Algernon Fitzroy
[November 28th]
He stared at the boy. Such a frail, skinny, unhappy looking lad, hardly hero material. What was he doing with these people? He looked nothing like them, no shining hope in his eyes, no unearned confidence, no misplaced bravery. Algernon looked at him and felt that he was seeing a younger version of himself, as if someone had placed a photograph of his innocent self before his eyes.
He continued to stare as the boy ran out in front of the horned hero and caught the large icicle he had just thrown in his direction. His eyes widened as that icicle began to melt and dissolve in his hands, the tip just barely prodding him between his ribcage.
Algernon felt his breath catch in his throat. What had happened to his luck? Why was everything going wrong? Why, of all things, had he been unfortunate enough to meet another Type Five?
The massive icicle had quickly shrunken into a pile of sleet, melted and atomised by the boy's violent Quirk. Algernon stared at the freezing liquid running down the boy's bare arms. His skin was turning pale as the blood froze within them. Around his fingers there were clear marks where the skin had been ripped off. The worst injury was on his chest. It appeared the icicle had indeed pierced him to an extent. A red patch was forming at the centre of his torso, and small frozen droplets were beginning to fall.
Algernon felt a massive pang of guilt. He had not known that someone so like himself was with these people. He had not intended to hurt the boy. If given the chance, he would have tried to rescue him from these false champions who would never understand him. Now, however, he was responsible for the child's injuries, and the hero he had just saved was forced to catch him before he collapsed.
"Peter, help!" The horned hero was shouting, bellowing to his companion. It took Algernon by surprise to realise that he was scared not for himself but for the boy.
The metal hero was still trying to hold back Algernon's companion. The metal hero had half turned his head, only to see his companion gripping the injured boy under the arms and lifting him up off the ground.
"Damn it!" The metal hero grunted. He turned back and lashed out with one of his metal chains, but the eerie villain caught it with one hand and immediately the chain went limp. "Damn it!" The hero growled again, this time with greater anger at the situation.
"Get angry." The dark skinned, purple marked figure hissed in excitement, clenching the chain with taut fingers and using it to pull his opponent towards him with sharp tugs. "I like that... I like that...!"
Algernon shuddered as he watched the fight. His companion had a way of making him shiver more than any drop in temperature could. Though he preferred to be known as Agony, Algernon was pretty sure that when this man had first joined their family he had told them his human name was Xavier Bannerman. Besides his abnormal physiology, describing his forename and surname as his 'human name' was the first sign that he was a weird person. He had made it very clear early into their relationship that he would not acknowledge or respond to any name other than Agony. It would also quickly become clear that anything the unusual man did would take on an almost supernaturally sinister impression. There were times where Algernon caught him staring right at him, though it was a little tricky to tell since his eyes were completely white. He never looked happy or sad or angry or afraid. His face was only ever flat. Even his voice never changed, only showing a slight amount of pleasure when he was hunting. Then there was his Quirk. Algernon greatly pitied anyone who fell afoul of that power. He didn't like Agony. None of his family members did. But he was useful. Right now his power was the only thing keeping the metal hero back.
"Freaky son of a-!" The metal hero grunted. Despite his chains being weakened and caught, he still fought back, pulling against his opponent's strength, avoiding slipping onto his back as he tugged. "Kameron, I can't do this alone!"
The horned hero was no longer in the building. He had rushed outside, carrying the boy in both arms. Despite being injured, everyone was keeping their distance from him, even when the hero lowered him back onto his feet and led him by the shoulder to a nearby ambulance. Algernon thought for a moment of stopping them, but he didn't have the heart. If that child was spared, he didn't mind letting a few of the enemy get away.
Even if he had wanted to stop them, he found he was rooted to the spot. It wasn't the ice surrounding his feet that kept him there. No, it was guilt. He had hurt a child, one just like himself. He had sworn to help such people. What was a Type Five doing with these heroes? Why had they brought him to their base, to their home? What kind of monsters were these people, bringing children into their wars?
With a swift motion his mobile was up to his ear.
"Janus, we're done here! Ready the getaway gate!" He snapped.
"Roger." The man on the other end responded. The caller hung up a second later.
"Medic!" The horned hero was crying.
Immediately a few of the EMTs that had come with the police were surrounding him, taking the boy away from his teacher's concerned, slightly shaking hands. Algernon noticed how careful they were to avoid touching his skin directly, even with their plastic gloves. Though these people were about to save his life, they still feared him. The world never changed, no matter what side of the wall you came from. Those born with an uncontrollable power were feared regardless of how vulnerable they may be. The boy would be lucky to survive with their cautious care, assuming the wound was as serious as it looked.
Algernon had hardly noticed his companion continuing the fight, nor had he noticed the ice around him growing higher and further. He left them both alone. All he had to do now was wait... wait for the confirmation that everything had been moved.
A portal opened upon the wall ahead of him. For a quick moment he thought it was Janus returning to collect them. But this portal was not rectangular or black like Janus' dark doorways. No, this portal was oval shaped with a purple outline. Instead of the talk, bald, cloaked form of his chauffeur, a short, skinny, black haired girl fell through it, bringing with her an unconscious police officer. Algernon's eyebrow raised curiously. He recognised the two of them. Though most police officers looked alike, this one had remnants of ice around his right foot, so he must have been the one that fell through Janus' doorway. The girl also looked similar. He was sure there had been a girl with long black hair among the trainee heroes when they arrived. In the fighting she had disappeared. He had assumed that Janus had taken her too. Perhaps he had. Now, however, he had realised that she, like Janus, was capable of conjuring portals. With that revelation came panic. Had she used her Quirk to rescue her companions? Were they all about to come sprawling out through the purple entrance?
For now it seemed that it was just the girl and the officer, who was yet to regain consciousness. She had to half carry-half drag him across the slippery ground, before one of the officers outside spotted her and ran in to assist. Algernon considered stopping them, too, but thought better of it. What would be the point? He could trap them in ice, but the girl may well break free using her portals. Even if he did somehow restrain her, she was now stood directly in front of the broken open metal gate. The second he came into view the armed officers would open fire. His ice could not hold back bullets.
"Anny!" One of the trainee heroes, a blonde girl, exclaimed in surprise.
"Where have you been?" A moth winged boy asked. They were all speaking so loud that Algernon could hear their voiced reverberating off the ice covered walls.
"I went to find the others." The black haired girl explained. "I ran into Jared. He's still down below."
"Down below?" The blonde girl repeated.
"There's a massive metal maze beneath the building." The black haired girl was explaining. "Jared and the others are trapped down there. I told him I'd bring Officer Davies to safety, and then I'd come back and help him find the others."
Algernon's blood froze solid in his veins. She had been down into the maze. She knew where their captives were. Their plan to keep the two groups separate, to deal with them away from each other at half their strength, had now come undone.
"Who else is missing?" The black haired girl queried.
"Just Vikki and Catherine, I think." The blonde girl told her. "If you know where Jared is, they're the only two left to find."
"What about that shark guy?" An older man said, his curly blonde hair falling flaccidly in front of his eyes. "He ran off into the building before you came back."
"You don't think he found a way down into the maze, do you?" The moth boy suggested.
"We can't worry about following him right now." An elderly man told them. "We can't give chase while those two villains are in the way."
"But if he's made his way down into the maze-" The blonde girl was threating.
"Mff Fmmk!" The boy whose mouth was frozen shut grunted.
Algernon had been suspicious of that shark man. It was highly likely that he had found the stairway to the underground maze. If he had, he was probably running amuck down there. It was a massive labyrinth, so the chances of him causing trouble for Jael and Geoff wasn't likely, but if by chance he did find them... Algernon hoped they would be able to get out of there before they got too seriously hurt.
"Anny!" The horned hero had now noticed his returned student. "Where were you? How did you get back here?"
"I followed the others with my portals, sir. They're beneath us. There's a massive maze under the building, possibly under the entirety of Scarow."
The hero's eyebrows noticeable rose. "Good work getting back to us, and bringing Officer Davies with you." He praised. "What about the others? Did you see them?"
"I met Jared." The girl continued. "But we're yet to find Vikki or Catherine."
"Where is Jared now?"
"He refused to come back until the others were found and rescued."
"Kameron, hurry up!" The metal hero suddenly yelled. Agony had now pulled him in close with the chain he gripped, and the hero was having to hold him back with both hands. "I can't fight this guy alone!"
The horned hero cursed under his breath. "Okay. Anny, I need you to go back to Jared and help him. Make sure he doesn't get himself killed, and help him find the others if you can. Once Mr. Jensen and I are done with these villains we'll find a way down to them If you run into any other villains, don't engage them! Leave that to us."
"Okay." The girl took a few steps back, holding her arms out to keep the other students away from her. Then, with a gentle movement, she dropped to her knees, placed her hands on the floor, and vanished into a purple portal. It sharply closed behind her.
Algernon ran his fingers through his pale white hair, gripping it by the roots. He wanted to rip it from his skull, the stress was overwhelming him. His tightly knotted plan was almost completely unwound now. He just had to wait the conflict out. Janus would arrive to pick them up soon. He just had to wait.
"Hyaaa!" The metal hero kicked Agony backwards, using all of his strength. Though his skin was red with increased blood flow, a sign that he was fighting the lowered temperature of the room as well as the villain, he was somehow managing to win. Agony's abilities could only do so much to the chains. In order for them to work to their fullest he needed to physically touch the hero himself. He had already used it once on one of the older trainee heroes, and he was now experiencing a mental breakdown. Sadly this hero had witnessed that moment, and was doing everything he could to keep his distance.
He had been stood watching the two for some time now. It occurred to Algernon that he ought to help his companion. In truth there wasn't much he could do other than keep the temperature low. Ice already covered the walls and floor, and it would take time for another large icicle to form. He didn't have the physical strength to fight either of these trained heroes in close combat. Those swinging chains would probably slice his emaciated body in half.
The horned hero was coming back into the room now, walking carefully upon the slippery ground. He approached Algernon, his bushy brow narrowed and his goat-like eyes glaring. He wasn't sure why he decided to communicate with the enemy. He supposed it was a verging curiosity.
"Why did you bring that boy?" He asked.
The horned hero looked at him, both surprised and suspicious. He didn't seem to want to answer him, which was a decision Algernon had expected. He did, however, say one small sentence.
"Why do you care?"
Why did he care? The boy was a hero, regardless of his Quirk. He trained under heroes. He was learning to be a hero. No doubt he hoped that he would be treated better if he became a hero. Algernon knew that wouldn't happen. He could not delude himself like that boy must be doing. In that case, why did he care? It was this boy's decision to make, and if he wanted to delude himself it was his choice. But he couldn't shake his sympathy, his concern. A type five child among heroes. He wasn't safe, not to them or to himself. He would never be accepted by them. He would never be appreciated by them. He would only be feared by them. Algernon knew how that felt all too well. He had been inside those dark cells. He knew just how many people like himself were still locked in such places. If not for his family, he would still be trapped there. That was why he wanted to take that boy from these people. That was why he wanted to free him from their grasp. There would come a day when all Type Five people were freed from their shackles. No more abuse of the cursed! No more!
The horned hero was now walking around him, circling him. Their conversation was over. The hero and the villain had little more to say. Instead they would revert to the well tested, old fashioned method... violence!
Ty Urban
[November 28th]
He was not completely aware of what was happening to him. He knew that he had caught the villain's icicle. He had seen it lodged between his hands and poking through his dress. It dissolved away a moment later, but it left more than just a puddle of water behind. Down his chest ran a frosty trickle of red, and following it upwards his eyes spotted a hole within his plastic clothing from which the blood was falling.
The next thing he knew, a pair of arms had caught him before he could fall, and he was being lifted off the ground and carried away from that frozen room. His hands had gone numb, but he had been expecting that when he recklessly charged into that room. What he didn't expect was the new sense of coldness spreading across his body, beginning where the icicle had pierced him. Though the weapon was now a puddle of water, the feeling of it being lodged inside him was yet to fade. His skin was going numb. His vision was blurring, and the people who moved around him were just wisps of colour in a vaguely humanoid outline. The words they spoke were distant, faded, like the mutterings of ghosts.
He was vaguely aware of being lowered back onto his feet and led by the shoulder to a large yellowish rectangle. A blur in white took him cautiously by the sleeve and hauled him into the shape. It began prodding him with something that vaguely stung, while the other shapes moved in front of him incomprehensibly. A sharp warmth was spreading up his right hand, beginning just above his wrist. As this warmth spread up his body it brought with it a lantern that cleared the mist in his eyes. The distant sounds came closer, clearer. He could make out voices, and upon them words.
"Ty!"
Ty blinked. Reality came back to him. He slowly looked up. Kameron Morse stared down at him, looking very concerned. The paramedic beside him threw the remnants of a dissolved needle and a pair of blue disposable gloves into a small bin by the open ambulance doors. He looked down at his chest. A large circular wound sat at the centre of his ribcage, but while it was continuously leaking a thin trail of blood, the wound wasn't very deep.
"We can't do anything to fix it up right now." The paramedic said into Kameron's pointed ear. "Not with his quirk. He'll have to wait until a recovery hero can get here, and hopefully they can do something to patch him up."
"It's not as serious as it looks?" Kameron muttered.
"It's not as deep as it looks. It's little more than a surface wound. He shouldn't move about, though, or it might get worse."
Kameron looked relieved. "Thank you."
Ty stared forwards, thinking. He had never been injured before, not in this way. Nothing had ever left as much as a scratch on his skin until now. His Quirk had always destroyed anything that threatened to harm his body, and it did so before even a single cell could be separated from his body. The multiple attempts to neutralize himself, to remove his risk of harming others, had always failed before any slight change could be made.
Why was this time different?
Was there something about that villain's Quirk? Did the ice he created have a unique effect to it, one that neutralized other Quirks? That couldn't be possible. He had seen Silver Streak manipulating his metal chains with easy while standing in that room, and Ty's Quirk had allowed him to melt the icicle with ease. Was there some unusual chemical in that ice, like acid? That also couldn't be true. Harmful chemicals like acid were neutralised when they made contact with his body. He couldn't think of anything else that might explain how it had hurt him. His curiosity bloomed for the first time, curiosity focused on this villain and their arctic abilities. He wanted to ask him how he had done it. How had he managed to penetrate his Quirk?
Kameron had turned away from Ty a few moments ago. He was talking to the other students. Ty didn't focus on their discussion, his thoughts still on the villain and their power. He picked up subconsciously that one of the missing students had returned and been sent off again to find the rest of them.
"All of you, stay here, and I mean it this time!" Kameron suddenly snapped. Ty's attention was drawn back to him, his thoughts slinking back into the depths of his brain. It was unnerving to see how his personality change. The warm, kind side was forced to hide away so that a sterner, serious character could take charge. It was at these moments that Kameron Morse stepped aside so that Aries could take charge.
No one questioned him this time. Neither the Junior nor Senior students had any arguments to make, nor did they try to follow him into the room. He was angrier than any of them had ever seen before, the angriest he had been all day. Was he this angry because of Ty?
As the hero entered the frozen building once more, the other students began chattering.
"I didn't think Mr. Morse could get that angry." Payton murmured, unnerved. "What's gotten him so pissed?"
"I think he's going to finish this." Barbara said.
"Do you think he'll manage it?" Felix asked.
"Probably." Elijah said. "When a hero's that mad, they can take on any opponent."
"Mmmmmf!"
"Stop squirming! You're almost free." Deborah warned, her flaming hands melting the remnants of ice covering Niall's mouth.
"He really doesn't want us to help him, does he?" Payton said, sounding disappointed.
"I think if we were to try he'd give us all weeklong detention." Barbara told him.
"I could live with that. I've spent a lot of time in detention." Payton told her.
"I bet you have." Elijah said humorously. "You did seem like a rascal."
"I'll take that as a complement." Payton said.
"They're still holding out." Felix interrupted.
"Really?" Elijah said, peering into the frozen room. "Surely they must be close to giving up now. Can't be long until Mr. Morse and Mr. Jensen...
"Oh god!"
Barbara's sharp exclamation snapped Ty's attention to her, and then to the sight she was staring at.
Aries and the frozen villain were fighting once more, only this time it was far more violent. The villain appeared to have learned from his previous attack, and was swinging a set of frozen blade in each hand that he had forged from shards of broken ice. Curiously the ice didn't appear to melt in his grip. Aries was also using a new weapon: his horns. He charged at his opponent with his head lowered, swinging his skull around, aiming to skewer the arctic villain on his curved protrusions.
With their two very different methods of combat and unusual arsenals, the hero and villain traded blows, taking hits and gaining wounds while attempting to drive the other back. Ty had never seen a battle like this before, one so full of primal instinct and anger. Aries was by no means raging and rampaging, but neither was he the calm man he had come to know at that moment. His feet still struggled to find footing on the slippery ground, but the weight of his body was moving him across the ice without slipping to severely. His raised, thick body hair was keeping the cold from overwhelming him too quickly, though it could only do so much. The villain was trying to slice at him, even resorting to throwing his icy blades, but they simply bounced of Aries' tough horns and hard skull. A small fleck of blood occasionally flew from a slight graze, but nothing more severe.
Despite the talent and strength his teacher was displaying, Ty couldn't help but fear for him. He feared for no one else, not even for himself, the way he feared for Kameron Morse. That was why he had rushed protect him from the villain's icicle. He didn't want his foster father to get hurt. But he no longer had the option to help. Even if his wounds were to suddenly heal, he could just as easily be wounded again now that he knew the villain's ice had a unique effect. The villain himself also knew that now, and from what Ty knew of Scarow's villains, he would only use him to get to his teacher.
An icicle clashed against Aries' horn, splitting in half and spraying fragments across the ground. The tip that horn went with it, but he barely noticed. With a mighty strike, he headbutted the villain in the chest, shoving him backwards with all of his strength. The tips of his curved horns pierced the villain's coat collar and pinned it to the frozen wall behind him. The villain gasped in shock and pain. It did not appear the horns had pierced his flesh, but nevertheless the force of the impact had hurt. Then, with complete disregard for his own safety, Aries pulled his head back sharply. He screamed in pain. His horns snapped away from his skull, taking small pieces of flesh and hair with them, leaving a blunt bald spot on each side of his head. The bony protrusions remained in the villain's clothing, keeping him attached to the wall like a trophy.
The students all stared and gasped. Never had they seen their teacher fight like that. Never had they seen him sacrifice a part of himself for victory. Never had they seen him without his horns. The now half bald hero rubbed the sides of his head as he stepped backwards. Small trails of blood curved around his ears and dripped down his neck. The villain was squirming to free himself, but his arms couldn't move far enough to remove the lingering horns.
"Now... stay put." Aries grunted, stumbling backwards on the ice. It seemed that he was feeling a little dazed now. It must hurt a lot to lose a body part like that. Ty supposed he must grow them back, or else he wouldn't have been so willing to lose them.
"Holy shit!" Payton exclaimed, subconsciously gripping the sides of his head as if he too had just had his horns snapped from his skull.
"That's it then." Elijah said with a relieved smile. "With one villain pinned, there's only the other one left to stop."
Ty was starting to notice that statements such as these invited misfortune.
No sooner had Elijah stated this, a pitch black rectangle formed upon the far wall of the room. Even in the misty light of the cold storage, the students could see it, as well as the man that stepped through. Another villain, this one looking more human than the other two. He was neither emaciated nor malicious looking, though he did wear a long cloak and hood, and his eyes were a deep, murky black.
"Oh no!" Felix groaned. "Not another one!"
The feeling appeared to be mutual. None of the students wanted to fight yet another highly dangerous villain. This new figure, however, was not interested in fighting. He looked at the two villains, one pinned to the wall, the other playing tug of war with a metal chain.
"We have everything." The man told the villain who was currently restrained by the hero's horns.
"Time to go."
The arctic villain began struggling again, and the new figure helped him remove the horns. He fell forwards, and the new figure caught him. The eerie villain, who was still gripping Silver Streak's manipulated metal chain, noticed his co-conspirators arrival and turned away from his opponent. He threw the chain away, letting it slide back towards the hero, limp like a well-cooked noodle.
Aries watched them converge at the back of the room. It was tough to tell if he was considering stopping them. He had been able to fend off and best the one villain by himself, but fighting all three might be too much even for him. It appeared he was thinking this, and he made no motion to stop them.
Silver Streak, however, was less willing to give up. "They're getting away!" He yelled, furious. "Bastards!" He swung his chain around and threw it. The long links of metal lashed towards the villains.
The eerie one caught it yet again, the metal clattering between his dark fingers.
"Pathetic!" He grunted, and threw the chain away again. "Pathetic little children, playing with toys!"
Silver Streak growled, and turned to his colleague, expect him to help. Aries only glanced at him. He knew that they couldn't do anything more. If these villains were choosing to flee, they ought to let them do so for now. They didn't have the power to stop them anymore.
"This isn't the end, heroes!" The arctic villain snarled, his usually pale cheeks now flushed red with anger, his yellow, brittle teeth clenched. "Your time will come! Your empire will fall, just like all that have come before it!" His teeth bit through the skin of his lower lip, and blood seeped around his gums. "I promise you this! I, the Frostbitten, will change this country! Galafrei and Scarow shall be brought together once more! We shall embrace the people in our arms... and create unity!"
A single dark doorway snapped open behind them. The three villains stepped backwards and disappeared into the eerie black space. Then it shut behind them and they were gone.
The danger was over.
Ty had wanted to follow after them. He still wanted to know. He wanted to understand just who that arctic villain was... and how had his Quirk been able to hurt him?
This chapter is shorter than my usual ones, and honestly that's because there wasn't much I wanted to do or say with this one. I wanted to avoid letting it meander on pointlessly, since this is the penultimate-penultimate chapter to Act 3. That's right! Only two chapters left after this one.
This Chapter's Question: Crossover Possibilities?
I'm not much of a fan of Crossover stories myself, but I know that other people enjoy them. I have no intention of writing one right now, but I'm curious what other series people would cross over with this one. So that's my question: what franchise would be interesting to do a crossover with My Hero Academia? Perhaps the marvel series, or another hero franchise, then you could apply the Quirk system to that franchises heroes.
I'm currently attempting to manage a weekly upload schedule, switching which story I write for each week. I'm focusing mostly on this story, but since I have two others in the works current I don't want them to be left unedited for too long either. Let's see if I can keep it up!
