Confrontation

"Are you sure it was him? I mean, how many prefectures did we leap over before we landed near Shizuoka?" Akio paused, scratching his head. "No, really, I-I have no idea where we landed until four days ago."

Viral spoke up clearly. "I felt it last night, his effigy was here, but I want to ensure it was just a fluke," He didn't like gambling on chance, but Shadow Play was anything but careless. This cat and mouse was all a play to him, an act he orchestrated. "Besides, we were going out anyway."

"I know, but..." Akio sighed, resistant to the idea. "They're going to find out."

"Not if we keep a low profile," Viral reassured.

"It's not Harbinger I'm talking about." Akio's tone drew a steady silence before the window was popped open. "But... okay, let's go."

With a silent step, Akio leapt high above the houses before anyone had a chance to realize where he came from. What neither of them realized was the jack that had been plugged into the door the entire time. Kyoka pushed their door wide open, spotting the open window. For a minute she stood there, silently weighing the options in her head.

Okay, logic said to tell her parents everything she heard, I mean, the guy has someone coming over every night, and then they disappear for hours but always return before anyone woke up. A counterpoint to this was that Kyoka wanted to figure everything out first, that... and she didn't want to lose the only friend she had. Her strange, curious, night-owl, secretive friend... who was, admittedly, cute. Was that weird? Probably not...

Shaking her head, she closed the door, making a b-line for her room. Once there, she tried to mindlessly distract herself, it was a Friday night, so sleep wasn't an issue, but with her mind working overdrive, she was left to plague her thoughts with questions she had no real way of confronting.

Flopping back onto her head, she found her only solution was to plug her right jack into her phone and blast the nonsense away with music. Steeling her resolve, she threw her fist toward the ceiling. "Tomorrow, I'll confront Akio tomorrow!" That led to a bigger sea of issues. What exactly was she to say?

Groaning, she realized even music couldn't remedy this catastrophe. "Come on, Kyoka, call him now and stop postponing the inevitable?" But what if he panicked and never came back? Okay, that was a scary thought that stabbed at her chest, but maybe she didn't have to outright ask him. She needed intel first, so she'll just ask where he is and go from there. "That's normal, right?"


Over the rooftops of Musutafu, Akio, now with Viral at the wheel, leapt from building to building, following the remnant soul energy in the area. It was faint but small pockets were dotting the city, to their expectations, it was leading them down a trail, Shadow Play wanted them to follow. Good thing that's what they wanted.

"Your hunch was correct as always," Akio surmised, a tick mark echoing in his ears. "Adding that to the tally..."

"Do not sound so bemused, for all we know it's just to toy with us, he won't confront us directly, not yet," Viral knew this Nightmare well, a joke. He toyed with his prey, adding fear and paranoia until it crushed them, then came the effigies to finish the job. Viral slid onto the edge of a rooftop overlooking a busy street below, since it was the weekend, the place was a little more crowded. "Strange, the tracks end here..."

"Is my phone ringing?" Perking up at Akio's question, Viral procured the phone from his cloak, allowing Akio control as the caller was Kyoka. He cursed himself before answering with a flair in his step, trying to appear as calm as possible. "H-hey! W-what's up, need something?"

~Where are you?~ Her voice cut through the tension like a hot knife.

"Uh, out?" He gulped, feeling her piercing glare through the call.

~No, shit, your room's empty, but where exactly?~ She repeated, sighing. ~Thought we were gonna watch that show I told you about, one with the breathing styles and demon slayers? Oh, and you need a quick refresher on your piano lessons~

Akio slapped himself, how could he forget that? He promised too. "S-sorry, I... just something came up and-"

~It's alright, I know you don't mean anything by it~ Her tone was softer with worry. ~Just lemme know where you are, that's all~

"Somewhere in Musutafu, and we both know I don't remember locations," He chuckled slightly as Kyoka giggled too. "I'll be back shortly."

~Promise?~ Why did she sound so dishearted and worried he wouldn't?

"Pro-"

"Dodge!" Viral's warning caught him at the right time, evading a white fabric that nearly snatched the phone from his arm. Landing, Akio dove back from another line of fabric, then two more meant to take his feet out. Performing a handstand over them, his tail caught the phone.

~Akio? Hey, what's up?~ Kyoka's concerned voice asked as he put the phone close to his ear.

"Uh, nothing, just um, nearly tripped into someone... unpleasant," Technically not a lie.

The man was a slender and tall, pale-skinned person with messy, shoulder-length black hair that partially hangs in front of his face. His facial hair was in a stubbly, unkempt state. He sports a baggy black outfit that consists of a long-sleeved shirt and matching pants that tuck into his boots. He also wears a utility belt and his signature wrap scarf at all times. Last, a pair of bright yellow goggles covered his eyes. The Eraser Hero, Eraserhead.

"Oh... crap." Akio and Viral echoed each other's thoughts.

"Found you, though, you didn't do much to cover your tracks," Eraserhead commented, his scarf floating in the air and between his fingers.

"That's why he left those trails..." Akio murmured.

~What trails? Akio, seriously, what the hell are you doing?~ Kyoka was growing frustrated with the vague answers.

"That's a tricky question to answ - yah!" His leg was pulled out from under him, slamming his back into a nearby billboard. Clawing at the metal, he ran and leapt over Eraser's cloth bindings, charging a spiral of smoke with his left hand. Flicking once, three bursts slammed into the rooftop, shrouding the area in smoke. "As I said, it's all - Ack, good!" One cloth wrapped around his neck tightly.

"Your tricks won't work this time," Eraser commented, dragging himself close enough to leap over the tail swipe, stomping on Akio's face. Landing behind him, he pulled on the cape, straight into his knuckle. Akio stumbled and was quickly wrapped by the wrists with his tail pressed into his back, the phone still in his hands. "Who are you contacting?"

"My pizza delivery, extra ham," Akio grinned, suddenly disappearing into the shadows of the cloth to strike Eraser across the cheek, followed by a kick, blasting him with a funnel of smoke. "I think I'll call you back, toodles."

~Don't you freakin' dare hang up on-!~ He was going to pay for that later. Slipping the phone away undetected, Viral overtook Akio's obscured face again, the gap in the cowl glowing amethyst like his right eye.

"Hate to say, Eraser, but if we keep meeting like this-" He leaned against the scaffold holding the billboard up with a grin. "-people are gonna talk."

Eraser didn't say much, pulling his scarf back as several strands caged around Viral. He dove off his right foot, skimming two lines while rolling under a third before hopping between two more, slashing the final two into ribbons. Balancing on the roof's edge, he brought his arms forward, two orange glyphs circling his wrists. "Fire Scourge!"

The column of fire lit up the dark rooftop, to his surprise, three scarf lines snapped through the flames, binding around his arms and neck again. Eraser had dived over the flames, the material unscathed. Landing with a flying kick to Viral's chest, he tipped the Nightmare over the building, suspending him above the street below while seeing the tail pivot his body to stare back at Eraser's hidden eyes.

"Strange, I'm sure I canceled out his quirk, does that mean he has more than one?" Now that he thought of it, his voice and mannerisms changed to. "Is there more than one person sharing that body?"

Swinging himself forward, Viral spun around, summoning a glyph with his tail, catching Eraser off guard as a blade of blue ice formed at the tip, slashing the open air as two boots dug into Viral's back, the two plummeting toward the ground. Slicing the bindings beforehand, Eraser dove backward as Viral missed his claw swipe, colliding with the tarmac below, frightening many people.

"Ow..." Viral spat out some rock, shaking his head to spot Eraser not suspending himself from a lamppost, rather, he safely landed on the ground with a gust of red wind. "Huh, that's a new trick." Eraser smiled. Eraserhead. Never. Smiled.

"Viral... what's that?" Feeling his Host look up, he did the same, only to be met with a glaring red light that burned across his face, burying his head deep into the road as he tumbled out into view, red sparks dancing off his clothing. "Oooh, that looked painful."

"Ya think!?" He wheezed, shaking his head as he stood up to face the newest obstruction.

A woman this time, was clad in black combat barding with silver scales added to her slim outfit, a windswept skirt made of silver scales down to her knees. Her boots were reinforced with scales too. Her exposed forearms revealed that natural scales had grown and claws stretched over her fingers. Her hair was covered by an angular, beak-like helmet too.

Most notable were her wings, reaching above her head and below her knees. They formed in a trident shape, the six large segments folded against one another without a membrane. Her teeth were also noticeably sharper like her pupils.

"Hehehe... Valstrax, figures you'd be here too," Viral realized the ploy now, Shadow Play lured them into a trap he must've sprung for the two heroes Viral didn't ever want to see again to capture him. Cracking his knuckles, he laughed. "Well, can't disappoint the audience, can we!?"

"Now you're talking!" Valstrax grinned, her wings releasing a red burst of wind, she was upon Viral in less than three seconds.

"Mantle Snap!" Striking forward with his foot, the jagged ledge of earth forced Valstrax into inverting her wings, pivoting at such a striking velocity that the air force blinded Viral to her tail's swipe of his stomach. Colliding with a pathway barrier, he shook his head and dove away from Eraser's cloth, blocking Valstrax's right-wing as it sliced down his forearm, coated in red energy while the left inverted and blasted him in the face.

Flung backward, a cloth wrap caught his ankle, threshing Viral high into the air where Valstrax spun around, propelling herself down to slam her foot against his stomach, leading to a resounding collision with the concrete, dust smothering the pair. She gasped, flying backward as a flower of ice bloomed between them, catching her feet.

"Volt Barrage!" The Sky Comet and Vigilante clashed, arms together as red and golden lightning webbed between them, the pair shoving one another as they sailed on by. Viral spun around on a lamppost, shredding more of Eraser's scarf while blindsiding Valstrax with another column of flames, but her scales were tougher than that, and her heel broke his jaw, sending the Nightmare plummeting into the ground again.

As he tumbled, many witnesses recorded or streamed the whole confrontation, two heroes, one of significant popularity and the other under the radar against a notorious vigilante.


Back home, Kyoka was furious for a number of reasons, that was when she saw something appear on her phone, a 'breaking news' notification. "'Heroes confront Viral the Vigilante'," Curious, she tapped the notification and was pulled right into a live broadcast along a busy street where it could be seen that a hero she didn't recognize with a crazy scarf and one she did, the Sky Comet Hero, fought with said 'vigilante'.

Her heart rate thundered in her chest, nearly dropping her drink as her eyes bulged. The familiar, ragged cloak, the bandaged limbs and use of black clothing, and that hood with a hole down the left-hand side of their face. She shook her head, last she checked, Akio didn't have a tail, nor pitch-black skin and purple eyes that lacked any other features.

The two did look very much alike, but then there was one other piece of information that sent her mind down a rabbit hole. The location, Musutafu City. If worry wasn't warranted, panic certainly was. The first time that night, Kyoka was wide awake, forgetting all about her drink.


Another wave of flames battered against Valstrax's wings as she charged forward, fanning the flames down with a single jet of her wings, above her head, Eraser landed another kick to Viral's face, followed by two point-blank blasts of strange energy accumulated with the air pressure slammed into his chest. To wrap it up, literally, Eraser bound Viral's arms and tail to his torso, and his thighs. He struggled but couldn't move.

"It's over, you've run out of tricks," Eraser stated as Valstrax patted his back. "Why were you here anyhow?"

"Are you saying you don't want to work with me? I'm hurt," She smiled but he rolled his shoulders.

"Ugh, get a room, or at the very least, gouge my eye out," Viral scoffed, feeling the threads constrict his wiggling further.

"Out of all your crimes, murder ranks pretty high, even for a vigilante," Valstrax hummed, crossing her arms. "Anything to say about that?"

"That I did you all a favor," Viral didn't raise his voice, nor did he struggle, keeping his eye straight ahead. "Do you even know what I am? What my race is capable of?"

Receiving no reply he grinned. "We're a plague, embodiments of negativity, nigh-immortals capable of razing worlds if left unchecked, if I don't do something, your world would become a fine dynasty for the worst of my kind to feast on, the potential to obtain any number of powers isn't something they'll pass up."

"Is that why you killed people? To take their quirks?" Valstrax accused, earning a laugh from the Nightmare.

"Why would it matter what I say, no one would believe us, the only ones to rely on are each other," He slit his gaze. "If you want my personal opinion, somedays, I just wish you would all rot in the ground."

"If that's all, I think it's about time to detain him," Eraser didn't care for idle chat, they had a job to do, and with as many civilians present, the longer they dragged this out the harder it could be to hold Viral.

"Oh, by the way," He prodded a finger up, his smile stretching. "Two can play the capture game," Behind the pair, several black glyphs had appeared, their seals glowing as Viral closed his finger. "Gloom Grip."

From the seals, several black, elongated arms snapped toward Eraser, holding him in place while purple light emanated between the cloth folds binding Viral, causing the fabric to bulge. "Vile Spine," Several purple spikes shredded through the cloth, freeing him the second Valstrax lunged with both wings.

With blazing palms he caught the tips of her wings, holding them back as red energy erupted against his flaming fists, tearing up the tarmac from the sheer force applied between them, her firm frown mirrored his crocodile smile wonderfully. With a stomp, he pivoted on the ball of his foot, tossing Valstrax aside with a Belgian flying kick, the road jutting forward to slam against her armored side.

Rushing Eraser, Viral caught the cloth with his right arm, holding out his left with a pale grey glyph, even with the visor, he could tell Eraser was momentarily startled, his soul recoiling. "Sonic Leap," Focusing the spell to simply discombobulate the hero instead of outright killing him, Eraser fell backward, clutching his ears as Viral took this as his opportunity to escape.

However, a sensation tugged at his soul, drawing his attention away from the terrified crowd and to a billboard on a building above a few of them. He saw it, one of Shadow Play's effigies watching him as it vomited lilac flames onto the supports, causing the steel to buckle and fold in on itself. With a cackle, it flew up to swat the large sign with its tail, flying away.

"Found you," He was ready to give chase but his smile fell, eye snapping to the crowd unaware of the collapsing sign.

"Viral!" Akio didn't need to say anything, the Nightmare quickly took action, propelling himself with two sonic blasts to soar above the crowd. His magic was already being put to its limit but he had no excuse for failure now.

Pressing both feet against the brickwork, he dove down into the small group of people, all finally taking notice of the sign with various reactions and screams. Viral raised his arms, leaping to catch the face of the heavy object before impact, his muscles buckled as his feet split the tiles apart, if he lost his footing the people would be crushed too. Biting his cheek, he managed to hold firm as Eraser and Valstrax rushed to the civilians' aid, only to stop.

The sign didn't hit the ground as Viral huffed heavily, lifting it above his head as everyone scrambled out from under the billboard. Growling, he tossed it back against the building with an exhausted sigh. While dozens stared in complete shock, those he saved quickly broke out into fits of cheers and rejoiced as Viral cracked his neck.

"Add that to the list of why people hate adverts, chao," He gave a peace sign and quickly dipped into a shadow before the heroes could react, escaping the situation as quickly as possible.

In a single outing, the two of them had been thrashed around, beaten, and left without another lead on where Shadow Play could attack next. What worried them further, he had tracked them down so quickly, his copies were closing in fast. "This whole night's a wash."

"Agreed." Viral snarled, leaping from the shadows once a safe distance away.

"Thank you, you know, for saving them," Akio added as Viral huffed a grin, shrugging with false confidence.

"What can I say, I have a soft spot for the non-ageless,"

"Old Man," Akio murmured, causing him to trip himself up.

"I am mature, not old!"


Akio smelled like tire rubber, had a tingly sensation at the tip of his tongue, and was exhausted beyond measure, but home was home. No one had entered the spare room either, good, less to question aside from Kyoka probably wanting to interrogate him in the morning. Tossing off his cloak, he popped his muscles with a sigh.

*Bzzt*

Blinking, he picked up his phone to find a new message, from Kyoka? "'Come to my room'," Looking at himself, he grimaced and quickly tossed off his rags for a pair of black tracksuit bottoms, a plain green shirt with two white stripes, and quickly approached his destination, not wanting to keep the girl waiting. "Okay, take it slow, answer her carefully about what happened, easy enough."

"You make it sound like you'll be shot on sight." Viral mused. "Well, I wouldn't put it past her."

"Way to fill me with confidence, buddy," Akio deadpanned before knocking twice before entering. "Hey, Kyoka." The energy in the room was unnerving, something was wrong the second he shut the door. She was sitting on her chair, spinning around to meet him with a strange look, he couldn't place her emotions at all.

Her jack pointed to her bed's edge, "Sit," Even her tone he couldn't decipher. Not wanting to make her mad, he took a seat, noting it was already nearly midnight, but she looked wide awake. Then again, three empty cans of soda were laying on her desk. "So, what happened? You just cut me off." Her arms crossed.

"Ah, right, uh, I'm terribly sorry," He bowed his head. "I got caught up in a few issues and trying to balance that while on the phone was too much to handle."

Truth. Kyoka relaxed a bit. "Just don't do it again, we clear? Had me worried," She admitted, meeting his gaze.

"Sorry," He said much more softly, and her knitted brow lessened. "I really didn't want to hang up on you, I know you were worried since I leave at night often." He outright admitted it, that was good, it made this a whole lot easier on her.

"Hey, no worries, whatever you do at night is your business, not like I could've stopped you," She shrugged with a smile. "Just take it slow, you can do this," Inhaling slowly, Kyoka placed her hands on her lap. "Say, Akio, I was looking up some stuff today about some of the heroes that work at UA, you know, if I pass the exam, so tell me, you ever met any?"

"Random… Well, a few here and there, why ask?" He returned, his hands fidgety.

She shrugged, "First-hand experience trumps bias fanboys, Pros like Snipe, Midnight, and um, that guy with the scarf and wavy hair," That there caused a stir in Akio's heart rate. "The Eraser hero, odd name really."

"Eraserhead," He answered, chuckling while scratching his nape, "Yeeeeah, a bit of a loner that one."

"Okay, that obviously struck something," Keeping a level head she paddled on. "He fought some guy people keep talking about, comparing some famous vigilantes to him, the Hero Killer Stain," That one made even her shiver. "People called him Viral, pretty cool guy if I'm honest." This wasn't a lie, she actually found his whole appearance and actions somewhat heroic, even if they were a bit messed up. Tonight's live stream showed a bit of both.

Akio blinked in surprise, "Y-you think so? Lots of people just call him a 'murderer' and 'monster', taking lives, that's... that's all I hear," His heart jumped again but it dipped with sorrow in his voice, but he dashed it aside with a smile. "Still, surprised you'd actually like him, you struck me as more of the chill mediator when it comes to what heroes people like and dislike, not really having an all-time favorite."

Kyoka shrugged, "Nah, just recently I guess I just wanted to look into all sorts of heroes, get an idea of who I'm striving to be, maybe even see what I could learn from Pros, ya know?" "Okay, enough beating around the bush, Kyoka." "You know, your scruffy clothing actually reminds me of Viral, same kinda style."

"Oh crap," Viral gulped. "...yooou might want to take this one."

"You're just gonna abandon me!? Viral? Viral!?" "I-I um, yeah, yeah I just sorta drew inspiration! Hehehe,"

"Is that really it though?" She pressed, seeing him start to sweat

"Um, yeah? Why do you ask?" His voice was starting to get higher, and his heart was beating faster, either he was lying or just on edge about something, she had to know

"Are you just copying him, is that as far as the comparison goes?"

"Y-Yeah, a few people thought that about me," He sighed with a nervous smile. "I got alot of weird looks, someone even called the cops on me once, that was weird Wednesday."

"I know."

"Huhwhatnow?"

"I know, just... you mind telling me something?" This was it, the big show stopper. Taking a second to collect her thoughts, bringing her eyes to his.

He shifted slightly. "Um... sure!"

With a long breath, it was time, she held up her phone.

It was one image, one single frame that left his stomach in knots, his breath caught in his throat. An image of Viral standing before the street after saving those people from a falling billboard.

"How long have you been Viral?"

To Be Continued...


And the truth is out, though Kyoka is no slouch in investigating as we've seen. But what will become of Akio and Viral now? I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Renegades!

Next Chapter - Acceptance

Caught red-handed, Kyoka is left to decide on how to approach her roommate and best friend about his secret identity. And the consequences that follow.