Alright, before we get into today's chapter I just wanna say… FUCK YEAH! We made it to one year on this story. I know we've hit some bumps along the way and my upload schedule has descended into complete madness but we did something I didn't really think possible when we first started this story. It's all thanks to everyone whose reading this, whether you're reading this on the day it's released or fifty years into the future when this story is finally finished and some future person is looking at old, shitty fanfics. So before we get to the results of the Popularity Poll, I just wanted to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all the support.
Official Results of the First Annual PoaH Popularity Poll (18 Total Voters)
First Place: Melody Halloway - 7 Votes
Second Place: Narruk Mondronen, Andi Ena - 6 Votes
Third Place: Kira Kazani - 5 Votes
Fourth Place: Lyon MacAllister - 4 Votes
Fifth Place: Lyle Wolfbane, Carlyle Halloway, Spitfire, Oddball - 3 Votes
Sixth Place: Diana Suharto, Nathan Larson - 2 Votes
Seventh Place: Andrew Abrams, Clara Ramirez, Derrick Holl, Vesuvius, Prophet, Overgrown - 1 Vote
Purpose of a Hero
"THAT'S IT, FOLKS! VULCANA AND BEACON ARE BOTH UNABLE TO CONTINUE, SO THIS MATCH GOES TO MEGAHERTZ AND INFERNO!" As Oddball's voice boomed over the television's speakers, Clara snorted and shook her head. While Kazani had overcome the magenta-haired girl's expectations, the end result was still the same. If this battle had proven anything, it was that Lyon was in a class of his own. 'Fire Idiot. If he doesn't win this whole thing, I'd be shocked. I really hope I get to fight him in the finals,' she thought as the image of the orange-haired boy flashing the crowd his signature smile appeared on the screen. All around her, the buzz from the students who hadn't fought yet, or had already won their bouts was nearly deafening. However, she paid none of them any mind, focusing her acute hearing on a small group of four instead, sitting at a table just beside the mob. 'And I hope I get to crush you along the way, crybaby.'
"Whew, that guy does not know the meaning of restraint, does he?" Nathan asked, getting a chuckle out of Narruk.
"He's the strongest in our class, bar none. Out of any of us, Andrew stood easily the best chance. Not to mention, Andi is very strong in her own right. They'll be tough to beat." The blond nodded and glanced over at the television. Currently, an image of a bracket was displayed, showing which teams had already advanced to the second round.
"I dunno. Payton is a pretty good matchup against him. I don't know about that Alexander guy but if anyone in FH1 is gonna beat Lyon, it'll be Payton or Damien."
"Not you?" Melody asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend. "It's not like you to be modest, Nathan."
"Oh please, I'm the most humble person you'll ever meet." The redhead rolled her eyes, though she noticed Nathan hadn't gone back on his word. 'For him to be so sure he'd lose must mean Payton and Damien really are something special.' Suddenly, Zachary, who hadn't said a word the entire fight, spoke up in a monotone voice.
"As much as it pains me to admit it, Nathan is right."
"See? I am humble!"
"Not that, you idiot. About Damien and Payton potentially being the only ones able to beat Lyon. Payton's Quirk gives him a fairly large advantage but it's still a coin flip since his physical strength isn't much," Zach stated, ignoring Nathan's mock outrage and declarations of his 'humbleness'. The boy got a dark look on his face as he rested his chin against his knuckles. "Damien is another matter entirely. He's got Number One potential and his control over his Quirk is beyond even that of our upperclassmen."
"I hope they get paired up during the final round. That would be a fun fight to watch," Narruk commented.
"Would the final two teams please make your way to your designated tunnels, thank you," a feminine voice announced over the intercom. Paying almost no mind to their previous conversation, Nathan whipped around and scanned the crowd until his eyes landed on Payton and his partner walking towards one of the two preparation tunnels. While his friend looked about as cheery as ever – Nathan blamed that on the boy's habit of hiding his nerves behind that stereotypical Canadian kindness – his partner looked as if he'd had the worst day of his life. 'Good luck, man. Don't you dare fall for Vanessa's tricks.'
Purpose of a Hero
Diana shifted the weight of her skateboard on her shoulder and tried as hard as she could to listen to her teammate, a job made more difficult by her fast speech and heavy accent. Despite her hearing aids, the reptilian had found it very difficult to converse with Vanessa over the course of their training week. The girl's rather… prickly personality hadn't helped matters much either. Every time she'd tried to help planning with the girl, her suggestions had been largely turned down or ignored. It was more than a little infuriating but somehow she'd managed to keep her composure largely in check. With a sigh, she turned up the volume of her hearing aids after having them off halfway through Melody's match to tune out her teammate. "Remembair, een ordair to use my Quirk you hahve to attract zeir attention. Seence zey already know how eet wahrks we will hahve to use zeir arrogance against zem. Attack Payton first and drahw hees attention. Wance you make some space I can swoop een and take out Alecsander."
"Sounds good," Diana responded briefly. Just as Vanessa opened her mouth to speak again, Mr. Holl's voice came back over the arena's loudspeaker.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are onto our final match of the first round. After this, we will have a two-hour intermission for the competitors to lick their wounds and prepare themselves for the next round, which will follow through the two versus two format. The final match for today will be fought on the Lake Field," Holl announced. Diana breathed a sigh of relief as the ground split to reveal a large, rectangular lake with a series of wooden boardwalks crisscrossing its surface. 'I can work with this. It gives me a better chance than going at them with my skateboard or just running.'
"Oh, merde. I 'ate ze wahtair," Vanessa bemoaned, glaring at the murky green surface.
"Please welcome the participants for our final match of the round. On the red team, there's Komo and Medusa, while on the blue team we have Metal Hydra and Canadian Winter!" As the iron gates lowered and the cheering of the crowd swelled, Diana took a deep breath and held her head high as she and Vanessa marched into the arena. As soon as they stepped onto the creaky wooden boardwalk, the reptilian girl stripped off her black jacket and slung her skateboard back over her shoulder. Her partner gave her an odd look before simply nodding. "You 'ave a plan I presume."
"Just try to keep them looking at you. If you need help, just stomp three times on the dock," Diana muttered just as Ms. Whittaker announced the start of the battle. Before Vanessa could even respond, the reptilian girl leaped off of the dock and splashed into the water. As soon as she was submerged, Diana relaxed slightly and listened. Even with her bad hearing – her hearing aids were practically useless underwater – she could make out the distorted sounds of footsteps nearly halfway across the arena. It seemed as if her opponents were being cautious of both her and her partner. She swam, trying to go as deep as she could towards the bottom as silently as possible, a few dozen yards until she was almost directly beneath her opponents.
From her depth, she could just barely make out their shadows blocking out the thin streams of light emanating through the spaces between the boards. She could hear their voices but couldn't make out any particular words. By the sound of it, however, Payton was a little bit too hyped up while Alexander was silent apart from his heavy, almost mechanical footsteps. Quietly, she ascended and poked her head above the surface. "–ater. She's a quick swimmer and her skin makes her a tough opponent in close combat. They couldn't have given her a better field to work around."
"I could alwa–"
"No, it'd take too much out of you. Even if we both did it, we'd only succeed in taking out one. Then Vanessa could easily win it," Alexander interrupted, causing Payton to make a sound of indignation. 'Good, I don't think they know I'm here. Hopefully, Vanessa is keeping her distance,' Diana thought as she continued her slow paddle, making sure to stay several yards behind her targets. She heard, rather than saw, the whir of Alexander's mechanical arm as it transformed into a miniature cannon from his elbow to his wrist. As he spoke, Diana moved as quickly as she could and hefted herself out of the water, using her claws to dig into the bottom of the pier, leaving her dangling just centimeters above the lake's surface. "Inserting Lightning Core. Electric Misery."
"What are you doing?" Payton inquired. Alexander simply gave him a sidelong glance before firing a bolt of lighting from his arm cannon into the water below them. For a brief second, it was completely silent other than the distinct crackle of electricity as the lightning spread out in an intricate, circular web around them. Seemingly satisfied, Alex's arm returned to normal and he glanced ever so briefly in the direction of Vanessa, who'd created some space by retreating to a more remote corner of the lake.
"Flushing out Diana. If she were below us right then, she'd have been forced to surface."
"If you didn't electrocute her first. Jeez man, a little warning would be nice."
"That kinda removes the whole 'surprise' element of a surprise attack, don't you think? Besides, I think we're good for n– ack!" Alexander exclaimed as Diana's hand darted out from over the side of the bridge and latched onto his leg. Payton, just seconds too slow in his reaction, swore and leaped forward as his partner went tumbling into the water with a loud splash. He heard a thump from behind him and turned just in time to duck beneath Diana's attempt to bash him over the head with a skateboard. She followed up by kicking him in the chest and sending him stumbling backward. With a flourish, Diana spun and slammed into Payton's side with her tail, nearly sending him tumbling into the water like his partner.
"Crap, she's faster than she looks," Payton said aloud, already feeling the start of a pretty nasty bruise on his arm where she'd hit him. 'Gotta slow her down. Ah! Cold-blooded, right. My specialty then,' he thought. Suddenly, the temperature of the air in the stadium dropped several degrees as black clouds began to form overhead. Payton's already messy hair whipped around as a strong, biting breeze began to pick up, followed by small, pearl white snowflakes. It began as a flurry but rapidly grew as the snow swirled around the brunette like a tornado.
Payton Billé
Quirk: Storm Front
Payton can create and control warm and cold fronts in the air to create various weather phenomena. However, the bigger the storm he makes, the more energy he uses.
"Time for you to hibernate, Diana! Blizzard!" Payton cried as he thrust his hands forward. The snowstorm effortlessly followed his command and gathered around him before billowing forward like a tidal wave towards the already shivering reptilian. Then, unexpectedly, the mass of white slowed and its bulk began to gather on the wooden planks below them. Whereas she'd been expecting to be engulfed in a whiteout, Diana was somewhat shocked when she barely got a light dusting from the attack. It didn't take her long to figure out why; Payton's body was as still as a statue, though his eyes whirled around in their sockets. Behind the boy stood Vanessa, smirking smugly as she tapped the boy on his shoulder.
"You deed naht see zat coming, Payton? 'Ow sad," the girl said confidently, her eyes no longer their normal pale purple but instead glowed with an intense amber light. The girl's gaze turned to her frost-covered partner, who now knelt on the ground with her arms wrapped tightly around her torso. "Don't tell me you are geeving up zat easeely. We steell 'ave a battle to ween."
Vanessa Monteur
Quirk: Immobilization
Through touch or direct eye contact, Vanessa can completely immobilize up to three targets. However, if her concentration is disrupted for even a moment, the effect wears off.
"First, let us tie up ziss imbécile." Vanessa reached down and grabbed the spool of capture rope hanging from the waist of her gown. Diana was still knelt on the ground shivering when she saw an arm, covered in black scales, lunge up from the water below and grab ahold of the side of the dock. She tried to call out to her partner but only succeeded in biting her tongue through her shivering. Alexander pulled himself halfway onto the boardwalk and pointed his other hand to the air above Vanessa and Payton's heads.
"ACIDIC RAIN!" As soon as the first drop hit her skin, Vanessa cried out in pain and was just able to dive out of the way before the deluge corroded a hole in the pier beneath her. With his captor's attention diverted, Payton quickly leaped to his teammate's side and glared angrily at him.
"You could at least try not to get me caught in your attack. Now my costume is all ruined!" He whined, motioning down to his bodysuit; the arctic camouflage and large red maple leaf pockmarked by tiny burns. Alexander rolled his eyes and flexed his shoulder, causing the used Toxic Core to pop out.
"Would you rather have yourself captured?" He responded, clearly annoyed, as he pulled another cylindrical Core from his belt. The sound of whirring gears emanated from his arm as he inserted the core and raised it. The barrel of his hand cannon glowed a bright red before belching out a blast of orange fire. "Raging Blaze!"
"Diana," Vanessa growled urgently as the fire streaked towards them. The reptilian girl nodded, though still shivering violently, and leaped in front of her partner, crossing her arms over her face and closing her eyes as the flames approached. Luckily, her body was just large enough to either block or deflect most of the attack, keeping her partner safe. Once it was over Diana glanced down at herself. Her skin and clothing were smoking slightly but it seemed as if the fire had done less damage than she'd anticipated, causing her to sigh in relief. 'Thank goodness I asked for the fireproof option for my costume. I think I'd die of embarrassment if what happened to Clara during the relay race happened to me in front of all these people. At least now I'm warm,' she thought. Behind her, Vanessa glared into the smokescreen for a moment before her face lost its color. "Down!"
"Inserting Frost Core." As Alexander prepped his own attack, his teammate grinned wildly and raised his arms, causing the sky to become darkened by stormclouds. Almost immediately, a freezing wind began to pick up-which caused Diana to growl in annoyance-as her opponents glanced at one another. "No, absolutely not!"
"Why? It'd be awesome!"
"We are not naming our combo move something that stupid. It's not even scientifically correct," Alexander snapped, pointing his arm towards the two girls. Payton just rolled his eyes and clapped his hands together. The intensity of the winds grew until the layers of clouds above them swirled in an inky black hurricane with its summoner situated safely in its eye. "Freezi–"
"ABSOLUTE ZERO!" Payton howled over his partner. In an instant, the entirety of the stadium was filled with a massive cloud of ice and snow that completely engulfed all four participants, as well as Ms. Whittaker. While the crowd wasn't subjected to the full assault of the cold, many were blasted with waves of freezing air. A thin coating of frost covered every available surface in the stadium.
"What just happened? THAT WAS AWESOME!" Oddball cheered from inside the commentary booth. While the crowd had been spared, it became evident that those in the stadium hadn't been so lucky as the mist began to clear. The lake was completely frozen over, even jutting up into stalagmites in some places, while pieces of the boardwalk, particularly the damper planks, had splintered and fallen apart. Then there were those inside the arctic landscape; Ms. Whittaker stood on her referee stand, shivering violently. Clearly, her costume – which consisted of a buckskin crop top, very short shorts, and completed with brown leather boots and a ten-gallon hat – wasn't built for the cold. Not far away from her, Vanessa struggled against the icy prison that had enveloped her after she'd been pushed into the water by a strong gust of wind. Her partner had fared better but not by much; The reptilian girl was lying on the frozen pier, her eyes closed and her breathing was measured. Whether she'd been knocked out or had entered a state of hibernation, Alexander didn't know.
"S-s-s-since both K-Komo and M-M-Medusa are una-able to battle, t-this round g-goes to Canadian W-Winter and M-Metal Hydra!" Elvira stuttered before turning on her heel and walking swiftly towards the warm safety of one of the preparation tunnels.
"Wahoo! We did it!" Payton cheered and clapped his partner on the back, who seemed quite annoyed at the action.
"I specifically told you we were not calling it 'Absolute Zero'," Alexander snarled, glaring at his teammate, who smiled sheepishly in return and crossed his arms behind his head. 'Why did I have to get paired up with him. I'd rather face MacAllister without my Quirk than deal with this any longer than I have to.' It took a few moments for the stadium to calm down before it defrosted as the storm clouds overhead dissipated. Then, once their teacher had announced their victory, a nurse and the school's groundskeepers, the pale white dwarves named Castor and Pollux, rushed onto the field. While the brown-haired nurse managed to rouse Diana enough to get her walking, the two small men grunted at one another. Castor hopped up on Pollux's shoulders and then there was a flash of light that nearly blinded Alexander. Once his vision returned he didn't see the two brothers but instead an absolute skyscraper of a man, easily eclipsing a dozen feet tall, reaching down and with apparent ease and yanking Vanessa from the bulk of ice she'd been trapped in. "Woah, I always wondered what those little dudes could do. Sweet!"
Castor and Pollux
Quirk: Combine
These two twins can combine their bodies together to create a much bigger, much stronger being. However, it takes quite a bit of coordination as Castor controls the left side of its body, while Pollux controls the right.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this brings an end to the first round of our Halloween Battle Festival. After a two hour intermission for our remaining competitors to lick their wounds and prepare themselves, we will soon be back for our first match of round two; team Elisnore and Clyde versus Alpha and Solar!
Purpose of a Hero
"Sooo~... Where'd you run off to, eh?" Derrick sighed and turned to face his fellow commentator. The man had shed his usual overbearing dome, his scarred face now on full display. Though his tone had its usual playful inflection, the teacher could tell that his former mentor was being serious. He sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"I got a call from an old friend." Oddball's yellow eyes narrowed slightly, then he grinned.
"Carlyle, eh? So, did you two finally iron out your differences or are you letting a fifteen-year-old feud put everything at risk?" Oddball asked, causing Holl to silently curse the older man's perceptiveness. As goofy as the Second Ranked Hero acted, his mind was as sharp as any Professional Hero Derrick had ever seen.
"It wasn't exactly Carlyle. More like… a mutual associate."
"Ah, I see… You both know that you're only driving the stake deeper and the deeper it goes the more it's gonna kill that girl when she finally finds out the truth."
"Yes, I know. Can we change the subject? I'd really rather not get into this right now. We've got more important things to deal with," Derrick snapped, his knuckles clenched hard on the arm of his chair. The older man's hard glare did not soften but he leaned back in his chair and waved his hand nonchalantly. Even having known Oddball all of his adult life, Derrick still found his old mentor's split-second transitions from complete airhead to calculating professional absolutely jarring. He had no idea how Harmony had dealt with him as long as she did. 'Though, she wasn't much better. One second she'd be singing some new pop song and the next she'd wailing on me or Max Abrams for messing around and screwing up her rhythm. She certainly had the right temperament to deal with Oddball. I'm just surprised they never tore each other apart.'
"Yes, yes fine. Now~, what did your associate tell you then? Something about the Order?"
"Better," Holl said, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a small vial filled with a viscous purple liquid. He tossed the vial to Oddball, who caught and brought it closer to his face to examine it. Anticipating the man's next question, Derrick pulled out another sheet of paper and began to read. "This is from Overgrown's report about the man he fought against during the Yonkers Incident: 'On several different occasions during our confrontation, my opponent – who called himself Spitfire – ingested what appeared to be a small purple pill. In the moments following these instances, his power seemed to grow and he suffered little to no effects of overuse from his Quirk. It is my belief that this is some form of a power-enhancing drug, most likely a form of Trigger, though I have never personally heard of a substance that enhances a person's power this much. The drug also seemed to wear off much quicker than traditional Trigger, lasting only around ten to fifteen minutes. The man also didn't seem to adopt the intoxication and power craze that other forms of Trigger are known to cause'."
"So… this is that new drug then?" Oddball asked, holding up the vial and shaking it. "I thought the report said it was in pill form?"
"My associate thinks that this is a distilled version. If this is indeed a new form of Trigger, one that increases a target's power even more than the traditional drug, then the Black Order just got a lot more dangerous. By our knowledge, they have not started selling or distributing it yet so I'd assume it's not fully perfected," Holl explained as Oddball popped open the top of the vial and sniffed the purple substance, recoiling in disgust.
"Why the hell would anyone willingly take this stuff? Smells worse than my gym bag."
"Look, your resources are much greater than mine. I know you have contacts in the pharmaceutical field so I'm asking you to look into this. Try and find out what it's made from and maybe we can create some sort of counter. If Spitfire was able to go up against Overgrown and nearly beat him… imagine what Prophet could do if he took this stuff." Just the thought of the Villain's powers being any greater than they already were sent a jolt of fear rippling through his entire body. Oddball gave him a sympathetic look and set the vial on the table in front of him.
"Yeah, I remember your old man from my days at the Forge. He always has been a powerhouse. Still one of the only three people to score a perfect five hundred on the entrance exam. If he hadn't lost his damned mind all those years ago he could've been the most powerful Hero in the history of the United States. Hell, he could've given All Might a run for his money."
"So you see why this is a big deal? We have to find a way to take this drug out of the equation in case we ever come up against them. We have t–" Oddball groaned loudly and held up his hands in a placating manner.
"Fine, fine, I'll have an old buddy of mine analyze it. Jeez, you're naggier than my wife," the Second Ranked Hero said. There was a long moment of silence as both men stared down at the vial before Oddball suddenly stood. The old man grunted as his knees popped and he rolled his neck before grabbing his dome mask from the corner of the room.
"Where are you going?"
"We've got two hours until the next round and after hearing all of that, I could really use a drink."
Purpose of a Hero
I know the battle was a bit short but I honestly couldn't think of a way to extend it without ruining it. Payton and Alexander both have parts to their Quirks that allow them to incapacitate Diana and Vanessa's Quirk has very specific guidelines to its activation. All in all, this was one of the more one-sided matches of the first round, which hey is finally over! The stakes are only getting higher from here.
Next time on the Purpose of a Hero:
Chapter 35: In His Shadow
Q&A: Eris and Alexander Blackwood
To Eris: what happens to your bone after you use them? Do you suck them back up or throw it away like a chicken bone
Eris: Once I take them out of my body they do not go back inside. But that doesn't mean I'll throw my black bones away. Alex needs some good quality metal to make his spares and it's not that hard for me to make them.
To Alex: what do you like other than your sister?
Alex: Thinking about how my father will meet His demi…
Eris: *Punches his arm lightly*
Alex: I mean, books. I like books.
To Both: Have either of you had your first kiss yet?
Alex and Eris: *Blushing* Next question
To Both: In a parallel world where you are a Villain, what would your Villain name be?
Alex: Assuming I have the same quirk as my shitty father, Azrael
Eris: Ehm... I guess I would still want some kind of acknowledgment from the masses so... DarkStar I guess
To Both: it's karaoke night, what song do you sing?
Both: Hey Brother by Aviici.
To Both: What's your ideal type?
Eris Sparkling eyes: He needs to be a gentleman that treats me like a princess, tells funny jokes and has some sense of humor, and of course, treats my brother with respect.
Alex: My ideal type needs to be clever. An intellectual match to me at least or superior, I don't mind. A lovely smile and must be able to tolerate my sister.
Who is your favorite Hero?
Eris: The Soaring Hero: Aeroblast! He's cool, he always saves the day and he is a fucking dreamboat!
Alexander: I really didn't agree to this to hear about my sister's fantasies. Anyway, I don't really have a favorite Hero. The closest would be Black Knight since his Quirk is similar to mine but other than that… I couldn't care less..