[Video] in his cocoon stage

[ex_eraserhead411]

[A rather tired looking face rose up into a video feed, surrounded by a soft yellow mass. It looked as if his head had been shoved into a Coney Island cutout--but, the cutout was absent of anything but plush yellow fabric. He shifted slightly, sniffing with what clearly looked to be disinterest.]

It sounds like you've all had a good run, so far. Despite that, I hope no one thinks they're beyond a little tutoring and critique.

[He seemed to retreat a bit into the yellow fabric.]

My name is Aizawa Shouta and I'm a Professional Hero. If you need advice or even a good place to hone your skills while you're not currently on a mission--I'm in my biome and I've had it fitted for the sake of physical and strategic training.

[The entire time, he struggled desperately to emote and yet--nothing happened.]

Alright, that seems good enough to get the point across. Talk to me.

[--Without a hint of dramatic flair, Aizawa's feed cut.]

Comments

[kingtyrantranger]

Jason wasn't exactly fat, but he definitely had more bulk than Aizawa. Aizawa was more willowy, while Jason... wasn't.

He nodded during the lecture, scowling slightly to himself as he thought on the things being said. Every now and then, he'd make a noncommittal noise to show he was still listening. It was a lesson Jason was still having to learn here. After just about a year of having powers and learning to fight in a certain way with them, then getting a different package entirely... He was used to being able to handle any range or height difference in a fight.

He hadn't mentioned the enhancements given if he targeted himself or someone without powers earlier, and he kept that up now. It'd feel too much like he was arguing that they'd change things, but in this situation? They really wouldn't. Aizawa was right. Which wasn't surprising, given that he professed to being a 'pro hero'.

As Aizawa wrapped up, he nodded again. "I understand. Trying to be too clever can backfire pretty spectacularly. And keep more thought on my surroundings." Especially since his new powers left him much more vulnerable. He still wasn't thinking of them, and himself, in the same way Aizawa was, as a support entity. Jason had a hard time seeing himself as not being in the thick of things.

[ex_eraserhead411]

Aizawa nodded. Jason didn't look particularly pleased with the theory presented but he seemed to accept it for what it was. That was good. Plenty of heroes felt insulted when they had their quirks laid out on the table an examined. 'Generic strategy' was something they hated to stoop to, insisting they could get by on their superlative moves. Trademarks made a lot of heroes famous but to Aizawa--trademarks were only a way to bridge the gap between amateurs and professionals.

Professional heroes had longevity. Even the greatest of heroes could be glass cannons. Exposed to the worst of situations the only thing a hero could consider 'their own' was their ability to adapt when in the worst possible scenario. Aizawa considered failure in any venture and always focused on risk assessment and calculative thinking. It wasn't often that he invested in 'grand plans' or cunning moves. He aimed for practicality, quick victories and showed no hesitation to enact brutality. As far as heroes went, Eraserhead was one of the few that made most villains cringe in fear.

"I'll give you one more thing to think about before I'll set you up for exercises, today," Dropping back into the elevator, Aizawa waited for Jason to drop down after him. He stood by the door. "In a peaceful setting, a Grand Master will always defeat a novice. With guns to their heads, the only one who wins is the one with the greater resolve and initiative. No matter what grand plan someone comes up with--rest assured, it can fall apart. Pry hard enough and you can undo the worst of schemes."

[kingtyrantranger]

Their approach to heroism was rather different, but their situations at home were rather different as well. Jason never considered failure. It wasn't an option for him. If he failed, it meant that people, maybe even his teammates, were getting hurt. Or worse. His team often didn't have the luxury of taking a step back and calculating. The best they could do was stop the first advance, figure things out after that encounter, and then end things decisively and permanently.

It wasn't something he'd likely ever bring up casually.

He'd been handling things differently because this was just training. But this echoed what the old Legionnaires had been saying, and Jason had long since realized that his experience was different enough that it would be suicidally stupid to ignore people whose experiences were better suited to these situations.

Jason paused at the elevator's hatch, listening to Aizawa's lecture, then dropped down with a thump. He straightened from his crouch and nodded. "There's always a way out, huh? Good to think on." But maybe not that applicable to every situation.

[ex_eraserhead411]

"Good," Aizawa nodded and began to walk down the hall, back to the lobby. He reached into his hip satchel for a stop-watch, which he adjusted a few times. He pointed to the door and lifted his chin to show Jason a little bit of a smile.

"I'm going to give you two hours to find two black cats. One has a white patch on its right front paw and a pink nose and the other has white fur without any trace of black on it. Bring them to me in that time."

That was where it started. Seemingly easy-sounding requests. Little did Jason know--Aizawa requested a hell of a lot of goddamn cats for his site.