Heeey Everyone! So, First Off I'll apologize for last week's lack of upload. For most of the week I was sick, and when I wasn't I was busy at work. However, there's also another reason that may not be popular amongst you guys. I've gotten a bunch of advice from both the Discord server (Thank god for these guys/gals) and a few from PMs and Reviews and honestly, I can't disagree with some of the points they made.
This Arc, while essential, is a bit...out of place? It feels like it's too early in the story and going back I can see that now. Hindsight is 20/20. We'd barely started to meet and come to know Class FH2 (This applies to me as well as I spent almost a month and a half not writing them which attributed to the difficulty I had with this chapter) and then I go and throw all these other big characters at you. Not the best for storytelling purposes. But what's done is done, not much I can do at this point, so I've made a few hard decisions going forward.
1. And this is going to royally piss off a lot of you...I'm delaying the introduction of Class FH1. I know, I know, but the main problem people had with this last Arc was the lack of time spent with our "Main Characters". I discussed this with the Discord folks (See this is why you should join, to get all the inside info and make an impact on the story), and we came to this decision. Now, you may be thinking "Buixy, why don't you just do what Hori just did and have a lesson between the two classes?" And to that, I say...good idea, but something I already have planned for later on down the line. Therefore, Class FH1 will not be showing up for a while (Maybe another Arc or two) in the interest of getting to better know Class FH2. If your submission is a part of Class FH2 and you would like to withdraw them from this story (Perhaps to submit them somewhere else) just let me know over PM. No hard feelings, I can understand being frustrated about not seeing your character.
2. Alright, back to these next two Arc that will focus on Class FH2...I didn't plan for this (My old plans were to jump from this current Arc right into a something involving two classes), so I am sending an open invitation to you guys. What'd you wanna see our classes do? It can be anything from filler-y type stuff to character-driven plotlines (Though I am reserving the right to deny these if I feel they are better placed later in the story).
I think that's all I have to say about that, so we'll move on to other stuff. First...THANK YOU HIATUS FOR SAVING THIS STORY! But seriously, the reason this is going up so late is that my first draft of this chapter...well, he's too polite to say this but it sucked great big donkey balls. I took his advice and added in a scene that I was rather hesitant about (You may be able to identify it) and as usual, helped change around a lot of the confusing wording and overcomplications that usually follow my writing style.
Next, YOU GUYS F***ING ROCK! Holy cow, we hit 50 favorites AND follows, I just asked you guys to hit one! Thank you all so friggin' much!
Finally, Man, it's a wonder what the announcement of new Pokemon Games can do to restart your passion for the games. I've made significant progress in the planning and preliminary writing for my side story, which I've renamed to Pokemon Odyssey: Hoenn, after seeing Pokemon Journeys was already taken. Side note: I am fully on the Sobble train guys. Usually, I pick the grass starter (with the exception of Johto because of Cyndaquil) and don't get me wrong Grookey is adorable, but COME ON SOBBLE IS FREAKIN GREAT!
Okay, I'm done. Jeez the AN might be longer than some of my shorter chapters. Hope you all enjoy and let me know your opinions to everything I have written above. PEACE!
Purpose of a Hero
Three years ago, Derrick Holl got a phone call from his old mentor. The phone call that landed him his job as a teacher, which he rarely regretted accepting. But today his patience was being stretched to the limit, with the grueling task ahead of him having just begun. When he'd first accepted his current position, he was freshly retired from his position as a Professional Hero at the age of thirty-four with a major back injury and was desperate to keep his adventurous fire burning. Though, he never once imagined himself being in charge of sixteen teenagers, many of whom seemed determined to make his life as hard as possible. On a normal day corralling the students was hard enough, but for the past three weeks, Thursdays had been a nightmare with the whole clean-up operation.
Ever since the Yonkers Incident, as it was being called in the media, he and his fellow specialist teachers had thrown their initial lesson plans out the window and, at the insistence of the school board, focused instead on getting the students into fighting shape as quickly as they could. Then came the order from the Council that the students were to suspend their second Hero Etiquette class of each week, something Barthory had stoutly fought against, and instead get on a bus and make the thirty-minute drive north to the ruined city to assist Pro Heroes and volunteers with the very extensive cleanup.
'Three weeks and we've still only cleared a third of the blast zone. At this rate, it's going to be a while before the displaced can return to their homes. Well...at least the kids are learning the difficulties of the Hero life fairly early.' A sudden movement caught his eye and he sighed before stomping over to break up yet another fight. "Kazani, Ramirez, knock it off. Rivalries are all good but please stop having your grudge matches in class. We haven't even left the parking lot yet!"
"Tell Kazani to back off!"
"Tell Clara to stop yelling! It's annoying!" The two girls butted heads once again, completely ignoring the fact that their teacher was standing right beside them. Derrick groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Why me?"
"Hm, as interesting as this it… I believe our energy would best be served once we arrive at our destination." The sound of his star pupil's voice was like music to the middle-aged man's ears, while the way he lifted the brawny Clara over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes really helped brighten his mood. As Lyon made his way to the bus, his unwilling passenger thrashed about, elbowing him in the head and punching his ribs, only to pull her hands away smoking. "Yes, I wouldn't do that. I've been told that when I get injured my body heat increases to a temperature akin to that of a bonfire."
"PUT ME DOWN YOU BASTARD FURNACE!" The irate Clara roared, her voice becoming louder with each syllable. Much to her surprise, Lyon complied and dropped her into one of the padded bus seats. She didn't even realize they'd boarded the vehicle. Her surprise quickly turned to annoyance as the orange-haired boy sat in the seat beside her.
"To make sure you behave," he said in response to her glower.
"You have two seconds to move your scrawny ass before I deafen you for life," Clara growled. Lyon just chuckled and raised his flint-tipped fingers and shoved them in his ears. "You think that'll help, smartass!?"
"Not particularly. I simply knew it would get a rise out of you." The magenta-haired girl snarled and reared back her fist. Just inches before it connected with his face, Lyon grabbed her by the wrist and raised an eyebrow.
"My, my, exceptionally violent this morning, aren't we?" Just then, the bus lurched forward and began to move. Seeing that she was most likely stuck due to the driver's Quirk, Clara pouted and leaned her head against the cool window, trying to ignore the noticeable wave of heat that seemed to pulsate off of her seatmate. After a few minutes, however, the heat became too much and she snapped...again.
"Turn off the space heater, Flame-idiot!"
"I'm afraid I cannot. It is a side effect of my Quirk, just as your loudness is a side effect of yours," Lyon shot back, the smile never dropping from his face. Clara went to yell again, but this time found no sound come out. Try as she might her voice seemed to have left her, so she settled on alternating glares between the smirking boy beside her and the seemingly oblivious bus driver. Meanwhile, just a few seats behind them, Melody sat re-reading a text conversation she'd had with her best friend, Nathan, just that morning.
Nathan: Sorry, Mel. Gotta skip training this weekend. Little bro has some, like play or something. We can hang later in the day thouhg
Melody: Though*. And sure we can meet up, I'll just do my training by myself...all alone…
Nathan: Oh go to hell with your perfect spelling, Mel. And you better not be pouting, you know I hate it when you do that.
Melody: Language!
Nathan: Screw it! I'm done with you, see ya Saturday.
The redhead frowned and set her phone down on her lap. 'Crap, I was really looking forward to hanging out with Nathan again. Oh well, I've got that essay for literature due on Monday. I'll just get in a quick training session and then bunker down in the library to finish it.' Just then, she was broken out of her reverie as the bus swerved, bucking Kira out of her seat, to avoid someone running across the street on their phone. She had to fight back the urge to call out their driver, a hot-tempered man named Gregory Hopkins, on his foul language. "Hey, Melody~." A sing-songy voice said from the seat behind her. It was Kira, perhaps Melody's best friend outside of Nathan.
"What's up, Kira?"
"Whatcha doin'?" Kira's black eyes seemed to shimmer with something Melody had become very used to seeing in the girl's eyes over the past month… mischief. Before she could react, her classmate snagged the cell phone from her lap and ducked back behind her seat.
"Hey!" The redhead cried and lunged over the seat. Kira dodged and leaned back as far as she could go, her body bending so far over the back of the seat that she was nearly nose to nose with Eris Blackwood, one of the few people in her class that Melody hadn't had much interaction with. "Give it!"
"Oh-ho-ho, Melody is just being a bit cranky because she can't go see her boyfriend this weekend," Kira taunted playfully. If there was one thing about her friend that constantly stretched her patience, it was the girl's incessant need for gossip. Despite the fact they had only attended school for a little over four weeks, the black-eyed girl seemed to know every relationship, who liked who, and who was going behind who's back. Oh, and did she ever adore teasing anyone she could using that information, though Melody seemed to be her favorite target. In return, the redhead took great pleasure in taking advantage of the other girl's clumsiness. Nothing too serious, just occasionally moving around the furniture in the dorm.
"I swear Kira, give me my phone!"
"You don't swear though," Kira said with a roll of her eyes. The struggle continued for a few moments before a well-placed jab to the ribs caught Kira unaware. She grunted and loosened her grip just enough for Melody to snag back her mobile device.
"I swear, sometimes the two of you are as bad as Kira is with Clara," said Andi from her spot next to Hazel, across the aisle from Melody.
"Quiet, elf!" The black-eyed girl retaliated, referencing Andi's large antennae-like ears. The shorter girl shook her head and turned back to continue her conversation with Hazel. It took a little longer for Kira and Melody to settle down enough to talk without making faces or pinching the other. Back at the front of the bus, Derrick smiled and shook his head. 'I swear these kids are just as bad as we were back in the day. No surprise Melody gets easily embarrassed and annoyed at the mention of romance, Harmony used to be the same way… when she wasn't sucking face with her boyfriend.' His smile fell as the memory brought a stinging pain to his chest. 'It's still hard to imagine that there is so few left from the old gang. The Abrams, Harmony, the Yancys, all gone. Now it's just me and...him. I swear I won't let the same happen to these kids.'
Purpose of a Hero
The work was difficult. Despite the fact that they had full clearance to use their Quirks, moving rubble and clearing the burnt out husks of vehicles off the streets was enough to make even the strongest members of their class sore for the whole weekend. Melody had perhaps the easiest, but most stressful job. Currently, she was in her Wraith form underneath the unstable rubble of an apartment complex, checking for weak spots. "Uh, there's a really big crack in the north wall that we could use! The west is completely caved in, while the south is still spewing sewage, so let's stay clear of that!" She called from her position. Outside of the ruined building, she heard Alexander Blackwood call an affirmative and, just a few seconds later, there was a deafening boom and the north wall collapsed, which caused a chain reaction leading to the entire complex, which had resembled the leaning tower of Piza after the disaster, to crumble in on itself. For the briefest of moments, Melody had a surge of panic and her stomach seemed to be doing gymnastics as the rubble engulfed her entirely.
"You alright, Halloway?" Alexander asked, arm cannon still smoking, as she emerged.
"Yeah, 'm fine," she replied, holding a hand to her temple. Over the past few weeks of walking through the most dangerous areas of the ruined city, the time she could reasonably hold her Wraith form before getting a splitting headache had increased exponentially from ten seconds to around seventy. Ms. Gyakusetsu, the school's Quirk counselor, had informed her not to worry, that her Quirk, which had only really been used in small increments since she'd manifested it, was growing stronger with continued use. 'It's like a muscle,' the woman had said. 'The more you use it, the stronger it becomes.'
"You good, Melody?" The third member of their group, Narruk, inquired. She waved him off and reached into the utility belt of her costume, pulling out a small orange container which rattled whenever the pills inside moved. She swallowed one of the green capsules dry and sat down on a large piece of concrete, which looked to have been blown off the top of a nearby building. "Alright, I'm gonna call the cleanup crew and have them start to move to our position. How long until you can do another?"
"Just give me a few more minutes and I'll be right as rain," Melody grumbled in reply, lying back to shield her eyes from the oppressive mid-afternoon sun. "How's everyone else doing?"
"Kira's group was pretty excited to run into Aeroblast a little bit ago, but that's the only real news. I've gotta say, I had no idea your sister could swoon over a Pro Hero like that, Blackwood" Narruk added, giving their third member a cheeky grin. 'It's nice to see him smile again. He's been so withdrawn these past few weeks. Lyon said he hadn't been sleeping well since the incident.' Melody thought. The metal scales that covered his arms seemed to bristle as he scowled. "Kidding, kidding. Alright, let's at least get moving to the next building. I think we're scheduled to take out two more before we pack up for the day."
"Ugh, are you guys trying to give me a massive migraine?" Melody complained as she stood and followed her companions.
"You'll get over it," Narruk replied, rolling his eyes. The next building was a two-story townhouse, located merely a block away and looked even worse than the last. For one its roof and top story had completely caved in, spilling broken glass and rubble onto the streets below. For another, it was almost completely seared black, as if it'd been left on a grill for far too long. 'Seems like this house caught fire if the smoky smell is anything to go by.' Narruk thought. "This is one of the areas where Spitfire and Overgrown fought in full force."
"We should be careful. Flames like that could have completely melted any sort of structural supports. One wrong move and Melody's gonna end up in the sewers below...again," Alexander added with a sidelong glance at Melody, who grimaced. On their first Thursday outing, even though they'd been given extensive talks from the Heroes on duty to be extremely careful, Melody had been far too jumpy going into her first assignment. Whilst she was scoping out the interior of an old deli at the very outskirts of the blast zone, a piece of the roof had collapsed and startled her, making her lose focus and phase through the floor into the sewer tunnel below.
"Yeah...I really don't wanna do that again," the redhead grumbled with a shudder.
"I bet. Alright, you good to go, Melody?" Narruk asked.
"Why don't you try doing something for once? You're the weak link of this demolition squad," Melody shot back teasingly, popping another of the green pills.
"I'm the team leader," Narruk said, looking affronted. Alexander snorted and turned his attention back to the task at hand, which Melody took as his way of saying 'get moving'. With a heavy sigh, she walked up to the closest wall and shifted. There was a tugging sensation in her gut and the odd chill that normally occurred whenever she turned into her Wraith. The world took on a slightly bluer tint and she took a moment to ready herself before stepping straight through the wall.
"She's gotten better at that. When we fought she could only shift for a few seconds and couldn't do it this soon after her last attempt," Alexander commented offhandedly, which surprised Narruk. For the entire three weeks, the trio had been a squad he'd never gone into 'small talk' with his classmate. Usually, the two would just stand in awkward silence until Melody gave them the layout, with Narruk making the occasional joke or point out something interesting.
"Uh, yeah she has I suppose. I've only fought her once and that...eh, didn't last very long. It seems like all of us are getting a bit stronger control over our Quirks." Narruk put on his best fake smile as he spoke. 'Except me.' He thought bitterly. "The Forge is North America's top Hero school for a reason."
"Hm." Was all he got in reply, so Narruk assumed Alexander had said his piece and refocused on their mission. 'Speaking of which...what's taking her so long. Usually, she's quite the chatterbug in there.'
"Melody? How's it going?" He asked into his earpiece. There was no reply. He sniffed the air and was shocked to smell the distinct scent of dried blood and...ash? "Alex, something's wrong."
"Right," Alexander's reply came swiftly and the two boys ran towards the building. It took them a moment, but eventually, they came upon an opening inside.
"Melody/Halloway?" The two whispered in unison. Then Narruk's earpiece crackled to life.
"I'm here. I just...found something." Melody sounded a bit choked up, completely unlike the fairly confident twinge her voice usually had. Narruk and Alexander shared a look before carefully stepping over the waist-high broken wall into a shattered kitchen. Broken ceramics littered the floor and a bowl sat on the small table, the only thing that looked to be in one piece.
"Careful," Alexander murmured as the building gave a groan. A bit of dust fell from the ceiling and it took all of Narruk's willpower to keep his overly sensitive nose from sneezing. The crept along at a snail's pace out of the kitchen and into the main foyer. One of the two pathways was completely caved in, so the duo went towards the other, which connected the foyer to a hallway with three doors, two on each side and one at the end. The door at the end was cracked open slightly and a small glimmer of light emanated from within.
"There," Narruk said quietly, inclining his head towards the final door. When Alexander gave him a questioning glance, he simply tapped on his nose and the other boy nodded. The trip to the door felt like it took half an hour, each step was made louder by the crunch of the burnt carpet, which looked like it may have been a dark maroon if the few non-burnt spots were anything to go by. Narruk frowned once he reached the door and pushed it open. Inside the room stood Melody, standing stock still and looking at the ground. The wolf-boy made a move towards her but was held back by Alexander's hand clamping onto his shoulder. His eyes were hard, his mouth pressed into a thin line. That's when Narruk followed his gaze and his stomach twisted into a painful knot.
"What the hell?" He muttered under his breath. The walls of the room were burnt black, similar to most of the townhouse, but what caught Narruk's eye were the blackened toys and scraps of clothing littering the room. He flinched when he took a step further inside and stepped directly onto an action figure, the musculature of which could only mean it was one in the likeness of All-Might.
"Don't look in the closet," Melody warned, her voice sounding grim. Narruk paused and turned his head towards the double doors, one of which was hanging off its hinges, he assumed led to a closet. He'd ignored the smell as well as he could up until this point, smoke tended to have a bad effect on his increased senses, but now it was staring him right in the face.
"I'll call...uh, the removal squad. Let's move on to our next target, shall we?" He asked, trying to keep his voice calm as he grabbed one of Melody's hands and led her back to the exit of the room. Alexander glanced towards the closet, seemed to get the idea, and followed. Once they were back outside and several hundred yards from the townhouse, Narruk took a deep breath. Melody, who had recovered slightly as soon as they'd left the house, yawned and lied down on a charred park bench, not seeming to care that it creaked under her weight.
"I'll call removal. Bastards have been getting lazy the past few days anyway." Narruk gave Alexander a grateful smile as the other boy walked a short distance away. It hadn't been the first time during their three clean-up missions that someone had happened upon something like this. Just last week, Clara and Andi had come back looking particularly pale from their assignment, even Lyon had lost his trademark creepy grin.
"You okay, Melody?" Narruk asked. The girl flinched, though she'd been expecting the question the moment they had left the building.
"Yeah. Just wasn't expecting that to be the first thing I came across. There was a lot of rubble through the wall I chose, so I just kept walking until I came out and…" She trailed off, shaking her head and sighing. She then stood up and stretched. "Come on, let's leave this for the removal guys. I bet they'll bring one of the Pros with them, so we've just got one more place to blow up and then we can go home."
"It worries me how excited you sound about blowing things up," Alexander said warily as he walked back over to them. "Anyway, we've got about half a mile until our next assignment."
"Ugh, why did Mr. Holl spread out our assignments so much. I don't wanna walk," Melody whined, hanging her head in defeat. Nevertheless, the trio started making their way south.
"So Melody, any big plans with your… ahem, friend, Nathan this weekend?" Narruk inquired innocently.
"No! Not you too, I get enough of that with Kira," Melody snapped, punching Narruk in the arm. Her anger quickly dissipated and was replaced with curiosity. "That reminds me, I've been meaning to ask you something. It's-" Before their conversation could continue, however, there was a loud crunching noise from the street adjacent to them. Immediately, Narruk sniffed the air and recoiled.
"What the hell? Augh..."
"What is it?" Alexander demanded.
"Smells like someone hasn't washed in a month. Wanna check it out?" Alexander looked at the alley leading to the next street with trepidation, before nodding.
"Pincer?" he questioned quietly. Narruk was silent for a moment, listening Melody realized, before shaking his head.
"He's looking for someone. Might be a citizen. Let's approach with caution, but don't act aggressively. Melody, you good?" The redhead nodded and got to her feet, ignoring the searing pain behind her eyes. As quietly as possible, the trio entered the alley and tip-toed towards the sound of the voice, which Melody could now clearly make out.
"'Allo? Mister Spitfire? Mister Leech? Where are yer lads, right, I'm 'ungry and wanna go 'ome!" The voice sounded husky like it hadn't been used for a long time. As they exited the alley, Melody got her first glance of the voice's source. It was a very skinny, bald man with a gaunt face and clothes that hung off his figure like curtains. Narruk was, as usual, the first to step forward.
"Hey! You alright, buddy?" He shouted, warily keeping his distance. The man whipped around and stared at them with wide, hungry eyes.
"Who are yer? Do yer 'ave food, then?" Barty asked hopefully. Narruk raised an eyebrow and looked back at the two of them expectantly. Alexander shook his head once and glanced over at Melody, who sighed and extracted one of the small, 'fun-size' candy bars she'd hidden in one of her belt's pouches. Narruk took it, walked a few meters closer, and tossed Barty the candy bar. He raced under its arc and opened his mouth, swallowing it whole, wrapper and all. "Oh, that's so good. Thanks, right, yer really nice! Say, 'ave yer seen Mister Spitfire, then? 'e were 'ere just a wee while ago, right, but then them plants 'it me and I got stuck."
"Spitfire?" Alexander muttered, his eyes narrowing. That's when the familiarity of the name clicked into place for Melody. 'H-He's with the Villains?' Alexander's arm began to shift into its cannon-form, but Narruk froze him with a glare.
"So, you're friends with Spitfire? I'm sorry to say he's long gone. Left right after the explosion," the wolf-boy said carefully, his eyes never leaving the malnourished man.
"That's...that's not right. Mister Spitfire wouldn't just leave me 'ere. It's gotta be a mistake, right, 'ow long ago were that 'e might be close by waitin' for me!" Barty yelled in a panic, his wild eyes whipping side to side.
"That was just a few hours ago. Listen, I'm a friend of Spitfire's." Melody did a double take at this, even Alexander looked perplexed. "He sent me here to give you your next mission."
"Me next mission, isit? Oh no, 'e's sendin' me back ter Detroit, ain't 'e? No, no, no that place were just awful. I were just left at the bloomin' base for twelve 'ours wiv no food, just awful. Please tell me 'e ain't sendin' me back ter Detroit, then? Or Chicago, that were pretty bad too. The base there is at the bloody top o' a buildin' and it takes so long ter get ter the ground ter cop them delicious 'ot dogs from the bleedin' food trucks."
"Ah, no. Actually...he's sending you to a place that has three square meals a day, your own room, and you get to watch T.V., how does that sound?" Narruk said his voice steady. Melody had to give her classmate props if it were her talking to a Villain up close and personal like that, her nerves would be fried.
"That sounds AMAZING! Wen' do I start, eh?"
"Right now. See, we're gonna take you to the Heroes and you're gonna go undercover. How does that sound? The boss has decided to move our bases, so make sure you tell them the locations of all the old ones to keep them off our trail, yeah?" Barty nodded happily at this, still probably thinking about the 'three square meals a day' part Melody surmised. 'Gotta admit, this is a pretty smart plan. But...how the hell did this guy survive three weeks underneath a literal ton of rubble? What's his Quirk?' The redhead pondered. "Alright, just hang tight and we're gonna contact the Heroes, don't fight them. Got it?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah I got it. Oh, I can't wait ter eat again, i'n it? It feels like I 'aven't eaten in months." Narruk ignored this and shot Alexander a look. He immediately pulled out the communications device that Mr. Holl had given them upon their arrival.
"Hey, we've got someone from the Black Order here. Sending our location now. No, Eris...get off this frequency. Yes, I'm fine. Just...no, we aren't in trouble. Mr. Holl, please just send someone here," Alexander sighed as he clicked a button on the device. Melody gave him an amused smile, which just made him huff and turn away. Five minutes later, the formerly abandoned street was filled to the brim with dozens of Heroes and the rest of Class FH2. Melody was sitting off to the side with Narruk, Alexander and Eris, who had immediately ambushed her brother and was bombarding him with questions when Narruk cleared his throat.
"You sure you're alright, Melody? I doubt Mrs. Holl would have a problem with you going to talk with her about this. Better that than to lose sleep over it, yeah?" Melody sighed, she'd expected this conversation from earlier wasn't over. 'I really hop Narruk isn't able to sniff out a lie.'
"It was a shock in the moment, but I think I'll be okay in the long run."
"I would agree with Narruk here, Melody," Alexander spoke up. Beside him, his sister's eyes darted from her brother to Melody to Narruk and back to her brother. "Besides, once we get to campus Mrs. Holl can get rid of the headache you've been trying to ignore for the past hour and a half."
"I don't-" Melody began, but stopped as she saw Mr. Holl walking over to them.
"Great job, kids. Especially you Narruk, you kept your composure and defused the situation without violence. This was a good example of what a Hero should do. You'll sometimes be faced with situations like this in the future, so all of you remember to follow Narruk's example. Your brain is always going to be a much more powerful weapon than your Quirk," he explained before turning his eyes on Melody. "Halloway, take their advice and go see Leena. Might sound cliche, but talking about it does normally help."
"Uh, yes sir," Melody replied meekly. Derrick stared at her for a moment before smiling.
"You better, one way or the other I will know. And not just because I can read your mind. Alright, head back to the bus and get ready to go, uh...try to keep Kazani and Ramirez from killing one another. That would look very bad on my record."
"Sure thing, Mr. Holl," Narruk replied. It still surprised the redhead how quickly he could slip into a leadership role amongst their class. 'There's a reason he's ranked so high. Between him and Andrew playing peacekeepers, I'm shocked we still have any in-fighting. Though, I guess Clara and Kira's stubbornness and Lyon's penchant for egging the former on don't help much.' Melody pondered as they began to walk away.
"Oh-ho-ho-ho, hold up just one minute!" A familiar voice bellowed from above them. Melody craned her neck and was shocked to see the Second Ranked Hero, Oddball, sitting on a ledge with his legs swinging happily. "If possible, Psyche, I'd like to steal away one of your students. Just for a few moments, I promise!"
"Oh, Oddball. Aren't you supposed to be in D.C.?"
"Well, yes but it was so~ boring and I decided to come here to help! I can be quite useful in a disaster situation you know!" The Second-Ranked Hero said happily.
"Or completely useless," Mr. Holl shot back, rolling his eyes. Oddball seemed to take it in stride however and stared at the teacher...er, rather had his white sphere turned in his direction for a long enough time to make the man sigh.
"I never could win an argument with you. Fine, just make sure they're back on the bus by quarter-of, we've gotta get back to campus before Leena and the principle both kick my ass." With that, their teacher walked back towards the horde of arguing Heroes, and Oddball leaped down from his perch. Though it was impossible to tell which of the students he was facing, due to the large pure white sphere that encased his head, Melody had a feeling that underneath the sphere, his eyes were firmly set on her.
"Miss~ Halloway? Can we talk for a few moments?" Like last time she'd met the Hero, his voice was unnaturally high-pitched and childish. She nodded hesitantly, getting a surprised look from Narruk and the others before Oddball wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled a gun-like object from his belt. The next thing she knew, Melody was soaring into the air, a scream caught at the base of her throat. Then, just as suddenly as it started, the thrill ride ended and she was released from Oddball's grasp. She would have fallen to the ground if not for the Hero catching her arm and moving her back until her legs hit an air-conditioning vent, which she gladly sat on.
"Don't… do that... again," she said breathily. As she stared at the dull gray surface of the roof and tried to stop the world from spinning, Oddball removed and placed his white-sphere mask on the vent next to her. Forgetting any notion of trying to keep her nausea under control, her head shot up, her eyes widened at the sight before her. Underneath his helmet, Oddball was still fairly...odd. He had short, electric blue hair that looked as if it hadn't been combed in decades, bright yellow eyes that shone with mischievousness, and a rather pale complexion, most likely due to the time spent under his helmet, that showed off a myriad of pale white scars criss-crossing his face. When he smiled at her, she noticed the smile lines of his eyes.
"You have the exact look on your face that your mother did when I first revealed my face. Though, I suppose the context isn't the same. You're definitely seeing it way sooner than she did...and you aren't saying how cute my hair is so I'm assuming you don't have her brashness."
"I...uh, no. I tend to get that a lot. People say I act like my dad." At the mention of her dad, she noticed that for a brief moment, a shadow passed over the Hero's face but it was gone almost as quickly. "Uh, I don't mean to be rude Mr. Oddball, but what are you doing here? Mr. Holl was right, you're supposed to be stationed in the Capitol with Crusader and Nightlyfe."
"Ugh, but there's never any action there!" He cried dramatically, his posture slumping. "All the fun gigs go to those lower ranked Heroes, and all we get to do it PROTECT NATIONAL SECURITY!" He emphasized his final three words with a stomp of his foot. The fleeting moment of frustration disappeared his grin returned in force. "As for why I'm here. Well, once I heard the Freshmen of the Forge were working clean-up I decided it was long overdue for us to have a chat."
"A chat about what?"
"A few things. Firstly I just wanna say thank you!" At her bemused expression, Oddball cleared his throat and continued. "The laser-breath dude. I never did get to thank you back then. You showed the signs of a true Hero, then when I got into contact with Lionheart he told me who you were and that clinched it for me."
"Clinched what?" Melody asked, still slightly overwhelmed by the whole situation.
"An idea I had the moment I saw you rush out from behind that bus to protect your friend's father. I suppose I should apologize for leaving so quickly after that, and not for visiting sooner, but the life of a Hero is a busy one. Oh, uh anyway...yes, so they probably haven't told you this yet but at the end of your first year at the Forge, you are required to intern with a Pro Hero every other week in the summer. It's the only way the school board can justify giving you kids like two months off when other schools, like U.A., only have a few weeks or whatever," he paused and locked eyes with Melody. Her head was spinning, and not because of her impromptu grappling gun ride. 'Does he mean... seriously?'
"Y-You're asking if I...want to intern with you?" Oddball held her gaze for a moment before laughing.
"Yep! You see I originally discovered your mother through her Freshman internship, I was still a newcomer myself so I had to fight tooth and nail to be granted permission, especially considering I had refused several offers from more experienced Heroes to join their agencies, and the fact that I...I'm rambling aren't I? Ahem, so Melody Halloway. Will you follow in your mother's footsteps?" Melody needed no time to think. While she hadn't heard about the internship requirement before, it didn't surprise her. This also saved her from potentially having to beg agencies to overlook the problems with her Quirk.
"It would be my honor, Oddball, sir-"
"Ah, ah, ah, none of this 'sir' business. I hate when my sidekicks call me that. Especially Nicolas. He's like a broken record with 'sir this' and 'sir that' and 'sir you can't just ignore the orders of the Hero Council' or whatever. Bah! Just call me Oddball, or Odd like some of my other sidekicks. Your mother always called me something rather rude, so I won't repeat it and give you ideas. Oh, and don't tell anyone you've seen my face. I love to tease the paparazzi. It irks them to no end not to be able to ever see my face. I've had several of them break into my home over the past month alone. Did you know that there's a bounty of a million bucks if someone gets a picture of my handsome mug? I was thinking about going for it myself, but I'd be selling low. It's bound to go up eventually, so I'll wait until it gets high enough to-"
"Oddball? You're rambling again," Melody stopped him with a chuckle. 'Who'd have thought the Number Two Hero would be such a chatterbox.' She wondered.
"Ah, sorry about that. Oh, and there is one other reason I wanted to speak with you today," Oddball said, his face turning stony. "I feel it's my duty as Harmony's teacher to inform you of this but… for now, I'll just say; be very wary of other Pro Heroes you aren't sure about."
"I'm sorry?" Melody inquired, her brow furrowing.
"There are certain things that are kept secret from the public Melody and I fear that once your identity as Teardrop's daughter comes to light… well, the best way to say this is that there will be those who will openly challenge or mock you. Seismos and Armada are two that immediately come to mind. Others will just flat out ignore you, and even more, will look upon you to rise to your mother's standing. Any sign of weakness and they will pounce. Be careful in your debut to the world, you mustn't lose."
"But...why would they hate me? What did my mom do to them?" Oddball opened his mouth to answer but froze, surged forward and shoved the white sphere back onto his head and not a moment too soon as a woman with pink hair, tied up in an uneven bob, climbed up over the side of the building.
"Hey, old man! You were supposed to meet me at five for the interview for New York Now! You just left me alone trying to reschedule with Mr. Grubbs!" The woman pouted dramatically and crossed her arms over her chest. It took Melody a moment until she recognized her, during which Oddball babbled on about 'security meetings' and 'you look lovely today'.
"You're Bubble Bee! Oddball's top Sidekick ranked tenth among the Sidekick popularity index and the youngest to make the top fifty!" The woman, who looked to be no older than nineteen or twenty, looked over at Melody with surprise, as if just seeing her for the first time.
"Who is this? Oh! Wait a minute...she looks like a red-haired version of Teardrop! This is the girl you were talking about! Wow, she's a lot younger than I thought. So mini-Teardrop, are you a Freshman? I don't remember seeing you before I graduated last year." Just like her boss, Bubble Bee's spoke a thousand words a minute. Melody looked warily at the woman, remembering Oddball's warning.
"She's too young, Melody. For the most part, it's the older crowd you have to worry about," Oddball said suddenly as if reading her thoughts. Bubble Bee whipped around and glared at the masked man.
"You already told her!? She's way too young!"
"I only told her what she needed to know, and soon enough it won't matter how young she is." The two glared at each other for a moment...at least Melody assumed he was glaring back...before Bubble Bee broke off and turned to Melody with a white-teethed smile.
"Let me formally introduce myself. I'm Bubble Bee, Sidekick of Oddball."
"Uh, yeah I'm Melody." Before she could react, Bubble Bee walked over and bopped her on the head.
"Nope! You can't just go announcing your real name in public! What if there were a camouflaged Villain around? In the field, you've got to always announce yourself as your Hero name. Go on, try again!" Despite the fact she'd just gotten a lecture, Melody couldn't help but laugh at the girl's equally demanding and bubbly nature, though she supposed it had more to do with the woman's Quirk.
Bubble Bee
Her Quirk: Laughing Aroma
When she sweats, the aroma given off causes people to laugh uncontrollably depending on the amount of exertion she goes through.
"Okay...it's nice to meet you. I'm Scarlet Phantom."
"Scarlet Phantom, hm? Well, you and your mother definitely have the same sense of subtlety, which is to say...NONE!" Oddball bellowed. "Anyway, we must be off! I've got several interviews to avoid!"
"Wait...NO!" Bubble Bee groaned as her boss leaped off the building, leaving her to clean up his mess. She mustered one last smile at the shell-shocked Melody before leaping off after him. The redheaded teen stood on the roof for a few moments before sighing and shifting to her Wraith form and falling through eight stories of the relatively untouched building until she hit the ground floor. By the time she arrived back at the bus, she was too exhausted to answer her classmate's questions, simply boarding the bus and collapsing into the first seat, falling asleep almost instantly.
Purpose of a Hero
Well….what'd ya think? I know you may be concerned, but trust me this event will effect Melody in various ways down the line. That wasn't just some throwaway moment. Like I said above, any questions, comments, or concerns be sure to let me know. Please, if you want to remove your character from this story (With the exception of those that have already appeared because I'm not going back and rewriting, that's way too much effort) let me know over PM. I know some people on the internet can be asswipes so I don't want you to go and ask in the reviews, then there are five reviews trolling you.
NEXT TIME ON THE PURPOSE OF A HERO!
Chapter 17: Ready! Set! Go!