14/01/2023

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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 38 - Test of Courage

Yakuni blinked. The little girl didn't disappear.

"I'm awake," he confirmed for her, as he shifted into a more comfortable sitting position as he looked over at the girl again.

She was young and her long hair was remarkably untangled. She had wide red eyes and a horn growing from one side of her forehead. It probably had some function to do with her quirk. She was dressed in a simple shift and her arms and legs were wrapped with bandages.

"Are you like me?" she asked.

"Like you?" Yakuni couldn't answer her question. He had no idea what she was talking about.

"With a quirk he wants to use. That's why he takes me apart."

"Oh," he said, taking a deep breath. The pain was easing. It would be easy to tell her yes, and then play on that but she might then tell Overhaul. "No, I don't have a quirk."

"You don't?"

Yakuni had seen a lot of reactions in his life when he told someone that he was quirkless. Pity was the most common. Fear the next, as if he was contagious. He'd never thought he'd see envy, but that was unmistakably the emotion that came after shock. Then her expression shifted to one of sorrow.

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

"What are you sorry for?"

"My quirk took your quirk away," she whispered.

Yakuni frowned. "I never had a quirk," he told her.

That seemed to get through to her and her red eyes stared at him for a moment before she burst into tears. He had no idea what to do and just watched for a moment. He knew better than to approach someone crying. Who knew what her quirk was and if, as she'd hinted, her's took away other quirks then…

"Why are you crying?" Yakuni asked after a few moments when it became obvious it wasn't just a few sobs.

"I wish I didn't have a quirk," she bawled.

Logically, he knew that there were some people who didn't want their quirks. In school, there'd been those who wanted their quirks to do more, or rarely do less and sometimes they wanted someone else's quirk but no one didn't actually want their quirk because they knew any quirk was better than no quirk.

"Why?" He asked. Yakuni could still remember how hard he'd wished for his quirk to come in at that age. He could remember the devastation he'd felt when it had been confirmed he was never going to get one.

She didn't answer for a few minutes. "Because my quirk hurts people," she eventually said.

Without seeing what her quirk did, he couldn't agree or disagree with that statement. "Well, you can learn to control it," Yakuni said instead. He tilted his head back, and looked up at the ceiling.

"No, I can't," she sniffed.

"Of course you can," he countered. "You are what, four, five years old?" Yakuni wasn't that great about estimating the age of kids.

"I'm seven," she said.

"Seven! Then you can definitely learn to control it," he shrugged.

"How?" the girl gave a gulp. It was wet and snotty and Yakuni suppressed a grimace at the noise.

He thought about his own quirk and learning to use it. They'd figured it out quickly and once he knew how it felt, he'd just practiced. But he'd practiced on small things first before working his way up and practicing without pockets. This girl seemed to know what her quirk did so she should know to practice on small things.

"Everyone tells me you have to start on small things," Yakuni told her. He could tell she was listening from the way her red eyes were staring at him intently.

She blinked and then nodded. "Can you help me?"

Helping Yakuza children wasn't exactly on his to do list but she had a quirk that hurt people. And… maybe he could use that to get back to Dragon. "I'll try," Yakuni said.

She nodded. "Thank you," came a whisper and Yakuni suppressed a frown. She hadn't smiled. That was odd, wasn't it?.

He really didn't understand children but, for the moment, he had nothing better to do.

At least until the Shie Hassaikai decided he could help them, even if they told him nothing.

-ted-

"You want us to what, Sir?" Monoma asked. He sounded distinctly pleased.

"This is a test of courage," Vlad told them.

Ochaco shared a look with Momo. The recommendation student was a good friend and they tried to keep Monoma in check. The whole class did actually.

"What are we meant to do, Sir?" Honenuki asked.

"The other class will be coming through the forest. You are expected to scare them," Vlad explained. "Going into unusual situations with poor visibility is part of a hero's job." He didn't say anything more. They were expected to work it out now.

It was night, so the poor visibility was taken care of.

"I see, Sir," Momo said and Honenuki nodded his agreement.

"Most of us probably haven't been in a forest at night, so we won't be familiar with the surroundings," Honenuki explained.

Vlad nodded his agreement.

"Is there a scoring system?" Monoma demanded.

At that their teacher looked somewhat chagrined. "We will be counting the screams," he indicated, pointing to a decibel meter. It told them without explanation that it would be both the number and volume. Ochaco tried to remember if any of 1A had a quirk that could impact volume but she couldn't.

That actually made Monoma smile but Ochaco caught Momo's sigh. "What are the limits?" Ochaco asked before the others could. There would always be boundaries on things like this.

"You can use your quirks but you are not to touch the other class. The objective is to frighten them," Vlad explained.

Monoma nodded but Ochaco knew he'd be thinking of all the loopholes he could. Thankfully he tended to overlook some of them in his effort to be clever.

"All right, it would be best if we are in teams," Honenuki said as he looked over to Yanagi. The other teen was standing as she always was with her arms raised and her hands pointed down.

The look was enough for Ochaco to understand what Honenuki was suggesting. She grinned.

"Momo can make some sheets, I can lighten them and then Yanagi can move them around. And then you can soften the ground," she outlined the plan with a grin. "Not a lot, just enough to make them trip."

Monoma laughed. "I'll help!"

Vlad took a few steps back as they planned but Ochaco knew he was hoping they'd win. She hoped they'd win because they'd have the experience. But…

It was just school.

-ted-

Mustard was glad that his gas mask hid his expression. This wasn't the mission he wanted to be on. This was…

It wasn't make work but it might have well been. It wasn't part of the main mission. Muscular and Moonfish were there to cause a distraction while the main strike team went to work. He was accompanying some over excited blonde on a different mission.

He sighed. He supposed he should look on the bright side of this mission. It was an opportunity to prove to his employer that he was better than his age. It was a bit insulting. Sure he was the youngest one on the mission but the boss wasn't that much older and the girl he was with… No one had commented about her age. She'd just grinned and promised she'd do the job. Everyone had seemed to accept that. He'd huffed under his mask and just accepted it.

He'd show them. Sure this mission wouldn't impact the main outcome today, but it would be important later. So he'd help them build a foundation and that would get him higher up, and would get him on to the actual missions and then… He smiled.

They'd see his worth.

"Shh!" he urged the girl.

She said her name was Himiko and he didn't know what her quirk was but it had something to do with blood. He was here to provide her with opportunities to collect samples from the students, and if they could, teachers, for future use. All Mustard knew what that she was creepy. She was way too cheerful and…

He knew that this mission was to set up future missions, but he really hoped that he didn't have to run them with her.

She turned to him. He had a full face mask. Her's just covered her nose and mouth which allowed him to see clearly how unimpressed she was. Mustard jerked his head towards the far trees. How could she not hear them? There were UA students there.

"Well get on with it!" Himiko growled.

Beneath his mask Mustard gritted his teeth. He hated pushy women. He'd always been aware of Midnight. When his quirk came in, she was just starting her career as a hero. At the time he'd declared he would be a hero like her. His parents thought it was cute. But… then she'd gone more into her so-called aesthetic and they'd started discouraging the thought. He'd thought it was because she was pushy but it wasn't. Once he was old enough, he'd ceased wanting to be a hero, because everyone called him her toy boy. He'd never met the bitch! But he knew what he was gonna do when he did. No one would call him Midnight's toy boy after that.

He huffed and activated his quirk. He couldn't direct the gas that much but they were coming from down wind so the misty gas was carried towards the UA students. He let some of the gas pool around him, connecting him to all of it.

"How many are there?" Himiko asked.

Really, could she be any louder? He held up one hand and felt through the gas. He felt Himiko and then reached forward, following the flows of his gas. There were others in it. He could feel that but he began isolating their presences. There were three near a large tree and then another two on either side of them. In the distance, he could vaguely feel others but the UA students were spread out.

They'd been told they were on a training camp but he had no idea what they were doing. That didn't matter. He just had to make sure Himiko got her blood samples, and to maintain the gas cloud. Mustard uncurled the fingers on his hand.

"Yay! All together," Himiko said, jumping up and down. She'd been instructed to get at least three samples while everything else was going on.

Mustard moved forward, keeping a thick layer of gas around him. One thing he couldn't tell was if the students had been knocked out. He'd suggested killing them but the boss indicated that wasn't necessary, this time. It was also pointed out that if he killed them, the blood Himiko took would be useless. She could still transform with it but no one would believe a dead student had done whatever she would be tasked to do.

"Quiet!" he hissed.

"They're unconscious!" she counted.

Mustard cocked his head to convey his doubt.

"What?" He saw her eyes widen over her mask. "You are meant to knock them out!"

"It takes time," he told her. Did no one think about these things? In an enclosed space he could create a high toxicity very quickly but outside, his gas was diluted by the air. It took time for people to breath in the required amounts especially if they were at a distance to him. These students were closest so it should be okay but these things still took time!

She glared at him.

"We can check." They had to anyway.

He directed their path towards one of the students who was slightly apart from the others. He thought it was a guy but sometimes it was hard to tell from those with mutant features. The UA student had green hair and what appeared to be two horns curved around his head towards his mouth. Himiko barely glanced at him before she skipped up and squatted next to him. She drew one of the syringes she had been given, twirling it in her fingers without tangling the tubing it was attached to before she plunged it down. She hit his leg and Mustard could see that she had one of her knives ready in case he woke up.

"My gas isn't that weak," Mustard told her.

Himiko didn't bother to answer. Instead all her attention was taken by watching the blood flow through the tubing. There wasn't a lot of light but he could see that her eyes were glazed.

She was sick but she did know her job and as soon as there was a click indicating that the storage was full, she pulled back the syringe and licked the tip before rising.

"Next lot?" Himiko said, looking at him, even as he watched her roll the blood in her mouth.

Mustard sighed. He really, really hoped he wouldn't be on missions with her in the future. She was… odd but for now, he had to do it. But once they knew he was the better operator, he'd be suggesting that they forget Himiko. The organisation would be better for it.

-ted-

Manga Fukidashi didn't make much of the fact he had a unique constitution. In a world of quirks, lots of people had that, but his quirk therapist liked to say he had a singularly unique constitution and he knew they still weren't entirely sure how he 'worked' physiologically. As such when the gas had knocked out the others from Class 1B he was impacted but not completely. He'd laid down though. Someone had released the gas and he didn't need them knowing he was still conscious. He was affected by the gas, but not to the same impact, as he didn't breathe the same, just as the same as his eyes didn't work the same. By pretending he could gather evidence and strike at the best time. Vlad was big on them being smart rather than just rushing in.

That's how he heard movement, before he saw them. It was much harder to lie still than he'd thought it would be but he managed it. There were two of them, both wearing gas masks. So that meant they would be affected by the gas as well, even if one of them appeared to be generating the gas. Interesting. They weren't carrying a light, which meant everything he could see was in shades of grey but he could tell that the girl had light coloured hair. The moon light was enough for him to see that. They were both dressed in school uniforms but he didn't recognise it and… just because someone was dressed in a uniform didn't mean they were a student.

They were heading towards where Kaibara, Ochaco and Reiko were. They had been using Kaibara's quirk cut parts of the trees, and then Ochaco and Reiko were moving them around. Momo and Tsunotori were doing the same thing elsewhere, covering one of Tsunotori's horns with light sheets so that they looked like ghosts. The plan, for here, had been that if that didn't make 1A scream then Kamakiri would. He wasn't sure what Momo and Tsunotori were doing.

Shit! Manga realised. The villains had come from where Kamakiri was. He hoped his classmate was okay but if he moved now he'd give up the opportunity to observe.

"There they are!" The male said. He had a black gakuran on with a full face mask and helmet. The girl had a short skirt and a half face mask. Around her shoulders was some tubing and she was holding a canister that had a large needle emerging from it.

"That will make four!" She said in a sing-song voice. "Handsy only said I needed three."

"More is better," the male said.

Manga watched as the girl shrugged and went to where Kaibara, Ochaco and Reiko had collapsed. Halfway there she stopped.

"Eh-" she groaned. "Can't do that one," she said, pointing towards one of them.

Manga couldn't figure out which of the group she was pointing to.

"Why not?" the man asked.

"She's one of Dragon's friends and I don't hurt Dragon's friends."

"What?" the guy demanded. He sounded young. "Dragon? What do you mean Dragon?"

"I mean Dragon," the girl replied dismissively.

"Oh god," he sighed. "You don't believe that rumour!"

"Waagon's real!" the girl laughed, drawing out the name so that the d was lost. "See, she's got the same token I have!" she added, pulling at a string around her neck.

Manga couldn't see it clearly but it was obvious she had a pendant on a necklace. Ochaco had a pendant on a necklace too. There were times when he was glad his expression couldn't be read. He had no idea who or what Dragon was, but it was obvious the female villain knew something. How was Ochaco connected to that?

The male sighed. Manga couldn't hear it but he saw the movement. "Then get the others," he growled and Manga could tell his teeth were clenched. He didn't care about that. Instead he tensed as the girl turned back, looking at Kaibara and Reiko. If she did something bad… well, there was no doubt she was going to do something bad but… depending on what it was he'd have to do something.

Vlad always said to be smart but he also wanted them to be sensible. The first thing he'd taught them was that they could not become victims themselves. Even so, he gathered himself, readying his quirk to do something as the girl leaned over Kaibara, pulling out a needled canister. She was about to ram it downwards and Manga was about to interfere when there was an explosion.

It was safe to say they both jumped.

"Shit!" the guy muttered. "Let's go," he said.

"But I…"

"Later. We have to help!"

That seemed to decide her and Manga watched as they both disappeared into the dark forest, heading towards the explosion. He took a deep breath in the way he did and sat up.

What the hell was going on?

-ted-

Yakuni has made a new friend, and that will have consequences.

Ochaco, while unconscious was protected by her friend, and that will have consequences.

Manga, while not unconscious has seen a touching scene between those who should be friends, and that will have consequences.

There are consequences galore coming :D

My discord is on this code: ZX2R5h2cEm FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all!

-ted-

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