What Heroes Face
Terra popped the top of her water bottle. She took slow sips as she walked on through the blazing furnace. Sweat beaded on her forehead, dampened her shirt in multiple places, and rolled down her back. Only a couple minutes had passed and already she was feeling the effects this place was having on her. Still she pressed on. There was an exit to this place and she was going to find it. Hooking her water bottle back to her belt, she broke into a run. The most logical thing to do was get to the wall of this building. Then she would be able to follow it until she found the exit.
As she was about to reach the end of the city block, thumping footsteps found her ears over the crackling fire. Her heart jumped. She rushed to the closest alley and ducked down it. Peering out she saw a familiar white and tan blur rushing towards the street. "Ojiro?"
"Get him!" a man shouted.
Terra stepped out of the alley and flung out her hand. Vines shot out from her palm. A man tripped on her vines, hitting the ground with a thump. Several others tumbled on top of them. Curses flew from the men's mouths as they scrambled to untangle themselves from each other.
"What was that?!"
"Look! It's another kid!"
"Don't just lay here! After them!"
Terra shot out more vines and wrapped them men up in them before rushing after Ojiro. By the time she got on the street he had run down the young man was nowhere in sight. "Great. Where did he go? Ojiro? Ojiro, where did you go?"
She rounded a corner and was jerked into the next alley. A scream ripped from her throat. She formed a thorn from her right arm.
"Wait! It's me!" Ojiro uncurled his tail from her waist.
"Geez. You about scared me to death. I thought one of those men had grabbed me." Terra straightened her shirt.
"Sorry. I heard you calling my name." Ojiro peered out of the alleyway. "I was being chased."
"I know. I saw you and those men. They're a little tangled up right now. But it won't take them long to get out of my vines." Terra took a gulp of water then held it over to Ojiro.
"Thanks." Ojiro drank some water then passed the bottle back to her. "I hope we don't run out of water." His eyes widened. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have drunk any. You need it more than I do."
"Don't worry about it. These buildings should have water in them. Or there should at least be a fire hydrant around. Remember this is to help students learn how to rescue people. I doubt they would have put a place like this in here if they didn't have water to help water users out."
"Right. I should have thought of that." Ojiro brushed the back of his arm over his forehead.
"Have you been running this entire time?" Terra eyed his damp outfit.
"Yeah." Ojiro nodded. "I landed in the middle of those guys. They were waiting for me."
"Then it's safe to assume the rest of our class is under attack too." Terra tapped her chin. "I wonder why I didn't end up closer to you."
"Maybe because we weren't standing close to each other?"
Terra knitted her eyebrows. "I doubt that. I was holding Sho-chan's hand when we were separated. He's not here."
"How do you know? I was here and you didn't know I was."
"Believe me." Terra smiled. "If Sho-chan was here we would know. He would create a big enough ice formation to let me know where he is."
"Right." Ojiro nodded. "We should-" A sharp snap and boom cut him off.
Terra glanced up to see a large piece of building falling down towards them. Before she could react Ojiro's arm appeared around her waist. A rush of air threw her hair back. The debris hit the ground with a hard thud. "That was way too close."
"Yeah. As I was saying, we should get out of here." Ojiro retract his arm.
"I was heading for the wall of the building. If we follow that we'll find the exit."
Ojiro nodded. "We'll have to get passed those guys. So far I've been able to escape them with hit and run techniques."
"Good plan since you were alone." Terra looked at all the fire. Smoke burned her eyes. "Looks like I'm not going to be much help here. But I'll do what I can. I'm sure All Might is on his..." Her heart sunk as the warp guy's words made their way back into her ears.
"What is it, Terra?"
"All Might. That guy, the one who separated us, said he wanted to kill All Might." Terra turned her eyes to Birdie. If only she could get word out to her uncle.
"They're insane if they think they can kill All Might." Ojiro smiled.
"Maybe… But don't you think it's odd?" Terra glanced up at him. "No one, that I know of, has ever try to corner All Might like this. I'm worried. What if they have a way to defeat him?"
"These punks? No way. All Might will handle them easily."
Terra forced a nodded. She hoped he was right. Still something about this whole attack probed at the back of her mind.
Shouts and footsteps appeared among the crackling fire.
"Looks like we're out of time. Let's go." Ojiro rushed down the alley.
Terra followed. She held onto Ojiro's words and prayed he was right.
…
Todoroki seethed. The guys who attempted to attack him were still frozen in place. He gotten some information out of them but it wasn't what he wanted. They had no idea how the warp guy's quirk actually worked. He had no idea where Terra was.
Sliding down the rocky slope on his ice, Todoroki's eyes lifted to the domed building with flames painted on the walls. He prayed that she wasn't in there, any other place but there. Either way he had to go look for her. If she was there he was going to need his help. A few feet from the building's floor, he jumped and broke into a run.
Coming closer to the fountain, Todoroki noticed a group of people. One of them was All Might. And the pro was fighting against someone tall, with dark skin, and his brains sticking out of his head. At first glance it looked like the pro hero had things under control. But Todoroki noticed All Might was bleeding, bent in a backwards position and partially stuck in the void thing that separated his class. He shot out his ice, capturing the man who was hurting All Might.
"Todoroki," Midoriya said.
"Midoriya." Todoroki skidded to a stop. "Have you seen Terra?"
"She's not with you?" Midoriya asked.
"What?!" All Might broke free of the monster's claws and landed a few feet from the teens. "Where is she?!"
"I don't know. We were separated by that warp guy," Todoroki said. "She hasn't sent me a signal. So I'm thinking she's in the fire zone."
"What?! The fire zone?!" Asui said. "But she's weak against fire!"
"I was heading there now," Todoroki said.
All Might growled, pulling everyone's attention to him. His already angry expression turned to pure rage. "Todoroki! Get to Terra! Now!"
Todoroki nodded. "I'm on it."
"That won't be happening."
Todoroki drew his eyes to the man who spoke. He wore hands over his body. His skin was cracked and looked unhealthy enough to fall off him.
"If you want to find you're little friend, then you'll have to get through me."
"Count on it!" Todoroki glared and took a step forward.
"Hold it! Don't let him touch you! He can rot your body with a single touch!" Midoriya said. "He shattered Mr. Aizawa's elbow with his quirk!"
"He can what?!" Bakugo growled.
Todoroki gritted his teeth. Things were worse than he thought. Still there had to be a way to get around this guy and the warping guy. He threw out his hand. Ice crackled as it shot towards the man with all the hands. He bolted to his left. His ice cracked and crumbled. The man with the hands jumped out, handing his fingers towards Todoroki's neck. Todoroki jumped back to avoid being touched. Getting passed this guy wasn't going to be easy.
…
Terra curled tighter into herself and waited. At the moment she was very glad this place was nothing more than a simulation. If it weren't the dumpster she was beside would be beyond bearable. Sweat all but poured down her skin now. And she was certain her deodorant stopped working. Smoke tickled her throat, stung her eyes until they watered. Shifting her hips she could feel how little water remained in her bottles. After this she was going to have to find some water to refill them.
Boots thumped on the concrete. Terra braced herself.
Ojiro shot by.
Terra shot out a vine, tripping the guys who were following him. As they tried to get up, she shot out more vines from her hands and wrapped them up before joining Ojiro at the end of the alley.
"Nice," Ojiro said.
"I should be saying that to you." They raced down the street as more men chased them. "You're the one doing all the hard work. I'm only tripping and wrapping them up."
"It's fine. I know all this fire is hard on you. I don't mind doing all the running. We're classmates, friends." He smiled. "You can count on me. Actually, I'm impressed by you. And a bit shocked actually."
"How so?"
"You haven't babbled once since we've been together. You're really focused. And different." Ojiro gave her a sideways glance.
Terra wasn't sure how to answer that. This plan they were executing was Ojiro's idea. They would find a good hiding place where Terra would wait for him to lure guys to her so she could trip and wrap them up. "Uh, yeah, well… We should get more water. My bottles are almost empty."
"Yeah." Ojiro nodded. "I could use a break myself."
They rounded the corner. A blur slammed into Terra. Searing hot pain shot through her arm. She screamed. A whack and a thump were distant in her ears seconds before her body crumbled to the ground. Through blurred vision she watched Ojiro bounce back and forth between the guys that were following them. He kicked one and knocked down two with his tail before a man bashed him on the back with a club. Blinking, Terra cleared her vision enough to notice the club was attached to the man's arm and was made of rock. Beside him was a skinny man with long, razor sharp fingernails.
"You two brats have been a real pain," fingers man said.
"Yeah. We've caught on to your little tricks," club man said. "It won't work on us. Your game ends here."
The two men charged forward. The club man headed for Ojiro as the fingers man headed for Terra.
Terra snapped out a vine. It wrapped around the man's wrist. The man chuckled and sliced the vines. She winced and pulled back.
"Well, isn't that interesting." The man licked one of his razors. "I cut your vines, I cut you."
Terra gritted her teeth. This was bad. Not only was she weak against fire she was a poor match against knives and other sharp objects. She flickered a quick glance at Ojiro. The club man's club had extended, keeping the younger man at bay. It was obvious the men had a plan from the start. She growled. These two must have been hanging back and watching them whittle down their friends. Of course they would be able to come up with a good plan. Ojiro was a close combat fighter. The club man was obviously the better opponent to deal with someone like Ojiro. And, being inexperienced with fights against villains, the two students fell right into the trap.
"What's the matter, girly?" finger man asked. "Noticed you're way out classed?"
Terra glanced back at the man before looking down at her left arm, pinned at her side. Her flesh bubbled from the hot concrete she had been shoved against. It needed medical attention. She glared at the man. "You won't get away with this. All Might is coming. Once he's here you'll-"
The man laughed, cutting her off. "All Might?! He's the reason we came here! We want him to come here! We're going to kill him!"
Rage built up in Terra's chest. She had almost forgot that's why this attack was happening in the first place. The man lifted his hand. Terra snapped out a vine from her ankles. One wrapped around the man's ankle in front of her while the other wrapped around the ankle of the man Ojiro was fighting. She yanked. The men's feet flew out from underneath them. They landed on the ground hard.
"You little brat!" Finger man growled. Rubbing his head he jumped up and charged at Terra.
Terra gritted her teeth. Fire flared in her eyes. The man got closer. Terra waited until the last second then shot out thorns from her skin. The man before her shrieked. Thorns pierced his arms, shoulders, legs and sides. Blood tainted the air.
"You little-" A loud pop of fire cut off the club man's words. He charged at her.
Terra snapped out a vine from her hand and wrapped it around his neck. She lifted him into the air. The man gasped and scratched at the vines. "You will not hurt All Might."
The man's skin tinted blue.
Terra tightened her vine and pushed her thorns farther into the man's body. Both men screamed. She moved to hurt them more but was stopped by a solid force plowing into her. Her vine and thorns retracted into her body.
"Terra, stop!"
Terra turned her eyes up to Ojiro. His eyes were full of confusion and concern.
"You can't hurt them," he said.
"Get out of my way," Terra hissed.
"No! I won't let you do this!" Ojiro snapped with enough force to cause Terra to jump.
The heat in Terra's chest vanished. She blinked and looked around, flinching when she saw the two men she attacked, before her eyes landed back on Ojiro. She opened her mouth but her words vanished from her. She adverted her eyes. Shame started settling into her mind when the two men jumped and rushed forward with a string of curse words on their lips.
Ojiro shifted off Terra, crouching to attack. He started to lunge but paused when a yellow blur shot passed him and knocked the villains down.
"Hey! Are you two kids okay?!"
Terra rolled onto her side and looked to find one of the UA teachers standing over the villains that had attacked them. If she remembered correctly the teacher was Power Loader.
"The pros have arrived." Ojiro dropped to the ground. "Thank goodness."
Terra closed her eyes and exhaled. If they were here then that meant All Might was here too.
"Are you hurt, Terra? Ojiro?" Power Loader knelt down beside her.
"Her arm got burnt," Ojiro said. "Other than that we're okay."
"All Might. Is he… okay?" Terra, heart racing, stared up at the ceiling.
"He's fine. Let's get you two out of here. You arm needs medical attention." Power Loader slipped his arms underneath her body and lifted her up.
Terra gritted her teeth to the pain.
As they walked towards the exit, Ojiro filled the teachers in on what they did to survive and how many men they attempted to trap. Terra tensed, expecting him to tell them she hurt the two villains. He said nothing. After getting a good idea of where the villains were located, the teachers, but for Power Loader who escorted them out of the fire zone, went to apprehend them. Back out in the main area of the USJ, Terra scanned for All Might and Todoroki as cooler air engulfed her. Todoroki was the first she saw as he came rushing over to her.
"Terra!" Todoroki's eyes sharped with danger when he looked at her burnt arm. "Who did this to you?!"
"It's fine, Sho-chan. Nothing that can't be healed." Terra wanted to reach out and touch his head, but couldn't. Her good arm was against Power Loader's torso and her burnt arm hurt too much to move.
Stepping outside, Ojiro joined their classmates as Power Loader carried Terra over to an ambulance. He laid her on the stretched then left to help gather up the villains. Todoroki followed her into the ambulance.
"I'm sorry, young man," the paramedic said. "Only family can-"
"I'm not leaving!" Todoroki snapped.
The paramedic jumped back and busied his hands with fixing Terra with an IV and a facemask for fresh oxygen. Then Recovery Girl entered into the ambulance. She stood beside Terra's burnt arm. "My, my, what a mess. Other than this burn do you have any other injuries?"
"No," Terra said, her voice muffled by the mask.
"She was in the fire zone," Todoroki said. "She's dehydrated. And breathed in smoke."
Recovery Girl nodded to his words before puckering.
Terra sunk into the pillow behind her, completely drained of energy from Recovery Girl's treatment.
"That should do it for now," Recovery Girl said. "I didn't heal you completely. I can tell you're already drained of a lot of energy from being in the fire zone. You rest. I'll finish healing you later."
Terra attempted to nod but sleep over took her.
…
Terra opened her eyes to the smell of sterilization and medication. Noting the unfamiliar ceiling above her she pushed herself up.
"Terra!" Arms engulfed Terra before she could figure out where she was. "My baby! Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine, Mom," Terra croaked out through the crushing embrace. "Please, let go before I pass out."
"Sorry." Tomoko pulled back, tears pooling around her eyes. "I about had a heart attack when the school notified me of what happened." Her worried eyes which to blazing fury. "How dare those idiots attack my sweet babies! It was bad enough that they attacked Birdie, but you?!"
"Huh?" Terra tilted her head.
"I told Tomoko about the interference," Todoroki said.
Terra found him sitting at the end of the bed.
"We're in Recovery Girl's room," Todoroki said. "All Might wanted you here instead of the hospital."
Terra nodded. "I see. Did they get any more information?"
"No." Todoroki shook his head. "All they seem to have wanted was to kill All Might. It didn't happen."
"Anyone else get hurt?" Terra asked.
"Who cares?! They aren't my babies!" Tomoko hugged Terra again.
"Ugh, Mom!"
"Sorry." Tomoko pulled back and started fiddling with Birdie again. "I should be more focused on Birdie." She released a growl mixed with fury and determination. "I have no idea how they blocked it, but they won't be able to do it again."
"Classes are canceled tomorrow," Todoroki said. "They want us to rest for a day."
Terra lay back on her pillow. Her mind buzzed with everything that happened until it locked onto what she did to those two villains. She swallowed and licked her lips. "I hurt two of them. Ojiro saw."
A thick silence fell over the three for several moments.
"I think it'll be okay," Todoroki then said. "It didn't appear that he told Ectoplasm. Don't think about it right now. If anything comes up, I'm sure All Might will take care of it."
Terra nodded. Todoroki was right. She still had All Might. Everything would be fine. She hoped.
NOTICE: Due to multiple keys on my keyboard on the verge of quitting, updating will be slow for a while. Because of this virus lockdown I have no idea when I'll be able to get a new computer. So bare with me as I try to get chapters typed up and posted.