September 1, 2115: 6:00 AM

"Welcome back, lads and lasses, to Hero TV Review, where we look back on yesterday and check in with our favorite heroes! Let's take a peek at what our brave friends have been up to shall we?"

The voice of Scott O'Neil, Hero TV's host, boomed across the place, as images of yesterday took his place on the screen.

An image of the skyscrapers over New Hope appeared on the screen, and then a glowing golden form descended from the sky and sped pass as the camera moved to keep up with it.

The golden figure, now looking vaguely humanoid, raised a hand, and tendrils of light stretched forth and entangled three poor saps wearing ski masks that were exitting one of the buildings. Astute observers would notice that they were at New Hope Central Bank. Even more astute observers would shake their heads and wonder if those three men were actors hired by HTV or just plain stupid enough to try to rob a bank literally five minutes away from HTV HQ in broad daylight.

The golden figure landed next to the men and flashed a victory handsign at the camera, revealing herself to be a tall woman in white and gold, her hair flowing like flames and colored pure white.

"And that was current Number Three of the A-League, Dawn, capturing three criminals who really should have questioned their life choices." O'Neil's voice continued, amused.

"That capture gave Dawn 300 points! That means she's only 200 short of current second placer, The Hawk."

The image changed again to show a giant of a man, apparently made of concrete smash his way through a burning building, only to come crashing out, holding an entire (terrified looking) family in his massive arms.

"And that was current number eight, Rook! Rook managed to save everyone in the building while number seven, Aria, blew out the fire soon after! Splendid teamwork from our heroes, eh? ....Unfortunately, Rook destroyed a few cars on his way there, so that's a deduction to his points. Better be more careful there, lad."

At that moment, the black haired girl turned away from the giant floating screen in front of her to look at her surroundings, heart thumping in fear and excitement.

Mostly fear.

I'm here, the girl thought.

Here.

The Katherine Evans University for the Gifted.

It was still an hour early for the freshman orientation, but already a large crowd of students milled around the entrance.

They had passed the school's giant outer wall and wenth through the great golden gate, now waiting at the school garden plaze for the auditorium to open.

The garden was beautiful. Flowers and grass fields and a small forest in the distance. A brick road snaked through it, and right at the center where most of the students loitered was a great fountain, a statue of Miracle herself standing tall and proud as the centerpiece.

Above the fountain was the floating screen, showing Hero TV Review for everyone to see.

The girl drank it all in, letting herself drown in her surroundings.

All around here were students.

A manic looking redheaded girl, tinkering with what looked to be large metal gloves.

A bald boy with a pierced ear, pacing, a scowl on his face.

These and more, the next generation, the next class of heroes.

Welcome to the KEU.

edited 18th May '17 8:45:07 PM by GrimHelm

Carrying a beat up duffel bag containing his gear, some spare clothes and handful of personal belongings, Daniel Blake took a moment to soak in his new surroundings and the sheer scale of everything around him. Being used to a cramped, single room apartment in one of NHC's worst neighborhoods made it difficult to adjust to the grandiose statues and elaborate architecture of the whole thing. Eventually plopping himself down on a bench, Daniel took a moment to take a look at the other (presumably) students around him and began wondering just what they were capable of doing. Even though his gift was no doubt fairly powerful, Daniel couldn't help but feel like it wasn't all that interesting compared to those who could control energy blasts or do crazy stuff with their mental powers.

After a good few minutes spent dwelling on how he wasn't exactly as badass as some of his contemporaries, Daniel decided to put those thoughts out of his mind. Reaching into his bag and pulling out an old and battered comic book, Daniel began reading until someone told him what on earth he needed to do.

KEU

Standing among the students, there was in particular one student who obviously looked like he didn't want to be here. Standing with long red hair and wearing the girl's uniform, the girlish individual looked around at all the "gifted" that had gathered. Finally he let out a sigh, and started to wonder about, doing well to avoid bumping into other students as he weaved his way through.

I guess this will be my life now. Well at the very least I'm not sleeping on a park bench. Course, prison would have fixed that just as easily. Three meals a day too. Probably not moldy. Probably. Buut... Probably would have sucked ass. Guess I should thank the old coot for giving me this chance. Not that I particularly like being here, but between freedom and a nice comfy cell, I guess getting an opportunity for a paid future ain't too bad.

Finally he stopped, his eyes glued to someone else's bag. Shit. Are they seriously just leaving their wallet hanging out of their bag? How careless can you get!? Seriously, just anybody could up and take it. Like... So... He sneakily started to reach for the wallet, in a particular way that he had pulled off many a time on the streets, with a high rate of success.

Cassandra Cooper was already vlogging her first day of school. She'd dressed to kill with a black skirt and a purple button-down, accessorized with the DMX413RUNDMC-612SHYGDDT handheld camera in her right hand. It was a somewhat menacing-looking minimalist black rectangle, and she shot from the hip as she carried a backpack and a suitcase in her free hand. She kept an eye on the footage with a viewfinder flipped up out of the top.

"We're out here at KEU, hour before we actually get in..." She said into a little wire mic on her lapel. "Weather's alright, lots of cool folks here already." She zoomed in on the kid about to lift someone's wallet. "...Neat." She said into the mic, and didn't wait to actually think before approaching. "Hey, sup? You a new freshman here too?"

Martin by nature wasn't the kind who could simply stand around without having some activity to keep him occupied was doing the only logical thing a soon to be hero would do when first arriving on a campus to train their abilities. Picking up litter. While not exactly heroic it seemed almost disrespectful to the institution to just leave such things around, so he made a challenge out of it, seeing how much he could collect in one go before zooming back and slamming it down into the trashcan. "Always go beyond in each thing you do," he said mostly to himself, practicing his 'hero voice' while he hoped no one was listening.

By the time he finished the boy who would be known as Paragon had worked up a fine sweat, only realizing it after he had cleaned the last bit of waste from the ground. "Shoot, that might not be a good look on the first day." he slammed his palm into his head and groaned, before simply giving a shrug and a smile. "I am sure its understandable, after all, heroes always go above and beyond."

KEU

Neil stared straight at the camera girl acting normally as he pulled back his hand, hoping she hadn't noticed. "Yeah. I am. And?" He looked the girl up and down, taking note of her attire and the... likely very expensive camera she was holding.

Keep it together, Neil... You're supposed to be a hero now...

The boy with the swirly hair and glasses sighed, staring down at the palm of his hand, which he just so happened to write on. Why was it that all the powerful heroes had the least imaginative names? If it were him, he would own up to his status. There wasn't even a single adjective to any of them, it was, it was...Humbling, honestly.

Dakota placed the end of his pen to his chin. "First day of school, no lessons taught, aside from those within the own heart. That must be why KEU is so inspiring." He whispered all this aloud and to the sky, probably not helping his reputation much. As he went to stash his pen into his back pocket, he brought a finger up to his temple. He flicked it upwards, a bright neon light in the air, before giving his fingers a snap, followed by a small popping noise. His face became blissful as he readjusted his bag over his shoulder.

He was feeling interestingly creative today.

Aw, damn. Cassie was honestly hoping he'd just go ham and lift the wallet. Oh well.

"I do vlogs and videos and interviews, you down to talk?" She asked. "Figured it'd be fun to ask folx some questions and shit."

She was already trying to rattle off some questions. Oh, and like a preamble and shit. Name, age maybe, pronouns too? With so many weird bodies going on at this school having pronouns straight would be nice. Not that they had much straight here, haw. Hold onto that one too, she told herself. Huh. Ice breaker about asking powers though would be bad. Maybe what you do in your off time, or like what you like to read? Cassie kept a closed-mouth smile so her teeth could grind in the background.

KEU Garden Plaza

"Hey, hey, my peeps, my peeps!" A loud voice announced the arrival of someone else where Neil and Cassandra were.

Striding towards them excitedly was a tall, chubby young man with dark, curly hair. He was wearing a red shirt bearing the KEU logo. He was carrying a gigantic backpack pinned with all sorts of movie pins. A pencil was tucked behind his ear.

Also, his head was on fire. He also seemed to have made the flames appear on his face, giving the impression of a flaming goatee.

"Hey, hey, you're Sky High Divider, right?! From the net! Big fan, sister, big fan!"

He excitedly held out a hand for her to shake.

A dark green haired young man quickly slipped his phone back into the pouch of his gray hoodie as he resumed his trek of the school grounds, once again glad his tail ended a few inches shy of being in danger of getting stepped on as he made his way through, or mostly around, the crowd with his gear before finally emerging near the fountain.

With so many people around, Soma almost didn't register the dark haired girl by the fountain as he approached to get a better view of the screen thinking I'm supposed to be up on that screen one of these days...? Still doesn't seem real. He shook his head at the thought, gave a slightly awkward wave at the girl in case she happened to think he'd been trying to look her way and pretended to return his attention to the TV while debating what he'd do with himself for the time being.

Arrival.

The day had finally arrived. Granted, there had been a year-long delay to reach this moment, but he was finally here. To be honest...the young man was glad his eyes were hidden beneath a pair of sunglasses as most people paying attention would've noticed them glancing around, betraying the calm and collected facade the sharply dressed young man was doing his best to keep up.

Straightening his tie with one hand and gripping onto the handle of his sleek suitcase with the other, he quietly searched for a place to sit down, watching the other students for now.

"Pfdghjehg!" Cassie staggered, sputtered, and swiveled around to check out the new guy. She kept the camera level even as she was thrown off by the interjection. She kept it rolling though, she could edit this in post. "Uh, hey man. Glad to see a fan." She smiled, before realizing he wanted to shake hands with someone with full hands. "Gegh. Um." Cassandra finally resolved to set down her bag rather than stop filming and extended a hand. "Call me Cassandra though. You on social media, you want a promo or something? Trying to do a vid right now but I'd be down to shout you out."

KEU

"Oh. Computer person. That sounds like fun." Neil said a bit sarcastically.

"Well if you're asking for introductions, my name is Neil Er-" He began to say until he was so graciously interrupted. He glared at the man for a few seconds before rolling his eyes.

Next to arrive was a young woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes, clad in navy blue clothes with gold trim. This was Juliett Remington-Ankou (just Jules to everyone who isn't her family), also known as Miss Machina.

She looked calm on the outside as she approached, but inside, she was giddier than a kid in a candy shop. This was what she'd been dreaming to do for several years now: to enter KEU and learn how to be a hero just like Miracle and every other superhero she'd read tales about. And now it was time to meet her classmates-to-be.

"Well, today's the day. I just hope whatever Ree's got planned isn't gonna end up making her late...", Jules said to herself as she began walking closer toward the others.

KEU Plaza

A woman strode through a crowd with relative ease, wearing a jacket, jeans and flats—clothes that weren't easy to find for a girl her height. Two goat-like horns poked through her curled black and red hair. Her eyes looked up the statue of Miracle, a flicker of recognition passing over her that compelled her feet forward with her phone in her hand. She tilted her phone upright to give a full view of the statue and Hero TV.

"It's 6 AM," she said, for the benefit of the video, "Here I am at KEU. I'm tired, but—"

She whirled around to catch both herself and the statue behind her in the video.

"I'm shaking, I'm nervous, but I made it."

Her hand lowered automatically. She sat down at the edge of the fountain and threw up her hands.

"I made it!"

KEU Garden Plaza

"Ohhh. Ohhhhhh." the guy smiled apologetically and scratched the back of his head.

"I didn't see that you were working, Miss C. I'm sorry to interrupt, my dudette. Work your magic, your pal Mac will just stay out and watch. Man, I'm sooo excited!"

He grinned at Cassandra and moved to the side, careful to not get into the camera's view.

He gave her a thumbs up and pulled out a notebook from his bag.

KEU Fountain

The black haired girl all but jumped when another person went near her. Gulping nervously, she went a bit closer and spoke to Soma.

"Um, um, er...."

And then someone else yelled "I made it!", making the girl squeak and trip on her own feet, tumbling down onto the ground, her glasses going flying.

edited 18th May '17 10:38:03 PM by GrimHelm

A beautiful day for a bike ride, provided you didn't mind hiking a bit. A young woman slid off her now parked bike, making sure to take care to lock it up. Her ponytail swung around as she quickly glanced around her to ensure no one was peeking at her lock combo. Standing back up to her full (lack-of) height, she covered a hand over her eyes to get a better view of her surroundings.

There were already groups forming amongst the freshmen in the garden area. Even if she had lived in New Hope City for a few years, she was still used to seeing non-Gifted in the masses. While some were not obviously Gifted, it wasn't exactly a farfetched guess to assume that they were.

Speaking of Gifts... Sabrina felt the tingling sensation in the back of her throat intensify. Reaching into her pockets, she pulled out a mostly empty pack of gum. The sight of the wrappers drew a sigh of annoyance from her. She'd have to hope the orientation would allow for time for her to grab some more of her 'medicine'. Popping the second-last piece into her mouth, the chewing caused the acid buildup to almost evaporate. She couldn't quite describe how or why this shut down her Gift but it worked and that's all she needed.

Plopping down on a nearby bench, she watched one group of students begin introductions, including one with a camera. Maybe her Gift is, like, some sort of future telling through film? Or... Well, I hope it isn't soul-stealing. That'd kinda suck.

KEU Garden Plaza

Of course, when the man moved out of the way for Cassandra, both would find that Cassandra's interviewee was already gone. Slipped into the crowd while they were discussing.

KEU Fountain

Neil made his way into the fountain area, hoping to get a little more peace in a little more open of an area. Of course this proved wrong when a girl yelled over to the side, causing Neil to notice a girl toppling over. Reacting on instinct, he flung out his hand, wires of energy whipping out from his fingertips and latching to the girl's shirt, preventing her from falling further. "Can you people please try to be a little more careful about how you're walking?"

KEU Plaza

"Okay dad I'm running out of space on this memory card gotta go bye!"

Mariam shoved her phone into her bag and stood up, quick to cordon off the area with her physical stature and pick up the girl's glasses before someone stood on them. She approached the girl from the front, arms outstretched to catch her should Neil's wires let go.

"Are these your glasses?" she said, smiling kindly, "Sorry if they're a bit dusty."

edited 18th May '17 10:59:59 PM by opnerf

KEU.

Things had certainly gotten a bit more busy with more of his...peers showing up. It wasn't...terribly surprising, although the young man with raven-colored hair awkwardly had to make his way through some of the crowd and making sure he was still holding onto his suitcase as Christopher finally made it through...and narrowly avoiding colliding with a girl in navy colored clothing.

"...My apologizes, Miss. I, er, wasn't quite...expecting anyone else to be in the way." He quickly and curtly replied, one eye beneath those sunglasses staying focused on Juliette...and the other falling on Sabrina sitting down on what was probably one of the few empty benches. "...Well..."

KEU Fountain

Ann walked past the fountain, walking a small metal disc against the back of her hand as she did, stopping to observe the scene taking place with a raised eyebrow. "So, um....You two actually planning on pulling her up or you just going to leave her hanging?" She asked before stepping up to the girl and gently placing her back on her feet.

"I mean good catch and all but c'mon."" She criticized, hands on her hips.

edited 18th May '17 11:12:36 PM by guyshane

KEU

Well, this wasn't how Jules planned on meeting a new person. He nearly collided into her, it seems.

"It's alright, no harm done. You might wanna look where you're going next time though.", Jules said before extending her hand. "I'm Jules. And you?"

edited 18th May '17 11:12:12 PM by TheHailStormer

Garden Plaza

After flipping through a handful of pages, Daniel had a moment of quiet realization wherein he realized he was starting to act like one of those gawdawful brooding antiheroes by sitting alone and not really getting to know his contemporaries. Shoving his book back into the duffel bag from whence it came, Daniel approached the small crowd of chatting students and gave a small wave "Hi. I'm, uh, Daniel"

KEU.

"I, er, well, glad that's the case. That...er, there was no harm done. Again, I must apologize for my carelessness, it's not...something I tend to do." Chris quietly remarked before giving a small smile, the lens of his sunglasses somehow managing to give a rather dazzling and dramatic shine.

"It's nice to meet you regardless, Jules. Christopher Xylion, at your service." The young man nodded, hesitating for the slightest of moments before casually shaking her hand.

KEU Garden Plaza

Wandering into the plaza next, without too much care for what was in its way was a giant hulk of a machine painted white blue and black with "陰陽ト" written on the sides of the machine as well as its skirt panels in bright neon, a translation of Onmyo Robotics happily applied to its back. In each of its massive arms it carried sevral bags of luggage that would not look too out of place coming from an airport, and if the tags on the luggage were any indication it had.

Following close behind the machine as it pushed its way through the crowd was a small young woman taking cover behind its legs, and sticking to it as close as she could, honestly looking slightly out of place in the process, with no real costume to speak of, and a demeanor of avoidance, it would not be hard to mistake the device in front of her as the real hero here, after all with what there doing with tech now a days?

Both of them stopped however once the reached closer to the fountain and looked around honestly looking a bit lost.