ALRIGHTY. More updates! More fun! This time focusing on Fumikage and Shoto! Because everyone needs a little time in the sun.
So yes, ONWARD MARCH!
The darkness was rising within him. Fumikage could feel it, the bottomless pit that was Dark Shadow swirling around his accused soul. It chilled him like the coldest ice, and yet the power it promised was as hot as a blazing inferno.
Even after all this time, even after being humbled by their new Prince and changing their allegiance to the court of Nemesis, Dark Shadow was still dangerous.
They were still a demon and had the nature of a demon within them.
But Fumikage had been managing. The first part of the exam had been tough but not impossible. The fight on the mountain had been tough, but it had also been exciting, which was something he wasn't about to deny. Part of why he did what he did was because it fed that little part of him, deep inside, that enjoyed the rush and thrill of it all.
And it was him, not Dark Shadow, who enjoyed it. He suspected everyone in the class had that inside them, otherwise, why would they keep trying? Why opt for such a dangerous lifestyle? Sure, it was just one reason amongst many, but it was there.
Being a hero, saving lives, fighting the darkness. It was fun. It was crazy, and dangerous, and exhausting, but it was fun.
He had thought the next part would be simpler. Focus on search and rescue, which was something he had a great advantage in. Dark Shadow's demonic vision could pick out souls, and he knew that several other of the demon's senses were higher than that of a human. Using those senses, in combination with Ochaco and Tsuyu, he'd already rescued four people.
He'd been rather pleased with himself, even if he thought the work slightly less exciting than fighting bad guys.
But one had to focus on the small things that did the greatest good, rather than simply going to war time and time again. Battle was said to harden the spirit, but his grandfather had taught him that was a lie.
Battle hardened the body, but it destroyed the spirit. Only those who cast aside their humanity truly reveled in the conflict of life and death.
It was with these wise words ringing in his ears that Fumikage had once again turned, after placing down an old man dressed as a businessman, with Dark Shadow putting a woman who was pretending to be his wife beside him and went back to the devastation of what had been a hospital.
Or pretend hospital, it was kind of hard to keep in the moment when so many things were jarring him out of it. Tsuyu had even giggled about it at one point and seeing her smile had given Fumikage all kinds of distracting thoughts that only a deep breath and a quick poke in the side by one of Dark Shadow's claws had dismissed.
He had just been discussing their next operation when the explosion had come. He'd been shocked for all of a second. Of course, they'd throw villains into the mix. Why not? They had to make it even more stressful and difficult than it already was.
But Fumikage knew what he was going to choose.
He was going to prioritize their defense.
Which was why he was currently escorting both Ochaco and Tsuyu as they carefully began removing a large bus that had landed on top of some rubble. The very unsteady-looking remains of a highway loomed above them, and Fumikage was getting more than a little nervous.
There was a distant explosion, and Fumikage watched as several non-too-small pieces of concrete slipped and fell from the columns holding the remains of the highway up. He was perched above the bus, where the gigantic slab of concrete was pinning it down, leveled against what was probably once a building but was now just a small hill of brick dust and metal.
Ochaco and Tsuyu worked below him, far out of immediate reach, but close enough to communicate effectively.
"We should probably hurry."
"The bus is ready," Ochaco called out. "Froppy, make sure you get a good grip."
"Got it," Tsuyu replied, her tongue wrapping around an exposed piece of frame where the glass had shattered out of the window.
"Dark Shadow," Fumikage called out to his demonic familiar, "on my mark."
Dark Shadow's clawed gripped tight onto the titanic block of concrete crushing the bus down. It would take an inhuman amount of strength to move it, which was why they were having Dark Shadow do it, all while the bus floated up and out, and Tsuyu safely guided the bus onto safer ground.
Hopefully, they wouldn't get any points taken off them by the people inside, though they had called out if anyone needed immediate evacuation and none of the seven people within had said so.
Fumikage steadied himself. There had been a time when Dark Shadow might have argued or pushed that they should eliminate the enemy before focusing on souls trapped around them. Sometimes they still argued, but those times were less now.
Dark Shadow had changed after the forest. Something within their essential being had shifted. Fumikage quietly believed it was because of their shift in allegiance, of their acknowledgment of Izuku as their new prince.
He had also wondered if Dark Shadow knew about it. If the demon realized they were more obedient, less prone to sudden outbursts of rage and hate. Perhaps they did, perhaps not.
But Fumikage would not argue. At least, he wouldn't right now, not when lives were on the line. Well, pretend lives on a pretend line, but the tension was the same.
They had to succeed here, or they would fail.
"Alright," Ochaco called out, her voice waving just a little from the strain her quirk was taking on her, having to affect such a large and heavy object. "GO!"
Dark Shadow let out a loud, croaking cry and they began hauling the block up. They could have used Ochaco's quirk on the block itself, but that seemed less effective, especially when the highway above them seemed to be moments away from collapsing completely.
Fumikage had to wonder if they had this planned. Would it not fall as long as people were below it? Or were they simply that careless with the lives of the people they hired to work for them?
It wasn't for him to question. It was only for him to act as a hero should and do what he thought was right to save lives. He had learned quickly that one couldn't question too much in this line of work. Aizawa had drilled into them the importance of direct action, of making a decision and sticking with it, no matter the outcome.
Aizawa's job was to make sure they knew that and train them in the right decision to make. But times like this made those options difficult. Fumikage knew they couldn't meta-game the exam, but it felt as though perhaps their effort could be used on simpler goals.
No, that wasn't what being a hero was about.
It was about acting when someone needed help when someone was trapped in the dark and needed a light to guide them.
That's what he would do here.
And he'd use the curse of his own darkness to do it.
The huge slab began moving, shifting away inch by inch until the bus began to rise up as if pulled by soft strings into the air.
Tsuyu began pulling, using her strong tongue to guide the bus out of the hole and away from the highway.
"Careful, careful," Ochaco warned, her face a little paler than before. "Try and get it to some flat ground."
"Don't worry," Tsuyu replied, though her words were slightly distorted due to the tongue sticking out of her mouth, "I've got a good-"
A pressured hissing filled the air and only by Dark Shadow shoving their master down did Fumikage avoid the pink blobs that whizzed past him.
However, by saving their master, Dark Shadow had let go of the slab.
It fell quickly into the hole where the bus had just been and hit the floor so hard the entire world seemed to boom and rock around Fumikage. The ledge he'd been on even crumbled under his feet, and he scrambled back to try and get to safer ground.
Good thing he did, as more blobs quickly appeared where he'd once been. Within a second, he had judged where the fire was coming from and dived behind the remains of a metal road sign, which let out several dull pings as pink blobs splattered against it.
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
Ochaco and Tsuyu had already dived to take cover, but the bus had been pulled with the green-clad heroine and Fumikage winced as he heard the people within cry out at the sudden jolting movement. Part of him hoped that they wouldn't lose too many points for that, but part of him also decided that they had to get them out of the fire of the villains no matter what.
A few more cuts and bruises were a small price to pay for your life.
Pink blobs shot alongside the metal of the bus, splattering it, but without punching through.
Several tried to hit Tsuyu's tongue, but evidently, the villains didn't have great aim. That was something Fumikage wondered if they were doing on purpose. He had seen true villains up close, and they always did their best to hit you.
"PULL THE BUS DOWN! EVERYONE INSIDE, DUCK!" Ochaco's command rang across the field and Tsuyu obeyed her orders.
The bus came in low, and then suddenly dropped to the earth with a loud, clang of metal that shook through the earth, that kicked up a cloud of dust and rubble.
But the people inside were safe, at least for the moment.
"Come out, hero scum!" A shrill voice, female, called across the battlefield. "You're not getting out of this alive!"
Dark Shadow moved close to Fumikage, and the teenager could feel the all too familiar coldness of his shadow-familiar by his feathers. "We need to attack. Lives are at stake. We can't escape without taking them down first."
"What we need is a plan," Fumikage shot back. "We're not Altashiji or Morningstar, we don't have their strength."
"Then what do we have?" Dark Shadow snapped back.
What did he have? It was a damn good question and one that Fumikage had thought he'd figured out. He was the brains, Dark Shadow the brawn. And yet in times like this, it felt as though that wasn't quite enough, or perhaps, it wasn't the right dynamic they needed. In a one-on-one fight, it was easy to take that route, and he had done during the attack at the USJ. However, even then he'd been saved by Izuku.
Now he doubted that Ochaco and Tsuyu would come to his aid in time, at least not before the villains had peppered him with those pink globs and he'd be out of the exam.
No, he had to act on his own. He had to think on his own. He could do this, surely, he could do this.
And yet they held the field advantage. There was a deadliness to ranged fighting that was always forgotten when one thought of the heroic world. All Might had created the image of the hero fighting face-to-face, up close and personal. Yet Aizawa had pointed out many times that one always had to be wary of people using ranged quirks.
All it took was one hit from someone at range to take you down, or disable you, or throw out your entire plan of attack.
"Tsukuyomi!" He turned, breaking out of his dark thoughts by Froppy's croaking voice. "Don't worry! We'll get to you!"
The two girls had moved behind the cover of the bus, and from within Fumikage could see bodies shuffling through. They were evacuating the civilians.
They were saying things they knew weren't true. The seconds were falling away as the villains were approaching, and they wouldn't be able to get the civilians out in time. Not before they got to him and overwhelmed him.
But what could he say? He couldn't just tell them to run and abandoned the injured people. He had to do something. He had to be… heroic.
"Get them out!" Fumikage shouted back, rising to his feet while still keeping low behind the metal road sign. "Don't worry about me! Dark Shadow and I can handle them."
He had to act. Aizawa had always pressed the need to act. Yes, to think, but also to move on those thoughts.
He had to be confident in his own ability to keep others safe. He had to trust Dark Shadow could act with him, and had his demonic familiar not earned that opportunity? The rushing fire caught in him, and he knew he would be swept away. But there was, as always, the chance of success. That's what he'd fight for. That's what he was trained for.
He moved. A swift jump from one cover to another, with a single glance to try and gauge his foe. Three of them. One was inside the open corpse of a building, kneeling on the second floor. They were looking down, as their blob-fire had indicated, and as such had an excellent cover of the entire field.
Two others were approaching swiftly.
He had been wrong. While one was armed with a weapon, held up to his eye in a ready position, the other was carrying a large, black staff.
It seemed they were equipped to fight up close.
Which meant that his best option was surprise. No, not quite surprise, but to flip the scene itself. He took a deep, calming breath, and for a moment, simply sank into his meditative thoughts, as his grandfather had always taught him to do when he felt the stress and emotion rising in his chest.
They had the high ground. They had ranged weapons. They had one close-range weapon. There were three of them. They were facing him, so they knew no one was going to flank them. They had a great sight of the whole field. They had them pinned.
How did one turn that against them?
As if reading his own thoughts, Dark Shadow moved closer and whispered, "they advance from above, and they believe us trapped. We have to defy their assumptions."
Fumikage looked to him, frowning.
The demonic crow gave their master a wry smile. "They do not know what we are, or what we can do. We are not one, but two. The shadow crow, and their master."
For a moment, Fumikage wondered what his demonic familiar was talking about, and then it hit him.
They were right. He had an advantage the others didn't have. There were two of him. His thoughts, suddenly, drifted back to the exam he had taken with Morningstar. He remembered how they had acted then, using their advantage of numbers to even the score when their opponent had taken ground against them.
"So, what is our plan?"
"They have us sighted. Let's blind them."
"And then?"
"Then, then we move how they least expect it."
Dark Shadow grinned, flashing a row of too-sharp teeth in a shadowed maw, then they moved. The demonic crow roared up from beside their master, and for a moment Fumikage allowed his emotions to rise within him. A fierce desire to protect bloomed in his heart, along with rage towards his enemy, and the stress of this punishing exam.
Dark Shadow ballooned in size, growing large, though not huge, and roaring with their strange, otherworldly caw, they moved over the top of the concrete cover, a terrible nightmare-crow from the depths of hell itself.
Instantly they drew the attention of the enemy. The two armed villains fired upon Dark Shadow, but even as they curled their claws into mighty fists, the pink blobs didn't stop them. Rather, they seemed to simply be absorbed into the darkness itself, as if Dark Shadow was devouring their attack.
Their fists came down, and they smashed into the earth just where the two advancing villains had been. A cloud of dust was kicked up, though admirably the two villains held their ground, quickly moving towards one another and crouching low, expecting the attack through the dust at any moment.
It never came.
Instead, there was a sudden shout from behind them, and they both turned in shock, one even firing wildly through the dust at a target they couldn't see.
The dust settled, and there was Fumikage.
Kneeling on the body of their downed comrade, holding the goo-gun in his hands, and aiming it squarely at the two villains.
"How did-"
They didn't have time to answer.
They'd foolishly taken their eyes off Dark Shadow.
The demon rushed at them again, though as the villain holding the bo-staff swung, the other seemed to panic, unsure of who they needed to target. Their shock and fear cost them dearly.
In an instant, Fumikage and Dark Shadow had turned the tide on the villains, and Dark Shadow's strength was practically unstoppable. The villain with the bow staff was swept aside, then the other was flattened into the ground in less than a second.
Over the hill of rubble, two figures quickly scrambled up, only to look on with surprise at the scene before them.
Three villains, all downed, and with Fumikage already dropping the gun to begin securing the captured bad guys.
Ochaco whistled as the began jogging down the rubble to lend a hand. "Damn, Tsukuyomi, remind me not to piss you off."
"That was really cool," Tsuyu added, hopping over to the villain who had previously held a bo-staff. "How'd you get up there so quickly?"
Fumikage paused, having finally put the villains' hands into secure cuffs, then blushed a little as he mumbled something.
Tsuyu looked up and called out, "what was that? I couldn't hear you? Croak."
"Dark Shadow threw me!"
The demon's cackling caw could be heard echoing across the rubble for several, highly embarrassing, minutes.
Shoto had gone on the attack.
He hadn't really intended to. He was more than happy to simply evacuate the civilians as he found them, and he had already used his quirk several times to prop up buildings that were about to fall over or stabilize wounds. He had even worked with a few students from other schools, even though they had clearly looked at him with suspicion and whispered the words which had followed him all his life.
"Isn't that Endeavor's son?"
He had long since learned to brush it off, even if he could feel it scraping his skin like thorns amongst leaves every time.
He was a hero because he wanted to be a hero because he wanted to do better than his old man. That was all. The fact Endeavor was now the number one hero wasn't important to his life. All that mattered was that he did what he wanted to do, with his quirk, and not what his old man wished of him.
And yet it felt as though he couldn't escape his shadow, no matter where he went. Even here, even now, even while villains fought heroes and civilians cried out in pain he couldn't get away from the dire touch of his father's legacy.
"I'm here to help," he announced as he stretched out a hand to a woman who was cowering under some rubble. Her leg had been trapped, but with some creative use of his quirk, he'd managed to slide the top layer from her.
He was already assuming she couldn't walk, so he would have to-
"HERO!" He turned suddenly and saw a man, clad in an all-black jumpsuit covered in odd devices, leveled a weapon at him. "Time to die!"
For a moment Shoto assumed that it was real. That he was actually about to get assaulted by a criminal trying to murder him. But within that same moment, the logic that it wasn't real, and it was just an exam asserted itself.
Even so, he couldn't lose points. Not now.
The wall of ice was raising even before the villain pulled the trigger. The soft thuds of the weird, sticky pink substance could be heard on the other side of the sudden wall of ice.
"GET HIM! FLANK AROUND!"
He was surprised at how calm his heart remained when it seemed like the villains were closing in on him. He supposed that after seeing Kamino up close he knew what an actual war zone looked like.
It was a lot nosier than this one, with the screams of the hurt and dying mixing with the madness of battle. He had learned that real villains didn't tend to stand around and give speeches or shout out what they were going to do. They simply acted and didn't give you a second to understand why.
He had learned to do the same. His silence had already cost him a few points from the civilians who had admonished him for his 'lack of supportive attitude', but he didn't care. He could pay that price if it meant saving lives.
He began quickly forming a wall of ice to defend the woman, all while moving to secure his flanks.
Already he was hearing the scarring sound of a villain moving to try and get past the ice, the rubble quickly collapsing under his feet.
He aimed with his already warming hand, and with a tight focus, fired a barrel of flame at the ice, which quickly steamed out before collapsing down on top of the villain, who yelped in surprise.
The sound didn't bring a smile to his face. It was hard for him to smile at anything, really. He had grown so used to just not doing so that the idea of actually smiling for a reason was something he was relearning.
His friends certainly helped in that regard. Even Izuku, who always seemed masked in shadow, could smile easier than Shoto did.
There was an odd click from his right, and he turned only to see part of the ice wall suddenly buckled and collapse. Two villains appeared, one with a strange, blackish cable coming from their wrist and the other wielding one of the weird sticky guns.
He was caught. There wasn't enough time to remake the ice wall, and not enough space to run. The woman behind him cowered, or pretended to cower, but he knew internally she was most likely taking notes.
He was failing the exam, and the thought made his jaw clench with irritation.
The armed villain raised their gun, pointing it directly at him and, through an obvious if hidden grin, said, "gotcha, hero."
As he grimaced, he heard the woman behind him tut. "Points off for being-"
A gust of wind so great that it almost took him right off his feet hit Shoto. It was like someone had suddenly opened a hurricane right beside his head, and indeed, he staggered as he was almost lifted into the air. He turned, lunging out to grab the civilian who was also being taken off her feet.
The two villains, who had been standing atop a wobbly-looking piece of debris, abruptly cried out and fell over before an even stronger gust blew them over another large pile of concrete blocks.
Just as swiftly as it arrived, the wind died, and Shoto managed to stop the poor civilian from toppling over. After he laid her down into a sitting position, Shoto looked up to see someone standing in the air above him.
"Inasa?"
The taller boy grinned, or at least, he had been grinning until he spotted Shoto. Then his grin fell and was quickly replaced by a deep scowl. "Todoroki."
Shoto felt a fire bubble in his gut. This boy hated him because he looked like his dad, and yet he was pretty sure that they had never met before. What kind of asshole just hates someone because of who their family was? He didn't hate Izuku because his father was the embodiment of all evil.
Or at least, one of them.
"You should get out of my way." He turned his cold gaze from the teenager and glanced around. "I can deal with this lot on my own."
"Let me help you!" Shoto cried out as he moved closer towards him. The gusts that carried Inasa were strong, and he displayed incredible skill by being able to simply hover in mid-air. But Shoto had never doubted his skill. If the teenager had gotten into Shiketsu, he had to be powerful.
Though he had since learned that a powerful quirk does not make a true hero.
And this seemed very much the case for Inasa.
More cries rose up and Shoto turned to see an entire squad of the black-clad faux-villains moving towards them. Already he was gearing up his flame and ice, gathering their contrasting powers into his hands.
It was strange, being able to use both ice and fire. The ice always felt somehow more natural to him and had been the one he had fallen back to when he refused to use the fire he had blamed his father for.
The fire had never truly felt like it belonged to him, not completely. It was his in the sense that it was within him, and he could always feel it. A flickering warmth that could explode into a fireball of roaring heat.
But it had never truly clashed well with his ice. The two circled each other, like yin and yang within his very soul.
He wondered if it would ever truly feel natural.
He had also wondered, quietly, to himself, why his birthmark wine-stain scar always seemed to heat up whenever he used his flame. It wasn't much, but it was enough that he noticed it, even more so the hotter he tried to make the flame.
And he felt it now as he rushed towards the enemy, leaving the poor civilian behind him. It wouldn't have helped to try and rescue her, not with this many villains approaching them. He could stop them, or he could be captured carrying her out of the area.
It was an obvious choice. He only hoped his eventual score would reflect that.
However, as his flame shot forwards, amidst an array of fire from the sticky guns, the funnel of flame was misdirected. A vicious rush of wind caught and carried the fire upwards, circling around above their heads and, indeed while it managed to stop him from being caught by the pink blobs, it also meant his attack had quickly become useless.
"I TOLD YOU TO GET LOST!" Inasa boomed from above him, and Shoto looked up scowling as the larger teenager moved in a strangely fluid way, directing the air around him and dissipating the fire.
A second later, they were all caught in a hurricane-force gust of wind that would have taken Shoto off the ground entirely if he hadn't frozen his feet to the ground. Though the ground itself shifted and moved, causing him to slide down a hill before finally coming to a jarring stop.
The groans of the villains filled the air, and Shoto looked up to see the hulking form of Inasa land close by, then storm over to him with vengeance shining in his small, dark eyes.
"You're not wanted, Todoroki." The boy reached him just as Shoto climbed to his feet, and the teenager glared up at his new rival. "Go find some other place to grandstand."
"I'm not like my father," Shoto all but spat back, his eyes aflame with anger, "so stop comparing me to him!"
"You're just like your father." Inasa didn't even flinch. "You're out here alone, without support, doing everything on your own because you can't imagine others being at your level. I see that spitefulness in your eyes, just like I saw it in your father's eyes, and just like I saw it on that day."
Shoto had literally no idea what Inasa was talking about, and at this point, he didn't want to know. The hulking teenager was clearly out to get him, or at the very least, uninterested in doing anything to help him. In an exam that stressed teamwork and cooperation, he was forcing a wedge between them both.
"Fine then." Shoto turned, deciding that getting into a pissing contest with Inasa wasn't worth his time. It wasn't like they'd ever see each other again after this exam anyway, and he could live knowing that he had one weird, obsessive rival out there in the world. "I'm going. Handle this area by your-"
"Abandoning your fellow heroes?" The voice rumbled towards him, as deep as the ocean and with all its crushing pressure. It literally froze both boys in place, and both turned to see a giant of a man stepping up over what remained of a crushed truck.
Gang Orca's pure black-and-white eye turned on them, fixing each one with a gaze that both measured and dismissed in a single glance.
"That's not very heroic of you, is it?" The man held out an arm, gesturing to the chaos of the world around them. "But it does make it easier for me."
Shoto hadn't expected to see a true pro hero taking part in the exam, though he'd heard rumors about it before. It was a little shocking to find out that the rumors were true, and even more so to find that a top ten hero was here.
Were they expected to fight him? He supposed it would be possible, he'd taken on All Might before and after seeing the events of Kamino, well, it wasn't like he was afraid of Gang Orca.
The thing is, he also knew his limits. He knew that he probably couldn't defeat him one on one, but with Inasa with him… there was a chance they could pin him down.
Would that gain them points?
"Inasa, we have to-"
"HA!" The giant teenager let out a laugh that was more akin to a bomb going off. "Bring it on, villain!"
And before Shoto could say anything more, the wind picked up again. Dust and pebbles flew through the air, creating a miniature tornado of chaos that quickly moved towards Gang Orca. Yet the mighty hero-playing-villain simply stood his ground.
Even as the debris pelted him, Shoto could see the cold focus in the black, beady eyes of the hero. It struck him, very sharply, that the man before them wasn't just testing them. He was a professional. He had dealt with kids who thought they were the next All Might a hundred times before and more.
He knew exactly how to deal with the kinds of people standing before him now. The thought caused Shoto's muscles to freeze suddenly as another thought came barreling into his brain.
This was a trap.
"INASA!" He shouted, trying to keep his feet while holding an arm up to protect his own face while also trying to stop the woman beside him from being hurt. "STOP!"
"HA-HA!" The flying would-be hero above him either didn't hear or simply didn't care. He again began moving his hands in the strange, flowing motions that Shoto had noticed before. The wind picked up and obeyed his will, curling around him with force enough to rob the air out of a person's lungs.
Shoto turned his attention to the woman beside him. She was clinging to a piece of rebar steel that was wedged into the ground with all her might. Shoto knew that he had to prioritize her over the enemy.
Civilians were more important than anything, even himself. He had seen that firsthand during Kamino when people were slaughtered because two uncaring celestials had argued in the air above them.
And so, he dived down, throwing an arm over the poor woman as the world seemed to lift around him.
Gang Orca, somehow, had kept his feet, his eyes moving from Shoto to Inasa. He then turned, grabbing at a piece of random debris, which happened to be the tire of a truck and hurled it at Inasa. Evidently, the force of his throw was enough to punch through the winds around Inasa, something the boy clearly hadn't been expecting, and he only moved enough to have it collide with his shoulder, knocking him straight out of the sky.
"Foolish hero," Gang Orca's deep rumbling voice came through the air like hailstone on gravel, "going on the attack without coordinating with others? Putting the lives of civilians at risk? Taking on an opponent you know nothing about? You deserve to fail."
His hulking frame began stomping towards Shoto, who now stood up, fists raised, both sides of his quirk readying themselves for the fight.
His eyes met Gang Orca's, and he felt the cold grip of anxiety tighten around his throat.
But his heart kept beating. His legs did not give way. His fists remained raised.
The woman behind him was trying to crawl away, to give the hero some space, and he internally thanked her. She didn't have to do that, she was only acting, but it would help. Maybe she really was afraid of getting caught in the crossfire, or maybe she just needed to take notes in peace. Who knew?
From his left, he heard Inasa groan and struggle back to his feet, clutching at his shoulder tightly.
"Inasa! We need to retreat!" Shoto shouted the order, then didn't wait for a reply.
He attacked. The first was with a shock of ice that sprang at Gang Orca like a tiger, reaching out of the ground with frozen claws. The pro dodged, but Shoto knew that would happen. It was why he'd followed it up directly with a barrage of fire that roared at his enemy like a striking eagle.
This connected, hitting Gang Orca and forcing the pro back, though not in any unorganized fashion. It was simply that he'd got a shot in, nothing more, nothing he couldn't repay soon enough.
"Inasa?"
"Nnn- Never." Inasa's tone turned cold. "I won't be told what to do by a Todoroki."
Shoto could have cursed him out. He'd been knocked out of the air! He'd gone right on the attack without even taking a moment to consider who he was fighting! He knew nothing about Gang Orca, and if he did that only made his attack even more idiotic!
"Inasa? INASA!" Shoto shouted again, keeping his up relentless attack, though already he could see how Gang Orca was adapting.
He was keeping his distance only for the moment, but he could almost see the man's mind moving. His eyes, while small, were incredibly focused and deep.
He was forming a plan.
"You need to-"
"ATTACK!" The wind picked up, swirling around Inasa as he began to direct it once again, this time more chaotic and forceful than before. "ALL THAT MATTERS IS HOT-BLOODED HEROISM!"
However, this almost instantly redirected Shoto's attack, picking up both the fire and the ice and lifting it away from Gang Orca. Inasa practically yelped in surprise as the air around him became both an ice storm and a fiery inferno, and he dropped the wind, dispelling both instantly.
Though the dispel flooded out around him, and therefore, right over Shoto. Again, the teenager had to defend himself and the cowering civilian, and he turned, his eyes furious as he screamed at Inasa, "STOP DOING THAT!"
He instantly regretted his mistake. He turned back a half-second later and-
The wind was knocked out of him. A fist to the stomach that felt so much stronger than it would have done if he had seen it coming. He was literally lifted into the air by the blow and went spinning backward, hitting gravel hard and feeling a dozen new cuts along his skin.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
Shoto was not one for panic or any other strong emotion, but this was bad and he knew it.
He looked up just in time to see Inasa throwing a mighty fist at Gang Orca, but the man quickly blocked and engaged.
"Points off for both of you! Becoming distracted and disengaged from the main threat!"
Inasa went to shout something but was quickly silenced by a mighty headbutt from Gang Orca, which Shoto visibly winced at.
There was a crack from the blow so loud that practically echoed around them.
But there was something else with it. A sudden, sharp ringing sounded in his ears and through his teeth, and Shoto swore he saw the air around their colliding foreheads shimmer.
Inasa dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, and he didn't move other than the occasional muscle spasm.
Shoto was already on his feet as Gang Orca turned towards the volunteer civilian. "The moment I touch this woman, she's counted as dead. Do you understand me, heroes? Your pointless squabbling, your inability to work together, has cost this woman her life. That alone would fail you, nevermind anything else."
He walked towards her as unstoppable and relentless as the tide.
Shoto was on his feet, staggering as fast as he could towards the civilian. Fire and ice were in his hands, and the wine-scar on his face was burning with a pain that emanated from his breathless lungs and aching stomach. He couldn't let Gang Orca get to her. He couldn't let her die. He knew it was fake but every muscle in his body was burning for him to move.
To lay down his life if that's what it took.
"Fool." Gang Orca turned on him, and again he heard that sudden, strange ringing noise.
This time, however, it blotted out every other sound around him and Shoto felt as though something had reached up and stabbed him in the spine. He felt his body go stiff as if his muscles had been clamped in cold chains, and he felt quickly, his face hitting the floor and busting his nose. "My hypersonic waves can paralyze you even from a distance. This close, you might as well not bother at all. But brave. You gain a few marks for that, at least."
Shoto could only watch helplessly as he reached for the woman, who was cowering in mock fear.
And then he felt it.
The pressure at the back of his mind.
And less than a second later, Gang Orca was jerking up, an arm barely rising in time to block a kick that connected so hard with his body it tore the fabric from his sleeve.
He was knocked back and something new stood in his place. Something large, with great wings and armor that reflected no light. An image of a fallen angel, come to redeem themselves upon the villains of humanity.
The Morningstar raised their clawed hands up, and with a vicious smile growled out, "our turn."
Wasn't that fun, kids? I'm unsure which section of this chapter I enjoy more. Writing Fumikage doing something cool was very fun, and it was nice to have him show that he can do stuff on his own, acting with decision and impetus in a tense situation. Also showing that Dark Shadow is working with him more now is fun... and also, tiny tiny tiny FumixTsuyu moment there.
But also, I really like the movement and description of Shoto's scenes. Getting into his head for a while was fun, and I loved writing Gang Orca being a badass and handing the two boys their asses. Also, some hinting at what his father did with there when he used his fire... And of course, Izuku at the end there, being very awesome and showing off cos why not. It happened in canon, right? Sometimes the canon is cool.
So, next chapter we keep moving forward. The exam arc is coming to an end, which means we get to FINALLY start up on the last arc of the story, where things come to a head and- well, that's spoilers so no more talk of that. One thing I can comment on though is that we get a bit of Izuku, and then catch up with a sprinkling of Himiko. Nothing more though!
As always, thank you all for reading, keep safe, and I'll see you next time my dudes!
