To the fray we go.
Evelyn welcomed the teen to intrude on the little fight. If not for him, surely, she would have suffered another defeat. But because of him, she was able to continue. With him knocking out the fang-fisted girl, she was released from the paralyzing venom in her arm almost instantaneously. She eyed the two that were left, and then her eyes went to the crowd.
Though the crowd watched and recorded all of the events that had happened, none of them seemed inclined to participate in the fight.
'For a school full of heroes, there sure are a lot of cowards out there.' She thought coldly, feeling the beginnings of a feverish hatred boil inside of her. If it had been her that instigated the fight, she would have guessed that they would all have jumped in to help their fellow comrades. But because Sebastian and his crew were the ones who moved first, any implications would be on those who aided them and not her. This allowed her a buffer of protection against those who would be against her. It was small, but it was something.
The quirkless teen boy strode up next to her, his eyes brimming with excitement as a slight sheen of sweat glistened on his face.
"You got a name?" She asked him, sizing up Sebastian who whispered something to SoundSorrow.
"Jason's the name." He said, his face smiling and confident before his features dipped into a menacing smirk. "Killing's the game." Without warning, he dashed towards both Sebastian and SoundSorrow at full speed.
"Whoa, what!" Evelyn cried out after him, reaching out a hand as she still struggled to shake off the aftershock from the monstrous blow Sebastian dealt to her earlier.
"You're going to be charged with the same counts of misdemeanors as Evelyn if you continue this!" Sebastian yelled at him; arms raised in anticipation.
"Put it on my tab!" Jason retorted, howling in laughter as he shot his grappling hook at Sebastian's ankle. With remarkable accuracy, the metal pincers flew directly at the disciplinary officer's foot spot on. Sebastian's eyes widened and he lifted his leg up just in time to dodge the hook. It flew past his leg, anchoring on the ground behind him.
Jason cranked up the speed on his control panel, and with a loud whirring sound the pulley roared to life in a pull configuration. He shot forward towards Sebastian with a sinister grin, clothes billowing and hair Because the anchor was lower than him he jumped before he propelled himself, blasting him towards Sebastian's lower body.
The disciplinary officer narrowed his eyes, and glanced down at the tight metal rope that connected the hook to his gauntlet. Then, to Jason's surprise, he grabbed it.
Jason's eyes bulged as he saw the line burst into a bright vibrant hot red as the fibers broke off in long splinters, the metallic string curling as it snapped.
He cried in panic as he hurried to disengage the rope from his gauntlet, watching with transfixed eyes as the heat from Sebastian blitzed towards his arm. He had no doubt in his mind that what had happened to Evelyn, was going to happen to him. The gauntlet after all was, unfortunately, tightly wound onto his entire forearm.
'This is going to sting.' He thought, as he pulled at the fail-safe switch but knew it was going to be too late.
SNAP!
The sound of something striking the metal exploded through the courtyard, and the line instantly snapped in two. The tension in the wire whipped the steel fiber in two different directions, one lashing the ground so hard it left a deep groove in the concrete. It sounded like the crack of the thunder against a gigantic metal girder. The other line went wild, flailing in the air causing students to dive out of the way, before it finally spun towards Evelyn.
Evelyn held her breath, eyes narrowing as she tried to anticipate how she would need to dodge it. She would need to jump and tuck into a diving spin right… now! Evelyn crouched down in preparation to do so, but a wall of wind and a mysterious aura sent all the hairs on her body up and locked her muscles in place.
"Seventh Song: Bamboo Wheel!" A woman cried to her right, the voice a reverberating echo in the wind, and a flash of white entered from her peripheral and towards the wire. She was a petite and curvy woman, shorter than herself and wore a smoky gray and white outfit. Long white hair flowed behind her as she jumped forward. She had a hand behind her and stood impossibly straight with a single foot forward. In her other hand, she held a long and thin sword with a rounded guard near the handle pointed forward in a stance Evelyn didn't recognize.
The woman in a glimmer of pure elegance wrapped the line around her sword in a blur of motion too fast for even Evelyn to comprehend. Her movements were so fast that her arm was a blur of raw speed, able to anticipate and manipulate the wire that should've been able to split concrete in half like a master baker handling dough.
With wonder, Evelyn watched the woman work the sword while the wind followed it, the line had no choice but to become wound up in the current and wrap itself around her sword. The woman stayed still, only moving her arms like she was rooted to the ground, and when she had finally caught the entire line she yelled again.
"Fourth Song: Weeping Lily!" With a deft motion that looked like she was drawing the stem of a leaf, she sent the wire back to the ground while she jumped and spun rapidly, causing it to gently spill itself into a neat little pile. She landed back on the ground, resuming her stance with the sword pointed to the steel wire, without evening breaking a sweat.
Evelyn, like every other student there, stared with mouths agape at the newcomer.
"What's going on here!" Krieger's voice broke through the crowd, NightSmoke hurried behind him with an entourage of school admin and security staff alongside her.
"About time." Evelyn hissed, snorting.
"The students were having a fight, you dolt." The woman said, her voice sharp and full of authority, yet still somewhat smooth and soft. Krieger narrowed his bushy blonde eyebrows at her. He was a pro-hero known for having super strength in the tips of his fingers and toes.
"Who are you calling dolt, you...dolt!" Krieger fired back, causing the young smokey white haired woman to raise an eyebrow as sharp as her blade.
"Who are you anyway?" NightSmoke asked from next to Krieger, as the staff immediately went to work dispersing the crowd.
The woman sighed, rolling her eyes before turning to look at Evelyn.
"I'm Rosemary von Maria, also known as Crisis, and I'll be your teacher starting today." She said, smiling at Evelyn.
"Ah. Class 28's new teacher. Not bad." Krieger changed his tone immediately, switching from inquisitive to a mock politeness. The bulking man's outfit was strange, he had a ton of cloth fibers attached to his fingers that connected to different parts of his body.
"You." He turned to Sebastian, who had picked up the unconscious animorph in both of his hands when the teachers had shown up. He stood there quiet and solemn, looking down on the ground as if embarrassed.
"Report to your disciplinary ward first. Don't care if she's hurt. You're all getting a stern talking to first." Sebastian didn't offer a muscle of resistance. They locked eyes for a second, and Eveleyn noticed a strange sense of respect was shown from the brute to the pro hero.
"That doesn't leave you off the hook." Kreiger said suddenly, and turned his head to Evelyn.
Evelyn sighed, opening her mouth to protest but the woman waved her off.
"I'll take her and the boy in." She said, and with a flick of her hand she sheathed her sword in it's holster at her hip. It was then Eveleyn noticed that the teacher actually had two swords, both in identical sheaths. She grabbed both Evelyn and Jason by the shoulders and pushed them gently forward.
"To the infirmary." She whispered gently. Letting them know where to go.
"They're going to the disciplinary ward too." Kreiger protested, placing an arm up in front of her.
"No, I think she's right Krieger." A soft voice said from their left. Evelyn turned to see a thin and spry old man dressed in military camo with his hands behind his back smiling at both of them.
"Sir!" Kreiger respectfully said, saluting and snapping to attention. The rest of the security team and school admin did the same, including NightSmoke.
"Uncle." Rosemary said with a soft smile, mocking a salute.
"Hey Maria, causing trouble I see. At my school nonetheless." He croaked, shuffling in a few laughs. The woman winked, and stretched her arms out before stepping over to hug the spry man.
"It's good to see you, uncle. Thanks for having me here."
"Well, I need you more than ever. Come with me, I'll speak with you in my office." He said, expression never changing from a glowing happiness, despite the wreckage of what has happened still fresh in front of him. Maria didn't move, she cast a worried glance at the two teens behind her. Evelyn was gingerly trying to cover her burned arm, while Jason was carefully pulling a new steel line through his gauntlet. Both seemed unworried or uncaring of their fate.
'Kids must be used to getting in trouble.' Maria thought to herself.
"And these two?" She asked her uncle, who had already begun walking away. He stopped in his tracks, turning a half glance. He eyed them, before the smile on his face deepened and his shift turned to his niece.
"See yourself in them don't you?" He asked, giving a chuckle. "You can see them to the infirmary first. I'll be waiting." She nodded gratefully.
"Thank you for allowing me this, uncle." She said, ushering the two towards the infirmary.
"I'm your uncle first, principal second. I'll give you a few favors just yet." He said, laughing to himself.
They all left the courtyard, leaving a thin and lean black student standing in the middle of the empty space with a white cloth over his face staring at them.
"Finish recording." He spoke, his mouth hidden by the cloth mask he wore. The mask was a pure white, with ever-changing black ink that formed perfect symmetrical patterns as it shifted.
Elevated in a perfect triangle formation above his head, three tiny silent drones appeared out of nowhere, slowly ebbing into existence as the perfect stealth technology turned itself off. Tiny rotos spun silently keeping them all hovering above his head, with tiny cameras still following the trio.
"Dock at E16. Recharge, restealth, and link back up on my location." He said, his voice deep and unyielding.
"Copy that Moros. What do you think?" A voice asked in the earpiece he had in his ear. Moros shrugged, cocking his head slightly as he did so.
"Not bad. But not great either. I probably would have finished all three in five seconds flat." He said in a nonchalant way.
"Guess we'll have to see next time, huh?" The feminine sounded voice asked, eliciting a smile that was barely noticeable under the mask.
He shifted the weight of the backpack he wore, which created a cacophony of slinking metal sounds hinting at the cache of items he had inside of it, before heading towards his own first day of class.
Evelyn stared at the back of the shorter woman in front of her. Upon closer inspection, Evelyn noticed that the woman was wearing a blazer and dress pants that were pale white. On the inside, was a gray vest, and white buttons donned both torso pieces down the center and sides. A silvery gray tie was tucked inside the vest, and she also wore a similarly gray pair of heels that did not click as she walked. Now that the action was over, she had her hair tied up in a neat bun behind her head, but a few locks of white hair stuck out and hugged her youthful and model-like face.
"Thanks." Evelyn found herself saying, though she had to really.. Really force it out to begin with.
"That was reckless you know." The woman instantly retorted, ignoring her gratitude. Evelyn clenched her jaw, ready for the lecture she had heard a thousand times already.
"I know, I know. Know my place. Don't fight cause I'm quirkless. You don't have a chance bec-"
"No, not that. I'm quite fine with that." Maria said, causing a confused look on both teens as they looked at each other.
"Wait, you're not going to lecture me?" Evelyn asked, feeling...something weird stir inside of her. Something she had not felt in a long time. So long in fact, she had no idea what it was, but it was unpleasant. And itchy.
"I am, but not for what you think. I was saying it was reckless to pick on three of them by yourself when you didn't even scout out their weaknesses yet. And for you to enter in the fight without even trying to work together with who you're backing up." She switched her attention between the two of them.
Jason blinked before looking slightly guilty and averting his gaze to the ground. Evelyn stopped walking, momentarily frozen in place.
"You're not mad?" Evelyn asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She was normally supposed to get scolded, and usually threatened with expulsion at this point. Every school treated their hero in training quirk kids like the next batch of prodigies that couldn't afford to get a single hair on their head plucked. Yet, this woman didn't seem to care at all!
"No, I'm quite mad. Mad that you're both so obviously talented but still so incredibly naive. You've got much to learn when you face those with quirks, lest you end up with more scars on your body than you can count." She said, finally reaching the entrance to the infirmary.
"Who are you?" Evelyn asked, hurrying up to close the gap and to stand next to the teacher. When she asked Jason's ear perked up, but he still remained staring at the ground, now that his gauntlet had been fixed he twiddled his thumbs together trying to avoid meeting eye contact. He was a bit embarrassed that he yet again run into a fight without thinking clearly.
"My name is Crisis. I'm a pro-hero who, like you, has no quirks." Evelyn's jaw dropped, and Jason looked up finally with wide eyes.
"Wait, you're quirkless? But… but what I saw you just did…" Evelyn protested, pointing back at the garden.
"That was pure technique and body conditioning. Something you both will be able to do once you start your training." Maria said, smiling at both of them.
"Look, you both have had rough lives up until now. Everyone in this class 28 will. You're all castaways, forgotten kids, bullied, and picked on because you don't have quirks. That's because people underestimate you, and forgot that unlike quirks, there's one thing everyone has access to." She paused for a second, placing a hand on both of their shoulders again and squeezing gently.
"Tenacity. Hard work. Motivation. Vigilance. Courage. These things are not exclusive to anybody, and they can make even the dullest edge, into the sharpest blade. I will teach you what it really means to be a hero." Maria said, finishing her speech with a soft pat on both of their shoulders.
Evelyn breathed in sharply through her nose, and a burning tightness shot up her face which could only mean one thing. She was crying. Crying because, for once in her life, someone had finally acknowledged her instead of looking down at her. Crying because someone was willing to teach her how to overcome the hurdles she faced, instead of telling her she should just give up and not try. Crying because someone finally gave her hope.
"Now go get yourselves checked over before you head to my class. I've still got introductions to do." She smiled and winked at them both.
Evelyn nodded, looking at the huge double doors that was the infirmary. Most schools had a single room or few dedicated for nurses. That was not the case here. A huge steel and glass building loomed over here, easily three stories high and a football field long. It was large enough to be its own hospital, but this one was dedicated for Lincoln Hero High students and faculty. She entered with Jason to get their wounds tended to.
Evelyn knew what that feeling she felt inside her was now.
It was admiration. She stowed it best she could, for she did not know if the woman was actually telling the truth about her quirkless origin. But if it was true, she had another person to look up to. Other than him.
Thoughts about him brought her to instinctively pop her hand into her bag, and she felt the tiny metal edge of the clasp that held a secret treasure. She had thrown the bag to the ground carelessly during the fight, but it was the first thing she grabbed before she left. She couldn't afford to forget it. More than losing her phone, her bag, her clothes, or even her life.
She looked over at Jason, whose attention was elsewhere, and she pulled at a tiny lever that opened the metal container that was slotted for necklaces open. Inside, was the picture of a man who had a huge smile on his face as he gave a thumbs up to the camera. The picture was tiny, but he was clearly clad in all green. Below the picture were the words: "It's okay. Because I am here."
Appreciate you folks sticking with me this long. Hope your health and your living conditions have been manageable. I've been able to incorporate all character submitted so far, with more elaboration to come. It'll be a bit before the next chapter, but I figured I'd at least give you guys something :)