Chapter Twenty-One

Calm Before the Storms

"Shut up!" Brutus shouted from the front of the classroom, getting everyone's attention and scaring me out of a light sleep at my desk. I wiped the drool from my face and leaned back in my chair, ready to hear what he had to say. "Exams are tomorrow, I trust that you've all had your hero costumes redesigned in time."

Brutus let out a long sigh.

"Listen, I'm not great at this kind of stuff, but you guys have done a lot in the way of training and you've come a long way. Depending on how your performance is tomorrow, I'll have something to share with you all. Just something from the principal." He finished.

"Was that positive reinforcement?" Tanner asked loudly, causing everyone to giggle, including myself.

"Yeah, what happened to Brutus?" Ri chimed in, laughing as well. She turned around and smiled at me, making me blush and hide my face.

"Alright, calm down or I'll expel you all." Brutus said shamefully before taking another deep breath. "I don't know if you guys have forgotten by now, but this is an alternative high school program. If you guys don't give tomorrow your absolute all and prove that you have a right to be here, you're gone. All of you. If they think that even for a second that you aren't cut out to be heroes you get expelled for real."

Brutus looked at me directly.

"You guys have done a lot of training, but the kids in that building over there," Brutus pointed out the window to the giant glass monolith that was Imperium. "They have too, and you need to be ready to get your asses kicked. They will not show mercy because you might get hurt, they will make sure it hurts. These exams aren't just most of your grade this semester, it's your ticket to heroism — because the second that the people watching know who you are, they won't forget. No one takes us seriously and I'm counting on all of you."

I felt — no, I knew Brutus was specifically talking to me. I nodded at him and he smirked.

"Anyways, get your textbooks out and let me do my job." Brutus chuckled as he turned to write on the whiteboard.


"Axe kick!" Ri yelled at me as she raised her leg above her head. I reacted quickly and closed the gap between us, wrapping one arm around her leg and slamming her on the ground. She gasped as she hit the dirt and laughed as she caught her breath. "Good job, babe!"

I chuckled as she pecked me on the lips and shoved me off her. She helped me up and handed me a water bottle, which I gladly gulped down like it would save my life.

"Your new suit is doing a lot for you." Ri said as she disappointedly looked at her new empty water bottle. "The armor is a real step up from version one."

She rapped her knuckles against the metal plates on my chest and stomach, producing a sharp 'ting!' noise. I chuckled and looked down at my new costume. It was slightly bulkier than before, with black armor plating on my legs and chest, along with shoulder pads and gauntlets that broke up the almost solid white of the jumpsuit beneath.

"Yeah, I just hope it holds up tomorrow." I said as I rubbed my neck nervously. "Do we know who we're fighting yet?"

"Not at all." Ri said as she flipped the water bottle in her hand. I smiled nervously as I took a deep breath. "Hey, you're gonna do great, don't worry."

Ri put her hand on my shoulder and leaned against me.

"Yeah, I just…" I sighed. "I'm thinking about what Brutus said, you know?"

"Yeah…" Ri said quietly as she grabbed my hand and removed my glove. "Listen, I know you're gonna do great. Just because you're quirkless doesn't mean you're powerless."

I scoffed.

"That's not what anyone else thinks." I said.

"And who cares what they think? If the person you fight tomorrow underestimates you, you're gonna win, Emmet." Ri told me. "Power doesn't come from your quirk, it comes from right here."

She poked the left side of my chest.

"You're gonna rock the exams and show the world what you're made of." Ri reassured me. "Even if it hurts. You're gonna be all alone out there against someone who wants to hurt you. You can't win if you don't fight, so what are you gonna do about it?"

"... Fight." I said quietly.

"What's that?" She asked, cupping her hand around her ear.

"Fight." I said louder. Ri laughed.

"One more time?"

"Fight!" I exclaimed while laughing.

"Hell yeah." Ri approved. I wrapped my arms around her and put my head on her shoulder. I was about to suggest we get back to training before the sun went down, but my eye was caught by a familiar car rolling into the parking lot.

I sighed deeply and let go of Ri, crossing my arms as I watched the car pull up and eventually stop at the entrance.

"Who's that?" Ri asked when she saw what I was looking at. I sighed as I watched Jason get out of the car and jingle his keys, answering Ri's question. I hadn't seen him since Halloween, nearly three months ago, but the second he saw me he started laughing to himself.

"How's your face?" Jason asked with a smirk. The comment made Ri take one big step towards him, but I grabbed her wrist as I heard the dorm's front door open.

"Not now." I whispered. Footsteps approached and I turned my head to see Amy speedily walking toward Jason, who opened the passenger door for her. My breath caught in her throat as I laid eyes on her. I shook my head to clear my mind and focus on Ri. Amy glanced at me and immediately looked at the ground as if to make sure Jason didn't catch her looking. I followed her lead and stared at the ground as well. "Can we just go inside?"

Ri sighed and pulled her hand free from mine before shaking her head and smiling.

"Yeah." Ri said, trying not to sound agitated. We began to walk back into the dorms, but I briefly glanced back to the car to get one more glimpse at Amy before Jason peeled out of the parking lot. I wanted to hit myself in the face for still holding onto my feelings, but I clenched my fists and put them in my pockets to better contain myself.

"You okay?" I asked Ri, who was visibly angry. She exhaled loudly and walked into the kitchen looking for some water.

"I'm fine, he just got on my nerves." She said as she hopped onto the counter and took a breather.

"That fast?"

Ri nodded.

"It's just…" Ri began as she ran her hands through her hair. "What he did to you and does to Amy."

"Yeah…" I sighed. I rubbed my palms together and removed my gloves before walking over and grabbing Ri's hands. "I'm okay, though."

"And Amy?" Ri asked.

"Uh-I-I mean, weren't you the one who said it would be better if I didn't get involved?" I stuttered as I went red.

"Listen, I-" She sighed. "I know what I said. I just didn't think the way you were getting involved was the right way."

I slipped my hands away from Ri's as my mind drifted back to Amy. She hadn't talked to me for more than a few minutes since Halloween, which was probably for the best but it made me uneasy whenever I passed her in the hallways or saw her in class — which, you know, was every day. Looking at her still made my heart flutter and my face bright red, which I tried especially hard to hide.

"Can we just… change the subject?" I asked as I heard Jason's car scream out of the parking lot. Ri nodded and leaned back against the cupboards.

"Did you see the news?" She asked with a sigh. I hung my head and looked at my boots.

"... Yep." I said quietly. "Fifth hero to be found murdered in four months. Seventh person total."

I had told Ri about Voss and the Allfather soon after we had started dating, something that she didn't take lightly. We had been keeping track of the news pertaining to him ever since the retired hero Summertime Madness was found murdered in his house, the fourth murder perpetrated by what locals called a vampire.

"You're sure it's him?" Ri slid off the counter and took a stand next to me.

"There's no way it isn't." I declared matter-of-factly. "All of their bodies were drained of blood, locals are calling him a vampire… He's gotta be planning something."

I hadn't seen Voss since October but that didn't rule out that he hadn't seen me. Still, it seemed odd that he was too busy to scare me into injecting myself with the quirk as he had before.

"Emmet, when do you think you're going to have to tell someone?" Ri asked, getting visibly anxious.

"I can't. He is going to-" I was cut off by Vana walking past the kitchen and into the girl's dorm's hallway. "If I tell anyone, he is going to kill me and everyone I know. Everyone."

"And if you don't tell anyone?"

"Right now he only wants me, if anyone is going to die because of me, it is going to be me and only me." I tapped my chest. "This is my responsibility and I need to stop him on my own."

"People are already dying." Ri berated me, now annoyed. "How many more people is he going to have to kill before you do something about it?"

"I'm doing something about it right now. Me being here right now is what I am doing." I argued. "This is it."

Ri opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. She just shook her head and turned around.

"I don't want you to die." Ri said, still shaking her head. I grabbed her hand and turned her around to face me.

"I know." I reassured her. "I'm not gonna die."

My heart began to hammer against my chest as I said those words. In response, Ri squeezed my trembling hands.

"Okay." She sighed. "I'll see you at exams tomorrow."

I nodded and she slipped her hands away, walking back to her dorm.

Whatever Voss was doing, I truly had no knowledge of it, but I did know that it couldn't be anything good. How many more people would have to die before I could do anything about it? The more I thought about it, the more I felt the urge to put my head through a wall, so I decided to walk up to my dorm and change, hoping a nice shower would clear my head.

The dorms were quiet this evening, most of the class trying to mentally prepare for the exams tomorrow by winding down. When I entered our dorm, James was enjoying himself greatly by messing with some of his support items. He spun his large circular shield on his finger as if it were a basketball, something he couldn't get enough of, seeing as it's not the first time I'd seen him do it. He glanced at me as I entered and grimaced.

"Bad day?" He asked, stopping the shield from spinning and placing it by his bed. I ran my fingers through my hair and chuckled.

"Yeah, just argued with Ri for a minute." I half told the truth.

"Woof, man, I'm sorry." James said. "Everything alright?"

I nodded as I began to take off my costume.

"It's fine, man." I reassured him as I changed into some more typical clothes. "Just some stuff about exams tomorrow, we're both stressed. We'll be fine."

"Alright, dude." James accepted my answer and stood up to pat me on the shoulder. "You're gonna kill it out there, don't worry."

"I hope so." I said quietly, my eyes wandering to the underside of my bed, where my suitcase was. Not wanting to be tempted any further, I looked away quickly and put my pajamas on. "I'm gonna go shower, don't touch my stuff."

James laughed as I pointed at my hero costume laying in a heap on my bed. He didn't realize I was only half-joking, but I chuckled too.

Kind of a dialogue heavy chapter this time, but I'm really trying to work on developing the main cast, especially after picking up with them after three months. I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I had a lot of fun writing it and I'm excited for what's coming next, so leave a review letting me know what you thought and remember to follow if you wanna see what comes next. I also think I've fixed the page break issue, so hopefully you won't see any hard cuts between scenes. Do let me know if there's still any I need to make changes to.