Jiro couldn't help but not so subtly snicker when Avdol's stand, Magician's Red appeared behind him.
"Something wrong, Kyoka?" Yaoyorozu whispered to her shorter friend.
"Oh, n-nothing, it's just that… I mean look at it! It's a guy with a chicken's head!"
Yaoyorozu looked back at the stand and tilted her head. "Yes, well, as odd as its anatomy is, looks can be deceiving. There's probably more to this stand than you're giving it credit for."
Jiro looked at her raven-haired friend and shook her head. "Oh no, it's just that he looks funny. I'm sure he's strong, but he just looks weird, ya know? Not trying to underestimate him or anything…"
"Good. It's best not to underestimate Avdol's Magician's Red. If this Todoroki kid knows what's good for him, he'd be better off fighting fire with fire."
Jiro blinked, looking around with a confused look strewn across her face. "Uh… did anyone else hear that?"
A large majority of class A shook their heads almost confirming that she was crazy; the question persisting in her head being, 'who just talked'?
"Oi! Earphone chick! Down here," the newcomer spoke in an annoyed tone, Jiro looked down to see a medium-sized Boston terrier dog sitting and looking up at her with tired eyes.
"Uh… what?"
"What do you mean, 'what'? I was talking to you before. I'm not some dumb mutt you know," the dog said.
"Um… Momo? I think that dog just called me a chick…"
"Yes, I'm talking to you! What gives, never seen a talking animal before?!"
Yaoyorozu shook her head, interjecting herself into the conversation, trying to hold back her own surprise. "No, no, no, she's shocked that you came out of nowhere and started talking to her is all. In fact, our principal is a talking animal."
"Oh? Is he now? What animal is your principal?" the dog asked curiously, causing Yaoyorozu to blink at the dog in thought.
"I… don't know actually. It's kind of hard to tell."
"Oh… well, I ought to meet him sometime then."
"Oi, Iggy, you done with your yapping yet?!" Polnareff asked him, holding a mic close to his mouth, pulling it away when he realized he spoke into it.
"Are you, Polnareff?" Iggy retorted.
"Shut up!" the Frenchman shot back, putting the mic close to his mouth again.
"This battle is about to explode! FIGHT!"
Back on Ground Alpha, Todoroki made took no chances with Avdol, planting his right hand on the ground, ice forming beneath his palm.
"Let's get this over with," he said monotonously, a giant wave of ice emerging forward and covering his opponent and his stand, causing a certain tape wielder and explosive heroes in training to cringe and sneer respectively in the control room.
Todoroki stood up sliding back into a defensive stance. "Be careful. He looks more formidable than he seems, especially with that 'stand' thing he has."
Shoji nodded, acknowledging his partners' advice, growing an extra arm with an ear sticking out its end. Neither of the heroes in training moved an inch as Shoji scanned the area around in front of them, replica ears, eyes and mouth working in tandem to relay information back to his partner, who simply nodded in acknowledgment every time he spoke.
"It would seem that we've defeated this Avdol person. I can't hear or sense anything that might resemble movements or the like. It's like he disappeared entirely, or worse..."
Todoroki still refused to move regardless of what Shoji was trying to imply, especially when Shoji's head shot up, turning his back to the ice wall as if to desperately find something… or someone.
"W-what's going on? First, there was nothing, and now… Todoroki, to your right!" Shoji exclaimed point to his partner's right, an ankh-shaped pillar of fire rushing towards the duo.
Without hesitation, Todoroki formed a thick rectangular, ice wall that prevented the pillar of fire from advancing further; a small valor could be heard with steam rising to the sky.
"That was a close one," the multi-armed boy mumbled, focusing on the ice wall and not noticing a second projectile of the same shape and size approaching the duo from the opposite side. Todoroki, noticing the blazing ankh approach his partners' back, push Shoji aside and placed another ice wall between them, the ankh dying down against the ice.
"Shoji, have you found where this Avdol guy is?" Todoroki asked, watching their flanks.
"T-thanks Todoroki. And no, I still can't sense him. It's obvious he's attacking, but from where is a different question- wait," Shoji suddenly spoke, interrupting himself. "Do you feel that?"
Todoroki nodded. "Yeah. The temperature is rising… and faster than my right side can cool myself down. The giant ice wall I formed is melting too, that must mean he's-"
CRASH!
Todoroki was abruptly interrupted as the giant ice wall suddenly shattered into millions of tiny pieces, revealing Magician's Red with its leg in the air, setting down slowly on the ground.
"What the hell… did that thing just shatter the entire ice wall with a single kick?!" Shoji exclaimed, taking two steps back, Todoroki replying with a click of the tongue.
SKKREEEE!
With a loud screech, Magician's Red opened his mouth, firing four fireballs at the duo.
FOOM!
"Stand back," Todoroki spoke with an edge of annoyance, raising another small ice wall, blocking the attacks once again. "Dammit… he knows what he's doing," the half quirk boy whispered, seeing a breath vapour emerge from his mouth.
"T-Todoroki! Get down!" Shoji exclaimed, shoving them both down to the ground as the four fireballs melted through the ice wall and flew past the duo.
"What is going on? I thought your ice wall stopped the fireballs…" Shoji remarked, watching Todoroki stand on his feet.
"That's what I thought. It seems that the temperature of the area around us has increased, for whatever reason."
"Hard to believe that he has an ability like that," Shoji remarked, noticing his replicating ears beginning to twitch.
"This is bad… I'm approaching my limit. It seems like he's figured out my weakness right off the bat," Todoroki spoke quietly, steam rising from his body as his left side decreased his body heat.
"Wait. Todoroki… I hear something coming. Be on your guard."
Todoroki nodded, feeling his body steadily return to normal temperature, allowing free movement once more.
"Wait… what is this? My external ears are picking up something coming from… that pothole in the ground," Shoji said, pointing to a small hole in the road that sat close to where they were standing.
"Stand back. There's something traveling through the ground and up towards the hole, but what could it be…?"
As if Avdol or Magician's Red itself were listening, Shoji's question was answered for them, a small flame flickering in the pothole, rapidly growing larger as a small ankh-shaped flame burst forth racing towards them. Without thinking, Shoji's replica ear turned into a fist, swiping away the pillar of fire into the ice, destroying it at the cost of lighting his replicated hand on fire.
"Tch! It hurts more than I expected…"
"Here," Todoroki said, raising his right arm and letting a light sheet of ice cover his hand and take out the fire. "Keep that on there for now. It should be enough to keep away any burns, but won't destroy your first should the ice shatter."
Shoji's eyes widened, cheeks lifting slightly into a smile underneath his mask at the unexpectedly thoughtful gesture.
CR-CRACK!
The two boys looked back towards Magician's Red, the stand simply standing in place, its arms folded with no stand user in sight. The two ice walls that blocked the fire pillars earlier suddenly shattered, the two fiery ankhs that were thought to be destroyed racing towards the duo.
"Todoroki!"
"I got it!" he quickly responded, attempting to put in place another ice wall, his eyes widening with panic when the ice almost immediately melted into water.
"What-" Todoroki began, before being picked by Shoji who broke into an immediate sprint, his lack of speed causing one of the Ankhs to reach his back, charring the back of his clothes with an outline of an Ankh, burning it into his skin.
"Gah…! He got me, and there's one more on the way!"
"Shoji!" Todoroki called out, pointing towards a house untouched by the previous battle. "We'll lose him in there."
"Are you sure?! He's probably expecting us to go there," Shoji said with concern as Todoroki pushed towards the house.
"It's either that or we get burned to death out here. I'm not willing to take any chances," he replied, stumbling into the house, Shoji replaying the same action, slamming the door behind him and backing away from the door; the front windows shattering the pillars of fire reached the house and simply disappeared.
The masked hero in training planted himself against a nearby wall, looking Todoroki's way.
"Have any ideas, Todoroki?"
Todoroki looked at the ceiling in thought. "We go up."
"Up?" Shoji asked curiously.
"Mhm. Up. We get to the roof; we'll be able to get a better view of the ground, with the added bonus of being above our opponent."
Little did they know, their opponent was standing on the very roof of the house, watching their every move the moment Todoroki created the giant ice wall.
"Despite the impressive physical strength of Shoji, that Todoroki boy is fast. I must take him out first… I'm sure he understands how irritating fighting fire with fire can be," Avdol spoke out aloud, Magician's red forming a life detector that slowly flew from the top of the house to the front, entering the house through the shattered window.
"I hear something," Shoji said as the duo quickly, but quietly made their way to the back of the large house. "Someone… no, something entered the house. I don't know what, but it seems to be tracking us; slowly if it's any consolation."
Todoroki nodded in acknowledgment. "Alright. If it's just entered the house, we should be safe… for now," Todoroki finished with a whisper as he led Shoji up the stairs to the second level of the house.
At that moment, Avdol hummed in thought. "So it would seem they're on the second level… do they intend to reach the roof? I suppose that's no matter. If they intend to fight this battle in close quarters, I'll just have to show them the power of Magician's Red."
Pulling down a ladder to the attic, the heroes in training climbed up towards the dark attic.
"How convenient," Todoroki remarked, a small flame emitting from his finger bringing a latch that led to the roof to light. The duo soon found themselves on the roof, spotting an unsuspecting Avdol who sat cross-legged on the edge of the roof, overlooking the street.
The duo looked at each other and silently nodded, quietly creeping towards their target.
"HRK!" Todoroki abruptly grunted, feeling hot streams of fire wrap around his arms, legs, and neck, ultimately constricting his movements entirely.
"Dammit! It's that 'stand' of his! What's worse is that he's somehow figured out my right side controls ice… where most of this fiery rope is spread!"
Shoji spun around on his heel, attempting to save his classmate.
"Its no use," Avdol spoke, gaining the attention of both students. "Shoji, correct? Your friend, Todoroki is trapped by technique Red Bind, and has left you to your own devices," Avdol said, his body unmoving. "I wonder… your quirk can create duplicate arms, correct? And you can create replica organs that attach themselves to those arms. Quite the interesting quirk, but I wonder, what can you do in this situation? Your, quite frankly, superior member of the team is currently incapacitated, and you have little choice in surrendering at this point. As such, I implore you to surrender immediately, or else your friend begins to experience true pain."
Shoji froze in place, unable to decide his next course of action. "If I attack Avdol, his stand will only make Todoroki endure more pain. If I attack the stand, who knows what he'll do when my back is turned, much less knowing the stand that can shoot those fireballs! What do I…"
"You…" Todoroki croaked. "How did you figure it out? Our quirks… how they function. This is our only second time seeing you… so how…?"
Though they couldn't see it, Avdol smirked. "You say that as if to assume this is my second time seeing you," he spoke in amusement.
"W-wait, so you're saying…"
"Yes. When you launched your first impressive ice wall, my stand immediately used the 'Red Bind' technique you're experiencing now to swing me from the street level to the roof we are currently on. Luckily for me, you were so focused on the wall that you didn't think to look at the bigger picture. You stood your ground near the ice wall, ordering your friend to hear over specifically one area of the ground- the street where the ice wall was created."
Avdol slowly brought himself to his feet and turned to look at the duo.
"And because of that, I ordered my stand, Magician's Red to remain behind the ice wall, attacking you with fire in order to reveal your abilities to me; and while you valiantly tried to fight off my stand, that's where I saw it all. Todroki's breathe vapour; ice forming over your body and suddenly disappearing in a cloud of steam; that's when I knew you possessed pyrokinetic abilities! And Shoji's duplicate arms allowing him the ability to grow of extra organs, all revealed to me."
The binds around Todoroki began to tighten, the fire and ice boy slowly losing air.
"Do you surrender?" Avdol said bluntly, waiting for Shoji to answer.
Shoji didn't move. He stared at the ground, a plan beginning to start formulating in his head.
"If this works, we'll get away from him! It'll be painful, but the sacrifice will be worth it!"
Shoji activated his quirk, an additional arm growing on each of his root arms. Shoji moved his left and right hands in front of his chest, giving him a clear view of the membrane between his original and duplicate arms.
"I'm not one to curse, but like Kaminari said… hell no," Shoji spoke bluntly after the long exchange raising his right arm…
And slamming it onto the membrane attaching his original left arm to the duplicate, violently tearing it apart, and catching the spare replica arm before it fell to the ground!
"It hurts… but it'll be worth it! Let me show you…" Shoji trailed off, turning his body around and throwing the replica arm straight towards an unsuspecting Magician's Red!
As if on reflex, Magician's Red opened its mouth to fire off a fireball to incinerate the projectile, but not before the replicated arm flew right into its mouth, choking it, and in effect, Avdol!
"…What a Class A student is capable of!"
Hrk-SKRRAAAAHHH!
Magician's Red screeched loudly, letting go of the binds holding down Todoroki as it scrambled to pull out the arm and incinerate it; Todoroki doing the hard work for it as he let rip a large stream of fire at Avdol's stand.
SSSKKKKKREEEEEEK!
Magician's Red howled, disappearing entirely, Avdol kneeing on the rooftop as fire surrounded his body.
"Shoji, you okay? You didn't have to go that far you know," Todoroki spoke; inspecting the ripped membrane as it slowly began to heal itself.
"Thank you for the concern, Todoroki, but I assure you I'm fine," he said with confidence, turning to face Avdol. "Now to deal with you."
"Hmph. Quite impressive, I must say, to put yourself in that much pain in order to save your classmate. A commendable action, but you know you can't do that forever! Magician's Red!"
Avdol called the stand to his side once more, summoning the fiery ropes that had tied down Todoroki, wrapping around Shoji and in turn pinning him to the ground. Avdol took a step towards Todroki.
The dual wielding quirk user fired off a stream of ice, almost immediately melting as Magician's Red increased the surrounding area's temperature. He gritted his teeth in annoyance, opting to push his right side to the limit, ice slowly crawling up his leg as threw out another sheet of ice at Avdol's feet to freeze him in place. Seeing the attack coming towards him Avdol simply ignored it and walked forward, the ice shattering underneath his feet.
"You're insistent on using ice against me. Curious. You can summon fire can you not? Show me. If not, you lose."
"Fine then, old man," Todoroki glowered. "But fair warning, you asked for it."
Thrusting out his left hand, fire ran rampant from his arm and towards Avdol; the fire enveloping him, yet remaining unharmed much to the surprise of Endeavour's son.
"Is that all?" Avdol taunted with a small smirk, the younger boy stopping to look behind him, the ledge stopping to reveal a generous amount of space between the ground and the roof. Firing off more streams of fire, Avdol inched closer, until Todoroki saw an opening, pushing off his right leg, right fist flying towards Avdol's face.
SLAM!
…
"About time," Avdol spoke through the surrounding flames, catching Todoroki's fist in his hand. Realising the punch didn't connect, he leaped away, towards Shoji.
"How? I lit your body on fire and you have no burns on your body or clothes and still managed to catch my punch. How are you not hurt?"
Avdol smirked, the fire surrounding him suddenly dissipating, though the binds around Shoji still remained.
"Control is the key. I've had my stand since birth, and it has served me well. As such, I have significantly more control over my pyrokinetic abilities. I'm sure you can try to figure it out from there."
As much as the half and half quirk user didn't want to admit it, he was bordering on becoming stumped. "Can he somehow deflect my fire? No, that can't be it; it would've disappeared entirely. Maybe he can… he can…"
Todoroki's eyes widened, an idea occurring to him. "Maybe the fire that is surrounding him… isn't mine?"
Avdol smirked, hearing his opponent mumbling to himself. "It would seem you've figured it out… well done. Now let's see you try to counter it!"
Magician's Red, still having a firm grip on the fiery rope around Shoji, fired four fireballs from its mouth, two rushing towards Todoroki and Avdol. Todoroki easily dodged the two fireballs headed his way, the remaining two exploding around Avdol, surrounding himself in Magician's Red's fire once again.
Todoroki squinted in thought. "I don't know how… but somehow he's able to manipulate fire to the point where the flames wrap around his fingers. His control might surpass even my father's… impressive."
The two continued to fight, exchanging blow both physical and of fire, too occupied to notice a pinned down Shoji wriggle an arm out from one of the fiery binds surrounding him. The masked teen glanced down at his left arm, the membrane slowly healing itself and creating two duplicate arms in its place. Slowly moving his right arm, which was being held down by Avdol's Red Bind, Magician's Red moved ever so slightly towards Shoji, the stand and its user too occupied to notice such a small detail.
Shoji's reached over to the binds on his right arm, his teeth clenching against each other, his two outstretched hands recoiling back in pain at the searing heat of the bind, despite it being the same bind that was currently wrapped around his arm.
"What power," he whispered as to not gain his captor's attention. "To be able to control the temperature of not only the individual binds but being able to control the temperature of different parts of the binds… it hinders my plan a little," he said, stopping mid-sentence as his two duplicate hands grabbed the extremely hot segment of the bind, grinding his teeth as he attempted to bear the pain.
"It hurts, but at least it'll be enough to get Todoroki out of the corner he's in," he muttered quietly.
Slowly, he lifted the bind up slowly into the air, the pulling of the bind causing Magician's Red to twitch slightly. Sensing something amiss, Avdol directed a pillar of fire towards Todoroki and looked at Shoji, eyes widening when Shoji jerked his duplicate hands back, Magician's Red caught off guard when its body was forcibly thrown towards Shoji…
"Apologies for stealing this from you, Tokoyami!" Shoji exclaimed, pulling back his three arms, slamming three fists into Magician's Red's cheek, chest and stomach, sending the stand and its user flying off the roof and landing back first onto the street!
The onlookers in the control room broke out into cheers, watching Todoroki pull Shoji to his feet and calming down the fire that spread along his two duplicate arms; the duo began whispering to each other before nodding and splitting up. Avdol pressed a hand to his head, pushing himself off the ground.
"Dammit, I was too careless… though that was quite the shot," he mused, his stand behind him, crossing its arms. "I never expected someone to be daring enough to pull on Magician's Red's binds like that," he continued, watching Shoji leap off the roof of the building to face Avdol… alone.
"Curious. It would seem your friend has run off… did he chicken out?"
Shoji didn't respond, opting to intimidate the stand user as the burnt arms regrew anew along with two new duplicates attached to his right arm.
"Far from it. But your fight is with me now. Don't expect me to go easy…"
"Hmph. I'd want nothing less."
"Then it's settled," Shoji muttered, dashing towards Avdol, opting for an uppercut to the chin, Avdol simply stepping back, narrowly avoiding the third fist as it grazed his nose.
"Try again," came a smug taunt from Avdol. Without hesitation, Shoji shot out his hands towards aiming for his shoulders and arms. Seeing the predictable attack incoming, Avdol swerved to the side, Shoji missing and falling towards the ground, Avdol sticking out his foot in front of his opponents.
Catching himself from falling flat on his face, his duplicate hands slammed into the ground and pushed up, Shoji back on his feet again. Squinting his eyes, he let one of his duplicate arms disappear, two remaining on each side of his body. Repeating the previous motions he made, Shoji attempted to land a grapple on Avdol, this time, Shoji making sure to miss hitting Avdol's foot, the duo facing each other in their original spots.
"Getting desperate are we?"
Shoji didn't react, answering with, "No, I'm not." Pushing off his heels, Shoji charged towards Avdol, attempting to retaliate to his question with an oddly telegraphed right hook with his two fists. The stand user's stance shifted; ready to counter-attack Shoji, instinctively causing Shoji's cheeks to shift up, Shoji smirking underneath his mask.
"You're done now," he spoke quietly as his fists approached his target.
At least, that's what he thought.
Clink!
With a small clashing of concrete and metal, Avdol's eyes snapped down to the ground, noticing a coin on the ground.
"Hmmm? What's this? One of Polnareff's coins?'
Avdol ducked down on one knee picking up the coin, a loud 'slam!' and a small shockwave emanating from a collision of attacks above his head. Shoji couldn't believe it. Todoroki couldn't believe it. Their plan, despite it reeking of obvious desperation, was actually going to be pulled off!
'Was', being the keyword.
Shoji and Todoroki leaped back, their hands and foot respectively burning from the pain of their colliding attacks.
"How did he dodge our attacks with such ease? Was it all because of that coin? No, there has to be more to it than that, but what?" Shoji thought to himself, his brain scrambling to come up with an explanation, much less their next course of action. Standing back up again, Avdol looked straight at Shoji, ready for him to strike, as if he didn't realise he and Todoroki had attacked before. Was he feigning ignorance? Was he the kind of person to suddenly become instantly enamored with shiny objects once they come into view?
Shoji couldn't tell from his facial expression, but somehow, deep down, he knew Avdol had somehow predicted their attacks, feigning ignorance of their attempted assault to get under their skin. Shoji, realising this, kept his composure.
His partner's reaction was another can of worms entirely, to the point where it came off as uncharacteristic to Shoji. Charging towards Avdol's back, Todoroki gritted his teeth as he leaped into the air, gravity pushing him down towards Avdol's back, aiming a kick at Avdol's exposed back. Avdol took a step forward towards Shoji to attack him, the kick missing its target entirely, Avdol ignoring the fact Todoroki swung his leg at him.
Seeing a chance to potentially land a hit, Shoji dashed in his opponent's direction, removing his second arm and cocking back a singular fist, aiming for stand user's face when he noticed Todoroki attempting to land at a sweep at Avdol's feet.
SLAM!
A small shockwave emanated from their attacks landing, though not against their intended target; Magician's Red's foot stamping the ground and preventing Todoroki's foot from hitting Avdol's own and catching Shoji's fist in its hand.
"Tsk, tsk," Avdol clicked his tongue in disappointment, shaking his head when he sensed Todoroki back off, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"If there's one thing I don't appreciate, it's being toyed with, much less being underestimated for your own amusement," Todoroki spoke menacingly, his ice and fire quirk twitching, appearing on his body one second and disappearing the next.
"Both understandable sentiments, after all, I AM exactly doing both of those," he remarked with a hint of disappointment in his voice, commanding his stand to push back Shoji.
"Why? What do you expect us to get out of this if you won't take either of us seriously," Todoroki spoke, returning to a neutral tone and throwing an annoyed glare at Avdol's back.
Avdol, still unmoving, pressed a finger to his head in thought. "What was it that I said earlier, I wonder? Perhaps it was… to look at the bigger picture, was it not?"
"To look at the bigger picture…?" Shoji whispered, recalling the fortune-teller's cryptic words.
"Up," Avdol simply muttered, pointing to the sky above. His opponents followed his finger, looking to the sky with a large, fiery construct catching their eye. A cruciform pillar of fire floated in the air above them
"W-what is that?"
Before Todoroki could get an answer, a tall figure stood over him, Avdol stealthily moved towards Shoji, bending his knees and pulling back a fist.
"That is Magician's Red's life detector! That is what stopped you from winning!" Avdol exclaimed, Shoji's head moving down to see a fist dive into his face, whilst Magician's Red simultaneously grabbed Todoroki by the face, wrapping binds around Todoroki.
"No hesitations!" the stand user bellowed, grabbing Shoji and pushing the dazed boy towards his stand, Magician's Red threw Todoroki violently towards the stumbling masked hero in training. Disappearing to Avdol's side, the stand rushed towards the duo with an outstretched leg…
SKRAAAAAAWWWW!
"Magician's Red does not forgive…!"
Slamming his left leg into the side of the Shoji and Todoroki, the stand quickly reached out to the duo with binds surrounding them, crashing their heads into each other as the binds forced them towards each other. Lifting its right leg up, the humanoid stand slammed it's right leg into the opposite side where their first blow was dealt, lifting them off the ground and slamming a fiery fist into their stomachs.
"Tsk, tsk, yes I am!" Avdol exclaimed, waving his finger twice before turning his back towards the duo as two explosions emanated from Magician's Red's hands. The resulting explosions sent Shoji and Todoroki flying into the air and landing on the ground nearby, their bodies battered and burned by Magician's Red's short, yet unrelenting assault.
Avdol's stand returned to his side once more, the user observing his opponents as they slowly stood to their feet.
"So, gentlemen," Avdol spoke; Magician's Red on standby should the duo try to attack. "Do you surrender?"
The boys knelt on the ground, unable to find the stamina to push them to their feet.
"Todoroki? What do we do?" Shoji whispered using one of his duplicate arms; to which his partner grunted, his head racing to formulate a plan. He looked up towards the small cross-shaped pillar of fire that still loomed over them. After studying the construct for a moment, Todoroki's vapor came together in his head.
"For whatever reason, he's stopped keeping up the temperature so high. He must have a cooldown on such an absurd ability. If so, I'll start with this and take our only chance to win!" he exclaimed in his head, the palm of his left hand hitting the ground, a mountainous pile of ice forming between the combatants. He urgently turned to his partner pointing to the sky.
"That life detector. We need to get rid of that before we even think about how we're going to win. We take it out, we will, at the very least, how a slim chance of coming out on top; so this is what we're going to do…"
Meanwhile, Avdol coloring stood idly by, looking up at the icy construct.
"This again…? I wonder what he intends to do?" He asked aloud, shaking his head as Magician's Red rapidly raised the temperature of the street around them. "No matter I suppose, all they're doing is delaying the inevitable. Magician's Red!"
Avdol commanded his stand to move forward towards the front of the ice mountain, pulling back its right leg a small wave of déjà vu and… dread washing over him. He hesitated for a split second, the life detector picking up no unusual activities from his opponents, simply standing together. Mustering all its strength in its right leg, Magician's Red slammed into the ice wall once again, the ice shattering into millions of pieces to reveal Todoroki being picked up by Shoji.
"DO IT NOW!" Todoroki yelled. Shoji nodded, realizing back quickly and flung Todoroki forward like a spear, hurling the boy towards Avdol!
The stand user's eyes almost bulged out of his head as he called his stand back to his side, charging fireballs from its mouth; being thrown off once again as Todoroki flipped around, his feet facing towards the ground and creating ice that ran along the ground, aiming upwards towards the sky! Avdol's sense of dread returned to him as he watched his opponent's momentum carry him up the icy ramp he had created, flying into the air and snuffing out the flaming life detector with no hesitation.
"W-what?!"
Todoroki switched his attention from the now extinguished pillar of fire to Avdol below him, his right hand creating icicles and sloppily tossing them at his stand, floating a few meters away from Avdol.
"Magician's Red! Destroy those projectiles!" he commanded, Magician's Red launching a seemingly endless barrage of fire, melting and destroying all icy constructs Todoroki was insistent on throwing the stand user's way. A flame suddenly erupted from Todoroki's right side, a short, spear-like weapon materializing in his right hand, Todoroki throwing the weapon instantly towards Magician's Red itself.
"Magician's-"
Before Avdol could recall his stand, the tip of the spear hit Magician's Red's right arm, dispersing itself amongst the arm and lighting it on fire. Consequently, Avdol cursed loudly as the flames appeared on his self and rapidly ate through the clothing cover his right arm.
"S-shit! My arm!" Avdol howled in pain, watching the fire spread further up his arm.
"Magician's Red!" The stand immediately reacted, appearing next to him and wrapping binds around his arm, his fire preventing Todoroki's from spreading further!
Suddenly, a certain masked boy caught the attention of Avdol, a large chunk of ice being catapulted directly toward him and nearing its target. Avdol gritted his teeth, subconsciously ordering his stand to increase the temperatures rapidly, the lethal chunk of ice quickly melted into water, Avdol reaching under the small shower of water and allowing the flames to fizzle out, leaving a charred arm in its wake.
"Tsk! He almost got me with that spear of his… did he always have such precise control over his right side?" Avdol mumbled to himself, shaking his head in turn. "No. Our last encounter on the roof made it clear he had little to no control and yet… perhaps it was subconscious? Regardless if it was, that first move was a step in the right direction," he thought aloud, recalling Shoji throwing Todoroki head first towards Magician's Red.
"Unfortunately… it is not enough," he spoke menacingly, approaching his opponents, huddling together and sliding into fighting stances.
"Gentlemen," Avdol spoke, his eyes closed. "It would seem we are at a crossroads, so I shall give you two choices. The first option is your immediate surrender. The second…" Avdol trailed off, his eyes opening with a small flame flickering on top of his right index finger. "I will give you hell… hell to you!"
Todoroki smirked his right and left sides flaring up with their respective powers, fire, and ice working in tandem with one another. "Then we will just have to give it right back to you."
Without another word spoken, ice ran along the ground, freezing Avdol in place. Without time to worry about the trap, fiery ankhs of a variety of shapes, sizes, and temperature materialized out of thin air, rapidly spinning around Avdol.
Todoroki shot a look of confidence at Shoji. "You know what to do right?"
Shoji nodded, picking him up again "The 'Fastball Special' right? I can do it. The question is… what about your part? I'm heavier than you realize…"
"Just do it," Todoroki said bluntly, Shoji belting his partner straight towards Avdol. Looking back at his partner, his right side flared uncontrollably, feeling his body begin to tear apart from summoning a familiar item in his right hand.
"Only got one shot! One chance to catch!" Todoroki spoke to the wind, thrusting out his left hand behind him, ropes of fire reaching out towards his partner who grabbed on with his duplicated limbs. Todoroki landed, using the momentum to slide along the ice he created upon impact, spinning around the icy circle
"I'll evaporate you…!" Avdol muttered in a low voice, watching the duo closely at their bizarre plan.
As Todoroki created more momentum within his circle, ice formed out of his right hand, carrying him up into the sky with Shoji in tow; a large ankh of fire appearing in the corner of his eye.
Reaching the peak of their airtime, Todoroki spun around on more time, letting go of the binds that were carrying Shoji, tossing his masked partner as hard as he could at the stand user; Shoji preparing to strike the stand user directly with duplicated limbs aflame.
"Eat this!"
"Improvised special move…!"
"CROSSFIRE HURRICANE SPECIAL!"
"DUPLICATED METEOR STRIKE!"
CRASH!
…
Todoroki rushed into the cloud of dust that had been created by their colliding attacks, almost tripping a crouching Shoji, the masked hero in training bordering on hyperventilating.
"Shoji…! You're okay… what happened to Avdol?"
"H-he's over there…" he spoke through endless pants. Todoroki's eyes followed his partner's finger to where he was pointing; freezing in place at the scene he had the unfortunate privilege of seeing. Avdol's body was sprawled out on the ground, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, blood trailing down onto his face with six visible punch mark left all over his body.
"I-is he…" Todoroki stuttered, unable to formulate words as the body disappeared into a sea of flames, dancing around the duo. The fire floated behind them, splitting apart the dust cloud as the figure standing there wagged his finger, the fire returning to his body; Shoji both shocked and relieved at what he was witnessing.
"Mohammad Avdol!"
"Yes. I. AM!" The older man announced with a large smirk on his face.
"But… I thought I…!"
"Do not worry, Shoji. What you hit was nothing but a body double… nothing more nothing less."
Todoroki scoffed. "Is there nothing you can't do with that stand of yours?" he asked, sliding into a fighting stance.
"If there's one thing I must say it can't do, is that it won't allow me to win this fight."
"Oh? Do explain the logic."
"You know… you aren't normally supposed to be looking at for your enemy's well being like that… perhaps you aren't as cold as I first perceived you to be."
"Stop deflecting," Todoroki simply replied, causing Avdol to sigh in response.
"I forfeit the match."
"…I'm sorry?"
"Like I said, I forfeit the match," Avdol restated, walking past the duo, much to their confusion."
"Why?"
"Do you not remember? What I said my mission was?"
Shoji looked down at the ground in thought. "Your mission… wait, you don't mean…!"
"That's right. My mission was to 'teach you how to work efficiently as a team and wield your quirks effectively'. And as it turns out, you both did exactly that."
"So you say," Todoroki said, tempted to roll his eyes at his explanation.
"Then, how exactly did you teach us?" Shoji asked curiously.
"Why, that's elementary my dear Watson: y attacking you in a variety of different ways. In the direct confrontations, you two sought out to attack me in different ways that could cover any potential escapes. In others, you combined your quirks and abilities to overcome the obstacle; as you displayed a minute ago."
Shoji stood on his feet, dusting off his uniform with an almost defeated sigh. "So, that's that, huh? How anti-climactic."
"Agreed."
"Todorkoi and Shoji, win!"
"I take it back," Jiro spoke with an edge of nervousness in her voice. "I was totally wrong."
Iggy snorted and rolled his eyes. "Of course you were."
"Not. Helping."
"Moving right along," Yaoyorozu awkwardly muttered, lightly elbowing her best friends' side. "I have to say, that fight was truly something else. To think that Todoroki could muster up control in such a short amount of time is amazing…"
Bakugo snorted. "Yeah right… it's only because half-and-half was getting desperate. Dumbass almost tore his body apart trying to replicate those ropes from before."
"As crude as his explanations was, he's right," Jotaro said, agreeing with Bakugo's assessment of Todoroki's weapon creation.
"I don't disagree, I suppose I'm trying to say that it's amazing he pulled it off in the first place," Yaoyorozu quickly clarified.
"I agree," came a new and familiar voice, walking into the room with a sleeve burnt off his outfit.
"Avdol! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" Polnareff burst into laughter, looking at the Egyptian man's charred outfit. "And talk about a wardrobe malfunction… that kid must've been something else, huh?"
"He was… though he doesn't deserve all the credit. Shoji was quite impressive too, despite the obvious gap in terms of visual flair their quirks possess."
"Yeah, you're totally right!" Hagakure said, bouncing on her heels. "That last attack was so cool! Todoroki threw him down and Shoji hit him with that move where his arms were on fire and everything! It's like that one move… oh, what was it called again, Ojiro?"
The tailed boy raised an eyebrow in thought. "The… Falcon Punch?" he offered.
"Yes! That's the one! That was awesome!"
The stand users watched the class talk amongst themselves, discussing their own plans for the next battle.
"So, who's going next?" Kakyoin asked his friends, the group having trouble deciding who to pick.
"Oi! Avdol! Shouldn't you be getting that arm fixed up with that Recovery Girl person?" Polnareff yelled at his friend, observing the charred arm.
Joseph nodded in agreement. "I think we should have Polnareff go next. He's in desperate need of some training after his run-in with the mafia in Italy…"
"P-Polnareff! I'm fine."
"Nice try, but you're not fooling me!" the Frenchman retorted, dragging Avdol by the opposite arm across to the exit.
"Hey! I'm taking Avdol to the infirmary place- I'll be back!"
"W-wait Polnareff, we need you to stay!" Joseph urged the silver-haired man, watching him race out the control room with Avdol in tow. Sighing in defeat, Joseph turned back to the remaining members of the Stardust Crusaders.
"So… what now?"
Josuke drummed his fingers on the table, leaning on his elbow in boredom.
"Josuke~!"
The high schooler looked up to see Tomoko and Shino, aka Mandalay, approach the table he was currently sitting at, placing a small box of hot chips and dipping sauce in front of him.
"You know, you don't have to do this, Josuke," his mother said sincerely, looking at the two kids nearby, Eri losing herself in a coloring book and Kouta playing with water in a cup, trying his hands at making a variety of shape, occasionally showing it off to her.
"Nah, I'll be fine. You guys haven't talked for so long, so you shouldn't need to burden yourself with those two."
"Aw, you're too kind Josuke!" Shino cooed, her and Tomoko's faces' shifting into soft, thankful smiles. Josuke's face turned red with embarrassment, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck.
"Ah, it's nothing, r-really…"
"Well, should you need us, we'll be at the tables over at the front of the café, okay?"
"Ah, okay then," Josuke quietly replied, the two women quickly going to a nearby table, immediately striking a conversation and leaving Josuke to his own devices. Digging into the chips he sat and ate, his mind blanking, unable to form coherent thoughts. After a few minutes of eating, Josuke's hand hit cardboard, attempting to feel for another chip to eat. Standing with a sigh, he walked off to the nearby bin, turning towards the kids he volunteered to keep an eye on.
"Hey," he called out to them, gaining their attention. "I'm going to the bathroom real quick. Don't do anything dumb, okay?"
The two nodded, watching him turn the corner, proceeding to walk down the hallway. Eri went back to colouring in the picture in her book, while Kouta fiddled with the water in his cup some more. Seconds went past and the silence was starting to kill the water-quirked boy, deciding to tap Eri on the shoulder.
"Hey."
"Hm? What is it?" she asked quietly, looking into his eyes. Immediately breaking eye contact, he looked into the cup and activated his quirk, point the cup towards the girl.
"Look at this," he said with a proud smile, the small amount of water in the cup shifting into a triangular shape, leaving three gaps in the cup. "Pretty cool, huh?"
"Yeah… it is," she suddenly said crestfallen, distracting her self with the book, Kouta's insistence to talk to her preventing her from doing so.
"Hey… do you not like it? Is it not good?"
Eri shook her head profusely. "Ah, no, it's just that… you using your quirk reminded me of… you know… mine."
Kouta's eyes widened as he finally got the message. "Oh. Right. Sorry about that…" he trailed off awkwardly, looking at the ground in thought; his head bolting upright with an idea, causing Eri to flinch.
"Hey, Eri."
"Y-yes, Kouta?"
"Do you want to get outta here?"
"W-why?" She asked with quiet concern.
"Well… aren't you bored just sitting here?"
Eri looked away, biting her nails. "I… I guess…"
"Exactly!"
"But… what do we do? Where do we go?"
Kouta smirked. "That's easy. We're going to find Mister Midoriya."
Eri's eyes widened at the suggestion. "Mr. Midoriya? You don't mean… Deku, do you?"
"Yeah, yeah, same guy. So, do you wanna?"
Eri thought for a moment, remembering what Josuke said before. Before she could respond, memories flooded back into her mind, of the sacrifice he and Lemilllion made for her.
"Yeah."
Kouta's eyes widened, not expecting an affirmative response. "O-okay! Let's go! But remember, we have to be very, very quiet. Mandalay might see us if we're not careful."
Leaving their temporary belongings behind, the duo crept towards one of the exits furthest away from where their guardians were seated, tip-toeing their way out of U.A's mostly deserted café area.
"Okay, down here, quickly!"
"W-wait! Where are we going?"
Kouta pointed towards the elevator. "It's basically the middle of the day, so classes will be on, right? All we have to do is got to the level with all the classrooms and then go to 1-A! Then we'll find him."
"Really? That easily?"
Kouta nodded. "Yep! Mandalay told me that Mr. Midoriya was in class 1-A when they came to our place to train," Kouta explained, the elevator doors opening with the duo soon occupying the space. Inside.
"D-do you think it's okay we're going to go see him? You said they have classes…"
Kouta scoffed, giving her a half attempt at a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it. If they have classes, we can just wait for them to finish, then we can go see him."
"But, what about Mandalay? What will she say? And then Josuke too…"
Kouta pressed a finger against her lips. "Eri. Seriously. It'll be fine. We're just going to go see Mr. Midoriya for a little bit we'll be back before you know it."
She nodded as Kouta took his finger off her lips, the boy sending a look of confusion her way. "Hey, Eri? You okay? Your face has gone all red."
The girl pressed her hands to her cheeks, feeling heat radiate from them before they came into direct contact. "U-um, yeah, fine. Just fine!" she spoke with a shakily. Kouta shrugged, turning his back to her when the doors opened.
"Whatever you say."
Taking a few steps out of the elevator, Kouta looked to his left and right, determining what their next move should be. "This way!" He announced, pointing to the left end of the hallway. Eri silently followed his lead, passing by multiple doors before reaching a door that read '1-B' in giant letters, Kouta spotting 1-A's door soon after.
"There it is," Kouta said turning to Eri. "So, what now? I kinda wanna go in but…"
Eri tilted her head. "You're really eager to meet Deku, aren't you?"
"No, I'm not," Kouta spoke with an edge of sarcasm, causing Eri to giggle.
"Well, it's just that, you're always so… sad and angry back at home. But whenever someone mentions Deku, you always get so fired up and happy."
Kouta scoffed. "So? What about it?"
Eri softly smiled. "I like that Kouta… the happy and excited Kouta. Whenever I see you happy… I'm happy too. It's kind of weird, don't you think?"
Kouta's face went beat red, unsure how to respond. "W-whatever, l-look, do you want to see him or not?"
Eri's demeanour went back to one of concern and doubt. "I… I think we should wait for him to finish his class. Maybe we should go back…"
"What was that?! You want to see him now?! Alright then!" he proclaimed with great valour, grabbing the door and attempting to slide it open.
Click!
…
"Huh. It's locked."
"So they're not in class then."
"Yeah… I guess," Kouta spoke, standing back from the door. "So what now?"
"Let's go back- wait… Kouta, who's that?" Eri asked, pointing further down the hallway. Kouta looked in the direction his friend was pointing in, a small figure, no taller than either of them was wandering around the coloring.
"I dunno."
"Maybe we should-"
"HEY, YOU!"
Eri flinched hearing the boy's voice raise suddenly. "K-Kouta, wait, you shouldn't just be loud like that…"
"It'll be fine," Kouta said confidently, the small figure Kouta called to running towards the duo. The figure in question was obviously feminine, a look of nervousness strewn across her face, tiny beads of sweat falling on the side of her head.
"Hey. What's up? You look lost," Kouta asked the girl bluntly.
"U-um, I'm looking for daddy… I remember him say he'd be around here somewhere…"
"Well, what's his name?" Kouta asked expectedly, crossing his arms and tapping an index finger on his right arm in wait.
"His name? Daddy's name is…"
…
Meanwhile, a few minutes before, Josuke breathed a sigh of relief, splashing some water on his face in order to wake him up. Really, when his mother told him they'd be visiting U.A, he thought he'd be getting a tour of the place. After all, it's not every day you get to get into the sealed off school so easily, and for free no less. Instead, Josuke resigned himself to the job of babysitting, which didn't really bug Josuke that much. After all, he didn't want to burden his mother or Shino with having to watch over two kids when they hadn't seen each other, much less talked face-to-face in years.
But in hindsight, he wished he hadn't. Now he couldn't even take the tour he wanted and had to show up in his school uniform as per his mother's orders. Something about 'representing your school well' or something to that effect, Josuke couldn't remember what exactly.
"Funnily enough, that's what Kakyoin told me once. His mannerisms must be rubbing off on mom, which is no surprise really, they are a couple after all," he mumbled to himself, drying off his face.
Despite his mother insisting on keeping it a secret from Josuke and her friends (for whatever reason), Josuke was well aware of what his mother and Kakyoin got up to. Their regular dates to Tonio's restaurant Trattoria Trussardi, often purchasing a generous amount of a particular sponge cake from Kamakura and occasionally standing in as a substitute teacher for his mother whenever she fell sick; and somehow, he'd always have the most effective medicines to alleviate whatever sickness she had within 24 hours.
Josuke knew Kakyoin was no doctor, so it came as no surprise to Josuke when he figured out that Kakyoin would often use his position in the Speedwagon to get his hands on whatever medicines he could for either his or his mother's sake.
Walking out of the bathroom, Josuke sighed, walking past the elevator as it closed. Josuke suddenly stopped and looked at the elevator, only to be met with metallic doors, having closed on him already. Shaking his head, he proceeded back to the table he was once sitting at, entering the café area and taking his seat once more. Total silence overcame the area, with the occasional laugh exuded by either Shino or his mother. Josuke sighed and turned around to check on the two kids he'd chosen to babysit.
"Hey, you guys… okay?"
Josuke stared at the empty kid's area, a cup of water sitting on the ground nearby and a colouring book and pencils left neatly on a small table nearby. Taking the time to observe what he was seeing, Josuke gasped, his eyes almost bulging of his head.
"W-what the hell…? Where did they go? They were just here a minute ago!" Josuke hissed through his teeth, annoyed at himself for leaving the two be.
"Dammit! I should've just…! Wait… what's this?" Josuke got down on one knee, his hand searching underneath the table and finding a ripped off All Might piece of fabric.
"Wait a minute… wasn't Kouta wearing an All Might shirt? If he is then maybe…"
Before he could choose his next action, a voice called out to him. "Josuke!"
"Gwuh?!"
Tomoko flinched back in surprise, much like Josuke did. "Ah! Josuke are you okay… wait a minute. Josuke, where are the other two?"
A cold sweat broke out on the side of Josuke's head, trying to figure out a reason to explain their disappearance. "I- uh, I took them to the bathroom! Yeah, just took them now."
Tomoko didn't seem convinced. "Uh-huh. And what are you doing here then? Shouldn't you be waiting outside the bathrooms for them?"
"Uh- yeah, well you see, they told me I didn't need to, they said they'd be able to get back just fine, after all, it is just down the hallway. Anyway, what are you doing here mom?"
Tomoko sighed, not bothering to ask any more questions. "Well, I came to check on you, since the last time I saw you, you looked rather bored. I know you said you didn't want to burden us, but really, we're fine with looking after them if you're finding it difficult."
Josuke profusely shook his head. "No! No, really it's fine mom. In fact, I'll go check on them now. They probably won't be happy, especially Kota, he was really insistent on being left alone you know…"
"Well, just remember Josuke, it's the thought that counts, okay?"
"R-right, well I'll be off!" Josuke exclaimed stepping quickly out of the café area, walking away and summoning Crazy Diamond.
"You know what to do," Josuke whispered, his stand tapping the piece of fabric, beginning to float down towards the hallway and towards the elevator.
"Ah, dammit, it was them! I should've known," he said racing ahead and pressing the up button on an elevator. With the doors opening wide, he jumped in and ran over the buttons to choose from.
"Which one, which one? Ah dammit, I'll take my chances," Josuke grumbled lowly, pressing one of the buttons, the doors closing as soon as the piece of fabric floated in. Feeling the elevator move upwards, the piece of fabric floated in place, moving forward and getting stuck against the metal doors, bursting through when they separated, Josuke taking a left down the hallway and stopping in his tracks.
He wasn't sure if it was just him, but the piece of fabric had seemingly just… disappeared. Out of thin air no less. Running down the hallway, he looked around trying out where it had vanished. Racing mindlessly up to a giant door he swung it open and stuck his head inside, only to be greeted with a class full of looks of curiosity and confusion.
"Hello there. Is something the matter?" a grey, blocky hero asked him. Josuke moving his out of the classroom, slamming it shut and leaning against the wall in annoyance and frustration.
"Dammit Josuke, why would you do something like that? Whatever I need to keep looking… for them."
Josuke slowly finished his sentence as he heard voices near a door that read '1-A' in giant letters.
"My father's name is…"
"W-whoa! What just happened?"
"Huh?! I don't know! The little All Might symbol I thought I ripped off my shirt by accident… it just came back! And it's back there properly now…"
"Wait," a new voice interjected, catching Josuke's attention. "Did it just appear there and become repaired instantly?"
"Yeah, that's what happened…" the masculine voice of the group replied.
Josuke cleared his throat, stopping whatever conversation they were having with each other. "Kouta? Eri? Is that you?"
Kouta leapt out to reveal himself fully, while Eri stuck her head out cautiously to get a view of Josuke.
"Oh thank goodness. Seriously you guys, why did you run off for?! I told you not to do anything dumb! I go to the restroom and then you're just… gone! I had to lie straight to my mom's face because she'd give me whippings like there's no tomorrow if she found out I lost you guys," Josuke ranted, causing Eri to step out fully and bow her head, her long hair obscuring her face.
"I-I'm sorry Josuke… I promise it won't happen again."
"Yeah, yeah whatever. I'm sorry too. I just wanted to see Mr. Midoriya dammit…"
"No way…!" the mysterious owner of the voice spoke out, her hand covering her mouth in shock. Josuke had a similar reaction, his eyes almost falling out of his head in shock instead, a girl, who Josuke seemed to recognise almost immediately.
"The two buns, streaks of blonde hair, dark pink short, a black shirt and knee-high tights with spider-web like designs and the butterfly motifs on her shirt and hair… there's no mistaking it, it's…!"
"Gwah… Uncle Joooosssukkkeeee!" the girl cried with little tears in her eyes, running up to him and wrapping her arms around his waist.
"J-Jolyne?!"
"It's so good to see you uncle Josuke…"
"Wait… Jolyne! If you're here, then that must mean…?"
"Yeah… Daddy's here too. B-but I can't find him. He told me to stay with Recovery Girl, but I got bored, so I went to find Daddy, but I got lost," she sniffed, wiping her tears against her pants.
"Now he's going to be angry at me…"
"Aww, Jolyne…" Josuke said with a sad sigh. He hated seeing Jolyne sad, especially when Jotaro first initially left him in the care of Josuke, and by proxy Okuyasu and Koichi. "He's not going to be angry at you."
"…You think so?"
Josuke nodded with the brightest smile he could muster. "I know so. He might be disappointed, but Jotaro isn't one to get angry very easily when it comes to you."
"Yeah, I guess so… hey, uncle Josuke? Are Uncle 'Yasu and Uncle Koichi here too?"
Josuke's mouth retained his smile hearing Jolyne refer to Okuyasu and Koichi the way she did. "Nah. They're back at Morioh. It's just me today."
Her smile faltered for a split second, an awkward cough from behind the two distracting Josuke from the frown.
"So, you going to introduce us?"
Josuke rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright. Jolyne, this is Eri and Kouta. Eri and Kouta, this is Jolyne."
"Nice to meet you," Jolyne spoke softly, both Eri and Kouta repeating the action.
"So," Josuke started, "I believe it's time we headed back, don't you think?"
"Awww, but I wanna see Mr. Midoriya!"
Eri nodded in agreement with Kouta's sentiments. "I want to see him too."
"And I want to find Daddy," Jolyne said looking at Josuke with puppy eyes.
"Oh no, that isn't going to work on me."
"Daddy said he was teaching 1-A! He has to be here somewhere!" Jolyne said, causing Eri and Kouta's jaws to hit the floor in realization.
"Deku- I mean, M-Mr. Midoriya is in class 1-A too! That means we're going to the same place! If we find Mr. Midoriya, we find Jolyne's dad!" Eri exclaimed happily.
"See Uncle Josuke? We all want to go to the same place! Will you help us please?" Jolyne begged, attempting to trap him with the puppy dog eyes.
…Except this time, with the other two assisting her, both Eri and Kouta giving him the puppy dog eyes gaze, despite how ridiculous and out of place it was on Kouta. Josuke sighed in defeat and shook his head.
"You guys… what am I going to do with you? Oh well. To class 1-A we go!" Josuke exclaimed enthusiastically, pumping one arm in the air, the other three repeating the action with even more energetic cries of approval.
…
"So… any idea where to start looking?"
"W-wait, why me?!"
Kakyoin sighed. "Because, Mr. Joestar, you're the only one of us who hasn't participated yet."
"S-so?! Polnareff hasn't gone yet, neither has Iggy!" Joseph stuttered pointing at Iggy across the room.
"Yes, we are aware, but Polnareff dragged Avdol off to get his arm fixed and Iggy's being snuggled by that pink, alien looking girl."
Joseph looked at Iggy as the pink girl, Mina Ashido as he recalled, pressed Iggy's face against her assets, smirking and sticking a tongue out at Sero, Kaminari, and Mineta.
"Gah. I suppose I have no choice now, do I?" Joseph asked, Kakyoin shaking his head. Joseph made eye contact with Jotaro and nodded, leaving the control room for Ground Alpha.
"Yaoyorozu. Jiro. You're next. Make your way to Ground Alpha, now."
The two girls nodded, leaving the room quickly, following after Joseph. "Good luck. You'll need all you can get against the old man…"
Mei's stat pages:
Hermit Purple
Destructive Power: D
Speed: C
Durability: C
Precision: A
Developmental Potential: E
HERMIT PURPLE! Man, I love saying that! Back on track, Hermit Purple is the stand of Joseph Joestar. This stand manifests as multiple, purple, thorn-covered vines that emerge specifically from his hands. Despite the vines attacking power relatively weak, the vines themselves are strong enough to support his own weight and long enough to bind someone completely; allowing for some snazzy vine zipping… kinda like Spider-Man!
Oh, and before I forget, Hermit Purple has a plethora of other abilities. Some of these include being able to divine information, such as creating maps of a city in the dirt, creating images of anything he wants to find out by destroying super old cameras and produce live psychic videos on a TV. Mr. Joestar is also able to use his stand to transmit hamon perfectly without losing its effectiveness over long ranges. Thankfully, due to his recent attempts to use consistently hamon again, Mr. Joestar's abilities are more consistent than ever, and he's also become younger! Maybe I should ask him to teach me how to use it, being able to invent whatever I want for as long as possible sounds like the perfect life for me…
Creation
Destructive Power: D
Speed: C
Range: Varies
Durability: B
Precision: A
Developmental Potential: B
The creation quirk is a special one, it is. This quirk allows Momo Yaoyorozu to create anything she wants, as long as she knows the molecular structure of said object. Should she know it by heart, she can manipulate the fat cells in her body to create an object, anything she wants! Though larger objects take much longer to create than smaller ones. In effect, Yaoyorozu requires a certain amount of food to be eaten every day in order to maintain her body weight and shape, so she doesn't become underweight. Because of this, she is known by some to be quite… gluttonous, despite her upbringing.
Don't tell her I said that though.
Earphone Jack
Destructive Power: E
Speed: C
Range: C
Durability: C
Precision: C
Developmental Potential: A
Earphone Jacks, the quirk of Kyoka Jiro! The earphone jacks that hand fro her earlobes allow for Jiro to insert them (somehow) into all sorts of things, being able to detect everything from small sounds to the heartbeats of people nearby! She can also use them as whips to whack people in the face from up to 6 meters away, being able to shatter huge rocks! Hopefully, my babies can stand up to that kind of force…
Anyway, thanks to amplifiers built by yours truly, Jiro is able to connect her earphones into these special devices on her forearms to create a powerful sound wave from her heartbeat, which can violently shatter the ground beneath her! Quite nifty if I do say so myself~!
Holy chuckles and knuckles that was long. I never expected to get over 10k for one chapter. Avdol is super hard to write a decently long battle for honestly. Also, putting Todoroki with Shoji of all people really put me in a corner for writing something that doesn't drag, but I didn't want to retroactively change anything in the previous chapter to fix that.
Good grief.
Some responses to some reviews:
reven228: Perhaps we will. Perhaps -silverchariotrequiem- we will see something like that.
MagatsuIza: Yes, well, I wanted to initially pair Polnareff with her, but I decided against it after watching a certain shitpost of a video involving Okuyasu and Kakyoin in early Part 4.
Also, yes, I will be getting around to rewriting the previous stat pages to line up with the new 'Mei's Stat Pages' I've decided to implement in this chapter.
And remember to please review the story! I'm also open to constructive criticism. After all, I want to make this story be as best as I can…. That said, I need to get some sleep, so do yourselves a favour and get some, and have a damn good one.
