My Hero Academia - Under Pressure - Chapter 13 - ...And Deal
At UA High, Angel Wings entered the classroom for 1-B and quickly noticed that a certain something was not on her desk.
"Did Tonen not drop the box off yet...?"
She gazed at the nearby clock and saw that it was well after 5, long after the store she sent Tonen to was supposed to close and well past after he was due back. Uncertain as to what was going on, she headed to the teacher's lounge and looked around for the box there in case Tonen had handed it off to another teacher he met on the way.
As she gazed around, Abaru and her cats entered the room and looked upon Angel Wings with curiosity, "Something wrong, Tsuru?"
"I'm not sure. I sent Tonen Keitomo to pick up some supplies and I told him when he returned that he needed to bring the box to my classroom and leave it on the desk. There was nothing there when I checked in and I thought maybe he ran into one of the others to bring it here...but nothing."
"Perhaps the child got delayed, it's a bit late, perhaps he ran into someone on the way back."
This suggestion didn't ease Angel Wings concern, "Perhaps. I just wish I knew where he was."
Abaru could tell this was troubling her co-worker heavily, "If I recall correctly, a certain teammate of his has a rather unique knack for sensing people, perhaps ask him if Tonen is nearby?"
"Azujima? That's a great idea, Abaru! Thank you so much."
With a smile she rushed out of the room. When she did, Abaru's cats gave a rather ominous meow, and their master's expression soured, "Yes, I feel the same. Perhaps I need to speak with Rinoda about what might happen next..."
in the dorm of Class 1-B, many of the students were either in their rooms or hanging out in the common area. Azujima was doing some homework alongside Iha, Sanda, The Twins, Fenella and Ikaim. Others like Ebirima, Kuroda, Ueno and Doza were on the nearby couches just talking.
Soon, Angel Wings appeared, smile again on her face, "Hello everyone!"
They all greeted her in various ways, but Kuroda was suspicious, "What's going on? Is everything ok? We weren't expecting you here this evening."
"I just need to talk to Azujima."
Upon hearing his name, Azujima got curious, but didn't question it as he got up and went to his teacher, "How can I help?"
At the question, Angel Wings concern returned to her face and posture, "Have you seen Tonen recently?"
"Not since he talked with you a while ago, why?"
"I needed some help with a task getting supplies and he should've been back by now, but he's not. I just want to make sure he's ok. Do you think you can sense him, see if he's nearby?"
Azujima thought about it for a bit and then shook his head, "Even without my dampeners it would be a stretch. He'd have to be talking or doing something that I could directly pinpoint. But...I could try calling him."
"Oh, that would be great. I'm sure it's nothing, but being a teacher I want to make sure he's safe."
"I'm sure he'd appreciate that."
Azujima pulled out his phone and dialed Tonen's phone, even putting it on speaker so that Angel Wings could hear it.
He noticed her concern as the phone rang a bit, he quickly thought of a way to comfort her, "Tonen's got this really funny voicemail, so even if he doesn't pick up he'll-"
Before he could finish the phone clicked and an automated voice rang forth, "We're sorry, the phone you're trying to reach has been disconnected. Please try another number."
The statement shocked them both, and others in the room turned to see what was going on. Azujima went from calm to mortified, "That shouldn't have happened. Even if he was out of range, it should've gone right to voicemail. The only reason that would happen is if..."
"HIs phone was destroyed," finished Angel Wings, face also full of fear, "Tonen's in trouble..."
Far away, in a dark room, Tonen sat in a tied up chair on one side of a desk with a deck of cards on it. On the other side was a man with gloved hands sitting in the dark. Tonen had received much punishment before meeting the man, but he felt he would meet the one in charge before too long, he was right. But whether that was a good thing or not was up for debate.
The man with the gloved hands motioned to his bruises on his face, "I do apologize for my associate, Brute. He takes a certain...pleasure...in his work."
Tonen gave a pained laugh, "If you expected me to crack just because someone hit me hard-"
"You misunderstand, dear sir. I didn't want Brute to hurt you at all. If you answered his questions you would still be before me, but in a...heh...much more mint condition."
"I'm not telling you anything. Period."
"All I want to know is about the card you found on that dead body a little while back."
Seeing an opportunity, Tonen raised his eyes to look at the shadowy figure, "Why should I tell something to someone I can't even see?"
The man paused, then chuckled lightly, "An excellent point. I do apologize for the darkness, I do like a bit of drama. Let's change that."
He clapped his hands twice and a spotlight appeared above him. In the chair sat a man in a curious purple suit. It had certain patterns throughout it but it didn't make him seem comical, rather, it made him seem intentional in what he wore. Just as important was the many had a half mask on his face, one you would see in a drama-type setting as it was a comical smile on it. The man had tanned skin, piercing hazel eyes and jet black hair that him a striking figure to look at.
"My name is Nochi, Nochi Hitan," said the man with an odd smile. "But in the interest of playing the part, you can call me...The Dealer."
This got Tonen to give a bit more jovial of a laugh, "The Dealer? As in The Dealer of The Deck?"
"Ah! So you do know of us! See? We're already making progress."
Tonen looked away angrily as he knew he had just given up some information unintentionally. The Dealer chuckled a bit and leaned in a bit.
"Now now, no need to get angry at yourself, you would've told me that you knew about The Deck eventually."
"I doubt it."
At his continued defiance, The Dealer groaned with impatience before getting up from his chair and moving it so that he could sit right beside Tonen, who turned his head to face his "host".
"Look, I don't know what you think is going on here...but it's not what you think," The Dealer noted with another odd expression on his face.
"Then enlighten me," mocked Tonen.
"I will. The fact that you know about The Deck means...nothing. Nothing to me at least. Despite what you might be believing right now, everything you know about us...is because we wanted it that way."
"You...wanted me to know about you?"
"What? No! Not YOU you...you as in a hero. Or in your case Pro-Hero in-training. Look, we WANTED the Pro-Heroes to know we exist. Everything they know about is...is information we purposefully give them so that they know we're here...and yet they won't do anything about it. Can you guess why?"
He motioned to Tonen, who looked away as he thought about it, "So...they can't make a move on you?"
"Exactly!" exclaimed The Dealer, "Pro-Heroes make moves against those that they know about, those, that they have information on. They don't tell the public about us because we haven't given them ENOUGH information and to tell them about us now would cause a panic. Again...part of the plan."
"So you put them in doubt about what they really know so that when you strike and try to take over, they can't possibly be ready for you."
The Dealer didn't respond, but merely looked at Tonen as if he was crazy, "What are you talking about? When did I ever say that The Deck wants to take over?" Do you hear yourself right now?"
He didn't let Tonen answer, but merely laughed loudly and spun around in his chair a bit.
"Take over...ha! As if."
This made Tonen more confused than before, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Dear boy, do you realize the EFFORT that goes into trying to take over the world? Or even just a country? THINK! It's not easy. Let's start at the top. You have to have a Quirk that is so special that you can go unopposed. OR, you need a group of Quirk-users that combined could take on all the major Pro-Heroes in their own Deck. Like Mythical, and Athena."
"Which you probably have in YOUR deck!"
"...maybe. I would feel confident taking on some of them, but all? No, definitely not. Which is the second step. To truly take over, you need to not just beat the Pro-Heroes, you need to beat ALL the Pro-Heroes. And by beat, I mean kill, or depower if you have that ability. We do not for the record. Taking on the top hero alone is a challenge, but as you no doubt know...there's hundreds of ranked Pro-Heroes big and small with a variety of Quirks just in Japan alone! To take over this country we'd have to beat ALL of them, and then..."
He pointed to Tonen, who nodded at the insinuation, "You'd have to take care of those who are next in line to be Pro-Heroes.."
"YES! And do you understand how much work that is? We haven't even gotten to the parts like...establish your own power base, ensure your rule is unopposed, enforcing your rule of law, and on and on it goes. If a single one of those steps fails...the plan, the attempt, the goal...it's gone, all of it. Take over Japan, or the world? Please, Mr. Keitomo, that's way too much effort for not enough reward. And in this Deck? We are here for the reward."
With a simple shrug he got back up and moved his chair back to the desk so he could face Tonen head-on again. Tonen was struggling with what he had just been told. It seemed fair, logical even, but was it true? He couldn't tell, he knew he had to probe more while The Dealer was chatty, "Ok, so what's the point of all this? Why am I here?"
"I told you, information. While it's true that there are civilians out there who know our mark, they're very specific people. Even the ones who find the victims don't make anything of the card. But you...?"
He pulled out a tablet and brought up the video of Tonen and the others finding the body. Tonen watched and relived the moment from yelling at the others to taking the picture of the card. The Dealer's eyes narrowed with extreme curiosity, "You recognized the card immediately, and you took a photo as evidence of it, why? As far as I can tell, you haven't been affected by any kills we made. So why did you take that picture, why were you so angry when you saw that card? I want to know, Mr. Keitomo."
Tonen glared at his "host", and went through the situation in his mind about whether to tell the truth or not. He could tell The Dealer was curious, and information was important to him, he felt that lying might put him at risk, but would telling the truth set him free...? Or just make him more of a liability than he likely was?
He looked away for a brief moment then locked eyes with The Dealer again, "You killed a woman about five years ago. I was the one who found the body, and the card."
This surprised The Deale who leaned back and pondered for a few moments, "How did she die?"
"There was a giant hole in her chest! And before ask, the card was the Nine of Hearts."
The Dealer paused again and went back to the tablet. He typed something on it and put it down when he was done, "That was indeed us, continue."
Angry, but not wanting to lash out yet, he bit his tongue and kept going, "I wasn't even ten yet. That card helped me focus on something other than the dead body. My parents are heroes so I told them about the body when I got home. The card I mentioned later, I forgot I had it. Trauma...or so my therapist said. I was told to forget about the card, about the body. Five years later..."
"You saw another card..."
"Yeah, and I hope YOU understand what having a wave of emotions long-since buried can do to someone."
"I can indeed. So you were angry because you knew that the entity that traumatized you before was doing it again?"
"More or less, yeah. I didn't have any answers back then, but I wanted them now. That's why I took the picture, so I could show my parents."
The Dealer smirked at this, "But they weren't the ones to tell you about us, were they?"
"How could you-?"
"We're thorough in our investigations. Your parents don't have the clearance to know too much about us, your principal...however? Yeah, she does, she's very deep in the investigation in fact. So it makes sense that she told you. And here we are now, all caught up."
"All this just to hear a bad memory," spat Tonen.
"Memories are powerful things, don't throw them off as nothing," cautioned The Dealer. "Besides, you're missing the grander picture, your 'role' if you will."
"My role?"
"How many cards are in a deck?"
"52."
"Close, but wrong."
"13 cards from Two to Ace, four suits. 13 x 4 = 52."
"Don't try and school a card shark, Mr. Keitomo, it won't end well for you. I didn't ask the cards in a standard deck, I asked for the cards IN a deck. So for example, you know that all our members have a card assigned to them as their 'marker'. If I was to give one to you before our chat it would be..."
He tapped the deck, and the first card floated upward and then faced Tonen, it was a Joker.
The Dealer smirked, "A wild card. Wild cards are powerful things, and in the right game, they can tip the balance. You were a wild card because we didn't know how much you knew. Now we know, and can take stock accordingly."
Tonen sensed another opportunity and leaned in with another mocking expression, "Can't say the same, you get a group of these Quirk-users together and...do what? Just kill random people?"
"I never said they were random. Look, I feel bad for traumatizing you, we plant our victims so that they'll be found by adults, not kids. In fact, you were the first kid to find one of the bodies, and for that, I am sorry. So for that, I will tell you what The Deck really is...we're power brokers."
"Power brokers?"
"Yeah, the beauty of a deck like mine...is diversity. We do all sorts of things, not just kill people. We can...sabotage things. Influence people. Cause chain reactions... Water things down... Or light them up via arson-"
"Arson?" blurted out Tonen, his memory flashing back to a familiar building, a familiar fire, and a familiar hand extending to him.
"Yes...arson..." repeated The Dealer, curiosity returning.
"Eight years ago, The Blashimi Building, Tokyo, was that you?"
Curiosity growing, The Dealer typed on the tablet and brought some things up, he laid it down and simply replied, "No."
Tonen scoffed, "Right, like I'm supposed to take your word."
"You do realize I've been honest with you this whole time? I have no reason to lie. Now, if you further wish to have me prove that...I know who did burn that building down."
"...who?"
"It was a Quirk-less arsonist. A disgruntled employee who felt that the whole company should go up in smoke."
"Why didn't the police report that to the public?"
"They didn't know."
"And you do?"
"Yes, because we were hired to find and kill him...after getting his confession, of course."
The calmness in The Dealer's voice when he said that shook Tonen, who couldn't speak.
"Why is that fire so important to you?"
"I was...in it..." sputtered out Tonen.
"Indeed! If I recall correctly, a Pro-Hero saved some people from the blaze, were you one of them?" The Dealer asked.
"Yes."
"Intriguing. Most intriguing."
"The company hired you to kill that arsonist?"
"I told you, I'm a power broker. Your mind likely went to thinking that I meant only helping those in the villain trade...but they don't always pay the best. There are plenty of 'upstanding citizens' who want nothing more than to get their way. We've built our reputation in getting things done and showing how diverse we can be with our skill sets."
"Hence the cards."
"Hence the cards. To those who don't know the meaning, they're nothing. But to those that KNOW the meaning...they're everything. Including all the potential clients that might work with us. It's a beautiful thing when it all comes together."
Tonen took a moment to take it all in. The scope of what The Dealer was suggesting was grand, and yet, like he said, he had no reason to lie. But one thought continually lingered in his mind.
"So..." he started, "you going to get that Brute guy in to finish me?"
"Beg your pardon?" asked The Dealer.
"Like you said, the information you give out is precious to you. You've told me a lot, including about a certain higher-up that paid you to kill a man. I can't be allowed to live knowing that, right?"
The Dealer scoffed and gave a pained laugh, "Mr. Keitomo, I'm really getting annoyed with you assuming you know what's going on. I had hoped by now I proved that I'm not an idiot nor someone who does something rashly. I have a plan, and I fulfill it, pure and simple. I wanted to know what you knew about the card, and I got it. And do you really think I didn't notice you probing me for information at key points? As if I didn't know you were trying to siphon what you could?"
Tonen's face twitched a bit as he knew he had been called out.
"Exactly. And trust me when I say you're not an idiot either. You've played the situation well. But I've done the same. I knew you wouldn't attack me without asking things. Otherwise...why would I allow you to be in my presence alone considering your...air pressure."
Tonen was again stunned into silence, he had been holding his Quirk back as a trump card for a potential escape, but yet, he knew about it already?
His shock made The Dealer smile evilly, "As noted, we do good research. I'll admit that you'd be a good part of The Deck after some refining of your powers. But I think we both know you wouldn't accept. Oh, and you were smart to not try and break out. You wouldn't have made it out. Finally, as for your question of 'exposing information'...you really think the Pro-Heroes don't know everything I've told you?"
"What?" Tonen barely got out.
"I told you, I'm not an idiot. The arson thing surprised me, but the Pro-Heroes found out about that one eventually. They didn't tell the police out of interest for safety and not exposing who we were and the kind of people we worked alongside. So...yeah, you have nothing to give them. Even my name is meaningless because your dear principal already knows that too..."
"...fine, whatever, you win. Can I go now?"
"Sadly no. We do need to talk about a few more things, but I will allow you to rest due to your injuries."
He snapped his fingers and an attendant came in.
"I'm done with Mr. Keitomo for now. Put him in the spare room to rest, no one is to touch him unless I say so. Oh, and make sure he is facing the window. I'm sure he would like to see something more pleasant this go around. Oh, but don't think about trying to break out through it, it's very small and there are no people around for a few blocks. Until we meet again, Mr. Keitomo."
The attendant went and lifted up Tonen chair and all and left the room with him. The Dealer brought back up his tablet and started scrolling through things.
Back at the dorm for Class 1-B, the entire class was assembled, and Angel Wings was trying to keep everything civil, "Ok, calm down, calm down, I know what we just told you is a lot to take in, but we need to be calm and rationally about this."
"Tonen's kidnapped! We need to find him and be very UN-calm with the people who took him!" Anno noted with clear anger.
Kuroda pointed one of her rods at him, "You don't think I'm angry too? But we don't know where he is, and who has him, and how we can even get to him right now, so raging against our teacher isn't going to help! So calm down, or I'll make you calm down."
"...sorry."
"It's fine. We're all feeling pretty helpless right now."
"Is there...no way we can find him?" asked Kanagita, worry plastered all over her face.
"It's not like we have a tracer on him."
"We thought about it with new students," admitted Angel Wings with a small shrug, "it was a bit much, though. And even if we put it on your bags you wouldn't carry those all the time."
Ueno made a noise of discontent as he spun in place, "We should've done a signal setup or something. You know, in case of emergency, break glass? Or an SOS of some kind?"
At those words, Azujima flashed back to their class with Big Brain, "Just remember, if I'm ever in trouble I'll be tapping out SOS so make sure to have your hearing on full blast when that happens."
"Oh my gosh, he did give me that," realized Azujima, everyone turning to him when he said it."He told me if he was ever in trouble he'd tap out SOS!"
"What? Are you sure?" asked Angel Wings, shocked at the revelation.
"As sure as I can be. He made it in jest, but given the circumstances...it's something to go for. Try it out at least."
"But you told me you couldn't pinpoint Tonen with your senses."
"Yes, but I'm not looking for TK, I'm looking for someone doing an SOS signal. That's different, that's something I can focus on."
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news..." stated Eri, getting everyone's attention, "but even if you could hear that...what if he's not in range? What's more, do you have that range to find something that'll probably not be heard outside of a few feet?"
Azujima sighed and turned to Iha, "Not without help."
Her eyes went wide as she realized what he was suggesting, "I promised you I wouldn't do that again."
"No, you promised to not do it without my permission. I give it, fully and completely. We need to find TK, please."
He took off his dampeners and then held out his hand, Iha looked at it for a while, then turned to the others, many of whom nodded in support of the idea, including Kuroda and Angel Wings. Hesitantly, she took his hand and supercharged his Quirk.
Not unlike before, Azujima was overcome with all that his senses were sending to his brain. He was overloaded with sounds, smells, the feel of Iha's skin, he could taste everything that was within all the dorms around him despite them being nowhere near his lips and tongue.
Azujima struggled with condensing it all, it was overwhelming him. Kuroda saw this and cupped his head with her hands and made him look at her, "Listen to me, Azujima. Listen to my voice and my voice alone. You can do this. Drown out everything else, all your other senses that you don't need to use. Get rid of them until hearing is all you're focusing on. Do it, do it now."
Hearing her words, he slowly started to drown out everything. He shut his eyes, then fastened his mouth as tightly as he could. He didn't dare plug his nose but he focused on not receiving the smells. Soon, all that was left was the sounds. They were still overwhelming, but at least he could focus on them more easily.
Kuroda could see he was doing it and so she left him go, "Very good. Now, listen for the SOS from Tonen. You know what that sounds like, so drown out everything else but that. You can do it, go on..."
Azujima focused as hard as he could and started to drown out all the sounds. He started with the dorm and the immediate area as he could tell Tonen wasn't there.
He focused on the sounds he needed to hear, three dots, three dashes, three dots. The sounds of the world painted a picture like echolocation for bats. As soon as he heard a sound that wasn't an SOS he dulled it out and focused on the next sound, and then the next. He searched the city as a whole, listening desperately for that sound.
Then he heard it.
It was quiet, almost like a pin drop, but the pins kept dropping, and the noise kept reverberating. Three dots, three dashes, three dots. As Azujima focused in on that, he let the sound paint him a picture. Tonen was in a room tied to a chair. It was on that chair that he was making the sound. The sound was exiting near a small window that had its glass shattered, no doubt by Tonen's air pressure.
Azujima pulled back slowly to see the building he was in, then he pulled back to the street, then the block, and further and further until he knew where he was.
He let go of Iha and dropped to the ground as his senses went back to their normal range. Azujima put back on his sound dampeners and after catching his breath looked at Angel Wings, "I know where he is! He's in a building on the outskirts of town. The part that was shut down a year back."
"We know that part, don't we brother?" asked Ryo.
"Indeed, sister," answered Ryu, "we had to write a report on that once. They were going to rebuild the area but funding fell through, so they abandoned it."
"A perfect place to hide someone," noted Ebirima, anger pouring onto her face.
Fenella pounded her fists together, "Especially if you're not trying to get caught."
"Is there a plan?" put out Wasuke.
"We get our student back," answered a voice.
They all turned and before them was Princpal Ayatsune. Her face was expressionless, but the class could tell it was because she was trying to present herself as calm.
"We'll get him back ourselves. I would call in Pro-Heroes but that would take time, and I have faith in your capabilities based on what I've seen so far."
"Heck yeah, we'll blink in and be gone," boasted Oshibu.
"I doubt it'll be that simple, but I admire the enthusiasm."
"Like Wasuke said, is there a plan? Granted, I guess we don't technically need a plan we can just go in guns blazing but without knowing who all is in there-"
"SANDA!" shouted many of the class to get him to stop.
"Sorry, sorry!"
A small smile graced Principal Ayatsune's lips, "We'll form a plan as we get closer to the building. Right now, we need to get there as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the longer Tonen may be in trouble."
"If I may ask a question," came another voice alongside a raised hand, it was Goya. "Are we being asked or ordered to do this?"
"You are not being ordered, or forced. This is going to be dangerous. If who I fear took Tonen is responsible, they will be willing to kill us for various reasons. You should all know that. This 'mission' for lack of a better term...is voluntary."
"Then in that case, I shall pass on this grand adventure."
Goya gave a mock bow and turned to leave, but before he could, Anno bulked up, grabbed him and slammed him into the wall, "You're always talking big about how good you are, how powerful you are! And here you have a chance to go up against potential real villains and you bail?"
"I have no skin in this game. I don't care about Tonen, not one bit, and as for the villains, I can beat them another day, it doesn't bother me any. Now release me, or I will make you release me."
"Enough," ordered Principal Ayatsune, "Like I said, this is not a required mission. If he doesn't want to go, terrible reasons aside, he will not be punished for doing so. Release him."
Anno bared his shark teeth at Goya, but slimmed down and released him.
Goya snickered, "Good shark. Happy hunting everyone."
He gave another mock bow and headed up the nearby staircase. Anno returned to the group, rage in his eyes, "I swear to whatever shark god is out there I'll rip him limb from limb one day."
"Save your anger for whoever has Tonen," cautioned Ayatsune before giving a glance to the others. "Anyone else want to stay?"
A silence grew, followed by the sound of shifting footsteps, Kuroda turned to see Chuya walking away, "Are you kidding me right now?"
Chuya stopped but didn't turn back to face her class rep, "She said it was voluntary. I will not volunteer for this."
"You're a soldier! You're supposed to run into the fire, not run away! Especially when one of your own is in danger! Do soldiers really leave their own behind?"
At the question, memories flooded into Chuya's mind. She was at a hospital room, standing over the bed of a heavily bandaged man. It was her father. Tears filled up her eyes as she looked upon him.
Back in the present, Chuya's face hardened with her resolve, "Yes, yes they do. That's why they're called casualties of war."
Without another word she left, and Kuroda's face spoke volumes of how she felt, "Anno? You can kill Goya if you want, but she is mine."
"Deal," said Anno with a smirk.
"Please you two, don't say things like that," begged Angel Wings.
"It's ok, Tsuru," noted Ayatsune with a calm smile to her friend. "They're caught up in the moment. If no one else wants to leave, follow me. Our ride is outside."
They proceeded to the front of the school where one of their busses awaited. Principal Ayatsune had Azujima stay in front so that she could guide her as she drove the bus. The class was silent as they went along the roads, no one really knowing what to say as they raced to go save their classmate.
As they reached the outskirts of the town they all noticed the change in scenery. The buildings around them were more decrepit, broken, it was basically a ghost town. Proof that even in a hero society...not everything can be saved or salvaged.
Azujima kept guiding the busses until they were a few streets out from the location he knew Tonen to be in. Principal Ayatsune turned the bus into a nearby alley and they all got out.
"Listen very carefully," she said to them once gathered. "We're on their turf, and they may have sensors or cameras to warn them if someone approaches. We have to be careful as we get closer.
Azujima raised his hand slightly, "You know I can help with that. Use my senses to try and detect people."
Ryo popped in and pulled out one of her drones, "And I can help with aerial recon! My drones are able to sense electromagnetic frequencies, they can tell me if there are cameras!"
Ayatsune did her best to hide a pleased smile, "Well look at you two getting things done. Do it. Ryo, send out as many drones as you have and have them circle around the nearby buildings. Azujima, tell her which one Tonen is in so she can send her drones to it. Then keep your senses open within the next couple hundred feet to let us know if anything moves."
"You got it!" said the two in reply.
Information received from Azujima, Ryo sent out her drones and they flew high into the air. They started to gaze upon the buildings and set up an aerial perimeter so that they could tell her whatever she needed to.
All setup, they followed the alley that they were in and took the long way around so that they could reach the building Tonen was being held at. After making sure they were clear, they looked at the building in question.
"Do you still sense Tonen, Azujima?" asked Principal Ayatsune.
At the question he used his dampeners to tone down everything but his hearing and focused on the SOS signal he heard before. Sure enough, it was still tapping, "Yeah, he's still in the room with the small window. What do we do now?"
"Oh, I have an idea," piped up Kuroda, "Hana?"
"Yeah?" she replied.
"Why don't you do that ground vanishing trick you did before and basically warp him out?"
"That's a bit tricky, I still haven't done it on a live person, just dummies. Plus, I need a direct line of ground like earth or cement to make it work. Any break in that path and I can't go forward. Azujima? Is there anything blocking my path?"
He dialed up his other senses and focused on the room itself, he grimaces as he saw problems, "The window pane is thick plastic and a few inches thick, not to mention the glass you'd have to go around...and the floor is carpeted...the walls..."
"I get it, Azujima, yeah, that's a no-go Kuroda, sorry."
"Don't be sorry," waved off Kuroda, "I'm just trying to get us in and out without too many issues..."
"Which is why you're a good class rep," said Angel Wings with a kind smile.
Doza looked at the building and pondered, "I could use my resonance frequency to break into the room where Tonen is in. Create a small hole, get us in and out?"
"Wouldn't that be risky with the building though?" pointed out Ikaim with a motion to the building itself, "It doesn't look like its best legs."
"I could make a whole small enough to try and get someone like Iha or Azujima through, then make it just big enough to get Tonen out. It'd be a simple in and out."
"That might work..." noted Ayatsune, "Azujima? Is there anyone guarding the door to Tonen's room?"
Not thinking about that earlier, Azujima again focused on Tonen's room and sure enough there were a couple of guards posted outside, no doubt if he tried to escape, "I see two, no way for me to know what their Quirks are though."
"Ok...Doza, your plan could work...but we need to get those guards away from Tonen's room. Plus, while Tonen is the priority, we can't just let these villains escape, they might come after Tonen again, or one of you."
"So a two-pronged attack?" suggested Angel Wings with a look to the building. "The bulk of us go and break into the building to get whoever is inside's attention...and then a small rescue team gets Tonen out?"
Ayatsune again tried to contain her smile, "Right as always, Tsuru. I'll take the bulk of the students through the front. You take Doza, Azujima, Ueno and Ikaim and get Tonen out. We'll meet you back at the bus."
"Before we rush in..." spoke out Wasuke with a knowing look, "Wouldn't it be wise to see how many people are in there? Quirk or not, each one could be a big problem."
"I'm on it," answered Azujima and Ryo in unison, which made Ryu pout as that was usually what he and his sister did.
Azujima opened up his senses as best he could to scan the building. Ryo meanwhile had her drones sensors go and scan the building for heat signatures and other tells of life.
"I'm picking up...eight people. Two of which are the guards near Tonen's room," noted Azujima.
"I'm picking up the same...but...my drones are saying something else is there...they can't explain what though. We'll need to be careful."
Angel Wings lightly nudged Principal Ayatsune and whispered to her, "Doesn't eight seem light to you?"
"If this is The Deck, eight might be all they think they need," she quietly answered back.
"If these kids get hurt because we underestimated them..."
"They won't, brave face Tsuru, we need to get Tonen back."
"Right, right."
With a nod of acknowledgement to the other they turned around to face Class 1-B. Ayatsune motioned for the separate groups to form up, "Ok, let's do this. Remember, this is NOT a training drill, these are real villains with deadly intent within them. Don't give them an opening to hurt you, because they'll take it. Any last thoughts or questions?"
Kuroda pulled out her rods and turned them into hard diamond, face full of fire, "Let's get our boy back."
The others made similar noises of being ready and they went off. The groups split and carefully moved to their positions. At the front, Principal Ayatsune's group hovered just in front of the main door.
"There's one inside," Ryo stated quietly, "he's big though."
"Duly noted. Who wants to knock on the door?" asked Ayatsune.
Anno gave a grunting laugh and bulked up, "As if you have to ask. SHARK COMING THROUGH!"
With a roar he busted through the door, to his, and others' surprise though, the room they were in was rather lavish, and there was a large man sitting down and reading a paper. It was the man known as Brute.
He got up and cracked his knuckles, "Well what have we here?"
"Brute. You remember him, right? Quirk: Knuckles. His hand were born with a hardening to them that makes them punch with incredible force. The Brass Knuckles are for effect and adding more damage. They hurt, a lot."
"Where is Tonen Keitomo?" asked Anno, playing dumb.
"Oh, the kid? He's around. Bit worse for wear though...that's what happens when you get these hands."
"He better be alive."
"He's alive...for now, maybe not after this though... I promise you though, it'll be painful, and I'll work him over nice and slow. Sound good, sharky?"
To Brute's surprise, Anno laughed, "You won't get that chance you dumb ox."
"Oh, and one lone shark is going to stop me?"
"No...not just a shark. Right, Kanagita?"
He motioned and Kanagita slowly stepped forward. But this time, her expression was livid, "You...beat up Tonen...?"
Brute scoffed at the small child before him, "Yeah, so what?"
"That makes me...make me...ANGRY!"
She roared and her body shifted into its brick form, and an even louder roar emerged, "We'll break you good!'
"Dang straight!" added in Anno and they charged right at Brute.
Brute lashed out at the two, but they dodged and hit him with a combined punch that sent him flying into the wall. As Brute got up Anno turned to the others.
"We got this guy! Go find Tonen and stop whoever else is here."
Ayatsune nodded an motioned the others to go down the nearby hallway, "If things get bad, do not hesitate to run."
"Bricks don't run, bricks break!" Kanagita roared as she lashed back at Brute.
On the other side of the building, Tonen was in his chair continuing to top out the SOS when a roar reached his ears, "What the heck? Is that...Kanagita?"
The building shook and a smile grew on his face.
"Yep, that's her, probably Anno too. Guess the class got my message. Now let's see if..."
He paused and turned his head towards the door, he heard light muttering and then a pair of footsteps sounded and went down the hallway.
"...they take the bait. Good. Alright, now let's get out of here, never tried to break straps like these with my air pressure but-"
Before he could finish, another shaking happened. But this time it was much smaller. He focused on its epicenter and soon a small hole appeared in the wall near where the window was. As the hole grew a couple of heads poked through.
"TK!" called out Azujima with clear happiness.
"Good, the buildings not collapsing!" pointed out Ikaim.
"Such faith, Ikaim," Doza said condescendingly.
"Can we get through now?" wondered Ueno, eyes spinning.
They pulled back and one by one got down to the ground level, followed by Angel Wings who was almost overwhelmed at the sight of Tonen, "Oh, Tonen! Look at you, I'm so sorry!"
"You didn't do anything, this was all them. If you really want to help me though...you can untie me from this chair?"
"Oh, of course! Boys, help him out!"
Doza, Ikaim and Ueno went over and unfastened the straps that held him in place. Tonen took a moment to stretch out once he was free, "Oh thank goodness, I've been in that chair for what felt like days! Glad you heard my signal, Azu."
"Glad you told me to listen for it. Sorry about it taking so long."
"Yeah...that chair was rough."
Angel Wings laughed lightly, "Well at least you're safe now.. Let's get you out of here, we'll meet up with the others later."
"Wait, what? We can't leave the others here with them."
Doza put his hand on Tonen's shoulder to calm him down, "It's alright man, this was all part of the plan. They distract everyone in the place while we get you."
"Yeah, and the plan is going perfectly!" added Ikaim.
"For now..." Ueno said grimly.
"I'm grateful, I am, but there's more to this than that," Tonen started but paused when he realized the promise he couldn't break. He looked at Angel Wings and got an idea. "Angel Wings, do you know the people the principal has been looking for?"
She was taken aback by the question but calmly responded, "Yes..."
"That's who took me, and their leader is here! He was confident in being able to keep me here even with knowing my Quirk, the others might not be able to handle what he has! We need to be together to fight them off."
"You're hurt, TK!" Azujima said with pleading intent.
"I'll be fine. I'm not going to let the others get hurt, or worse, just because of me. Please!"
Angel Wings went through a variety of emotions and thoughts, but she knew how important catching the leader of The Deck was to Ayatsune, and being together would help with that more.
"Alright, but you will stay close to us at all times. You say you're fine, but you're really not."
"Guilty. Let's go, I know where the head guy is. Ink, let me lean on you, my legs are pretty stiff and sore."
"I got your back," Ikaim said as he wrapped Tonen's arm around his neck to support him.
"Dizzy? Take point. If anyone comes near us? Send them into a wall."
"Yeah, sure," he replied nonchalantly.
"Azu, let me know if anyone is within a good distance to us."
"You got it," replied his friend.
They carefully exited the room and when they were sure no one was coming for them, they went down a pathway and Tonen guided them.
Back with Ayatsune's group, they carefully walked through a winding hallway, Ayatsune eventually took point to ensure that she was the first line of defense against anything. But that plan didn't work when one of her students cried out in pain.
"AH!" screamed Ebirima.
They turned and Ebirima was on the ground, slash marks on her arm, Fenella tended to her, "What happened, lass?"
"I don't know...something came out of the wall, I barely was able to react!"
"Out of the wall?" repeated Wasuke, "Well that won't...WOAH!"
Just as he looked at the wall a shadowy figure rushed toward him, he got his shield up just in time for it to bounce off of him and head into the opposite wall."
"This thing is IN the walls! How's that fair?" called out Oshbiu. "I can't exactly blitz it if I can't see where it's coming from."
"Calm down," ordered Kuroda, "if it's in the walls then we need to...shake things up. Sanda!"
Sanda locked eyes with her and a look of inspiration emerged, "I'm on it. Time to...QUAKE ON!"
He reached out his hands and touched both sides of the wall, which just so happened to be made of cement. He turned on his Quirk and the walls started to shake. Slowly at first, and then violently.
"Come on out unless you want the walls to shatter, because I can do that!"
As if rejecting the presence within them, the figure popped out of the wall and fell to the floor. Before they could react, Kuroda rushed in and slammed her diamond rods against the being's head. Knocked out, the shadowy figure took a different form, one of a woman in a full-body black leotard.
"Lights out, Wall Shadow," commented Kuroda.
"You know her?" asked Sanda.
"Nah, just seemed right. Nice job, Sanda. Oh, and 'Quake on'?"
"Yeah, you know...because it's a reference to a name I can't use even though I kind of want to use it because Tonen-"
"SANDA!"
"Right, sorry. We all good to keep going?"
"Sorry, not us two," came a voice.
They turned around and Fenella was hoisting up Ebririma who was still bleeding from her being attacked by the Wall Shadow, "This gash is deep and none of us are healers. There's first aid in the bus, I'll take her there and do what I can until you all return."
"Good idea," admitted Ayatsune, "Check on Anno and Kanagita if you can."
"Will do."
"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help," lamented Ebirima.
Kuroda waved it off, "We were never going to get off scot free, take care of yourself, that's the important thing."
Fenella moved down the hallway and did her best to cheer up her friend, "Come on, lass, you'll be fine...it's a just a...scratch."
The rest of them moved down the hallway and soon entered a more open area. When they did, two more figures appeared before them. One was a man who had hands that were as sharp as blades, and the other was a woman in a Gi.
"Well well, chickens in the fox house..." said the man with the bladed hands.
"They must think we'd let them walk," mocked the woman.
Principal Ayatsune stepped forward, "If you know what's good for you, you'll stop this now and tell me where the boy you took is and where your leader can be found."
"That sounds like a threat, Slice..."
Slice snickered, "Indeed, M.A. What should we do about that threat?"
M.A. looked up, "Stretch? Care to help?"
The rest of the room looked up and a man of incredible elasticity was stretched upon the ceiling. He didn't say anything, but did drop down with incredible quickness.
Ayatsune say this and looked at her students, "Move!"
The class tried to move, but only a few escaped, the rest, including Principal Ayatsune were captured and contained within the stretchy man.
"Quite a few fish I caught," growled the man known as Stretch.
"Let them go!" Kuroda shouted.
"You got bigger problems, girlie," commented Slice, showing off his hand.
Wasuke stood next to Kuroda and prepped for battle, "That's no way to talk to someone."
"Well aren't you old-fashioned?" noted M.A.
"It works for him," replied Eri, taking a stance next to the two.
Slice surveyed the competition and smiled, "Two on three? I'll take those odds."
Eri gazed at M.A. and could read her instantly, which made her also smile, "Kuroda, Wasuke, take blade-fingers over there."
"You think you can take her on your own?" asked Kuroda.
"Yeah, M.A. must mean 'martial artist', and that means I'm perfectly suited to fight her."
"If you need us, call out," Wasuke said with a look.
"Got it, now let's go!"
Assignments given, they went and rushed their opponents. Wasuke and Kuroda went after Slice and in tandem did various forms of offense to put the villain off-balance. To their surprise though, he took it in stride and had no issue dodging their attacks as different as they were.
At one point he went and made a slashing movement at Kuroda who blocked it with her diamond rod. Not amused, she quip, "You can't break diamond, moron."
Slice smirked, "I don't need to break it, I just need to break you..."
Bladed fingers embedded slightly in the diamond, he started to push her backward, but as he focused on her, Wasuke came and rammed him full speed with his fully-formed shield, sending the villain to the ground.
"Did you forget? There's two of us!"
"Duly noted, I won't make that mistake again!"
On the other side of the room, M.A. and Eri circled one another, each in a different fighting pose. The woman was impressed with her opponent, "You carry that stance with confidence, is your Quirk rooted in the fighting arts like mine?"
"Close," Eri responded, "but it did help me learn virtually every martial art out there."
"I will put that to the test, child."
On the same wavelength, the two clashed, then broke apart and unleashed a medley of moves on the other. When one style didn't give them the upperhand, they switched to another style, and another, and another, they continued to switch them up, and each time they were both frustrated and yet impressed by how well the other was holding up.
M.A was the first to admit this, "Such skill! How I wish I could spar with you every day, I could teach you much."
"Surrender and I might just let you," remarked Eri with a smirk.
"A tempting offer. How about a counter, you join me and my allies instead? There's so much you don't know about the world we live in. Heroes...villains...they're just labels, what we do with our Quirks is what separates us. Your eyes tell me all I need to know. You want to learn. You want to grow in your knowledge and abilities, I can help you with that!"
"Maybe, but I prefer not to sell my soul. Besides, you kidnapped a friend of mine, kind of hurts the good will you're trying to build up."
"Unfortunate. Let us continue then."
Both sides of the fight raged on with each side not gaining ground on the other. As this happened, the villain known as Stretch continued to contain the others. He compressed them tightly so that none could escape.
However, one did escape, Hana. She suddenly emerged from the ground via her Quirk and gasped for air, "Oh, thank goodness, it was getting really stuffy in there..."
"About time, Hana!" called out Kuroda as she fought Slice.
"Sorry! I had to touch the ground and that was really hard with him constricting us!"
"Fine, just deal with him and get everyone loose!"
"On it!"
Stretch didn't seem fazed by this at all, "And how are you going to hurt me? My body is malleable, I don't take damage easily."
Hana looked around and saw a metal grate, she went over and touched it and her arm transformed into metal, "I don't need you to take damage, I just need you to move!"
She reared back and delivered a line drive of a punch with her new metal arm right into his face. The villains head absorbed the damage and yet was moved back enough that his body started to retract just enough for some of the others to get free, including Principal Ayatsune.
Upon her freedom, she showed her own rage, "I've had enough of this, students, close your eyes!"
With a scream, her body lit up and beams of light poured out of her in various directions. Stretch and M.A were blinded by the blast, and when the light dimmed, Ayatsune focused more light into orbs that she sent into the two villains to take them out.
"Rinoda Ayatsune. Principal and Pro-Hero. Hero Name: Lightmare. Quirk: Light. She can emit light from her body in a way that can blind people or harden it to create blasts. What can I say? She knows how to light up a room."
"That should do it."
"Indeed it should!" came a menacing voice.
She and many of the other students turned to see Slice with his hands around the throats of the freed Twins. Both of whom were very scared.
"While I applaud the escape attempt, that stops now. You will all surrender or I swear I will slice them open and you won't be able to save them in time."
Principal Ayatsune bared her teeth and tried to think of a way out of this. The other students put up their hands in surrender...all except Oshibu. His mind raced back to the virtual test with Big Brain. He knew he might be able to get to them in time but if he did one thing wrong, they were done for. He looked away and saw he was standing next to Iha.
Very carefully, he tapped her arm, she looked at him and with as little motion as he could, he motioned his head to Slice and gave her a suggestion.
Iha nodded and her eyes glowed.
Slice hadn't noticed this and thought he had won, "Very good, now I'll go get the boss and...and..."
He looked at his hands and noticed that they were morphing, changing into quite regular hands. This threw him off heavily and he didn't know what was happening.
"What...what the...?"
"Don't blink!" cried out Oshibu, and he rushed in and punched Slice right in the face and sent him flying into the nearby wall. "You just got blitzed."
He turned and gave a small bow to the others, who were all glad at what they just saw, especially Principal Ayatsune, "Thank you, Oshibu. And to you, Iha."
"Happy to help," Iha said with a small smile and a shrug.
"I hate to break up the love fest..." started Ryu.
"But we got more incoming!" finished Ryo.
They pointed down the nearby hallway and two people were racing towards them. As they reached an option section of the building though a blast of air slammed into the two and drove them into the wall, knocking them both out. The class froze in place until they saw Tonen and the others enter their line of sight.
"Oh I'm sorry, were you supposed to take them out?" joked Tonen.
"TONEN!" shouted much of the class as they rushed to go see him.
Many tried to hug him or pat him on the shoulder or back which actually caused him a lot of pain.
"Ow, OW! Hey, I've been beaten up here. Everything hurts."
"Already students, that's enough," said Ayatsune as she approached. "It's good to see you alive, Tonen."
"Glad you all came for me. Means a lot."
"Well, most of us came, I'll explain later. Why are you here with the others? Tsuru, why didn't you take him to the bus?"
Angel Wings got an odd expression on her face as she looked at her friend, "The leader is here."
"The DEALER is here..." corrected Tonen.
Principal Ayatsune's eyes went wide, "Show me, take me to him."
The majority of the students had no idea what was going on, but followed reluctantly as Tonen and Azujima led their principal to another room.
As they opened it, the Dealer was there before them and standing in front of a mirror adjusting his outfit, "Ah, Mr. Keitomo. I see you brought friends, quite a few in fact."
Tonen grunted, "You didn't do as much research as you thought. My friends come for me when I'm missing."
"Indeed. Something I will note in case we need to talk again. I guess I should take my leave."
At this, Ayatsune started to shine intensely, "You're not going anywhere, Nochi. You kidnap my student, beat him up, kill people for your own twisted satisfaction and you think I'm going to let you just walk away?"
The Dealer turned to face her in full, "Oh Rinoda, did you really think I would leave anything up to chance? Now, Mirror."
From the mirror behind him, a hand reached out, grabbed the Dealer and pulled him into the mirror. Ayatsune rushed towards the mirror but couldn't get to it in time. The Dealer appeared within the mirror and smirked mockingly at her.
"I do feel bad for you, Rinoda, I know how much you want to kill me."
"I'll get you next time."
"Maybe, but that's not what I mean. Because if you had killed me, at least I could've told your sister you said 'hi'."
Ayatsune roared in anger and her beams of light shattered the mirror into many fragments. A laugh emerged from them as The Dealer could be seen in the fragments.
"Such anger, Rinoda, you need to work on that. You also need to work on leaving, after all, you didn't exactly get all of my fighters, did you? One should be bringing the house down right now. A quake, a quake...the ground begins to shake..."
As if on cue, the building started to vibrate, many turned to Sanda instinctively but he shook his head to let them know it wasn't him.
"Everyone out!" Ayatsune screamed, "Tsuru, take as many students as you can by yourself and get them to the entrance!"
"On it!" Angel Wings said and she grabbed Tonen, Iha and Azujima first, "Hang on! Everyone else? Full throttle out of here like it's your first day tests!"
She flew down the hallway with the three in hand and the others following her. The building continued to shake in intensity, debris starting to fall around them. As they reached certain areas, they noticed that the villains they fought weren't there. Angel Wings came in and grabbed others when she could but eventually they all made it out before the building came crashing down.
Principal Ayatsune gazed as the building in its crushed form with extreme anger, only breaking her gaze when Angel Wings put her hand on her shoulder, "Rinoda, the students, we need to get them back to UA, they need to process all this."
"Yeah...you're right...again," she replied with attempted humor.
They rallied the students and headed to the bus. There they reunited with the others in Fenella, Ebirima, Anno and Kanagita before they headed to UA once more. The students once again didn't talk, there was much to say...but they knew now wasn't the time to say it.
Rinoda made some calls to get Pro-Heroes to the site where they fought. They didn't catch The Deck or The Dealer, but perhaps something would be found in the rubble.
Upon returning to UA, Tonen was taken to the infirmary so Life Force could heal his wounds, Ebirima was also taken there for her arm as well as some of the others for the light injuries they took in the fight. The rest went to the dorm to try and unwind.
Tonen was the last of the students to be cleared by Life Force, and when he was, both Angel Wings and Principal Ayatsune were there.
"Feeling better?" asked Angel Wings with a soft smile.
Tonen mustered up a laugh, "Better than I was an hour ago."
"I'm sorry this happened, I never thought it would go this far," admitted Ayatsune with clear regret. "To kidnap you? It doesn't make sense."
"He wanted to know what I knew about the card from the body I found."
"That's it?"
"Yeah, that's it. He said he didn't like 'wild cards' in his game."
"What else did he tell you?"
"What The Deck really is. Various things you didn't tell me, Principal Ayatsune."
This put her off but she recovered quickly, "I told you enough when we spoke last, you didn't need to know the rest."
"I know, it's fine. But he, The Dealer, was almost...enjoying telling me and the reveling in how I didn't know anything other than what he wanted me to know. He really doesn't care about becoming a top villain, or being known. He just...wants power and influence...his own version of it anyway."
"That's why he's do dangerous, Tonen, that's why we're trying to stop him."
He sighed heavily, "Yeah, well, after tonight...that's going to be even harder."
"I agree. But that's tomorrow's problem. Tonight, you deserve a good rest. And luckily for you, tomorrow is the start of the weekend, you deserve a day or two off. But if you don't mind, and you're up for it, find me in my office tomorrow and tell me all that happened. Even the smallest details can help."
"You got it."
"But until then," interjected Angel Wings, "as your teacher I'm ordering you to get some sleep. I'll take you to the dorm, make sure you get to your destination this time."
"Ok, ok! I surrender.
He put up his hands to showcase he wouldn't fight them off, this got a true smile from Ayatsune, "Thanks Tsuru. I'll see you tomorrow Tonen."
"Principal Ayatsune," he said with a nod to her.
Angel Wings guided him back to the dorm, but just before reaching it her grief returned, "Tonen, I-"
"It's not your fault," he said, cutting her off.
"I sent you to the store, that left you open to being taken."
"They were following me, tracking me. They were going to get me one way or another, with or without your errand. There's enough negative emotions in my class today to fill up this entire school, don't add to it when you did nothing wrong."
Angel Wings smile returned at his words, "Such a kind kid."
"It's how I was raised. If you want to comfort someone, do it for Principal Ayatsune, you can tell she's hiding her feelings over The Dealer getting away."
"I'll look after her, and you look after you."
"I promise, good night."
"Good night, Tonen."
With a bow to one another they departed. Tonen went into the dorm and to his relief, no one was there to talk with him. It's not that he didn't want to speak with them all, but while he was healed, he had to deal with a lot of things mentally and he couldn't do that in a room full of friends asking questions of him.
As he went into his room, he locked the door and with a sigh he let the emotions and feelings of the day weigh on him. He almost collapsed on the spot, but was able to hold himself up.
"Get to your bed," he said to himself, "you got that in you..."
He slowly made his way to his bed and took off his jacket as he did. But as he slung it onto the bed frame, something fell out of his pocket.
"What the...?"
He didn't get a good look at first, but when he gazed at it, it was a card, a very familiar card. Tonen gazed at the back of it and then flipped it over, it was a Joker.
The Dealer's voice rang through his mind, "Wild cards are powerful things, and in the right game, they can tip the balance."
Tonen's eyes flared up and he marched to the trash can to throw the card away, but for some reason, he stopped, and looked at the card again, this time with a blank face. Instead of throwing it away, he pulled out one of his books, put the card inside it like a bookmark and put it away.
He then proceeded to his bed, and collapsed upon it. Quickly drifting to sleep and wondering what else this "hero life" of his was going to throw at him.
"I swear that night I had some of the best sleep I ever had. I was so tired, exhausted from all I had been through. I wished for nothing more than for things to get better, to never be like those hours had been for me again. But it wasn't to be. For both within UA High and without, I was about to be tested in ways I hadn't imagined, hadn't dreamed of, and that card would prove to be accurate. As I was a wild card in a game that would change the world..."
*credits*
So ends Under Pressure Season 1! I thank you all for being a part of this fun adventure. I'm going to take a small break from this story, but please spread this around so that when Season 2 comes soon, even more people will be reading it!
