[shu]

 

AUGUST 3, 2091
Providence, Rhode Island • 10:23 P.M.

Mayhem. Absolute mayhem. In the span of six minutes the city—home to one of the country's top hero schools and believed to be one of the safer cities to live in—had become a war zone. Massive explosions deafened the cries of panic as people fled for their lives. Sirens pierced through the cacophony as emergency response teams rushed to the scene. 

At the epicenter of it all stands one man—no, not a man, a devil. The hulking mass of muscle towers over everyone present. Disturbing green flames emanating from his body as his rage continued to swell. 





"TWENTY. YEARS. IDRIS!!!" the devil roared with an unhinged fervor that could only be described as rabid. The words resounded from the soul, resonating with every ounce of hatred and disgust that was festering within his heart. "YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!! NOW I WILL DO THE SAME TO YOU!!!" 





The sound of a snap cuts through the chaos. In an instant the memory is shattered. The tanuki rises in a cold sweat and labored breaths. Greeted by a reality nine years removed from the scene that just played out. Golden eyes frantically scanned their surroundings in an attempt to process. But there was nothing to see. There is no devil. Just a black themed room. The same room he's lived in for the past six years.  

"You were drinking again," a feminine voice stated in a muted tone. There was a sadness laced within the words, but also a hint of frustration. 

Startled, Shu turns to see a pair of golden eyes, very much like his own, watching him. He looks at the teenage girl, slightly mystified. His mind trying to shake off the fugue. Zazie, he clarified to himself as his mind started to clear through the haze. His labored breaths steadied as the adrenaline rush started to subside. 

His eyes shifted to the dresser next to his bed. There was an empty liquor bottle and an unfinished drink next to a tablet. On the screen was a document titled: Providence Incident Report #091990.

"Fuck," he sighed under his breath and dropped back on his bed. Shame and frustration replacing the adrenaline from just moments ago. That's when he noticed that his face was wet. He touched his face. A stream of tears. For a moment the tanuki just kept quiet, palming away the tears. He gazed at the ceiling as he tried to find the cobble together the words. He was a fucking mess. "I was drinking again," Shu admitted after some time, turning to face his daughter. He didn't even try to hide the guilt.

"Same dream?" She knew the answer. He only ever had one dream—well, it was more of a nightmare—and it's been haunting him for the past nine years.

"Same dream," he answered softly as he lifted himself up. "You got me before the worst of it though. Thank you." 

"Just...doing what I can," she said as an uneasy pause lingered over the room. That night devastated their family and was a frequent point of contention between the pair. The trauma held onto Shu like a vice grip, keeping him from properly moving forward with his life. It was an obsession. He kept looking into the night to try and find anything to prove his world wasn't utterly shattered. To prove that he wasn't an absolute failure. For Zazie, her mother and grandfather weren't the only casualties that their family lost. Her father died too. Except, like a poltergeist, his physical presence lingered—a husk of his former self. But now wasn't the time for arguing. Today was far too important. At least for today, she was going to get at least a glimpse of her hero again. "Sooooo," she started as she plopped down on the bed. Her demure expression was now replaced with a fiery grin. "When are we going on patrol?"

Just like that, Shu's mood was lifted. That smile was infectious. Just like her mother's. The zeal she had for heroism. The passion and drive for getting better. Just like how he was at her age. A subtle smirk tugged at the edge of his mouth and a bemused huff escaped. She really was the best of both of them.

"After breakfa—" was all he managed to get out before a handful of protein bars were thrown at his face. His brow twitched as they bounced to the floor. Piercing gold eyes narrowed on the girl but she remained steadfast and unfazed. The fire in her eyes melting the cold glare.

"Walk and talk, old man," Zazie declared as she jumped off the bed. That bouyant enthusiasm was now starting to bite him in the ass. "I was gracious enough to let you sleep in, but I've got you booked for the whole day!" She flashed a triumphant smirk and stuck out her tongue before bounding out the room. 

"Kids." Letting out an exhausted sigh, the tanuki made his way out of bed and grabbed the protein bars. "At least let me get dressed," he called out to her as he ripped one open and consumed half of it in one bite.

"Walk. And. Talk." She clapped her hands at each word.

And so, a new day has begun for the Morinji duo.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: 
This will be a simple collection of posts that will help me reacclimatize myself to the world of RP. It will feature my bastard of a character, Shu, and his brilliantly sarcastic daughter, Zazie. In any case, I hope that you enjoy the read while I shake off some rust.

   

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[shu]

 

The subtle motorized hum of a mono-wheel skateboard was all the warning people had as the young heroine zipped through the streets—causing more than a few to jump out of the way and sling some choice expletives. None of that mattered to her though. Years of hard work, training, and ceaseless study had finally paid off. A newly minted—provisional—hero license practically glistened in the sunlight as Zazie analyzed every inch of it. A grin spread from ear to ear as she casually performed a quick ollie to avoid crashing into a food delivery man.

"Alright. Alright. That's enough. Put that damn thing away before you actually hit one of these assholes," an irritated voice demanded from atop Zazie's shoulder. A medium sized black house cat sunk its claws into the girl's shoulder causing her to wince. Though before she could retort the cat continued. "The point of a patrol is to watch your surroundings. Not stare at some dumb piece of plastic."

"Fiiiiiiinuuuuh~," Zazie groaned with faux annoyance as she slipped the ID back into her wallet. Nothing could bring her mood down now. Not after finally getting her ultimate prize for finally getting her—provisional—hero license. A whole day of patrol under the supervision of the—former—Symbol of Strength himself. Though, in order to keep a low profile the tanuki decided to take the form of a black cat for today's lesson. "So where do we start?"

"You're the hero. You tell me," Shu stated simply. 

"Tanuki rule number one, understand your surroundings," Zazie recited with an air of smugness. "Hold on tight," she said as performed a kick flip, causing the skateboard to enter into a sort of anti-gravity mode. With a sharp left Zazie rode up the side of a nearby building until she reached the roof. In one fluid motion she landed and scooped up the skateboard. She then proceeded to walk to the edge of the roof to look down upon the city.

"Okay, Starlight," Shu said with a hint of paternal pride. She was starting off on the right track. "What do you see?" 





An inexperienced pair of golden eyes surveyed the area. There were easily over a hundred people in this section alone. For all intensive purposes, it didn't look like much of anything. But she couldn't just say that. Shu wouldn't accept that level of response. She squinted a little harder.

"I see," Zazie started as her eyes darted from one group of people to the next. "A relatively peaceful scene, but we're in a metropolitan shopping area. Opportunists thrive in these kinds of environments."

"Meaning...," the former hero said fishing for more specifics.

"Increased chances of theft related crimes. So it would be best to keep an eye on potential escape routes," Zazie surmised as she scanned the area more intently. She then pointed at the entrance of a nearby metro station, a bus stop, and a couple of alleyways. "They could use those to make a quick getaway." That's way too obvious. She needed to think harder.

"You're thinking too linearly," Shu declared before she could try and tack on more to her answer. "You're looking for conflict. It's blinding you from everything else."







Golden cat eyes shuffled over the scene below. So many things to see, but easy enough to glean the important information once you knew where to look. His tail swished for a moment before elongating and forming a hand at the end. He then pointed to the an area near one of the trees.

"That dog is about to get loose," he said as he honed in on two adults deep in conversation. So deep that the one with the dog had no idea how vehemently their dog was trying to free itself from its collar. "You could catch it before it gets lost or potentially hit by traffic."

Next he pointed to an area near the same bus stop she had mentioned.

"A kid is being bullied by some upperclassmen. Look at their body language." In the scene three older boys were flanking a smaller timid child, guiding him towards a nearby alley while laughing obnoxiously. "You could intervene." 

Shu proceeded to list off a number of other issues. A sleep deprived woman that was veering too close to the road. An old man struggling to catch his breath on a bench, clearly having overexerted themselves in some way. A couple of pickpockets. A group of teenagers poorly trying to hide their public quirk usage. Some workers having a hard time unloading the shipment from their supply truck. A foreigner fumbling around trying to find their destination. He listed off everything with a cold, professional, matter-of-factness. Zazie couldn't help but smile.

"Being on patrol means more than just being there to stop random villains," Shu explained, returning his focus to his daughter. "Being a pro-hero means that it's your job to make people feel secure. In this world, quite literally anything can happen. We—" he caught himself and quickly pressed on. "Heroes need to keep the illusion of peace. So, sometimes it's about grabbing the dog. Stepping up to some bullies. Grabbing an old man a bottle of water. Helping a person find their next stop. Just giving a helping hand to those in need. And sometimes," his eyes narrowed as a small commotion began to stir out in the distance. "Sometimes it's about stopping some random villains."

"Wait," Zazie said with mild bewilderment. She had been absorbing her father's words, trying to reframe her view of the scene below, so the complete 180 threw her. She then looked out to where Shu was pointing to now. Her eyes widening a bit in excitement.

"G'on, Starlight." A cheshire style smirk spreading across his feline face. "Show me what you can do."

AUTHOR'S NOTES: 
Going to be shifting the focus to Zazie for a bit. She's a new character for me, so I want to get in some practice with her. Work out her personality and how she views the world. More importantly, I wanna practice using her quirk. 

   

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[shu]

 

"You said that you had a getaway plan," a gruff voice barked as the four villains ran at full speed down the street. Each of them carrying a blue tote bag full of stolen electronics. The stockier villain practically foaming at the mouth from rage.

"I do!" The leader of the pack declared with a revelrous mirth. "The plan is to get away," he said with a wide grin.

"Fucking amateurs," the third villain groaned as he followed along, swerving around to avoid colliding with a mother and child.  

"Don't be like that," the leader called out. "Heroes don't even hang around this area. It's not worth their time."

At those words, the subtle motorized hum of a mono-wheel skateboard could be heard approaching them head-on at high speeds. Gliding across the rooftops and sides of buildings Zazie was able to quickly catch up the the quartet. Dropping down on them she made use of Tanuki rule number four: know your strengths. In this moment, her strength was the element of surprise. For all they knew, she was just a dumb kid on a high-tech skateboard. So, as she approached, she made full use of the opportunity to land a heavy roundhouse combo on largest of the four villains as they ran down the street, dropping him to the ground instantly.

"Fucking amateurs," the third villain groaned louder as the villains came to a halt after seeing their accomplice downed so easily.

"What the hell, kid?! Learn how to drive that that thing!" The leader of the pack snapped as he looked at all the stolen merchandise that was now scattered on the ground. And his buddy too. There was definitely a little bit of concern about him as well. Probably. 

"Oh, my bad," Zazie said with faux shock, clutching for a pair of imaginary pearls around her neck. "He just had such a punchable face. I couldn't help myself." "She's a hero," the fourth member of the group announced, his voice heavily auto-tuned and robotic.  "No shit, Sherlock," Zazie said as she brought up her MYDAS arm and activated her quirk, and triggering what could only be described as a real life magical girl transformation.

"Auraboros at your disservice," the heroine proclaimed as she unleashed a burst of residual alchemic energy, knocking the other three villains to the ground as well. "Feel free to surrender at any time," she added confidently while placing a hand on her hips. A smirk widening on her face underneath the helmet. Even Shu would have to admit that was a hell of a reveal.

"I...see," the leader said as he dusted himself off and made sure the contents of his tote bag were still in there. "How about we book it for next week?"

At the cue the three villains all took off in separate directions, leaving their fallen companion behind. 

"Huh? Wait, no," Zazie stuttered and the villains fled. This was the part where they were supposed to fight. A proper 4v1 where she could show off her skills in front of her dad. "Hold—"

"What did I say about shit talking?" The cat-sized Shu chided with mild annoyance as he jumped down from a nearby roof. He landed square on the chest of the fallen villain. From the distance someone could be heard questioning whether the cat just talked.

"Don't say shit unless you can back it up," Zazie recited, mimicking his voice to the best of her capacity while rolling her eyes.

"Exactly," he affirmed. "I'll keep this idiot here. Now go back up your shit."

There was a pause as Zazie just stared at CatShu.

"I don't think that sounded how you wanted it to sound," Zazie said. Once again, Shu's eyes narrowed on his child. With a soft revving of her skateboard she began to slowly back away from him, letting the awkwardness of the scene continue to intensify. "I'm just...," she said rolling further and further away. "I'm gonna go do my job now. You sit there and think about what you've done."

And she was off, leaving Shu to grumble something under his breath about kids.

"Oh wow, that cad did talk!" A voice called out from the distance, causing CatShu to let out another exasperated sigh. 

AUTHOR'S NOTES: 
Okay, I'm starting to feel like I'm back in the swing of it. Enjoying writing my little idiots. I like the idea of stupid villains committing petty crimes. But maybe they're more dangerous than they appear. Probably not tho. 

   

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[shu]

 

"It's not even that serious!" the leader of the pack cried out as he continued to flee. Civilians swiftly ducked out of his way, not trying to get caught up in the chaos. "We didn't even hurt anyone," he said before muttering, "that badly."

"And I'm not going to hurt you," Zazie called out to him as she picked up speed, putting her within arms reach of the man. "That badly."

However, right before she could grab him, the villain ducked and pivoted into an alleyway. Zazie sucked her teeth, but recovered quick enough to use her anti-grav skateboard to take to the high ground. Riding atop the roofs she was able to maintain a visual on her prey.

"Okay, I'm over this," she stated to herself and kicked the board to its highest gear. In a burst of speed she raced down the side of a building and cut the villain off before he could leave the alley. Now there was nowhere for him to run.

"You are persistent," the villain said with disingenuous respect. "But I really don't have time for this so...," he said and threw a punch. As he did so a black portal opened up in two places simultaneously. One directly in front of his punch and the other next to Zazie's head. The first went through the inky portal and came swinging for the heroine's head.

Fortunately, combat was where she excelled at most.

"Some kind of quantum entanglement," she announced as she utilized Tanuki rule number two: understand your opponent. With ease Zazie dodge attack after attack from the villain before catching one of the punches. "Neat."

Then, with a level of force one might not have expected from a girl her age, she pulled the man through his own portal and slammed him to the ground—adding her full weight to the end of it. Not letting herself get distracted in needless dialogue anymore, Zazie placed a finger on the concrete next to the villain's head. A few plates of the MYDAS armor lifted away to reveal a swirl of purple energy that resembled a finger. 





A cosmic purple and blue light radiated outwards and the concrete began to warp itself around the villains body, binding his hands and limbs rather...well, concretely.

"Hey! Hey! Not cool," the villain protested as they tried to free themselves, but Zazie was already done. The villain was practically fused to the pavement. Not literally, of course, but it would take some effort to dig him out. Though that wasn't really her problem. "I mean, it looked cool, but this is not a cool situation for me."

Now she was left with a choice. Pursue the other two villains or...

Tanuki rule number three: know your win condition. Two out of four wasn't exactly a great success rate. So, in that case, she needed to learn more about the situation. What were these villains after? Is this part of some bigger conspiracy? She needed more information.

Grabbing the tote bag from the ground—it had managed to fly off during the judo slam—she started to peer through the contents. It was filled to the brim with an assortment of various computer parts and electronic devices. But all of it was commercial. Nothing too outlandish. Maybe they were looking for some kind of specific component. Or maybe they were just desperate for money. 

"So what was the plan? Steal a bunch of stuff and pawn it off?" She asked as she sat down and leaned against the alley wall, a few feet away from her captive. "You grabbed some pretty high-end stuff here."

"Would you believe me if I told you that I had no choice?" the villain queried, attempting to turn his head towards her but to no avail. "Would you believe me if I told you that we were being blackmailed?" His voice began to quiver. A single tear started to form at the edge of his eye. "We all received photos in the mail of our loved ones and a letter. It said that if we didn't carry out this heist then they were as good as—"

"No," Zazie interrupted. He was a talker. So, she needed to keep him talking. "I don't believe you."

The villain sucked his teeth.

"Fine! We weren't blackmailed. Just trying to get in the good graces of a couple of people. Maybe pay off a few debts," the villain confessed. "Can you let me go now? Like I said before, I really do have places to be."

"From the looks of it, you're not going anywhere," a raspy voice said with a haunting chuckle, startling both the villain and the young heroine. A green spectral head suddenly materialized above the villain, sparking both the villain and Zazie to unleash a flurry of expletives. It's eyes then began to glow brightly. "Got a visual on the suspect," the skull said to seemingly nobody. "No need to rush. The rookie's got him wrapped up nice and tight."

The skull then turned its attention fully to Zazie, hovering over to her and sizing her up. 

"Not too shabby, kid," the skull praised. "Took down two of these jokers and even recovered the goods. You got a real knack for this."

"It was a cheap shot," the villain murmured under his breath. 

"You're one of Spirite's spirits, Ghostface," Zazie said, trying to keep herself from fangirling. "Don't you guys normally operate out of Osaka?"

"Heh heh, you know your stuff, kid," Ghostface praised as he whirled around Zazie. "We're actually on vacation, but when duty calls we gotta answer. She's rounding up the last guy now," the spirit said causing the villain to let out a curse of frustration. "So hang around for a little bit, will ya? I think she'll like you."

"This is the best day ever." She whispered to herself under her helmet, positively beaming from ear to ear. 

POST NOTES: 
So, the long and short of Zazie's powers is basically anything you've seen in FMA. She's a living, breathing Philosopher's Stone that can transmute things at will. As for the pro-hero that will be introduced, the name is pronounced Spee-Right. A combination of "spirit" and "sprite."

   

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