I just want to write superhero au stuff. Shut up lol. (jk I love all you who read this) FYI, I wrote this from like 11:30 at night to 2:00 am and I don't have time to go over it completely, so please point out spelling mistakes haha.

     Grian had just settled into the new apartment over the weekend and it had been going pretty well so far; He liked his two new flatmates, or I guess, one of them is new since Mumbo was an old friend to the blonde, but the other dude seemed interesting as well, Iskall he believed his name was.

     So far so good. the place was nice, and he was surrounded by people his age who all seemed to be interested in similar studies and topics, as well as being in the heart of the old part of Hermitville. But let's face it, Grian didn't move in the city for connections. He moved here because if the recent influx of super personalities popping up left and right. What a dream city for an aspiring journalist, right? Especially for a journalist who may or may not happen to have the ability to split themselves into multiple beings. But right now, none of that hero stuff mattered. He had to meet the people who he would be sharing a building with first.

     --=+ small time skip brought to you by the Hermitville Journal +=--

Grian walked down the old city streets of Hermitville, looking down the alleyways lined with fairy lights and rat-infested trash cans. How pleasing. None the less he continued down the old cobblestone avenue a few blocks, taking in the smell of fresh rain on the hazy day they kept the already mysterious city in a threatening fog for most of the time he had spent in the borough. Looking up the heavily shadowed brick buildings that disappeared into the low but ominously thick fog sent a shiver up the journalist's spine. Something about the old city blocks really set off a nerve. The blonde sped up his pace when he saw two men in neatly pressed suits round a corner behind him, their eyes seemed more dead than the towers that loomed above them. At least the buildings had something behind them.

Grian let out an audible sigh of relief when he saw the etched glass that read "The Old Hermitville Deli". He looked back at the men behind him one last time before he ducked into the little entranceway into the diner. He knew he had no reason to fear the men, but it was warming to see somewhat familiar faces when everyone else is as blank as the walls.

Grian slipped his coat off and onto the rack beside the entranceway. He looked over his shoulder to see the men walking past the deli, not even sparing a glance, but everyone inside the petite diner seemed to look down at the checkered linoleum floors as they strode past. Like they were all too scared of even the possibility of the finely pressed men acknowledging them.

A man with sleek black hair mumbled to another man sitting in a wheelchair, both looking at Grian with a curious interest in him. Synchronized, they looked over to Iskall and Mumbo who were sitting across and to the side of them. Mumbo nodded, but Iskall's gaze was still trained on the men who were just going out of the view from the large glass storefront. The one in the wheelchair and the one with the sleek back hair turned back to the blonde journalist standing in front of them, and suddenly all the tenseness of the room evaporated and the wheelchair confined one smiled at him.

"Howdy there! You must be Grian!" he greeted cheerfully. He looked like he was about to stand up to shake his hand before remembering he was in fact in a wheelchair for a reason.

"Yes! That's me" Grian smiled, and just like that, the room sprang into action. There was more life and in this one little cafe alone than there seemed to be in the entire city so far. The man sitting behind the counter, cleaning a glass, who had a strange 'X' shaped scar across his face turned to him and swooped around the counter, "Welcome to Hermitville man!" he said with a proud grin on his face as he slung his arm around onto Grian's shoulder. "I'm Xisuma" he introduced himself before turning to the people sitting at a long picnic bench that lined the back wall expectantly.

The man confined to the wheelchair introduced himself as Scar and the man beside him introduced himself as Cub. Besides them, three guys introduced themselves as Zedaph, Impulse, and Tango. Mumbo and Iskall, of course, didn't have to introduce themselves and at the head of the table sat three women who's names were False, Stress, and Cleo. A few more people introduced themselves before they had circled back around to the bar where Xisuma was washing dishes and the final two people introduced themselves as Bdubs and Keralis.

Mumbo offered him a seat beside himself and Iskall, then they all started off on their own conversations again until Xisuma brought them all drinks. They all started turning their attention towards Grian soon after, as they all seemed to eavesdrop on his and Mumbo's conversation. One of the guys, Grian think's he said his name was Ren, was the guy to ask the question he was waiting for.

"So, why did you come here man? Like I mean, no one really comes this way anymore, you know? So, why Hermitville?" the rather man asked.

"Well... I mean I guess I can tell you guys, I do see why not, " Grain started, "I just graduated with a degree in journalism and architecture, and so what better city to come to than one of the most architecturally diverse up-and-coming cities that also happens to have groups of super-powered vigilantes running around it."

As the blonde architect spoke about the vigilantes, the room's atmosphere seemed to stiffen. Grian looked from Mumbo to Xisuma when he felt the change, looking for answers. "what? Is that like a no-no topic?" he mused.

Iskall out of all people answered, "it's just risky business, man. You never know who might be listening, because trust me, you are not the only person interested in who's under the masked identities. A lot of dangerous people are out to find them, you know?" he explained

Doc picked up where Iskall left off, "big companies + superpowers + civilians = nothing good. It's always no good" and with that, everyone in the room nodded. Before the room returned back to its liveliness, Grian swore he heard someone mutter the words "you will learn soon enough."

Ayyyyy part one! Oh boy, finally the break I have needed! I'm actually interested in writing this and might even make this into its own book depending on what you guys think! Also, what do you guys think of the creepy aesthetic? Because like, I'm digging it, but I want to know what you guys think!

The next chapter will have more action stuff, I swear. Also, I just wanted to do an introduction chapter to get into it. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed, but until next time,
-signing out <3

~word count; 1230