Nock Nock
Beyond Human
Boastful braggart with a heart of gold
Posts: 7
|
Post by Nock Nock on Apr 3, 2018 3:51:21 GMT
It was raining which was just great, raining and cold. Just what Chao Bao wanted to be out in on this fine day, but justice never slept and neither did he, potential because he was still short on rent and wanted to make some quick cash selling autographs. Yet, he’d been walking to a local coffee joint, after spending hours in this horrendous weather without so much as a single crime! But, then thats when he noticed it, the traffic lights at the intersection between Beauty Water street and Golden Petal street, why they had those names Bao had never figured out since they both were worn down relics of a time when the only thing on the roads of Hong Kong were horses and buggy, yet there they were, continually upgraded to fit the ever-evolving world and they were still ugly lines of dried tar, The roads themselves aside what mattered was that the light’s that allowed safe, efficient, and timely, according to the local magistrate anyway, street crossing where out.
Furthermore, an elderly lady was attempting to cross the street, to no avail as the stream of vehicles rushed along on their way; busily going about their lives in the multi-tiered city of Tomorrow, except you know today. Then he saw it a crowd of Superstarians, a group of superhero fans, right on the other side of the street. Seemed they were hanging out of an internet café, what fabulous luck! He could both build street cred and do a good deed today! Walking up from behind the old lady Chao Bao took but a moment to swing around she he was standing in their line of sight, in as authoritative a voice as he could muster declared “Excuse me honored eld-“the old lady looked at him with a look of confusion, they’re voice full of uncertainty “W-what was that young man!?” flinching for a brief moment from here yelling, yet not deterred Nock Nock began again “I said excuse me honored elder would y-“ raising a wrinkled hand to her ear “What was that, you want to see an alder?!” with a quickly hidden sigh, he raised his voice and tried once more “I said, excuse me, honored elder! Would you like assistance crossing this street!”
Blinking at him the elderly woman replied in a shaky monotone “I’ve not come across any of your beets, I’m trying to cross the street you see.” With a suffering sigh Nock Nock knew that he’d not get anywhere with words alone he so waited for the right moment, finally the cars stopped for a moment as the traffic from Golden Petal street started to go, offering the older lady an elbow, which after a moment she took realizing perhaps that he was helping her cross the street and, in fact, not looking for a vegetable. Though he got several very dirty looks from the cars coming down Beauty Water street, they crossed the street uneventfully. Take that moment to tell the old woman very loudly, both so they could hear and so the superstarian’s heard as well. “It was my honor to help you esteemed elder! Just another job well done for the newest Avant-garde Superstar Nock Nock!”
The only lady nodded, before swiftly turning on her way down the sidewalk. However, the real audience he was after made notice. Quickly, he raised his hand, loudly, confidently, and even arrogantly some might say he declared “Yes, I am the newest hero, Nock Nock! Though I am new based on the projections of the experts on SuperStarsOfTommoro.com, I’m the fastest growing superstar this week!” Considering he was the person who managed that site, yes, yes he was. As the fans started to crowd really just interested in a superstar regardless of popularity, he flashed them an award-winning smile “Now, I’m just like you and was on my way to this lovely café! However, because you are all excellent citizens, and I just so happen to have a stack of pictures of myself with me! I will be selling autographed photos for a simple ten yuan!” with that lead them into the small internet café, smoothly taking an empty table to himself to set up an impromptu autograph session, ordering coffee from one of the baristas. Taking out the photos and signing away, hoping that he’d sell enough to pay for the coffee he really needed, due to both the cold and his lack of sleep as of late, and to top off his rent. . . that was due yesterday.
|
|
Stardust Emperor
Superstar
An empire of blue sand to protect the people.
Posts: 16
|
Post by Stardust Emperor on Apr 3, 2018 9:10:29 GMT
Let's see, checklist to make up an inconvenient day.
Four hours of sleep last night? Yep, that happened.
Leaky roof in cheap apartment still unfixed? That's about right.
Not even a moment of reprieve from doting mother? Also included.
Suffice to say, today hadn't quite been on Fallon's side. In fact, the way the flow of the day had been, it was here, there, and everywhere. One of the busiest days he'd had in a long time, as it were. He'd worked hard to get where he was now, which is to say he still wasn't quite sitting pretty. But, as a new Superstar on the scene, there was plenty he had to get done today. Possibly most notably however was getting his new Superstar outfit ready to go. He'd been going back and forth from the same costume designer for a little under a month now, and only recently had the man finally finished it. Fallon was, suffice to say, incredibly impressed with his work. It was to the exact specifications he'd- well, in saying that he'd only done up about half of the costume before his mother piled onto it to make it flashier and more noticeable. She seemed to know what the people wanted in a Superstar.
It was a shame that the outfit set him back just about all of the savings he'd amassed over the past few months, but that was all fine and dandy. At least now he was able to get work done, to protect the people of China from evildoers, villains and rebels alike. Though, he was still waiting for an offer from some kind of sponsor to fly in, chances are that'd be here anyday now. If his memory served him correctly, he actually needed to be affiliated with his sponsor first before he could do any work.
This whole Superstar system was dumb, but if he had to sit through it in order to help people legally, then so be it. At least this way he could use his mutation for more than just a few miscellaneous things. Though, he wasn't so sure about walking around the streets with his Superstar costume on, he was afraid he'd draw a lot of attention to himself. Wait, that's the whole idea. Another thing to add to the list of today's inconveniences.
Oh, and it was raining as well. Lovely.
Fallon just needed a pick-me-up at this point, something to keep him going so that last night's lack of sleep wouldn't catch up to him later in the day. Cafes were a godsend in his eyes, always offering hot beverages that often temporarily undid tiredness like this. Baristas were amongst his favourite people, suffice to say. It was still raining though, and he didn't think to buy an umbrella for days like these, he'd just grown so used to putting up with it.
Luckily for him his constructs weren't liable to vaporise in the rain, at least when it wasn't coming down too hard. It was one of those kinds of rainy days, thankfully.
He'd made sure to step outside before summoning a construct to do something for him, the last thing he needed right now was noise complaints from the other people in his apartment building.
Before he knew it, he was off, making his way through the streets and, unavoidably so, drawing the eyes of curious passersby to himself. He couldn't blame them though, his hair sparkled like some kind of mini disco ball, his outfit maid him look like some kind of stylised ruler from a video game, not to mention he had a shimmering blue soldier marching beside him, covered head to toe in immaculate armour, not giving even so much as a small hint of what lay underneath. All the while shielding it's creator with a simple umbrella.
Fallon knew for a fact that he was effectively a nobody in the grand scheme of Superstars as it stood. Sure he was up and coming, but, nobody was going to know who he was, what persona he was supposed to be conveying, or even what his mutation was. People seemed to rightfully assume that he was a superstar as well, he caught onto key words in the mutterings of people around him.
Things such as; 'who's that guy?' or, 'I haven't seen him on TV yet, is he new on the scene?' or even just subtle nods of approval. His mother was certainly right about his outfit catching eyes, though he figured that the soldier he had alongside him gave off a similar vibe. He didn't care all that much though, he was tired and needed a coffee.
Speaking of which, he was just coming down Golden Petal street now and spotted an internet cafe just down the way. The internet part didn't interest him all that much, and the establishment looked awfully crowded. But once again, he didn't care. They served coffee, that's all he needed.
He took a step in, and before he could really get an eye of what was going on, he realised his soldier was still holding up the umbrella, whilst both him and the soldier were indoors, he turned to it and spoke one word.
"Ease."
He forgot briefly how loud he got when he commanded his constructs. A large portion of the crowd in the cafe had turned their eyes to him, including a few of the staff members. Though the soldier had now lowered the umbrella and was now studiously standing at attention. He'd need it there if it were still raining when he left, after all. But now he had people gawking at him. He was about to continue on without a word, but then he remembered that he needed to put on some kind of face. So, in the most calm, and confident tone he could, he spoke. ...After clearing his throat.
"My apologies if I interrupted anybody. Please, continue what you were doing."
His voice carried almost an air of regality to it, a light smattering of royal authority. ...That didn't mean all too much to him, just part of the act. Most of the people had returned to what they'd been doing previously, which he once again didn't bother to look at. He'd need to eventually, though, his curiosity would get the better of him at some point.
The regal act dropped almost immediately as he placed an order at the counter. A flat white was what he usually got, and that's what he ordered. Nothing too crazy, nice and simple. Just how he liked it. Though, he was confused when the barista offered him a discount.
"Oh, doesn't it normally cost more than this?" He asked, a bit confused by it all.
"Superstar discount, champ. The way you're dressed and that armoured fella you walked in here with gives it all away." The barista responded simply. Fallon wasn't sure what to make of this, but nodded anyway, paying up with exact change and nodding respectfully.
"Ah, well, thank you very much."
With this remark, he went ahead and took a seat across from the crowded table. Only now was he starting to notice what it was, which as it were, was some kind of autograph signing. Wait, oh that man signing the autographs had to have been a Superstar. Though, Fallon didn't recognise him at the moment, he had the feeling he was likely going to get acquainted with him at some point. After all, it seemed as though Fallon had accidentally snagged some of the attention off of the people who'd come and bought an autograph, at least in some ways. He wasn't sure whether or not this hooded man was well known in other places, but he didn't know them at all. They must have been charismatic to be handing out autographs already.
He was left wondering whether or not people were going to ask for his autograph. It wasn't likely, he didn't think so at least. But, curious, his eyes remained on the autograph signing across the way, sipping at his coffee as his construct remained standing at attention close by the door, and as it were, close by Fallon's table. As much as he wasn't too keen on the whole 'public figure' idea, having an insight as to how other people might pull it off would be helpful.
He'd at least be able to see a presumably newer Superstar doing so, at least.
|
|
|
Post by Thundercrack on Apr 3, 2018 15:45:30 GMT
For someone who did not usually have much money on her person (or anywhere else for that matter, she was broke pretty much all the time), Amani's excursions into the commercial district were growing ever more frequent. It was quite a popular season for anime releases, which meant that there were a lot new titles on display while there was some of the older or less successful titles joined half-price sales promotions. The girl's interest lay in both, as she wanted to check the price and content of the most recent releases (as well as see if there were any interesting titles that she had missed in her previous venture) and glance through the discounted DVD cases in case there was anything she could snag from the bargain bin now there was a cheaper tag attached.
However, as much as she loved spending time at movie rental stores (though there was that one Blockbuster who definitely did not enjoy her constantly looking through DVDs without ever buying one), Amani found herself with half an afternoon on her hands in which she was free to spend in town as she wished, once it became clear that it had been something of a slow week in terms of new stock.
It's a shame, too. She was looking forward to seeing the confrontation between Mega Mecha Mecha Mech Man and the Space Pirate Captain Samurai Errutonu Forto anywhere but a combination of her phone and shady anime streaming sites. Season one of "Adventures Aboard the Starflight Express" had ended on such a cliffhanger.
Amani pondered upon her dilemma as she exited the store and headed towards the vague direction of a cafe she knew. Perhaps she could have a walk in the park, or go hunting for some rare figurines of some of her favorite characters, which she did not frequently try often due to the incredibly high prices placed on them (curse her oddly specific tastes!). She might peruse some of the thrift shops in case there was something even she could afford to buy. Or she could simply enjoy wandering around streets that she never got to wander on before under the dim light of the cloudy mid-afternoon nimbostratus rain.
The possibilities were - as they say - endless.
That is, until she realized she had been waiting at this very specific traffic light for nearly ten minutes now. She found herself at the intersection of Beauty Water and Golden Petal streets, and she had been trapped. Amani wasn't the type to interrupt someone else's busy day just so she could cross the street, as there were very few other pedestrians out in this weather. The needs of the hustle-and-bustle-of-Hong-Kong outweighed the need of the one-girl-who-wanted-to-loiter-at-the-local-thrift-shop, after all. But, alas, her phone was running out of battery, her clothes were running out of dry-ness, and she was running out of patience. Amani stuffed her phone in her pocket, reached her free hand forward, and jabbed the indicator button that would soon make it so that it was safe for pedestrians to cross.
With Amani's touch, the rain pouring down, a minute charge that she had built up just from static, these factors all came together and resulted in a blinding flash of electricity that arced from the crossing light and into her hand. She shielded her eyes, and when she looked again, the LED image of a man crossing the street flickered and died. Amani looked down at her hands, electricity jumping between her fingers. Amani quickly glanced from left to right, checking to see if anyone had seen her unconscious use of her power, and was relieved to see the only witness had been an old woman who, judging by the thickness of her bifocals, probably hadn't seen anything anyways.
Amani now had a new prerogative: get out of the rain and avoid stomping around in puddles. That cafe that crossed her mind was looking pretty good right now - she needed to check her phone, anyway. Her rubber case should have protected it from the discharge, but she could never be too careful.
Taking initiative, a short jog, and a detour, and a hop, a skip, and an - whoa, watch out Amani, you almost jumped into that puddle - and an open set of doors, and she had arrived at her destination!
And, much to her surprise, she found herself face-to-face (not really, because she only saw him from behind while he was at the counter) with what was either a really good cosplay, or a real Superstar! It’d make more sense for it to be a cosplayer, since Amani couldn’t really figure out why a Superstar would be off in their day-to-day while wearing their uniform, but Amani assumed that it was a testament to their dedication to his job, or something.
Plus, it didn’t make much sense for it to be a cosplayer, either. According to SuperStarsOfTommoro.com, Stardust Emperor wasn’t exactly a fan-favorite this season, nor did he have a particularly good chance of becoming one next season.
Nock Nock, on the other hand? Supposedly, he’s had the greatest growth rates of any Superstar on SuperStarsOfTommoro.com - and that meant that an autographed photograph today would be worth twice as much tomorrow.
Supposedly.
With the last of her money (30 yuan, or so) Amani stepped into the line of squealing girls, swooning for their chance at an autograph of this cutie patootie wannabe. Those girls wanted to hang the image up on their wall in their bedrooms, but this girl was looking forward to the opportunity of hanging the image up on eBay in about a year from now. Amani was a master of the get-rich-slow game; it's why she wasn't rich yet.
|
|
Nock Nock
Beyond Human
Boastful braggart with a heart of gold
Posts: 7
|
Post by Nock Nock on Apr 4, 2018 1:29:41 GMT
As he sat at the table, quickly signing a photo of what appeared to be a tourist from Korea based on their, horrendous, accent. Yet, they’d paid their ten yuan and by all that was good and right in the world, he was going to sell his image. With a dashing flourish creating bold red, the color of victory, double Ns in English. This was intentional as most people saw the foreign letters as fascinating, signing it at the body of the picture, along with a to my good friend Mr. Joh-Eun, so as not to obscure his face. Which was bare except for a stylish pair of rose-tinted goggles and a conservative splash of blue face paint covering the forehead. Enough to make it unlikely he’d be spotted in his day to day life, but not enough, however, to interfere with the marketing of his looks. Of course, his manager, who was in reality his old math teacher Mrs. Lu who helped him keep track of hero statistics, had suggested he wear some kind of full face mask to protect both his identity and well you guessed it his face, which was completely preposterous you can’t make it big if you don’t utilize every asset at your disposal; and this was exactly what he was doing as he gave the Korean man a firm nod, hand him the signed autograph sending him on his way with a smile.
It was at that moment that another superstar waltzed in, yes waltzed you’d had to have seen it, being escorted by a retainer of some kind, yea I didn’t stutter retainer like a knight or something it’s wild. Add in the fellows own set of armor and regal way of speaking and bam you had a knightly king type. As the attention was focused on him, which was annoying our hero to no end, Bao took a moment to drink his coffee; watching as the crowd of onlookers thinned. The people leaving his little booth were mostly those who’d already had gotten a picture or just gawked enough. It didn’t take long for the squeals to interrupt his moment of silence however.
As those left in the line were a small handful of teenage girls, with a smirk behind his styrofoam, the dashing Chao Bao allowed himself a moment of vanity, thanking whatever god’s they be for his own good looks. He almost frowned for a moment as he considered that having a useful power would have been better than good looks, but that’d be bad for the fans. Speaking of fan’s, the next one was waiting in line with a dazzling smile, displaying almost too white teeth bleached perhaps, asking for a name and efficiently signing the photo adding personal touches like names or phrases as requested.
After signing a final photo, he took a quick drink of his coffee, holding a finger up to the next in line, asking for a moment. Out of the corner of his eye he glanced at them and he almost spit out his drink at their appearance, they certainly looked like a homeless person anyway. Glancing at his dwindled stack of photos as he sat down the cup of coffee Bao thought ‘This is a good sell, now let’s just snag another from this young. . . . homeless person, no to clean to be homeless, but poor non-the-less? Could he really sell a picture that was autographed by a nobody who’d manipulated his own blog to appear more important than he was?’ It only took but a minute for Bao to answer himself ‘Yes, yes he could, he was going to be a big shot soon enough anyway.’
Taking just a second to drag his tongue across his teeth, careful can’t let people see coffee stained teeth bad for marketing, he flashed them a smile, leaning forward as he locked eyes with them, saying in a too-cool-for-school tone “To who do I have the pleasure?” He’d take his right hand and grab a photo and marker as he spoke, not missing a beat.
|
|
Stardust Emperor
Superstar
An empire of blue sand to protect the people.
Posts: 16
|
Post by Stardust Emperor on Apr 4, 2018 10:14:36 GMT
From the looks of things, the crowd gathered around the autograph signing Superstar was starting to clear up quite a bit. Though most of them were still hanging around in the cafe, swooning over their newly attained autographs or otherwise chattering about something Fallon couldn't quite hear. A quiet sigh escaped him, he was used to public interaction usually entailing getting threatened or simply as something to avoid. But, he'd need to grow used to it fast. His duty as a Superstar would eventually entail the same amount of interaction with the public and media as it would actually saving people, if not more.
Not a particularly inspiring thought, but it'd force him out of his comfort zone a bit. God knows that'd happened enough today.
His gaze shifted here and there about the place, to the now about half-empty mug sitting before him, to the rain gently dusting the street outside, to the staff all studiously maintaining their posts. The line for the autographs was dying down, and that had calmed the place down a bit. He couldn't forget the construct he'd left standing by the door, of course. And the small group of about three people standing about curiously looking at it.
Wait, hang on, they weren't there before.
He haphazardly kept his gaze on them, though eventually one of the three teenagers turned to meet his gaze. Apparently having drawn a correlation between the gently sparkling blue soldier and the equally as sparkly robed guy sitting close by it. They then drew closer and began to speak. Oh boy.
"Excuse me, but I have a question. Is that armoured man by the entrance yours?" The girl asked.
"Oh, yeah he's-" Fallon stopped himself, suddenly clearing his throat and fake-coughing to interrupt himself.
C'mon now Fallon, you're supposed to act like someone else. Put on a show, make a name. He thought. A moment passed, he took a deep breath and composed himself, forcibly straightening his posture despite his body protesting out of fatigue.
"Why, yes he is, citizen. A loyal soldier of mine, formed from stardust, a product of my own power." He said, speaking in the same tone he had earlier. A calm, confident tone with an air of royalty to it.
God, I'm making such an ass of myself. He thought once again.
"Oh! So he's something your mutation did!" The girl piped up, Fallon nodded.
"I wouldn't be able to protect the public without it by my side, I'm afraid." The girl then turned to her two friends as he said this, muttering something just inaudibly enough so that Fallon didn't hear it. Though it didn't take long for the other two to join in on the conversation.
"You're a new Superstar?!"
"What's your name?!"
This was turning into less of a conversation and more of a barrage. But, looks like he had to put on a show again. He cleared his throat subtly and stood up from his chair, facing the three with an air of poise and elegance.
"I am the Stardust Emperor, do well to remember my name. I swear it to you, in my hands and under my vigilant gaze, none shall come to harm. For the people of China are my people, and I shall not rest until evildoers and criminals alike have been crushed, by my decree." He spoke eloquently, airs of regale and an unwavering faith in himself and others radiating in his words. Making a flourish with his hands, ending in a flashy, royal pose.
It didn't really help that he was struggling so much to maintain this guise. It was so gaudy and loud, two things he wasn't used to being. This wasn't him, nor would it ever be. He didn't like getting bossed around, sure, but that didn't mean he was all for commanding people and acting as some kind of phoney ruler. The people seemed to like it though, as the three stared at him, open-mouthed and starry-eyed.
He held the pose for a solid few seconds as the general stillness there rang out, before the three started talking at one another again. Muttering as they were before. Fallon dropped the pose, the moment he did they turned to him again, the one that had approached him initially speaking once more.
"Well we'd better see you on TV some time soon, 'your highness'!" Fallon simply nodded in response to this again, bowing to them a bit as he watched the three take off out of the cafe, discussing things amongst themselves again as they went to probably continue with their day to day lives.
Gagh, finally, that's over.
He relaxed after that moment, slumping back into his chair, his eyes on his coffee once more. He wanted to sink further down upon realising that this was going to be a frequent thing in future, but couldn't bring himself to think on it. Glancing around a bit, his gaze eventually rested on the earlier focal point of the day, the man handing out autographs. Down to the last couple of people it seemed, though up next was an oddly dressed teen wearing a hijab. Not something he's used to seeing actually, he'd heard that people sometimes wore them as a fashion thing, or was it a cultural thing? He couldn't remember. Polka dots were a bold choice, either way. She rocked the look at the very least.
Though, he kept replaying that prior scenario in his head. He knew before that Superstars were such big media icons, but to this extent? It was a bit ridiculous. Though, speaking of both Superstars and things being ridiculous, he remembered the man actually signing the photographs. He'd need to chat with them at some point, assuming his assumption of this guy being new as well, it'd be a good idea to make some connections early on, maybe some allies to work with in future. He didn't really want to, but he knew it was a necessary evil. Besides, he'd almost already made a number of stupid mistakes that others had to fix for him, he couldn't keep doing that. Seeing as not making connections early was in fact a stupid mistake.
And so, he continued to subtly sip on his coffee, waiting for an opportunity to move in. Namely an opportunity involving this charismatic hustler of a Superstar either running out of customers or running out of photos to sign.
|
|
|
Post by Thundercrack on Apr 6, 2018 15:15:46 GMT
Amani had to be careful with how she answered. She knew better than anybody (Amani does not, in fact, have the authority to claim that she knew better than anybody) that personalized autographs were worth much less than their straight-to-the-point counterparts. Autograph pricing can be, at times, a difficult task. There are many factors to consider when placing a value on an autographed item - condition, rarity, popularity, age - just a handful that Amani knew. It would probably help if she could get the guy to sign some sort of documentation, confirming that, yes, he did in fact sign this photograph.
She laughed after a moment of deliberation, a light and fluttery sound, dismissing the question. She fired back with a smile of her own, flashing bright and even teeth as-if to compete with Nock Nock for smile superiority.
“Oh, I’m no one important, really! Could you just put some little hearts down, maybe?”
There was a pause, and Amani thought deeply to herself. No, that’s too much. The hearts’ll only appeal to a very specific market. Maybe future collectors will think it’s an autograph to a forlorn lover? That might sell for a bit, but that’s a risky investment.
“Or maybe that’s too personal, hm. Maybe little smiley faces?”
That’s safer, but also kinda childish. It might be out of character for someone as serious-looking as Nock Nock - I’ll be accused of forgery.
“A thumb’s up?”
She hummed for a sec, fist on her chin. What’s even the current appraisal for doodles? Is that a thing? Oh, no. A sudden realization hit her: what if he’s a terrible artist? Good artists can’t even draw hands. Time to backtrack.
“I’d settle for checkmarks, really.”
amani what are you doing
She sucked in a deep breath, paused, and then spoke again at last.
“If it’s just your name, that wouldn’t be too bad.”
Another smile, but this one sheepish. She cast a tentative look over her shoulder, at the cosplayer-and-slash-or-maybe-actual-Superstar, and squinted her eyes. It wasn’t that Amani was distracted easily, or that she had trouble focusing on anything in particular. It was just that she still couldn’t tell if he was for real or if he was a cosplayer.
Although, the glowing whatever by the door was something of a tell-tale sign. Did he really have to do that? That had to be tiring, right? Certainly he had to sustain it, and he also probably needed to focus to control it. Why was he just walking around with some mirage in the first place? What did he have to gain from it?
Amani sighed. These people are so extra.
|
|
Nock Nock
Beyond Human
Boastful braggart with a heart of gold
Posts: 7
|
Post by Nock Nock on Apr 7, 2018 4:18:04 GMT
Was listening to the teenager as they talked, with each sentence the pen in his hands flew across the photo, only to come to a screeching halt each time they changed their mind. When it finally came down to it, he’d drawn what looked like a battle-field of hearts vs smiling faces, with the master hand floating ominously above. With a slight scowl he looked at the photo, it was a butchered mess of an autograph, oh sure all the little bits were well drawn, a sure it was an amusing photo, but he knew that it wasn’t a photo you could really collect or re-sale. Which was bad because a personal autograph of his just sitting collecting dust wasn’t adding to his own fame, no not one bit. With a little sigh, he darted across to the bottom of the picture, evading the heart-smiley face war, writing out in smooth English to Dots your good friend, Nock Nock.
“Look, um, I messed this one up so you can have it pro-bono and. . .”
He slides the wild photo across the table, swiftly pulling out another photo and signed it simple NN at the bottom as they had finally requested. Shifting a bit, he pulled out what looked like a smartphone, odd considering most people utilized the flip-phone variety, he hands Dots the simply signed photograph and twirled about in the chair, leaning back so that they both could be seen.
“Say Romance of the Three Kingdoms!”
With a cheeky grin, he snapped a photo of the two of them. Just as quickly as he’d spun around, to begin with,
“I’ll give you the one you asked for as well, oh and hope you don’t mind the picture, I like to commemorate when I give out autographs to fans.”
He chuckled a bit as he stood up taking the coffee cup in one hand and nonchalantly tossing it behind him, where it landed in a recycling bin, the spinning lid well spinning around and around.
“Especially fans trying to decide whether they want an autograph for themselves or one for resale, anyway, I’m going to talk to my good friend Dusty, so see you around Dots.”
Thinking after he said that ‘Not like they’re easy to miss, what the heck is on their head?’
With that, he shot one last sparkling smile, a playful wink, and finally a wave goodbye as he walked past them. He turned to look at the Stardust Emperor focusing upon them intensely as he took a few steps forward, all confidence and smooth jazz, when he tripped on his own foot stumbling forward only saving himself from falling on his face at the last second by twisting about and angling himself into a seat at the table with Stardust Emperor. Confidently he draped his elbow across the back of the chair and shot Stardust a dashing smile.
“How goes it comrade of justice? Thwarted any nefarious plots orchestrated by Ne’er-do-wells?”
|
|
Stardust Emperor
Superstar
An empire of blue sand to protect the people.
Posts: 16
|
Post by Stardust Emperor on Apr 8, 2018 2:59:18 GMT
Glad to see that it had quietened down significantly, Fallon mulled over the things he'd done today, all the while his gaze remained half-looking to the last of Nock-Nock's autograph signings. Though, he did find something unusual. From what he could garner, the oddly dressed teen was having trouble making up her mind on something. How hard was it to ask for an addition to an autograph? Unless you wanted it to be perfect or were planning on reselling it or something, you wouldn't need to continually keep re-deciding on what you'd like on it.
Though, he had a feeling she was up to something. Well, nothing bad per-say, but he had a feeling the latter of his two assumptions might have been true. It was just a hunch, but he's been around enough shifty individuals to notice when some variety of shiftiness is taking off. That, or he was just pondering on hypotheticals while enjoying his coffee. He couldn't tell, nor was he bothered enough to tell.
Speaking of not being bothered, it seems as though the autograph-superstar beat him to the whole 'approaching 'n greeting' punch. He was a smooth guy, Fallon could give him that. Even managing to completely turn around having tripped over into a flourishing chair-grabbing gesture. Fallon stared at him blankly for a couple of seconds after the greeting, out of both a combination of indecision and tiredness.
The indecision being whether or not to make an ass of himself some more, or just be real with the guy. This was one of this peers, after all. There was no reason to put on a front if this guy was supposed to be someone he might be working with in future.
Yeah, I've had enough acting. No need for it now at least. He thought to himself. Giving Nock-Nock a simple wave before responding to him.
"I'm doing fine, thank you." He spoke simply, his usual tone rather than the booming, prideful voice his persona as an emperor carried. "Though, forgive me if I'm wrong, but you look just about as fresh as me. So, you probably know the answer to your own question. Which is, not many evildoers stopped at all."
No doubt he'd be doing that sometime soon, but it was his first day as a Superstar, any thwarted plots before today and he might as well have been some lawless vigilante, a rebel if you will. Though, he wasn't done talking.
"Anyway, I'm not sure how you do with all this acting stuff, but you can drop it if you want when you're talking to me. No need to put on a show when you're talking to a co-worker after all." As he spoke, he briefly motioned to the establishment around the two. Which had quietened down considerably. "Not many people to put a show on for, anyway." Apparently people weren't keen on being out and about when it was raining out. That, or they'd gotten their fix of fresh Superstars and went off on their merry way. Fallon cleared his throat before speaking up again, punctuating it with a subtle cough.
"Oh, I'm not sure if I caught your name either. You probably announced it earlier when you were signing autographs, but I wasn't here for that. Any chance you could tell me? You and I might be working together in future, after all." He sipped on his now nearly-empty coffee. His weary gaze firmly fastened to Nock Nock. Quite heavily contrasting the gaudiness of his, well, everything.
Weird place to meet another Superstar. Here's hoping he isn't going to flip out not seeing me keeping my act going. He thought to himself. Well, this was a silly worry, but he had no idea how any of these Superstars were with each other. Most of them cared more about drawing the lights to himself, casual interactions between Superstars were unheard of to him.
|
|
|
Post by Thundercrack on Apr 12, 2018 14:04:25 GMT
An exchange of hands and an exchange of currency, and the autograph was hers!
And also the other thing, but that was hardly an autograph. She can’t sell that, so it was useless to her, mostly.
Eh. Might be good as a collector’s item, but there’s no telling whether or not it’d be worth hanging on to. It was unlikely that new Avant Gardes survived into the next month, let alone long enough to become pro heroes.
What a champ, Amani thought as she smiled for the picture. At least this will be good for authentication if I need it later. Seriously, I have seen those pawn shop TV shows. Not gonna be interrupted by a commercial break for my verification.
In response to being accused of selling his autograph, which is exactly what she was doing, Amani only laughed.
“Yeah, people like that are something else, aren’t they?”
She wiped the sweat from her brow when Nock Nock wasn’t looking. There wasn’t actually any sweat there, of course, but it still was a terribly awkward situation that she had just dropped into.
She wanted very much to get out of that situation, and found a wonderful distraction in the form of her phone, taking a seat at an empty table. Luckily, it had gone unharmed by the discharge from earlier, which was more than she could say for her old phone, and the one before that, and the one before that, and-
This keeps happening, she glumly acknowledged. I should invest in insulated gloves. Would that do anything? Or would the electricity just bounce back and zap me? Not a possibility she was willing to take. No gloves.
After a few moments of flittering her thumbs across the screen at speeds that would warrant a lecture from her grandparents about carpal tunnel and arthritis and social media poisoning the minds of the youth, Amani set her phone down. She set her chin in her palm, a sigh coming from her that would make even the lowdowndest of tired dogs concerned, and she stared up at the cafe’s menu.
Man, that latte looked good. She could go for a latte. Why not? She might have enough money leftover after the autograph. She stood, stretched, pocketed her phone, unpocketed her money, and danced over to the counter. It was a subtle kind of dance, the kind of dance that somebody does when they don’t want to be called out for dancing, but were in a good mood so they just felt like dancing but didn’t want to take the time out of their day to dedicate to dance lessons or even setting up some music to dance to.
It was that kind of dance.
Anyway: latte.
“Heya,” Amani said innocently to the barista, setting a few crumpled bills onto the counter and having a seat furthest from the other customer at the bar, something of a hefty fellow that Amani didn’t want to stare at for the sake of appearing not-rude. “I’ll have the latte, please,” she said. Only because it’s cheaper than the cappuccino, she didn’t say.
The barista only looked at the wad of bills in front of him. “This isn’t enough,” he said bluntly.
If that’s the way he’s gonna be, Amani’s going to have to play hard and fast with her words. “Yes it is,” she said. “Once you factor in my Superstar discount.”
Silence. Amani had put on her best winning smile, leaning forward with one elbow on the counter. The barista blinked slowly. “You don’t get a Superstar discount. There’s not a Superstar that matches your description.”
And so, the girl who was about to invent Thundercrack said: “Oh? You haven’t heard?” Her acting was on par with some of broadway’s greats, were broadway still around. She raised her eyebrows in mock surprise, sitting up as she spoke.
She held one hand out to the side, palm facing upwards. She grinned at the barista, sparks playing across her fingertips. Small pops and crackles accompanied the gesture.
“I’m the newest up-and-coming Avant Garde in Shanghai.”
“You’re in Hong Kong.”
“Yeah, but I’m from Shanghai - let me finish, okay?”
“Sorry.”
She cleared her throat, trying again. “I’m the newest up-and-coming Avant Garde in Shanghai,” she said, following the statement with a single low-voltage shockwave, a low and loud KA-THOOM filling the room. With another jolt, and another KA-THOOM, she smacked her hand down onto the counter (leaving behind a nasty scorch mark that’d take like ten minutes to scrub off) and sticking her other finger to the sky:
“I am the light in the darkest storm! The heroic kaboom in the quiet of villainy! I am: Thundercrack!”
The barista gave her a Look (with a capital L), accepted the crumpled-up bills as payment, and turned to prepare her that latte. Amani heard him mutter in deliberately audible undertones.
“Superstars these days - too many movies, that’s what I say. All this yammering about kicking rears and wiping butts, ain’t nobody got time for that…”
Amani’s ears reddened in embarrassment, but she held her pose.
And she held her pose.
And she held her pose, until her latte arrived.
Which took two minutes.
|
|
Nock Nock
Beyond Human
Boastful braggart with a heart of gold
Posts: 7
|
Post by Nock Nock on Apr 16, 2018 4:03:23 GMT
The flamboyant superhero nodded along as he listened to Stardust Emperor speak, his face never faltering from a friendly outgoing smile. Though as the man spoke, Chao Bao took the time to resituate himself in the chair, getting more comfortable but slightly less stylish. He also figured now as a good a time as any to finally take off his hood, he always forgot to pull it back though it had been raining and the slick hero look was always a hit with the more impressionable fan, revealing thick blue-black hair tied tightly in a chonmage, with the plates not shaven.
At this point, Stardust had finished speaking, though he’d also dropped kayfabe which wasn’t so great. Casting them a slightly disapproving look, though only for a moment as his smile returned lickity-split.
“I’m new, yes this is true. However, unlike you, this act is true.” After a short pause as if expecting a laugh Nock Nock continued “Jokes aside, I don’t find it difficult. In fact, I feel more at home in uniform than out of it, a there are plenty of people to entertain.”
After a few moments, as if he was in deep thought, then with a snap of his fingers he looked back at Fallon and declared.
“The handles Nock Nock, the real name isn’t released to the public yet, though I get big enough who knows.”
After he spoke he, he glanced over to watch the less than impressive reveal of the mighty Thundercrack. It was amusing, to say the least, he then pointed over at them as he looked back at Fallon.
“Check it out, another superstar already enters the fray. How did fate pull strings to get us all in the same café.”
It wasn’t really a question as he knew no answer actually existed for it, so he just waited for Fallon to speak.
|
|
Stardust Emperor
Superstar
An empire of blue sand to protect the people.
Posts: 16
|
Post by Stardust Emperor on Apr 16, 2018 12:20:18 GMT
Huh, weird how different people turned out to be when you got to know them better. Fallon assumed there'd be more Superstars like him, putting on a front to appeal to the masses, all the while keeping people safe. But, he'd forgotten that actors were a thing, and some of these Superstars really enjoyed the personas they put on, some closer to home than others. That seemed to be the case with Nock Nock at least, a real charismatic guy with a sort of charm about his mannerisms and speech. Definitely desirable traits for a Superstar.
Though, he didn't really catch on to any of the jokes Nock Nock had mentioned, nor did he really appreciate that very slight disapproving look he caught just then. Whatever, man. Either way, he made to respond to Nock Nock's mention of becoming better known, namely about the release of a real name.
"You sure you'd even consider giving out your real name in public? I mean, alright it is kind of a childish concern, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about that. Ah, I suppose it's an inevitability. I'm sure it works the same in other countries too."
He knew nothing about how heroes worked in other places, aside of course from the baseline of 'they help people for a living and look cool doing it.'
Though just then his train of thought was interrupted. By a very, very loud boom from the counter. Supposedly another Superstar, according to both them and Nock Nock, personally he was still spending a bit of time getting over his ears ringing.
"It is pretty weird, huh." He spoke, in response to Nock Nock once more, a slightly suspicious tone lacing his voice. There was something off about this girl's claims of being a Superstar. It was a hunch, but he had a few reasons to speak of that made him feel this suspicion.
For starters, what business did a Superstar have going around buying autographs off of other Superstars? What, did they have their own autograph collection? Not to mention they weren't even in costume! Unless that was their costume, which might explain the mish-mash of colours and the dotted hijab. But, his suspicions were held high, he wasn't sure he wanted to believe that they were a Superstar or not, heck they might well have been a liar. That's what he thought.
Well, that wasn't entirely important right now. He wanted to go and tell them to 'not make that noise ever again please', but there wasn't a need. He was sure the barista that was serving her had left enough of an impact, what with his blunt tone (that he could barely hear because of the ringing that hadn't fully left his ears yet). He turned his attention back to Nock Nock.
"Anyway, have you gone and met up with any other Superstars, yet? Aside from myself, of course." He asked, his tired eyes set on Nock Nock. He knew full well that it was for the best to be making connections in this business early on, making friends works wonders when it comes to tackling big obstacles, plus just having these people to rely on was great for peace of mind.
"Who knows, maybe we'll be working together in future." He accompanied this with a bland, definitely forced sounding laugh. It was completely unnecessary, but he did it anyway, so as to come off as less potentially dry or abrasive. Though, it probably wasn't much of a concern if a teenager was being abrasive.
Regardless, his eyes wandered back and forth, mostly keeping their attention on Nock Nock, anticipating a response, but still glancing to the hijab clad girl now and again, curious to see what claims they might make next, if not just bombastic actions.
|
|
|
Post by Thundercrack on Apr 23, 2018 15:40:06 GMT
Amani graciously accepted her latte, with hardly any change to spare once she had paid for it in full. There goes, like, all my money, she thought. I won’t complain about a discount, though. I wonder if that’s just here, or in other places. If it’s universal, then I can almost get why there are so many Superstars running around. She cast a glare towards the two other Superstars, peering at them from over the rim of her cup as she took a short sip from the scalding drink.
Almost, she thought, burnt tongue poking out from between her lips.
She cast a wistful stare out the window, at the rain pouring down on the battered window panes, the wind whipping them into so many thousands of deadly knives. She groaned, holding her empty hand palm-up. Electricity arced between her fingertips, the hair on her arm standing up on end. I can’t go outside like this, she lamented. I’ll zap myself straight to the ER. She shook her hand free, dispelling the gathered energy. I’m either going to have to wait out the storm or discharge the rest of this, and I don’t want to have the police called again.
It was time to find another way to occupy her time.
The girl formerly known as Amani Hasan, now Thundercrack, strode across the cafe, deliberately-paced strides leading her forward, wet sneakers slap slap slap-ing across the polished wood floor. She approached the table that seated both Nock Nock and Stardust Emperor, loudly pulling out a chair for herself and seating herself from across the both of them.
Silence. She took a long sip from her latte (or at least, gave the appearance of taking a long sip. She took a short sip, forgot the drink was really hot, and simply closed her lips against the drink and held that “drinking” pose) before speaking.
“So, fellow Superstars,” she said, another deliberately dramatic pause before she continued, “do any Superstarring recently?”
She had no idea how potentially foolish she might have sounded, but she had a point somewhere in her head, and she led it forward with a barrage of questions. “Any interviews? Movie deals? Called any agents? Product placements? Commercials? Sponsorships? Any hearts-and-minds campaigns?”
She folded her arms, narrowed her eyes, leaned back in her chair. She was careful, however, not to lean back too far and spell certain doom for herself.
Secretly, only somewhat secretly, of course, Amani despised the Superstar enterprise. On the surface, it seemed innocent enough. Repurposing meta-humans to save lives and stop crimes! Yay! But underneath that? Underneath that is complacency; a status quo that The Man wants to preserve. And yet, she couldn't help but get immersed in the culture, as evidenced by her new autograph. Damn you, marketing, she mentally scolded herself.
Another sip from her latte. It was cooling off now, so she could actually drink it safely. She added, after Stardust Emperor and Nock Nock answered, (if indeed they did,) almost dismissively, “With all this stuff going on in, we’re all too busy to save any lives, right?”
|
|
Nock Nock
Beyond Human
Boastful braggart with a heart of gold
Posts: 7
|
Post by Nock Nock on May 1, 2018 4:34:41 GMT
Leaned back in his seat, a wide smile crossing his face as he watched the mighty ‘Thundercrack’ show-boating it up. It was amusing for sure, she was obviously just a normal kid out trying to get a discount. However, it was amusing so he’d let it slide, besides who knew where the next great hero would arise to save the day. Smacking the table softly, as he waved a hand glamorously.
“Of course, I’ve met other superstars, right there stands the mighty Thundercrack, don’t you know?”
Whispering as he held back a chuckle, almost conspiratorially with Fallon, when Amani strolled over to join them however he stifled his amusement and put on a serious, I’m a hero's face. As he leaned forward in his seat. As the barrage of what he figured where simple a fan’s questions they never thought they’d get to ask, he answered them all simple enough. Only slightly irritated at the last question.
“I’ve not be approached for any high-key deals by anyone. As for the saving lives? I’d not allow something as simple as some wealth stop me from helping people. We’re not a bunch of money hungry capitalists out to stroke our own inflated ego’s you know.”
|
|
Stardust Emperor
Superstar
An empire of blue sand to protect the people.
Posts: 16
|
Post by Stardust Emperor on May 1, 2018 7:35:14 GMT
Slowly but surely, Fallon's suspicion of Thundercrack here being a big fat liar grew larger and larger. There was definitely something about the way she was speaking, though a lot of the questions she was asking were certainly just, the last question she had set something off. It seemed as though something an actual superstar wouldn't say, but two things were stuck in his mind now.
First and foremost was a contrast to Nock Nock's only slight irritation, was a visible frustration. A noticeable scowl adorning his face, and second of course was the earful he was ready to give Amani after the audacious question she'd asked. It confused him a bit, was this really a question? Or was this some kind of dumb joke? Likely the latter, but he couldn't be sure.
"You're lumping us in with a terrible stereotype there, wouldn't you say?" He spoke, a sharp, stern tone lacing his words. "A Superstar who puts media attention and photoshoots above doing their job is one I don't have much trust or respect towards, after all." As much as he didn't like it, this was an issue that he'd heard whispers of. Well, less whispers more visible ripples. The way the whole Superstar career worked, there were many people like this. Those who cared more about earning money and gaining media attention than actually helping the public were a problem, more than anything. He didn't know anyone like this personally, nor did he really want to. There was no chance they just wouldn't exist, but he at least wanted to try and disassociate himself from them.
He wasn't too sure about Nock Nock, however, he was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He knew nothing about him after all, so judging him just yet wasn't really fair. He'd find out more later.
"Superstars like that are poorly representing the title they hold. Greed driven dirtbags more keen on gaining fame and money over helping the people they were sworn to protect, they might as well just be paid actors instead of peacekeepers or defenders of the public." He spoke, seemingly quite passionate on the topic. "But, I digress. I'm sure you aren't like that, Thundercrack. Not one to put media attention and personal gain over doing your job, are you?" He said, an eyebrow raised as he finished off his coffee, gently setting the now empty mug down on the table. In a sense, he was calling her bluff. Though it wasn't concrete whether or not she was lying, it was certainly an incredibly hefty hunch if anything.
"Though, to answer your question, I haven't really gotten anything like that just yet. I've only started very recently, after all, there won't be many people who know who I am." He stated simply, having seemingly gotten quite a bit of his frustrations out of his system. from Amani's audacious question.
However, he did find himself looking down at his now empty mug now and again, contemplating whether or not to go and order another. On one end it'd seem weird for him to get two coffees in such a short frame of time, but at the same time, it was the closest thing he had to a substitute to sleep. Ah well, he'd probably just go and get another one later on. There was still plenty of the day left after all. ...Not to mention he was currently in a conversation. It'd be rude to just up and leave to get another drink after all.
|
|
|
Post by Thundercrack on May 1, 2018 13:41:11 GMT
The girl formerly known as Amani Hasan only grinned, leaning back in her chair by not an insignificant margin. She kicked her feet up on the table, grin persisting. She took a sip from her latte, but the action threatened to topple her - she panicked for half a second, but managed to steady herself before she caused any real damage, and before anyone seemed to notice.
“Get your feet off the table!” said the barista, who noticed.
Thundercrack promptly complied, sheepishly removing her heels from the table that housed the pair of Superstars, murmuring an embarrassed “Sorry,” in response.
She cleared her throat. Time to pretend she had some composure, and to answer Stardust’s accusation:
“Oh, I just hate Superstars like that.”
She said the word Superstars as if she were spitting out poison; each of those two syllables deadly. Another sip, and she spoke with a casual wave of the hand. Her free hand, that is. Her other hand held that latte, so she couldn't wave it around very casually. It'd be pretty impressive if she could manage that without spilling a drop, like some sort of samurai, but she wasn't a samurai, and just had to wave around her empty hand.
“The kind of people who stop crimes, save a life or two, then get a big fat paycheck at the end of the day. Those kinds of people don’t ever think about the big picture. They don’t try to fix any of the big-time problems, y’know?”
She couldn't help but feel a little like an angry cumulonimbus swirling above a homestead - although there was no danger of being destroyed, the danger of being assaulted by something loud that could knock out the electricity in your house or something similarly inconveniencing was very real. In the same way, she would not realistically drive this altercation to a deathmatch (cumulonimbus clouds don’t square up with homesteads, obviously) but the sheer tenacity with which she looked to butt heads with the pair of Superstars seemed to give the impression that she was seeing this as some kind of hunt for… something-or-other. The kind of senseless stubbornness for her beliefs is what drove her, but she knew getting riled up wouldn't help the situation.
She cast a sideways glance at the gray skies from the window of the cafe, the glass pounded by raindrops, leaving lazily trails as they fell. “Stuff like safety, security, and wellbeing. Lack of education. Food and water security’s a good one. Poverty, inequality, stuff like that. And don’t even get me started on corruption in the higher-up places. Y’know; like your employers!”
She aimed to take another sip, but found that her styrofoam cup was empty. What a rip-off, she lamented. If she were in a better mood, she’d try to pitch it into the trash bin from where she sat, but right now, she was in the middle of some serious accusations being thrown around. It would throw the mood totally off, and that wouldn't do. How rude would she be if she were to do that? Probably not ruder than she already is right now, but it's still a significant amount of rudeness.
|
|