Stepping into the sun, Courtney was hit with a wave of nostalgia. It had been over eight years since he’d been in this city. It had only just stopped raining in the city so he could feel the humidity weighing onto him just as much as the sun's heat was. Since he’d been this close to his old home, and his parents.
He had a suitcase in one hand, one that was specially designed to hold his supersuit and on his back he wore a backpack with his helmet on it. He almost wished he’d worn his supersuit on the train, to receive the discount given to registered heroes, so that he’d have had enough money to spare for a cab. He wanted to come home as himself, though, not as Stutter: The Deja Vu Hero. He wanted to come home and only be seen as a random passerby to other people, he wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone besides his best friend, October, or Toby for short.
Looking up and down the street Courtney half-heartedly hoped he might see Toby’s lowriding black car parked along the side of the street, and that his friend would be waiting to pick him up. Of course, though, there was no sign of Toby’s car nor the person himself.
“Rowen sure looks different than it did in those history books of before the virus.” Courtney said to himself absentmindedly, it had been over four decades since the last case of Juvenile Siekte was diagnosed.
Roaming over to the edge of the street, he weaved his way through the throngs of civilians until he was at the corner of the block, standing just by the crosswalk. He waited until the light across the street signaled it was safe to cross before he once again began his trek to the city center, where he could contact his director that he would be in Rowen City for the next week or so, not to mention update where he was so that he could still do hero work if he needed to without it being illegal. As he got closer and closer to his destination Courtney worked harder and harder to avoid the eyes of other people. Trying his best to keep his power unused until he was registered.
Catching his reflection in the window of an office building Courtney recognized his black mess of hair sticking out in nearly every direction but to the upper left, leaving his hair in an odd shape. He’d made sure to brush it before he got on the train and before he got off, but the humidity in the air had made his hair frizz and unravel from the delicate wave he’d brushed it into previously. Courtney sighed uncomfortably, how long had he been walking around the downtown section of his home city looking like he’d just rolled out of bed?
Standing in front of a rather intimidating building that’s appearance mainly consisted of black tinted windows and steel framing, Courtney tried to remember what the same building had looked like before it was remodeled a few years back. He should’ve been able to remember but no matter how hard he racked his brain he couldn’t bring up a single attribute the old design had demonstrated. Shaking the pointless thought from his head, Courtney pushed his way through the doors of the building, only to be immediately met with a line of other people waiting to be seen by one of the numerous workers sitting at desks across the room.
Courtney knew that those people would have to be receptionists who either gave you an appointment or sent you right up to someone else, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it felt like a bank. He waited for his turn silently, checking his phone every now and then, hoping Toby wouldn’t be expecting him yet. He’d yet to tell Toby he had joined the Hero Association’s ranks. He’d decided to join purely due to his need for tuition money, but after he started he began to enjoy saving the day from time to time. He’d never feel the need to save the world, though, only a few people’s days; saving the world would be too much pressure, and the fame from such an act was unlikely to cease for a long time. He had never been much a fan of big shot heroes in any story he’d ever read or watched, nor was he a fan of obnoxious levels of fame.
