming! We're, uhh---"
Andy flinched as the door flung open. Did they always have to be so rough with his front door? The flash of raven hair and bright eyes told the pyromancer that the woman he had been dreading to see had finally arrived. "Oh, uh, hi." He said, curtly, his smile already having fallen from his face. The two hadn't spoken since the *incident*. "This is Fern. She's new to the group. Um, I was just about to take her outside to see the others. Fern, this is Marceline, or *Mirage*, from the forum. Her abilities are extraordinary."

## Oops01/11/2019

“Plants are good to keep around. If you ever need some more, I’ve got quite the selection growing in my apartment, including plenty of ferns,” Fern informed him. Sure, some of her ferns were private. They were the special ones that would eventually be gifted to those that she found deserving. She also had plenty that she was willing to give away for free... or a small price. She often didn’t charge much for her plants, but still made plenty of profit. After all, she never actually *paid* for the plants. She bred them, and used her powers to make them grow stronger and faster and brighter.
She hadn’t expected someone else to show up, though she supposed she should have. After all, there were plenty people in this little group, weren’t they? Why should she expect to be able to have a private meeting with Andy? She turned to the new girl, about to share a greeting when the other woman disappeared to the kitchen.
She turned her attention back to Andy for the moment.
And then the woman returned and Fern gave her a warm smile, holding out a hand. Still, Andy introduced them before Fern even had a chance to. “Marceline is such a pretty name!” she complimented. “And yes, I do control plant life, and I’m a bit of a plant collector myself,” she said. When Andy called her extraordinary, Fern had to tilt her head slightly in interest. “Oh?” she asked, her tone growing excited. “What can you do?”

January 12, 2019

## Rose | Rhett | Marci01/12/2019

Mirage listened as Andy introduced them. She took notice of his fallen expression but chose not to question it, instead turning her attention to the liquor as she often did. Clearly they weren't on the best of terms at the moment anyway. Her eyes settled on the beauty and a smile drew across her lips. "Fern? What a cute name." Being complimented in return for her own made her smile only grow. This kid wasn't all that bad.

Taking the outstretched hand, she shook it briefly then released. "Nice to meet you." Her eyes seemed to light up at the mention of her ability and without a second thought she'd transformed the surrounding living room into a jungle. The sounds of wildlife all around them, the wind rustling through the plant life and warm patches of sunlight falling on them through the tree tops hanging above as they would in person. "What do you think?" She asked curious to see the girl's reaction. Even the lion cub began chasing after an imaginary butterfly floating past. It landed against Andy's hand and the cub couldn't help itself from leaping up in attempt to nab it.

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee01/12/2019

Cole had woken up just in time to catch his mother getting ready to leave for the day so he was able to convinced her to give him a ride to East Pembina to spare him from taking the bus. The young her hopped out of their sedan and waved Mrs. Sousa goodbye before tucking into the convenience store that stood a couple blocks from the hero headquarters to find some breakfast.
He arrived to the front door with a liter of orange soda under one arm, a bag of barbecue chips under the other, his backpack hanging open since he'd failed to close it properly, and a plate of pizza roles he had already begun to devour and was halfway done with. Cole pushed open the door and let out a loud burp as he entered, immediately regretting once he realized exactly three people were standing *right there*. "Sorry" he apologized awkwardly, his eyes registering two new faces he'd never seen before. "Cole" he said simply sticking two pizza roll into his mouth, continuing to speak with his mouth full "good morning."
He thought by being here so early he wouldn't find anyone but by the sound of it the heroes had all clustered in already. One glance out the windows to the backyard made him realize the reason. "Fuck, was that *today*?!" He asked, eyes widening. He swallowed his bite "oh, man" he groaned, looking down at his clothes, the same jeans and t-shirt he'd been wearing since yesterday.

## Jacket01/12/2019

The distinct sound of a motorcycle’s roaring engine rumbled from the outside. A few moments later, Joseph walked in through the headquarter doors. Well, maybe ‘walked’ is the wrong word. He shuffled in, stifling a yawn with the back of his hand. Dressed in a crumpled white t-shirt and jeans with an untamed mane of curly brown hair, he gave the impression of a man who’d probably been awake for a few days running. His bloodshot, half-shut eyes scanned over the room.
“Hey.” Joseph gave a half-wave. “I’m Joe. This is the Headquarters, right? I was talking to this guy-- Torchlight, on the forums. He told me to swing on by, So," He shrugged his shoulders and dropped them. "Here I am."(edited)

January 13, 2019

## Mob Boss Peggy01/13/2019

The living room's transformation into a rainforest caused Andy to look up and around, and his face brightened with a grin. His gaze fell on the imaginary butterfly and he waited for it to flutter away from the little playful cub.
He gave Marceline a grateful nod, short enough not to seem too warm towards her, although he really did *hate* the tension between them presently.
As always, Andy's home had a revolving door. When Fern had gone to join the others in the yard, Cole walked in with some more junk food to plague Andy's diet. After the last few days, the young hero seemed like he had nothing better to do, considering he didn't know it was a training day and yet still came over at 8 in the morning. Andy was rather fond of the odd young man.
"Cole! Get in the backyard and learn to punch some stuff!" The leader laughed. A loud vehicle rumbling outside drew his attention to the door again where a dashing stranger soon appeared. Andy perked up when he said who he was.
"Ah! Joe!" The pyromancer approached, and offered a handshake, and would shake maybe a little too eagerly if and when was taken. "That's me, you can call me Andy. You must be the mechanic! Welcome to HQ! Almost everybody is in the backyard training right now. There's coffee in the kitchen, and some people brought food - make yourself at home."

## Jacket01/13/2019

Joseph watched Andy as he greeted everyone else, yet was still surprised when it was his turn. He took a half-second to realize the gesture and took Andy’s hand, surprised at the fever-pitch heat and the enthusiasm behind it. “Thanks, man. It’s, uh, It’s good to be here.” The new environment, surrounded by people he didn’t know, made Joseph slightly anxious. He scratched the back of his head and gave a smile.

“Uh…” He seemed to pause for a moment, his brain racked itself for the words. “Training? Like, combat training?"

## Mob Boss Peggy01/13/2019

Andy didn't quite pick up on Joe's anxiety, but he was used to giving the same spiel whenever he met new heroes in person. He was lit up and cheery as he let go of the taller man's hand.
"That's right! If we're going to be fighting crime and helping people, we all need to be in our best shape, and we all need to know our capabilities inside and out. I train every day, and I'd like you guys to do as much as possible to hone your craft."
Andy wanted his hand to indicate for Joseph to follow. On his way to the back door to the yard, he went through the usual disclaimers.
"Everybody here is from RPDex, so we're not strangers! Almost everyone went through the same process of joining. Your abilities are different than most of ours - I'm so excited to see what you can do!" He exclaimed with a skip in his step. "Still, if we're on the streets, we gotta' know how to fight."
He led the mechanic to the backyard where the area had been turned into a training ground. There were heroes running, sparring, resting, on the obstacle course, and all in their places, training all together for the first time. Andy looked upon them like the proudest parent in the world.
"If you're ready, feel free to join in."
#training-grounds-1

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee01/13/2019

*Venus cont.*
On the second floor there was a closet where Andy kept some of the things his aunt had left that simply were of no use and cluttered the space. "Alright, lets see here" he took a moment to look at the shelves piled with boxes of cables, old radios, cassette players, and VHS devices that were either dead or missing important bits. "Lets see what you can do with these dinosaurs, eh?" She proposed, leaning in to pullout a dust box of walkie talkies and odds and ends of other outdated technology, and handing it to Joe.

## Jacket01/13/2019

Joseph practically lit up at the sight. "No problem!" He took the box from her hands and sat down with it on his lap, fishing out his trusty screwdriver from his back pocket. He used it to gently unscrew the cases off the walkie talkies, revealing the circuitry underneath.
"I see." He muttered to himself, turning it over in his hands. "Some of the parts are damaged, but there's enough here for me to jury rig them into working order." He looked up to meet Venus's eyes. and beamed a smile. "Thank you."(edited)

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee01/13/2019

*Cole*

"Uhhh yeah" he agreed with some doubt in his tone, knowing full well that he was probably lying to Andy "as soon as I'm done with breakfast, promise!" He excused, showing the leader his plate of pizza rolls and quickly exiting that conversation to avoid having to commit to further physical activity. He hadn't even had time to shower this morning so any sweaty endeavor was sure to make him stink. Instead he made his way around the house to find a place to eat in peace, but his mission was strayed by the sound of Leo shrieking from the bathroom.
Cole cocked his head and followed the sound, cautiously peering in to find Matador looking in the mirror at his bruised face "you okay, dude? That's... gnarly" he pointed, stepping inside to get a closer look. "Probably hurts, huh? You should try to ice it" he suggested, pointing out the obvious. He took a pizza roll and stuck it in his mouth, chewing slowly and with gusto even though they were cold by now. "Pizza roll?" He offered, extending his plate to Leo. He didn't mind sharing only because he still had a family-sized bag of chips that could hold him over through morning.(edited)

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee01/13/2019

*Venus*

The blonde smiled to herself and watched as Joe took the box and got down to exploring the contents with excitement, feeling accomplished for getting someone on the right track for once. "Of course! There's so much to work with in there," she explained, motioning towards the closet "feel free to use any of it. I'm not sure why Andy didn't just get rid of it, maybe he wants to remember his aunt or something. I get that, it's just a lot of *stuff*, but it's good that you're here now so you can make something useful of it. We really don't have much technology on our side, everything is far out of our budget and we wouldn't even know where to begin like, buying it int he first place so yeah... I'm interest to see what you do with it. It's like, upcycling is so important, you know? Oh by the way, we also recycle, not sure if anyone gave you the tour but yeah, I know it looks like a Woodstock revival in here but you get used it and we've actually done a pretty good job of turning the space into-" Venus stopped herself when she realized she had only heard the sound of her own voice for far too long and inhaled. "Anyways" she sat down on the ground cross-legged and sighed "what do you do, Joe? Aside from this, I mean."(edited)

## Jacket01/13/2019

Joseph nodded along to her words as he worked. His brain kicked into over-drive as he fell into a trance. His hands moved on their own accord over the jumble of wires and circuitry, putting them in place in accordance to the mental image he’d constructed. Deep in his trance, he suddenly noticed that Venus had fallen silent. He forced himself back into control of himself and raised his head just in time for the question. “I work as a mechanic, down in the Industrial district; it’s well-suited for my skills.” He sat the screwdriver down beside him. “What about you? What do you do?”(edited)

January 14, 2019

## Bookie01/14/2019

Darius Fletcher had just stepped off the nearest bus stop and took a heavy exhale, closing and opening his eyes before he took his next steps down the sidewalk. The large African-American male headed across the concrete with a purpose, heavy footsteps carrying his imposing form with a hint of swiftness. Clutched in one of his hands was a cellular device, an outdated one that could have only been government-sponsored. On the digital screen was the address of the Hero Coalition's headquarters, a place that he was finally headed to. Having finally completed the extensive application process for receiving membership, which he felt took longer because of his background, he decided to pay the headquarters a long overdue visit.
The man currently wore a pair of old sneakers coupled with a pair of grey sweats and a dark hoodie with the hood up, casual where for him when he wasn't at work. He had just come from his weekly anger management meeting, unconsciously running through a breathing exercise that he had repeated for so long it became second nature. Occasionally he stared over his shoulder, assuming that he was being followed as he always did. Usually it was nothing, but he would rather be safe or sorry. Adjusting to life outside of prison was certainly as tough as he thought it would be, though a challenge he was certainly willing to take.
Eventually he found himself before what he believed to be the building, a hand carefully towards his hip as he approached the front door. For all he knew this could have been a set up, a misleading location, or even a useless waste of time, he bitterly thought. Just as quickly as that thought had appeared it passed, Darius taking his hand away from whatever rested along his hip as he began to practice his rudimentary breathing exercise. *Inhale, one, two, three, four. Exhale, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Repeat, repeat, repeat.*(edited)

He struggled to concentrate over the sensation of blood rushing to his ears, calming himself once he was able to focus on the feel of air moving through his lungs and the sensation of his ribs rising and falling.

With that he had knocked on the front door, eventually stepping in right afterwards. The young man wore a permanent scowl on his bearded face and held the crushed remains of what was formerly a cellular device.

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee01/14/2019

Venus nodded along, unsure of where the industrial district was but too embarrassed to admit she hadn't explored the city she lived in very thoroughly. At this point her life was limited to her neighborhood, East Pembina, and the Promenade. "Oh that's really cool, I uh... sell clothes... at a women's boutique downtown" she replied with a grimace, aware that her job wasn't very exciting or remotely related to her skills "it's temporary, though. I have my degree I just-" Venus paused before she veered to far into a justification no one had asked for. "Let's see... what did you just do there?" She asked, leaning in to inspect what Joe had been working on.

## Jacket01/14/2019

“Well, I can’t do anything big without my tools, and those are back in my apartment. I’m going to try to jury-rig them--that means try to improvise some repairs-- using these.” He motioned over to an old radio he’d cracked open and two other ones beside it. “Walkie-talkies and radios aren’t very different, once you get down into it. I can get a few of these back into working condition for you guys, and then, later on, I can go home and improve them further. There’s a load of stuff I could do; I can modify them into police scanners, fiddle with the bands to bring it out of civilian bands and encrypt them so nobody can listen in. Ooh, maybe I could modify the antenna and have them connect to cell-towers, so you guys can communicate at greater distances and don’t have to be close to each other.” Joseph paused to take a breath, then seemed to realize how long he’d been talking. He exhaled and smiled, “Just, nerd stuff, really.”

January 15, 2019

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee01/15/2019

There might as well have been a 'loading...' screen displayed on Venus' face as she tried to follow along with Joe with her mouth hanging open and her eyes squinted at him. She lost track of him somewhere around 'jury-rig' never to catch up again. "Right" she nodded, pretending she had understood all of that jargon "totally. So like a phone" she asserted with undeserved confidence in her conclusion. Sound in, sound out... right? "Well, um, that's, like real cool" she praised with a smile "now you know where this is" she motioned to the closet "so just help yourself and like, whatever you need... ask Eli. He's like nice and all that" she concluded, knowing full well there was no way in hell she could be of assistance to the newcomer.

"I was going to do a little training in the tub, I could really use a timer. I was hoping Daya would help me but she's busy with Andy or something, do you mind?"

January 16, 2019

## Jacket01/16/2019

“Timer…?” Joe drew in his eyebrows, confused at so what that meant. It took him a few seconds, but he eventually nodded with vague understanding.
“Sure, I don't mind.” He sat the box of walkie talkies down and fished around in his pocket for his phone. “Lead the way.”(edited)