CHAPTER TWO: Set The World Afire
"Time to kiss your ass goodbye/the end has just begun!"
The atmosphere in the cafe' was pretty lively and luckily the money he summoned, when passed through the scanner, did not register as fake. So he could sit down at a small circular table next to the big glass window looking on the street and have some decent coffee and a big slice of cake a la mode. The scene looked quiet enough for him to start to relax: no apparent dangers in sight.
"This may be less crappy than I feared. With a sliver of luck, I can settle down and enjoy this second chance at life, you know." He paused for a second and then hastily added "I mean, we."
"It's okay, man. You can use 'I' liberally - I take you get the concept by now. No offense whatsoever." Prometheus replied placidly "Yet, that's all you wanna do? Pull a Yoshikage Kira and live an unassuming life in one of the most dynamic pieces of fiction you've watched? Not to mention the chance of alleyw-"
"First, CUT THE ALLEYWAY CRAP. Not going there." he cut his companion off almost too hastily with more than a tinge of annoyance "Second, I want a life out of the spotlight precisely because I landed my sorry ass here. I'm no hero and I don't want to be one." He sighed, lowering his gaze to the almost empty coffee cup. "People like them are a cut above me - heroes and villains alike. If not for moral cloth, for the will to see they ideals made real. Me? I'm too friggin' jaded to put on a spandex suit and either fight or commit crimes. My zealot days are over."
"I dare remember you that it was because you thought of her that we're here, so don't 'no alleyway' me." Prometheus quipped back with the same level of annoyance. "Second - in settings like these, the call tends to know where you live... so I would reasonably expect a certain level of involvement whether you like it or not. Tropes exists, and they are a very real and very powerful driving force around these parts. I know it, and so do you. Right now you're just choosing to ignore it because it's convenient. Third, fighting for something doesn't automatically make you a zealot. This is the kid that got burned speaking, not you."
"Fine!" he almost growled in exasperation. "But rest assured I'll do my best to avoid trouble. I ain't squandering this occasion - tropes or not. And that's fucking final."
"We'll see." Prometheus replied rather dryly "For the time being, I suggest you enjoy your cake with an eye to the guy looking down from the rooftop over there. You know, the one with the blue jacket and that looks like the lower half of his face got burned off-"
"Wha- Oh, FUCK ME." he groaned as his eyes narrowed into slits. He dropped the money on the table and literally sprung from the chair towards the exit; all the while keeping the lone figure up there in his field of view. He had to get the hell out of the area before that maniac started torching everything - thus prompting the response of one or more capes and general area damage.
And the moment he opened the glass door to get out of the premises, a gout of blue flames and a maniacal laughter opened the dance. People started to scream and scatter for cover as the whole street was being turned into a sea of fire.
"Told you, didn't I, Mr. Not My Problem?" Prometheus quipped as his bearer dove behind a mailbox - the closest thing in range. He turned his head for half a second just to see a group of people on the other sidewalk trying to scramble to safety; but as panic had kicked in full gear they were mostly tripping over each other and stumbling blindly. And to make matters worse, no capes in sight to face the threat or at least do some crowd control.
"Of course it had to be like this. Fine." His lips curled exposing his teeth as he stood up facing the advancing inferno, giving the panicked crowd a brief, angry look. "You owe me." he murmured before raising his hand and looking at the figure through the fire. "Requisition: AT Field. Deploy!" he snarled. The red gem started glowing faintly as the blaze was stopped by what looked like an invisible barrier. Every time one of the flame tongues touched it, a hexagon-shaped wave rippled through the wall.
"Requisition complete." Prometheus replied dutifully.
He drew a long, shaky breath, cracking into a small smirk - just as the stitched man raised both palms to double the intensity of his attack. Luckily, to no avail; the only effect it sorted was more hexagon ripples. "Pros better haul ass here before this idiot pulls an Avdol and starts burrowing underground with fire to get at me. He's getting pissed and I know he's smart enough to think of it."
"You." the villain in blue sneered, calmly addressing him from his rooftop. "I don't know who you are, but you better stay out of my way. Your barrier won't hold forever."
He raised an eyebrow, his lips curling up even more in amusement. "I would have stayed out of it if you didn't choose to set the neighborhood on fire while I was having my morning coffee. I tend to take things like that rather personally."
"Thanks for the assist, civilian. Pro Hero Miruko'll take it from here!" a definitely female voice echoed from above. As he raised his head to investigate, all he could pick up was a blur of white colored motion bounding from wall to wall and leaving cracks everytime he bounced off one. The enemy immediately interrupted his attack on the barrier to raise a much closer wall of fire around himself - obviously bent on retreat.
He shrugged, made a military salute with just his first two fingers and closed his fist to make the barrier disappear while following the last stragglers away from the fight. He had vague memories about the law of the land, about unauthorized Quirk usage in public, fines and jail time - and the last thing he wanted was to get arrested for saving people.
As he instinctively scrambled for a place he could hide into, he pushed himself against a wall and looked back to the street; now deserted, it was just sending echoes of the clash on the upper floors bouncing between the skyscraper walls to his position as he ran further away.
It took a full minute for him to realize two things: he did dive headfirst into an alley.
And he wasn't alone.
"Told you." Prometheus quipped.
