Hawks let out a yawn as he soared above the streets of Naruhata.
His search for evidence hadn't amounted to much, unfortunately. In fact, there was almost suspiciously little information to be found, given the fact he was sent here specifically to chase down a lead from the HPSC. It was rare for something like this to amount to literally nothing…
B-r-i-i-i-i-i-i-n-g…!
"Speak of the devil…" Hawks muttered. "...and he'll call your boss."
Lifting his phone to his ear, he let out a mental sigh as he slipped into his 'serious' persona. In an instant, he was on a nearby rooftop. Flying around at his usual speeds was not conducive to having a phone conversation, even if he preferred the comfort of being in the sky when dealing with his superiors.
"This is Hawks," he stated clearly, his face as expressive as stone.
"We need you in Musutafu."
His eyes widened minutely, his sudden worry breaking through his iron-clad control slightly.
"An A-rank…?" he asked leadingly.
"Thankfully not," the woman on the other end of the line denied.
The stress that had cropped up faded immediately, his expression returning to its perfectly controlled state.
"No, we may have a lead on your case. A major traffic collision occurred, and preliminary investigation done by the heroes on site revealed that an individual under the influence of this new breed of trigger was the cause," she went on. "They've been apprehended, but it's highly likely their dealer is still in the city limits. Additionally, if this individual is any indication… the phrase 'black tongue' is to be taken literally."
"Understood," Hawks confirmed. "I'm on my way."
His boss hung up without another word and the dirty blonde slid his phone into the inside pocket of his jacket. Cracking his neck and his back, the young man did several quick stretches. There was a long flight ahead of him after all. He was smack dab in the middle of Tokyo, and Shizuoka was almost a hundred fifty kilometers away…
Moments later, he was in the air, streaking across the sky in a red blur and keeping pace with several passenger planes with ease.
Ah… and I was just getting bored, too.
"GNNNNNGAAAAHH!" the villain screeched. "It's not fair!"
Izuku turned back to face the skinny man, well aware of the bystanders around her that could easily become casualties if she wasn't careful. When compared to the several hundred people she'd seen upon arriving at the stage, maybe half of that were still conscious and present in the area.
The civilians were split between the couple dozen people that were still in the dirt before the stage—shell shocked by the situation—and the second, much larger, group that was hiding around the sides of the structure. Beyond that, Izuku had seen a good few people making their way out of the inferno through the way she'd come—a small stream extending from the nearby river that kept the flames from spreading across it. All in all, there were maybe a hundred or so people still close enough to be in immediate danger from the villain. A small mercy, but one the temporary girl was thankful for.
"A hero…!"
"...Who is she…?"
"Never seen…"
The muttering around her echoed throughout the mutilated stage… and she struggled not to feel bad about the situation… She should have gotten here sooner.
'Situational awareness is a helluva thing, boya,' Baiken commented.
—FLASHBACK—
Wow… This… Really isn't as bad as I thought it would be…
At the edge of her awareness, Izuku could feel the air above her heating up rapidly.
'Boya!'
Immediately, she whirled around, instinctively trying to use Azami to block the—
Her world blasted into light as something exploded at her feet, flinging her dozens of feet away. The explosion hadn't directly impacted her technique, so while she wasn't horribly burned by the blast, the concussive force still knocked her away at incredible speeds.
The temporary girl attempted to use an air dash to regain control over her momentum, but it wasn't enough to slow—
Smack!
The back of her head slammed into a tree branch, well outside the immediate area around the stage, and consciousness left her instantly.
—FLASHBACK END—
"They said there wouldn't be any heroes!" the villain whined. "They promised…!"
Izuku stared at the man, trying to figure out a plan of action. After waking up and switching to her hero costume she rushed here as quickly as possible. With Bakugo being in trouble when she arrived, she was forced to rejoin the fight immediately, too. As such, there hadn't been enough time to analyze his abilities when she returned to the area.
"Hey, jackass! I was about to kick the shit outta you before she showed up!" Bakugo shouted, sounding somewhat offended. "Why're you throwing a tantrum now?!"
The villain didn't seem to pay him any mind, choosing instead to keep groaning and whining about his luck.
"Are you still able to fight…?" Izuku asked quietly.
The boy was clearly hurt and it was important to know now if that would impact his abilities.
…Is he trying to give me the finger…?
Staring at the blonde's broken, discolored, and bleeding hands, she could see his middle finger twitching a bit more than the rest of them, while he was clearly trying to clamp down the others at the same time.
"Try and stop me, Miss Samurai…" he replied, repeating her assumed name in such a sarcastic tone as to make it an insult. Thankfully, he didn't seem to recognize who she actually was and was just being his typical rude self.
'It really wasn't your best idea, boya. Seriously, 'Miss Samurai' is the best you could come up with…?'
H-hey! Bakugo put me on the spot, okay…?
'I don't buy that you haven't been thinking about hero names for us ever since you started this vigilante crap,' Baiken denied. 'Hell, you coulda just dodged the question and avoided the issue altogether.'
Izuku politely ignored the woman, lightly blushing beneath her mask. It had sounded cooler when she wrote it down, okay…?
"So, what're you gonna do now, fuck-face?!" Bakugo shouted at the villain.
It occurred to the masked girl that, if she didn't do something soon, Bakugo's inscescant commentary was going to make the already unhinged villain do something dangerous and stupid—which was probably why the blonde was yelling at him, actually—so she lowered her stance and rested her left hand on the hilt of her bokken. If she was lucky, she could take out the man in one swift strike with the opening Bakugo was set on providing, given how much time she would have to charge up a Garyou Tensei…
"—and now I'm going to need to use that to win…! I wanted to save it for something even cooler, dammit!" the villain went on. "My first time was supposed to be special…!"
Energy flowed through Izuku's body as she concentrated on her breathing, determined to minimize the collateral damage of her strike. Even after using it on the smoke villain, the move was still difficult to control.
"...Ugh… Fine. I can get more later…"
Something was very wrong. The villain had calmed down, a sinister gleam in his manic eyes as he craned his neck to focus on his opponents. A closer look revealed the injector he had in his hand, the sharp needle-tip positioned mere millimeters from his thigh while blackish-green liquid swirled around in the connected glass container menacingly…
"Shit…!"
Izuku absently realized that the curse had come simultaneously from both her mouth and Bakugo's. Everyone had heard of Trigger, heard the warnings in the drug awareness assembly that happened at every school once a year… Between the hallucinogenic effects, the loss of higher functions, and its incredibly addictive nature… The drug was 'Bad Stuff' with capital letters… But it still stuck around because of the powerup it granted.
"THIS IS WHAT YOU GET!" The villain screamed before slamming the needle into his thigh, pumping his system full of the monstrous chemicals.
Both of the teens were already moving before they could even think to hesitate. The blonde shot forward in a flash of orange electricity while the pink-haired vigilante unleashed her technique, taking a single step to close the distance and swinging her—
BOOM!
Heat exploded out of the man, flinging Bakugo and Izuku away from him before they could make contact. They were sent in opposing directions, each careening into the dirt and sending up a wave of topsoil as they skidded and bounced.
They were too late.
Lancing out of the man's back were spurts of lava that rapidly cooled into magma after making contact with the air, creating spiky formations that extended out of his body at irregular angles. Molten liquid flowed down from cracks and holes in the jagged rock—the power too much to be contained within his body. The magma seared his skin red wherever it wasn't covered in ash, giving him a frightening patchwork appearance, but it either wasn't actually hurting the man… or he wasn't able to notice the pain.
"HAHAHAHAHAH! BURNNNNNNNNNN!"
Molten lava spurted out of his body in jets as if to punctuate his statement… forming into orbs the size of beach balls. They floated there, hovering above the various crags and spikes along his body, while he turned to face the ashen dirt he'd flung his opponents into.
Both of them were in the process of pulling themselves to their feet, covered in scrapes and bruises. On top of that, their clothes were singed all over, with large patches of fabric burned away here and there, exposing the skin underneath. They each had a few light burns already, and they both knew that it was unlikely that would be the limit of their wounds by the end of this…
"GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHH!" the villain roared, his voice distorted by the heat emanating from his mouth and the crags of solidifying magma steaming on his face. The man seemed no longer capable of words, the poison pumping through his veins robbing him of what little sanity he'd had before.
The explosive balls soared towards the duo in the dirt haphazardly, heading straight for the crowd of people that weren't yet hiding on the stage… and they both moved.
Izuku charged forward, bringing up her arm defensively and forming an Azami barrier in front of the terrified civilians—just in time to catch the first orb and nullify it. Bakugo, for his part, kicked out with such force that it created a powerful gust of wind—barely redirecting the remaining orbs into the field of flames behind them.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The size of the blasts was incomparable to what the man had made before, making craters the size of small cars and sending chunks of molten earth flying everywhere, spreading the fire beyond the fashion district.
Izuku's eyes widened in horror as the villain simply created another volley, equal in size to the previous one, without the slightest bit of effort. After a moment's pause, he bounced around on stage and unleashed it with a manic giggle.
"DIE!" Bakugo exclaimed, lashing out with another kick to redirect the orbs.
Izuku caught the remainder on another Azami barrier, grimacing at the effort it took to nullify the force. Glancing backward, she saw the fear in the eyes of the people behind her… and she realized something.
…They don't think I can save them…
It hurt to see the doubt in their eyes; the terror directed towards the stage and the worry that the masked girl would fail to keep them safe. Gritting her teeth in frustration, Izuku returned her attention to the fight. Getting distracted right now would only make the situation worse.
"Oi! Miss Samurai!" Bakugo barked out. "You got a plan?!"
Both teens knew they couldn't keep this up forever. If they did nothing but defend, they were going to run out of stamina well before their drug-addled opponent. Between Bakugo's injuries and the fact that Izuku had already been using Baiken's form for several hours… They didn't have much time. It was only a matter of when one of them would fall, not if.
The question was… What could they do…? The villain was targeting the civilians, and it took their combined efforts to defend them… What they needed was a way to stop the man from attacking long enough for them to close the distance and force him to focus on them…
That's it!
"I've got a way of distracting him! Just get in close when you can and hopefully we can get him to stop—"
"GGGGRRAAAAAHH!" the villain roared, flinging a third volley at the duo and the small crowd behind them.
Immediately, they both repeated their recent efforts, redirecting or nullifying the orbs as best they could.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
One exploded too close for comfort, sending a wave of dirt and embers of magma soaring into the air. The civilians screamed, covering their heads with their hands as the flakes rained down upon them.
Izuku exchanged a silent glance with Bakugo, who nodded in confirmation… In the background, they noticed another volley appearing in the air above the villain, who was charging them up a bit more than before after realizing his prior methods weren't working. Even in spite of his monstrous fugue, he was still ferally cunning enough to be dangerous… and as the orbs glowed menacingly, one thing became very clear…
It was now or never.
The masked vigilante rushed forward at an angle, making sure that the crowd wasn't immediately behind her before leaping into the air. As she reached the apex of her leap, several meters in the air, she let out a silent prayer and reared back her right arm.
Please work…!
The long right sleeve of her costume fluttered in the wind as she thrust her hand forward, the long chain that wrapped around her upper arm launching out of the fabric and towards her opponent. The grappling hook soared through the air, extending link by link at the feral villain on the stage—the claws at its end open and ready to clamp down like a vice.
CRACK!
The hook crashed into the villain's upper body, catching on the magma vents extending from his body and snapping several of them open as the claws closed around him.
YES!
There was a problem though. Already, the metal of the hook was starting to melt from the absurdly hot temperatures it was being continuously exposed to as molten rock and lava rolled down its surface. At this rate, she had literal seconds before it would fall apart entirely, but that was more than enough.
"Get over here!" she shouted.
Still mid-air, the temporary girl ripped her arm backward, activating the recall mechanism she'd built into the coiled base of the chains on her upper arm. The hook yanked towards her, forcefully dragging the villain up into the air before finally falling apart. The claws at the end lost all solidity and fell to the ground in a heap of liquid metal as the chain retracted back into her sleeve. The tip of the last link was still red hot from proximity to the slag, and she felt it burn her upper arm on contact even as it cooled down.
"GET OUT OF THE OPEN!" Izuku shouted at the crowd, forcing the words past gritted teeth even as she began to fall to the earth… while in the meantime—
"DIE!"
Bakugo took advantage of the opportunity he'd been given, rushing along the trajectory of the villain's descent and leaping into a dropkick, orange static punctuating every motion.
SMACK!
The blonde's feet impacted the villain's head perfectly, sending him crashing into the dirt at an even sharper angle than before with such force that he made a small crater on impact. Bakugo landed roughly on his one shoulder, letting out an involuntary cry of pain as his broken limbs smashed into the ground, while Izuku landed awkwardly, the pain distracting her too much to land with much grace. She tumbled and rolled for several moments, eventually smashing her face against a rock to stop her momentum. Her mask took the brunt of the damage, even if the impact itself was still painful.
Of course, the pink-haired vigilante didn't let that stop her, rushing to Bakugo's side as soon as she could stand up again.
"I'm fine…!" he grunted, forcing himself to his feet in spite of the way the soles of his sneakers were melting off and the involuntary tears in his eyes. No matter how fierce or determined someone may be, the body can only respond to excessive pain in a few simple ways after all…
"But—!"
"I. Am. Fine…!" the blonde growled.
"GGGGRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHH! BUUUUUUURRRRRRRNNNNN!"
Both teens' heads snapped towards the villain, who was howling and roaring as he stood back up. There were jagged cracks in his face, the skin tearing in places from a combination of damage sustained by Bakugo's strike and the magma coating his form, while red steam emanated from his mouth in a slow trickle—the blood aerosolizing from the heat before it could even begin to dribble down his chin. On top of that, the half of his torso that he had landed on was devoid of spiky protrusions, constantly leaking lava at irregular intervals from several holes in his damaged volcanic coating.
It proved that, for all his offensive power… he was only mildly more durable than a normal human being.
Staring down the villain, Izuku felt a wave of relief wash over her. Between the massive magma blasts and the way protracted contact melted her hook, she had begun to worry they would have to stall for help—risking lives in the process… But now? It was clear to her.
We can do this…!
"Got somethin' to say to us, ugly?!" Bakugo shouted.
The chemically boosted man cocked his head to the side, watching the duo with a beastly cunning in his glowing eyes. What he was thinking was impossible to tell, but…
"BBBBBBBBUUUUUUURRRRRRNNNNN!"
Twisting around, the villain darted into the flaming wreckage he had created, clearly trying to get away so he could find easier prey. He tossed a single orb behind him, for good measure. Without any attempt to aim, however, it simply impacted the ground in front of the two, flinging bits of shrapnel and rock at them but not really doing anything of notable effect. Taking several high-speed pebbles to the face certainly stung though, even if Izuku's mask took the brunt of the projectiles.
"Tch."
Again, the duo were of one mind, even making the same utterance. The man could not be allowed to spread his carnage throughout the rest of the festival! As such, they both rushed to chase after—
"Shit—!"
Bakugo kicked out with his leg, trying to fling his slowly melting shoes off before they got in his way, but only succeeded in flinging rubber fragments away. The action brought the boy's injuries back to Izuku's mind… and she made a decision.
"Hold still," she ordered, approaching the boy.
"The fuck are you gonna—"
Izuku raised her bokken, one-handed as usual, and gestured at the boy's feet with its tip.
"We don't have time to waste," she stated.
Scowling, the blonde gave a nod and halted in place. With a deep breath of concentration, the temporary girl coated her wooden blade in her pink energy, granting it an edge it otherwise never would, and lashed out with as much precision as she could muster.
The tops of the shoes split in half a moment after she replaced her weapon on her hip, giving the teen the chance to properly fling them away. Standing barefoot in this circumstance wasn't exactly ideal, but it was better than the alternative.
"Right. Now you're gonna stay and help the civilians evacuate," Izuku ordered, a mixture of Baiken's speech patterns and her own concern granting her a tone of complete certainty.
"Hah…?!" Bakugo grunted. "No way I'm letting that bastard get away after—"
Cutting the boy off, Izuku walked over and poked the boy lightly in the shoulder.
"Fuck!" he exclaimed involuntarily, flinching away from the contact.
"You're a liability right now, and they need your help," the pink-haired vigilante declared matter-of-factly. "They're scared and need someone to look to…"
The blonde looked away with a scowl, unwilling to meet Izuku's eyes.
He knows I'm right… Good.
"Besides, I can catch Mr. Magma."
The boy let out a snort of amusement.
"Seriously…? 'Mr. Magma…?'" He queried. "You're shit at namin' things."
"...I needed something to call him…" Izuku grumbled, looking away in mild embarrassment.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just go kick his ass for me," Bakugo went on. "Better do it quick if you don't want me catchin' up!"
That said, the boy turned away from the pink-haired vigilante, looking toward the frightened bystanders that were gradually leaving their hiding spots. They were shaken, jumpy and looking around for the villain warily. One thing stood out to Izuku above all else, though…
…Not one of them was smiling.
Izuku needed to do something to fix that—try and raise their morale a bit. As they were now, they hadn't been saved yet…
"Oi! Get your heads out of your asses! Everything's fine! The bad guy ran away with his tail between his legs!"
The pink-haired vigilante's eyes widened in surprise at the words that came out of her mouth.
Did I actually just say that…?
She, in fact, had just said that… and the crowd was not happy.
"Screw you! You were late!"
"You heroes don't get to make fun of us! Just do your job!"
"Our taxes pay for your agencies! You don't get to yell at us!"
For the first time, Baiken's gruff speech patterns had well and truly gotten her into trouble. On one hand, it was incredibly frustrating… but on the other, it was kind of surprising it had taken this long… At least they weren't scared anymore…?
"Err…"
What could she even say to get out of this? They were right after all…
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE, SHUT UP AND START MOVING!" Bakugo shouted, cutting off the crowd before they could get any angrier.
Izuku blinked in surprise.
"But you're about to collapse! Why should we listen to—!"
"I DON'T FUCKING CARE! I'M GONNA GET YOU SOMEWHERE SAFE AND YOU'RE GONNA LISTEN TO EVERYTHING I TELL YOU SO YOU DON'T DIE, GOT IT?!" The blonde went on.
Izuku felt a grin starting to form in spite of herself.
"And you!" Bakugo exclaimed, whirling around to face Izuku.
He took a surprisingly strong step towards her, leaning forward with a scowl as he got in her face. Izuku put her arms up defensively by reflex, taking a step backwards.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, still hanging around here with these schmucks?!" the blonde exclaimed, taking another step forward.
Izuku, of course, responded in kind, placing her foot behind her and…
…Catching it straight on a loose bit of rubble.
Whumpf!
She fell on her rear, not really taking any real damage to anything but her dignity. Clearly aware of that fact, Bakugo went on without pause…
"You should be chasing after that bastard already, not—"
Crack!
…Until Izuku's mask fell to the floor in several pieces.
Between practically landing on it, taking shrapnel and debris to it, and now getting jostled around by tripping, the face covering had reached the end of its durability.
…Crap. I really need to get better masks…
Bakugo stared for several long moments, blinking oddly as he shook his head—as if to clear his vision from some kind of obstruction.
"B-Baiken…?" he stumbled, completely flabbergasted.
For whatever reason, hearing the boy speak broke whatever spell had frozen Izuku in place. In an instant she'd scooped up the remains of her mask, cradling it against her face as she darted away from the blonde.
"T-Take care of the bystanders…!" She shouted as she leaped into the treetops, avoiding the flames below through the simple fact that they hadn't spread quite this high yet.
The boy said nothing as she fled, staring after her in a daze.
Izuku wasn't even sure why she was running now. She was planning to tell him the truth about 'Baiken,' so why did it matter if he knew this, too?
…I'm such a screw up. Why is it so hard to keep a secret identity…?!
She'd panicked, and now she was going to have to deal with the consequences. But first…
"Let's… Go catch a villain."
"We are here live at the scene of the Joint Festival Fire!" A man with a snout-like nose and floppy rabbit-like ears declared.
Slowly, the camera's perspective panned from the reporter's face towards the roaring fire at his side. Trees, tents, and loose foliage were set aflame, slowly turning charred black as their forms crumpled under the heat. Firefighters worked in front of the flames, unloading a number of hoses from their trucks as they prepared to douse the inferno.
"Well, that's unfortunate…" Hawks muttered to himself as he listened to the broadcast through a combination of his headphones and a holographic display on the inner surface of his goggles. It was somewhat transparent and predominantly over the left lens so as to minimize how it affected his ability to see and react to things.
Flying long-distance like this was a boring proposition most of the time, so he often watched the news of whatever location he was approaching to see if there was anything he could help with. Although, sometimes, he would treat himself with some music or a TV show. Today, however, wasn't one of those days…
"You may have heard of today's 'Joint Festival,' an amazing event combining the efforts of several local junior high schools to create a fair to remember… Tragically, it's not going to be remembered for the students' work," the man went on as the camera held steady, keeping him in the shot while focusing on the flames. "For as yet unknown reasons, a fire started this afternoon in the Fashion District of the festival, spreading rapidly until slowing down as it approached the Music District's 'Meteor Stage.'"
Hawks let out a groan.
"What're the odds that's a random villain no one noticed in time?" he muttered to himself in aggravation. "Heroes are getting stretched way too thin nowadays if something like this happened at an event this big..."
"Many people have successfully evacuated the scene with the assistance of the Fire Department, but unfortunately a significant number of people still remain at the center of the festival grounds—trapped within the safe zone surrounding the Meteor Stage. Worse still is the fact that the Fire Hydrant Hero: Backdraft has yet to arrive—"
"Case in point…" Hawks went on.
It was a frustrating reality of the modern world. There simply weren't enough heroes to go around nowadays, and the gradually spreading rumors of overwork didn't help the situation in the slightest—scaring away the kinds of people that would have otherwise filled the ranks of average heroes. Combine that with the steadily rising crime rates… and it led to situations like this.
"—Other local heroes are also en route, but they have been delayed by the traffic jam resulting from today's prior incident: the major car pileup in the downtown area. Only so many of them have mobility enhancing quirks, after all."
"...At least they're trying," Hawks sighed.
"One can only wonder if this incident is yet another example of the HPSC's waning competence," the reporter declared. "Many experts on modern politics have and are still debating the issue of heroism as a job description, and this reporter can only assume that today's tragedy-in-the-making will be used as a talking point for those decrying the failings of 'celebrity heroes' and—"
"For the love of…" Hawks groaned. "Well, if I wasn't already going to, I definitely need to pop in now. This is the exact kind of thing the HPSC doesn't need to worry about right now…"
That said, the young hero sped up as much as he could afford without breaking flight-speed regulations. He was still a good distance away, but at this rate it shouldn't be too long until he arrived. Hopefully he could get there in time to nip this problem in the bud…
Izuku was panting through her poorly fixed mask by the time she caught up to the magma-wielding villain, who was giggling madly as he shot off his magma orbs at empty tents and structures—spreading the inferno further away from ground zero and into the music district. A combination of smoke-inhalation, general exhaustion from spending several hours transformed, and spamming Azami earlier all contributed to her present condition, but she wasn't going to let it stop her. In the distance, she could vaguely see the massive stage that was built for the concert this evening.
"Get back here!" Izuku shouted.
Thrusting her right arm outward, she sent her grappling hook—though it was more accurate to call it a grappling chain right now—flying out of her sleeve and towards the augmented magma villain. The metal links wrapped around him and caught on several of his lava-tubes, holding him in place even as they began to crack off. The chains themselves began to melt under the temperatures, losing even more links, but the action served its purpose…
It bought her time.
With the precious seconds she'd gained by slowing him down, Izuku was able to charge forward and close the remaining distance, drawing her bokken in a pink flash and lashing out at the man. Her blade connected three times. The first strike cut into the armor-like shell around his ribs, cracking bone from the impact even if his coating protected him from deeper injury. The second strike came down upon his shoulder, deadening the arm for a moment even if she didn't feel the distinct crack of bone…
The third strike came up directly, smashing into his jaw and clearly breaking it in spite of his armored shell.
"GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" the villain roared, though in pain or rage it was impossible to tell.
Clearly injured by the blows but just as clearly as he was undaunted by them, the drug-fueled villain's arm shot forward. Izuku brought her blade up to block the strike, hoping to minimize the damage his red-hot skin would deal. Azami couldn't affect physical strikes, and Baiken's surprising skill with grappling wouldn't work if Izuku couldn't touch her opponent.
"BUUUUUUUUUUHHHN!" he screamed through his broken jaw.
The temporary girl's eyes widened in shock as the villain's fingers wrapped around the base of her sword. Mere proximity to the man's body was already scalding her skin raw, bringing the pain of the burns on her right arm to the forefront of her mind in sympathetic agony.
"Gah!" she cried, letting go of her blade as she flinched away.
The drug-fueled villain's hand clamped down tightly around the wood of her sword, blackening the brittle material with heat before melting through it entirely. The two halves of the now useless weapon fell to the ground almost in slow-motion as Izuku scrambled to do something.
Orbs of magma flowed into existence behind her opponent, sluicing off the spikes extending from his back as an inhuman growl echoed from his throat. Instantly, she flung herself backwards and prepared an Azami, desperate to—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The technique caught the brunt of the blast, preventing her from being burnt alive by the intense heat. The concussive waves on the other hand…
"Gah!" Izuku cried as she was flung away, her barrier shattered by the sheer force of the densely packed explosions.
Bouncing and tumbling, she smashed and smacked and skidded across a painful mix of packed dirt and concrete, tearing even more of her costume to shreds as she accumulated bruises and gashes with every impact. The worst of it was when she landed directly on the burns of her arm, worsening the injury with friction.
"GAH!" she exclaimed, the pain drawing the shout from her throat.
Finally, she rolled to a stop, dozens of meters away. Glancing up at the villain blearily, she realized something.
…He thinks he got me…
The man had already turned away, bouncing from foot to foot as he walked away, leaking magma with every step and spreading the inferno as he left. It was clear from his behavior that the villain thought he'd finished Izuku off with the blast. In his drugged state, it probably didn't even occur to him to check for a body before heading off to continue his destructive rampage. He didn't even seem to notice the way his broken jaw was hanging limply or the way the slowly hardening magma was freezing it in place…
…Can't… Let him… Go…
Clawing the dirt with her fingers, the pink-haired girl struggled to get back up. As she strained, she felt a familiar sensation creeping across her skin.
No…! Not… Yet…!
Tingles crept along her spine as she watched the villain make his way towards the stage in the distance.
'Well, guess that's time, boya,' Baiken declared. 'Don't get yourself killed doing something stupid.'
"Wait! Don't—!"
A red flash appeared around Izuku, disappearing a moment later to reveal a burnt and scuffed green-haired boy in place of the pink-haired vigilante.
"Damnit!" he cried, smashing his fist into the dirt in frustration.
Tears of frustration built in his eyes as he leaned forward, forehead against the ground and hands fisted in his hair. He had been so close! He could have won, stopped the bad guy before he could hurt anyone else… He'd had a chance, and he'd blown it.
Sniffling, he sat back on his rear, lifting his left arm up to confirm what he already knew.
"Dammit…" he mumbled, staring at the red watch face.
Fiddling with its mechanism amounted to nothing, the red hourglass remaining defiant in the face of his efforts. The watch simply would not allow a second transformation so soon after the first had ended, no matter what he did. He thought he'd made progress with all of his effort, that his hours spent training would make a difference, but in the end…
What am I doing?!
Blinking rapidly and wiping away the wetness on his face, Izuku turned to stare resolutely in the direction the villain had gone. The man had long since left his line of sight, making his way toward the center of the Music District. It would be catastrophic if he made it to the stage. With all of the fireworks stored there… The damage that would result from the unhinged villain coming into contact with what was essentially just highly flammable explosives was flat out frightening.
"It doesn't matter what happens…" the boy muttered.
Off to the side, unnoticed by the green-haired boy, a golden wind blew… leaving a glowing greenish-blue seed to rest on the dirt nearby him. After a moment, the seed sprouted, sending vines spiraling upwards.
"I made a commitment to my dream…" he went on, forcing himself to climb to his feet in spite of the exhaustion he was feeling down to the core of his being.
Golden light sparked as the glowing seed shifted upwards, floating between the vines of the plant as it shifted into a child-like star. In another burst of light, a second star appeared, higher up than the first.
"Just because it's hard…"
The vines extended, reaching upwards until they were roughly a meter in length. Immediately afterwards, a third and fourth star burst into existence, followed shortly by a fifth.
"…Doesn't mean I get to give up."
A sixth star joined the rest.
"I'm going to be a hero that makes people smile… And nothing is going to stop me!"
The seventh and final childish star burst into existence within the grasp of the vines, catching Izuku's attention with its sheer luminescence. A wooden staff faded into existence in front of the green-haired boy's eyes, with seven glowing lights embedded across its surface. Then, on the ground next to it… a white and gold witch's hat appeared in a burst of light.
Compatible Artifact detected…
Would you like to scan it?
"I… What…?" he muttered, utterly bewildered by the sudden question.
Compatible Artifact detected…
Would you like to scan it?
The watch repeated the words, proving the oddity of the situation to the green-haired boy. It was incredibly rare for the watch to say anything to him. The only time it did so was when it accepted a new costume for one of the girls, but this broke that pattern entirely. This was something completely and utterly new.
Reaching out, he picked up the short staff, marveling at the pleasant sensation of warmth it provided him. For the first time in his own body, he could feel energy flowing through him. It felt almost… approving. Like he'd passed some sort of unspoken test. The hat was much the same when he grabbed it with his other hand.
Compatible Artifact detected…
Would you like to scan it?
Oh, right…
"Yes. Scan it, please," he mumbled.
Soft light passed through the objects in his hands slowly, a small ticking sound emanating from the watch as the process progressed. A few moments later, the light retreated back into the device… Which lit up in a pleasant green again… and then flickered back to red.
"No, no, no…" Izuku muttered urgently, smacking the side of the accessory desperately. "You need to work…!"
He fiddled with the watch's mechanism, yanking the thing up so he could try and force a selection—
Out of energy…
Please wait for a complete recharge and try again…
The watch closed on its own, emitting a bright red glow of warning from the hourglass on its surface. It clearly was not happy with his attempts to force it to work.
"How can I get you energy…?" Izuku muttered.
His eyes drifted toward the wand and hat in his hands, reminding him of the gentle flow of energy he could feel them exuding…
"Maybe…?"
Focusing on the 'Artifact,' he tried to reach for the energy the items sent circulating through his body. His experience with the girl's own abilities helped him greatly here, but that only meant that it was possible instead of simply being out of his reach. Even with his recently earned and borrowed skills, it was like trying to direct a river with his hands if he'd grown up never using any part of his arms but the shoulder—constantly lacking anything approaching fine motor control but still doing something to alter the flow.
Come on… Come on…
Ever so slowly, Izuku felt the simplistic circulation start to shift, changing direction just enough that a trickle of energy flowed into the watch from his—
"Ow!"
Flinching at the sudden burning in the flesh of his arms, Izuku reflexively shook out the limb… and then realized that the hat and wand were gone. The heat gradually faded, centering around the wrist beneath the watch's strap before disappearing entirely. Twisting the limb around revealed that a single dot had engraved itself into the synthetic band that held the accessory to his forearm, just above the point where the burning had ceased. More importantly…
"Yes!" Izuku cheered.
…The watch had returned to its normal green glow.
Immediately, the green-haired boy pressed a button on the side of the thing. As soon as he did so, the top popped up again and revealed a new symbol… A circle with three points extending off its outer rim. Within it was a series of dots that could only be a constellation.
"That's… The Big Dipper, right…?"
Shaking his head, Izuku raised his hand above the watch's surface. It didn't matter right now. There were more important things to worry about than a cool pattern. His hand came down, depressing the mechanism and then…
…A flash of green filled the area.
A few minutes prior…
"Kota, stay here!"
That was what the black-haired boy's parents had said before rushing off to hold back the sudden inferno. They were pro heroes, a small-time team called Water Hose that was known for taking down E-Rank villains and fighting fires. It was rare for them to get days off, but the owner of the hero agency they worked at, Backdraft, had offered to pick up the slack for them today so they could bring their son to the festival.
A few of his friends were going, one of which had an older brother that was going to be part of the concert, but…
"Where did all this fire come from?!"
"Everyone, stay near the crater! We'll hold the flames back!"
They'd been in the Music District when they'd noticed the fire, spreading from tent to tent and sending smoke billowing into the air above to blot out the setting sun. Thankfully, the massive divot in the park that had resulted from a meteorite's crash last year served as a natural buffer to the flames. Though the concert stage had been built along the outer rim of the crater, the minimal vegetation slowed the fire's path significantly, while Kota's parents managed to stall whatever made it through anyway.
It was still a frightening experience for the boy, however…
"Is that their kid…?"
"It's brave of him to watch his parents like this…."
"He's so young… How old is he, five? Six?"
He couldn't stay any longer. Standing there, a good distance behind his parents, only served to make him a focus for the audience of people. Despite his parents' order, the sea of eyes was just too much…
Twisting around, the boy ran through the massive crowd of people that filled up the crater, trying to put as much distance between himself and the fire. Short as he was as a five year-old, it wasn't hard to slip between peoples legs. Eventually, though, he started to get tired, so he paused for a breath. It was hard being so small, after all.
Woah… What's that…?
There was an area at the dead center of the crater that no one was standing near. Despite how clustered the hundreds of people were as they struggled to fit within the safe zone, not one was within a several meter ring surrounding… it.
It looked like… a seashell, almost, though Kota had never seen one quite so round. It was like a giant ball, with concentric layers of material wrapping around the black thing's surface. Bits of dust, dirt, and moss covered the whole thing, making it look ancient. It was like some long lost treasure! Why was no one looking at it…? It was so cool!
Kota had always loved the beach. His parents brought him there every opportunity they had, and he always liked to collect as many pretty seashells and rocks as he could find. His dad would always laugh when he gave a few to his mom, cracking jokes about him getting started early on giving girls shiny things—whatever that meant. Given all that, was it any wonder he had to check out the cool looking rock?
"Woah…!" Kota muttered in awe as he walked up to the black orb.
Reaching out, he—
Click!
The thing slid open like a shutter, unraveling itself to reveal a dark interior. Rested inside was a… stick? No, a wand… and a witch's hat—the kind he saw girls wear on Halloween, ignoring the fact that it wasn't the classic black anyway. The wand was long, big enough that if Kota rested its pointed butt on the ground it would come up to his chest. Beige in tone, with a golden crest at its top, the wand had seven blue crystals inset within its length, outlined with red circles in each of their positions. As for the hat… It was a fairly standard witch-y hat, though it was white. The only other thing of note was that it had a blue bond wrapped around its conal center, with a red circle and a golden cross-like star placed upon the front of the crown.
"Cool!"
The boy stepped forward, reaching out a second time. This time he made contact, his finger lightly resting on the wand—
What is your Dream…?
The words echoed within his head, resounding with almost painful force. It felt like he was being… judged…
"W-what…?" he stuttered, pulling back in surprise.
The second his hand lost contact, the sensation disappeared. Immediately, the hat and wand began to dissolve, shifting into a golden dust that blew away on the wind. Kota turned to watch in awe as it disappeared, flowing out of sight within a few short moments.
"What was that…?" he murmured.
Whatever it was, it was awesome, and he knew he wanted to see it again.
"STAY BACK!"
Kota's head whipped around, the pleasant feeling of distraction shattered like glass as he heard his father's voice shouting over the crowd.
"RUN! IT'S A VILLAIN!"
As soon as someone screamed those words, everyone began to panic. The entire crowd pulled away from one side of the crater…
…The side where Kota's parents were holding back the fire.
"Mom! Dad!" he cried, rushing back up the hill.
BOOM!
Staggering from the way the earth suddenly shook, Kota quickly recovered and kept running. Going against the wave of people was hard for a young boy, but he still somehow managed to make his way to—
"M-mom…?" Kota whispered, staring ahead in horror.
His young mind stalled, unable to process the sight in front of him.
"K-Kota…! Run…!"
His parents were on the ground at the foot of what had to be his worst nightmare. The villain before him stood casually with an arm pointed forward, smoke and steam wafting from his magma-coated form like a recently fired gun's barrel.
"D-dad…?" the boy continued, tears welling in his eyes.
The man was unconscious atop his mother, the clothes on his back charred black as the smell of burnt meat and smoke wafted from his form. Beneath him, Kota's mother reached out to the boy, half-conscious herself, and urgently warned him away.
"R-Run…!" she cried.
His legs wouldn't move, his entire body trembling in utter terror as the villain turned to look at him. The man's expression was utterly feral, ashen teeth exposed through a monstrous crack in the hardened rock covering his face. As his attention shifted, the man tilted his head to the side quizzically, as if he was confused why his prey wasn't running.
"G-G-Gnh…" the boy groaned, feeling the awkward sensation of his stomach rebelling at the smell of his grievously injured family.
Lava sluiced from the spikes on the villain's back, wrapping around his arm until it came to the tip of his finger—forming into a floating orb the size of a basketball. The rest of his fingers were twitching sporadically, the sudden movement drawing Kota's eyes to the fact that the villain's face wasn't moving at all. It was like the stone covering was holding his entire skull stuck in place in a way that only served to make him all the more terrifying.
The man's free hand clenched into a fist as he took a step forward, the entire action startling the boy so badly that he tripped and fell backwards.
"S-S-Stay away…!" he shouted.
To his surprise, the man actually stopped. He seemed… confused… for some reason, tilting his head to the other side, but the boy wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Taking the opportunity, Kota scrambled to his feet, twisting around so that he could finally run—
"BBBBBBBUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNN!"
Glancing behind him, Kota's eyes widened in terror as the magma orb shot forward. Young as he was, he didn't really understand what death meant… But… death is something that every human being understands on some level. The finality of it was an instinct for every living thing. So, in that moment… Kota knew he was going to die.
WHOOSH!
Arms wrapped around him gently, yanking him away so fast that his vision blurred from the force. Moments later, he felt himself deposited on something solid.
"Are you okay?" A voice asked, its tone light and friendly.
Blinking through his tears, Kota realized he was on a broom, hovering dozens of meters in the air. Standing next to him, at the front of the broom, was a pretty lady—probably as old as one of his friends' older siblings—with red hair fanning out in gentle spikes from beneath a familiar witch's hat—though this one had a golden hourglass on its front instead of a cross-shape. A red cape fluttered in the wind behind her, partially covering her white and blue outfit while her equally red eyes stared at him gently, a bright smile standing out just below the look.
Even still, it wasn't enough. After what he'd just been through, a warm look and gentle words wouldn't cut it. He was utterly terrified still, and being this high in the air certainly wasn't helping the issue.
The girl frowned, seeming to realize that fact when Kota pulled away from her warily and clutched onto the broom in fear. Tapping her finger on her freckled cheeks awkwardly, she pondered the issue for a moment…
"It's okay… You're safe now… See?" the girl said… and then…
…She laughed.
It started as a giggle, but rapidly grew into full blown laughter… drifting on the wind to the stunned crowd below. The situation was awkward for a moment, but the sheer ridiculousness of it managed to break through Kota's terror. It was like the girl was telling him it had to be safe, because how else could she be laughing? You don't laugh when things are scary, or sad… Only when everything's fine—no, when things are better than fine.
Soon enough, he found himself shaking a little less, even laughing quietly under his breath as tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Come on, everyone! There's no reason to be scared!" she cheered, calling out to the crowd below. Her smile was wide and genuine as she leaned forward on the broom, spreading her hands behind her as a counterbalance while her cape fluttered behind her. "Give a smile! Let out a laugh! After all…"
The wooden vehicle, which Kota now noticed had seven blue crystals embedded along its surface, tilted downward, flying in gradually descending circles so fast that the world began to blur for the boy. Between the girl's contagious laughter and the thrill of the moment, Kota managed to forget his fear for a singular moment, a smile spreading across his own face as they closed in on the ground.
"...Shiny Chariot is here!"
Moments later, the boy found himself deposited on the ground, safely amongst the rest of the awe-filled crowd. His eyes were glued to the girl as she flew back into the air, watching as a trail of bluish-green stars followed in her wake.
Something about her was… Magical.
'Ooh, that was great, Izuku! Everyone was smiling after that!'
Izuku grinned.
It's all thanks to you Chariot!
The temporary girl felt like she was on cloud nine. Not only had she saved that boy, but she'd made the largest crowd she'd ever seen smile in awe—pulling them out of the fear and terror they'd been feeling before she arrived…
…Saving all of them.
'Let's go show that meanie who's boss!' the young woman exclaimed.
Izuku nodded, still grinning brightly, as she flew down at the villain. Within moments she was in front of the familiar man, who stared at her without comprehension. The drugs pumping through his system really didn't help him there…
"Sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave, Mr. Magma," the temporary girl declared cheerily, hopping off her ride with a casual flourish.
The villain growled, lethal orbs flowing into existence behind him as Izuku grabbed her broom. It shifted in her hands, glowing subtly as it returned to its base form as a wand. The 'Shiny Rod,' as Chariot had called it, was a special item… A magic wand.
Energy flowed throughout Izuku's current body, ready to act at a moment's notice. Somehow, in spite of all the stamina expended today while working with Baiken, the vigilante felt completely refreshed. Even her wounds were gone, though she had a feeling that was only temporary…
"GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
"Meteor…!" Izuku uttered.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Golden light shrouded her body as she zipped out of the way of the explosive orbs. It felt similar to Ryoko's levitation, letting her float above the ground at high speeds, but unlike the blue-haired girl's continuous ability, this felt far wilder. It was like she was, well… a meteor… hurtling through space uncontrollably. Even still, she managed to restrain the force just enough to move in the directions she wanted…
'Careful!'
Izuku narrowly managed to avoid smashing through a tree, purely thanks to Chariot's warning.
Thanks…!
…It was probably best to keep it to short bursts, though. At least she didn't need to worry about heights right now!
'Alright, now… Say the words!' Chariot exclaimed. 'You already know them! The Shiny Rod wouldn't have accepted you otherwise!'
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Izuku zoomed away from another blast, grinning wildly as she watched the villain grow more and more frustrated. It was hard not to laugh, really. Something about sharing Chariot's body just made everything seem more lighthearted.
'Heehee… He does look pretty stupid, doesn't he?' the girl giggled.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The temporary girl nodded in agreement, spiraling away from the third set of explosions. A golden trail of starlight followed after her as she zipped around the villain, taunting him with her presence.
Still, though, she needed a way to fight back, so she tried to follow the spirit's advice.
"Words, words, words… What words…?" the vigilante muttered with a contemplative frown.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
She was gone before the orbs even hit the ground, the speed of Meteor carrying her away even as she pondered the question.
"GGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" the villain screamed in frustration. "BBUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNN!"
Izuku's eyes widened as the drug-fueled man did something new. Starting with the latest volley that floated behind him, the villain melded each of the orbs together into one gigantic globe… And then he created another set to add even more.
She needed a solution now.
"What words…?! How can I know them without remembering them…?" Izuku mumbled. "What did the Rod accept me for…?"
The situation went from bad to worse as the villain redirected his attention to the crowd of people in the crater, continuing to add to the miniature sun behind him.
"...Oh. Duh."
Izuku shifted the wand into her left hand, following her body's instincts as she closed her eyes in focus. Like riding a bike, the information flowed into her head as soon as she needed it. She knew the words that Chariot was talking about, understood them in a way that surpassed simple literal comprehension.
"Noctu… Orfei…" the temporary girl chanted, setting the first crystal within the wand alight with a shining glow.
I set my path… I know my Dream...
"Aude…" she continued as greenish-blue light flowed forth.
I'm going to make people smile…!
"...Fraetor!"
The first crystal shifted into an incandescent gold as Izuku raised the short-staff up in front of her. The thing itself began to glow brightly, its form becoming nothing more than a slowly shifting silhouette. In the back of her mind, she felt something slot into place as her sync rate shifted rapidly, leaping up to match her new understanding. Starting at the ten percent she'd begun with, it rose rapidly…
15%...
20%...
25%...
30%...
…and stopped at thirty.
"Shiny…" she began as the luminous wand shaped itself into a bow.
Without hesitation, the temporary witch took aim at the massive orb behind the villain, a determined grin on her face. Drawing back an arrow of starlight, she sucked in a single breath.
"...ARC!"
The bowstring shot forward, flinging the projectile forward in a stream of bluish-green energy. Its pointed head lanced through the fragile orb with ease, destabilizing the creation like a popped balloon.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A miniature sun filled the dark sky, sending colossal waves of air pressure everywhere as the orb exploded. Izuku didn't even try to retain her footing, choosing instead to let the winds carry her into the air. The gusts pulled her hat from her head, but before she could try to reclaim it the thing shifted, transforming into a glowing white bird—a golden hourglass emblazoned across its chest.
Just as the winds died down and Izuku began to fall, the thing swooped beneath her and provided a platform to land on. Down below, she could see that the villain was face down in the dirt, his armor-like coating crumbling off his unconscious body at the center of the new crater his de-stabilized attack had caused. Hair and cape fluttering with her bow in hand, Izuku stared at the man—a single bright thought resting in her mind.
I did it! I saved the—
"HALT!"
Taken aback, the vigilante looked around at the rest of the area below. Blinking in astonishment, she realized that, not only was the villain incapacitated, but… Much of the raging inferno that had surrounded the people below was doused as well.
Oh my god… That's Backdraft…!
Almost oblivious to the man's tone, Izuku felt a sense of geeky glee as she looked down at one of her many idols. Rivers of water surrounded the man, flowing from the spigots that he had instead of hands. They swept away the debris, dousing flames wherever they went in a frankly astonishing display of control. Approaching from a few hundred meters behind the hero was what had to be most of the Fire Department, assisting in his efforts by catching whatever he missed while teams of lesser-known heroes rushed in to attend to the civilians.
"Surrender yourself now, vigilante!" the man went on.
Blinking in astonishment, Izuku felt a cheeky grin spreading across her face.
'Ooh, are you thinking what I'm thinking!' Chariot asked gleefully.
Every hero needs a dramatic exit, right?
'Exactly!' the girl agreed.
With a mental command, the Shiny Rod returned to its base form before rapidly elongating into a broom. The bird-that-was-her-hat—
'His name is Polaris!'
—wasn't fast enough for what she had planned. The broom, on the other hand…
"Stop!" Backdraft ordered.
Even though it almost physically pained her, Izuku's geeky nature rebelling at the very thought of snubbing the man, she ignored the hero and turned toward the crowd down below. Hopping onto her broom and commanding Polaris with a subtle glance, she spread her arms widely—like a performer about to finish their act.
"Don't forget!" She called.
The bystanders stared up in awe, enraptured by the sight of the vigilante. Polaris dove down, trailing specks of golden starlight as he swooped. He appeared to all as a falling star, descending from the heavens to rest among them for a while.
"When things get tough… and you're so scared you can't take a single step…"
The crowd was hanging on her every word, watching in awe as the glowing bird flew just above them, close enough that they could reach out and touch him if they tried.
"...Just pick yourself up and smile!" she declared. "After all…"
Polaris soared through the air, spinning through the air as he started climbing through the sky.
"...It's the feelings in your heart that work the real magic!"
Polaris returned to her, shifting back into a hat with perfect timing so that he could land upon Izuku's brow. With a bright smile and a friendly wave, she pumped as much energy as she could in one moment into the Shiny Rod, overcharging it enough that it began to glow its unique shade of bluish-green. In the next instant, she zipped away, disappearing into the heavens with a bright gleam.
Down below, the crowd watched in amazement, utterly captivated by the sight. It wouldn't take long for the news to spread after that… Soon, everyone would know…
…There was a Vigilante in Musutafu.
Oh, good. They've got things under control.
Hawks came to a stop above the charred and blackened landscape of the Joint Festival. Surveying the area, it was obvious that the incident was over. Though it was clear that a villain was definitely involved, it was also clear that he'd been taken out already. It was easy to see between the multiple blast zones dotting the festival grounds and the hordes of emergency response vehicles treating a multitude of civilians.
Something was… off… though.
A significant proportion of the bystanders were significantly better off than the rest. Not only did they seem uninjured, but they seemed completely unaffected by the ordeal they'd just gone through. No, not even that. They seemed happy!
From talking animatedly amongst each other to laughing merrily, they acted like they'd just been to a party, or a concert, or some fantastical show. It simply wasn't normal.
There was another group there, on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, that were angry and belligerent, but… not as traumatized as they normally should be.
"Hmm…" the young man muttered.
Surreptitiously, he sent several of his feathers down amongst the crowds, hunting for answers. One of the many downsides of being as well-known as he was to people was that he couldn't go anywhere covertly without significant effort. His quirk was a godsend for collecting information in spite of that limitation, though. The only problem was that in areas as loud as this he could only parse so much from the vibrations in the air. There was just too much going on to be precise.
"It was so cool…!"
"I can't believe we got to see her first!"
"She's gonna be big for sure!"
And again, on the other end of the spectrum…
"I can't believe that brat! What right does she have to yell at us?!"
"I'm going to report her to the commission!"
"What a bitch!"
"Interesting…" Hawks muttered to himself, ignoring the less interesting of the two groups—heroes get complaints all the time for doing their jobs—to focus on the more intriguing comments. "Did someone get lucky with their debut?"
Normally, most heroes' debuts were rather bland affairs. It usually involved taking out a few F-Ranks or an E-Rank if the newbie was working with a team. They usually got a news article or two in the local media near their agency and then the world moved on.
Some, though, were either lucky or talented enough to earn more attention than that, however… Which seemed to be the case here. With the amount of damage everywhere, this had to be the work of either an E-Rank villain with a fire quirk of some kind, or a D-Rank without much control.
"Wait… Is that…?"
His eyes narrowed as he focused on something important. There was a massive crater, far larger than anything else in the area, with a stage built inside it. More importantly, though, there was the singular black orb at its center.
With a flap of his wings, Hawks shot forward, soundlessly landing on the ground an instant later.
How in the hell was this thing not reported…?
Sitting in front of him was an empty meteorite. One of many that had landed in Japan recently. They were all identical in shape, each containing something within that his superiors had blacklisted completely. Even he wasn't privy to the data they had on the contents. All he knew was that it had odd effects on people's quirks.
An unfortunate amount of them had made their way into the villain community, if the rumors were any indication, but little had been done with them so far. In fact, the only instance he was personally aware of was…
…Midoriya Izuku.
His eyes narrowed as he connected the dots. A new 'hero' debuting in front of a massive crowd in Musutafu, in short proximity to a meteorite no less? He didn't have any proof, but… His gut told him there was a link here.
That left him with more questions though. Clearly the kid hadn't taken his advice, but why now? Why here? Furthermore, what had become of this meteorite, and why hadn't it been recorded by the commission? It was far too public for them to miss it, and it was clearly old, between the thick layer of dust it had and the accumulated effects of nature on its surface.
A quick internet search only confirmed that assumption. This thing had been here since last year, but the articles online said that whatever parts of the meteorite had survived atmospheric entry had burned up and exploded on impact. Given how public it was, it couldn't be a coverup, so somehow, it had sat here for months without anyone noticing it.
Hawks' lightning fast mind immediately jumped to another important point, recalling a relevant memory instantly.
…Why didn't I recognize Midoriya instantly when I saw him practicing with his quirk on that roof?
The dirty blonde had trained relentlessly to be an excellent agent, the perfect hero… and one of the things he'd learned early on was to memorize important faces. He was better than all but the best facial recognition software at remembering appearances, yet he hadn't immediately recognized one of the faces he knew personally. More than that, he hadn't recognized the teen that he had lied to his superiors to protect.
It may have been a mere lie of omission, but it was more than enough to make Midoriya stand out in his mind… Yet Hawks hadn't recognized one of the boy's quirk-forms until several seconds after her sunglasses had fallen off.
He'd put on an act after that, maintaining the idea that he didn't know who he was speaking with, but up until then…? Nothing.
…I don't like this.
There was something far more concerning going on with these meteorites than simply giving quirkless teenagers ridiculous abilities.
Sighing, the winged man turned away from the empty shell. He would make sure to inform his bosses and give it more thought himself, but for now…
"Guess it's time to look for the guy in charge," the dirty blonde said to himself.
…He had an actual mission to worry about.
This was all too convenient for his taste. A giant car crash caused by someone hopped up on the new variant of Trigger, then an incident as big as this? It was in the same city no less. He needed to see the villain responsible for the destruction. Rather, he needed to be seen checking the villain.
"Woah?! Is that HAWKS?!"
"Yo!" he called, waving to the crowds as he flew casually past them. "Can any of you guys point me towards Backdraft, or whoever's in charge here?"
Subtly, he directed the feathers he'd sent out earlier to flit through the crowds, searching for anything unusual as best they could before slipping away and out of sight. They would search the area in gradually widening circles, checking for anything unusual. If he was lucky, whoever was actually behind this was the type to watch their handiwork personally. A stupid mentality to have, but he'd caught too many villains that thought that way to ignore the possibility.
"He's that way!"
People cheered and whistled excitedly as he passed, even some of the worse off folks that weren't smiling and laughing earlier. It was genuinely heartwarming and he was glad to have helped improve their moods after such trauma, but he had a job to do.
"Thanks for making my job easier guys!" he laughed, keeping up his PR persona. "See ya later!"
Giving a jaunty wave, he sped up a bit. Not so fast that he would become a blur, but enough so that people wouldn't try to stop him for autographs. It was important that Hawks was seen by as many people as possible to ensure that whoever was behind this knew that they had him on their trail.
Hopefully, that would frighten them—make them worried… panicky. If he was lucky, they would rush their plans, drastically increasing the chances of a slip-up or leak of information that would lead to their capture.
The young man brushed his hair back as he landed softly on the ground by Backdraft, watching as the man presided over a field-meeting with several firemen. One of them saw him, eyes widening into saucers as he startled, pointing out the new arrival to his boss.
"Hawks! I didn't expect to see you here!" the Fire Hydrant Hero exclaimed in surprise. "Do you need me for something?"
"Ah, don't think anything of it," the dirty blonde said casually, waving away the offer. "I was just in the area and thought I'd check in. You look like you've got everything covered here."
The water-using hero sagged slightly in relief at that. It was understandable. The top ten had a bit of a reputation for dragging other heroes in as support on large-scale missions. It was often necessary, since high-rank villains tended to have flunkies that couldn't be just shrugged off. People like Backdraft, who were excellent heroes even if they weren't the strongest, were usually the ones called in to handle underlings while the big names handled the main threats involved.
"I did have a couple quick questions, if you aren't too busy…" Hawks asked leadingly.
The other man was busy, of course. It was so obvious it was almost painful, but that didn't mean he was going to say no. Hawks had mainly phrased his question like that to be polite, since both men knew he was going to get the answers he wanted. It wasn't even a matter of threat, simply one of hierarchy.
This was one of the few benefits to being so high in the hero rankings.
"Of course!" Backdraft agreed with a nod, gesturing with his offhand at the other men at the table. "What can I help you with?"
Hawks crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned back, using his wings as a surface to rest against.
"I was hoping you could tell me about this new hero debut I'm hearing about, for one, but also… Where's the villain responsible for all of this?" He asked. "I need to examine him, since he might be involved in something I'm investigating."
Pausing for effect, he gave an amused chuckle.
"I know this sounds kind of ridiculous, but I need to check if the guy has a black tongue of all things…!"
After flying away at speed, Izuku zoomed through the night sky—heading for her neighborhood after dimming the intensity of her ride's glow such that she wasn't likely to be noticed. After a few minutes, she made it back, hovering in front of her room's window after checking to make sure she wouldn't be seen by any of her neighbors. Hopping off the broom and through the opening, she shrunk the thing back down to its wand size and shut the glass behind her.
'That was a great first show, Izuku!' Chariot exclaimed. 'You've definitely got a knack for this!'
"I'm just happy I didn't accidentally yell at the audie—Ahem, the bystanders this time," she said sheepishly, slipping into Chariot's terminology briefly.
Oh, right! I didn't actually get your proper name earlier. Or, well, I did, but I… may have lost track of it in all the craziness afterward. Shiny Chariot's just your stage name, right…?
'You were kinda busy at the time, don't worry about it,' the girl replied with a laugh. 'I'm Chariot Du Nord… Nice to meet you!'
Chariot's your first name…?
'What? Is it weird…? It's just French…'' the spirit asked curiously.
No, no, it's fine…! Don't worry about it! I've just never heard of that name before! I didn't mean to—
Izuku stumbled forward, a sudden wave of exhaustion slamming into her like a brick wall.
"W-woah…" she mumbled, leaning against the wall of her room, a familiar tingling feeling spreading across her body like a wildfire.
'Oh! Looks like it's time for me to go!' Chariot stated. 'I'll see you later, Izuku!'
The temporary girl didn't even get to reply before a red flash filled the area.
"Gah!" the now green-haired boy groaned, sucking in a breath through gritted teeth as the burns, bruises, and scrapes of before returned with a vengeance. Now, though, he was completely denied the benefit of shock to deal with the pain.
His eyes started watering immediately as he stumbled forward.
"G-gotta clean—"
Tripping over his own shaking legs, Izuku fell into his bed facefirst. The cool surface of his sheets was heaven against his wounds, and he knew almost immediately that there was no way he was getting up any time soon. He barely managed to slide a thin blanket over his body before he passed out, the exhaustion of the day finally overwhelming him.
The sound of light snoring filled his room moments later… infrequently punctuated by a soft glow…
"Looks like we've got a busy little bird on our trail…"
"Oh…? How… interesting. What about the test?"
"It went well, though they were both caught. The second subject managed to go on quite the rampage before he was stopped though… But that's not the fun part."
"Really? Do tell."
"You know those rumors about Vigilantes…? Well, they're real. As in, the real deal. Not like those scrubs back in Naruhata."
"Aw, what would your dear old dad say about that…?"
"Pft, you know this girl's just a host, S—"
"Oi, Oguro, get off the phone! The paramedics want to check you next!"
"Sorry, gotta go. I'll give you the rest of the details later."
Hanging up the phone, a short-haired girl with an eyepatch over her left eye yawned lightly, twisting around to join her friends in one of the many medical tents that had sprung up to handle all the injured people following the Joint Festival Disaster. She wasn't hurt, but everyone was getting checked, just to be safe. Smoke inhalation and other more subtle things were harder to notice, after all.
Grinning sharply, the girl shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket and slipped into the tent.
"...Miss Samurai and Shiny Chariot, huh…?"
Detail Diatribe:
Today's topic is… hero names!
Specifically, I wanted to go over the reasoning for how I decided on 'Miss Samurai' and 'Shiny Chariot' for Izuku's vigilante personas as well as my general methodology for the other waifus, even if their hero names haven't been revealed yet.
Basically, my thought process was to look at MHA canon names and cross-reference it with the naming convention used in DC/Marvel comics, since western comic books are obviously a major aspect of Kohei's inspirations. Miss Samurai is probably the simplest of the ones I've come up with, but I think it's in line with classic western names. Just look at all the heroes that have 'Mr/Ms or man/woman' in their names! Given that, I thought it was a nice way to pay homage to the classics.
Shiny Chariot, on the other hand, just came out of the box perfectly. It's canonically a stage name for Chariot Du Nord, and it just completely fits the character. On top of that, within the context of her introduction to the narrative, Izuku wouldn't have had time to come up with something, so it makes even more sense from that angle.
As for other hero names… More will be coming over time as Izuku's other forms catch more attention, but I'll hold off on talking about those until they've been revealed. Suffice it to say that most of them are a bit more creative.
AN:
I feel like I'm repeating myself—'cause I am—but hoo boy is this a big chapter! In this case, that's even somewhat literal! This chapter is about twice the length of the last one! Anyway, lots of stuff to discuss here today, so let's get started.
First of all… The Joint Festival Arc is officially over, and with it, Izuku has made his debut on the hero scene! This entire arc has been building up to this, and I'm really happy to finally have gotten here.
It's had its highs and lows, and there's problems I made for myself that I can now see in retrospect—letting the Bakugo/Baiken arc take the center stage for as long as it did, making the story unnecessarily serious at multiple points, and inconsistent pacing that resulted from growing into the role of an author… (This is a learning project, after all…)
On the other hand, I'm really happy with other aspects of it. There's the fact that I've kept writing in spite of time constraints and varied motivation levels, that it's managed to lay an acceptable foundation for the story to continue (even if it's not as perfect as I'd hoped), and above all else…
A lot of you guys have enjoyed reading it.
That's more important to me than any other aspect of the writing process, and I don't think I can put into words how happy I am every time I see someone mention that they're looking forward to reading more of the story and seeing what happens next. Even if this is 'just fanfiction' as some people would call it, I never really let myself believe I could have an audience that stuck with me, so thank you—really.
I'm going to keep writing and focus as best I can on avoiding the pitfalls and mistakes I've made so far, improving as I go, and I hope you all continue to enjoy this wacky ride!
Now, on a less serious note… Shiny Chariot!
The seventh waifu for the roster, and a character I've been looking forward to including for a while now! She's just so perfect for this story's Izuku, given multiple aspects of her canon self, that it's no wonder I've put her on the list! Chief among those aspects being their shared dream of 'making people smile,' even if they execute it differently.
Now, as those of you who have familiarity with her and her source material (Little Witch Academia) will probably have noticed… I've made some adjustments. For one, I've taken her from a very specific point in her personal timeline—hence the narrator in Izuku's perspective referring to her as a girl instead of a full-grown woman and the fact that she's more carefree than her adult self. Additionally, I've altered her powerset somewhat.
The Shiny Rod will work a little differently than it did in canon, but I'm going to stick as close as possible to the spirit of its existence even as I diverge from the practical ways it was utilized by Akko in LWA. On top of that, I've restricted how her magic in general will work, since magic as a whole is way too varied in LWA to be part of her kit without making her too versatile. An example of this is the spell 'Meteor.' As some of you may have noticed, it comes straight from Jellal Fernandes, a Fairy Tail character that uses 'Heavenly Body Magic.' Given how both characters' magic are so heavily themed around constellations, I thought it was perfect to borrow some of his kit to help round out Chariot's own moveset without making her too versatile.
I have a way to explain why her power set is different from canon planned already, though I won't spoil it here. I simply want to be clear that I'm not just tossing changes in there to make a square peg fit in a round hole.
Now…. the Meteor Mystery…
I'm not going to talk about it here, since it would instantly get into spoiler territory, but I am interested to see what you all think this means for the story. I have definite plans already, mind you, but I'm curious if anyone has a theory as to what's going on here. Who knows, maybe you'll be right, or maybe you'll give me ideas to flesh out my plans…
Finally, a quick note about my update schedule:
Between wanting to make sure I have a solid plan for the upcoming arc and, far more pressingly, the fact that I'm going to be moving internationally next week… I'm going to be taking some time off from posting again. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm back to it, but I'm not going to give an exact date or anything.
Ideally, I'd like to return to weekly uploads once I return, since I was close to managing it again last week (preparing for the move got in the way of that, sadly), but we'll see if I can manage that once it's on the horizon. Either way…
…
I'll be back…!
…
Imagine I said that in Arnold's voice, would ya? Thanks.