Hello America. Rise of the Swordsmaster

[Shade]

Eyes slowly opening a hand reached up to a hair of fluffy brown hair scratching the skull that was underneath it. A yawn escaped the mouth of the boy whom it belonged to and said mouth was quickly covered as the teenager wasn’t quite sure if anyone was around to hear it. He knew he had to be quiet or he would be found out and that certainly wasn’t on this young man’s to do list. Darren Cross was the stowaway on a ship heading out from Australia to America, where in America he didn’t know but that was something he intended to find out. Hidden behind and in between boxes he tried to duck his head down even further upon hearing voices getting closer to where he was hiding.

It wasn’t until they were almost upon him that he realized just what they were talking about as they started moving things. They were getting closer to land, and American land at that after nearly a month of waiting and hiding Darren grinned jumping up from his hiding place. The stunned crew men didn’t even have time to fully react before he dashed from his hiding spot onto to the ship deck with his sword, daggers, and extra clothes all in his waterproof backpack he kind of stole from back home. Standing in the middle of the boat Darren zipped up the back as much as he can, sword handle sticking out the top though, and whistled as he took in his first site of the beach that was before them. Sure, it probably wasn’t the port or whatever the boat was heading but it was certainly going to be Darren’s destination now.

After a few moments of him standing there the rest of the crew finally realized that Darren was not only a stowaway but was standing in the middle of their ship. As they ran after him Darren waved and took off dashing to the edge of the boat where he jumped over yelling as he went. “Thanks for the ride mates! I’ll pay you pack someday!” Well at least that is what he believed he said, to the people on the ship it was probably something more along the lines of ‘wooooo hooooo! Yippe! Or Ahhhhh!’ After a second or two Darren splashed down into the water below. He wasn’t sure where he was in America or how far the beach was but Darren didn’t care. He was going to become the greatest Hero America had ever seen!

After a few minutes he finally made it to shore, pulling himself up onto the beach where he took off his book-bag and t-shirt. Ringing out the thing he plopped down on the sand beneath him, lying down. The afternoon sun beating down on his face he placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. Sure, he should go run around and find out where he was then go off to save the city or something but Darren didn’t quite feel like doing it just yet. Who knew though the day wasn’t over just yet and he was pretty sure something was going to happen soon anyway. “Ahhh, America sun is nice…not as warm as Australian though…” He mumbled to himself in his Australian accent.

[Zanna]

Keri was taking a relaxing stroll down the beach near Mount Justice, just so she could get some fresh air. Of course it was in the middle of summer, so it was fairly warm and sunny. Keri had her hair down in a loose thick braid over her right shoulder with a big straw sun hat on her head. She was dressed in a pair of white cut offs, and a loose gray tank top with a black sports bra under it. Adorned on her feet was a pair of woven flip fops and in her hand was her usual white parasol.

She was taking a small break from training and just needed fresh air. At the moment, she was visiting Happy Harbor to get extra practice in the new updated Mount Justice. Also it was kind of a vacation from Jump City, which she is originally from.

As Keri was walking, she kept thinking about her progress, and how much she was learning. But she realized that she needed more practice, especially with strength class and hand to hand combat. Her weakest area. Keri was deep in thought when she heard splashing near her. She looked towards the water, her blue orbs wide and eyebrows furrowed in confusion. No one should really be on this part of the beach. It was still within the perimeters of Mount Justice.

Suddenly, she saw a boy, around her age based off his stature, swim onto shore. He was still fully clothed when he merged out of the water. He seemed to be fairly happy and excited when he came up. Again, curiosity got the best of her. Using her powers, she levitated herself gently, so she was at a gentle hover so she wouldn't startle him. Once Keri was within a foot of him, she made herself land silently, just in case he was mundane, staring down at him curiously. "Who are you?" she asked innocently in her soft-spoken voice.

[Shade]

Eyes closed, hands behind his head and allowing the sun to wash over him Darren sighed out in relief as he was completely relaxed. After being cooped up on a ship for God knows how long the young boy had a boat load, ha jokes, of stored up energy just waiting to be released but he was also pretty content with sun bathing for a little bit. Mainly because the sun felt amazing on his shirtless body, slowly drying the excess water that was still dripping off of him. However this sensation was not long lasted as a shadow passed over him blocking the sun and not allowing it to reach him anymore, frowning slightly the shirtless Australian opened one eye as he listened to the voice of the person who blocked his sun.

“Darren, Darren Cross.” Sure he usually blabbered on for hours on end with no stoppage in between unless he was stuffing his face with food but he certainly didn’t feel like doing that right now. At least no to the person that was block-ah who was he kidding. “Would you mind moving a tad bit to either the right or the left, I’m not sure which and it probably doesn’t really matter which way you move in the long run because either way it would take you out of the way of the sun that was previously beating down on me and that would be very much appreciated.” He rattled off opening up his other eye to finally allow himself to get a good look at his sun blocker, while the sun was of course still blocked.

She looked like she was around his age and was wearing a fancy looking straw hat that you’d probably see in those old timey ‘southern’ movies or something like that with other articles of clothing on as well. Darren didn’t really pay much attention, he wasn’t much of a fashion or clothes person. Which was evident by his lack of shirt, shoes, and the fact that he only worse a pair of swim trunks. That wasn’t even going onto his Super Hero Suit which was essentially some white and orange leather armor with a hood. He thought it looked fantastic but he had a feeling if Lauren saw it she would be laughing her head off at him. Fashion was always her thing, but she could never get him to wear a shirt. They just felt weird…oh she probably said something. “Wha?”

[Zanna]

"Australian" she said taking in his accent with a raised brow. "Interesting." she whispered. Keri couldnt help but feel slightly irritated at his request. She just rolled her eyes softly and moved to the side to let the sun hit his shirtless body once more. Well... he wasnt unattractive...

"May I ask what you are doing here?" she asked again, still standing under the shade of her umbrella with one hip cocked out. "And why you are coming up shore when there is no boat or ship anywhere near the coast at the moment, shirtless and shoe less." she said somewhat interrogating him. Was he normal? Meta? Evil? Good? Should she call for backup? Then Keri remembered, mentally slapping her forehead. She was alone at the moment, everyone went... where ever...

"Well... Darren... Welcome to the States?" she guessed hesitantly based off the clues she had at the moment. "I'm Keri" She said sitting down next to him, but made sure she was out of his sun, and making sure the sun was off of her.

[Shade]

Darren was going to be honest, he had absolutely no idea what the girl that was now sitting next to him had said. Wasn’t even remotely sure what she had said, and probably wouldn’t ever know what she had said. Okay so that last part was a bit of a lie, all he had to do was ask her what she had said and then he’d know of course, but that was considered rude. Not listening to someone and instead going off into your own little world because your super insane attention deficit hyper active disorder had determined whatever else was going on was more interesting than the conversation was considered rude. Who knew? Still laying down he moved one of the hands that was behind his head to scratch his stomach just getting the last part of what she said.

Which was her name. Keri, Keerieee, Kury, Kiry, Keriby…Kirby! “Nice to meetcha Kirby, now I’m going to be completely honest besides your name I didn’t hear a word of what you just said. But!” Here he held up one finger as he himself finally sat up, pulling his book-bag closer to him. “I’m going to assume it is something along the lines as what I’m doing here or anything close to that and that my newly met friend is a simple question with an even simpler answer.” Here he grinned and leaned in closer as if to whisper something to her. “I am of course going to be the world’s greatest super hero!” He of course didn’t whisper, or well he started out with a whisper and by the time he had finished speaking he was jumping into the air and fist bumping.

Landing back on the ground oh so gracefully and placing his hands on his hips striking a pose he looked back down at the girl with a boyish grin on his face, and a look of pure happiness. Everything to him was a big game, everything about life was. He had lived a hard enough life and was over and done with all the hardships that came with it and thus was why he went about his days with a happy go-lucky personality. Sure, most people would call him immature but he was having fun and that’s all that really mattered in his mind. If someone else found it odd than all the better, as long as he put a smile on his own face.

[Zanna]

Keri raised an eyebrow. Strange child. "It's Keri, but sure" she said before listening to his announcement of why he was in the states. He was questionable, but his reaction to her question was fairly amusing. She smiled softly. "Oh? So tell me, greatest super hero... what are your powers?" she asked standing up in front of him after his excited and quick jump in the air.

Interesting. If he was a meta, he didnt seem to be harmful, and he said he wanted to be a super hero, so that implied that he was not indeed bad. She would have to bring this up with Bioshock later on.

Keri was the kind to be logical, and practical, and thought through. Although she was quiet most of the time, she wasn't a complete anti-socialist. She was working on it though. Keri wanted to show her powers to Darren, but refrain herself to make sure he was a meta before she revealed her powers, and more than likely revealed her identity.

Revealing her powers. That was a new idea to her. Ever since she first "received" her powers, her father worked hard to ensure that she wouldnt be discovered, and tried to make her as normal as possible. Even now, her father knew that she wanted to gain more control of her powers for safety purposes, but he didnt know that she was a hero in a red hooded cape. In the minds of those who were around her, including her father, having powers meant being a freak.

Breaking away from her reverie and thoughts, Keri placed her hand on her cocked hip while the other held her umbrella. "come on Darren!" she said smiling at him. His energy was contagious, that was for sure.

[Shade]

What were his powers? Why they were the most amazing, spectacular, and breathtaking powers anyone had ever seen before of course! Well so what with all the super heroes that had been running around that wasn’t even remotely true but Darren didn’t care. He was awesome, his powers were awesome, and anyone that thought differently was completely off their rockers in his mind. “Come on? Come on where?” He asked turning to look at the girl that he had decided was going to be a very good friend of his, unless of course she was some government spy or something like that trying to lead him off into his death or something. Or well that was just one thought that crossed his mind until he realized that by come on she meant for him to show her his powers.

“OH! Powers right those things. Pshh, I knew that. Just watch and be amazed.” Picking up a rock he turned so he was sideways, but still facing the water he threw the rock as hard as he could watching it skip across the water. Except what only he, or someone with really good vision, was that the rock not only skipped across the water but sliced off the wings of a bug that was flying across the water at the moment in time.  Grinning he ran over to the road moving at around close to his top speed picked up a random car and then raced back standing in front of her again holding said car over his head. To most people it would seem as if he had never moved, but now had a car in his hand.

Upon returning the car to its proper location and then he himself going back to standing next to her he gave a sort of half bow. “I can also do anything I see. Kinda like the whole monkey see monkey do thing except not with powers just physical things…If that makes sense.” He didn’t really care if it did or didn’t make sense Darren loved having super powers and he loved being a hero even if he hadn’t exactly done much in the terms of heroics just yet. “So, what about you miss Kirby?” Because yes, the nickname had already stuck and nothing she could say or do would change that.

[Zanna]

Keri's eyes widened as she tried to focus on all the things happening at once. His power wasnt one physical attribute, it was like multiple ones rolled into one. Her eyes were wide with amazement. "Interesting." she said quietly to herself. Bioshock would be interested with this one. Keri was actually amazed at how much control he had with his strength and speed, but his copy cat abilities were debatable. I should take him back to Mount Justice. she thought

His skills were fairly impressive. But what was his max limit? What was his weakness? Did he have any of the above? Did he reach his max limit already or can he go faster, lift more, etc. She would have to run some analysis tests on him with Athena if that was possible in the near future.

"Interesting." she said out loud this time, smiling at Darren. Keri couldnt help but giggle softly at the nickname she was given. "Not the best nickname ive gotten, but it sure is the most amusing." she said smiling. Then she rolled her eyes when he asked about her. "Who said anything about me being a meta? Or even being one of the good guys as a matter of fact?" she asked giving a small playful smirk. Where this relax and cool nature was coming from, she didnt know. But she was starting to enjoy these playful antics. "I mean I could be, I couldnt be... I mean you just gave away your secret identity, and I could give that away to anyone" she said playfully teasing him, before giving a small giggle.

Concentrating, while still looking at Darren, she willed all of the medium to large rocks and boulders around them to lift in the air with a small flick of her finger. Keri then twirled her finger in a small circle, making the rocks spin in the sky before she made them fall to the ground, one by one, each making a small to medium size thud by flicking her finger downward gently until all the big rocks were gone. All the while she remained eye contact with Darren, with a small smile on her face.

From above, the rocks spelled out 'WELCOME TO AMERICA!! ' She placed her finger back onto the handle of her umbrella, smiling at Darren. Her smiling was excessive because she found this situation amusing and fun, but she hoped she didnt creep him out, like she creeped out other mundane people. "Go on." she said encouragingly slash with a challenging tone. "Jump as high as you can and focus on those rocks, you can even take a picture if you want" she said motioning to the rocks she just placed down on the ground by nodding her head to the side slightly.

If he couldnt jump high then they could take a satellite picture, or even take one from the top of Mount Justice. He could probably take residence at Mount Justice, but she would need to be in contact with Bioshock and the others to see the situation, and the situation's powers and his identity, as well as him being in the states as a stowaway.

[Shade]

“Secret Identity what’s that?” The shirtless Australian asked scratching the back of his head. Sure, he had a costume planned out and a super cool heroic name he was going to use when fighting crime just like everyone else did but the whole secret thing was kind of lost on him. It didn’t matter who he was underneath the hood or when he wasn’t wearing it. The kid was a hobo nobody would care who he was when he wasn’t wearing the costume and it wasn’t like he was any less super when he was out of it. Plus he didn’t have any fancy technology that could change his voice or something like that. “If you mean who I am go ahead, not gona find me anywhere anyway!” Unless you somehow found the box he was sleeping in that night. Speaking of which he needed to scout out the city soon.

This was of course when Darren noticed the twitch in movement coming from all around him, if it wasn’t for his ADHD and the fact that to him the world was always moving at a relatively low pace he probably wouldn’t have noticed it. Spinning around he watched it all as it happened eyes wide, as giddy as a child in a candy store who was just told he could have anything he wanted. Okay well maybe not that giddy but he was certainly excited. “Woa, that is amazing how did you do that? Is it telekinesis or wind manipulation? Is it kind of like the Force, can you push and pull things? Use your power like a weapon and slash people from a far? What’s that called, Vector Telekinesis? Can you do that?” He rattled off but he said it so quickly it only truly sounded like this.

“Isittelekinesisorwindmanipulation?IsitkindofliketheForce,canyoupushandpullthings?Useyourpowerlikeaweaponandslashpeoplefromafar?What’sthatcalled,VectorTelekinesis?Canyoudothat?”

When she told him to jump up as high as he could to try and look down at the rocks he laughed and bent down into a sort of crouch with his one hand touching the ground. His body coiled down like a spring all the weight pressing down on his powerful leg muscles and when he pushed up it uncoiled much like well a spring. Into the air he soared up to eighty feet into the air and upon looking down he laughed as the rocks spelt out ‘Welcome to America’ with a smiley face and everything. It was amazing and quite thoughtful. Upon falling down he landed gracefuly, bending his knees to absorb the impact, and gave a slight bow. “Thank you, that was awesome. So, now what?”

[Zanna]

Keri just giggled softly at his response. "Nevermind." she said giggling still. He was an interesting one of character. He is fairly sociable, and seems to be comfortable within his own skin. Another thing about Keri, she tends to stay in the background a lot, so she tends to be an observer.

Darren seemed to be a trust worthy one, however he didnt necessarily know the rules yet, which was fine, they can be implemented either. She shook her head giggling still. "Im not talking about governmental identification, well kind of, but not in the sense you are thinking of." she said smiling.

When he started going off about her powers, she was taken by shock and her eyes went wide, and her mind kinda went back into its antisocial shell. Keri wasnt one to be outspoken, or to be sociable to those she doesnt know. Sometimes, curiosity got the best of her, which leads her to situations where she would not normally be associated with. Keri didnt have much friends at school, but that was okay, she was okay with only having a few people in her life. However, sometimes, it got a little too much, and she tended to get self-cautious and begin to pull back from society and from others.

"It's telekinesis." she whispered softly. "I can't hurt others or affect them directly though." she whispered pulling her parasol closer to her.

When Darren asked about what happens next, she kinda shrugged. "I dont know, what do you wanna do?" she asked gently. "Do you want to go explore? I dont really know the area all too well, since I'm here for a visit." she said gently. She couldnt take him to the cave yet... that was too soon, and she would have to worry about his citizenship and his past background as a foreigner. Bioshock and Athena would have to help her later on. For now, she was just another person with powers to him, and that was it.

"if we do go into town, you need to be quiet about our powers." she whispered softly. "People here dont necessary like the idea of super special people." she said gently.

[Shade]

Telekinesis was cool, in fact Darren thought it was really cool because it was kind of like the Force from Star Wars and everyone has seen Star Wars except for the actors who haven't seen it because they lived it. They lived the Star Wars. When however she stated that she can't use her powers to interact with others directly he rose an eyebrow in confusion because that was kind of the entire point of telekinesis, you know the whole moving things with your mind and all. He quickly shrugged it off and ran over so he was standing next to her and threw his arm around her shoulder. "Well that's alright, just means you won't be choking me all Vader style."

Quickly running so he was in front of her again he placed his hand under neath his chin as if he was thinking. "As for what we should do, why don't we go exploring? I mean I'm obviously new here and if you think you are too than what better way to get better acquainted with our new home than to scout it out?" He was grinning from ear to ear and was ready to bound off and go see the world for what it was. Until of course she told him that he couldn't use his powers or display them because the people here had something against that or something. That ruined his mood, or well sort of ruined it. "People are stupid then, I'ma do what I want but for your sake I'll keep it on the down low for a bit." Walking up so he was standing next to her he spread his arms out wide "Where to first Kirby?"

[Zanna]

Keri chuckled softly shaking her head before standing up dusting the sand off her clothes and pulling her parasol closed. Too much sun was bad, but the girl still needed her vitamin D, so a break from her umbrella wouldnt be too bad. "hmmm, it depends, what have you eaten recently?" she asked looking up at him. He was fairly tall compared to Keri's petite stature.

Keri also noticed that he was still shirtless, but it was the summer at Happy Harbor, a lot of people were shirtless in this scorching weather. "If you're hungry, I know a good cafe that's not too far away from here." she said smiling at him.

"and as for people being stupid. I agree. However, we can't force them to believe and or force them to accept us for who we are." she said gently shrugging her shoulders. Kei had to learn that the hard way. When she was younger, it was hard for her to control her powers, and things would float gently, low enough for people to not notice at first glance, but high enough for them to notice if they stared long and hard enough. She was always considered the freak show, and or the ghost girl. Most of her time growing up was in the protection of her home and her family with home schooling. She decided to make a drastic change in high school, and decided to attend public school instead. Many people don't recognize her and or remember her, which was to her liking, and still kinda is, but after a few seconds of walking, Keri cleared her mind of that traumatic past and continued to walk away from the beach, and towards the town.

"come on, really, what kinda place do you want to go to??" she said smiling up at Darren. "and it's Keri," she said gently smiling.

[Shade]

Food? Darren wasn't totally listening to what she was saying and had gotten completely distracted after the conversation strayed off into whatever way it had but at the mention of food or eating or whatever it was she said he came crashing back down to reality. "Food? Yea food sounds really good" his stomach growled in compliance, Darren could always eat a lot of food but after gaining his powers he found that he ate a boatload. He could probably eat the Queen of England and Bill Gates out of house and home if he was hungry enough. Right now though he simply needed a snack, something to state his appetite and allow him to hold over until his next meal, whenever that may be.

On the topic of people being stupid and having to put up with them or whatever nonsense Kirby was saying he disagreed. Or did he? Darren honestly didn't care what other people thought about him or didn't think about him. He was a shirtless teenage hobo who had been abandoned by his parents and left in an orphanage for crying out loud, who just so happened to also be a meta-human. The only thing that would give him an even bigger stereotype would have been if he was a minority. So, there wasn't much anyone could say or do that would bring his ego or good nature down. But there was plenty that could bring them up, like food for example. Speaking of food "lead the way Kirby!" Because sure he knew her name but Kirby was a much better name.

[Zanna]

OOC: do you want to stay in this thread or do you want to go to the cafe topic?

BIC: Keri chuckled. "alright then." she said smiling while doing exactly as Darren said, leading the way, but she lead while walking next to him, not walking behind, or in front. This was nice, she thought. She wasn't use to being around people in general and didnt really know how to act or react, but either way, this was nice

She enjoyed his company, and his personality was one that would surely not get boring, which was a bonus. Compared to Darren, Keri was self-cautious of what people thought of her, as well as how she appeared in public etc. She was one to succumb to the opinion of others. She couldnt help it.
Keri was always somewhat alone throughout her life, though she made it to be as if she had a lot of friends to her family. This was a step to no longer being a lone, and friendless.

As they continued to walk, Keri was quiet, she didn't know what to say, or do, so she just accepted the comfortable silence. The cafe wasn't too far away, probably about a ten to fifteen minute walk from the beach.

[Shade]

((ONWARDS! To another Topic of course))

[Zanna]

OOC: Lolol mk mk!!

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