A/N: Surprise readers. I decided to give you all a little present for the holidays and give you an early chapter. Next chapter will still be the usual time (early January). But for now, enjoy the chapter.
Night began to creep across the sky as some of Class 1-C walked together to the train station. The group consisted of Dan, Hyde, Lilina, Merci, Nene, and Sakura. The others either lived close enough where the train wasn't necessary or had Quirks that allowed them to travel long distances easily.
"So did you guys hear about what happened with Class 1-A?" Nene asked.
"You're talking about the incident at USJ, right?" Dan asked.
Nene nodded her head. "Yeah. Apparently villains snuck into the facility and they had to fight them off."
All of them had heard about it. It had been big news throughout the school. USJ was one of U.A's many facilities, this one being designed for rescue training. But villains had managed to sneak in and attacked the students there, in an attempt to kill All Might. It had failed in the end with luckily zero casualties. But having the school's security breached had put everyone on high alert. And of course, Class 1-A had become the talk of the school with how they had fought off a bunch of villains.
"Those villains must have been a bunch of small fry." Hyde said. "I coulda taken them easily I bet."
"Still… to think that they'd be bold enough to pull a stunt like that." Dan said. "It's rather worrying to think what else might happen."
"I agree." Sakura nodded. "I wouldn't want to think what might have happened if we were put in such a dangerous situation."
"Have no fear. For Merci shall protect you from any villains." Merci said.
Nene rolled her eyes. "I don't think she'd need protection from you, Merci."
"Such cold words! They do not befit a lady of your exquisite beauty." Merci spoke.
"Well aren't you the sweet talker?"
The sudden voice made the entire group jump. Out of nowhere, a figure rushed in and delivered a painful kick to Merci's back. The teen was sent flying forward, tumbling across the ground.
"Merci!" Sakura gasped. She and the others turned to where he had been to see a new person standing near them. It was a girl that seemed to be in her early-twenties. Long blonde hair flowed down her back. She wore a skin-tight black bodysuit. On her face was a mask of the same color, it's design akin to a master thief.
"Everyone move!" Dan yelled. He surrounded his arms with blades of ice and went in on the attack. The woman quickly reacted though, dodging his attack and driving her knee into his gut. Dan felt the air rush out of his lungs from the painful blow.
"You'll need to do better than that, little boy." she said.
Hyde glared at the villain as he rushed at her with a punch. She had little difficulty evading it, as she grabbed the thrown arm and tossed Hyde over her shoulder, making his body slam painfully into the ground. As he endured the pain he felt, he slammed his hand onto the ground to create his territory.
The woman noticed the ground they were on begin to rise up in the form of a thin spike. She jumped back and avoided it. "Too slow."
"Damnit…" Hyde grunted as he and Dan both got to their feet. "What the hell is this chick's deal?"
"Why are you attacking us?!" Sakura asked. "We don't want any trouble."
"That's a shame. Cause a little black cat has just crossed your path." she said teasingly. "Although I prefer the name Cougar." She showed off her hands, where her nails extended out like claws.
"She's got a Quirk similar to Hikari's." Dan realized. "We should be careful of her speed."
"Speed won't be a factor if we can trap her!" Hyde grinned as he slammed his hand onto the ground. Earth began to rise up around Cougar as he attempted to form a cage.
Cougar quickly leaped away just in time to avoid being trapped. "Close one." she muttered under her breath.
"You can't run forever!" Hyde shouted. Keeping his hand on the ground, he tried to form prison after prison to trap their assailant.
Cougar was having little effort dodging Hyde's repeated assault. "You're too naive. I already saw what your Quirk can do, so I can watch out for it now. You would have been smarter to try and launch your first attack when my guard was down to surprise me."
"Damnit." Hyde growled. He stopped trying to trap her, knowing it was futile.
Sakura looked at their surroundings. It was night. There was no one around. They were all on their own against this opponent. Perhaps they could get away, but against someone this fast they wouldn't be able to get far.
"Sakura, we need your help!" Dan shouted. "Use the trees!"
Dan's shout snapped Sakura out of her thoughts. This wasn't the time to be thinking about how to get away. They had to fight. They had to be the heroes right now.
Sakura sharpened her focus and the nearby trees began to move at her will. They grew and their branches all shot towards Cougar.
'A plant type Quirk, huh?' Cougar thought. She evaded the first branch that came at her, then ran along it, moving in towards the group. Sakura gasped as she closed the distance between them in mere seconds. Cougar brought out her claws and lunged at Sakura.
"Say goodnight, little girl!"
Sakura screamed in terror, but before Cougar could slash her, Dan quickly intercepted the attack. He brought out a large amount of water from his body and froze it to make a wall of ice.
"You alright, Sakura?" Dan asked.
"Dan?!" Sakura gasped.
"Tch, annoying little brat." Cougar growled. She jumped back, but found Lilina come at her with a punch. The hit connected, though it did little more than knock Panther back a bit before she regained her balance.
"Lilina what are you doing?!" Hyde exclaimed. "You shouldn't fight her like this! Your Quirk's no good without your support gear!"
"You don't really expect me to run, do you?" Lilina asked. "Besides, it's not like I'm helpless without my Quirk."
"Let's see if that holds true!" Cougar grinned. She rushed forward and shoved her elbow into Lilina's stomach. The blow knocked Lilina back and sent her flying into the side of a building.
"Lilina!" Hyde exclaimed.
"I thought you were supposed to be U.A. students." Cougar said. "Don't you know better than to give information to your opponent about who can and can't do what? I was expecting more."
'Damnit…' Dan thought. 'We're up against a real villain. Someone with way more combat experience than us. We need to be smart if we're going to win.'
"Merci, now!"
Suddenly, a long whip came out and wrapped itself around Cougar's arm. "What the?!" She look towards the whip's source and saw Merci was the one using it. Little doubt the whip was a flower he was using his Quirk on. Nene had been with him but was currently running at Panther.
Cougar swung her leg in for a kick, but Nene split herself into two with her Quirk, one of her leaping into the air over the kick while the other slid under. They both delivered an attack to Cougar at the same time, knocking her back. Merci pulled on his whip to bring her back over to the two Nenes, ready to land another blow.
"Not this time!" Cougar yelled. She tugged on her arm as hard as she could and pulled Merci forward, making him lose his balance and fall over. She then blocked the two attacks coming from Nene and her clone, and knocked both back at once. Cougar slashed her claw at the flower whip and freed herself, but before she could attack Nene again, Sakura sent a tree her way, which made her jump away to put some distance between them.
"Are you alright, Nene?" Sakura asked as she and Dan ran over to her. Hyde was busy checking on Lilina, who was still shaking off the hit from earlier.
"I'm fine." Nene said. She said her next words in a low whisper. "We need to buy time right now. I sent a clone off towards the police station when she wasn't looking. Help should arrive soon."
"Good thinking." Dan said.
Cougar let out a sigh. "You know, I was expecting this to be more fun. There's six of you and you can't even take on little old me? I guess U.A. must really be lowering its standards."
"Shut your mouth!" Hyde yelled as he sent a pillar made of the street's gravel her way. "You're dealing with the future Number 1 Hero!"
Cougar giggled as she dodged his attack. "And that's supposed to be you? Don't make me laugh."
"Damnit…" Hyde growled, his anger reaching its peak. He sent more and more attacks her way. "Just go down already you damn bitch!"
"Hmmmm, well aren't you feisty?" she teased. In the corner of her eye, she caught Dan rushing at her. She tried to attack him, but before it could connect, he threw himself around her. He brought out as much water as he could from his body and froze it, trapping her with him.
"Hyde, now! Throw up a cage around us!" Dan shouted.
Hyde read Dan's mind. He used his Quirk and bars rose up from the ground, preparing to form a dome-shaped prison.
"Get off me!" Cougar said angrily as she slammed her legs onto the ground. The ice began to crack, making Dan wince in pain. He lost his hold on her and Cougar managed to leap out of the cage right before it formed.
'Damnit. To think she cracked my ice. And with that being part of my body, it really hurts.' Dan thought as he tried to shake off the pain he was in.
Cougar took a moment to try and catch her breath. 'They nearly got me there. That was too close.' She fixed her gaze on Hyde. 'His Quirk is the most annoying one. I need to deal with him first.' Quickly kicking off the ground, she ran at Hyde.
"You want me? Come and get me." Hyde said. He sent another few chunks of the ground flying at Cougar. She not only dodged them, but managed to jump off them and spring towards Hyde.
'Shit!' Hyde thought as he saw her bring out her claws.
"You'll be the first one to die!" Cougar grinned.
"Hyde, look out!" Sakura exclaimed.
There was no time for him to dodge or block. Hyde could only stand there as Panther closed in, ready to tear him to shreds. 'Crap… Not like this…'
Out of nowhere however, a new figure suddenly emerged. They came flying in and sent a vicious punch to Cougar's cheek. Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Cougar was sent flying. Her body tumbled across the road.
Everyone looked at the new arrival. They had a hood over their head so it was impossible to make out their face. However, a few streaks of long silver hair flowed out from the hood. Part of the person's arms were harrier with what almost seemed like fur that was the same color as their hair.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Cougar asked. "You're interrupting my hunt."
The person made no verbal response. Instead, they took a stance, ready to fight.
"Fine then. I'll just kill you first." Cougar said. She took off running towards the new opponent. "Die!"
The group stayed back as this new arrival prepared themselves to fight. Cougar lunged at them, but they quickly ducked under and avoided a swipe from the villain's claws. They then sent a swift uppercut to Cougar's jaw, making a solid hit. As Cougar fell back, the mystery figure then spun themself around before delivering a kick to the villain. Cougar kept her balance however and sprung right back. It quickly became a fast paced hand to hand combat fight between the two of them.
"You're not half bad." Cougar said. "But you're still weak." Quickly swinging her legs at the hooded figure's feet, she tripped them over. As they fell back, Cougar grabbed them by the face and slammed them into the ground. The students gasped as their savior was taken down in a brief instant.
Cougar breathed heavily, her stamina beginning to reach its limit. She brought out her claws as she looked down at the unconscious person. "You're going to pay for getting in my way."
"Don't you dare!" Dan shouted, throwing a punch from a long arm of water with the hand turned to ice.
Cougar leaped back, watching as Dan came over and stood protectively in front of the person. She smirked when she saw Dan's weak stance. "You shouldn't push yourself. You're clearly injured."
"Doesn't matter." Dan said, wincing in pain. "Putting yourself in danger… for the sake of others… is the essence of being a hero."
"Fine then. In the end, you'll be dead anyw-" Cougar stopped talking when her ears caught the sound of sirens heading their way. "Tch the cops. Guess I played around too much." She turned and quickly fled. "You got lucky, you brats."
Dan fell to his knees as the villain fled. They had managed to make it out of that fight, even though they were injured. But in all honesty, they could hardly call this a victory. If anything, they had just been lucky.
"Dan, are you alright?" Sakura asked as she and the others ran over.
"Yeah. I'll live." Dan confirmed. He turned towards the fallen hooded figure. "I'm more concerned about-" The rest of his sentence died on his tongue as he looked at the unconscious person. The moonlight shined on them, making their face visible. He widened his eyes. He recognized who it was.
As Sakura and the others ran over, they too looked at the person who had saved them and widened their eyes at who it was. It was a teenage girl. Her hair was a different color, and they didn't recall her having fur on her arms, but there was no mistaking that face. It was someone they all knew.
Alicia Tsuki.
The injuries the group had suffered in their fight against Cougar had luckily been fairly minor. They were mostly covered with scrapes and bruises that would all heal on their own. After being brought to the hospital to get checked out, their parents had been called. All of them were thankful that everyone was alright, though it was still scary to think of their kids being attacked by a villain.
The one they were most concerned about was Alicia.
Her injuries weren't anything serious. Like the others, she would heal given some rest. But that still hadn't explained her sudden appearance. Or the silver hair and claws she suddenly had, not to mention the distortions of her head to look more beast-like. They had all known her Quirk to have nothing to do with such things.
Alicia was laying in bed when her six classmates walked in. They were all relieved to see her awake.
"Are you alright, Alicia?" Sakura asked.
Alicia looked away from the others. "Yeah… I'm fine."
The group looked at each other, wondering why she was acting so distant to them. "You sure you're alright?" Nene asked.
"I said I'm fine!" she shouted, startling her classmates. "Just get it over with already."
"Get what over with?" Dan asked. "What are you talking about?"
"You know what I mean. Go on. Joke about how I look like some weird freak. How I'm like a werewolf." she looked at all of them with a glare as she pulled down her sleeve to show the fur along her arms. "That's what you came here for right? To make fun of me!"
"Woah, slow down Alicia." Lilina told her. "None of us came here to make fun of you. Why would we do that?"
"Yeah. You kinda saved our necks." Nene added. "We wanted to thank you and make sure you were doing alright."
"Yeah. Sure you did." Alicia muttered.
"What the heck is your problem?" Hyde asked. "We come in here to check up on you and you act like a jerk? That's some gratitude you've got."
"You don't get it!" Alicia shouted at him. "Do you have any idea how hard I was trying to hide this part of myself?! And now everyone's going to know! It'll be junior high all over again!"
"Wait, what do you mean?" Lilina asked. "You're not making any sense."
Alicia frowned as she kept her gaze low. "I told you all my Quirk allowed me to absorb sunlight and fire it off as energy blasts, right? Well that's only half true. My body can also absorb moonlight, but it has a different effect on me."
[Alicia Tsuki. Quirk: Sunlight & Moonlight. Her body automatically takes in sunlight and moonlight and stores it in her body. For sunlight, she can fire off the energy stored in her in the forms of energy blasts. For moonlight, her body transforms into a semi-beast-like state. The time her transformed form lasts is dependent on how much moonlight that's being absorbed.]
"So moonlight turns you into… this?" Dan asked.
"Yes." Alicia said. "The kids at my school used to think my Quirk was so cool. But they only saw the sunlight part of it. Then one day, when they found out about what moonlight does to me, everything changed. The prettier girls at school looked at me like a freak, saying I was an ugly loser. I lost most of my friends."
Sakura frowned as she heard this. "That must have been really tough. I'm sorry."
"Why? You guys aren't going to do the same? You're not going to tell everyone about how disgusting I look once the moon comes out?"
The group all looked at each other. "Well I personally don't see the issue about it, but if you don't want the others to know, we won't tell them." Dan said.
Alicia widened her eyes. "What?"
"Yeah. You're clearly really sensitive about this." Nene said. "I mean I doubt anyone in class would treat you differently, but I'll keep it a secret if it means that much to you."
"Me too." Sakura nodded. "I'm the Class Representative of Class 1-C after all. It's important for me to respect the wishes of my fellow classmates."
"I'll keep your secret. And to be nice, I'll even make it free of charge." Lilina grinned.
"Oui. As a true gentleman, I will make sure your secret is kept." Merci added.
"You guys…" Alicia said, unable to believe what she was hearing.
"We're sorry your friends from junior high turned out to be such jerks." Dan said. "But you can trust us Alicia. With or without this other side of you, you're still our friend."
Tears formed in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away with her arm. "Thank you."
"By the way, how'd you even know we were in trouble in the first place?" Hyde asked. "Weren't you going to the train station before us?"
"Well I was." Alicia said. "But while I was at the station waiting for the next train, I heard something going on not too far away. My senses are a bit sharper at night due to my semi-beast form. I hurried over and saw you guys fighting that villain."
"Heh, well it was nice of you to show up. But even if you hadn't, I would have handled the situation." Hyde said confidently.
Dan rolled his eyes. "And yet who was it she saved from getting attacked when she showed up?"
"I… I was getting her to lower her guard!" Hyde argued. "And it was working perfectly too!"
"Uh huh. Sure." Nene said. "Well I guess we can keep Hyde getting his butt kicked like the rest of us a secret too."
The group shared a small laugh at Hyde's expense, much to the teen's displeasure. After being discharged from the hospital, they were asked a few more questions from the police to make sure they had the full story. Once they were done with that, each of them were sent home with their family. But each of them knew one thing very clearly. This incident with Cougar had taught them all something. A lesson that couldn't be learned in the classroom.
They learned just how dangerous villains could be when they were serious.
