Lesson 0 AKA Stuff we must learn before we start learning stuff

[Darkstorm]

New York city - 2 June, 2018
https://preview.ibb.co/cRp3Vf/Diethard-Ried-Camera.png (https://ibb.co/eyQcqf)

The camera crews run as they try to follow the action.

A seemingly drunk man trashes in the street having sent two policemen through the air. He flails and screams something about being alone and be let alone, and he is using his massive strength to do that. A second after he punched the cop, his car went flying crashing into a building.

Screams and fires turn in an instant to cheers – the 3-force has arrived.

The 3-force was the most known hero company in the country – and that was because the three heroes in it consistently ended the year in the top 5 of the country and had the number 1 for the last 5 years – Iron shield.
The team quickly moves on the set, striking as a three prong attack and in less than a minute the drunkard is apprehended and in custody of the police.

The 3-force smiles and goes towards the public that is cheering them, shaking hands and talking with the people. A popular team had to do public these days.
----------------------
To all

Last month of school.
After these days vacation and then a new school – a high school, a new beginning if you get accepted.
The teacher is talking about the importance of the letter you are writing - a motivation letter – explaining why you want to go to that school – in your case Star academy in Star Lake city.


Here is your chance to "build" your world before going to the academy. You can be living in Star Lake cty or being from somewhere else.
You don't need to write a whole motivation letter, but give an idea why you want to attend that school (or a good reason to the school staff).
The story per si will start in Lesson 1 AKA Sometimes we have to start from an end AKA Why use in media res while playing super heroes.

[Ridai]

In the back corner next to the windows, Mala sits dressed in a white suit, lightly resting her masked chin on gloved fingers, perfect in poise and serenity, looking at an empty sheet of paper surrounded by crumbled ones containing clear, elegant, and insufficient collections of letters. Inwardly, Mala is groaning, desperately trying to come up with a way to phrase this letter. The teacher didn't need to mention how important the letter is. Because Mala knows this is literally the most important one of her life. No pressure. No, jokes aside, a hell of a lot of pressure. It's Star Academy or life in a containment facility. Everyone around her (teacher included) except for Yuki is wishing her to go to the latter.

Thankfully, Mala is mostly being ignored at this point in time, other than a few snide remarks about how she shouldn't be writing to anyone but the CDC. Glancing about the classroom, she sees a few people laze about, uncaring about where they might be going. A few fired-up ones. A few cocky ones. A few smart ones. A few people who have no idea. Yuki is smiling to herself and the world as she is putting the finishing touches on her letter to Star Academy. Mala doubts she will have any problems. Her Spatial Distortion Quirk is amazing, she is smart, and a wonderful person. She could go to UA if she wanted.

Faith, meanwhile, is already finished, sitting leaned back and browsing with her phone, waiting for class to end. Her letter is probably short, brutally to the point, outlining exactly why Star Academy should pick her in no uncertain or flowery terms. Her Honey Badger Quirk is hard to beat in terms of sheer raw physical power and force of will, as is her decision-making, reaction speed, and general skill when things get dicey. A little abrasive and probably too intense for most people, but Mala pities the villains that at some point will come across a full hero Faith. Just as she hopes to have mended things with Faith until then.

Mala quickly looks back onto the empty sheet when Faith is starting to show signs of turning to her. She can tell when someone's watching. And she can make people feel that piercing gaze themselves.

In previous iterations of the letter, Mala tried to apply as just some regular girl hopeful, which soon broke down when she got to her Quirk. Then trying to go for a neutral, matter-of-factly approach, which made for a really unconvincing read. Trying to downplay her past. No, won't do, that's not how someone wanting to be taught to become a hero should act. One or two iterations were little more than begging. Mala sighs pleasantly, looks out of the window at the Seattle rain, and is growing more and more desperate inside. Empress of Alchemy has done a lot so that Mala even has this chance in the first place. But everything just seems terrible. Why would they pick someone with this kind of Quirk? Who had to be quarantined twice by the CDC, the second time with the media descending on the story with glee? Someone who is a walking carrier of weapon-grade diseases and no absolute certainty to keep it contained in her current state?

Every logical conclusion is telling her that with how many talented Quirk users there are in the USA, and how few of them can get into Star Academy, why should they pick her? With hundreds, probably even thousands of much easier, more natural choices?

Mala is remembering the time in the CDC cell. They probably won't keep her like that for all her life. But she is already seeing herself contained. Locked away, for the safety of everyone else, soon forgotten. Until she dies and her body will need to be sanitized and destroyed entirely to prevent one final outbreak.

...

Mala sets her pen onto the sheet. Adressing it not at the usual adress at Star Academy, but the Headmaster himself. Perhaps everyone who is desperate does this. Perhaps no one does, because no one has the gall to bother such an accomplished individual in such a way. Mala really doesn't care right now. She starts writing without hesitation or consideration. She introduces herself as Mala Deena Kingsley. The same who was the cause of two virus outbreaks in the Seattle area in the last ten years, due to her Virus Quirk, whether or not they were accidents, putting several people in critical condition. Not avoiding it, not trying to get out of any responsibility. She is honest about this application being basically her very last chance at a normal life, and only due to Empress of Alchemy's faith in her, with CDC containment being the alternative, and that, yes, she can't help but be influenced by it. That she could be a potential threat to the health of the academy's students. She knows all this makes her a terrible candidate for an institution like Star Academy.

She needs help. And she wants to help. Use what she can do to aid, help, save others. Be useful to society. Prove she wasn't born a monster. She knows she can do more. That she hopes she can one day reach out to others without her or them fearing she will cause them harm. Live a life with others, and stand between them and those who would want to do them harm. Be a beacon of hope and acceptance, be it for normal people, or those who developed a Quirk associated with villainy or catastrophe. And she will not stop working and improving until she has reached that goal, if she is allowed to do so.

Mala ends the letter with an apology to the headmaster for writing directly to him, also that she hopes she didn't make anyone feel like they were dooming her if they don't pick her. She isn't looking for a handout. Just a fair chance. She admires the heroes involved in Star Academy, cape or not, and they should continue to do what is right.

Sincerely,
Mala Deena Kingsley

P.S.: All CDC requirements have been observed during the writing of this letter and the handling of the envelope, please do not be concerned about possible infections.

Without further consideration, Mala neatly puts the letter into the envelope and seals it. The crumpled attempts all go into her bag, to be burned later. There is a feeling of finality. Once she has sent it, Mala can only wait. And hope.

[Elricaltovilla]

Shin was grateful that he wasn't the only one in the class with a Quirk Dispensation this year. He always felt awkward whenever he got special treatment because of how his arms wobbled or his bouncing gait prevented him from going anywhere in a calm and orderly fashion. He glanced over at the girl with squid arms as she typed away on her computer, Lisa? That was her name. Shin wouldn't say he had a crush on her, but the small amount of kinship he felt was enough to keep him from feeling totally lonely.

Taking a deep breath, he steadied his arms on the desk and started typing. With any luck, this would be his last year in LA. Next term he'd be at Star Academy, learning to use his powers to become a hero.

Dear Mr. Headmaster,

No, that wasn't right...

Dear Mr. Hollander,

This is a writing assignment. I am writing this letter because I want to attend Star Academy and become a great rescue hero. When I was three years old, my mother and father fled China and moved to the United States of America. Here, we could start a new life that was safer. My father works as a lawyer for a banking firm. My mother is an in home hairdresser. We have a happy life, and I am grateful for that. Father tells me it would not be that way if we still lived in China.

I have wanted to be a hero for only a short time, just the past couple years. This is because until the sixth grade, it was my dream to be a fire fighter. When I was five, our house caught fire and I was trapped inside. I thought I was going to die, but I was rescued by the good men and women of Ladder 19 of the L.A. Fire Department. What they did was amazing, they saved my life and even rescued my favorite stuffed animal from the fire.

I hoped to become a firefighter like them, and used to sneak off to volunteer at the fire department whenever I could. Eventually, my parents agreed to just let me go help out there, seeing that I wasn't going to give up. For the longest time, I was certain I would become a fire fighter, but in the seventh grade, I got some bad news.

My Quirk is difficult to deal with. Because of the changes to my arms and legs, I would never be able to pass the exams necessary to become a fire fighter. I was upset. But then Fire Chief O'Malley told me that my quirk was strong enough that I could consider becoming a hero instead. He explained to me how the fire department works with rescue heroes all the time, and that they have fewer physical restrictions on their quirks and abilities. He said that he and the other fire fighters could help me train (Please don't get them in trouble!) so that I could become the best rescue hero ever.

That is why I want to be a hero. Specifically, a rescue hero. My friends from Ladder 19 believe in me, and because of them I believe I can become a person who is worthy of the title.

Thank you for reading this,

Tan Shin

P.S. Tan is my last name

It was probably not the best letter that Headmaster Hollander would read, but Shin felt proud of his words. They were more his than anything else he'd written in school. Usually, his mother or his father hovered over Shin while he did his work, making corrections, or scolding him when he got distracted. They wouldn't be able to do that once he was in Star Lake City. He saved the letter, and printed it off. He bounced over to the classroom printer, careful to make as small a series of hops as possible, so as not to disturb his classmates. Some of them still snickered, but Shin reminded himself they didn't matter.

[Esprit15]

Letting the paper sit crooked on her desk, Mira stares out the window at the bayou off in the distance, absentmindedly tapping the pencil's eraser on the desk. "Write a motivational letter about why you want to go to Star Academy."

Why? What, do they expect some long winded, fancy worded letter about their deep, personal reasons for wanting anything out of a middleschooler? No, we're all dumb kids. We don't have deep reasons for wanting anything. I want to go to Star Academy because I think I would be an awesome student there, and it's another step on the road to being a great hero... Ugh, this is going to be hard.

Slightly frustrated, Mira gets up and walks over to the teacher's desk. "Mr. Broussard, could I work on this at home? It's... kind of a lot to ask of us to write this in a few hours."

The tall and thin Mr. Broussard sighs, the kind of sigh that an adult gives when a child asks them a question that they really want to give an immediate and dismissive "No" to. Unfortunately, she had a point, that if this was to be an assignment that was taken seriously, it was somewhat fair to give the students at least a night to think it over. "Alright. But, I want an outline at least by the end of class. It doesn't need to be polished, but I need to see what ideas you want communicated in the final draft."

Taking her seat, Mira sighs and begins to think, adjusting her focus on the lights. The white-violet, violet, and lime green coming out of the old fluorescent lamp was giving her a slight headache, made worse by the lamp's flickering. Just focus on this. You can do it.

Dear recruitment committee,

Some nice greeting

Strengths
I am a determined person I'm a good fighter

This was going to be more difficult than expected. What do they even want to hear?

I can swim well

This assignment was dumb. ...but she still had to get it done. Looking back at the clock, an hour had gone by. Four students had already turned in full letters. And she couldn't even get a damn rough draft.

She crosses out Strengths and frustratedly puts her face on her desk. The sound of other students turning in their assignments just seems like an insult now.

***

About five minutes before the bell, it hits her.

Open up by recounting story of watching Dad swim out to the Gulf Rig accident scene two years ago.
- Family beach trip
- Mom spots smoke
- I think I told you this story before, you know where this all goes

Connect story to being rescued when quirk first activated.

I want to be a hero because I want to be to other people what my dad was to me.

On another sheet of paper, she quickly begins writing the first draft of her letter. When the bell rings, she quickly hands in the scrawled mess of an outline, scribbled out words and all, to Mr. Broussard. "It's not a lot, but I know what I'm going to write now." Quickly turning to leave, she calls back, "Don't worry, you won't be disappointed!"

[Comissar]

Holly leaned back, tapping her pen in an irregular rhythm against her chin. Behind her, her father was working on dinner, putting together a stir-fry. The gentle sound of her father's tuneless humming and the chopping of vegetables formed a backdrop to her own musings. Mr. Horan had set the class a weekend task of writing letters to their chosen High Schools, the idea behind the homework being to get them thinking about their reasons for wanting to be a hero.

She leaned her head back, resting it on the cool glass behind her. In front of her, a towering wall of glass stretched to either side, a patchwork of light and dark, some parts a riot of colour, others eerily muted dark blues and greys. The evening time was probably her favourite time to be in the gallery, there was still plenty of light from the inside of peoples homes and their lightbulbs, but the lack of daylight from the outward facing panes leant a more somber atmosphere to the endless corridor.

Tapping her pen a few more times, she turned her attention back to the clipboard resting against her knees and scribbled a few more words down. She wasn't rushing the assignment, it felt like the words needed to come from her heart, and that took time sometimes. All the same, it felt like she was finding the shape of the letter easier and easier to imagine as the words filled the page, each line making the flow of the next simpler to grasp. Her work flow was interrupted by an unexpected tapping on the glass behind her. Leaning back, she felt the familiar sensation of passing through glass, the feeling almost like dropping through warm water.

She looked up into her father's face, "Yeah?"

Her father leaned down a bit, resting his hands on his knees as he did, "Dinner's in five, just got to wait for the onions."

Holly twisted round, bracing a hand on the tiles in front of the mirror and glanced to the stove across the room. Now that she could smell what was cooking, she realised just how hungry she was. She gave a nod, smiling as she did, "Sure, smells good. I'll be out soon, nearly done anyway."

She pulled herself back forward, leaning back on the glass again once she was fully through. She gave her draft letter a last read through before picking up her clipboard and pen, turning and stepping out of the kitchen mirror. As she made her way tothe dining table, she called out "Can I get you to look this letter over after dinner..?"

Her father glanced over at her, eyebrow raised as he served up their food, "Letter, huh? Schoolwork?" Holly nodded, "Sure, what kind of things do you want it to be saying?"

Holly sat herself down, starting to pick her way through the stir-fry in front of her as she talked, "Well... I wanted to try and let them know why I want to be a hero. Y'know, talk about the police a bit, talk about how my quirk's just perfect for search and rescue in a city," She breaks into a grin, "Then a bit about the training I've done? The athletics and Judo stuff? Then round it out with my hobbies and interests. My photography, a bit about my school life," She leaned forward, a mischievous grin on her face, "A bit about my overbearing and totally embarrassing Dad."

That got a snort of amusement, her father trying and failing to pull a wounded face. The rest of dinner passed with more general talk about school and films, until the food was finally gone, and Holly was left to wash up. As she did, her father began to read through her letter. Singing quietly under her breath, Holly did her best to not let her mind linger on the quality of her writing. Several minutes of work later, she flopped down on the sofa beside her father.

"Well..?"

He gave a faint, negative sounding grunt, "Well..."

Holly leaned forward, feeling a clenching worry in her chest, "... What..? Is it bad..? It took all evening to write..."

"Hmm... Well..." Holly tried to read her father's face, failing to figure out what the issue was, "You mis-spelled academy, there's an 'e' at the end, not an 'a'." Holly gave a short laugh, shoving her father's shoulder, making him chuckle as well. "It was well written sweet-heart, well done. If they don't let you in after that, they don't know what they're missing."

Holly gave her father a giddy grin, "Thanks Dad."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Today, Stretch is out running with her daughter as part of their usual mini-triathlon. By now, this exercise barely phases Julie, and they can use it as one of their few opportunities to bond as a family.

Naturally, Dad is away doing a show in New York. His family bonding time occurs separately.

Stretch is prone to telling long stories that can take up the entire run, but today is special because they are working on Julie's Motivation Letter. She tells her how it used to be that kids would just automatically get into a school according to their district, and how back in her day the Star Academy was the only high school in the country that required these college-style admissions essays. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration. There were some private schools that kind of did it too, but the limiting factor usually had more to do with money than essays. Since then, academies all over have copied their model, hence the rise of resources and dedicated school assignments dedicated to writing them. Meanwhile, in Japan, they came out with this thing called Plus Ultra, where admissions were further restricted by an obstacle course designed only to be beaten by superheroes, but they were only able to afford it by televising it, and the committee at Star Academy didn't want to deal with the expense or the legal liability...

Okay, wow, that was a bit of a tangent. What were we talking about? Oh, right, Julie's essay.

Since kids write essays for high school admissions all the time now, the rules for writing one have changed a little when it comes to getting into Star Academy. To hear her friends at work tell it, the Great Power Great Responsibility spiel is pretty much taken as read, and the emphasis has moved to what makes the incoming student stand out individually. Not in the quality of their Quirk - training to leverage such things is a problem that comes AFTER admissions. She needs to differentiate herself in her personal experiences. Obviously, having a model member of the hero community to model herself after is a bonus - it means that she has a primary source regarding the dangers, rewards and requirements of modern law enforcement where many kids would not, but like her Quirk, it's a different metric than the Motivation letter is meant to cover. That is why, despite how it may look, Stretch advised Julie to detail the lessons she learned from The Incident in third grade, when the fiendish Goth Dolly briefly infiltrated their household and recruited Julie as an accomplice in her elaborate schemes.

Of course Julie was already planning on writing about that, but it was nice to know that Mom had considerately overcome her brain-melting embarrassment about the event in advance.

Stretch further advised that she include a little bit about her relationship with her father's side of the family and her obsessive interest in music. Some committee members pay special attention for students who have some way to unwind outside of school. Star Academy has a continuing record of students who, without any hobbies to turn to, will simply burn out, figuratively or otherwise.

Julie's parents aren't much for procrastination, and in their eagerness to see their daughter succeed as Stretch has they made sure she had a finished draft well in advance of the due date. Still, she couldn't help showing it to her closest friends and making obsessive little edits all the way to the end.

**medusasDirigible began pestering gothDolly at 11:50 PM**
MD: ! Okay, last one!
MD: ... The upload cutoff is in literally ten minutes.
medusasDirigible attached file: Motivation_06_12_FINAL_Forrealthistime.docx
GD: ~Good~! I think you have nailed it! You should be a shoe-in.
MD: ... I still feel weird that it talks about my mom so much.
GD: Do not worry about it. The academy may say it has been cracking down on ~legacy students~, but in truth the acceptance committee knows that the benefits outweigh the costs.
GD: The public expects the children of heroes to be heroes themselves, and in practice they rarely disappoint.
MD: ! It's not even that!
MD: ... I guess I never really thought about how big an influence she's been on me even when she wasn't really around.
MD: ... Or how important The Incident was and how even that had her stretchy fingerprints all over it.
MD: ... It's like I'm learning as much about myself from this paper as the Academy is going to.
GD: Well, I wish you luck, not that you need it.
GD: Remember, even if you don't get in, you will always have your fallback career in ~World Domination~.
MD: ~! MRUUHAHAHAHA! Naturally!
MD: ... Okay I turned it in I'm going to bed now lol.
MD: ! Night Goth!
GD: ~Good night~!

"This is probably the last day we're ever going to see each other."

A depressed orange cat in the size and shape of a 12-year-old boy carries a huge padded case on his back. Alongside him walks an excited girl with oblong blue balloons for hair. They have just wrapped up their last session of band practice with her favorite song. She still can't get it out of her head. The neighbors two blocks down still can't get it out of their head.

"Haha! Oh, come on! Star Academy isn't THAT dangerous. Certainly no match for the Blue Gorgon!"

"That's not really what I meant."

The cat looks at his companion carefully as he tries to figure out how to put his intentions gently. Julie doesn't notice. "Well, you're not going to die either! You don't REALLY need me there to protect you 24/7, do you?"

This wasn't the conversation Tom was trying to start, but he gets drawn into the argument anyway. "Okay, sure, but we'll be so far apart, living our own lives, no real reason to interact..."

"Yeah! But we'll call each other anyway, and when we both graduate, I'll come back to re-rescue you from your empty Julieless life!"

Tom sighs. "...heh, ok. Sure."

[Steve-a-Saur]

Phil flicked through the pages on his phone as he walked towards his bus stop, catching up on the latest in hero news.

"You pay a PR firm millions of dollars, and three-force is what they come up with." Still, they were America's number 1 team, and were worth learning from.

He pocketed his phone and looked up to see someone else waiting at the bus stop who hadn't been there in a while. It was his rival, whose bone manipulation quirk proved harder to get through than he had originally thought. With it, his rival could manipulate their own bone structure to create solid bone plating over their skin and making it hard as steel. Without hesitation, Phil sat down at the bus stop.

"Heya Bonehead." He greeted.

Bonehead smirked at him, "Hey Sparky."

They sat together in silence for a while. The last time they had sat next to each other like this was when they were discussing the future, what was the purpose of having quirks that they couldn't use. It was the first time that he had ever thought about the future seriously.

"So... school's almost out," said Bonehead.

"Yeah... so, did you ever figure out what to do with your quirk?"

Bonehead looked up at the sky and hmmmd a little.

"Maybe. What about you?"

Phil thought back to his application letters, writing several "hero academies" hoping that he'd be admitted to at least one of them. Would it really be alright though? He heard that UA made their students fight giant robots or something. Could Star Academy really know that they wanted to admit him into their school from just a single letter? Would he have to do something more before he was admitted? Part of him hoped so, because fighting giant robots sounded awesome.

"Guess I'll find out soon," he said, still uncertain about his future.

They sat in silence again.

"I suppose this is one of the last times well ever see each other again, huh?"

Hearing that said out loud made him a little sad. They've spent most of the school year together, and they formed a sort of relationship together while they were competing over whose quirk could beat whose. Phil didn't quite know how to describe what they shared with each other, but it wasn't like he disliked Bonehead, and he was sure that Bonehead didn't dislike him either. He was going to miss their banter.

Instead of trying to share any of this however, he simply smiled and said, "Thank God! I won't have to see your ugly skull face anymore."

"Hey! You know my face only looks like that when I'm using my quirk."

"Whatever. It's still creepy as hell."

"Well, you're no stranger to Uncanny Valley either Sparky. Some people tend to get creeped out by a guy who can rotate their forearms on their axis."

"Why, I have no idea what you're talking about," Phil punctuated his statement by slowly swiveling his forearms at the elbows, eliciting an annoyed eye roll. It was exactly the sort of reaction he had been expecting.

"Whatever you say, creep-o. Just make sure you keep your hot and cold pads handy." Bonehead held up a fist, and manipulated the bones until it was thick and calloused.

"Yeah, and don't you skip stop drinking your milk."

They hit their fists together, and there was a familiar clink of bone hitting metal. Wherever Bonehead's future lay, he hoped it would be a successful one.