Chapter 1 (Rise from Despair)
"What's wrong with the ultrasound?" the soon-to-be mother asks. "Your child's development has been going well, but what you see here" the nurse points to the ultrasound image, "her arms have not developed at all." The father, sitting next his wife, looks at her with worry. "Will she be okay?" the father asks with a worried tone. "I can assure you that she is just fine, everything else is developing normally, it's just her arms that have not developed" says the nurse. "Don't worry so much honey" says the wife, "she is going to be strong, i can feel it."
Two months past. It is August 7, an eager husband waits nervously outside, waiting for the doctor to tell him that his wife and daughter are alright. The doctor opens the door, "Mr. Umichi, everything is okay, come meet your daughter." The father walks in to see his wife and his daughter next to her. "See honey, she's a strong one, strong like me, come here and hold little Kazumi." The father picks her up ever so gently. "So this is our little Kazu, she has your hair." The doctor, comes back into the room. "When you decide that your daughter is ready for prosthetics, don't hesitate to come back here to get her outfitted, Poseidon-san." says the doctor. "Don't use my hero name doctor, i'm not on duty you know. The only duty i have right now is with my daughter."
About 4 years later, Kazumi and her mother are at the doctor to get her new prosthetic arms. "Are you excited Kazu?" Kazumi excitedly nods her head. "I can't wait! You know what the first thing i'm gonna do?" "What's that?" replies the mother. "Hug you mama!" The doctor walks in with a box. Then Kazumi does some test to calibrate the prosthetics. After that, Kazumi looks at her mother and comes in for a big hug with her new arms. The mother returns the embrace. Then a tear rolls of her face. Kazumi notices. "What's wrong mama?" she asks. "Don't worry, it's nothing, it's just, everyday, i get to see you get stronger and stronger." "Will i ever be as strong as you mama?" she asks curiously. "Someday you will, heck, maybe you can be stronger than me." Then both of them arrive home. The father opens the door, only to get hugged by Kazumi. "Look daddy, i can hug you now!" she says. Then the dads asks "Wow, are those your new arms, look how cool you are Kazu." He then lifts her up and playfully tosses her in the air.
Kazumi is now 5 years old. She is playing outside in the yard with other kids in her kindergarten class, the sky is sunny. Then Kazumi feels drops of rain on her. The sky, still sunny, starts to pour rain. The teachers tell the kids to come in quickly. Kazumi is mesmerized by the rain on a sunny day and did not hear her teachers. She raises her hand to catch raindrops in her prosthetic hand. The water slowly builds up around her prosthetic arms, this cause her prosthetic arms to short-circuit and they fall off, but the water on her arms take shape of her missing limbs and stay in raised position. "Umichi, come inside before you get too..." the teacher says before she notices what's happening. "Oh my goodness!" she exclaims. The kids take notice in awe as well. Kazumi turns around wonder what all the commotion is about. The teacher points out the water that are in the perfect shape of her arms. Kazumi looks in shock, then in wonder. "So cool! Such a wonderful quirk. Can i touch them?" Say the kids and teachers. It's just like mama's quirk!" Says Kazumi. "I'm gonna be strong just like my mama!" She exclaims. But then, a knock on the classroom door. One of the teacher goes to answer and is meet by two police officers. They talk a little, the teacher shows signs of shock. Then one of the police officers approaches Kazumi. "Are you Umichi Kazumi?" asks the officer. "Yes." answers Kazumi. "I see that you just discovered your quirk, it's very wonderful quirk you have." "Thank you , but why are you here?" Kazumi asks curiously. the mood on the officer's face changes to a more worried look. "I'm here to pick you up, but don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong." Says the officer. Then he offers his hand to hers. "Come, let's go." Kazumi takes his hand, not knowing the fate of her mother that day.
The night after Kazumi's mother's funeral that day, Kazumi is still devastated and is in her room. Kazumi's Father walks up the stairs toward Kazumi's room, with her prosthetic arms the her teacher returned during the funeral. He knocks on her door, "Kazu?" he calls. "Can i come in?" There is no answer. He then slowly opens the door only then to see a small pool of water above Kazumi's bed. He was startled at first, but upon closer inspection he realized that the cause of this was Kazumi's quirk. He quietly approaches the bed and sees that there is a stream coming from her eyes. It is actually her tears that is above her head. She is using her quirk unconsciously. He places the prosthetic arms on the drawer next to her bed and quietly leaves Kazumi's room without waking her, not knowing how to comfort her. The next morning, the father is at the table in the kitchen with paperwork in hand, face showing signs of sleep deprivation. He then heads back up to Kazumi's room with breakfast. "Kazu, you awake? I have breakfast, you need to eat." There is no answer. He then presses his ear onto the door. He hears light sobbing. "I'm coming in Kazu." He opens the door and sees Kazumi up in bed looking at her arms. "Your teacher told me about the day you discovered your quirk..." he pauses. "Are you okay honey?" he asks. "I don't like my quirk." Then the father says "But honey, your quirks is a part of you, and it's just like mama's." "that's why i don't like it. It feels like mama is here, but she's not. I know she really isn't here. I don't like looking at these." She says as she snuffles.
A few weeks past. Kazumi is sitting on the living room couch, watching tv. Then the front door opens. "I'm back." announces the father. "Kazu, i have something for you." "what is it?" she says while the father joins her on the couch with a wide, small box in hand. "This is for you, Kazu." In the box is a pair of arm length gloves with a blue color. "I got these from a special tailor, these gloves are hydrophobic..., which means they are waterproof. Kazu, i want you to wears these using your quirk. Can you do that for me?" "I... can try.? says Kazumi, with a little hesitation. The father puts on the gloves for Kazumi. "Your teacher said yous used your quirk to make arms for the first time. Think you can do that again?" Kazumi closes her eyes to concentrate on the water in her body. Slowly a small stream of water starts to slowly fill the gloves. "That's it Kazu. Look." Kazumi opens her eyes to see her arms. "Can you move them. Kazumi lifts her right arm and extends her hands. The father then reaches out to hold her hand. "This is amazing Kazu, this is better than the prosthe..." the father notices Kazumi's tears. "Papa, i... i can feel your hand." Kazumi then quickly hugs her father. Stunned at first, the father returns the hug with tears also steaming down his face.
10 years later, at the dojo that Kazumi's father owns, and is also their home, Kazumi's father is teaching a class of students. Kazumi is also with the students. They all follow the teacher in various martial art movements. "Remember, control is important. Learn to control your body and all of it's movements. Even your smallest movements must be met with calm resolve and reason" Kazumi's father states to the students. A child is struggling among the students to keep up with the movements and tumbles over. Kazumi's father says to the child "It's okay, nobody can master these things right away. The most important things is to not give up. Okay pupils, form up." All the students form a neat line in front of the teacher. "Now i'm gonna demonstrate some sparring with the help of my daughter." He gestures to Kazumi to come. "This is my daughter Umichi Kazumi. She's gonna be my sparring partner." Kazumi stands in front of her father at sparring distance. "The purpose of sparring, can anyone guess what that is?" "To beat the person up!" says one of the students. "Hahaha, not at all. The goal is to improve. Both you and your partner help improve each other by testing what you have learned against each other, and also teaches restraint during a fight. Knowing when your opponent can no longer fight is and important lesson to learn. Remember not to go all out, you don't want to hurt your partner too bad."
Kazumi and her father both take a bow and then they take a stance. Kazumi makes the first move, throwing a left jab. Her dad steps back to dodge. Kazumi steps forward, trying to close the distance. He starts moving around her while also dodging and blocking her jabs. Realizing that she cannot close the distance enough to get her hits in, she decides to kick with her right leg. It connects to her father, but he catches her foot in his chest. As soon as he does, she then kicks off with the same leg, performing a backflip and knocking back her father. But, by the time she recovers from the landing, her father quickly closes the distance, giving little time to Kazumi to react. She is forced on the defensive trying to keep up with her fathers quick punches. Kazumi suddenly feels an enormous feeling of being cornered build up. Then she throws a desperate punch that connects to her father's chest and slightly knocks him back. Kazumi the follows up with a right punch, but this punch is powered up by water taking form of a big fist. She had subconsciously used her quirk. "Kazu!" yells her father. Inches before the punch connects, Kazumi realizes what she is doing and stops using her quirk just in time so that her father only receives a large splash of water.
"Okay students, this concludes today's class, i will see you all next week." Kazumi's father announced to the students. After they all leave, Kazumi goes to the locker room hurriedly, visibly upset. "What am i even doing?" Kazumi thinks to herself. "Why can't i just forget about you?" A knock is hear on the locker room door. It's her father. "Kazu, can we talk?" Kazumi pauses while looking at her hand. "Okay." she says with some hesitancy. "Just let me finish dressing."
They are both seated in the living room. They now live in the Father's dojo after Kazumi's mother died. "Have you chosen a school you wanted to go to yet?" Kazumi is surprised that he is not bringing up the incident earlier today. "No, i haven't chosen yet." Then he says, "Do you still want that dream Kazu? Of becoming a hero?" "I don't know if i still want to." she replies. The Father then reaches for her hands with an asurred look in his face. "It's okay, you still have time to decide. And by the way Kazu, have you been using your quirk regularly like the doctor asked?" Kazumi doesn't answer. "You know that if u don't use it regularly, your quirk will be harder to control, right?" Still silence from Kazumi. "It's okay, in the end, it's your choice after all. But, you can't keep this up if…" "I just don't want to, okay!" Kazumi interrupted. Kazumi stands up from the table with a pained expression and walks away from the table. "Where are you going?" he asks. "For a walk." she replies. She then leaves the room. The Father lets out a deep sigh. "What am i doing wrong. If only you were here… Mizu. I'm sure you would know exactly what to say."
Kazumi walks downstairs with jogging clothes on. She's about to walk out the front door of the dojo when, all of the sudden, the ground starts shaking. "An earthquake?" she thinks to herself. Then a large figure burst through the front windows of the dojo. Kazumi is dumbfounded by what just happened. Upon closer inspection, the giant figure looks reptilian in nature. And wrapped around him is the pro hero, Live Wire.
Live Wire: Quirk: Limb Cables: His appendages consist of many metal wires that he can fully control and stretch. He can also deliver a nasty shock similar to a tazer.
As they are wrestling on the ground, Live Wire glances then yells at Kazumi "Get outta here quickly!" Kazumi's father runs down to see what is going on. "What the hell!" he exclaims. "I need y'all to evacuate the area now" Live Wire yells as he struggles with the reptilian villain. "C'mon, let's get outta here!" the father yells as they both run out the door.
"Man, why do you have to go on a rampage during my lunch!" LW yells angrily. The hero gets the struggling villain outside onto the street. He eventually gets a tight grip around the villain. He eventually stops struggling. "See, it's easier for all of us to just calm dow…" LW is interrupted as the villain bellows a huge flame out of his mouth. Caught off guard, LW's grip loosens. In that instant, the villain grabs the hero off his back and sends him flying into a car, heavily denting it. LW is knocked out cold.
As the hero was fighting, there are crowds of people fleeing in a frenzy. In the midst of the chaos, Kazumi is separated from her dad. She yells for her dad, but with no response. "The villain beat the hero! Run!" says some bystanders as they run. Kazumi stops in her tracks as people flee around her. She sees a beaten hero on the ground and the villain roars with anger. Then Kazumi hears a voice of a child crying "Mommy!" She then sees a child next to her mother stuck under rubble from the broken building. The villain takes notice and prepares another bellow of flame in response to the child's cries. Then, as if instinct kicks in, Kazumi, with her quirk, reaches her hand with such force that it tears her glove to pieces. She uses her arm to quickly pull herself in front of the child and mother. She then quickly creates a barrier, with whatever water she has left in her, around herself. The villain then fires a huge beam of flames at Kazumi. A huge cloud of steam, caused by the flame, surrounds the area. As it clears, Kazumi is still standing, but the amount of water she had was not enough to block the flames entirely as the flames burned through to her lower back, through her clothes, leaving a scorched backside. The child looks a Kazumi, surprised at what just happened. With a pained look, Kazumi gestures the girl and her mother to stay quiet with her other gloved arm. She notices the villain didn't continue attacking. "He must only react to noises and movement." She thought to herself. She then slowly takes off her remaining glove with her mouth and slowly removes the mother from out from under the rubble. "When i say go, you guys run as fast as you can while i distract it." Kazumi whispers to them. The mother and daughter ready themselves. "Go!" Kazumi yells. They make a mad dash while Kazumi runs in the opposite, grabbing the attention of the villain. "Over here!" She yells at. The villain launches another flame attack. Kazumi just makes it to a car for cover. "Damn, he can just keep those flames up. If i can get in close, i can force him to close combat. But, the amount of water i have left is not much. I won't last long. I need more water." Kazumi thinks to herself. She then glances at the fire hydrant across the street, through the car window. She also sees the villain preparing another flame attack. The villain blows another large flame towards the car. As the flames subsided, Kazumi launches herself over the car and then slides underneath the villain's legs. As she gets up, the villain swings his arm around to attack, hitting the ground. She ducks and steps back, slowly backing into the fire hydrant as the villain continues to swing at her. "His moves are slow, just keep evading." she thinks to herself. "C'mon, a little closer…" Kazumi, now right in front of the fire hydrant, jumps out of the way for the villains punch to completely dislodge the hydrant. Water spews out, covering the arena. Kazumi begins to congregate water to herself. She forms two giant arms with clenched fists. "This thing's not gonna let me leave, and if i don't keep him distracted, he might go on a rampage. I need to finish it here and now." thinks Kazumi. The villain launches a wide swing of the arm. Kazumi ducks underneath it. Then she counter punches the villain straight into the gut, knocking the villain back a little. The villain is unharmed and lets out a roar of anger. His attacks pick up speed. Kazumi is struggling to dodge the villains punches. A punch comes straight towards Kazumi's head. With no time to move, Kazumi blocks with a water shield she forms. The shield takes the hit, but the punch stills connects and hits he, sending her a far distance, hitting the ground head first. She struggles to quickly get back up. Some blood begins to start streaming down her head. "Crap, this is bad. My attack did nothing. What now…" Kazumi thinks until she notices the villain beginning to inhale, meaning he is about to use his flames again. Kazumi thinks of a plan in that instant. Before the villain can bellow his flames, Kazumi launches both of her arms to completely cover the villains head in water. The villains starts to panic with the water on his head, desperately trying to get it off. "Just a little longer." says Kazumi. Then, after a few minutes, the villain then lets out a quick burst of flame, evaporating the water on his head. After the steam clears, the villain glances at Kazumi, who is holding her arms up above her. Her hands appear as if she is grabbing something. The villain notices a stream of water behind Kazumi. He follows it and sees that it leads to a giant ball of water above his head. Kazumi quickly gestures her arms towards the ground. The giant water ball then begins to fall. The villain blows flames at an attempt to vaporize the water. But the is too much, and the ball impacts where the villain stood. Kazumi looks at the big explosion of water and steam in front of her. As the water drains into the ground and the steam clears, a huge crater can be seen in the street, with the unconscious villain in the middle. Kazumi stubbles over, breathing heavily, to make sure the villain doesn't get back up. Then she loses her strength to stand and collapses next to the crater. "Kazuuuu! Kazu!" She hears, in a muffled tone, her father's voice coming closer. "Kazu, Are you alright!? Kazu…" Her father's cries, and sirens can be heard, but slowly start to lose volume. Then Kazumi's consciousness fades to black.