Another night. Another crisis.
Somewhere in the fringes of Jaqu Ward, Flames licked through the hallways of a humble academic building, an orange haze straight from hell hanging in the air. Breathless, a young woman in a white coat fled from the flames and her pursuers - she could hear them smashing through the walls right under her feet. The ground under her groaned as the building started to fall apart from the assault.

She ran up to a window as the fire devoured the hallways that would give her sanctuary - the exits blocked by a flame that seemed to almost hold malice in keeping her from escaping. Her eyes cast down. It was dark at this point, only the stars and moon to light the streets...but even this late she could see it was a sure death. No. Not like this. She clutched a metal box to her chest, holding on to it as her dearest possession.  The information on the old ways was already so rare, in a world with such a short history. Even if she was a junior who couldn't know what the contents of the box were, she couldn't just let them burn, while the villains of this world laughed below - another crash as they ransacked the floor underneath her. A part of the floor collapsed in nearby. With no other recourse, the researcher could only scream - "Someone, help!"

[Write in what the villains are doing, from their POV, what they're looking for? could do it in chapter 2]

The Heroes were a far ways off, even if they rushed there was a chance those villains get the treasure of the Foundation's Jaqu facility. She'd rather burn to a crisp then allow that to happen - as if to respond, the fire roared. She turned - cornered. It was a long way down or a sprint through a blazing oven.

An aching in her eyes, her breath, her skin. She was going to die like this - already curling up and clinging to the research so desperately that she felt it dig into her as she gripped it. But she was not alone. She didn't see it at first, but climbing up the wall with impossible speed...a rescuer made her entrance.

Why she chose to make this entrance via backflipping right through the window - shattering the glass and sending the spooked researcher into a yelp of surprise - is only known to her. Bright green eyes that lit up at seeing the danger around, an easygoing smile on her face, and a mess of hair that seemed to be lost in the bright yellow light of the fire. With a breath, she took a pose....two hands in front of her as a light coursed through her body, covering her in some sort of armor, a grey concrete shaped into something that looked partially like a knight's armor with crenellations on her shoulders to imitate a castle battlement.

The Rescuer turned, offering a hand to the Researcher. "It's going to be alright!" She said, without a doubt in her voice. There was a light accent to it, something the the other woman couldn't place as she took the hand and was helped up.

The armored woman shook her head as she eyed an entrance- there we are, all she needed to do was break on through. If she moved fast enough and broke through to the stairwell, they'd have a clear shot. With an "eep!" from the rescued, Sophia took the researcher onto her back, essentially letting the other woman cling onto her neck as the Researcher was carried. The armored woman took off into a sprint.

In her confusion and stress the researcher could only ask: "Who are you? Are you a Hero?"

"I'm better, signora. "

Sophia turned back to the woman clinging onto her back. The eyes of her mask glowed with the light of her inner power.

"I'm a Rider."

With that, the self proclaimed Rider smashed through the flaming barrier - acting in her vision of a hero, with or without a license. Though that wasn't a comfort to the rescued researcher, who only responded with as much confusion as a terrified scream could hold.

Of course, neither of them were prepared for when the heat and flames surrounding them started to become a searingly bright flash right under their feet...
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Earlier that day...
         Another afternoon. Another grind.

Joichi's inky curls of hair shook in front of his eyes as the jets of air from his van's A/C hit them, the road rumbling underneath the shoddy shocks as he took another turn through the roads of Jaqu. He wouldn't have gone so far out of his way from his usual routes through Morioh if it weren't for work(maybe even then), but they deigned to pay him extra for this particular delivery.

This was not a comfort to him as while he rounded the corner and heard the screeching of brakes, and the crash of some flashy red manhood enchancer into his own meager white workhorse. The bastard barely bothered slowing down approaching a stop sign. It wore damage well, at least - more than could be said for the other driver's ride, and said driver made this abundantly clear with as many adjectives and verbs as he could cram between shallow breaths. Joichi's hand tightened around the wheel as he heard the squawking grow a louder.   Oh god he's getting closer. God dammit.

"Get out of the car! Get out of the car you-"

A hiss of air through Joichi's teeth as he opened the door carefully. He adjusted the humble cap on his head - part of the uniform for the courier service he worked for, browns and golds in a muted respectable hue. A postmaster's ensemble, longcoat and tie, draped over the tall man - not quite young but with a smoldering ember of youth in this eye- in much the same way a damp cloth covered a wildfire. Before the man got out to meet him, Joichi simply jammed his fist into the van beside him out of frustration with enough force to dent it. His eye quivered as the offender approached - a small man, as they always were, with thick eyebrows and pop eyed anger on his face.

Joichi stepped down from the van and simply stood there as his counterpart seemed to vibrate with anger. The shorter driver barks for a minute, cursing Joichi's heritage, size and intelligence for a full half minute. Joichi's jaw hardens as he bows in apology, nearly hissing through his teeth. The other member of this exchange goes on for a minute before seemingly deflating, his breath hitching.  The edge and tension on Joichi softens for a moment, and he raises his head back up, standing tall once more.

"Dammit...dammit.." The driver of the red car, beyond the eyebrows and the anger he just seemed to be your average salaryman. A pang in Joichi's chest. Flashy or not, this must have been months to years of saving and scrimping just for this. The white van was the one that got sideswiped, too, so it was unlikely that the salaryman was going to get a break.

[Steam quirk - Salaryman steams physically, enough for Joichi to comment and explain quirks In a casual offhanded way.]

"I - I work, and I finally get something worth looking at. And...And now?!"

The salaryman looked back at the treasure he dreamed of, smashed. His eyes wavered, on the edge of tears while still holding them back out. Joichi eyes the other man...a small bitter voice internally spitting venom. This world doesn't take pity on recklessness. He should feel lucky he's alive. He should be apologizing to you - you had a future. People like him are why you're not a Hero. Regardless of this, with a glimmer in stormy blue eyes, Joichi felt himself speak before he could even think clearly about it.

"It's not something to worry about, I swear. I know someone who can fix this up no problem. If you tell them Joichi Joji sent you, and that he's taking responsibility for some boneheaded move he did again...You'll get it fixed cheaper than if you went to your insurance."

He didn't say that he'd already been on his last legs with the Nirvana Racing Club and Bar on goodwill. He didn't say that it was going to be another 10 months of hard work before he'd ever get back out of debt with the owner if he did this. What he did say was:

"It's going to be alright, sir...that's a promise."

Joichi's once grim and rough demeanour completely reversed, his eyes bright as he gave the kind of smile you see rarely in this world. Not a mask, not a display of joy - but with a glow like a lighthouse beacon guaranteeing the safety of shore in the storm.

"...Thanks."

The steam dissolved, and slowly and calmly they both returned to their day - maybe to never meet again. And so the day of work continued on, Joichi looking through the windshield at the same everyday neighborhoods of Jaqu.  He hoped to god that the delivery he made tonight would be quiet in comparison. The sun dipped lower as he drove along.

[Should I axe the delivery to the place and instead have him head back to his hangout/Bar?]

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Joichi simply stared for a moment, the flames licking the building in front of him. Figures. He tries to make a delivery, and for his troubles he has to deal with a villain attack. He hears the yelling of a woman in the building, and the smashing of glass - it's a damned mess and he hasn't even stepped close. Part of him wonders if he should just leave. There's no way the Heroes aren't coming, and if he gets caught using his quirk to try and stage a rescue he'd be in hot water again.

He grips the symbol on the breast of his uniform, looking intently at it as well as at the flames...and the smashing of villains rifling through the burning building. He knew it wasn't justice, it was just his need to live out the glory days. The heroes would be arriving and he already was nearing his 3rd strike with Yuki - that woman still bailing him out even after all these times. Joichi stepped forward - immediately rebuffed by a gout of flame. Stupid, dangerous, self centered.

"Fuck it. "

With a snap of his fingers he rushes into the Jaqu Foundation building...wheer angels fear to tread. As the first flame touches him, he focuses and allows the power of his Quirk, so disused from months to years of repression, to finally flare forth. The power to change energy to different forms - heat from the flames shifting and becoming pure light as he ran through them to find the source of the screaming above. The light still held heat inside it - his Quirk wasn't perfect transferrance, after all.

But yet, even from a floor below, Sophia and the rescued researcher were able to witness Joichi's Transformation.

[Expand on this, or leave it as to be continued in chapter 2?]

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Name: Joichi Joji
Quirk: Transformation

With a touch, he can change energy between its different forms - but it always creates heat!

Affiliation: Courier, WPS
Birthday: April 12th
Height: 190 cm
Blood Type: O