BRRRING!
Hero Team: Austin Bordette and Drake Kaiset
Villain Team: Katsu Muteki and Hunter Payne
Katsu stretched his arms, the ligaments within crackling into place with a light crunch. He leaned downward and bent his hips backwards. Touching his toes, his long hair shunted over his face. The rush of blood rushed towards his head, leaving him slightly dazed when he rose back up to full height. He pulled back the fingerless leather gloves on his large hands and snapped his fingers.
He stood at the corner of the Shibuya crossing behind a vacant hot dog stand. Sheltering behind the umbrella pole, he glanced up at the top of the LED screens that flashed advertisements for UCC Coffee. On the lavender screen, Hunter crawled across the facade and leapt upward over the edge of the roof. The limber man disappeared over the top.
Katsu kept himself loose and prepared for the battle that could take place. He pulled back on one leg and ran a hand through his hair. He had to admit that he was excited to play the villain role. He had much less collateral damage to worry about. With a deep draw of fresh air, he bucked out his chest and pulled back his arms.
"Ready, Hunter."
From over the edge, Hunter peered down at Katsu. He yanked out his wrist and pointed the small slit right at the small frame of the boy below. A stream of thick, spindly webs catapulted out of his wrist and sailed through the air. With the precision of a sniper, the web smacked onto Katsu's chest. With a grunt, Hunter pulled back his arm and retracted the web.
The web dragged Katsu upward. He flew over the streets of the crossing. As the crisp air brushed past him, he scanned the horizon. The large simulation cube stretched out over the top of the canyon plateau that sheltered the north side of the school from the rest of the shoreline valley. The wind squeaked past as his chest rocked forward towards Hunter.
Racing to Hunter, Katsu closed his eyes as the boy grew larger with every passing inch. Then, Hunter released the web and grabbed onto Katsu's shirt. He set the Japanese boy down on the top of the roof. They stood right on the edge and scanned over the buildings. Hunter closed his eyes and took a knee on the beige curb. His ears twitched by his second set of eyes at his temples. Focusing, he funneled away the soft breeze on the roof and Katsu shuffling his feet.
A small hum. Tires scrunching on the concrete.
Hunter opened his eyes. He spun around on his knees and pointed northward. "There."
With a nod, Katsu ran over the rooftop. Hunter caught up to him, and he leapt off the top of the building. He swung over the narrow street opening between the two office buildings. When he hit the wall, his hands dug into the brick wall and he leered back at Katsu. He shot out another web and grabbed Katsu with the webs. They stuck around Katsu's chest like a cocoon and yanked him across the opening. The two traversed the skyline as they tried to intercept the vehicle.
Meanwhile, the limousine drove itself down the street. It followed a random route, but Drake crouched on the top of the vehicle. With two jets of fire roaring out of his back, he stretched his red dragon wings. Leaping upward, he soared over the limo and cut through the sky. His wings flapped to a halt while looking at the rooftops ahead.
About ten blocks straight ahead, Hunter creeped over the tops of rooftops. He dragged Katsu in the webs behind him before releasing him on the flat of the building's surface. They jogged ahead.
Drake looked back down at the car. From the sunroof, Austin gaped upward at the man. Drake pointed his fingers down the street and held up eight fingers. Then, he flew ahead towards Hunter and Katsu.
Austin crouched back down into the car and cleaned his fogged-up glasses. "They're coming over," he said towards Synaes who rested on her back on the seats.
"Whatever," she said. "Just make sure they don't get in here."
Austin blinked and wondered why the girl seemed uninterested in the exercise. Regardless, he nodded and rushed towards the steering wheel. He piled himself into the driver's seat and grabbed onto the wheel. Once he pushed down on the throttle, he was in manual mode. He stared ahead at the black ribbon that was the road. It was still empty of any enemies.
On the rooftop of an office building, Hunter stopped Katsu with an arm. His ears twitched.
"Someone's coming."
Katsu twisted his neck around to his right. Before he could register any movement, he heard the faintest of flaps like tarp swimming in the air of a hurricane.
Then, right in front of him, the wings screamed in front of him.
Drake flew upward right at the edge of the rooftop. He halted himself before Katsu and Hunter. Shocking them, Katsu was a deer in the headlights when Drake opened up his mouth.
Fire roared from Drake's mouth. A beam of flames raced in the air and smashed right into Katsu's chest. He smashed the ground with his back and scooted over the expanse of the surface. Rolling onto his side, he dug his red shoes into the ground and ground to a halt. His shirt was singed, and his brown hair was sparkling with the remnants of flames spurting from the ends. He somersaulted, the flames leaving but smoke foaming off his clothes.
Before Drake could shoot another flame, Hunter propelled another web right at Drake's mouth. The adhesive slapped Drake's mouth and imprisoned it shut. Drake, showing a rare moment of surprise, wrestled his head side to side to rid the web. It stayed right on him.
Hunter took the moment to spring right at Drake. Surging with the prowess of an attacking boa constrictor, he slammed right into Drake and enveloped him in his arms. They hugged Drake and pulled on his wings. The loss of thrust forced the two to dance in the air, bobbing upward and downward like a floating dreidel. His arms dabbed and smacked onto Drake's back right on his wings. With every hit, Drake felt his wings slow in their movement.
"Get off me!" Drake said through his grit teeth.
"With pleasure," Hunter said.
Hunter jumped off Drake and attached himself to the window frame of the building. Digging into the concrete siding, he smiled when he saw Drake freeze up in mid air. His arms crossed over his chest, Drake was now incarcerated in a spindle of webs. Like a caterpillar in a cocoon, Drake was completely imprisoned.
The dragon boy plummeted down towards the street. With it, a strong stab of shame collected into his mind. He had fallen for such a dumb trap, and now he was out of commission in seconds.
When he fell head first towards the ground, Drake felt a few more webs splatter onto his feet. Hunter flicked his wrist and detached the web from him. He threw the other end of the web onto the streetlamp down below. With a taut pull, Hunter swung down and tied the web around the top of the light. Drake rebounded and grazed just the tips of his hair onto the ground before bouncing back up. He swung on the fulcrum of the web, and he was trapped and dangled under the streetlamp.
Ensuring Drake was okay, Hunter flung himself upward onto the rooftop. Katsu stood on the ledge facing the street where the limousine drove past.
"Hope you got a good aim," Katsu said.
"As good as we need."
Hunter ran towards the corner of the roof. Katsu stood about ten feet behind him. He closed his eyes and clasped his hands together. "Then, let's do it!"
With a quick nod, Hunter zapped a web at Katsu. When it connected, he grabbed onto the thick white rope and gazed down at the street. The limosuine just past them and was heading down the side street.
Hunter took both hands and squeezed on the web connected to Katsu. Then, he yelled out.
Like a lion tamer, Hunter whipped the web forward and down towards the road. Katsu was slung upward and crossed over the roof like a flying rainbow. As he began to descend just over Hunter's head, the boy with spider powers snapped the end of the web connected to himself. Using the momentum like a catapult, Katsu flew like a cannon ball through the street.
He launched down the street, the cracking of the air around him popping closer and closer to the vehicle. Katsu was not flying, but he was falling at an angle that would send him on a collision course with the street.
In fact, he rocketed over the vehicle.
Austin gasped at the sight of the boy collapsing towards the ground.
Just two blocks ahead of them, Katsu thwacked the ground. A sickening splat erupted with bits of concrete spewing from the impact. A crater cracked in the center of the road, a small blemish that dipped down a foot into the newly formed impact zone.
Then, Katsu bounded right back up onto his feet. His face, battered and bruised, grinned when he whipped around towards the limousine. It raced right towards him, no side exit that Austin could use. He was about to run him over.
Austin slammed on the gas. His body jammed back into his seat while gripping the wheel with a vice grip.
Katsu grounded himself and embraced the impact that was about to happen.
Austin, realizing now what Katsu wanted, saw the strange golden glow around the boy. The energy of his clash with the ground was absorbed into him.
"Synaes," Austin shouted. "Brace!"
Before Synaes could do anything, Austin opened the door and flung himself out of the car. He rolled towards the sidewalk.
The car hit Katsu.
Katsu, at the last second, pushed his leg back and released a punch into the front of the car.
Slamming the fist downward, he channeled all of his pent up energy into the impact with the front of the car. The hood of the front collapsed down into the road. Halting in its tracks, the momentum from the back wheels caused the car to flip over and soar over Katsu. The wreckage and rubble spun out from the destroyed frame of the vehicle. Somersaulting in the air, the car landed on its roof and skid on the other side of Katsu. The crash echoed off the empty towers around them, and the hiss of aluminum metal screeched with every inch it skid on the avenue.
Sparks flew from the metal before the frame bounded off a lamppost at the edge of the nearby intersection. Smoke billowed from the undercarriage, and the occasional pop of the oil valves jerked through the scent of gasoline and smoldering plastic.
"Whoa," Hunter said from the top of the roof. He was impressed by the power in Katsu's quirk, and the fact that he was not rendered useless from being thrown off the roof. He stepped forward off the edge to join Katsu and prepared to swing himself.
Then, another crash.
Drake slammed right into Hunter's side. With a shout of pain, Hunter looked down at his side and saw a talon dig deep into his skin. Drake gripped Hunter by the side harder and dangled him like a rag doll over the street. Hunter shot webs and punched at the talons, but the angle made his webs fly off into the sky and avoid Drake's face or wings.
Zooming around and twisting like a haphazard roller coaster, Drake flew Hunter out of the area.
Back on the ground, Austin got up to his feet and massaged his head. He surveyed the damage, but saw that Katsu was not making any quick moves towards the car. Katsu was distracted watching the car go past him. Austin rushed at him, his legs aching from the scratches of skin skimming on the road. He undid the sleeves on his arms, and the poisonous spikes on his arms gleamed on him.
Hearing his hard footsteps, Katsu looked over his shoulder at Austin. Then, he noticed the spikes and let out an unpleasant yelp. Since he had no more energy, Katsu had to simply run towards the limousine.
The two of them raced towards the scrap heap. Katsu, being shorter but lighter and overall more fit, was able to keep an arms length away from Katsu. Austin realized he was losing ground and dived right at Katsu. However, he simply kicked up his heel higher and propelled himself away from Austin as the taller boy crashed face-first into the ground.
Austin looked up in pain as he saw Katsu approach the wreckage.
Katsu smirked to himself when he noticed Synaes crawl out of the wreckage. Holding the top of her walking stick, her sunglasses cracked in the center of the frames. Small bits of the gym uniform fabric were cut out of the clothing. A few bumps and thin lines of glass cuts ran down her arms as she struggled out of the broken window on the passenger side.
Stopping just feet away from her hands, Katsu dug into his pocket and felt the rubber ball.
"Normally, I'd ask if you were alright, but I'll do that after I win," Katsu said. "Now just roll upright so I can hit the target."
Synaes grabbed her stick and threw it at Katsu. It bounced off the ground and rolled at Katsu's feet.
"Ha, that's funny," Katsu said. "You seem to have a good sense of humor. Now, I wonder if may...maybe...maybe you would...would..."
Katsu, out of nowhere, felt his body exhaust itself of energy. He toppled forward and smacked into the ground. His limbs twitched, and he struggled to chock his neck to move his face sideways out of the dirty road. His eyes began to blur from the image of the wreckage and Synaes's hair pooling around her. His legs were numb, and they stung with a dull zap that smattered up them. His arm lost all power, and he stammered out as his mouth grew dry.
Before he could utter another word, he bobbled his head downward and crossed his eyes towards his left angle. Using the last remnants of his energy to twist his ankle, he saw three lines from the pricks of Austin's thorns gleaming jade streaks on his skin.
Convulsing, Katsu's fingers tapped at the surface of the rubber ball. In a last ditch effort, he flicked the ball. It rolled right at Synaes and hit her elbow.
"Does...that...count?" Katsu babbled out.
Then, he passed out.
BRRRRING!
TIMES UP! HERO TEAM WINS!
Leo had no idea why James had invited him into his room.
The room was filled with various dumbbells and bench press equipment. Outside of that, a large PC monitor whirled in the corner on the wooden desk. His simple black bed comforter blanketing his bed, they both sat on it as they watched the plasma screen television that flashed a rainbow of colors in the darkened room. Only the warm light of the orange-shaped lamp lit the far corner of the room leaving long and thin shadows over the tan carpet.
His previous conversation with Leo had gone quite well. Occasionally, James would jab at Leo's weak physique or quiet vocal tone. However, James seemed to be content just letting his opinions flow through Leo and disappear into the ether. However, when they returned to the dorm, he was shocked when James invited him into the room. It was a quick order more than anything else. Leo would hate to make enemies this quickly, so he nodded and rushed over to James's room.
'You see the way the door frame puts them in a literal frame," James traced his finger over the screen of the television. "That was because Wong Kar-Wai wanted to signal how imprisoned they were. Then, when they meet each other, they aren't as enclosed in those spaces together anymore. It's fucking brilliant storytelling."
Leo was even more surprised at James's esoteric taste in movies. When he announced that he wanted to watch something with Leo, he thought it would be some violent slasher film. The last thing he expected was a diatribe into late 90's Hong Kong romantic cinema.
"Don't you think it's brilliant," James faced Leo.
"Sure. Very brilliant," Leo stammered with his face growing red.
"You know," James leaned back in a black tank top and matching sweat pants and took a sip of water from a plastic bottle. "This was the first foreign movie I watched. I mean, in a foreign language. Some movies from your side of the ocean make it, don't they? There was this movie theater down the street in Miami where I lived. It only showed these kinds of movies. The big theater with all the Hollywood blockbuster shit was too far away. But I guess, in a way, it still is," James said.
Leo licked his dry lips and rubbed his thin arm. "Do you see yourself as a Pro-Hero one day?"
"Don't you?" James asked.
Leo stared down at his white socks. He rubbed his feet together. The soft breeze from the open window behind them brushed his brunette hair like a hand coming through his hair.
James grabbed a pillow and propped it under his back. He leaned back on it and crossed his arms behind his head. "Your quirk is already better than that red-head manatee's. Hell, it's better than most of those others. That Spongebob guy that was trained by Shoto? Boring! Dragon dude? Seen it. Kermit The Frog? Please. A virus isn't a quirk. It's just an annoyance," James rolled onto his side and considered Leo. "But we? We have the advantage. We are the main characters! They're all just useless manatees."
Before Leo could utter a response, he was thankfully interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" James growled.
"Anton."
James grabbed the remote and paused the movie. He crossed in front of Leo and cracked the door open.
"Whaddya want?"
Anton leaned his head through the crack and gazed at the television. "What are you watching?"
"In The Mood For Love. Now, spit it out, Virus Boy," James growled. "My favorite scene is coming up."
Anton brushed back his shining black hair. "Have you spoken to Robyn lately?"
"Tch. Why would I speak to her? She doesn't say anything worth listening to."
"I just want to know."
James narrowed his eyes, a deep smirk forming on his face. "Oh, are you jealous that she speaks to me?"
"Are you serious?" Anton flashed an unimpressed, apathetic look. "I just want to know if she's said anything to you."
"About what?"
"Just...stuff?"
James slammed the door right on Anton's face.
The smaller boy shook his head and pivoted on his heels. Despite the rude end to the conversation, he had gotten most of the info that he needed.
Smooth, Boss. Great detective work.
"Shut up, Pathogen. It was better than your plan."
Excuse you. Waterboarding worked for the KGB. And CIA for that matter.
"Enough. He doesn't know anything."
Anton pulled out his smartphone and headed back down the stairwell from the second floor. He stomped down the metal steps and exited into the large entrance atrium.
This late at night, the vending machine had no line. He saw the golden bags of chips hanging like fruit in the garden of Eve just ripe for picking. Anton strolled through the empty atrium and stopped himself just in front of the vending machine. He saw all kinds of flavors, but his favorite baked chips were nowhere in sight. With a deep sigh, Anton put his arm on the glass and pressed his forehead on the green skin.
"Looking for this?"
Scrunching his head back, Anton saw Robyn waving the bag of baked potato chips on a leather couch.
When he sat down and took the bag, Robyn watched the boy munch on his chips. He was not the most graceful eater, but there was still a humor to his apathy that she found charming. She could not help the small giggle that came out of her mouth when Anton inhaled the chips down his throat, a few bits of the crumbles falling onto his black tee shirt.
She's laughing at us. Say something charming.
"Why are you laughing?"
Don't sound angry!
"I mean...why...are you laughing?"
Robyn grabbed a small crumb from Anton's shirt collar and flicked it away. "I just wanted to make up for what I did earlier. Stabbing you."
"You didn't stab me."
"But I did. I mean, I knew it'd hurt, but Blake told me it wouldn't be as bad. I just thought you were being dramatic at first."
"Being stabbed in the chest makes you act in a dramatic fashion," Anton said.
Robyn gave off a melancholy smile. "Deku and Mister Bakugo had an argument when we were at the principal's office. Those two get mad at each other a lot, it seems."
Anton chomped on another chip. "So, did anything crazy happen?"
Robyn shook her head. "Apparently, Blake's parents did some things. I'm sure you could just look it up online."
"I don't care about him or his parents."
"Wow. That's...that's great," Robyn placed her hand surprisingly close to Anton's. "You don't care about somebody's background and you only judge them on who they are. I love that."
"That's not what I-."
Go with it, moron!
"Thank you," Anton stated.
Robyn scooted her hand just a tad closer to Anton's. The boy could feel the warmth from her skin emanating onto his cool and clammy hands. "I've already learned and seen a lot of stuff over the past couple of days. You know that? And we learned about that crystal! Do you think anything will come of it? That strange guy following Moxie around?"
"I still say schizophrenia," Anton said.
"So the guy doesn't exist? So why does Steve believe her?" Robyn asked.
"Because he's crazy," Anton said. "Everyone in this place is crazy."
"And you're not," Robyn asked as she spun her legs to face Anton. "You talk to the guy inside you all the time. How do I know it's real and it's not just you being crazy?"
Checkmate!
Anton stood up and rubbed his eyes. "I just came to tell you that no one else knows about this. And we need to keep it that way."
Robyn got up and tugged on Anton's arm. "I already told James."
Anton let out a whine and clutched his neck. "What?"
"I felt like if there was a threat to our universe, at least he should know."
"And why should he know? Why are you even talking to him?" Anton asked.
"Aww," Robyn tugged on Anton's cheek. "Already jealous?"
Anton wiped away Robyn's hand, a warm flush overcoming his green face. "Knock it off! It's nothing like that."
"I'm just kidding. Geez, both of you have the worst sense of humor," Robyn chuckled. "I didn't say a word to him about this. We talk about...other things."
"Other things."
"Yeah, he really has some interesting opinions on the federal reserve. In a way, inflation is more dangerous than any villain. Don't you think?"
"Good night, Robyn."
Just as Anton turned away, Robyn tugged on the back of Anton's collar. Anton choked and fell back onto the ground. He spied upward at Robyn, her face upside down and darkened as it covered the bright gold chandelier above him. The back of his head rang out in pain, and his eyes watered up from the impact. He lay on the cold floor, but the warm, cherry-scented breath of Robyn wafter into his nose.
"Just so you know," Robyn whispered. Her lips moved just an inch away from Anton's. "I'm not gonna go easy on you or anyone else. And you better not hold back against me. If you do, I'll slice you with my sword into strands of spaghetti."
"I-I won't," Anton said. "I won't hold back." What was happening to him?
"Good," Robyn glared down at him with a serious face. "Now, I must get going."
With the stature of a samurai warrior, Robyn straightened herself up and marched towards the girls side of the dorm. She left Anton on the ground, his rigid state keeping him bolted onto the ground. He stared upward in a comatose state, his heart smacking into his chest.
"What...was that?"
She slammed you on the ground. And she threatened you.
"She...she did."
That means she likes you!
In the dark streets of Compton, an old Lincoln Continental rumbled past a short, pudgy Latino man that leaned on the tungsten street lamp that illuminated only his immediate silhouette. The exhaust joined the scent of tobacco smoke and marijuana that permeated the dilapidated block. They buildings behind him were a dark cocoa with cracks funning up their foundations. Every window had chains over the glass to ward of robbers. A faint boombox breaking off hard bars and beats rumbled in the jungle of the streets behind him.
His arms crossed, he sneered across the pothole-infested street. Following the cracks in the concrete, they arrived to the other side of the street. In an empty parking lot, a white tent had numerous spotlights pointed down at it. Numerous cars, far richer and fancier than anything that belonged to the residents here, lined the parking lot. In the center of the open tent, a stage with a giant American flag hung behind a podium. Over the speakers, a stumbling, often stammering voice struggled through a speech.
"And I promise that the streets of this beautiful...uh...town will remain safe for all our kids," The voice echoed off the harsh brick and concrete around him. "And that...our streets will remain...very street like. I guess."
Applause.
Raimundo shook his head. Typical politicians pandering during election season. On his side of the street, everything would remain the same.
A pair of footsteps cackled towards him. Raimundo stared right at the sight before him. Based on the uneven rhythm, he knew exactly who the person was that stopped and placed themselves right next to him at the street pole.
"What's up, Raimundo," Cletus lit a cigarette on his side of the pole. His skin lighter than mayonnaise, the pale man rocked with the gentle breeze with the same gracefulness of a walking scarecrow. Whisps of blonde hair sleeked back over his balding scalp, and his polyester long johns were stained with CDB oil and splotches of mustard.
"Man, I visited our boss earlier," Raimundo shook his head. "He's in bad shape."
"Damn," Cletus blew out a puff of smoke. It steamed through the thick night air and disappeared into the bright lights of the political rally across from them. "Think he's getting out?"
"Not for another few months," Raimundo said. "He don't even got insurance, holmes."
With a roar, Cletus threw down his cigaratte and mashed it into the ground with his brown cowboy boots. "How the hell are we supposed to have a gang if we only have two people?"
"Man, how'd we have a gang with three people?" Raimundo stared up at the angry hillbilly. "Three people's not a gang. That's a lame-ass late 90's ska-punk band."
"Then what we supposed to do," Cletus cried out.
Raimundo and Cletus glared at each other with disdain leaping off their faces.
"I know what we doing. Man, those kids. They fucked up our boy," Raimundo said.
"Fucked. Up!" Cletus shouted.
"We gotta get them back, holmes," Raimundo said. "That new school's gotta bunch of quirk freaks over there. We don't be needing that shit."
"Forget those fools," Cletus said. "When we see one of them, we gotta run up on them."
"Hell yeah, we running up on them," Raimundo said. "Moment we see that school uniform, we going medieval, dark ages on those pubescent asses. We running up on that whole school!"
"I can't wait to get my hands on those brats," Cletus said. "You know what I'm gonna do to them?"
"What you gonna do?" Raimundo asked.
"I'm gonna...I'm gonna yell at them."
"Yeah, we gonna yell at them real good," Raimundo shouted. "You can't be shooting our boss like that!"
"I'm gonna...I'm gonna give them the worst tongue lashing of their life." Cletus yelled.
"You preach it, brother," Raimundo said. "Give em that tongue."
"I'm gonna lecture their ass so hard," Cletus said. "About using firearms in self-defense responsibly so they don't be shooting people in robberies again."
"Yeah, about respecting the right to self-defense but not blurring those lines into vigilante justice," Raimundo pounded his chest. "Repping Compton for real!"
"I might even use a curse word," Cletus roared.
"Curse word?"
"Curse word," Cletus bared his teeth like an angry beaver. "Scares those little rats to death."
"Yeah, but you know what I'm gonna do to them," Raimundo backed up and threw out his hands.
"Man, I'm afraid of what you'll do!" Cletus shouted.
"I'm gonna do to them what they did to my homie when he got outta line in San Quentin," Raimundo yelled.
"What's that, Big R?"
"I'm gonna tell...I'm gonna tell their teacher on them!"
"Oh, no you not! Damn, you not gonna tell on them, are you? You not serious?" Cletus asked.
"As serious as Alex Trebek on Jeopardy."
"Aw, hell no! Not that serious!"
"Gotta teach these kids a lesson about messing with our set."
"Our set!"
"Our. Set."
"But guess what I'm gonna do, bro," Cletus sneered at the thought of those teenagers. "I'm gonna show them pictures of my sister and show them what happens when they misuse their powers."
"Whoa, Cletus? Cletus! That's way too far!" Raimundo said in mock shock to hype up his fellow gangster.
"Kids gotta learn what a quirk can do to you," Cletus said. "Remember I showed a picture of her."
"Yeah, with the burns on her face?"
"She was fine, but got in a fight cause she was such a hard head. You know what happened? One day, she got so mad, her head caught on fire."
"Her losing control of her quirk did that? All that damage?"
"Hell, yeah, Rai. Except her teeth, though. She lost those from meth."
"No, but man," Raimundo hopped in his spot and smacked his chest. "That don't even compare to what I'll unleash on those superhero school asses. You know what I'm doing?"
"Man, anything less than homicide at this point would be anitclimatic."
"I'm no anticlimatic bitch," Raimundo said. "I'm gonna...I'm gonna..."
"Don't say it," Cletus hyped his fellow gang member up. "You can't take it back if you say it!"
"I'm gonna say it."
"Bro, you wouldn't!"
"I'm gonna call their parents on them!"
"Aw, shit! You said it," Cletus clapped Raimundo on the back.
"I'm gonna have those brats grounded for a week," Raimundo counted his fingers. "No Playstation. No GameCube. No Atari! Nothing."
"Boy, when we see those high schoolers again, we gonna scare them so straight, they'll be uncooked spaghetti," Cletus said.
"Hell, yes, holmes," Raimundo balled up his fist. Cletus did the same and they bumped them in mid-air.
As luck would have it, a strange boy trudged down the street. He was about a block away from the two gangbangers. He was a young person just a few hairs taller than the shorter gangsters. His face, smooth and sun-kissed, sulked forward down the dark streets. His lanky body rocked from side-to-side, his long arms running down his body into his pockets where he stuffed his hands. His hair matched the black sky above, spiked up with a low ponytail in the back that was draped over his right shoulder. His matte black long-sleeve shirt covered his thin limbs. A lilac scarf wrapped around his neck, the boy scutted his thigh-high charcoal boots over the cracked cream sidewalk.
Under the dim amber streetlight, Raimundo and Cletus regarded the boy heading towards them. He seemed for too young and too pale to be around these streets this late.
"Yo, what you doing out here?" Cletus barked.
The boy, staring ahead as if he did not hear them, glued himself to the spot before the two. His sky blue eyes, reminiscent of a Siberian husky, raked over the ragtag duo. His shoulders reared back in a relaxed, but refined stance. His head ticked up, his gaze looking down on them.
"Hey, my boy asked a question," Raimundo said. "You lost or something? Cause we got some shit we wanna give you."
The boy narrowed his eyes at the threat. "And what would that be?" he said in a soft, Eastern European tone.
"You want the shit we gonna throw at you," Cletus said. "Cause we don't hold back. When we start popping, we go all. The. Way."
"In fact," The Serbian man said. "I am lost."
"Well, in that case," Raimundo reached into his pocket. "We got this shit right here for you."
He whipped out a map.
"It shows the entire Los Angeles metro area," Raimundo said. "It also got suggestions on the best Thai places in every neighborhood. Because I fuck with Thai food."
"Gimme some Larb, bro," Cletus said to Raimundo. They jumped up and smacked each other's chest with the other.
The boy was not sure if American gangsters were normally like this. He had scrounged and fought his way through the gangs of Serbia and Slovenia to get here. Yet, here he was in front of the least intimidating bad guys in the world.
The boy leered across the street at the rally. He noticed it was rapping up. The audience stood up and cheered their candidate. The bald man flashed his bright teeth and waved like a fairy princess at the crowd.
Facing the gangsters, the boy sighed. He had no other real options. He had just landed in America not three days earlier, and he was already in danger of losing his plans. He pulled a thread on his black skinny jeans and cracked a muscle in his neck.
"Listen," he said at the two. "I was wondering if you two were interested in a job I was planning."
Raimundo and Cletus froze in place. They peered at the guy like he was a talking sea slug.
"Bro, we already full time gangbangers," Raimundo said. "We get enough money as is."
"Look at these pants, Bro," Cletus said as he tugged on the holes in his long johns. "Designer. Long johns. Versace."
"Shit, those are the Versace long johns?" Raimundo asked. "Where'd you get the money for that?"
Annoyed by the two, the man cleared his throat. "Listen, I need help. Will you two help me?"
"And what are we supposed to do for you, kid," Cletus asked. "You look like you just crawled out of your mom's placenta!"
"You look like you just crawled out of the ocean and evolutionized into a person five seconds ago," Raimundo heckled.
The boy rolled his eyes. "So are you going to help me or not?" He shouted.
"Oh, you raising your voice at me," Cletus said. "How about you raise your voice at this?"
Cletus whipped out a small pistol. He cocked it and twisted his grip to the side. With only one hand for a grip, Cletus nodded at himself from the satisfaction of seeing the man scared.
"Look at that," Raimundo grinned. "What you got to say to that gat right there?"
The boy bit the inside of his cheek. Then, he opened his mouth. He blew out a long breath. Except, this breath blew out some sort of grey cloud. It was as if they could see his breath traveling across the air. At first, Raimundo was going to assume this was just a gross man who did not know of toothpaste. However, the grey cloud fumbled in the air and puffed into Cletus's face.
Cletus breathed in the air, but it seemed to have no fragrance. It was just the same as any other air. However, it formed a thin film around his head like a helmet.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Raimundo asked the man. "You trying to spread some disease?"
Before the man could say anything else, Cletus began to laugh.
"Oh my goodness," Cletus dropped the gun and reached out his arms "It's what I've always wanted. A white truffle burrito!"
Cletus stepped forward to the boy with his arms out. His lackadaisical face mimicked a child in a candy shop as he stuck his tongue out and salivated. With every step, the mysterious person stepped backwards and allowed him to head forward.
"Cletus," Raimundo blinked. "What are you doing, loco?"
"The white truffle burrito," Cletus said in a light tone. "The myths were real!"
"Cletus, the white truffle burrito is an urban legend. My abuelita made it up."
Cletus followed the man as he walked backwards with the tightest of grins on his face. He traversed into the empty street, zig-zagging over the cracked road like a snake slithering through the jungle underbrush. Cletus followed with the tenacity of a hungry, but lazy zombie who kept uttering the same phrase. Raimundo followed in concern over his partner losing his mind.
"White truffle. White truffle!"
Then, Cletus stopped. His arms fell limp to his side. His eyes shrunk into small beads. A thin fringe of sweat diffused out of his skin.
"Ow. Ow!"
Cletus shouted out. Then, he flailed his arms. As if he were attacked by a swarm of locusts, he swatted his arms like a runaway windmill. His skin felt pummeled by an invisible force, and the harsh sting of whips smacking at his skin made him scream in pain.
"Ah! White truffle burrito! Why are you attacking me?"
Cletus collapsed to the ground. He shrunk himself into the fetal position in the middle of the street. He shrieked his head off, and Raimundo shook the man's shoulders in fear.
"Now, you will do my bidding. You will work for me."
"Okay, man," Raimundo said. "Anything you want. Just stop this!"
He snapped his fingers.
Cletus stopped screaming and collapsed onto the ground. Raimundo cradled him in his arms.
"Who are you," Raimundo screamed. "Who are you?"
The man chuckled.
"I am your new boss, and you are my minions. I am the man that will end that new school you hate for good. And I will end One For All."
Fyodor Ivanovich! His quirk: Desire Breath! He can make any person see the thing they most desire using his breath, then manipulate the object into mentally attacking them!
Another chapter. I guess maybe this ends this episode.
Cletus-Christoph Andretti (voiced by Jordan Peele)
Raimundo-Christoph Andretti (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key)
Fyodor Ivanovich-And then the sky
So, now we get another arc! The fallout from this one, but now we have somebody doing something. What will happen next? Find out next time!
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