Is This Anything

Is this anything

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Never actually referring back to them 🤭

Mia's Arrival

The bus lurched to a stop, its brakes hissing as it settled into the station. 

Mia Brooks blinked awake, her hand instinctively tightening on the worn backpack in her lap. Gathering her bearings, she massaged a knot in her neck, wincing. Bus sleep was never great, but it beat the alternatives. At least here, she could watch the other passengers.

As people began to stir, Mia remained still, her eyes scanning the unfamiliar cityscape outside. San Padua, Texas - her latest refuge. How many cities had it been now? She'd lost count after the first dozen.

"Just like Tucson," she thought, noting the shimmering heat rising from the pavement. "Or was it Albuquerque?" The cities blurred together after a while.

She waited for the initial rush to pass, her mind already mapping out her next moves: find a place to crash, then walk the Old Quarter. Cash work, no questions asked — the usual drill.

As the aisle cleared, Mia stood, her movements smooth but guarded. The backpack's familiar weight settled on her shoulders - everything she owned and needed to disappear again at a moment's notice.

The wave of humid air that hit her as she stepped off the bus carried the mingled scents of exhaust, street food, and something uniquely Texan. Mia's gaze swept the station, cataloging details most would overlook - the bored security guard by the restrooms, the flickering light above the east exit, and the CCTV camera's blind spot near the lockers.

She made her way to a quiet corner, fishing out a crumpled map. Her finger traced the route to the Old Quarter while she silently mouthed street names, committing them to memory. Nine years on the run had taught her the value of knowing escape routes.

Approaching the station exit, Mia caught her reflection in a window. Dark circles under her eyes, hair in a messy ponytail, clothes rumpled from the journey—she looked tired, worn. For a moment, the weight of her solitary existence threatened to overwhelm her.

"Not now," Mia muttered, squaring her shoulders. She'd survived this long. What was one more city? One more fresh start?

Taking a deep breath, she stepped onto the bustling street. Another face in the crowd, another story untold. As she melded into the flow of pedestrians, a hint of a smile tugged at her lips. Anonymity had become her armor, invisibility her superpower. 

San Padua didn't know it yet, but Mia Brooks had arrived. And she intended to stay ahead of her past for as long as it took.

The Edge

The Edge is a rundown dive bar in the Old Quarter of San Padua. Its flickering neon sign out front declares its name in red glowing letters, and it's definitely seen better days. Tim "Buck" Buchanan, a grizzled 56-year-old man, has owned the place for the past twenty-five years and runs it with a steady mix of apathy and minimal effort.

Inside, the atmosphere is dim and musty. The air is thick with the smell of stale beer and cigarette smoke that seems to have soaked into every surface. The bar is long and scarred, its surface bearing the marks of countless drinks, brawls, and late-night confessions. Mismatched bar stools line the counter, some wobbling precariously on uneven legs.

The floor is sticky in places, a testament to Buck's lax cleaning standards. Old posters and faded photographs line the walls, their edges curling with age and humidity. A few ancient ceiling fans spin lazily overhead, doing little to circulate the stagnant air.

In one corner, a jukebox that's probably older than most of the patrons is stocked with an eclectic mix of classic rock and country tunes. Near the back, you might find a pool table with worn felt and a set of cues that have seen better days.

The clientele is a mix of regulars who've been coming for years and the occasional newcomer drawn in by the promise of cheap drinks and anonymity. It's the kind of place where people come to forget their troubles or to hide from the world outside.

Despite its rough appearance, The Edge has a certain charm for those who appreciate a no-frills drinking establishment. It's a place where the beer is cold, the music is loud enough to drown out your thoughts, and the bartenders don't ask too many questions.

Marek "Ricochet" Zima

He's American with Czech heritage. He goes by Mark outside of his family and close friends, and "Ricochet" when "on the job". He's nearly 30 years old, runs a food truck that launders money for his family, and is a non-sanctioned semi-vigilante with rubber powers.

Marek is part of a unique crime family - they act as the "clean up" of San Padua's underworld. If a criminal or vigilante needs to hide a body or clean up a crime scene, they call the Zimas. Because of this, his family is seen as neutral, boarding on welcomed, almost anywhere in the city. Marek's parents were murdered the summer before his freshman year of high school, targeted by another "family" trying to take over the role of city cleaners. The issue is mostly resolved, as far as the rest of the criminal underworld is concerned, but Marek hasn't forgotten. He was taken in by his uncle, who is now the head of the family, and raised alongside his cousins. The family is surprisingly well adjusted and rather affectionate with both Marek and each other.

Marek has powers of rubber, meaning he can stretch himself and his limbs (which is well known) and that he's immune to the effects of electricity, (which is a closely guarded secret only known to his family). He has a lifetime of fighting experience. He and his family are ruthless and viscous when opposed, but they also follow a strict moral code. They do their best to avoid injuring civilians and go out of their way to protect children.

Marek's had multiple bed partners and enjoys taking a dominant role in the local BDSM scene, but never engages any potential partners without explicit permission and interest shown. Between running his food truck in his "off time" and looking after Cora, though, he hasn't had as much time to relax this way lately. Instead, he's started experimenting with new recipes and cooking techniques. It's not as effective, but it helps him keep his head on straight and gives him another thing besides his food truck that he can talk about to Cora without revealing his criminal identity.

His favorite way to unwind is spending time with Cora, one of his very best friends. They became friends in the first year of high school, when Marek's grief over his parents was still fresh and he was barely able to go through the motions of adjusting to the new school he had to attend since moving in with his uncle. Cora's family had just moved to the area, and she recognized that he was a fellow new student, taking it upon herself to help him keep track of homework and assignments, while helping to deflect any bullying. Her unconditional support, her seamless addition to the friendship he already had with Jai, and her complete lack of ties to anything in San Padua's underworld were a lifeline in those days and earned Marek's intense loyalty.

Marek and Cora share a unique dynamic - their friendship isn't romantic or sexual, but platonic in an intense, intimate way that confuses anyone who doesn't know them well. It also includes dominant/submissive aspects that sometimes lean toward codependency. Cora can get overwhelmed when particularly stressed or tired, and while Marek hates seeing her distressed, he relishes that she turns to him to protect and guide her when she's vulnerable like this. He's hyper-aware of of the power she hands to him and of her instinctive obedience to the lower, rougher registers of his voice, too. He's incredibly careful to never abuse his position, only ever making decisions and giving instructions to her that will keep her healthy and happy.

He's never revealed his powers or his criminal ties to her, partly out of fear of never seeing her again, but also out of a desire to keep a small piece of something normal in the chaotic and dangerous world he lives in. He's very close to Cora's parents and two little brothers, as well, though they aren't aware of Marek's other life, either.

Marek's other best friend is Jai Leo, the first-generation son of Lao immigrants, and he's the closest thing Marek has to a brother. Jai's father was the best friend and right-hand man of Marek's father, roles the two sons have also taken on. Jai has become Marek's trusted sounding board over the years, always willing to listen to Marek's thoughts and ideas and give his opinion bluntly, and loudly, if needed. Jai started a fan page for Ricochet as a joke, but it's developed such a large and passionate fan base, that he manages the group full time now and has found ways to start monetizing it. Marek is vaguely uncomfortable with this, but tolerates it and Jai's teasing about the whole situation with good humor.

Marek lives in a nice apartment deep in his family's territory with Jai as a roommate. The apartment in general is decorated in a combination of rich brown woods with dark metals to compliment. Marek's room continues to use rich, dark woods, but also includes deep blues and a medium to lighter grey color. He has bookshelves covering any available wall space, filled with a combination of cookbooks, family albums, and the detailed journals he keeps.

Marek enjoys cooking, especially for the people he's close to. His mother was also a skilled cook, and her recipe books are his most treasures items. Food is a form of affection for him. He'll go out of his way to learn the favorite recipes of those he cares about and will refuse to cook for people who have genuinely upset him.

Only a Jai and Marek's closest cousins know this, but Marek wants to get revenge on his parents' murders by becoming the next bank for the city's criminal underworld. He already owns a food truck, which he uses to launder the money his family receives as payment, but he dreams of becoming a powerful enough force to be able to punish the criminals who killed his parents and have no one oppose him.

Marek is terrified of deep water. He can handle standing in water as high as his hips, but he doesn't know how to swim, and won't go any deeper. The memory isn't clear, but he nearly drowned as a toddler in a pool accident.

Marek has strong, violent feelings about anyone who takes advantage of others sexually, especially if they're stronger or more powerful than their victims. He's gotten into fights with his family in the past because he refuses to let such actions go unpunished once he finds out about them, no matter who they are.

Marek's uncle and cousins know about his deep friendship with Cora and have welcomed her into their family as well. As far as San Padua's criminal underworld is concerned, Cora and her family are part of the Zima family's territory and are under their protection. This leads to complications sometimes, because of her clerical job at the Sanctioned Supers Division, but it's a topic everyone has long adapted to.

Cora "Surge" Lee

Cora is a 29 year old sanctioned superhero with the ability to control electricity. She goes by the alias "Surge".

Cora's powers manifested later in life than usual, in a private setting with no casualties. The situation was so unusual, and her powers were so strong, that the SRB all but demanded that she immediately begin training to control them in a supervised setting. To the rest of the world - Cora's friends, co-workers, and brothers - this is when Cora began her "clerical job" for the SSD. Only she and her parents know about her powers and her training to become not only a sanctioned super, but also to join the ranks of the SSD as a super. Cora has spent the better part of the last decade training to be able to control her powers. She tries to hide it, but she's terrified that she'll hurt someone or worse while in the field. She takes comfort in the fact that she hasn't "gone live" in the field yet, but is getting stressed at the hints her mentor keeps dropping that this will change soon.

Cora has trouble picking up on subtle social cues. She avoids eye contact when overwhelmed and, when she's especially tired, she has trouble finding her words when speaking, which sometimes makes her sound confused. She has a spinning ring that lets her stim subtly in public, but also has a super soft plushie on her key ring - it smells like lavender and cedar and vanilla, and she'll breathe in the smell when she's overwhelmed, if she's able to.

Julia Santos, known as "Striker" in the field, is Cora's mentor and instructor. While not neurodivergent herself, two of her children are, and the combination of patience and firmness she shows with Cora have been instrumental to her progress in training. Julia's opinion is that Cora needs to get out in the field, worrying that the younger woman will never choose to take on live missions if left to her own devices.

Cora uses a combination of alarms, colors, and the Eisenhower matrix to keep herself on schedule and avoid overwhelm. Red tasks are important and urgent. Yellow tasks are urgent, but not important. Green tasks are important but not urgent. Blue tasks are neither important nor urgent. She sometimes accidentally uses this coloring system in conversations with people outside of her small social circle and gets embarrassed when she does.

Cora loses her appetite when extremely tired or stressed. She keeps a large number of veggie flavored instant noodle cups for these occasions, as it's almost the only thing she can force herself to eat. The only person who can get her to eat anything else when she's like this is Marek. The combination of his cooking skills and his gentle but firm insistence keep her eating "real" foods when she otherwise couldn't stand the thought. She also can't stand mushy foods and will gag if she eats something too mushy by accident. Aside from that, she likes spicy food and almost anything Piña colada flavored.

She lives with a roommate, a colleague and fellow SSD trainee from work named Maria who is her closest female friend. The common areas of the apartment they share are mismatched and eclectic, but functional and comfortable. In Cora's room, the walls are covered in posters of her favorite video games and anime shows. Aside from these decorations, Cora's room is a cluttered mess that only she, Marek, and Jai can decipher. The fact that her bed is always swamped in soft blankets doesn't help the situation, but it is large enough for her and Marek to fall asleep cuddling on when he stays over, so she refuses to ever properly clean up her "nest".

The apartment is located in a nice neighborhood, within walking distance of SSD headquarters. It's also only about a 10-minute drive from Marek's place, although Cora doesn't have a car of her own. Maria isn't fond of Cora's clutter, and Cora doesn't like it when Maria brings romantic partners into their home, but they manage to work things out. Maria really doesn't like Marek, either, often referring to him as "that creep" if he's not present. She realizes how naive Cora is about some things and, based on her own life experiences, worries that Marek is either leading Cora on or setting her up to take advantage of her. Maria has a bit of a crush on Jai, but Cora hasn't picked up on that yet. Maria's hometown is in west Texas, about a 4 hour drive away, so she goes to visit and catch up with her family every few months or so.

Cora has a plant she struggles to remember to water, and she loves playing Minecraft and Katamari Damacy to relax and reset her mental calm. She doesn't have a life goal outside of mastering her powers. She's been terrified of them for so long that she feels guilty for working on other projects when she could be improving her control. She is a big Tolkien fan, though, and has very strong opinions about The Lord of the Rings movies (which were epic) and The Hobbit movies (the later 2 of the 3 were a crime against Tolkien).

Cora has never put words to it, but she naturally has strong submissive tendencies. She's naturally inclined to show obedience to those in authority and she feels more comfortable following someone else's directions than she does making her own decisions. She feels self-conscious about these aspects of herself, and she sometimes overcompensates as Surge to try to hide them. The only person she allows to see really this side of herself is Marek, although Jai has caught glimpses of it. She likes how Marek takes care of her when she's overwhelmed and will often, but not always, instinctively obey when he uses his deeper voice to tell her to do something.

Marek Zima and Jai Leo are Cora's very best friends. She met them at the beginning of her freshman year of high school, brand new not just to the school, but also to San Padua and Texas, itself.

Her relationship with Jai, who's a year older, is very sibling-like: they'll prank each other, take each other's things without asking, and generally be as annoying as possible to each other, but they'll also come to each other's defense in a heartbeat. Their favorite bonding activities are playing Minecraft on their shared server and picking on Marek.

Her relationship with Marek is more complicated. They share a unique dynamic - their friendship isn't romantic or sexual, but platonic in an intense, intimate way that confuses anyone who doesn't know them well. It also includes dominant/submissive aspects that sometimes lean toward codependency. Cora's submissive tendencies come out when she's stressed and tired, so she'll frequently turn to Marek, asking him to decide things for her when she's overwhelmed and, although she'll often act snarky and argue with him, she'll nearly always follow his instructions and directions, especially if he uses the lower, rougher registers of his voice that come out naturally when he's acting dominant. Both of them feel better when Marek has a chance to cook for Cora and make sure she's taking care of herself, and they're both more than used to Cora ignoring his personal space.

Jai doesn't seem bothered by the unusual dynamic between Cora and Marek, and has reassured Cora more than once (usually after Maria's been more vocal about Marek's "bad influence") that there's no single, proper way to be friends with another person and that as long as everyone happy and healthy, that what she and Marek share is fine.

Cora's parents live in the suburbs, about 20 minutes away. Her father was a linguist for the military, but is retired now, and her mother volunteers at the local library. Her youngest brother is getting close to finishing college, but her middle brother joined the military and is stationed in Korea at the moment. Her family has accepted Mark and Jai as if they were their own, and Cora's parents will often ask how their "older sons" are doing. Cora's mom does still gently ask about a marriage between her and Marek sometimes, not really understanding their dynamic, but is never upset (only confused), when the answer is no. Cora loves both Marek's and Jai's families and is as comfortable with them as she is at her own parents' house.

Cora would like to tell Marek and Jai about her powers, and sometimes she's hit with a powerful urge to confess all her secrets, but her fear of putting them and their families at risk, of criminals targeting her favorite people just because she was selfish won't allow her to do that. No matter how badly she wants to.

Physical Description:

Hair: auburn, shoulder length, mostly straight (in a "can't do anything with it" way, rather than a pretty, smooth and sleek way)

Face: soft, friendly, with delicate features. Her eyes are green and expressive

Complexion: fair skin, with lots of freckles, burns easily

Build: slender, average build, in better physical shape than you'd expect for a clerical worker.

Height: around 5'4" (162 cm).

Expression: very expressive face and body language, shows her emotions easily. Has a slightly worried or concentrating look, especially when she's tired or stressed.

Overall appearance: an approachable, girl-next-door look. Her appearance might be somewhat at odds with her superhero alter ego, Surge, making it easier for her to keep her identity secret.

Style: In her civilian life, Cora dresses in comfortable, practical clothing, usually a size or two too big. She'll often steal shirts or hoodies from Marek, and sometimes from Jai, too. As Surge, she wears a dark suit, with bright blue accents. It covers most of her face, but leaves her eyes visible.