Daiki had decided to intern with Best Jeanist due to the pro hero's high ranking. He was both skilled and precise with how he fought. It was going to be a good chance to learn from one of the nation's best heroes.
Of course, he hadn't expected him to be interning with Best Jeanist as well.
"Goddamnit. I picked the wrong place to intern." Bakugo muttered under his breath as he tried to get his now neat hair back to the mess it usually was in. But Best Jeanist's hair-styling work had made it surprisingly difficult to do so.
Daiki let out a sigh. Everyday so far it had been nothing but Bakugo's constant yelling and complaining. It was turning into a headache for him. He knew he was a hot-headed guy from watching him at the Sports Festival, but seeing it up close was another thing entirely.
"This is sudden, but here's a question." Best Jeanist said. "Patrols are meant to deter villains from commiting crimes, but they also have a secondary effect. What is it?"
"If we see villains, we beat them up right away." Bakugo answered with a smirk.
"No." Best Jeanist answered. "Voltman, what do you think?"
Daiki thought to himself as he came up with an answer. "If citizens see heroes walking about, it gives them peace of mind, right?"
"Correct." he said. "It allows the public to see who we are and that we are here for them. Building that strong relationship is vital in becoming a hero."
"Tch, what is this, a courtesy visit?" Bakugo asked.
Suddenly a voice called out to them. "Oh, I've seen him on tv before!"
Daiki glanced back to see a trio of kids staring at them, namely Bakugo. 'They must be talking about the Sports Festival. It wasn't that long ago after all.'
"He was caught by a villain and looked like he was about to cry, right?"
Looking at Bakugo, Daiki thought he saw a blood vessel burst from him. Thinking back, Bakugo did look similar to a kid on the news a few months back that was attacked by a sludge villain. Could they have been the same person?
"What did you say?!" Bakugo shouted as he turned to the kids.
Bakugo's loud voice caused the kids to begin crying out of fear. Best Jeanist let out a sigh. "Did you already forget what I taught you? Deal with them properly."
"Alright already." Bakugo complained. He looked down at the kids. "You know, I wasn't caught by the villain back then. I was thinking about how to defeat him. It wasn't that I lost. I'm the man who'll become the number one hero! There's no reason for kids like you to worry about me-"
Bakugo's words were cut off as the kids started wailing with tears flowing down their eyes as if they were staring down a villain. Best Jeanist let out a sigh.
Daiki rolled his eyes at Bakugo. "Well you sure have one hell of a winning personality for a hero."
"What was that?! You want to get blasted by me, you Class C loser!" Bakugo shouted as he glared at Daiki. "I'll kill you!"
"That's precisely what I'm talking about." Daiki told him. "If all you ever do is yell angrily at people, you'll never be a hero."
"Shut up! Don't act like you're something special!" Bakugo told him. "A hero is someone who wins, no matter what! I'll prove that I'm the best!"
Daiki watched as Bakugo walked on ahead. He let out a groan. 'Geez. I hope the others are having a better time at their internships than me.'
Alicia groaned as she slowly came to. Her senses were still foggy as she tried to organize her thoughts. The first thing she noticed was that she was indoors, and it was rather dark. Her vision slowly became clearer and her eyes adjusted to the dark. She was lying down on a bed, but as she tried to move her body, she soon noticed that her arms were tied behind her back, and her legs were also tied up near her ankles. She struggled as much as she could, but the bindings were too tight to break free.
'What's going on? Where am I? What happened?' Alicia thought. She quickly got herself to calm down before she could panic. 'Ok, calm down and think. What's the last thing you remember? I was escorting the kidnapped girl to the entrance of the harbor. Then… I think I heard something and stopped, didn't I? But after that… ugh, my head. I can't remember anything after that.'
"Ngh…" The other voice caused Alicia to turn her head and see the girl she had been escorting was lying next to her, tied up in a similar manner as her. "What happened? Where am I?"
"I'm not sure." Alicia said. Suddenly she noticed something. The girl with her was almost entirely stripped of her clothing. She was dressed solely in her bra and underwear. Taking a look at herself, Alicia realized the same was true for her. She was no longer in her costume but was instead nearly naked. And the two of them were laying on what seemed to be a large bed.
The other girl soon realized the same thing. Her eyes widened with fear as her body began to shiver. "No… Oh god, are they going to… No, I don't want this!"
"Hey, listen to me." Alicia told her. "We need to stay calm if we're going to make it through this. I know this is scary, but panicking won't do us any good. I need you to stay calm. Can you do that?"
If Alicia was being honest, she was far from calm. She was absolutely terrified right now. The only thing keeping her from losing it was the mental lessons about dealing with emergency situations she learned in class. Panicking was the worst thing a hero could do in this situation. Not only would it prevent her from thinking clearly, it would cause anyone with them to behave in a similar manner.
To Alicia's relief, the girl nodded her head. "Ok. I'll try to keep calm." she said.
"Good." Alicia said. "Come to think of it, I never got your name."
"It's Chieko." the girl said. "What about yours?"
"Alicia. Though my hero name is Amaterasu."
"Alright then. So what do we do, Alicia? Any ideas?" Chieko asked.
"I'm still working on that." Alicia told her. She tried to maneuver her fingers enough to fire a small bullet of sunlight at the restraints around her wrists to free herself. But when she tried to fire off her Quirk, nothing came. She tried again and again, but not even the tiniest spark came from her fingertips.
Alicia wondered what was going on. Was she out of juice? No, that couldn't have been the case. She had been outside for hours on patrol with Eternal in perfectly sunny weather and had barely used her Quirk. Could her Quirk have been temporarily erased? Unlikely. The only one she knew capable of that was Mr. Aizawa at U.A, and even he could only keep a person's Quirk erased for a short time. She considered the possibility of a drug that temporarily erases Quirks, but no such drugs existed as far as she knew. Her eyes lingered around the room as she thought , until she came across her answer.
There was a window in the room. And although the curtains were closed, she could see a small area of light shining on the floor near the window. But rather than the bright light of the sun, it was the pale blue light of nighttime.
'The moon is out. That's why I can't fire off any energy blasts.' Alicia realized. Her eyes widened in fear. If it was nighttime, did that mean she had transformed. Taking a quick look at herself, Alicia saw that was not the case. Although it was night, no moonlight had directly shined onto her body so she still looked like her normal self for now. While that part relieved her, the fact remained she was basically Quirkless right now.
As Alicia thought about what to do, the door to the room opened. The two girls were completely silent as they watched a figure walk into the room. He turned on the lights, though they were rather dim so they didn't brighten up the room much. But now they had a good look at their captor.
He had a mutant-type Quirk, that much was obvious. He looked less like a human and more like an evil boogeyman from the nightmares of little kids. His skin was purple and he stood practically eight feet tall looking like a large bulging monster.
Chieko widened her eyes. "I-I remember you! You were with those creeps that kidnapped me!"
Alicia gasped as she heard this. "But Eternal and the police raided your hideout! Don't tell me you guys knew about it beforehand!"
"Nah, nothing like that." the man said. "I'm guessing the rest of them got rounded up and arrested. Believe it or not, it was pure chance I was away at the time. I was walking around when I heard a commotion. I saw the raid going on and could tell things were going south fast. So I booked it." A grin then came to his face, or at least what Alicia assumed was a grin from his face. "But then I came across two pretty girls running away, all alone. No way could I pass that chance up."
"You creep!" Chieko yelled at him. "You can't sell me off now, so you're just going to use us as your playthings, is that it?!"
"Playthings? I think you've got the wrong idea there, cutie." he said. He slowly walked over to the bed. "You know, as much as they tried, there were some girls those guys just couldn't sell. But there was never a case of any bodies showing up related to us. Wanna guess why?"
"You mean you took them and used them for yourselves?" Alicia asked, disgusted by the man and his implications.
"Sorry, wrong answer." he said. He crept in towards Alicia, with his grin growing all the more revolting. But even she hadn't expected the next thing to happen. The villain bringing out his tongue and licking her cheek with it. Drool dripped from his mouth and Alicia's eyes widened in horror as the realization of where he was going with this finally dawned on her. She didn't even need him to tell her the answer, but he said it anyway. "It's because you can't find a body if it's been digested."
Alicia's body shivered in fear. This couldn't be real, right? It had to be a nightmare. A horrible dream that she just needed to wake up from. "You… You ate them?"
"That's right." he said as he rubbed his belly. "My buddies used me to clean things up for them."
Alicia couldn't believe what she was hearing. Judging from his size, she didn't doubt his stomach was probably big enough to hold a person if he swallowed them whole. And mutant Quirks that made cannibalism possible weren't completely unheard of. But it was too horrific, too inhumane, to even consider. She never would have imagined someone being this sick.
"The girls they always gave me were the ugly losers that didn't sell though." he said. "No matter how much I asked them, they didn't let me have even one of the pretty ones. Said it would cut into profits." He looked at the two girls and licked his lips. "But that doesn't matter now. My buddies all got captured and our operation is done. So they can't complain if I finally get the meal of my dreams."
"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Chieko screamed. "Please! Somebody! Help us! There's a sicko trying to eat us!"
"Don't bother. This is my private meal room. The walls of this building are soundproof." he said. He came close to Chieko and licked her body too, enjoying her taste. "But do go on screaming and crying if you want. It really whets my appetite."
Alicia wasn't sure which idea disgusted her more. What she had thought he was going to do to them before, or what he was actually going to do to them now. But one thing was clear in her mind. She had to think of something fast or they were both going to meet their end in a way she wouldn't wish on anybody.
'Come on! Think! There has to be something I can do!' Alicia desperately tried to think of a plan. Any possible way for the two of them to escape.
"Which one should I eat first?" he asked aloud, looking back and forth between the two girls tied up on the bed. His gaze finally fixated on Alicia. "How about you, little hero girl?"
Alicia's body shivered in fear. She didn't have much time left. She needed to come up with an idea now. As she looked around the room, her eyes focused on something. The window. It was closed and was probably soundproof like the rest of the room, so there was no way she could call for help. But that wasn't the idea coming to her mind right now. She had a different one. It was an idea she really didn't want to use and almost hated, but the thought of the fate that awaited her if she did nothing was something she hated even more.
"I'll be sure to savour your taste. Don't worry." the man said as he leaned in towards Alicia, licking her with his tongue and preparing to swallow her whole.
"Wait!" Alicia exclaimed. "I'll let you eat me however you want. I'll do whatever you say. Just please… listen to my final request."
"Final request?" he asked. "What is it?"
Alicia gulped. It all came down to this. Everything depended on whether or not she could convince him. "Ever since I was little… I always loved looking up at the moon at night. Could you please… let me look up at the moon one last time. Just through that window over there."
The man looked at Alicia, judging whether she had an ulterior motive in mind or not. Alicia looked as scared as she could to try and convince him that this was nothing more than the last wish of a terrified girl about to die. She didn't have to act too much though. With the thought of what awaited her if this failed lingering in the back of her mind, fear was one of the biggest emotions she was feeling right now.
Finally, the villain gave into Alicia's request. "Fine. But try anything funny like calling outside for help, and I'll bite you in half. Got it?"
Alicia nodded her head. The man grabbed her by her arm and dragged her over to the window. He opened the curtain and held Alicia in front of him.
"There. Look at your pretty moon."
It was late at night. Not a single person was outside. But that didn't matter right now. The only thing that mattered was that the moon was clearly visible in the sky. And its light was shining through the window and onto Alicia.
She had to stall this out. She needed to get enough moonlight stored inside her body to transform. It was rather ironic now that she thought about it. For most of her life, Alicia had done everything she could to avoid letting moonlight shine on her. But now both her and Chieko's lives depended on it happening.
"There. You saw the moon. Happy now?" he said.
"Please, just a few more seconds." Alicia pleaded. 'Come on! Hurry up!'
The villain decided to humor Alicia and give her another few seconds. Towards the end of it, Alicia felt her body begin to tingle. It was finally starting.
"Alright, it's been long enough." the villain told her as he prepared to devour her. "I'm hungry and it's time for you to get comfortable in my stomach."
"Not happening." Alicia growled. "Like hell am I gonna let myself end up as your dinner."
"Huh? What was that you-" the villain stopped short as he gasped at seeing Alicia's hair turn a shimmering silver, and fur of the same color begin to grow on parts of her body. The sudden change in appearance caused the villain to stumble back slightly "Wh-What the hell?! What's going on?!"
With her increased physical abilities from the transformation, Alicia tugged at the bindings around her wrists. Her strength was too much for them to withstand anymore and the rope ripped, freeing her arms. She then took her sharp nails and cut the rope tied around her legs with one clean slash.
"You… You tricked me!" the villain exclaimed. He glared and lunged at Alicia. "You damn bitch!"
Alicia ducked and avoided the bite from the villain. She then reeled her arm back and delivered a powerful punch to his gut. The villain felt the air rush out of his lungs as he stepped back and coughed.
"You know something?" Alicia said as she glared at the villain. "You are-" She kicked off the ground and hit him with another punch that sent him crashing through the door of the room. "-a REALLY disgusting scumbag!"
The blow the villain took knocked him out as he laid unconscious on the floor. Alicia hurried over to the bed and cut the rope bindings on Chieko. The second she was free, Chieko hugged Alicia tightly.
"Thank you, Alicia! Thank you so much! I thought we were going to die!"
"It's fine now. Don't worry." Alicia said as she tried to comfort her. She could hardly blame Chieko for her current emotional state. Even she herself was still a little shaken up by everything that had just happened.
The two of them found their clothes laying on the far side of the room. They grabbed them and hurried out of the room, rushing to get out of the house as fast as possible. When they got near the door to the building however, blinding lights suddenly lit up from outside.
"No way! I thought he was alone!" Chieko gasped. "Could there be other villains here?!"
"Can't be! Eternal and the police raided their hideout! That guy said it was just him who escaped!" Alicia said. She silently signalled for Chieko to stay put as she made her way over to the window. It was tough to see with how bright the lights were, but Alicia was able to make out the figures outside. When she saw who was there, relief washed over her. "It's the police! Eternal too!"
Chieko's face brightened. She rushed to the door with Alicia and the two of them hurried outside. When they saw the two girls, the police rushed to secure them and ensure they were alright.
"Amaterasu!" Eternal exclaimed as she ran to her intern. "Are you alright?! Did the villain do anything to you?!"
"I'm fine. I promise." Alicia assured the woman. "There's one villain inside, but he should still be knocked out."
"Understood." Eternal said. She looked to her sidekicks. "Move in and get the villain restrained."
"Yes ma'am!" the sidekicks obediently said as they ran inside.
Alicia let out a sigh of relief that the scariest ordeal of her life so far was finally over. "How did you find us?"
"The rest of that villain's friends were rounded up in the raid. When we went back to the harbor entrance, the police said you never arrived. So, after a bit of a personal interrogation with the group, I… persuaded them to tell me where I could find their remaining member. They told me he was likely here."
Alicia could only imagine what Eternal meant by "persuaded", but she imagined it wasn't fun for the villains. Suddenly, a realization ran through Alicia's head. "By the way… I'm sorry, Eternal. I fought the villain in there, even though I'm not supposed to without permission."
Eternal let out a sigh. "It's fine. Given the situation, I doubt you had much choice in the matter. We'll say I gave permission. It's my fault this happened anyway. I should have sent one of my sidekicks with you just to be safe."
"No, it's not your fault." Alicia assured her. "There's no way you could have known this would happen."
"I'm just relieved to see you're unharmed." Eternal told her. "That said, I'm very impressed you managed to handle things here all on your own. And while using this part of your Quirk too."
So much had happened that Alicia had nearly forgotten she was currently transformed, not to mention almost completely naked. She quickly hurried to put her costume back on. Once she did, she brought the hood of her costume up and let it cover her head.
Eternal showed Alicia a warm smile. "Amaterasu- no. Alicia. You're still afraid of this part of yourself? Isn't this part of your Quirk responsible for you overcoming this ordeal?"
"Well… yes, but-"
"Alicia!" Chieko's voice caught her attention as the girl ran over to her. She had a blanket over her to cover her exposed body. "I wanted to thank you again. You're quick thinking saved us."
"It really wasn't anything special." Alicia said, turning her head away.
Chieko narrowed her eyes. "Alicia, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing." Alicia said.
"Is it because of how you look now?" Chieko asked. "If that's all it is, then don't worry."
"You say that, but…"
Chieko grabbed Alicia's hood and pulled it off her head after struggling with Alicia over it. Alicia showed an embarrassed blush with how she looked right now.
But to her surprise, Chieko showed her a smile. "What's with that look? I think you look really cool."
Alicia widened her eyes as she looked at the girl. "Chieko…"
"I mean, you totally knocked that villain flat on his ass with that form. What could be cooler than that?"
"You mean… you don't think I look hideous like this?"
"Hideous?" Chieko questioned. "No, I wouldn't say that. It's just… different. It's something to set you apart from others. And there's nothing wrong with that."
"You… You really think so?"
"Of course." Chieko told her. She leaned in and hugged Alicia. "Thanks again for saving my life. I'll never forget this."
After separating herself from Alicia, Chieko went with the police to give them her full detailed account of what happened before being brought back to her family. Alicia was glad to see Chieko's life was finally going to go back to normal again.
"So, this whole time you were just afraid of your Quirk at night because you thought it made you look ugly, huh?" Eternal asked.
"... Yes." Alicia admitted. "I know it's not very fitting for a hero to think like that. And you were right, Eternal. Tonight showed me that there are going to be times where I'll need to use this part of my Quirk."
Eternal let out a sigh. "Well, I suppose I can't blame you too much for being afraid of how you look. I'd be a hypocrite if I did."
Alicia narrowed her eyes at the hero. "What do you mean?"
"You recall that my Quirk lets me store up the life energy of others into my body to use as energy to fire off, right?" Eternal asked. "Well, having an abundance of energy has another effect on me too."
"What's that?" Alicia asked.
Eternal closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly, energy began to flow out from the hero. It was warm and comforting. But as it left her body, Eternal's appearance began to change. Her smooth skin began to grow wrinkled and her chestnut hair turned gray and fragile. Before Alicia knew it, the beautiful woman that seemed to be in her twenties now looked like she was well over the age of eighty.
"Eternal…" Alicia gasped. "You're…"
"Eighty-seven." the old woman standing in front of Alicia said. "That's how old I am. But by absorbing the life energy of others into my body, I can regain my youth, both in appearance and physical ability. It's a secret that very few people know about."
"Amazing…" Alicia said in awe. "I never would have imagined this."
"I used to be so afraid of growing old. There were times I'd hold back my Quirk more than I should have, or absorbed more energy than I should have from others, all because I was afraid of reverting back to my real age." Eternal explained. "Silly, isn't it? Everyone grows old at some point. And you don't see any of them running from it. It took me a couple decades, but I eventually came to see that even old age has its own unique charm."
"And I've basically been doing the same thing." Alicia realized.
"I can't fault you. I was far older than you when I came to terms with reality. But I do think you should think about what this appearance of yours helped you accomplish tonight." Eternal told her. "Now come. Let's head back to the agency. I'm sure you must be exhausted after everything that happened today."
Alicia had no arguments for the woman as she walked along with her. It had been quite possibly the scariest day of Alicia's life. But in a weird way, she was still glad it had happened. Because right now, at this moment, she had never felt more at peace with herself.
"Hey, Eternal?" Alicia said. "I thought about it a bit, and… I think I'm going to change my hero name."
"Oh really?" Eternal said. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well, my Quirk doesn't just come from the sun. It comes from the moon too." Alicia said. "So I'm thinking of going with… Amateyomi."
"A mix between the names of the goddesses of the sun and moon, huh?" Eternal said. "I think it sounds great."
A/N: And that's it for the internship arc everyone. Hope you liked it. Next chapter will be the start of a new mini-arc. Look forward to it.
