Chapter 6: Internships: Drakan

A week had passed, and the students stood at the train station, saying their goodbyes to each other as they left to their respective internships. Sasaki waved to his friends before stepping on board his train. Squeezing his way down the rows of seats, he found two that were unoccupied. He sat down and put in his earbuds, then plugged them in to his tablet. He had to use a tablet instead of a phone; his hands were too big to do anything on the tiny screens. He selected his favorite playlist as the train began to move, and closed his eyes, a smile crossing his face.

Two hours later, he stepped down onto the platform, stretching his back. He saw a dark-suited man holding a sign with his name on it, and walked over to him. The man noticed him approaching and extended a hand.

"Mr. Sasaki, I presume?" he asked. At Sasaki's confirmation, he turned and beckoned him to follow. "I'm with Fourth Kind. He asked me to escort you to his office. He would have been here, but he was unfortunately called off to duty. Something about a bank robbery. Anyways, when we arrive, get changed into your hero costume and wait for him to return. Feel free to look around his office if you want." After twenty minutes of walking, they arrived at a large office building in the middle of the city. After getting changed, Sasaki stepped into Fourth Kind's office, marveling at the number of books and sculptures. After about fifteen minutes of wandering around, he heard the door open behind him.

"Ah, you must be Mr. Sasaki," a gruff voice said. Sasaki turned to see a large, four-armed man walking to the large oak desk. He had a shaved head, and his jaw was rather square. "I'm Fourth Kind, and you'll be working with me for the next week." He held out his large hand, and Sasaki gripped it, both testing the other's grip strength. Fourth Kind grinned as he felt his knuckles crack under the immense strength of Sasaki. "Now then," he said, letting go and subtly rubbing his hand, "what shall I call you? I can't imagine you would go around as a hero asking people to call you Sasaki."

"I'm Drakan, sir," Sasaki responded, and Fourth Kind raised an eyebrow in interest.

"Interesting. Well, for the time being, I suppose I ought to see what you can do." Internally, Sasaki pumped his fist. Now was the time he could show off his strength! Fourth Kind turned in his chair and picked up a remote. He clicked a button on it, and the floor beneath them began descending. As Sasaki watched in awe, the floor descended down into a large underground space, about the size of a soccer field. He heard the chair creak behind him. "Now then…" Fourth Kind said, and Sasaki felt two massive fists connect with the back of his head. He stumbled a bit, then turned around.

Fourth Kind was eyeing him with interest, rubbing his knuckles. "Very tough, very tough indeed…" he muttered to himself. He swung again, and Sasaki caught one of his fists, but the other slammed into his gut. He sharply exhaled, and gritted his teeth. He clenched down, feeling Fourth Kind's fist weaken in his grasp. He yanked it towards him while slamming his fist forwards, connecting with Fourth Kind's jaw. The impact knocked the pro hero back, and he stumbled, shaking his head. He looked up just in time to see a massive elbow bury itself in his nose, snapping his head back. He fell to one knee, chuckling.

"I haven't had any intern that could ever knock me down before," he said, glancing up at Sasaki. "You've got quite the hit there, kid. The world needs strong men like you." He stood up, knees creaking. "Now, how well can you make tea?"

Four days later, Fourth Kind was in his office doing paperwork when he heard a knock on the door. "Come on in," he called, and Sasaki entered the room, carrying a tray of tea. "Ah, Drakan, there you are. Say," he said as Sasaki set the tray down on his desk, "did you read that story in the news about our work? Isn't this just what heroes are meant for?" Sasaki grumbled internally, but agreed with his boss. For the past few days, he had been busy with taking care of his office while Fourth Kind was away on missions, doing community service, and training. This was not what he had signed up for, and he was growing tired of boring work. Coincidentally, at that moment the two heard screams from outside. Fourth Kind looked at Sasaki and nodded, moving towards the door. Sasaki grinned and followed his teacher outside. As Fourth Kind opened the door to the street, a wave of heat forced him back. He peered out a window, and saw a massive villain in the middle of the street.

He was about the size of All Might, and wore a gas mask and heavy orange pants and a coat. Flames danced around him as people screamed and ran, and he held out one hand. A stream of reddish-brown gel shot out, sticking to the side of a building. A flame touched the end of the gel, and it instantly combusted, sending a shockwave hurtling through the street. Further down the road, Fourth Kind saw several heroes trying to battle the blaze, but the water only seemed to spread the flames more. Sasaki kneeled down next to Fourth Kind.

"What's our plan?" he asked. Fourth Kind thought hard, and an idea came to him.

"Drakan," he said, "you're fireproof, right?" Sasaki nodded, and he continued. "Go out there and try to draw his attention. Try to lead him away from the people if you can. His attacks won't be able to hurt you, since he seems to primarily use that napalm-like substance. Get him far away, and me and the other pros will work on rescuing the people. We'll send backup to help you, but it might be a few minutes. Do you understand?" Sasaki nodded, face grim, and Fourth Kind grinned, giving him a thumbs up. "Go be a hero."

Sasaki stood and opened the door, the sudden wave of heat not affecting him. He stepped out into the knee-deep gel, flames licking at his body. He charged through the flames, and the villain noticed. He sprayed more napalm at Sasaki, and Sasaki spun. He scooped up a handful of the gel and flung it, hoping to simply distract him. He was shocked to hear the villain scream as the gel splattered on a patch of exposed skin on his neck, frantically trying to bat it away. Sasaki saw a dark burn on the villain's skin, and looked over to the building. "Fourth Kind!" he yelled. "The fire hurts him! He isn't immune to his own fire!"

He turned back to the villain and charged. The villain took off, his heavy metal boots splashing napalm everywhere. Sasaki chased after him, following him down the streets as terrified people scattered out of the way. The villain kept spraying napalm behind him to slow down Sasaki, but he just swatted the flaming gel away. Suddenly, the villain spun around suddenly, slamming his fist into Sasaki's nose. The impact stunned him, and he slipped, landing hard on his back. He heard laughing, and more gel splashed over him. He held his breath, trying not to get any in his mouth as the flames raced over him.

"You think you can stop me, kid?" the villain said, laughing. "You're nothing! And now, because of you, all of these people are going to die!" He raised his hands, and Sasaki saw a stream of napalm fountain into the air. His eyes widened as he saw it come arcing down, aiming right for a building labeled "Oramushi's Daycare". His cheeks swelled, and a massive wave of lava shot forth. It cooled to a thick layer of stone in the air, splashing the napalm away from the building. The villain grabbed Sasaki and lifted him into the air. He threw the massive hero at the rock, and his head slammed into it. He groaned as he fell to the ground, then yelled as a chunk of rock came crashing down onto his head. As he struggled to sit up, he saw a pair of orange eyes through the lenses of the villain's mask.

"Hear me, citizens of this town!" he cried, arms spread wide. "Look down at your 'hero', this failure! Look how he selflessly tried to save you all, but he couldn't even save himself!" He lifted the dazed hero over his head with one arm, presenting him like a trophy. "Let this child be an example to all who try to cross me, Firestorm!" He slammed Sasaki onto the ground and held out his hands. Sasaki, vision swimming, saw a burst of napalm splashing towards him, and rolled. He dodged the sticky gel and swung his fist, connecting with his mask. It shattered, and Firestorm roared in pain as the heat from the fire singed his hair. Sasaki grabbed him and swung him, launching the villain across the street. He raced over to him, delivering a massive blow to his head as he fell. Firestorm flew back, and caught himself in mid-air. He landed on his feet, and looked up to see a massive wave of lava rushing towards him. He froze, screaming, as his life flashed before his eyes. The orange glow decayed, and a massive chunk of rock slammed into his head.

Back at Fourth Kind's building, the heroes had managed to stop the blaze from Firestorm's napalm, and were administering first-aid to the civilians while the police searched for more victims. He heard a series of heavy footsteps from behind him, and Fourth Kind turned to see Sasaki stumbling over, legs smoking. In his hand, the villain hung limply, bright scarlet burns streaking up his face. He dropped the villain and fell back, sitting down as exhaustion consumed him. Police rushed over to handcuff Firestorm, and Fourth Kind, concerned, knelt down next to his intern, who was panting heavily. Sasaki grinned, and raised his arms.
"I'm a hero now!" he cheered, laughing to himself. "I'm officially a hero!" Fourth Kind chuckled at the student.

"You sure are, Drakan, you sure are." Sasaki let his arms fall back down, and he closed his eyes, breathing deeply. "But you know, you aren't legally a hero until you get your license." Fourth Kind smirked at his new protégé. "I'm sure that shouldn't be a problem for you, though."

In the following hours, the news spread faster than Firestorm's napalm. Sasaki, who had been taken to a hospital for a checkup, was mobbed by throngs of reporters eager to interview the young hero. He gladly accepted, loving the attention they were giving him. He had defeated his first villain at just fifteen, one of the youngest heroes in the city. His friends had been messaging him, eager to hear about his fight. He assured them that he would tell them all about it back at school.

The next two days were less eventful, and mostly consisted of Sasaki doing more community service with Fourth Kind. This time, however, he felt greater satisfaction, as he heard people talking about his heroic actions while he worked. One little boy had run up to him and asked for his autograph! He smiled as he remembered the look of joy on the child's face when Sasaki signed his notebook. The train jolted, and Sasaki realized they were slowing down. He yawned, stretching his arms as the train stopped at the station. He hopped off at the station and began walking towards a large hill. His house was a simple stone building carved into the other side of the hill, beside the quarry his father owned.

As his house came into view, he heard a thundering laugh as his father waved to him from the entrance to the mine. His father was a vast, hulking figure, standing over seven feet tall and weighing an impressive 650 pounds. His powerful arms were legend around their small village, and there were rumors that he had dug the jewel mines his company ran with nothing but his bare hands. "Hey there, Drakan!" he called out, laughing. "Come, come, tell your mother and I all about your fight. She's been worried sick, but I knew my son was the toughest hero in the city!" Sasaki smiled as his mother emerged from their house and embraced him in a spine-crushing hug.

"Aaah, honey, I'm so proud of you!" she said, releasing him. "I was so worried when I saw the footage of your fight, but you fought him like a champ! That thick skin of yours sure came in handy!" His mother was around his height: about six and a half feet. She was slightly slimmer than he was, but was in no means any weaker. Working in the mines with her husband all day, carrying massive, thousand-carat gemstones he dug out all the way to the surface hundreds of feet above, had given her some of the strongest legs in Japan, and before she married Sasaki's father, she was a body builder. Her Quirk gave her virtually impenetrable skin; completely fireproof, nothing short of a tank round could scratch her. Sasaki's father had the same Quirk his son had, Eruption, but he mostly used it to fuel their stoves and to create supports for the mineshafts.

Sasaki had gotten the best of both Quirks when he developed them; his skin, while not as tough as his mother's, was still tougher than rock; the only things that had ever managed to cut him were Moki's talons. All three had the same white hair and dark orange skin, and were generally shaped the same: large and rounded, yet incredibly strong, sort of like how an overweight biker can still lift his motorcycle over his head, even though it weighs the same as him.

As the sun descended over hill that evening, Sasaki laid down in his large, custom-built bed. Everyone in his family had custom beds, as they were too heavy for standard wood-frame ones. They were made out of stone, and were fitted with high-density foam for comfort. Sasaki looked around his room, which was furnished with various gym equipment, and yawned, resting his head on his pillow. The next morning, he walked into the classroom, and sensed something was off. Midnight was standing in front of the class, silently staring at her lectern. Everyone was nervously whispering to each other, occasionally sending glances to the empty seat in the second row. Sasaki warily took his seat, and Midnight solemnly looked up to the class.

"Everyone, I have some bad news," she said. She sighed, then threw a desolate look to the empty desk. "Toschi Hatsume has quit the hero program."

Author's note:

Uh oh, what happened to Toschi that made him quit? Up next will be Moki's internship, then Reikokuna, then I'll finish it off with Toschi's internship with All Might and the two other Sports Festival champions. Also, if you couldnt tell by now, I was heavily inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for this story. Toschi's Quirk is the most obvious one, as Stasis is one of the runes Link can use with the Sheikah Slate, but the design for Sasaki and his family was inspired by the Gorons, a race of large, heat-resistant miners that live on Death Mountain. Moki was inspired by the Rito warriors, a race of bird-people that can fly rather fast and are incredibly good archers (I left that part out when I created Moki). The villain in Reikokuna's internship (spoiler alert) is going to be inspired by the Zora, a race of half-fish people. Also, in Moki's chapter, one of the characters is an easter egg. If you can guess what it is before Toschi's chapter is released, I'll try to incorporate your OC in the story. Have fun, and enjoy!