Astro Boy

[megabuster]

A boy in a blue outfit seemed to be lost on campus. Judging from the way he kept looking at the map he held in his hands, looking back down at it over and over. There was something strange about him though. Perhaps it was the fact that he appeared on campus, appearing from a beam of light. Or perhaps it was the fact that he kept consulting with the red robotic dog(?) at his side. Either way, if you came up to him, his first question would invariably be, "Oh! Do you have any idea where to find the Headmaster's office?"

Comments

[puyohell]

Here's a man with long green hair with a pair of yellow horns growing out from his head.

"You are going to enroll in this school? An amiable mindset."

Satan never opposed of schooling, as long as it would get students to behave properly.

[megabuster]

"Yes! I am! I've never been to school before, but I'm gonna give it my all!" Rock declared.

But he noticed something odd about this man. The green hair he could deal with, but...

"Um, if you don't mind my asking... Why do you have horns?" he asked.

[puyohell]

"Horns?" Satan blinked in surprise; he wasn't expecting to be questioned about horns.

"I have them because they are a part of me. Do you not know of who Satan is?"

[jonny_talbain]

"Oi. Rock."

He'd wondered whether his old Capcom High friend would ever come back to this side.

[megabuster]

"You mean like the human devil?" Rock asked. "You really don't look like that..."

[megabuster]

Unfortunately for Jon, the whole wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey nature of Smash Academy was catching up to him, as the robot boy looked curiously at him.

"Hello...? Do I know you?"

[jonny_talbain]

"Hmm... maybe not. This place tends to pull folk from different timelines."

Damn. That WAS a pity. Rock was one of the very few who he'd befriended at Capcom High. Well, really, Rock had gone out of his way to befriend Jon more than the other way around. He saw no reason not to try again with this version. He was a little more open, now.

"I'm Jon Talbain. I went to school with a version of you from a different timeline. We were friendly."

He extended a hand.

[megabuster]

Rock extended his own hand hesitantly, despite the fact that this entire conversation was confusing the heck out of him. "Rock Light," he replied. "Nice to meet you."

"A different timeline...?" he asked. "I don't really get it."

[puyohell]

"Human devil? I may resemble an appearance of a mere human, but do not associate me with the likes of them!"

[megabuster]

"So what, you're saying you're the real devil?"

[jonny_talbain]

Jon shook Rock's hand.

"To put it as simply as I'm able, the You I've known before now came to Capcom High some years ago along with the Headmaster, Dr. Thomas Light. Being you have no memory of that we can assume one of two things. You're either from a point before then, travelled forward in time. Eventually you will return to your own time and will carry on there and eventually go with your Dad to Capcom High. We'll meet all over again. Or, you're from a timeline where you never attended, Thomas Light never came to this dimension, and we are now meeting for the first time. The only first time we'll get."

He scratched his head, thinking all that over and trying to figure out if it made sense.

"...for example, I was born in 1940, came to this dimension in 1959, and yet I arrived in 2008. It's now 2014."

[megabuster]

"2014...?! But this is supposed to be 20XX! Did I go back in time to get to school?!" Rock asked, even more confused than when he started.

[jonny_talbain]

"Aye. Why, I couldn't tell you. Though I believe your Dad is still Headmaster at the school where we originally met. I can tell you how to get there, if you'd like."

He gestured to the buildings behind them. "This is Smash Academy. Were you intending to come here, or did you arrive by accident?"

[megabuster]

"I... But... Dad is still back home," Rock explained. "He just sent me here to study. I don't remember any of what you're telling me."

This fact seemed to really worry him.

[jonny_talbain]

"As I said, folk come here from different time lines." Jon said, doing his best to sound reassuring and conciliatory. Though, how successful that was, he couldn't say.

"More important is that you're here now. Folk will mention having met you before, I should imagine. You were popular last time. You know. Being that you're such a friendly little bugger."

[megabuster]

"I guess you're right," he replied, looking down a bit. "It just feels weird to think that there was another me, making friends and then leaving... And then to have me show up instead of THAT me... Would they hate me? Hate me for not remembering them?"

[jonny_talbain]

"Not at all." Jon replied. "It's a well known phenomenon at the school and most folk will be understanding. If anything, it's simply a chance to get to know one another again and there's nothing inherently bad about that."

[megabuster]

"Well, if you're sure," Rock replied quietly. "Now I wonder what Dr. Light's going to say when I tell him this..."

[jonny_talbain]

"I'd not worry too much. He always seemed an alright sort."

Hey, he'd never expelled Jon, even when he was being troublesome!

[megabuster]

"Yeah, I guess so," Rock said with a half-hearted chuckle. "Knowing him, he'll probably have me collecting scans for him to study."

[jonny_talbain]

"Might be a fun extra-curricular activity if nothing else."

He didn't necessarily believe that, but he wanted to put his old (New?) friend at ease somewhat.

"Have you enrolled yet? If not, I can take you to the office to do so."

[megabuster]

"Oh, yeah, Dr. Light already filled out my enrollment papers before I came here," he explained. "I'm trying to figure out where my dorm is so I can move in... This is a big place, and I'm kinda lost."

[jonny_talbain]

"I can certainly help you with that. Follow me."

Jon started to walk towards the admin buildings. Being a staff member, he had a quick registry he could check to see if Rock had even been assigned a permanent dorm yet. There were temporary student lodgings in case there was a holdup in getting someone assigned due to extenuating circumstances and it would be useful to make sure Rock wasn't assigned there, for now.

"It seems big, but you'll adapt quickly."

[megabuster]

"Thanks! I'm sure I will, I just need to get used to the layout," Rock suggested. "Maybe if I walk a few times around here I'll get my bearings faster."

[jonny_talbain]

"I daresay you're right."

They came up on the admin building fairly quickly and Jon held the door for the super fighting robot. And super fighting dogbot.

"Here, you can take a seat in the lobby and I'll be right back."

[megabuster]

Rock nodded, doing as he was told. He waited patiently, petting Rush while he waited for Jon to return.

[jonny_talbain]

Jon was good to his word and came back quite quickly with a post it. On that post it was written a dorm number.

"BE-05. You're rooming with a lad called Skull Kid."

[megabuster]

Rock hopped up from his chair when Jon returned. "Oh, thanks!" he replied happily. "Skull Kid... He's not a robot, is he?" he asked, hoping there was no relation to Skull Man.

[jonny_talbain]

"Not that I'm aware of, no." replied Jon. "Believe I've met the lad and he certainly smelled organic enough. We've a few robots around and I'm sure you'll meet them in time."

He started out some different doors, headed for the boy's dorms.

"I'll show you where the room is and then let you get settled."

[megabuster]

"As long as he's not dangerous," Rock reasoned as they left for the dorms.

"I appreciate all the trouble you're going through for me, even if I don't remember meeting you before... Thanks."

[jonny_talbain]

"Everyone here is dangerous in their own way. This IS a fighting school."

Just a reminder!

"And you're most welcome. As I said, it's not a problem. And I daresay you'll find your feet here quickly enough, but if there's anything else you need you've only to ask."

[megabuster]

"I hope so!"

When they arrived at the dorm, Rock smiled at Jon. "Thanks again for all your help... I'll see you around, I hope?" he asked, glad to have already made a friend after being here for such a short time.

[jonny_talbain]

"You're very welcome." Jon said with a small nod. "You take care, now. Again, if you've need of anything, that's what they pay me for."

And with a wave, he was off down the corridor.