My Anime Academy

Midori walked into the auditorium with a glower on her face and not a care in the world. Why do we even have to be here? We all know what we're doing here, and quite frankly, if you don't have at least a couple of acts of heroism to your name already, you shouldn't be here in the first place.

Beats me, replied Spark as the little mascot looked up at his charge. But why aren't you transformed? Seems to me this is a good chance to show off your powers, get a little exposure.

Because I'm a fashion nightmare! All that pink with the lightning theming, it's like I'm some sort of unholy love child of a ballerina and Frankenstein! What on earth were you thinking giving me that outfit?

I was drunk when I came up with it, okay? That got a well-deserved dirty look from Midori as she plopped her backside down in a random, unoccupied seat, quite unconcerned with who was next to her as Spark landed on her shoulder.

Hyotoshi - Auditorium

"A Kaiju heart? Experiments? That's uh...That's hardcore." He replies, trying to keep a straight face. "And dangerous. And probably...fatal."

Hyo's emotion-senses were kicking in. His classmates were certainly a plethora of colors. One was red with anger. One was baby-puke green with boredom. Creepy body-mod man was a prideful orange. Even the tiny little robo-dudes had colors. The chick listening to her headphones was...What was that color? That's new.

Lane - Auditorium

Lane watches as a magical girl, a sheep girl and a Disco Dave enter the room, waving cautiously to each in turn.

On hearing Dinah, Lane cuts in with "Hey, I've played that game," despite having no idea what game she's talking about. Team Fortress 2 would be his best guess.

He follows this up by saying "So... a Kaiju's heart? Seems you've discovered that one weird trick to never having heartburn again. Doctors must hate you," to Emmanuel, a quip masking his own shock at hearing what he's done.

Then, a pretty guy and glowering woman come in. Lane turns to look at Midori, who is now next to him, and Spark. "'Ello, mate, I'm Lane," he says, nodding to the girl. "Looks like you've, er, got a Pixl on your shoulder," he adds, pointing at Spark.

Mason

"Ah yes actually some help would be appreciate but I think I have it under control!" He said in a single breath as he rushed forward towards the small creature at the end of the aisle. "Just need to make sure he causes the least amount of damage-"

With a diving tackle, Mason held Gori in his outstretched hands as the little robotic gorilla in his hands, whose arms began to spin wildly. Jumping to his feet and holding him up successfully, he'll announce to the others-

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'll clean up any mess my Robot's have made but has anyone seen a little red and white lion!? He's completely harmless but he's also prone to getting lost!"

Meanwhile, back in the row of students, the little robotic lion was having an absolute BLAST. Jumping over Dinah and Felicity's lap, landing atop Hyotoshi's afro, standing there for a moment before jumping over Yui's shoulder, used Kimiko's head as a jumping point to leap up and attempt to mid-air tackle the shadow crow Karasu out of child like joy of having an actual friend.

Ba Ke Nook - Auditorium

Ba Ke sees the lion jumping around, but doesn't move from his spot.

"The little guy's actually pretty cute! I think he's just happy to see a new place."

Ba Ke then quickly stops to think a bit, then returns to Mason.

"I don't think I can leaf that small lion golem, can't really change living things like that. I could use my mallet to alter its size, but I don't think that would be a good idea."

Emanuel

He could see the shock across the various faces, some with concern and others with horror. "Unfortunately I used the last of the K-matter that I had managed to procure on my own body before I came to the city. Subdermal armor, various poison producing organs, thirty percent of my skeletal structure, and a number of other parts of myself have been either enhanced or fully replaced with either direct transplants or improved with with Kaiju parts, through most of it is experimental, and as many of you have pointed out, quite dangerous," he chuckled a bit and eyed them all.

"I understand most of you are worried, but I perform all my experiments on myself first and foremost, I don't even allow animal testing. That wouldn't really be all that ethical considering the danger of implanting K-Matter into a body. The rejection chances are astronomically high, but the results are equally...worth it." he held up a hand, his skin rippling before thick scale like armor flowed over it, extending over each finger with a knife like claw. "The first step of human advancement, once its perfect I can begin mass production... once I have worked out a few kinks of course."

Takuro Nakajima

"Oh," Takuro said, a little disappointed that Emanuel didn't have any spare K-matter. He wasn't desperate enough for it to try ripping a chunk of someone's heart out to get it, and he hoped he'd never have to be.

But then he took in Emanuel's explanation for what the transplant process had done.

"Pretty cool," he said, pointing to Emanuel's mutated hand. "How fast does that stuff regenerate if you get hurt?"

Kimiko

"Heh, thanks." Kimiko swished her tail lazily. Yui's taunts and Takuro's reply intrigued her. "Well, I look forward to seeing what you can do. Hope you can keep up with my ninja skills."

For emphasis, she flicked her wrist, and suddenly she was holding a shuriken. Kimiko twirled it in her fingers, making it practically glide around her hand, all without scratching herself.

"So what kinda heroes are you guys? Kaiju-heart guy is obviously a mad scientist type, and I see a... okay, something's weird about that one." She blinked in the strange magical girl's direction, before shaking her head. "Anyway, how 'bout the rest of you?"

Yui

Yui didn't want to shake, but she knew better than to cross the Demon King. She quickly shook her hand then shuffled away. "Yui Bushida. Nice meeting ya, bet you're great at parties..."

She was so bent on getting away that she didn't notice her mistake. On the back of her glove was a red serpent, fangs dripping blood. It was the symbol of the Crimson Snakes, one of Japan's more notorious gangs. They were bad enough on their own, but after the Demon King took over, they reluctantly served under her banner. To Yui, it was old history, but she couldn't help but be sentimental. She didn't bother to conceal it, but to those in the know, it was unmistakable.

She focused on her little spat with Takuro. She wasn't impressed, but she appreciated his gumption. She stood up, staring him down as she got in his face.

"Don't know about that. Them folks can chew an awful lot. Bet they'd spit out your balls if they got the chance. Question is if you got any?" She glanced back at Kimiko. "What do you think, fuzz face? Think he's got the balls?"

But the rat had her own questions. She didn't want to talk about it, but she'd feel bad if she refused. "Wanna flip for it? Top half says I squeal, bottom half says I keep my mouth shut. Or maybe you've got somethin' better?"

Edited by kkhohoho on Apr 3rd 2023 at 6:54:30 AM

Takuro Nakajima

"Henshin," Takuro said to Kimiko, pointing to the disk on the back of his neck. "I press the button on that, and I get my costume. Then I can use my real power. And as much as I'd like to show you all now," Takuro looked at Yui as he said this. "...this room isn't big enough for a demonstration. Lizard Man over there isn't the only one who knows how to benefit from K-Matter." He gestured towards Emanuel.

Ba Ke Nook - Auditorium

"I'm a youkai watcher. Mainly because I'm a youkai. Ninja would fit me a bit, too, but it's mostly due to how my powers allow me to disguise myself or change objects into other objects. Like this!"

Ba Ke stood up on his chair, grabbed a small leaf, then changed it into a small golden mallet in a burst of smoke to demonstrate, then changed it back.

"As for that K Cell stuff, whatever that is, I doubt it would really affect me. I'm not even close to human."

Hyotoshi - Auditorium

"I guess you could say...K Matters?" Hyotoshi said with a wry smirk and an absent smile.

Hyotoshi's lips slightly tightened at the inquiry of what kind of hero everyone was. He wasn't really a hero. At least not technically?

His eyes dart in the direction of another part of the Auditorium. Two people shook hands. One of those hands has an odd-looking symbol on it. That looked like a snake symbol? He remembered fighting an old anomaly whose host had a symbol like that some time back (either that or his memory was adding it in; he didn't know), but the Dragon Busters dealt with it before his unit could. It was always a competition between their units: Did the Expressionals claim the life of a tainted human or would the Dragon Busters stop them and save the day?

The good ol' days...He briefly smiled and got lost in thought. Reality eventually exerted itself however and he was back to the social persona.

"Name's Hyotoshi. Just call me 'Shi.' Easier on the tongue. As for what kind of hero? I....have no clue. I got my Brace on my chest here, so I guess a 'Henshin Hero?'"

Edited by klom99 on Apr 3rd 2023 at 7:08:07 AM

Midori shrugged. "Don't know what that is, honestly, but his name's Spark. He's the source of my power, I kinda do the whole transforming heroine thing." She hated the term magical girl with a passion, believing that it made her sound like a Saturday morning cartoon character. Alas, the media had latched on to it, so she was stuck, like it or not.

"Why, what's your schtick? High-tech? One of those shonen idiots?"

Lane - Auditorium

"Well, a Pixl is a... actually, I'll explain later," Lane mutters, not wanting to make himself look too geeky in front of someone he just met.

"Anyways, I'm a summoner," Lane states, speaking clearly for the benefit of everyone else. He then begins to dig around in his pockets and, after a few seconds, takes out a blue deckbox with Dragoncallers TCG branding on the front.

Opening the deckbox, he pulls a few cards from the top of the deck and shows them off; they depict humanoid and serpentine wyrms in various colours, sizes and poses. "I can have these guys show up in real life to fight for me, he explains, consciously aware that he now almost definitely looks geeky in front of someone he just met.

Ba Ke Nook

The tanuki turns to Midori. "Transforming thing? Like, into a powerful dragon? Or a large mech? I kind of can transform, but only really into types of humans. And I don't gain powers that way, I can just use it to disguise myself." He seems to be slightly deep in thought, then turns to Lane.

"Oh, and you use mystical cards to summon otherworldly beasts! Pretty nifty. I've heard of humans using cards to tell the future, but I haven't really heard of them summon things with them."

Tsurugi just sighed at all the chaos going on. Seeing Kuro starting to play with the lion thing he just shrugged.

"OK, Kuro, just don't start going for anything shiny" He got a screech as an answer "Yeah, yeah, flock off"

He looked at anyone and shrugged.

"Sorry about that" He said.

Ryusei Oshiro

Ryusei Oshiro was not one for arriving early. You were fortunate if he bothered to attend your functions in the first place. To insist on complaining about his timing was to prove, in his eyes, that he had been mistaken to give you that courtesy.

And so the young man, hair and outfit alike black and jagged yet also impeccably groomed, strode in a little bit after most of the class, his aura of smug superiority preceding him by several seconds. He looked over those already assembled just long enough to pass damning mental judgment on each of them in turn. Nerd. Creep. Edgelady. ...thing.

Lane is the only one who really grabs Ryusei's attention. Or rather, the cards Lane is holding grab his attention. Who would have thought he'd meet another Dragoncallers player at a time like this? Ryusei smirks as he glances down at his top-of-the-line arm-mounted Duel Terminal. This could be fun... assuming, of course, that this blue-haired boy was a skilled enough duelist to give a master player like Ryusei a challenge.

Speaking of Dragoncallers...

Ryusei, a deep, gruff voice rumbles in his head. I sense powerful souls around you. Pray tell, is this that gathering of extroardinary heroes you were talking about?

Extraordinary's a strong word, from the looks of it, Ryusei mentally deadpans back. But yes.

Excellent! booms Draco-Master Mage. At last, individuals who will appreciate my might! Fire up your Duel Terminal, boy - I wish to meet them!

Maybe later. I at least want to wait a few minutes before I risk property damage fees.

Tch... always so dismissive of me, boy. But I shall heed your request. For now.

Rolling his eyes at his Summon partner, Ryusei, rather than sitting, takes to leaning on the back of a chair in Lane's vicinity.

"Impressive cards you've got there," he says, the dryness in his voice suggesting a certain snide insincerity. "Are you skilled enough to do them justice?" Ryusei Oshiro's guide to first impressions - make your arrogance as immediately apparent as possible. That way, your victims new friends know what they're in for.

Edited by DubhKafkaesque on Apr 4th 2023 at 3:19:26 PM

Rachel - Silver Academy Exterior

As the sun glittered off of the glimmering walls ahead of her, broken only briefly near the ground by passing students, "Tress" adjusted her sunglasses as she sized it up. She was a bit tired, still rather jet-lagged from the trip from the outer reaches of the solar system to Earth, but today wasn't the day to let that get to her. She mumbled to herself.

"I suppose it passes muster. But it'd be hasty to judge a school by how it looks."

Even with the slight exhaustion, she was wary as she proceeded, bowing her head and adjusting her scarf to cover as much of her face as inconspicuously as she could, darting, cautious eyes hidden behind the sunglasses, hands buried in her pockets.

Rachel - Auditorium

There was little fanfare with how Rachel entered the auditorium, mingling in with a crowd until they had split off to go find their own seats. The exiled noble looked around, eyes sharp as she sized up the rest of her Class. First impressions were important, and if she were ever going to take back her home, she would need allies, as powerful and as many as she could get. Now was the prime chance to ingratiate herself with someone, lowering her sunglasses a tad to get a clearer look.

Let's see...a bunch of people blabbering about a card game, most certainly not. A bunch of people that look rather ordinary, no. Some scientists, maybe. A girl in the most peculiar getup...is that skintight? What? A mouse, a raccoon and a sheep? Didn't realize the school doubled as a petting zoo. A bunch of girls in frilly outfits, a few punks and...this can't be right. How am I supposed to take back Orphelin when my immediate choices for allies are...are THESE people?

There was not much choice. She would have to pick somebody from this group of unimpressive first impressions. Her parents had always taught her to project a confident, powerful impression of herself, but here she was, working under a false name, with barely anything to her name except her (appropriated) mech and having to slum it up with people who just didn't seem to care about how they appeared. How was anybody supposed to trust in people who didn't give off an aura of confidence and competence?

"Tch." She whispered under her breath, striding over to the chair next to the girl in spandex. At least if anybody was looking for the lost daughter of the Zablane family, their eyes would be more focused on the strange girl in spandex and very clearly foreign (Not that Rachel herself wasn't) girl beside her than her face. She put on her best smile, holding out a hand to the empty seat.

"Oh, excuse me. Is this seat free? It seems we're in the same class."

Dyna-Mite

"Oh, yeah. It's free," Dinah nodded to the girl who had approached her, and straightened up slightly to accomodate Rachel sitting down in the seat next to her. Dinah's gaze was sharp and piercing as she studied Rachel from head to toe, before she nonchalantly grabbed her hand and gave it a firm shake before releasing it just as quickly. "Name's Dinah. Fans call me Dyna-Mite. Sorry you're part of this class."

There was a strange half-smirk on the brunette's face as she leant back in her seat again and let out a sigh of self-satisfaction.

"I'm from overseas. Chicago. What about you? Don't wanna presume," Dinah asked, sounding only vaguely interested but wanting to make conversation anyway. Her words were carefully chosen yet strangely cut short, like she was holding back from becoming too invested in her own dialogue. "You look nervous. We'll be fine. Just relax, wait it out, then let the fireworks go when nobody expects it. You got it? It's worked for me so far."

Dinah's overall demeanour was cool-headed but a little cocky. She at one point stretched while talking and it was clear she either didn't care or actively flaunted how the action affected her exposed stomach. Very little shame, it seemed. It made it somewhat difficult to ascertain what her thoughts were. She was relaxed, but paying very close attention to her surroundings with how her eyes darted about. Almost like she was planning something.

Lane - Auditorium

Lane perks up at the mention of his cards, and looks round to see who is speaking. He sees Ryusei leaning there, and almost immediately comments "That's an outfit and a half, innit?"

"Sorry, sorry," he apologises after a moment, chuckling slightly. "Rest assured, mate: the only thing sharper than my Dragoncallers skills is my piercing wit." Lane taps the side of his head and grins.

"So, how about you? You clearly talk the talk, but can you fight the fight?" Lane asks, still smiling.

Hiroto Miyajima/Knight Atreides

The trip down to Earth was fairly uneventful as far as trips down to the blue planet was concerned. While there were issues with the CDF allowing a single pilot down to the planet with an operational mech, the bureaucratic nonsense was soon cleared up before Hiroto was allowed down to land nearby Fuji City.

Once that was taken care of, per regulations, he had to submit the weapons he brought with him for inspection alongside his Knave-class mech. Who knew being a guy with military experience at a prestigious hero academy involved that much paperwork?

Auditorium

Making his way to the auditorium, he couldn't help but notice the sheer amount of diversity between his apparent classmates. Animal-like people, punks, at one guy in a full business suit, a scientist with golems, another scientist with an apparent affinity for injecting himself with unknown fluids (that one unnerved Hiroto for some reason)...

Speaking of, he wasn't sure if it would've been better to show up in his fatigues or if his service dress uniform was fine. Eh, he already made it here, anyway. Better to take a seat and play it cool for the moment.

Besides, it's supposed to be good for PR between the CDF and Fuji City's government. Better play it safe.

Auditorium

"So, we got us a shapeshifter and a dork. One's going to be much more useful than the other, I think." Midori shook her head at Ba Ke's description of what her power could be. "I wish. Here, let me show you what it's all about."

She managed to find a small space where she had just enough room to transform without frying anyone- the process wasn't that energetic, but better safe than sorry. Raising her right hand to the sky in a 'rock on' pose, she called out- with a roll of her eyes that would do any teenager proud- "Electro-cute! Shock and Awesome!"

A hideous neon pink blast of electricity roared down from the ceiling, blasting the hell out of everyone's retinas. By the time it stopped, Midori had completed her transformation sequence, sparks crackling from between her fingers. "Maybe this looks a touch more familiar to you guys?"

Ba Ke Nook

The tanuki was impressed by the bolt of lightning, but was only moderately impressed.

"Um, that is a nifty way to change clothes, I see. Well, that lightning does look pretty impressive. Sorry if this is insulting or something, I only relatively recently got un-petrified, so this is still pretty new to me."

The tanuki shrugged slightly.

"It feels like a different world from when I got frozen, this sort of thing wasn't exactly commonplace."

Auditorium

As the students mingled, the teachers began to gather. They threw open the doors, trickling down the aisles as they stepped on stage. Most weren't easy to place. For the purpose of the ceremony, they were business casual, dressed in tailored suits and short skirts. One was bulging with muscle, but the rest were remarkably average.

But a few stood out. Standing at the podium was a man in red. He oozed charisma. He was dressed to the nines, leather gloves complimenting his spiffy cleats Sitting next to him were his compatriots, a man in black and a girl in pink. They fidgeted in their seats, sharing a quick glance before turning away. They felt somewhat estranged, but there was something between them.

Sitting at the far end of the row was an older man. He sat away from the teachers, looking down at a golden wristwatch. He held himself with grace and dignity, his silver goatee matching his worn face. He wasn't with the teachers, that was for certain. Hondo Nagiri was his name. Once a hopeless intern, he had risen to the ranks of CEO, running the Kosmos Conglomerate with an iron fist.

He wasn't always this way. Back when he first started, he was sweet as could be, but any sense of warmth or shred of mercy was long gone. Some thought the Lost Decade was to blame, but there was no way to be sure. He looked out from under his purple shades, gazing at the students with contempt. As the Conglomerate's top dog, his presence made sense, but he was no less unpleasant.

As Hondo sat in solitude, the man in red cleared his throat, staring ahead. He and Hondo were two separate people, but their difference in attitude only made this more clear. His fiery eyes burned with purpose, but there was a lack of conviction. He spoke with strength and clarity, but it wasn't clear if he believed it.

"Greetings. Some of you may know me. In days past, there wasn't a single city in Japan that hadn't heard of Reviver Red. Or the team he served. Perhaps not so much now. Other groups have sprung up since, all following our example. The same way we followed those who came before us. But no matter how many years have passed, we haven't been forgotten. As much as we'd like to be."

The man in black and woman in pink shuffled in their seats. It wasn't easy to tell, but Red's reveal made things clear. They were Bullish Black and Pretty Pink, two members of the Rogue Rangers. They weren't the first group of their kind or the last, but they were one of the greatest the world had ever known. Until they weren't. No one was sure what happened, but that only half the team was here was telling.

"But none of that matters. What matters is you. Our day is long past, but yours has just begun. And it is our duty to ensure you have the chance to do so. As Headmaster of Silver Academy, I will do everything in my power to give you the education you deserve. To mould you into the heroes that Japan deserves. And needs. Within these walls, the world may seem like a dream come true, but it's anything but. If you wish to make such dreams a reality, you must seize it with your own hands. Summon the courage that dwells within you. Burn your hands with the light of hope and the power of justice and raise them to the heavens themselves! Only then can you—"

He didn't get to finish his speech. The auditorium was filled with bright light, blinding swirls of purple appearing from thin air. They soon took shape, condensing and sculpting themselves into works of art. There were vicious and ferocious, snarling lizards of tooth and claw, their long tails and towering forms reaching towards the ceiling. With their dark green scales, it was clear they were Kaiju. Compared to others that had been recorded, these were small fry, E-Rank at best. But to scores of fresh-faced students, they were the devil incarnate. They stomped down the aisles, chasing the students as they roared. They flattened whole rows of seats like bulldozers, carving out fresh footprints with each, staring down their next meal as their bellies grumbled.

The teachers were having none of it. They sprung to action, shooting bullets and hadoukens and laser beams their way. The Rangers were already transformed, blasting the monsters with perfect coordination. One of the teachers was particularly bold, leaping towards the air and tapping a kaiju's skull with their fingers. Seconds later, the creature's head exploded, fountains of purple ooze gushing from their necks as he whispered. With the teachers leading the charge and the students backing them up, they had things under control.

But for Class 1, it wasn't over. One monster stood out among the pack. It was somewhere between a serpent and a hairless bear, powerful claws on one end and a crushing tail on the other. It opened its gaping maw, spewing out a toxic green spray. It wasn't fatal, but it would weaken those caught in its path. The other beasts had their targets, but this one wouldn't rest until Class 1 was dead and buried.

As the chaos raged, something was amiss. All the teachers were doing their part, but Hondo was nowhere to be seen. Between the start of Red's speech and the beginning of the assault, he had vanished. The more observant may have noticed him walk off stage, but he knew how to be discreet. With all the students and teachers in the thick of battle, a CEO's departure was easy to miss, but it was no less conspicuous.

Edited by kkhohoho on Apr 10th 2023 at 1:30:41 PM

Ba Ke Nook

The tanuki winced a fair bit about the sudden kaiju attack, but wasn't too freaked out. After all, he'd conversed with wierder-looking yokai in the past.

Seeing the kaiju right in front of the group, and estimating its size, Ba Ke had a bit of an idea. His Miracle Mallet could prove useful here. He has heard of some of the bigger kaiju, and his magic power wasn't strong enough to reliably use the mallet against them, but this kaiju was small enough to reliably do so.

The tanuki pulled out his miracle mallet, holding it up in the air, making himself grow to a size roughly comparable to the kaiju in front of the class, taking great care not to cause any further damage. As he did so, he took off his straw hat, holding it between himself and the kaiju, attempting to block the gas.

"Time to show the power of a yokai!"