Force of Will
Chapter 5
A/N: So, since I didn't include the reviews during the interlude they'll be included at the bottom along with the rest. And let me just say Thank You! Willa has been so well received it's amazing! I couldn't ask for a better audience!
Okay, so thanks to Treant Balewood and Feridad and my Beta this chapter should be just about fixed. Thank you all so much!
This chapter is the beginning of the USJ incident I hope you enjoy!
Chapter Start~
Class had barely started when Aizawa pulled a remote from the desk and clicked the button, causing the cases with their uniforms to roll away from the walls. "Everyone gather your case, leave your bag at your desk and head out to the buses." He said in his usual tired drone.
Ranma snatched his case off the rack and hurrying ahead of his more chatty classmates made his way out of the building where the buses were waiting.
"Everyone line up according to your seating number to board the bus." Tenya called as the class followed out behind them.
As Ranma took his position in line, Willa flew about above him, giggling. She sounded like the crackle of wood popping in a fire. He learned why when he boarded the bus, and he chuckled when he saw Iida's downcast expression, his attempt at an organized entry and seating arrangement having fallen flat. It really must have been a blow to the other teens pride.
"Hey Ranma bro, I've been wondering about your quirk." Kirishima said from a few seats away.
Leaning back, Ranma closed his eyes. "What about it?"
"Like well, the blue balls of fire that you make, what do they burn when they're just floating there?"
Ranma shrugged, "They told me once when I was little, something about a mix of my energy and the carbon in the air or something."
Kirishima grinned, showing off his overly sharp teeth, and lifted his arm. "Well, you're sure lucky. My hardening's great for brawls but it's not what anyone would call flashy."
"The quirk I want to know about is Midoriya's. For some reason it reminds me of All Might's, kero." Tsuyu said, turning everyone's attention over to the green haired teen. He just blushed, making himself look remarkably like a strawberry as he waved his hands frantically around.
"You think? It's just a strength quirk." He said with a nervous chuckle.
Tsuyu pressed a finger to the side of her mouth, "yes but every time you use it you break a bone. It's like it's too much power for your body or something."
"Yeah, Midoriya's got a great flashy quirk too."
Bakugo snorted, "Damn Deku."
The conversation devolved into a discussion of quirks and how flashy quirks always seemed to dominate the popularity charts, along with how Bakugo's poor attitude would keep him from really rising in the ranks. What followed was a brief but violent outburst of insults that may have made a sailor cringe from the temperamental teen.
"Get yourselves under control, we're here." Aizawa snapped, gesturing toward the building they were approaching. It was a giant dome that seemed to have the uppermost area encased entirely in glass. When the bus pulled to a stop and the doors swung open, they found probably the most well known rescue heroes in Japan. Thirteen.
The space hero raised a hand in greeting, and all around him the students began to chatter about the Hero's success rating and just how awesome they were.
When Thirteen cleared his throat the class quieted faster than Aizawa ever managed, though after a glance at his homeroom teacher Ranma couldn't tell if it bothered the man at all. Thirteen led them into the building and turned to them with a finger raised.
"Welcome to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or the U.S.J.! Before we begin I just have one thing to say, well maybe two." Thirteen paused, and the large whites that made up their eye's in the suit narrowed. "Maybe three or four."
Aizawa cleared his throat, "Thirteen."
"Right, right. My quirk is Black Hole. With it I can suck up and atomize the debri and dangers that come with natural disasters. However, if I were to let my attention slip, there's not alot that would stop my quirk from atomizing the people I'm rescuing."
Ranma couldn't help but roll his eyes. Each and every one of them should have realized that. If they hadn't, well, as far as Ranma was concerned they didn't belong in the Hero program. Hearing a snort from a few people away, Ranma fought the urge to slap himself. The last thing he wanted was to have anything in common with the blonde bomber whose temper was more volatile than his quirk.
"Anyway, use your quirk to save others!" Thirteen said. "It's the mark of a-"
He was cut off as a black mist exploded in the middle of the pavilion, "Sensei." Ranma snapped pushing his way to the front of the crowd. He'd seen that black mist before, it was part of the warp quirk that had retrieved Shigaraki.
"I see them Saotome. Thirteen, protect the students!"
Midoriya called, "But sensei you're an underground hero! You specialize in ambushes not open combat."
"You can't be a hero if you've only got the one trick Midoriya." With that he leapt down the stairs, his capture tape billowing out around him.
Ranma started to follow when Thirteen spoke up. "Trust in your teacher. We need to get you kids out of here."
He grit his teeth, clenching his hands so tight his knuckles popped, he could feel his nails biting deep into the palms of his hands and heat began trailing its ways across his hands. Below them was a veritable army of villains, and not one of them looked like they were ready to talk it out. Aizawa was going to have his hands full.
"Shit!" Kaminari's yell had Ranma turning on his heel as the black mist was roiling between them and the door.
"Greetings students of Yuuei. I am Kurogiri, and we are the League of Villains. We've come today to put an end to the symbol of peace." The mist said in a cultured tone that Ranma would expect to hear from someone who lived in high class society, not from some random
Villain.
He had eyes like those on Thirteen's suit, and the only other distinguishing feature Ranma could see was the shining armor that was settled in the midst of the mist. Everything about the man was the dark mist except that armor, 'probably a weak point.'
"We went to great lengths to assure ourselves that he would be here today. If you'd be so kind as to direct us to him, the end of your lives will be much more pleasant."
Ranma lunged forward, his hands encased in fire. "Just try it!" He roared, he sailed through the black mist. He swung and just as he felt the cold metal Kurogiri wore about his neck, brush his knuckles the world around him swirled, the black mist filled his eyes, and suddenly, he was falling. The wind was ripping at his face as all the momentum he'd thrown himself forward with was now directing him toward the ground, and to make matters worse, she was in the rain.
There were a number of hero's with some degree of pyrokinesis that managed to fly, at least as long as they could create and sustain a focused enough flame. It was still something Ranma found herself incapable of, she'd tried and she could create flames hot enough to allow her to fly...ish. It never lasted long enough and it usually scorched the ground. She'd stopped sometime in China when a concerned citizen threatened to get the authorities if she didn't stop trying to set wildfires. In all fairness, she'd tried once more and the fire got away from him. It was only due to Willa there wasn't a full on forest fire. Three tree's however had been burnt to ash and a number of others were heavily scorched.
She'd promised in that moment she'd never attempt the technique again.
Holding her hands out in front of her, the flames still licking at her palms blazed into a bright white until she wasn't falling head first but flat, her arms and legs spread wide to increase her surface area and drag. She knew she'd have a single chance to make sure she wasn't a smear on the sidewalk, she'd have to burn as hot as she could when she got close enough to the ground to reverse her momentum. With any luck, she'd be able to use the buildings to help as well. She shivered.
Silently she began to berate herself. She'd seen the villain teleport, and yet she charged in headfirst anyway. She was a fool.
A scream tore her attention upward where four more figures were free falling. She wasn't sure considering the angle she was looking up at but she'd swear the ones above her were Shoji, who at least she was certain about, the extending arms were a dead giveaway, Yaoyorozu whose red outfit stood out even in the rain, the others well she couldn't changed the scenario, she wasn't just trying to make sure she landed safely and that changed everything else. In a stark reversal of slowing himherself down she slammed her arms to her sides and pitched forward.
The buildings were fast approaching, the tallest of them was less than five hundred meters below him. Her heart was racing in her chest as she frantically tried to find a way to get down fast enough without using the techniques she'd sealed, his original method would take too long and probably leave her arms jarred at best and dislocated at worst. The amount she could help the others would be limited at that point.
Four hundred meters, no new ideas came to her. Blue white flames bloomed from her chest, hands, legs and feet. There was no time, she held in a chuckle, at the rate she fell there might not have been enough time anyway.
"Willa, Incarnation two." The fires enveloped her from head to toe, and a moment later she glowed yellowish white. Fire shot from her hands like thrusters and she angled herself toward the tallest building. Already, she could feel her head beginning to swim as the cold spread throughout her body.
She was less than a hundred meters away and approaching fast. Turning her hands toward the rooftop, she began bleeding her momentum, her breaths coming out in ragged spurts and as she began passing over the building, the fire about him winking from existence. Ranma toppled head over heels across the roof and only came to a stop as she impacted an A.C. Unit.
Above her, she could see them, three figures gliding down, Shoji was still using his tentacles, two others were using parachutes, though it was more than likely two were using a single parachute, as they were still dropping far too fast. "Willa." Ranma rasped.
Her shivering hand scrambled at her chest plate before she came to her still burning crystal and shoved it deeper. Two balls of fire floated up from her followed by Willa, however instead of her natural orange and yellow color she was a dull orange and red. She didn't wait and flew upwards the two flaming orbs trailing after her hissing at every drop of rain that impacted her.
Her body ached, from her bones to her muscles. She felt like one large bruise, but her breathing eased the longer the emergency heaters in her chestplate worked. After a few moments she struggled to rise, and managed to slump back against the A.C. It too was warm.
Above her, Willa was circling under one of the parachutes while the flaming orbs she sent created updrafts for Shoji and the other parachuter.
She could hear someone yelling above the sound of the falling rain, but couldn't make out what was being said. They were fifty meters at most from the roof, and the orb that was creating Shoji's updraft zipped away, attempting to get to one of the parachutes, but once it left the protection of the slim shield that was Shoji, it fizzled out.
The six armed teen fought to regain stability, teetering this way and that, scrambling for any lift. After struggling a moment longer, he reached the building edge and all but dove for it. As Yaoyorozu and the other figure which Ranma could barely make out as Kaminari passed over the building, she yelled something and disconnected the lines, dropping both kaminari and herself onto the roof. The last parachute held Jiro, who struggled to remain in control and was failing miserably. Ranma fought her way to her feet, she raced along the building as Jiro kicked and shouted. Ranma leapt into the air, grabbing Jiro as WIlla burned through the chords. She landed in a crouch, the orbiting flames having spread to accommodate Jiro.
"You're an idiot!" She yelled, though she didn't seem to hold any malice in her words, and Ranma found himself chuckling.
"Don't you know? The best heroes are idiots." She stuttered out between the chattering of her teeth and tried to smirk.
Wet steps alerted Ranma to Yaoyorozu's approach, she was pointing to a stairwell where Kaminari was fighting with the door. "I think we should get inside!" She called.
"I'd have to agree. That villain Kurogiri, he said he was sending us to die a most torturous death, and I don't believe the fall is what he meant." Shoji confirmed. Only the tentacle closest to them was still, the others, each bearing an ear or eye swept back and forth.
Ranma nodded. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid,' she berated herself. There was no doubt villains about, Kurogiri was able to teleport his villains into the base he'd no doubt scattered some of them about as well and here she'd all but burned herself out. She jerked on the side of her chestplate and out slid a holder with a silvery packet. Crushing it between her fingers she slipped it back into place allowing the growing warmth to begin its spread through her.
The interior of the building was actually pretty nice. The walls were a pleasant tope and the floor was coated in a rich verdant carpet with gold designs. "This is pretty posh." Jiro deadpanned.
"It seems this is supposed to be some sort of upper class hotel." Shoji added.
Honestly, Ranma didn't know exactly how upper class it was. She'd never been in a hotel in her life, and the closest she'd gotten was pickpocketing tourists outside them to train her speed and stealth, of course much to his Father's annoyance, she'd always return their wallets. The pictures however, they were absolutely worthless, mass produced posters and all of them motivational.
"Help! Help!" An overly synthesized voice howled suddenly, causing every one of them to jump.
Shoji shifted several of his tentacles in the direction of the sound. "It seems the simulations were already set up." he said then his attention jumped toward the end of the hall. "We aren't the only ones in the building either."
"Villains?" Kaminari asked, adjusting his headphones he frowned. Apparently, he still wasn't getting service.
"It would seem so. I can hardly hear them. It is possible they have stealth quirks among their group." As he finished speaking he and Jiro winced and took a step back as a green blur skidded to a halt in front of them.
She was a petite woman dressed in black bodysuit. She wore elbow length gloves and tennis shoes. "Ooh's lil baby heroes!" She chirped and clapped her hands excitedly, "I thought this building was going to be nothing but more of those stupid little robots! I finally get to play!"
Ranma eased into a defensive stance, streams of fire dancing from her knuckles. Super speed was a rarer quirk, most didn't give true super speed just a facsimile of it like Iida's, and those with true super speed, well it didn't do them much good considering it wasn't uncommon for them to pass out mid-run from dehydration.
"Sure lets play!" she snapped. The other's shifted around her, no doubt getting ready for the fight.
The woman leaned forward and blurred, Ranma swung her right arm wide, a lash of fire extending out and grunted as she felt something strike her in the stomach. Twisting to face the other end of the hall she found two things. One, they were all grabbing their stomachs, and two, the woman had stopped.
"I guess you lil baby heroes can't keep up!" She laughed so hard she snorted. "Try harder please." The blur came again, and Ranma could see her friends stumble as they were struck. The next thing she knew, she was pinned against the wall.
"Burn." Ranma snapped, fire erupted across her body, but the woman simply zipped away.
She laughed.
"There's more coming." Shoji said,
"Dammit, Rush!" It was a tall man wearing nothing but a leopard spotted loincloth. He was thin, bordering on emaciated with long grooves carved across his chest and skin as pale as a corpse.
"Dude, that's so not cool! put some clothes on!" Jiro snapped.
Until then his attention had been focused on the woman, Rush. When he noticed them, he bounced up and down on his feet, and much like Rush before him he began to clap like a toddler who'd just seen their first magic trick. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Shiina Kisaki, but you can call me Graft."
"If you want to play with them Graft, then you'd best get to it. Fuu would hate us if we didn't share."
Ranma tucked the name into the back of her mind. So far there were at least three villains in the area, probably more if they were in two man teams. A lot more if there was at least one team per building and Fuu seemed to be at least one of the leaders in the downpour zone.
Sweeping her hands through the air, the flames began to jump about spreading and multiplying until a veritable wall of the flaming orbs stood between them and their foes. "Shoji, can you hear anyone else in the building?"
A mouth appeared at his shoulder, "there's still the ones I heard earlier. They seem to be relegating themselves to the lower floor for the moment."
From the wall of flames a figure walked, the flames washing over him and leaving him scorched. "Your fire's cute, a great way to warm up after being outside in the rain, so thanks." Graft said, patting out the embers on his loincloth.
"Get back!" Jiro snapped as she plugged her jacks into the speaker on her boots. Ranma scrambled to get out of her way. She doubted Jire would fire when she was in front of her, but wanted to make sure she got as clean a shot as possible.
The thumping burst outward and Ranma winced, all of her fire destabilized and broke apart under the pressure. Graft wasn't faring much better, he held his body and groaned, Rush wasn't in any better condition, she was on the floor clutching at her head. Though Ranma wasn't sure how much longer it would last, the pulses were getting weaker though he couldn't tell why.
"Yaomomo, any ideas?" Jiro called between pulses.
In a bright show of light, Yaoyorozu produced a blocky looking gun with barbed tips extending from the end. "Just hold them there for a moment."
Ranma watched as she fired the first shot and frowned as the sound waves knocked them off course. The second shot struck Graft but nothing happened when she tried to hit him with the shock.
Rolling her eye's, Ranma punched the wall leaving a small crater where she'd hit. She gathered the pieces of stone as everyone watched, and with a grin she reared back and threw the chunk like a fast ball, It struck Graft and he no longer groaned in pain instead he enjoyed the gentle repose of unconsciousness. "Shock speedy would ya?" She said, looking at Yaoyorozu.
The taller girl nodded and loaded a third cartridge, she hit her target on the first shot and after a brief moment of flailing, Rush joined her partner in the arms of morpheus.
After they'd wrapped the carpet about the villains and secured it with a large amount of chains, they retreated into one of the open rooms.
"So," Ranma started as she gathered a blanket to wrap about herself. "What's the plan exactly?"
"Well, we need to get a message out, escape the downpour zone, and assist the others as needed." Yaoyorozu said.
Jiro began rapping a random beat out on the counter she sat on. "Yeah, but how? The entrances are no doubt guarded and comms are down."
"I don't suppose we can send Willa for help after we get out of this area?" Shoji asked. He was the busiest among them, as he was constantly scanning for any threat and for that reason Ranma wasn't expecting him to say too much.
Ranma shook his head, "there's a limit to how far she can go. I could have her get to the ceiling, melt her way out and try to create as big a sign as she can?"
"That's an option, but there's no guarantee someone will see the sign. Kaminari-san any ideas?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"Uh, well I can't really think of anything I can do ya know? It's not like my quirk is much help here." He looked as if those words had truly hurt him to say. "Besides, can't we just hole up here and wait for reinforcements?"
Yaoyorozu shook her head. "Waiting is not an option. Someone will notice those two," she gestured to where their attackers were tucked away in a corner, "are missing sooner rather than later."
Shoji turned a half step to continue his scan and said, "he has a point, we can hardly come up with a plan if we don't know more about each other's quirks and each other."
"Yeah, I mean dude." Kaminari said gesturing at Ranma, "Can't you get away with that flying thing you did earlier and what's with the blanket? Is it a comfort thing? My grann-"
"My quirk is WIll of the Wisp." Ranma snapped, "I can create fire and control it but to make it hotter it drains my body heat okay? I can't do that flying thing because I can't warm up while it's still drawing heat. Plus it tends to catch things on fire."
Realization dawned on Yaoyorozu's face at her words, apparently she'd been wondering the same thing.
"Earphone jack over here, I have great hearing and I can emit the sound of my heart beat."
Yaoyorozu went next, explaining how her quirk turned lipids into non organic materials in any pattern shape or size she wanted, as long as she had the time and knowledge of the atomic configuration. Honestly the explanation or at least the majority went over Ranma's head. What she did get was Yaoyorozu used certain parts of her body to create stuff.
Shoji explained his dupliarms, and showed off a few of the changes he was capable of. That he could do this and continue to survey the area for danger only increased Ranma's respect for her mutant classmate.
"My quirk is electrification. I can generate electricity along my body, and I can discharge it, but I can't control where it goes when I do. If I use too much, I can short circuit myself." Kaminari explained with a huge grin.
"Okay, step one, we get out of the downpour zone. Step two, we make a way out for Kaminari. Once he gets far enough away with his radio he can call for help. step three, we head back to the plaza."
While Ranma didn't like the thought of relying on Kaminari, it wasn't because the human stun gun was a pervert. The other teen had a laid back lackluster attitude that rubbed Ranma the wrong way. In all honesty, she couldn't for the life of her see how the other boy made it into Yuuei in the first place. That said, it wasn't like she had a better plan.
"Okay we've got a plan," Ranma said as she stood and cast the blanket away, "now let's get out of the building."
They all, with the exception of Shoji, looked at her as if he'd grown a second head and it was just as dumb as the first, which frankly in Ranma's opinion coming from Kaminari was just plain insulting. "What, we've an overall plan, and we don't have enough information for anything more, I don't even know which floor we're on. Do you?"
"I don't, but shouldn't we talk tactics?" Yaoyorozu asked.
Ranma shook her head, tactics were great and she'd a number of them but any strategy they used would have to be rudimentary. There wasn't enough information, all they knew for sure was that they were in the downpour zone with an unspecified number of enemies with unknown abilities. Simple was going to be their best bet and she said as much.
"We've got two options. We make a dash in any direction as one group, or two get to a wall or another area. If one we try to go unnoticed as much as possible, or as two groups one distracts and baits while the other gets to the other area."
Kaminari shook his head, "I don't think we should split up. What if they know how many of us are here."
Now it was Ranma's turn to look at Kaminari, though it wasn't because he'd made a stupid statement, quite the opposite in fact, but she shook her head anyway.
Ranma walked over to the window, the rain was, if anything, coming down even harder. "The mist guy probably knew my quirk, but I doubt he knows yours. Else he wouldn't have sent Yaoyorozu anywhere near any of us."
The recommended student seemed to be red faced, but if she was going to ignore it then Ranma wasn't going to bring it up. She had no doubt Yaoyorozu knew her own limits better than she did. "So how do you recommend getting out of the building?"
"Can you make a slide?" Ranma asked, gesturing at the window.
She smiled, "I can, an emergency slide would probably be best."
"Good, you get that going on that." Ranma said, striding to the door she started out, "I'll be back."
She winced a moment later as a thin round something jabbed him in the head. "Stop being such an idiot. We're heroes too." Jiro snapped as she adjusted her jacket with a grin.
Rolling her eye's Ranma made her way out of the room, fire seeping from her skin into the air. As the two walked down the hall more and more fire filled the air, the lights flickered then went out.
"Wow," Jiro breathed, as she looked up the fire which blazed white and blue flickered like the stars in the sky.
Ranma nodded, "yeah, it's pretty awesome." It was too, it was something she'd do when she couldn't sleep, use pinpricks of fire to draw out dozens of constellations that slowly flowed about until she'd fall asleep.
Ranma's attention snapped to Jiro as she nudged him with her elbow, "hmm?" She asked.
"Where's Willa? She doesn't seem like the type to sit this out."
Snorting Ranma held out her hand and Willa's bright orange flames burst into existence above her palm. She glared at Ranma for a moment before skipping into the air, with each leap a flaming word hovered in the air behind her.
'I don't like the cold, or the wet. It's just wrong.'
Jiro chuckled and spun her earphone jack about her fingers. "I get that."
Willa nodded before diving back into Ranma.
Ranma rolled her eyes. "I've got to deal with it ya know?" She asked. Willa's cracking laughter filled her mind along with a certain word, though that wasn't quite right. It was closer to the intention of it but it wasn't all that surprising to her. It was one Willa gave whenever she got Ranma to act as a taxi in conditions she didn't care for.
Suffer. She meant it to be more funny than cruel but Ranma was cold, wet and yes, suffering. She was about to start raging at the flame sprite within her when Jiro spoke.
"So what are we doing exactly?" Jiro asked as they reached the stairs.
The fire above fell like a waterfall surging down against the stairs, "Slowing them down."
The stone cracked and popped, its slate grey color shifting to a dull orange as the fire swirled about before rising into the air to fall into the tide again. The stone began to shift, running further down the stairs.
"You little bastards are up there huh? I thought Shigaraki screwed up again." A caustic voice with a thick accent called.
The floor had only dropped a few feet under the fire's heat and Ranma grit her teeth. To be sure you'd need a heat proof quirk to step on the molten stone but there were so many ways around that, she'd thought he'd have more time. The river of fire brightened and the flow sped up.
"Jiro, go check how long it'll be before Yaoyorozu's ready." More fire lifted from Ranma's skin, the floor had melted about five feet down, it still wasn't enough.
Jiro didn't say a word just ran back the way they'd come.
An angry hiss met her ears and Ranma found the fire darkening. Ice, black and grey began to fall from the ceiling into the flowing slag and a frozen wind pressed against Ranma.
"The boss called me in just for you fire bug!" The voice came again, this time accompanied by a foul snicker.
The drop was a solid eight feet, eight feet of red glowing molten concrete, "still not enough." Ranma ground out. "But it'll have to do."
On the upside however, between the sea of flames spinning through the air and the molten stairs the hall was hotter than a summer day in the desert. Clenching her fists the flames spread from her in a wall of cobalt quickly coalescing behind her in the form of dozens of fiery lances.
The rising steam and fumes took a sudden turn when a short figure wearing a steel sugegasa, and traditional monks robes walked up the stairs. All around him the air cooled and the steam and fumes became a noxious fog that itself turned to ice that clattered to the floor around him. A small thought scratched at the back of Ranma's mind, the man looked familiar.
"Hey, little bastard." The monk raised a hand in greeting, "you know, I coulda swore Shigaraki said you were a dude."
The guy gave Ranma a bad feeling, and it wasn't just the fact that he seemed to have the ability to create ice out of the moisture in the air. The way he stood, loose but ready to move, never fully standing still, the overly calm feeling he gave off. It was the type of thing Ranma had felt from true prodigies and masters of the art. She knew she was right a moment later as the monk bounded between the walls twice and landed on the landing in front of Ranma and even as a girl Ranma found herself looking down at the man.
He tilted the sugegasa up showing off his black hair streaked with reds and yellows, a serious case of five o clock shadow, a crooked nose and eyes that seemed half blue, half red. "So, tell me girly bastard, do you have a twin or something? I only get paid if I bring him down."
"I'm a guy dammit!" Ranma roared, she flicked a hand out sending a stray whip of fire at the man's side, it guttered out before it got close.
The monk laughed, "yeah, that's not going to work." The man rolled up his sleeve revealing a tattoo of a black circle filled with a fire and struck through with a black line. "My quirks, Cool Down. I absorb heat and that makes anything within my field a no fire zone."
Then it hit her, the man in front of her was a hero turned villain. Once regarded all across the world as the man who tamed wildfires, the man vanished for months the previous year and when he returned it was as a villain. Freezing a public pool while people swam through it, creating a localized hail storm that dropped ice bigger than bowling balls at a seaside mental hospital, robbing banks all across the coast. Once, he'd even fought Endeavor to a temporary standstill before being forced to escape. Still, hero or villain, his name didn't change.
"Cold Front." Ranma whispered, she'd once wanted to train with the man, to see if she could hit a high enough temperature to fly without igniting anything around her that could combust.
"Yeah, you fire types always seem to know me." The man's voice turned dour, "but that's okay. Just because you know who I am, and what my quirk is, it doesn't mean you can stop it."
The man rushed forward, his hands like claws swiping through the air. "I hate you fire type bastards!" He roared.
Eyes wide Ranma ducked, pivoted and spun to avoid getting hit while she sent her fire down to the end of the hall. Still, even as the man missed he could feel the cold starting to seep deeper into her.
'It won't matter if he doesn't hit me if he just keeps cooling me down!' Ranma thought. She bent backward letting an incoming strike pass harmlessly over her, and surged forward. She loosed four punches each at different points on the villains chest, the first was dodged, the second redirected and the third and fourth, out and out blocked.
"You're just like all those other fire tosser's! Like all those other so called heroes." The cold grew even stronger and the air above them began dropping pebbles of ices which clattered loudly against Cold Fronts Sugegasa.
Ranma loosed another flurry of punches and Cold Front sent each to the side before swinging and sending Ranma tumbling back clutching her jaw.
"Ranma she's done!" Jiro yelled from the end of the hall barred from approaching due in no small part to the fire that furiously churned there.
"Yeah, I know you," Ranma said as she rubbed at her jaw. "Just another hero who couldn't take the stress and went off the deep end."
"Raaa!" Cold Front slammed a hand against the wall nearest him, the condensation from the clashing temperatures instantly froze over. "I've saved over a thousand lives you little bastard! Then when the twisted twelve burned my home town, to the ground, with my wife, my mother and younger sister inside!"
Ranma filed the information away for later, it explained where the once hero'd been during his several months off the grid. Or at least it was a lead.
Turning Ranma fell into a modified horse stance and took a deep breath, the cold air was like needles of ice in her lungs. Fire frothed at her knuckles burning a deep yellow as it danced.
"Ranma!" Jiro called again.
Ignoring the other girl, Ranma focused on the villain in front of her. "What did you think being a hero had no risks? That the villains you stopped would say he's just doing his job or something? You're an idiot or something?"
When Cold Front charged he knew his words did the job. Ranma blocked one punch and turned away the next. The man had definitely gotten sloppier, she decided. Taking a half step forward, Ranma pivoted and fired a kick which caught the man in the stomach and sent him over the edge of the melted stairs. Her heart was racing, and all she wanted to do was leap down and keep fighting. It was the essence of Anything Goes after all. To lose oneself in the fight, but she turned away.
As if fired from a rifle her fire rocketed through the air and into the ceiling all at once. The stone expanded and shattered. The pieces that fell were massive, some reaching the size of fully grown adults. None of it would fall on the villain but it would stall him for a few minutes as he moved around the building to take another set of stairs or if Cementoss had been feeling generous an elevator. Not that Ranma'd seen one.
Her proximity to the fire Ranma'd left at the end of the hall had left Jiro doused in sweat and she as glaring at him. "You were in a fight with a villain weren't you?"
Scratching the back of her head Ranma loosed a laugh hearted laugh. "Yeah?"
She half expected Jiro to go off on her and instead she turned and stalked away. Ranma followed. Her fire trailing after her like a long snake.
Yaoyorozu had indeed finished creating a caution orange inflatable emergency slide which had been angled out the window and toward the ground below. Shoji who was bracing the slide didn't seem to have stopped his search and when he saw Ranma, she nodded solemnly.
Ranma nodded back.
Yaoyorozu seemed to understand what'd happened as well. "Okay, from what I've been able to gather, despite the fact we fell several stories we are still within the USJ and currently are in the northwestern area. So, if we continue heading Northwest we will reach the buildings edge rather quickly."
And how exactly were they supposed to figure out which way north west was exactly Ranma didn't know, so unless Kaminarti had some form of built in compass, He couldn't figure out how they were going to find out. As he was about to say as much, Yaoyorozu held up a compass.
"However, it may just be a better place to wander about the building to see in which direction the dome surrounding them was the closest.
"Okay, lets go." Ranma snapped and pushed Kaminari down the bridge. His startled scream was drowned out by the rain a moment later.
"Ranma!" Yaoyorozu snapped, "Why would you do that?!"
"What? Push the human stun gun out into the rain?" To emphasize her point there was a bright flash from the window and screams that actually managed to overcome the rain.
Jiro snorted, "and here I thought you were a meat head."
Yaoyorozu still didn't look pleased. "It still wasn't very kind, though I must say his quirk makes him rather qualified." There was a shriek then another flash of electricity.
"Ranma you jerk!" Kaminari must have yelled though Ranma could barely hear it.
"Think it's safe to go down?" Jiro asked after a minute without a burst of electricity.
Ranma deadpanned and pointed at the earphone jacks, "shouldn't you know?"
"Dude, it's raining so hard it's just drowning everything out." She said and Shoji nodded his agreement.
Ranma shrugged, "then wait here, I'll let you know if its safe." With a grin she slung herself down the slide balancing precariously on her feet. The rain battered at her, instantly soaking her semi-dry clothes. At the base of the slide Kaminari stood frantically looking about at the number of still bodies piled around him.
She took a leap as she reached the bottom landing lightly on one of the higher bodies, a woman with a mutant quirk, leaving her with thick down an orange beak and wide white wings.
"Dude you are such an ass!"
Regarding Kaminari for a moment Ranma snorted, "man up." She snapped before turning her attention to the building, "We're all clear!" She called up at the window, at least she thought they were, there was no real way to tell as the rain was coming down so hard she couldn't see more than a meter from herself in any direction.
In the minute it took for them to gather at the bottom of the slide Ranma was once again soaked to the bone, she could feel the sea of flames she'd left in the building dwindling. Raising her hands into the air she made a jerking motion.
"What are you-" Jiro started only to stop as the windows in the hotel above shattered and the veritable sea of fire poured out like a river breaching a dam.
It stopped several meters above their heads and began to rotate in time with Ranma's hands, as if she stirred it. The sizzle of evaporating water began to overcome the sound of impacting rain. Not a single drop of rain bypassed the barrier.
She shivered. After glancing about trying to get some kind of baring, she looked to Yaoyorozu. "Don't suppose you can make something that can tell us where we need to go?"
Yaoyorozu beamed. "Already done remember?" She held up the compass she'd used in the room. Ranma resisted the urge to face palm at the fact that he'd forgotten that they already had a compass.
"It looks like we need to travel in that direction." Shoji said pointing to the South-East, "It will lead us back to the plaza."
"And toward all those villains!" Kaminari snapped, "I think it's a better idea to head that way." He pointed North-East. "We can breach the wall and send up a signal we need help!"
Yaoyorozu tapped her chin, "We've already gone over this. Our first priority is to get out of the Down Pour zone remember."
Ranma actually laughed as the electric hero in training hung his head and looked away. It earned her a glare from both the ladies in the group. Her fire scorched the sides of the building they stood beside.
"I recommend we get moving then." Shoji deadpanned.
They wound their way through the streets keeping to the main roads so they couldn't be blockaded in the alleyway's, a fact Yaoyorozu was adamant about. They only ran across one group of six, the strongest quirk amongst them was a small woman who could emit bright flashes of light from her body. Yaoyorozu handled her by creating a pair of sunglasses and a staff, the first to stop the light and the second to whack the unprepared woman in the head.
As they moved on Ranma began rotating the fire even faster.
"Dude, it's hot enough don't you think?"
Ranma shot Kaminari a look, "I can't absorb the heat when I'm controlling the fire." She reminded him, "I've got to bring it with me so I can heat myself back up."
Jiro nudged her, "You can at least move it up a bit higher."
Pushing her hand into the air the fire rose higher in the air, it was quickly followed by the shattering of glass. They ducked their heads as molten globs and superheated shards fell around them. Ranma repeated the motion and the fire went higher still.
When it stopped Yaoyorozu remarked, "It might be advisable to keep the fire at a certain story level so as to avoid glass."
Ranma nodded and they moved on.
It took less than ten minutes to find the door to the Down-Pour Zone. As it opened Ranma found herself looking down a long flight of stairs that led to a path and then the plaza. In the middle of the plaza a large dark skinned, bird faced creature with its brain exposed and it was pressing Aizawa's face into the broken flooring.
The fire surged in front of Ranma, boring into the foliage as he dropped his control and stepped into the fire. She knew she'd need as much heat as she could get with what was coming.
End
Omake:
Ukyo Kuonji's day had turned long. It'd taken her an hour the previous day to hunt down the fat martial artist that could very well have been her father in law. Worse still when she had finally managed to corner the man, and the task was far harder than it should've been considering his size, her teacher had intervened. The lightly furred woman had landed between them in a crouch, her teeth shining in the day's waning light.
"What d'ya think yer doin girlie? A 'Ero is what yer supposed ta be." She said as she straightened before turning to Genma, her mouth fell into a thin line. "Ah, never ya mind. I understand. Iffin it ain't Manifest, how ya been Genma?"
Ukyo didn't think the fat man could pale further but he proved her wrong by far and somehow he managed to turn himself into a smaller ball as he responded. "Honey Badger, it's been a while."
"Jus' shut yer yap." Honey badger sighed and took up a position in front of Ukyo. "You girlie, did ya use yer quirk in getten him?"
Ukyo's heart began to hammer in her chest for an entirely different reason than it had before.
"An don' even think o' lyin." Honey Badger added the furry ears atop her head twitching.
Ukyo nodded, "I did. I finally had a chance ma'am, I wasn't about to let him get away!
Badger shook her head and clamped a hand down on Ukyo's shoulder. "Trus' me girl. He aint goin nowhere."
Genma began sweating bullets. Right when he thought he was going to get a major beating, the wall burst apart blowing a thick layer of dust across the street. He knew it was his chance he turned to run and scrambling to his feet made a break for it.
A/N: I meant to have this out much earlier but something's got in the way. Sorry about that. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Ranma's quirk is explained a bit better.
On a different note: I'll be hosting a chat on Saturday August 8th starting at 4 P.M. PST. The link will be up on my Profile and Patr-eon pages.
If you have a question, a thought, or just want to chat with myself or others, please feel free to join me.
Look forward to it. I know I am.
To those that reviewed, your replies are below:
Treant Balewood: Thank you very much! I'm glad you like Willa, I was hoping to give her a bit more screen time in this chapter but due to the location it seemed a bit of a iffy proposition. But she will be getting more. That I promise.
Firemaster101: Thanks for reading! That scene was a touchy part for me, it was difficult to get right and it still felt lacking something ya know?
SafetyHazart: Thanks. I really appreciate that you like the story so much. I'm hoping to continue adding the characters in a flow just as naturally.
Major Simi: Thank you, I'm glad your still enjoying it.
AnimeA55kicker: I'm not sure if it's the first. It's been awhile since I read it but I think it happened in "My Hero School Adventure Is All Wrong, As Expected' By Storybookknight. If you haven't read it, it's a great read. It seemed like an interesting concept either way.
James Birdsong: As always thanks for reading and your support! I'm glad you're still enjoying it.
CRose: Thank you so much. Coming from you it is a major compliment. I loved Golden Opportunity!
_Interlude Reviews_
Major Simi: Thanks again!
Firemaster101: They do, don't they? It's always interesting creating the story and finding out how the quirks interact and change everything around them.
SoralTheSol: Thanks for taking the time to review. Don't get me wrong I am in no way a fan of Akane, and there is no denying she could do with some therapy, not to mention her jealousy can easily spiral out of control. However, I do not believe she is a bad martial artist and I don't plan on writing her that way. She tends to believe she's lacking more often than not but in her first few bouts with Ranma tends to believe he got lucky.
In fact I tend to view her as a stubborn girl with an inferiority complex. You will be seeing how her training is improving her skills come the sports festival. I hope you're looking forward to it.
Ferdiad: Since all of your reviews are side by side, I'm just going to respond once here, I hope you don't mind. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Ranma has always been the kind to go above and beyond. He lives a Plus Ultra lifestyle so I made sure his abilities reflected that. Or I hope I did.
More splashing will come. I promise. Integrating the quirks with martial arts was surprisingly easy. Plus, it was a blast to write.
As for the lesson plans, I figured training in how to handle situations was needed but I'd never seen it in the anime. As for Ojiro. Well, the guys got a muscular tail beyond that he'd more or less quirkless. It was his skill that got him into U.A. But i didn't think it could match Ranma's, and in all fairness even in Ranma's canon alot of master didn't know about Ki.
Who said it was Happosai?
Fezzgator: Thank you very much! I know alot of people think I'm to harsh on Akane, but as a character I wont deny I despise her. Still, I'm trying to keep the portrayal within reason. I'm glad you like Willa! She's really fun to write and a great contrast to Ranma. I hope I can keep writing to such a standard that you can enjoy!