Chapter 8: Clash of the Titans
Viola:
Her vines nervously writhed on the ground, Viola's eyes darted side to side. She hated to admit it, but she was nervous. It was her very first battle trial and she had every right to be nervous, but she couldn't let herself be. Not only was her team relying on her, but she had to prove to herself and her brother that she could be in control. Vivid images flashed through her head, images she longed to bury and forget. Shaking her head, Viola's mind cleared and she turned her focus back to her team. Junko and Takara were looking at her, a touch of concern in their eyes.
"Don't worry guys," Viola quickly put up a smile, immediately putting them at ease, "We've got this in the bag, they don't have anything on us."
"Yeah, you're totally right," Takara added, her golden curls bouncing as she nodded her head in agreement. "If we work together we can win this." If Viola recalled correctly she had actually seen Takara participating in her entrance exam. She had seen her passing through walls and people, that and her appearance reminded her of the Pro Hero: Lemillion. Even the girls' hero costume reflected that, following the same design as her father's, with the colors inverted.
"You are correct," Junko hummed his agreement. He was strange, at first glance Viola thought he was a girl as well, the long wavy purple hair and silky smooth skin, but then he spoke and that was pushed out of her mind. He was just a very pretty boy and she didn't know a thing about his quirk, but from what he had explained he wasn't much for being on the front lines.
A sudden realization came over Viola's mind, she had spent so much time worrying about staying calm and not getting out of control that she failed to think about what they needed to do as a team to secure the win. Viola was amazed at how each side of the trial could be utilized in different ways.
"Togata-san can you scout ahead? Your quirk is the best suited for that," Viola commanded, instantly taking charge of the situation once her realization set in, "And Shuzenji-san, you follow her, you said your quirk is healing capable, correct?"
"That is correct," Junko confirmed matter of factly, his narrow eyes looked at Viola solemnly, "However my heart grew heavy with concern, you have obviously woven clear plans for both Togata-san and myself, but have not specified no such plans for yourself."
"I'll be staying here with the weapon," Viola replied tapping the device confidently, "If they get past you two I'll be here protecting it."
"Sounds like a plan stan," Takara gave a thumbs up, her characteristic smile putting both Viola and Junko back at ease.
"Alright students get ready to rumble!" Red Riot shouted through the intercom, drawing the students attention. Without even missing a beat Takara dropped through the floor leaving Viola and Junko staring at a blank spot on the floor.
Junko turned to Viola and approached her, taking her hand in his, "Are you certain that you'll be able to handle this yourself?"
"Yes, thank you for your concern," Viola smiled at him, putting the boy at ease, "Now go, remember the plan Shuzenji-san."
"Farewell Nishiya-san," Junko bowed leaving the room, a trail of sweet smelling air following behind him.
Viola activated her quirk, she felt the vines that laced her hair and body strike out and stick into the walls of the room. Creating a net with her at the center of the web of vines. This was her part of the plan, Takara and Junko would do their best to hold off the other team and stall for time. If things came to the worst she'd be their last line of defense and hold them off.
"The've split up Nishiya-san," Takara announced through the earpiece they had been given, "Kenji-kun went up the stairs already, Yoarashi-san is going to the roof, he's flying somehow, and the last guy, Kon-san is just going straight up, he's not too far behind Kenji-kun." Viola smiled, Takara was perfect for scouting, she could watch them without getting easily captured, considering she could phase through anything they throw at her.
"Good job Togata-san," Viola commented, turning her eyes up to the roof, they had decided to put their weapon on the middle floor of the building, it would have been too obvious for the weapon to be on the top floor, and too easy to capture if it was on the first floor. She hoped they would just waste their whole time searching for the weapon and the timer would run out, "Stay where you are, Shuzenji-san should be to your location soon, once he's with you, confront one of them. Maybe we could stall for time."
"Roger that captain," Takara playfully responded over the radio, Viola chuckled, she could practically imagine Takara saluting her as she said that. Steeling herself Viola stared back at the ceiling, Hoshou could be here any minute, and it would require her complete focus. She couldn't let herself lose control, not today.
Hoshou
Hoshou flew through the air, going straight up, his eyes stinging as the wind dried them out. Reaching the peak of his arc Hoshou dropped onto the roof of the building, using a bit of wind to slow his descent. However he used too much wind, over corrected and ended up landing on the roof roughly, causing a fair bit of noise. Hoshou groaned as he got up and wiped the dust off his costume, he still didn't get how his dad could easily control the wind,
"Crap," Hoshou sighed looking down at his costume, while he had managed to get most of the dust off his ocean themed kimono, some still left the costume dirty and no matter how much he dusted, it wouldn't go away, "I just got this and I already ruined it, I'll have to take it to the dry cleaners tonight."
Hoshou looked around the roof, hoping that he hadn't jumped to a conclusion and he'd have to go back down in shame. "Bingo!" Hoshou saw the roof access for the building and sprinted towards it, he jiggled the handle. It was obvious the door was locked, "Of course, not like they'd just let me walk in right?"
Hoshou took a deep breath and pointed his hand at the door. Hoshou welcomed the familiar scent of ozone as wind began to swirl around his arm. Thrusting his arm forward, the wind barreled forward, smashing into the door and shattering it like fine china on a tile floor.
"There, much better." Hoshou stepped through the now open doorway, looking around he started down the stairs, "Seriously you'd think they'd be able to actually defend a stinkin' doorway." Hoshou shook his head, "Amateurish really, I mean what's stopping me from just walking right down here and getting the weapon. They probably thought we'd come through the front door, I may be brash, but I'm not an idiot."
Hoshou peaked his head around a corner and looked out into the top floor, the staircase leading down, but he decided that searching each floor made the chances of him finding the bomb higher. However he immediately saw someone, a very pretty girl was running towards the stairway. It was probably the only way down, so he'd have to confront her. Funny thing was, he didn't remember a girl like her in class, the long wavy lavender hair and slight features would have been hard to miss, maybe he was just misremembering, she was definitely here after all. However as she approached him Hoshou realized the error of his ways, that it was not a girl, but a boy.
He was wearing a black aviators jacket with nothing on underneath, a red mask similar to that of the late hero Midnight's was there as well. Hoshou then immediately regretted getting distracted, he slapped his face, getting himself back to focus. He jumped out of his hiding spot and started to use his quirk.
Junko's eyes went wide as Hoshou shot out a blast of air towards him, the purple haired boy ducked behind a wall, the wind tore through the air he was in only seconds before. Hoshou frowned, he was really hoping to make this easy and take him out as soon as possible. Cursing under his breath Hoshou ran down the hall rounding the corner to face Junko. The purple haired boy was waiting however, a whip shot out and wrapped Hoshou around the neck. A sweet smelling mist started to pour out of Junko, surrounding the two of them in it. Hoshou didn't know what it was, but he started to get sleepy, it wasn't fast acting or anything, but he could tell he was starting to doze.
Junko Shuzenji:
Quirk: Angiomist
The user of this quirk can emit a sweet smelling mist that heals people, if someone is already healthy, the mist then starts putting them to sleep at a slow rate.
Putting two and two together, Hoshou immediately activated his quirk, wind swirling around him, blowing the mist away. Junko's eyes widened in shock, the normally calm and passive look on his face going away as he dropped his whip and began to run the other direction.
"Oh, I'll have none of that," The smell of ozone overpowered the sweet smelling mist of Junko's quirk, he whipped out a stream of wind that wrapped around Junko's leg, "Get back here, I'm not done with you!" Junko struggled against the wind, flaying about as Hoshou focused on bringing him back. He watched as Junko said something, but the wind raging around him drowned that out.
Once Junko was in arms reach, he grabbed the boy by his jacket and headbutted him. The rams horns that adorned his head damaging Junko's forehead, tearing a gash on his head, "That'll teach ya to run away." Hoshou watched as Junko tried to focus, but he had been hit pretty hard and was still dazed, which Hoshou didn't mind at all, it meant that he was out, "I really thought you'd be harder than that to take out."
"I was just about to say the same thing," Hoshou whipped his head around to see a girl in a red leotard and layered blonde hair pop out of the ground and land a solid punch on his face. Hoshou fell back, his eyes darting around looking for her, only for her to appear behind Junko and grab the boy, and using her quirk in such a way that she and him were sent to the other side of the hallway.
"Who the heck are you?" Hoshou pushed himself up, wiping some blood out from underneath his nose, "And what was that? It's like you can teleport." Takara turned to him and dropped through the floor, Hoshou activated his quirk, putting up a shield of wind around him, "Zephyr Shield!" He scanned the area around him, hoping that he could catch her off guard, but he was having a hard time thinking that'd happen, not when she could just pop up anywhere.
Hoshou Yoarashi
Quirk: Wind Demon
The user of this quirk can control the wind, however it is not a fine control and is difficult to master.
"Who am I you ask?" Takara stuck her head out of a wall, Hoshou reacted quickly, shooting a blast of air towards her, but she ducked back into the wall, "I'm a hero that'll take out the likes of you, a scion of justice," She stated as her head popped out of the ceiling above Hoshou, he shot another blast towards her that she easily dodged, "I'm the Unstoppable Heroine: Spectral!" Takara shouted as she shot out of the wall behind Hoshou. He didn't have time to send a blast her way, so he merely recreated the wind barrier around himself again.
Takara passed right through it, forcing Hoshou to gasp in surprise. Her fist once again connected with his face, shaking his concentration. As Hoshou stumbled back Takara struck again, striking Hoshou in the gut, forcing him to clench it in pain as she grabbed his arm and flung him over her shoulder. The judo throw knocked the wind out of him and she smirked as she wrapped him with the capture tape, rendering him out of the trial.
"Wow, I'm really winded now," Takara teased, as she chuckled, "Dang I'm too funny for my own good."
"H-how'd you get through my Zephyr Shield?" Hoshou asked, looking up from his embarrassing position on the ground, something he hoped wouldn't become a repeating pattern, "It's solid."
"Exactly, it's solid." Takara explained looking at him, "I can just pass through it with my quirk."
"Screw that." Hoshou muttered, "But you won't beat us, I trust my teammates."
Junko
His head was still splitting, the headbutt that Hoshou had given him did it's job he was nearly out of commission. However he wouldn't let his teammates down, he couldn't be the weak link, pushing through the pain Junko forced himself to stand, grasping his head he made his way over to Takara who was still gloating over Hoshou and making bad puns.
"Togata-san, thank you for coming to my aide." He bowed his head in apology, clenching his face, "I was useless and had to rely on someone else to save me. I'm useless."
"No you're not Shuzenji-san," Takara encouraged, putting her arm around his shoulder, "You called for help and I came, that's what teammates do." She winced slightly, moving away from Junko, his eyes widened when he saw that her side was slightly scorched and had some skin exposed.
"Togata-san!" Junko exclaimed as he knelt down looking at the wound, "What happened?"
"Oh that?" She said with a brave smile hiding the excruciating pain he knew was there, "I got it while I was fighting Kenji-kun, his quirk is crazy."
"Allow me," Junko pressed his palm against her wound as he used his quirk, the familiar sweet smelling scent his quirk created filling the air as he healed her wound, the raw flesh quickly healing and covering the wound in pink new skin. Junko pulled his hand away, smiling contendly at his work, "And all done."
"Wow Shuzenji-san, that's amazing," Takara touches it, giggling playfully, "It's like it's not even hurt at all."
"Exactly, that's how my quirk works after all," Junko stood up fully, pleased with his work, "Be careful though, healing you has drained your stamina a bit. Don't push yourself OK?"
"Just keep up with me and you'll be there to make sure I stay all healed up OK?" Takara patted him on the head, "Ready to go? Kenji-kun should be on the next floor down, his quirk makes him pretty fast."
"I see, I'll follow behind you, but I'm afraid I might not do well in combat, as previously demonstrated." Junko looked back at Hoshou who was still tied up, "But I'll support you in the best way I can."
"That's all I ask you for," Takara smiled as she dropped through the floor, quickly followed by the sound of explosions.
Junko shook his head and headed towards the stairway, going down the stairwell he exited on the floor below. Upon arriving, he was met with quite the spectacle. His eyes widened in awe, beams of energy were shooting around like the Hanabi fireworks festival.
The source of the lightshow was a boy in a blue body suit and red armor and a helmet similar to that of Uravity's. This was likely Kenji, who was doing a good job at keeping Takara at bay. His energy blasts kept firing, forcing her to keep moving around the room. Junko watched the impressive display, it was unlike anything he had seen before. He knew that Takara had to be amazing with her quirk, given who her father was after all, but the way she was moving was supernatural.
She dodges blast after blast, passing through the walls and the floors as if they weren't there, and then appearing somewhere else entirely. Even shooting through the air and landing a few blows on Kenji, but nothing that would put him down.
"It's been a blast! But I think we should-" Takara gloated as phased through the floor, a stray blast from Kenji striking the ground where she had previously stood. Her brief appearance was cut short as she popped up behind Kenji with her cape in hand. "Wrap this up!" She threw it over him and wrapped it around the brown haired boy's head, "And they said no capes!"
The distraction worked for a few seconds, before Kenji shot off a blast of energy that pushed Takara back. Likely not expecting it, she didn't phase to avoid the attack. She hit the floor with a thud and let off a groan.
"That thing is so stuffy!" Kenji then proceeded to say something that Junko was unable to understand fully, but recognized as English.
That didn't matter at the moment, his main focus was getting to Takara. So he ran, ducking and avoiding Kenji's colorful energy blasts as he ran. Skidding to a stop and slightly tripping over his own feet, Junko managed to reach Takara.
The pink mist that was his quirk was emitted. He could visibly see Takara's injuries fading. It would be a while for her to regain consciousness, not that it mattered, she was eliminated, but Kenji was already preparing another beam. He promised to support Takara and watching her get shot was the exact opposite of support. So he had to make sure she wasn't caught in the crossfire.
Running once more he made sure that he didn't stop emitting his mist. The healing would take longer but that was needed to ensure Takra would be healthy. The purple haired boy could see Kenji wasn't fully injured, so he could start draining his stamina as well. Dodging the blasts was quite the challenge, they were fast and constant.
There was a silver lining in this. He could visibly tell that Kenji was getting slower. The time gap between blasts was growing longer and longer. Just a bit longer and Junko would be able to put the brown haired boy to sleep.
He shouldn't have thought it would have been so easy. He could see the figure who just arrived. They were a mix of animals with a humanoid shape. They wore a plated bodysuit with a wheel on the center that had animals illustrated upon it. This was likely Reiji seeing as he already saw the other two.
Reiji's arrival brought up a problem. Junko was already struggling with dodging Kenji's attacks. Adding Reiji into the mix would just make things even more difficult. If he was taken out here then it would leave Viola to fight them herself with no help. As such he was left with little options but to run.
It pained him to have to leave Takara after promising to support her, but with her being eliminated already? It meant that at the moment he needed to make sure that he could at least help Viola. Once again, he was forced to run.
They of course chased after him but thanks to the narrow hallways and the stairs, it made it easier for Junko to get them with his mist. He wouldn't be able to put them to sleep by the time they get to Viola but it should hopefully be enough to give her the upperhand.
Reiji
Of course Junko ran away. Running when it got tough and making no attempt to stand his ground. It didn't help that Kenji using his blasts to repel himself was blinding Reiji with the brightness of the energy.
Reiji let off a small snarl at this. Even his own teammate was hindering him. It didn't help that he was feeling sluggish, likely from the mist that Junko was emitting. It just caused him to fall even further back.
Junko turned a corner and Kenji followed after, spouting off in some English curses, not that anyone could. Though it didn't matter to him as it was just annoying nonetheless. Reiji soon turned the corner and ran through the door just in time to see Kenji being hit aside by a vine.
Kenji grunted as he pushed himself off the ground, another string of curses erupting from his mouth. Reiji watched as a mass of vines erupted from the room with a girl attached, one that he recognized. He had seen her during his entrance exam, she destroyed a zero point robot by herself, she would truly be a challenge.
Kenji weaved a colorful ball of energy in front of him, preparing to retaliate against Viola. Sending the blast towards her, she threw up a wall of vines, most of them burning up, but holding it back. Reiji could tell that Junko was getting to Kenji, his eyes were fluttering as he tried to stay awake. Viola struck again, knocking Kenji to the ground.
The hit definitely took the brown haired boy out. The fact he didn't even make an attempt to get up and continue to fight, that meant it fell onto Reiji to go and take care of things. He could see Junko standing behind Viola. Expected. Not only did he run off but now he's cowering behind someone.
"Shuzenji-san. You keep handling support." Viola stated before turning her attention to Reiji, "Sorry but it's ending here!"
Her vines shot forth with the intent to capture him. Reiji wouldn't let it happen so easily. He slashed away at the Vines that went after him. He slashed at them and slowly made his way towards Viola, but the vines were too constant. The constant streams of vines nearly overwhelmed him, but he steeled his resolve and pushed through, approaching Viola.
It was obvious to him that Viola couldn't keep this up forever, but Reiji knew he couldn't either. Lucky for him however, he was nearly there. Nearly close enough to land the finishing blow on her and her cowardly teammate.
He grabbed Viola by the collar of her costume and held her up. His strength was quickly fading, but if he could do this he'd win. Then Viola started struggling against him, vines snaking out from her body and wrapping around Reiji. Slowly her face started growing monstrous.
Junko let off a large burst of mist. It would obviously cause Reiji's stamina to go down. He knew this. What he didn't know was the effect it had on Viola. His eyes widened as he watched her slowly become a larger mass of vines. Her tusks sharpened and the condensed stream of vines that shot out and pushed him back.
He tried to get out of the way but Junko's mist was already taking its toll on him. Not only that, it was because Viola's vines were just faster than him. His back hit the wall as the vines bounded him. Completing their objective of capturing him.
"THE VILLAINS HAVE CAPTURED THE HEROES! VILLAIN TEAM WINS!" Red Riot announced over the intercoms.
Reiji while angered at the lost could say one thing he was glad about. That was the fact that at the very least the one to defeat him wasn't Junko or Takara.
A/N: Well sorry this took a bit to get out, I just moved to a new apartment and stuff, but here it is. Thanks to Falcon for helping me get this out. Honestly I don't have much to say other than I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Go Beyond Plus Ultra!