[Aimoto Momo]

AIMOTO MOMO

THE RED GIRL

“Teamwork makes the dream work!”

Momo’s cheer came after being assigned a partner for a training exercise in one of the many Heroics focused courses at UAU. She hadn’t actually meant to say it out loud. It just kind of happened. It was a recurring issue for Momo. The filter between her brain and mouth was practically non-existent at times. She was immune to being embarrassed by her own antics, however, and turned to one of her newest best friends classmates and now training partner. She had secretly been hoping they would be paired up. What was cooler than having a balloon for a head?! Well, an ice cube would be, but that totally didn’t count!

Unless someone there had an ice cube head.

She looked around furtively to double check. Whew. No ice cubes here. Then she turned to her partner. “Michael, right? I’m Momo! It’s nice to meet you properly!” Remembering the manners her mother taught her, Momo bowed, and Michael was spared from a more European greeting for the time being—and from the onslaught of questions that Momo wanted to ask him about being a balloon. Well, having a balloon head. That would be rude and Momo wasn’t rude. She was curious though, so she couldn’t help but stare. It was accompanied by a bright smile though, hopefully lessening any negative interpretation.

Notes & Tags: Samaritan

[Samaritan]

Does a Blush Show

On a Latex Face?

Michael was excited for today’s class. Though not all of his class shared his altruistic nature when it came to being a hero, many at least seemed to share his enthusiasm. Michael wanted to become a hero in order to help people rather than stop villains. But he knew that more times than not, he would need to stop villains in order to help people. So, Michael took his training quite seriously, hoping to gain all the strength and experience he could so he could stop crimes as peacefully and safely as possible.

Michael’s partner was one of the students that seemed to share his bright enthusiasm for the lessons given as she was quick to shout out: “Teamwork makes the dream work!” She was a very bubbly and friendly kind of person, someone that Michael would instantly warm up to. While he wasn’t kind as expressive as she was, he was very happy to be working with someone that was so positively excited. Michael couldn’t help but chuckle faintly to himself as she glanced around as if assuring that she had the right person as her partner. She lit up with a pleasantly casual and friendly greeting.

Before he could reply, Momo began to bow. This too was casual, in relativity to bowing, but it had still caught Michael off guard. Michael wasn’t much for formality, it reminded him too much of home and at times it made being kind or generous awkward. Besides he wanted to become a hero of his own accord not because of his family’s social standings or his father’s achievements. Michael couldn’t help but be polite to others, but formality towards him felt embarrassing

“N-No need for that. It’s very nice to meet you Momo-san.” Michael said nervously bowing back not wanting to seem rude. “Yes, my name is Michael.” While their meeting was tensed by neither wanting to be impolite to the other, Michael hoped that that would blow over as they got into their training and they would be able to loosen up.

Notes & Tags: Aimoto Momo

[Aimoto Momo]

AIMOTO MOMO

THE RED GIRL

“Oh, okay!”

Momo was always the first to gladly hop on the not-so-formal train. First stop? High-five city! She offered her hand out for one.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Michael-san!”

Her mother’s native manners still dictated she be polite in addressing people until they told her otherwise. Regardless of whether or not Michael actually participated in the youthful expression of celebration, Momo would gesture with the once-offered hand toward a series of small locker rooms set on the border of Ground Beta. Stations of convenience for students so they didn’t have to traipse about campus in their chosen athletic or Hero costume attire. Especially since they had required uniforms for regular classes already.

“We get ready over there!”

Momo’s brain interpreted Michael’s newness at the school as her being his tour guide. Granted, she had only been to Ground Beta a few times herself and had a terrible sense of direction. Even she couldn’t mess up pointing out the locker rooms though.

“And then we meet up at…”

That part of the teacher’s instructions had already gone in one ear and out the other. Fortunately for them, Momo’s luck kicked in, and one of the other students present for the course filled in the blanks as the gaggle of their classmates started to disperse around them. “The Arcade, Momo!” Momo clapped her hands together.

“Oh! That’s right! The Arcade! Thank you!”

Momo still had no idea what The Arcade was.

But she, and Michael, were going to find out.

Notes & Tags: Samaritan

[Samaritan]

Ready to Train

Momo’s demeanor shifted immediately to a very easygoing manner as she offered a high-five. This felt much more comfortable and Michael returned the high-five to her happily. Momo pointed out the changing room and where they would be conducting training. “Oh great! Thanks. I’ll meet you there.” Michael said as he headed for the convenience stations to change out of his uniform. Michael didn’t have a hero suit yet, he hadn’t even figured out what his hero name would be. On his application, he had put down a couple ideas of nicknames friends from highschool had called him, but none really felt like a great fit. As for a suit or gear, these too were concepts Michael wasn’t sure on. His quirk gave him a lot of literal and figurative flexibility when it came to what he could do, so he would need to devise something that would be able to keep up with his constant changes. For now, it would just be his gym clothes and he would just be known as Michael. That seemed more than enough for now.

Michael got changed into his athletic gear and left the changing area. From there he followed the direction Momo had pointed, as well as the other students, in order to get to the Arcade. Michael wasn’t sure what was going to be expected for training but with Momo’s revitalized enthusiasm, he was very excited to get started.

Notes & Tags: Aimoto Momo

[Aimoto Momo]

AIMOTO MOMO

THE RED GIRL

Michael would find that he arrived at The Arcade well before Momo. The spartan exterior was discordant with its name that hinted at the potential for fun. In fact, the towering windowless structure looked like it would have been better suited for Ground Gamma. Students gathered outside were let in two-by-two according to their assigned pairs. Eventually, Michael was the last one standing. The reason?

Fashion.

There was a very good chance that the most difficult thing Momo would deal with that day was not the challenge put forth by their proctors, but getting into her Hero costume. Being cute and on theme came at a price—being the last one to show up at The Arcade. She bounced over to Michael, clearly full of remorse and with a few tears in her sapphire eyes. Not to mention a red bump indicative of a future bruise forming over the left one.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I got my foot stuck in the legging and fell into a locker and-”

“Inside, you two,” the professor called from the entrance in a voice so stern it elicited from Momo an actual, “Eek!” She bowed apologetically, if not a bit wobbly, then complied with the order. Short-legged steps led Momo to the open door. The inside beyond the threshold was dark, illuminated only by neon runners set directly into the floor. As soon as Momo got near, and Michael if he had followed, a series of similarly embedded lights between the runners lit up with a path of arrows leading deeper into The Arcade.

Notes & Tags: Samaritan

[Samaritan]

The Balloon

and the Battered Bug

Michael stood patiently waiting for his classmate to join the rest of them. At first he hadn't really noticed how long it was taking... but as a few of the pairings were sent inside the exercise and she still hadn't arrived he noticed she was the only one that hadn't come out of the changing rooms. As more went in, Michael began to be concerned and actually considered going to make sure she was okay... but she was in the changing room presumably. He tried to ask someone else but they were all focused on their class. As the last group headed in, Michael was more concerned about her safety than seeing something embarrassing... he'd just cover his eyes. But luckily, that wasn't necessary as Momo came running over in her hero outfit, looking rather battered.

"Momo-san! Are you alright?!" He said running over to her part of the way. Momo was trying to explain herself but the professor clearly wanted them to focus and snapped at them to get inside. Momo hurried inside after apologizing abruptly again with Michael close behind her. He was still concerned about her, even if the injuries were minor, he wanted to be sure she was okay.

Once inside the Arcade, there were floor lights indicating which way to go. Seemed rather self-explanatory on where to go. "Momo-san,are you going to be okay?" Michael asked trying to gauge if he should take point on this. He kept checking to make sure she wasn't wobbly or dizzy as if she had a concussion. He stayed close to have an arm ready to catch her.

Notes & Tags: Aimoto Momo

[Aimoto Momo]

AIMOTO MOMO

THE RED GIRL

Entering what totally wasn’t the beginning of a vaporwave dungeon after a head injury probably wasn’t the smartest thing—but neither was Momo. “I’m totally fine!” Momo saluted Michael to prove her point. With her left hand. Which meant she smacked herself directly in the same spot she had hit her head already. To her credit, she didn’t cry. She was going to be a Hero which meant she had to be tough! And tough girls didn’t cry. Not in public.

The door closed behind them with a heavy thud. Momo jumped and looked over her shoulder. The professor was nowhere to be seen. Neither were any of the other students. Even with the floor lights, she could only see Michael while standing close to him. She inched a little closer. So she could see him better. Really. It wasn’t like she was scared of the dark or anything.

“Um. Maybe we should follow the arrows!”

She still sounded excited, at least.

Notes & Tags: Samaritan

[Samaritan]

Take My Hand

Michael was confused by the change of atmosphere inside The Arcade. It felt exactly like its namesake as the whole interior flashed lights and bright colors in an otherwise dark hall just like some kind of arcade. Michael wasn't sure what they should be expecting out of this class, but following the arrows seemed like the best bet. Momo wasn't the most convincing in claiming that she was okay, and the poor lighting and visual effects happening around them likely wasn't helping any. Michael didn't want to presume enough to stop the exercise for her if she really believed she could keep going but he wasn't going to let her go on her own for any of this until he was sure she was okay.

As Momo stepped a little closer to Michael, he reached down and loosely gripped her hand. "We've got this." He looked down at her and made eye contact as he said, "If you feel dizzy or need my attention just give my hand a squeeze." Michael started to lead them forward, following the arrows on the floor. He didn't go too quickly but still moved them fast enough so that they wouldn't be caught off guard from behind or presumably trapped from the front.

Notes & Tags: Aimoto Momo

[Aimoto Momo]

AIMOTO MOMO

THE RED GIRL

Momo could confidently say she had never looked a balloon in the eyes before. She still wasn’t sure she had, but Michael’s gesture and words did make her feel calmer. One bright smile and a returned hand squeeze later and Momo was right as rain again.

“Okay! Thank you, Michael-san!”

She followed after him, hand-in-hand, until they reached a closed door with a blinking sign up it flashing the words, LEVEL ONE, in bright red letters. The door didn’t remain closed when they got closer. An automated system deep within The Arcade, and unbeknownst to the pair, monitored their approach to trigger the mechanisms that allowed their entrance with a creak of machinery and joints that hinted at how heavy the door truly was.

“Wow,” Momo said on the back end of a gasp. She might have been impressed by the entrance, but that wasn’t what elicited her reaction. It was what lay beyond. A series of seven steel girder beams hung from the ceiling. Each one was slanted to a degree in alternating directions. A blue ladder suspended from the bottom one through oddly large and convenient cutouts reached all the way to the suspicious soft cushy ground several feet in front of Momo and Michael. There were also ladders on each of the trusses leading to the other. The big difference was that they were partial and not easily reached as they were several feet even above Michael’s arm reach.

At the topmost rafter was a bridge that connected to the far wall where a door was positioned. Another sign in the same red letters as the one over the entrance blinked the word, EXIT, down at the pair. True to Momo fashion, she pointed out their obvious objective out loud. “I think we have to get up there!” Considering she was more of an airhead than the literal balloon next to her, she didn’t pick up on the fact that it was going to be more difficult than just finding a way up the ladders.

Notes & Tags: Samaritan

[Samaritan]

Bouncing Along the Sides

The pair made it into the first room that had been marked as Level One. Michael looked up at the bizarre lay out. He was unfamiliar with video games in general but the aesthetic was undeniable. The brightly colored girders and ladders that were suspended from the ceiling led very clearly up towards an exit. It seemed straightforward enough, they would need to ascend to get to the exit. The ladders seemed like an obvious way to go, but they were already going a bit slower than they needed to be. Maybe they could get up obstacle quicker by sidestepping the intended path.

If Michael was by himself, he could just inflate himself with helium and float up to the top, but he wouldn’t be able to lift Momo too. So his next thought was to bounce his way up. “I might be able to get us up faster. If you get on my back, I can bounce us up the sides rather than going to the ladders.” Michael suggested to her. While he hadn’t really clarified his quirk with her, they didn’t really have time to be getting deeply into discussions. They might need to just trust each other and their collective capabilities to succeed. Michael knelt down so that she could climb onto his back and if she did he would inflate his body slightly and begin to bounce like a ball to build up some momentum before springing them up to the first girder.

Notes & Tags: Aimoto Momo

[Aimoto Momo]

AIMOTO MOMO

THE RED GIRL

“...Bounce?”

Momo stared at Michael with eyes wider than normal and mouth agape. Had the look and question come from another, the reaction might have been interpreted as incredulous. That was clearly not the case with Momo. She radiated wonder and admiration rolled into her usual excitement. In a word, she was awed.

The bouncy ball wish came true!

Except that had technically been for Sebastian when she had seen him bounce ever so slightly off the ground a few to several yesterdays ago.Time was oddly nebulous at UAU. But that was besides the point! She had been disappointed when Sebastian wasn’t actually like a bouncy ball. Michael apparently was and that, in turn, meant Momo really was lucky. She clapped her hands together and exclaimed, “Yes, please,” with a big grin plastered over her face in the wake of her exuberant agreement before climbing onto his back for the piggyback ride of a lifetime.

As they bounced from floor to suspended scaffolding, there was a distinctly metallic click from somewhere in the back wall. Momo didn’t hear it because she was too busy being giddy and giggling to herself. Michael was lucky she had just enough common sense and consideration to not scream wheeeee directly in his ears(?)—but just barely.

She was all smiles when they reached the first level. Even when she saw a panel abruptly open on the back wall from the level directly above them. Mostly because the realization that nothing good was about to happen hadn’t occurred to her. That didn’t stop it from happening though. A large barrel launched downward toward them from the dark void behind the opened panel.

What?!

“What?!”

Notes & Tags: Samaritan

[Samaritan]

Barrel of Laughs

Michael was relieved that Momo seemed be perking back up. He would need to take it easy to not rattle her around too much just in case, but his whole body was basically a shock absorber, so he was confident he could keep her comfortable as they went up the side. When Momo got onto his back, piggyback carry, he hooked his arms under her legs to keep a good grip as he began to jump in place building up a bounce until he could spring up and land on the first scaffold with ease. If this was what he could expect, this first level would be very easy.

However, upon landing on the first girder, there was distinct metallic clunk. Michael couldn't hear it over the jubilant sounds and giggles of Momo. She was quite the little bundle of joy, seemed more like the temperament of some pop idol than a typical hero. Michael actually appreciated that. He wasn't much for the gritty hero archetype, he was inspired by the heroes that went out of their way to help others feel comfortable and safe. Maybe they weren't the kind of heroes to handle some of the more serious and severe villains or disasters, but they cared and gave people something they needed in those darkest hours: hope. Michael wanted to be a symbol of hope, someone for people to look to for comfort and security. He had the altruistic warmth already, now he just needed to make himself strong enough to protect people and not sacrifice those ideals. Momo had that same aura of warmth, so Michael hoped she would be able to graduate into a hero just like she was: uncompromisingly happy.

Momo's laughter was finally overwhelmed by a new sound. Having missed the sound of the metal clunk, it wasn't until a panel in the wall at the end of the scaffold above them that the pair of young heroes in training noticed. Michael expected their would be some kind of hazards released for this challenge, but he was not expecting what came rolling out. Tumbling from the panel, picking up speed as gravity rolled it down the scaffold above them was a giant barrel. This thing looked like some kind of cask used in a whiskey distillery, with a diameter as wide as Michael was tall. Michael was relieved that it was on the level above them, at least they would have time to prepare around the barrels if more came out of the open hatch.

Unfortunately, rather than crashing at the end of that level or just falling over the sides, the barrel hit into the ladder and actually managed to land directly into place to start rolling towards Momo and Michael having lost little of its momentum in the process. It had caught Michael by surprise and he would need to push himself to jump over it at the last second if Momo was unable to do help.

Notes & Tags: Aimoto Momo

[Aimoto Momo]

AIMOTO MOMO

THE RED GIRL

Momo’s question hung heavy in the air. Unlike the barrel. It was busy rolling down the beams and directly toward the pair of would-be Heroes. Having worked as a team in a very physical sense with other students from the dance school she had attended most of her life, Momo was surprisingly aware of Michael’s predicament when it came to his ability to react to the unexpected (on Momo’s part) trap.Even more surprisingly, this was something Momo could handle.

A wave of energy burst out of her in the form of tiny lights that solidified into a large swarm of ladybugs around them. Out of Momo’s sight, the exit sign flickered and dimmed. She had no idea that her ladybugs were drawing power from its electricity to fuel themselves, and in turn, her. This time she felt it in her muscles. A sudden tightening as her strength increased. She subconsciously knew she would need it to enact her plan, though the realization hadn’t made its way to her active mind yet.

The yo-yo draped around her waist as part of her Hero costume came free. Fingers tightly looped through the ring of one end and a split second later, the other end was whipping up and toward the rafter above them. Momo’s legs squeezed down on Michael to keep them together as the internal winch in the yo-yo yoinked them up and out of the way. Of course, now they were just dangling in the air as the barrel crashed into the floor below in time for another panel to open up and drop two more barrels onto the makeshift platforms to renew their predicament.

“Um… now what?”

Momo definitely wasn’t the brains of the duo.

Notes & Tags: Samaritan

[Samaritan]

Michael Faraday

Yo-Yos and Rubber Bands

Michael braced himself to force his body to pull off a standing jump, but Momo's actions caught him by surprise. What appeared like a swarm of bugs flew from Momo around them. Before Michael could get a baring on what exactly they were doing, he could feel Momo's legs tighten around his waist as she used some kind of gadget that appeared to be a big yo-yo to essentially grapple hook their way up towards the girder above.

This had gotten out of the way of the rushing barrel just in time. However now there were more beginning to roll down towards them. Despite managing to get them out of the way, Momo seemed to have done so out of instinct as she wasn't sure what to do next as they dangled in the air from the yo-yo string. Michael inflated out his right arm, making it stretch ahead of him to grab onto the beam and pull them forward. He began to monkey climb them across the bottom of the second scaffold, keeping them above the two barrels that rolled down the girders like the first had.

Once they had passed, Michael pulled the two of them over and up onto the new scaffold. They likely could have continued this way the whole way up, but he looked to the girder above them and considered just stretching and pulling them up to the next level. "You have a pretty amazing little gadget there." Michael said, not sure what the lady bug swarm had done for her, so he complimented her yo-yo as he stretched his arm up to the girder above them, keeping an eye out for more barrels.

Notes & Tags: Aimoto Momo

[Aimoto Momo]

AIMOTO MOMO

THE RED GIRL

Once Michael took over carrying them and the mission again, Momo retracted the yo-yo back so it would be ready for a potential next time—and so she wouldn’t be stuck to the beam as Michael moved away and toward a more stable location on the topside. A wave of Momo’s other hand caused the ladybugs vanished with an audible pop as the pair settled in their new location. Her grip on her trusty steed automatically loosened as her strength faded to its previous levels.

“Thanks! It was a present from my mom from So… Sopapilla… No, that’s not right. I guess I don’t remember the name of the place!”

Was it forgotten before the head injury or after? Who knew! Definitely not Momo. She wasn’t completely uninformed on her own weapon though. “It can zap, toast, or chill stuff!” How that helped them there, she didn’t know, but she would need to figure it out fast. More panels opened on the walls. Barrels like they had seen before dropped down on them from overhead. Only now there was a different kind mixed in if one was keen enough to catch it. Which meant the onus was once again on Michael. Noticing was not Momo’s forte.

These new barrels were rather obvious though. Red bands wrapped around the top and bottom of the curved planks rather than the plain metal bands of the regular ones. They also seemed to move faster. Less obvious was the different sound they made as they rolled down the beams. They sounded heavier, as if something was inside. Which something was. The only clue to what came from a thin wire at one end that was throwing off small embers from a lit tip. Wires that were getting shorter by the second. Surprisingly, Momo did notice though. If only because they were bright in the dim lit room. It was like a crow seeing something shiny.

“...Birthday barrels?”

Not that seeing meant understanding.

Notes & Tags: Samaritan