Now we come to the Work Studies Arc.
Everyone is set on a work studies except for Suri. Suri gets some advice. An old friend returns. Hellspawns, Werebears, and Heroes oh my.
If there was any sense of whiplash, it was the next week.
On the bright side, Izuku had totally fallen victim to his girlfriends. Though there really was never a chance for him and it ended up being better for him that they had turned it into a sort of game. With the heavy subject matter that came next that night, he was more than happy to be surrounded by their touch. It made going through some of the bullying incidents he hadn't told them about go a little smoother. It also helped as he explained more about his struggles trying to develop One For All into his own power.
Then came the stress of catching up after missing even one day of school because of their suspensions. Izuku and Bakugou had been even more frazzled by the whole ordeal. To top that off they ended up meeting The Big Three. The three best students UA had in the entire hero course and third years that took on the role of helping mentor everyone to get ready for Work Studies. The day went about as expected for a bunch of first years going against the strongest of their upperclassmen and they got their asses handed to them by Mirio Togata. Suri was pretty much the only one unfazed by him running around and fighting them butt ass naked. One, she was used to being around a nudist thanks to Tooru and two, she'd fought bare naked more times than she could count during Lupanars.
There was a reason you took clothes you didn't mind getting shredded or bloodied to them.
Aside from Togata wiping the floor with them, they were constantly being pestered by Nejire Hado. The bluenette was more chaotic than Tooru and Mina, combined. Like Hatsume levels of chaos with her boundless curiosity, constant game of 21 Questions, and being uber handsy. Suri had batted her away from touching her hair more times than she cared to count while Nejire asked a million questions about Suri's lycanthropic abilities. Of course they knew that it was revealed to the third years about the existence of the preternatural community, but they hadn't realized that news of Suri being a lycanthrope had spread around the school like wildfire.
It both put Suri at ease, and made her anxiety spike to a fever pitch knowing that the cat was out of the bag.
Then, of course, came the matter of Work Studies.
Izuku was dead set on doing his Work Studies at the Sir Nighteye Agency. It wasn't a surprise that he wanted to work for someone who'd worked with All Might in the past. And since Sir Nighteye had been one of All Might's only sidekicks ever, it made a lot of sense. He luckily had an in because Togata had taken such a liking to him and already happened to work for Sir Nighteye. Kirishima managed to nab a spot with Fatgum's agency, which made a few of the class jealous. Then Tsu and Ochako managed to get recruited together to Ryukyu's agency where Nejire happened to work at. Mina and Tooru managed to get recruited by the veteran hero Yoroi Musha to his agency in Musutafu. And just like that, one by one, everyone found somewhere to intern for Work Studies.
Everyone, except for Suri.
She considered going back to Shinjuku to do her Work Studies at the Lady Whiplash Agency. But, given that she'd have to still be able to attend school, it wasn't an option. She wracked her brain for a solid day or two trying to decide where to do her Work Studies before she broke down and ended up at the teacher's lounge during her lunch break. She knocked gently before sliding the door open and peeking inside to see her uncle Toshinori and Mr. Aizawa sitting at their desks.
"Ah, Suri, come on in," her uncle greeted happily as she wandered in, greeting him with a small smile. "Uh oh, why the long face, kid?"
"Actually I wanted to ask for some advice from the two of you," Suri answered, which made Aizawa raise his eyebrow in curiosity.
"Sure, just make it quick," he sighed and sat back in his chair, giving Suri his full attention.
"I know I'm probably putting too much thought into this. Actually, I know I'm overthinking this," Suri sighed and refocused for the millionth time. "Is there a certain way I should be approaching Work Studies? Like I know you said we have to choose somewhere with a proven track record and since we still have to attend class it compresses that list a ton but we still have a lot of options so-"
"Spill it, Kuroyashi. Time is precious," Mr. Aizawa said flatly.
"Right," Suri quickly nodded and cleared her throat. "Is there something I need to look for specifically in an agency like we did after the Sports Festival? Or do you have a suggestion of who I should study under?"
"Honestly, I'm surprised you came to us. I would have thought you'd asked Lady Whiplash about doing Work Studies under one of her sidekicks," All Might answered. "I know a couple of them have opened agencies here in town over the years."
"I did consider it, yes," Suri answered with a nod.
"If you want my opinion," Mr. Aizawa quickly interjected. "I think you rely on your family too much. You need to build relationships on your own merit, not who you're related to."
"Ya know, kid, I actually agree with Aizawa on this one," All Might sat back, looking up at the ceiling as he processed thoughts of his own. "It's not too early to make your own connections. It might actually do you some good."
Suri furrowed her brows and nodded as she thought about what her teachers had said. As she processed their words a plot in her head began to formulate and within a few seconds she had an idea. Her nodding grew to an excited gesture and she smiled wide. Now she had a direction and she happily began bouncing up and down before quickly hopping around the desks to All Might and Mr. Aizawa. She quickly hugged both of them tight, practically dragging them off their chairs. Then she laid a fast kiss on each of their foreheads before she ran out the door, exclaiming her appreciation and leaving the two adults dumbfounded and confused as hell as to what just happened.
She did end up apologizing to Mr. Aizawa later in class and also managed to get permission from him to leave the campus after school. A confused threesome of Izuku, Tooru, and Mina tried their best to keep up when Suri quickly explained that she was going off campus for an hour or two. And then they stared dumbfoundedly at each other as Suri took off running towards the front gate of the school and down the road.
"Are you sure about this?" Atiena asked as she lounged inside their shared mind, finally speaking up after the twenty or so jog in silence.
"Nope," Suri answered back with a grin.
"Do you know who you're supposed to talk to?" Atiena added, knowing a piece of Suri's plan was missing.
"Not really, but I know at least one of 'em is fea," Suri answered. "I think."
Atiena stared at Suri and took a long moment to process the answer.
"So," she started slowly. "You're just going to go in there, feel around to see who it is you're looking for and what, ask them for a job? So to speak."
"Yup."
"Your plan is full of holes."
"Probably."
"And why this agency in particular?"
"Cause they have a proven track record, and they're local, and they specialize in preternatural cases of course."
"Mhmm," Atiena rolled her eyes as she answered incredulously. "I thought the idea was to go somewhere where you weren't connected by family?"
"I'm not going in as a Kuroyashi or Okwondu," Suri explained. "I'm not going in as Alpha's daughter or the granddaughter of the local Hyo-Ra. I'm going in as me."
Atiena snickered which turned into a full hearty laugh as she rolled and bellowed on her stone perch. She found the whole thing more hilarious than it really even was but it gave Suri a smile. When the beast was done with her laughing fit she rolled onto her back and lounged out like the big cat she partially was.
"Well I guess call if you need me, dork," Atiena purred joyfully.
"Love you too, bitch," Suri smirked.
"Hey! I'm only half of one," Atiena corrected with a grin.
Suri paused mid step on the sidewalk and rolled her eyes at her beast's horrible joke. She gave the wolpard inside their mind forest an incredulous look and snorted. The beast simply shrugged her broad shoulders and smiled. When Suri refocused her sight back into the real world she found herself standing in front of her destination and looked up at the large sign over the entrance.
The sign itself was large bold lettering in white over a pair of automatic double doors. For a building that was closing in on fifty years old it looked well maintained and on the new side, which meant it'd recently been remodeled. The red brick and black steel accents gave it one of those fancy industrial penthouse kind of aesthetic. To add to that, even though they had a large sign over the door, the top floor had the agency name painted in black kanji and a large black stripe around the building. It was both upscale and unassuming in the regard that several other buildings on the street had the same kind of look.
Long story short? It was a nice looking office.
Suri grinned and took in a long breath, scenting the area around her. Her nose was hit with a wash of new scents as she stepped through the doors and made her way to the front desk. She scented for anything that was or felt familiar and managed to pick out a few things. It made her begin to get nervous about her entire plan because, scent aside, there was a lot of power. Her confidence wavered even more because she knew she was surrounded by way too much unfamiliarity to be comfortable and confident. It didn't matter that she was in a hero agency and that everyone around her was ultimately good and friendly because the trace of sulfur would make anyone scared.
Especially if they knew what it was.
The scent was faint so she managed to shake off at least some of the nerves as she stepped up to the front desk and gave the pair of women behind the desk an award winning smile. They smiled back and continued their phone calls for the next moment or two. The older of the two, a woman with grey hair and just as grey eyes raised a finger to Suri in the one moment please gesture as she quickly finished her phone call and quickly dialed a second number and only had to wait a single ring before whoever she was calling picked up.
Suri wasn't necessarily paying attention to the phone calls but she still let her eyes widen because she should have been able to hear snippets of the phone call. Instead it was general noise, something that was completely forgettable and sounded like utter gibberish. She looked at the woman, watched her mouth form coherent words but the sound coming out didn't match them at all. It was the woman's Quirk. Somehow able to mask her conversation to unintended parties and only deliver information to who she wanted it to be delivered to. That was quite handy for a place like this.
"How may I help you, miss," she said finally after hanging up. It took Suri a split second to register that she was talking to her and quickly shook the cobwebs out as she gave the woman another smile.
"Hi, I'm-"
"Suri Kuroyashi-Okwondu. Hero name; Wild Eyes. Aged sixteen. Birthday is March fifth. Your height is one hundred and sixty eight centimeters and approximately sixty three kilograms in weight. First year at UA High School and presently part of the A class of the Hero Studies Course. A final eight contestant among the first years at this year's Sports Festival after which you interned with Lady Whiplash's agency in Shinjuku. Quirk is listed as Inner Beast which is the typical ability given for those of the lycanthrope community. Strain of lycanthropy is a hybrid of wolf and leopard which gives you a contagion rate of point zero zero three percent. You are the daughter of one Demetrius Okwondu - pro hero Alpha, currently thirteenth on the US popularity boards, and former Ulfric of the Aspen Throne Clan - and Maon Kuroyashi - daughter of Lady Orihime Kuroyashi, pro hero Lady Whiplash, and Hyo-Ra of the Black Lagoon Clan. Beyond that you are polyamorous, typical among lycanthropes, and you identify as pan-"
"H-How? How did you-"
"It is my job to know of and thoroughly screen any potential candidates hoping to intern, study, or work full time with our agency. You are one of the easier ones I've memorized because of your father's involvement and founding of this agency," she said in a matter of fact tone. "You are also an incredibly easy read."
Suri stared shocked and horrified at the stoic and blank faced woman who couldn't be older than twenty one. She, with her incredibly pale white skin, kept staring forward, almost doll-like and lifeless. If it weren't for the undercut hairstyle and the various facial and ear piercings, you could put her in a gothic dress and she'd look like one of those Victorian dolls. The only thing that really made this woman lifelike at all was the fact that her eyes were continuously pulsing and dialating. Like her lavender colored irises relayed her heartbeat.
"Don't mind, Alexandria here," the older woman said. Suri heard her but her eyes and face stayed on this woman that was like a living doll. The woman continued regardless and turned so that she spoke more directly to the woman next to her. "Her Quirk makes it hard for her to learn social cues and mannerisms."
"Oh come now, Sasayaki. I find people's reactions to our Alexandria here quite entertainin'."
Suri's nose flooded with the scent of sulfur and brimstone and she couldn't help but gasp and swell up with fear. Cold sweat started to form and she froze up completely other than the uncontrollable shaking caused by terror and dread that overtook her. The scent came with the dread of death, unspeakable horrors, and the weight of almost two centuries of life. The older woman, Sasayaki, furrowed her brow as she watched Suri's reaction. She gave a sorrowful and apologetic look to the beast girl before turning a scowl to the male figure standing behind Suri.
The one that had made Suri's blood run ice cold.
"And you, Alester Cromwell LaVey, you know better than to scare our potential prospects," Sasayaki scowled and began scolding the figure like he was a teenage boy and not a hundred and fifty year or more old devil. "What am I going to do with you two?"
"Love me because I'm cute, of course," Alexandria said with one of the most monotone deliveries ever heard.
"Love me cause I'm ut-terly adorable," Alester spoke with an amused tone from behind Suri who hadn't moved an inch.
The devil smiled wide as he walked around Suri to face her and casually lean himself against the desk in front of her. When he came around, Suri gulped hard because while the man in front of her now was incredibly attractive, he was even less human than she was. Her eyes scarcely took in his features which were practically perfect in every way. He had a strong jawline with a manicured amount of stubble, full lips and evenly tanned skin that begged to be kissed, and eyes that were expressive and piercing. They were made even more so by the small amounts of makeup and eyeliner he wore because it drew attention to them. As if the razor thin slit of his pupils and the mystical bright green of his irises weren't eye-catching enough.
Between the slicked back, raven black hair and then white button up shirt, he had sort of an old school greaser or rockstar feel to him. The white button down was open down to the middle, showing off his toned chest, and untucked over a pair of black skinny jeans. On top of that he wore a black leather jacket that had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows showing off his muscular forearms covered in sea monsters and dragon tattoos. Definitely rockstar.
"Alester LaVey," he said sweetly with an extremely attractive and thick cajun accent, grinning and showing off fangs while he extended a hand to her. "But most everyone 'round here knows me as Hellfire."
"Hellfire," Suri said with a shaky voice, smiling and chuckling nervously. "Kind of on the nose for a devil, isn't it?"
"Well shit, darlin'," he drawled with a grin. "You're quite the perceptive one. But I can tell ya now there ain't nothing to worry about with little ol' me."
Suri chuckled nervously again, curling her eyebrows upwards in a look that clearly said she was reprimanding him for thinking she was that gullible. It was more than an incredulous look and only served to make Hellfire begin to chuckle and shake his head with the amusement he was getting out of the exchange.
"Yes, I'm a devil," he shrugged and rolled his eyes like it wasn't a big deal. "I can assure you however, there's nothing nefarious or evil about me. Anymore anyway."
"That's... reassuring," Suri muttered softly, finally breaking her eye contact with the hellspawn and setting her sights on the older woman. It made her grumble that the woman looked more like a disappointed mother than someone who was looking at an honest to the gods devil.
"So," he clapped his hands together, getting the hint that Suri wasn't about to shake his hand. "What brings Alpha's lil' girl down this way."
That made Suri's brow furrow and she clenched her fists as she forced herself out of being distracted or terrified and back onto topic. Back to why she was here and who she was here as.
"I'm not here as Alpha's daughter," Suri growled before looking up into Hellfire's eyes with determination and as much confidence as she could muster. "I'm here as myself. I'm not looking for a hand out."
"That sounds fair," Sasayaki said with a smile and a motherly sort of tone. "Then may I ask, if these two mind not interrupting me again, how can I help you dear?"
"Actually, I'm here for a job if possible," Suri said, giving the woman a weak smile.
"You were given the invitation to intern with our agency after the Sports festival, were you not?" Alexandria spoke up, her monotone voice somehow sounding incredulous or offended.
"I was," Suri admitted. "But it was a request that my dad sent and… he and I weren't exactly on speaking terms back then."
"I get the struggle. But why should we take you on now?" Hellfire quipped an eyebrow and gave her a puzzled look.
"Like I said, I'm not coming in here as my namesake. I'm coming in here as Wild Eyes," Suri explained, her tone becoming more confident and sure of herself as she went on. "I'm here on my own cause I want to learn from an agency that can help me bridge the gap between my kind and humans. I wanna come in and learn and get stronger on my own, but I don't want to be accepted just because my daddy's picture is on the wall."
Hellfire pursed his lips and nodded as he listened to Suri and thought about her words. He then looked back towards Sasayaki and Alexandria, gave them a knowing glance and then turned back to Suri. He gave a wave of his hand and, in a flash of bright green fire, four playing cards appeared in his hand. The backs were facing Suri and her eyes traced over the black damask design of the cards which had a green gold foil border and the Outsiders logo in the center. Suri looked from the cards up to Hellfire who simply smirked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Pick a card, suga'," he said in that smooth playboy tone of his.
Suri looked at the cards again and furrowed her brow.
"Seriously?"
When he said nothing but smiled and simply shrugged, Suri did the same and reached up. She hovered her fingers over the four cards for a couple seconds before quickly drawing the card on her far left. Hellfire tisked a couple times and put the three other cards back into his small burst of fire. Suri meanwhile turned the card and looked at the card with a confused expression because it was clearly supposed to be a face card. But what face it was supposed to be was unknown to her. In fact, it didn't even have the normal suite symbols on it. Instead of hearts, diamonds, clubs, or spades, it was a pair of red crescent moons. The card value was labeled as a king but the center image wasn't a king; it was a bear.
That was when Suri heard Sasayaki's voice, once again speaking in gibberish as she placed a phone call. Hellfire was already heading past the front desk and into the floor level gymnasium behind the front lobby wall. It was only then that Suri noticed that the offices and desks for the heroes and sidekicks were one floor up overlooking the gym below. In fact, the gym was an atrium with nothing above it until the roof which was a glass atrium. She had been so distracted that she hadn't even noticed the amount of natural light was actually inside this industrial styled building. It wasn't just nice on the outside, it was incredibly luxurious on the inside. She followed Hellfire because he motioned to her and Sasayaki motioned for her to follow him as well. She was unsure of what to expect as she stepped into the middle of the gym with Hellfire and he gave her a wildly happy grin.
That wasn't a good sign.
"Ladies and gents," he called out with a booming voice that filled the entire atrium like he was some sort of frontman to a rock or metal band… or an in-ring announcer. "We've got a special treat for everyone this evenin'. Let me introduce you to miss Wild Eyes! Some of you might find her to be familiar. Why? Because we extended an invite to her after the UA Sports Festival where she competed but," Hellfire laughed and let that last word hang. "She turned us down!"
Suri was met with a few jeers and boos as nearly fifty different heroes, sidekicks, and office personnel began gathering around the railings of the office levels above. It was beginning to feel like a cage fighting environment and it was making Suri incredibly nervous. She was also very unhappy about it being made known and turned to look like she was ungrateful for the offer at the time. She was grateful. She had been grateful for all of the offers she'd received and if it hadn't been for the circumstances at the time, this would have possibly been her second stint in the agency.
"Now, y'all know we like to have some fun round here so," he continued like the charismatic showman he was and let another green fireball pop in his hands.
The fireball split, engulfing both of his hands and then created four more that began floating above him. Suri recognized the four cards floating inside the fireballs. The crowd erupted into laughs and cheers and Suri heard more than a few people excitedly ask which card she drew. A few more laughed and joked that the challenge was completely unfair to a highschool girl.
"Wild Eyes," Hellfire crooned with amusement, catching Suri's attention again. "Would you like to know which opponent you drew?"
"Opponent?" Suri asked quietly, her eyes going wide as the realization clicked.
Hellfire grinned and let three cards disappear into a puff of smoke and the card Suri had drawn grew in size so that everyone on the ledges could see. The crowd immediately grew silent and Suri's senses were hit with a wave of everyone's anxiety, fear, and nervousness. That definitely was not a good sign.
"I don't like this," Atiena whispered inside Suri's mind.
"Let's try and stay calm and focus," Suri said, taking a deep breath. She then tried giving her beast a smile and an attempt at lightening the mood in the room. "Besides, how bad could it possibly be?"
"Look out below! Ha ha ha ha!"
The voice was massive and booming, heavy with a gleeful Russian accent. His voice wasn't the only thing that was massive because even before he hit the ground, Suri was floored and forced to her knees by the output of power. It was a wave of heat so hot that it fooled you into thinking you were in the middle of a frozen tundra. Suri was shivering, unsure if she was dying of the heat or the cold that surrounded the massive man that had jumped from the top floor and hit the ground of the gym like a tank. Suri gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand up through the massive amounts of lycanthropic power, which was a struggle by itself. Then she swayed from the sudden daze she got as the scent hit her nose and overpowered her senses with the smell of vodka and pine trees.
Only one breed of lycanthropes smelled like that.
Her eyes went wide as she finally got a full view of the mammoth of a man that was hitting her with overwhelming power and the fight hadn't even started yet. The color in her face and her stomach dropped because standing not too far away was a walking mountain. Literally. A mountain of a man that was bigger and broader than prime All Might and her dad. Thing was, he wasn't fully a man at all right now; he was a walking grizzly bear.
"Kodiak?," Suri said weakly as she looked up at the nine foot tall bear man. "The Kodiak?!"
"Aye! I am," he bellowed joyfully. "It's a pleasure to meet a fan! Ha ha ha! Now let us fight. I'm excited to see what you have to offer, little one."
Suri quickly turned to Hellfire and looked up at him with fearful eyes. He simply grinned and began chuckling softly.
"You're kidding right?" Suri exclaimed. "Kodiak! Russia's number one hero? I have to fight the fuckin' Bratva Brawler himself?!"
"Hey, don't look at me," he laughed and began backing away with his arms spread wide. "One card over and ya woulda had to fight me. That's how the game works, sweetie. We saw the flashes of potential months ago, now… well ya gotta refresh our memories a bit, ya see."
"You're an asshole," Suri grimaced and growled at him as he walked away so cheerfully. "Has anyone ever told you that?"
"Ha! I tell him this daily," Kodiak answered as he pressed his giant bear paw hands together and popped his knuckles. "But he never listens. I'd take issue to this if he wasn't a great fighter and man to have at my side. Now! Let us begin, little one."
"So what's the endgame here," Suri asked, her anger towards Hellfire beginning to push and force the fear out of her. Her rage became stable ground to stand on. "I get to join but only if I beat you or something like that?"
"Something like this, yes," the werebear answered, nodding happily in response. "But I do not force our prospects to go that far. You simply have to take me to the ground."
Suri paused and looked at the mountain of a man with a dumbfounded, shocked look because her eyes took in his full size and stature. Him? She had to take this nearly eight and a half foot tall and probably six hundred pound man to the ground. Kodiak? One of the world's strongest heroes, let alone one of the most powerful werebears in existence? Was that even possible?
"If I may," Atiena spoke up from inside their shared mind, letting herself come to the surface but not showing the bear man the potential threat she could be, "Do you want us to flatten you? Is it presumptuous for me to say that seems quite unfair to us?"
"Ah! Very good question little beast," he answered with a grin. The continuation of being called little and small was beginning to add fuel to Suri and Atiena's shared anger. That was a good thing. "I do not expect you to flatten me as that would be," the big man shrugged, pursing his lips as he paused for the right word. "Impossible, no? I simply wish to see if you can make me take a knee. Not so impossible, yeah?"
Suri stared up at the big man, letting her eyes take him in again. Inside her mind she turned to Atiena and looked up at her. Her beast gave her a soft smile and pushed her cold, wet nose against the girl's forehead.
"I don't think he would intend on hurting us," Atiena spoke quietly.
"No," Suri nodded in agreement. "He wouldn't. It'd look bad for him if he hurt a highschool girl, ya know? So I don't think he'll come at us with everything but that still worries me. Have we fought anyone as big as him before?"
"No, I don't think we have. Not quite as burly anyway," Atiena agreed. "The closest we've come to someone his size is dad and Mathias."
"We've never won against them," Suri grumbled.
"Nope," Atiena chuckled and shook her head.
"Wild Eyes? Getting cold feet, eh, little one?"
"Ah, fuck it." Suri groaned as the werebear began to chuckle.
Atiena growled at being called little again and, together, the two let their power pour outward across Suri's skin. Letting the hot wave of fiery electricity dance and prickle on her surface and then extend outward to push against the bear's own wave of power. And push, it did. Suri decided to let it be known how powerful she was in her own right and leaned herself into Atiena completely, burying her mind in the warm, thick fur of her chest while she took on beast woman form. The transformation was seamless, near instant as her body reshaped itself, coating her in fur, shifting her legs to digitigrade form and her feet into large wolven paws once she stepped out of her shoes. Her tail whipped outward as it forced itself from the base of her spine under her skirt, while her jaw, teeth, claws, and ears lengthened into their animalistic forms. She was now taller, more broad and muscular, and now… now she didn't look like the scared little girl she was a couple minutes ago.
The werebear growled, leaning himself down into a prone, all fours position. The look on his face wasn't anger or rage however, it was joy and happiness. He, like a lot of their kind, lived for fighting. It made them happy because it was a point to prove how strong you were as a lycanthrope. Fighting was the pride of yourself and your beast.
"Begin! Ha ha ha!" Kodiak bellowed with prideful joy.
Suri ran at the big man, coming for him in a blur of speed. Then she hit a wall. An eight foot, six hundred pound wall of fur and muscle. He had stopped her dead in her tracks, her fists dwarfed in his big paws as they grappled with each other. He was still leaned forward so that he wasn't as tall if he were standing straight but it didn't diminish the ease he had with holding Suri still. Even with all of her strength and speed, he'd stopped her like it was nothing to him at all. The beast girl pushed, digging her feet claws into the ground and tried muscling her way forward, trying to inch him back at all.
"Ha ha!" Kodiak bellowed. "I like this spunk you have! However..."
Suri gritted her teeth as she began being forced backwards. Forced to take a step, then another, and then another as the big man chuckled with glee. It only served to make the beast girl even more angry and she let that anger whip against the bear in front of her in a wash of power forced towards him. It made him chuckle and make little ooo's and aww's, like the power she was forcing against him tickled instead of stung like it was supposed to.
"Spunk and guts only get you so far," he said, easily pushing Suri backwards now. He was pushing her out of the gym and something told her that if her feet crossed back into the lobby, she was done. "You have power, yes. However, this was not a good plan, little one."
Suri snarled in that half wolf, half leopard scream sound. Being called little again only served to piss her off even more. She quickly took a step backwards, planting both of her feet together and then launched herself upwards, made even better by the fact that she had his massive arms to assist her jump. She jumped, raising him upwards a little as she did so and drew her knees into her chest. At the apex her target zone was his massive, burly face and she kicked outwards, pouring a wave of lycanthropic energy into her feet. She dropkicked him, in the face, with a surge of golden green power and lightning that rocked him point blank in the nose. It made him let go of her for one, but second, it actually made him stumble backwards a step.
"Power isn't my strong suit though," Suri clarified as she landed. She looked up at him, her eyes lit with chartreuse fire and then she disappeared, leaving the air shimmering with an after image of herself. When the bear looked up from his bruised nose, he now saw several shimmering images of Suri throughout the gym. "Speed is!"
The after images began to surround the big bear man and it made him look outward with a studying glance. He watched as ten Suri's began to surround him, each one shimmering like an up close mirage. As he watched several of the beast girls, he was bumped forward as a hit to his back made him step forward. When he looked back to see where he'd been hit, another hard fist caught him in the jaw. Then another and another, making him slowly rock back and forth as he took the blows.
"Jury of Wolves!"
All ten Suri's shouted in unison as the group collapsed in on itself, hitting the bear man nearly two dozen times in a matter of a second. Suri came out from behind him, sliding on the ground in her animalistic pouncing position. She grinned wide, bearing fangs as she watched the big man stumble backwards. Then it was replaced by a frown as he steadied himself and began laughing with a hearty bellowing tone.
"Ha ha ha! That was good, pup," he smiled wide and turned to face Suri. He slammed one fist against an open palm then and chuckled. "Again!"
Suri snarled and took off running again - not that she was necessarily listening to an order or anything - and this time poured more burning hot energy and rage into her movements, going faster and harder than before. She began rocking the big man with hits almost instantly and began hitting more sporadically to try and throw him off her trail. The hits started coming at him faster and the group of ten Suri's completely surrounded the werebear.
"Jury of-"
Before she could attack and close the group of her shimmering clones down around him, the big bear stomped with all of his might. The sudden brutal quake tripped Suri up and she hit the ground, skidding on her front along the ground for several meters. She growled and groaned as she pulled herself off the ground and looked up at the bear who was laughing and smiling like a giant fur covered Santa Clause.
"Ha ha ha! Do not tell me that is your only trick, little one."
"Stop calling me little!" Suri screamed and let a massive wave of energy pop outwards from her like an explosion of rage. It hit Kodiak like a tidal wave, pushing him back a step or two. Even then however, he still laughed with joy. His laughing at her only made her more angry. "Atiena, put everything we've got into this. I'm going to smack that goddamn smile off his face!"
"Suri, are you certain," Atiena questioned cautiously.
"Do it!"
Suri snarled and clenched her teeth and fists hard. Hard enough that her dark bronze skin under her fur began to turn white from the strain. Atiena smirked and shook her head but did as Suri had requested, pushing all of their energy to the surface. The massive output of energy made Suri's eyes glow even brighter and more than a few arcs of golden green lightning popped off of the surface of her skin.
The sudden burst of energy made the werebear in front of her quiet his boisterous laughter a fraction and his eyes narrowed at the girl. The girl who was now running towards him, not with blinding speed, but still quick enough for him to take notice. He grinned wide and readied himself for Suri taking a big swipe of his massive arm at her trying for a giant clothesline. To his surprise, Suri went under his arm and jumped onto it, using the arm like a giant gymnastics pole. She swung herself topside as his arm crossed his chest and vaulted herself over his head behind him. Her legs swung quickly and she drove her foot into the back of his head, kicking him as hard as she could before hitting the ground and rolling to her feet.
Kodiak grunted and growled as he clutched the back of his head, rubbing the spot Suri had kicked as he nearly doubled over. Suri moved quickly as the werebear reacted to the attack, spinning his body around and extending his free arm like a giant tree trunk to plow her over. It was wide enough that Suri was able to duck the move entirely and put herself in position directly in front of the giant bear man. She quickly smacked her right fist against her open palm which sparked a burst of lycanthropic energy to the point that the energy manifested physically and engulfed her hand in a golden green fireball. Even more so, a vision of Atiena appeared around her, surrounding Suri in the glowing energy that outlined the shape and features of her beast. With a feral scream of rage she rose up, leaping up towards Russia's number one hero and driving her fist into his chin, rocking him with as hard of an uppercut as she could deliver.
"Fist of the Beast Queen!"
She called out through the follow through, landing back onto her feet before collapsing to her knees. She'd used every last ounce of energy she had and smiled wide as she watched Kodiak lumbering backwards. He was wobbly and completely dazed, then one leg left the ground as he began to stumble backwards even more. Suri struggled to keep herself conscious, her head swimming and her eyesight growing fuzzy around the edges.
Her excitement, the feeling of victory was quickly building until it plummeted in an instant and took her smile and her gut with it. Her eyes went wide in shock and grief as Kodiak began laughing boisterously again and caught his balance. He smiled wide and brought his big paws up, twisting his neck to each side and cracking his spine like his knuckles, then used one to massage his jaw. The touch made him wince so it was still incredibly tender but…
"Fuck," Suri muttered and pushed herself upwards with what little strength she had left. She made it to her feet and then collapsed to her knees again after only taking a single step forward towards the big man. He chuckled softly and then sighed, holding an open palm towards her.
"I think that is quite enough, Wild Eyes," he said with a warm tone.
"No!" Suri shouted and gritted her teeth, forcing herself back up onto wobbly legs. "I can still fight, dammit!"
As if it were a sign from the gods, Atiena's energy retreated after having run out completely, and took the beast woman form with it. The fur completely retreated along with her tail, her ears returned to the slightly pointed shape they'd become, her legs buckled back into their human shape, and then finally her claws and fangs retreated. She was left completely human in front of the big bear hero and her frustration became known. She slammed her fists into the floor and tears began to well in the corners of her eyes as she refused to give up.
"Oi! Don't go hurting yourself there, little lady," Hellfire spoke up as he came back into the gym and stood next to Kodiak.
"I'm not," Suri heaved as she forced herself to move another step forward. By now, the effort to stay awake and upright was all the more apparent in the sheen of sweat on her forehead and her labored breathing. "Come on! I'll fuck you up too, devil boy!"
The attempted insult made the hellspawn himself bust up laughing. Laughter that nearly had him doubling over with amusement and was pissing off Suri to no end. A short burst of laughter later he was grinning ear to ear and shaking his head at the girl.
Then, to add insult to injury, Kodiak shelved his own power and let his bear form recede back into himself. He was human in a matter of a couple seconds, no longer a nine foot tall mountain of muscle and fur but a six foot tall man. He was still burly, in comparison to Hellfire next to him, with a broad chest and shoulders, thick with sculpted muscle. His facial features were strong, and chiseled with warm honey golden brown eyes. The small eyebrow piercing on his left brow was a nice compliment to his bright eyes and dark lashes. His hair was shaved to his head and he was clean shaven other than the slight grey stubble on his chin.
To top it off; he was covered in ink. Various motifs of bears and ravens covered his arms, though his right bicep had a giant red star on it. His chest was mostly bare, save for the sickle and hammer on his left pectoral above his heart. Across his abdomen was a stenciled font reading Made In Russia and below that was an honest to god heart with mom in a banner going across it. The last visible tattoos were a pair of paw prints on both of his hips, one Suri recognized instantly as a wolf print on his right side while the other was larger, which was probably a bear print, on his left. Looking at the Russian hero you'd guess that a man no more than late twenties, early thirties was standing in front of you. Definitely, not a guy that was in his late forties, early fifties.
"I like your spunk, kid," Kodiak spoke, his voice only a fraction softer than it had been in bear form. He was still happy and boisterous as he made his way forward towards Suri. "You hit nicely for little girl."
Suri grumbled at being called little and narrowed her eyes at him as he extended a hand to her. She thought about being an ass and slapping him away but let her anger and frustration be pushed back and clasped her hand to his. His hand completely dwarfed hers. He helped her up and she almost didn't stay standing as her legs threatened to buckle underneath her.
"I'm not little, dammit," Suri finally breathed out as she forced herself to stop shaking as she stood there in front of the two of them.
"No, you are not," Alexandria spoke as she came to stand in front of Suri, handing the beast girl an energy drink and then a couple protein bars. "By my calculations you appear to be an E cup."
Suri stared blankly at the gothic doll woman who, now that she was standing, looked practically even more like a living doll up close. She was as tall as Suri but only thanks to the platform heeled boots she was wearing. If anything she was as short, if not shorter, than Tooru. That said, the black and red pleated skirt, black fishnet stocking, and the white blouse, which had those Victorian frills around the collar and a deep plunging neckline, made her look like a gothic dream girl. It was a nice look. It was her monotone voice, emotionless demeanor, and eerie nature that made Suri feel standoffish towards her.
"Thanks," Suri muttered quietly, focusing harder than she needed to at Alexandria. She took the offered items graciously but noticed that the woman was now fully transfixed on her chest.
"You know, Alex," Hellfire quipped, a sly grin curling onto his lips as he looked from Suri to the woman next to him. "I bet if you drink more milk you might have a chance."
"Not likely," she stated dryly.
"Anyway," Suri groaned, popping open her energy drink and quickly raising it to chug nearly half of it in one go. "If you're done talking about tits-"
"Never," both of them said at the same time, Alexandria in an emotionless quip and Hellfire in a whiny, over dramatic tone. It made Suri groan and growl again, the can crinkling in her hand as her grip tightened around it.
"Comrades, please," Kodiak chuckled, ruffling both of their hair like he was their dad adoring his toddlers. "Wild eyes, if you would, we can show you to our medical professionals to ensure that you are recovering nicely. We can also see about a change of clothes for you, yes?"
That made Suri blink up at the big man and then she looked down at herself for the first time and grumbled at the sight. Her uniform was completely disheveled with a couple tears in her skirt and button down. She had black marks from the gym padding and rubbing flooring all across her shirt and skin. Her shoes were also now missing among the chaos in the fight a few minutes ago.
"Yeah," Suri sighed. "That would actually be great."
"I apologize for this happening to your school uniform," Kodiak said as he began walking Suri towards one of the far walls of the gym. Through the gym's double doors, opposite to the ones she entered in, she was brought to a hallway with several rooms. It instantly smelled antiseptic and sterile. Hooray for that hospital smell. "I was very excited to have a chance to fight and should have thought better to let you change beforehand."
"No, you're gucci," Suri said as she finished off her energy drink, tossed the can in a recycling bin they passed in the hallway and tore into the first of her protein bars. Strawberry banana chocolate. Thank the gods. "I wasn't even thinking about it until you said something just now."
"Gucci, hah! You Americans and your funny phrases," Kodiak chuckled.
"What's funny is you walking around in half of an Adidas tracksuit as your hero costume," Suri snickered and rolled her eyes.
"Make fun of prime Slavic fashion and we will be fighting again," Kodiak said, his eyes full of humor but his tone was just a little more serious than it had been. Then he opted to tease Suri with a wide grin, "little girl."
"I know it's not customary to hit your boss," Suri grumbled and rolled her eyes. "But I'm about to hit you again."
"Very presumptuous of you, Wild Eyes," Kodiak smiled and then shrugged. "But I don't believe I'm your boss."
Suri's smile fell then and she looked forward again as they came to an open medical room. The sadness in her face was clear as day as she came to one of the medical beds and sat down with a huff. Her head was hung for a long time before she looked back up at the big man.
"You're right," she said with a voice full of disappointment. "I failed the test."
"Chin up, Wild Eyes," Kodiak smirked as he turned and headed for the door to leave Suri in the room. "I did not say whether you passed or failed. It's not my choice alone whether you become part of the family here."
"Hello, Kodiak, sir," came a voice from beyond the door as the werebear slid it open to exit the room. It made Suri pause and her ears twitched because she could have sworn she recognized the voice from somewhere.
"Ah! Good day, little one. I'll leave you to help Wild Eyes get changed and then we'll congregate back in the gym after she's had time to regain her strength," the werebear directed happily to whoever was outside.
It made Suri realize he called everyone little one, not to make fun of them or tease them. It was an endearing term apparently and it made complete sense when she thought of his beast form. Literally everyone was little to him. Suri felt bad in that instance for thinking he had been demeaning her this whole time.
"Right," the familiar voice, clearly female, responded with a happy chirp.
With that, Kodiak bowed his head and left the room. It left Suri looking upwards as the figure walked - scratch that - slithered into the room and suddenly Suri's sadness and dread over the upcoming results was replaced with joy. Joy because the white and pink scaled figure was an amazing sight to see.
"Yumei!" Suri happily cheered, her eyes wide with excitement as she saw the snake girl for the first time in months. Her excitement overlapped her judgment however and she hopped up quickly to embrace her friend. It was an act she promptly failed at as her legs went out from under her.
"Sur- eee!" Yumei squealed loudly as Suri's knees buckled and she went face first into the snake girl's chest. Her scaled body flushed completely in a soft shade of pink as she stared down at the older girl who had managed to bury her face into her cleavage. "I-I! I mean I'm excited to s-see you t-too! B-But we can't do that while I'm at work!"
Suri groaned, partially because the warm scales against her face felt nice, mostly because she struggled to get back upright. Her arms wrapped around Yumei's neck and she pulled herself upwards so that her forehead rested into the crook of the girl's neck. She hugged her snake friend tight and began laughing and snickering against her neck before Suri finally pulled back so she could look up into Yumei's eyes.
"I'm so sorry about that," Suri said with a smile before letting go and wobbling unsteadily back so that she could plop her butt onto the hospital bed. "I got a little too excited there."
Suri shook off a sudden rush of lightheadedness and blinked a few times to refocus her eyesight. When she did, she got to really take in the view of her friend and sighed with a grin and tried to hide her snickering as the snake girl readjusted her shirt and bra. It was a miracle that Suri hadn't ripped anything because she'd apparently rendered her friend partially topless.
"I-It's okay, really," Yumei sighed and shook her head, not helping the smile that curled over her lips as well. A few pats and adjustments later she looked up at the beast girl and happily sighed, "it's so great to see you. I watched you with Kodiak and, like, wow! How have you been?"
"I've been good," Suri chuckled as she answered the snake girl. "I just got my provisional license last week and UA is requiring us to do work studies so I decided to come and put in my application here. It's been a little nerve wracking cause they've got us moving ahead of some of the second years."
"Not to mention all of the villain attacks," Yumei sighed and pursed her lips sadly. "And All Might having to retire? It's been, like, super hectic here since the Kamino Incident."
Suri then watched Yumei look up, look into her eyes and then quickly look to the side. She was trying to hide the fact that she kept looking at Suri's eyes and ears and was fighting to not ask what had happened.
"I know you wanna ask, babe," Suri smiled softly. "It's not gonna hurt my feelings."
"Oh! I umm… just didn't wanna be rude is all," she said bashfully, looked down and then realized she was still holding what she was supposed to be doing. "Oh! And here's a change of clothes by the way. We go through a lot of regular sweats and tee shirts so these should fit you."
Suri smiled and took the clothes from Yumei and inspected them before checking the sizes just to be sure. She was satisfied with the sizing of the grey sweatpants, which had the Outsiders logo imprinted in black down the side of the right leg. They were a size or two too big so they'd be loose and cozy and she'd just have to sinch and tie the waist cord. The black tee shirt on the other hand would probably be a little tight.
"So umm," the snake girl started cautiously. "I-I've seen your eyes a-and your ears in h-human form and beast form. Ya know, from what Kodiak and the others call it. But I'm, like, pretty sure you're drained right now, for obvious reasons." She laughed nervously again, which meant she knew about the preternatural community and lycanthropes in general but was still trying to wrap her head around everything completely. "But, like, I know the eyes are the first to change when you go all rawr," Yumei chuckled as she did a growling and claws gesture which made Suri smile and laugh in response.
"Gods, you're adorable, you know that?" Suri grinned as she unbuttoned her shredded and disheveled button down shirt. Between the comment and Suri going shirtless in front of the snake girl made Yumei quite obviously blush and giggle nervously. "You mentioned the villain attacks and what happened to All Might. My class and class 1-B were involved. This is because of what happened up on the mountain for a shitty combination of reasons." Suri sighed as she finished that thought and peel her skirt down her legs. She leaned herself back to show off all of the scars she collected on that night and it made Yumie's eyes go wide with shock. "The night before the attack was the full moon so I'd already spent the night in full form and had my hunt. I was drained as fuck the next day but trained anyway so that was kind of a dumb idea too. But they had a werehyena with them when they attacked. She did all this to me and… actually she killed me."
Yumie's mouth dropped and the look of terror and fear on her face was like a giant flashing billboard. It hit her that she'd lost one of her only friends and she had no idea.
"But," Suri quickly added, "between a combination of magic, my friend's Quirk, and Mina calling out to my power… well... My beast, Atiena, has a human form now so that's cool. To keep fighting, we went full beast for a second night in a row and when I woke up we found out I didn't come back entirely human. Just like when we start going beast, when you lose part of your humanity, the eyes are the first to go. But hey, my mates still think I'm sexy," Suri grinned and shrugged as she fished her legs through the sweat pants and began pulling them up.
She could have sworn she heard Yumei mutter her agreement and looked up in time to watch the snake girl quickly look away with a deep blush across her reptilian cheeks. She quickly cleared her throat and changed the subject, still forcing herself to look away.
"M-Mates, huh?" Yumei said quietly, embarrassed and slightly disappointed. Then it clicked and she looked back at Suri with a raised brow. "Wait, plural?"
"Yeah," Suri laughed. "They haven't taught you lycanthrope relationships and sex ed yet, huh?"
"No," the snake girl squeaked a little louder than she meant to and then cleared her throat and corrected her volume and tone. "N-No. I'm still learning about the whole power and transformation thing. Kodiak and the others are careful to take it slow with us interns and part timers so they don't spook us."
"Ah, that makes sense," Suri nodded as she tested her leg strength and cautiously tried standing again. When she successfully stood without her legs buckling or feeling like they were about to crumple she turned and grabbed her shirt. The motion showed off the scars across Suri's back to the snake girl and earned a frightened hiss in response. "Yeah, nearly all lycanthropes and a good share of some of the more social fae are non-monogamous. My dad has three wives, so I have three moms, and I'm currently dating Tooru, Mina, and Izuku."
The mention of the names made Yumei freeze and her blush went to pure red. It made Suri carefully look at the girl, and she had a flash of memory of her dreams that involved the snake girl herself. Suri bit her lip and grinned as she assumed something that her mates had also shared around the same time and several times afterwards.
"Yeah," Suri drawled with a bit of humor in her voice. "We're still trying to figure out the little shared dreams thing."
It made the snake girl yelp again and quickly cover her face with pure embarrassment while Suri lifted her arms through the shirt and began to wiggle her chest into it. It was as she'd guessed and she sighed as the shirt clung to her form rather tightly.
"S-So you umm... y-you, like, dre- holy crap, r-really? With me?" she asked quietly.
"Pretty sure all of us did," Suri chuckled as she tore open her second protein bar before gathering her abused clothing into one arm. "But besides the dreams, how have you been, hun? The last I talked to you was just after you got released to the cops. How'd you end up here? I didn't know they let you work at agencies before the hero courses start their internships."
"Oh! So, like, after a month of lockdown, they had me start doing community service as part of my probation. I did, like, fifty hours of service in a week helping clean up after villain attacks for a little while. And instead of going back to school to catch up, I took some online courses and finished. So, like, since I didn't have anything else to do and I wanted to stay out of trouble, I called Principal Nezu. He assigned me a self service project where I had to, like, interview a couple pro heroes and talk to them about the steps I should take. There… were a couple heroes who didn't want to talk to me cause I was honest and told them why I was doing the project. Kodiak was one of the heroes who actually took the time to talk to me. And, after the project was done," Yumei smiled then and showed off how proud she was. "If I don't pass the entrance exam for the hero course, I'll still be accepted into UA in the business course. Actually, I'm not even under probation anymore, I've been working here part time for almost two months now."
"That's amazing Yumei," Suri exclaimed happily. "I'm so happy for you!"
"Thank you," the snake girl smiled and then looked away bashfully. "You know, I wouldn't be here if you didn't stop me. I owe you so much."
"Nah," Suri shook her head with a grin and bumped the snake girl with her elbow. "You don't owe me a thing, hun."
Yumei smiled at the notion before her eyes settled on Suri's clothing in her hand. She had a quick oh moment and turned to slide her way towards the nurse's desk and retrieved a plastic bag from the bottom drawer. She opened it up and motioned towards the beast girl who dropped her school uniform into the bag and then took it. When Suri looked around again she grumbled because she'd obviously forgotten several things.
"I guess my shoes and backpack are up front," Suri sighed.
"Oh! Yeah, Sasayaki or Alexandria will have them at their desk I think," Yumei nodded and then gave Suri another once over. "You feeling better? You're not all wobbly and stuff anymore."
"Yeah," Suri nodded in response. "No more falling over and, ya know, popping out the girls. Sorry about that by the way," Suri chuckled as she motioned towards Yumei's top.
"Uh huh, sure you are," Yumei responded sarcastically and rolled her eyes at the beast girl. They turned then and the snake girl began leading Suri out the door and down the hallway back towards the gym.
"I mean," Suri said, letting the word hang as she motioned up and down towards the snake girl. It made Yumei giggle a little and her white and pink scaled body began to blush again. "Can't blame a girl."
"And what would your mates say to that," the snake girl smirked in response.
"Send pics," Suri grinned wide, not missing a beat with her retort. The bluntness made Yumei slow down and pause at that notion.
"Really?" Yumei asked, cocking her brow incredulously.
Suri simply smirked and wiggled her brows at the girl. It made her blush once again and she quickly had to snap herself back into reality and focus on the task at hand. She stammered for a second or two before clearing her throat and continuing to lead Suri down the hallway and to the gym doors. Yumei paused before pushing the doors open and turned back to Suri and gave her a quick, worried look.
"Wanna get that pic before we go in? Ya know, like, just in case?"
The snake girl's tone made Suri think about what was on the other side of the door. She remembered that she'd failed the test Kodiak had given her and that realization made her frown. Her friend was right, whatever happened on the other side of the door would be anyone's guess and if worse came to worse, they'd need to share numbers. Something Suri should have thought to do months ago. It made Suri nod and agree to the proposition and she quickly fished into her bra but came up empty.
"Shit, my phone's in my backpack," Suri sighed. "Take it on your phone?"
"Oh! Sure," Yumei chirped happily as she pulled out her phone, opened her camera app and then held out her arm to take the selfie. Suri came to her free side on her left and leaned into the snake girl, making her giggle softly as Suri gripped her hip. Suri and Yumie both smiled as they pressed themselves together side by side and Yumei took the shot. "Say cheese."
"One more?" Suri grinned with devilish intent.
"Oh, yeah, cool," the snake girl responded.
They quickly posed again and this time, as Yumei clicked the button to take the photo, Suri quickly turned her head. The snake girl's eyes went wide and her cheeks flushed red from not only the touch of Suri's lips on her skin but the fact she now had a picture of her being kissed by the beast girl on her phone. She barely registered that Suri had jokingly asked for her phone and absentmindedly handed it over to Suri.
"Wow," Suri whispered quietly as she stared at Yumei's phone. She had taken the phone to send herself the two pics they'd snapped together and found the camera roll filled with various selfies of the snake girl. Selfies that ranged from tame to straight up not safe for work.
"Oh fuck," Yumei screeched as she looked down and saw what Suri had seens and scrambled to grab her phone back from her friend. That however, resulted in several things happening. One, the pics Suri had originally intended to send to herself were, in fact, sent. Along with a couple others that Yumei had accidentally selected as well. When she saw what all was sent, she paled and looked at Suri like she'd accidentally just kicked her puppy or something. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to send you those. My fingers slipped! And I mean, I, like, hadn't really asked cause we were just joking before and… sorry."
Suri snorted and then laughed as she watched her friend have a meltdown over a matter of butter fingers. The laughing made Yumei calm down at least a little as she finished her muttering fest with a quiet apology.
"So," Suri grinned wide as she leaned in to tease the snake girl. "Who were those for anyway?"
"M-Myself," Yumei answered, looking away bashfully. "I umm. I'm gonna be honest, I've… struggled with self image and self esteem for a long time. I started taking selfies like that before when I was trying to fit in with all the hot and popular girls. But… ya know… snake. Then after the meeting you and, like, ya know… what you said and all. Honestly, those are all recent because I've been practicing to look… appealing."
Suri gave the snake girl a small smile and reached up to clutch her shoulder in a supportive hold. It made Yumei look back into Suri's eyes and she felt a hint of confidence swell in her just from the eye contact.
"Yumei, I wasn't kidding when I said what I did when we first met," Suri said with a comforting confident tone. "Girl, you're hot as fuck. Own it. Besides, now I just owe ya."
Before the snake girl could respond, Suri turned and pushed her way through the doors into the gym, forcing Yumei to quickly snap back to focus and catch up. Once through the doors, the two girls found four figures standing in the middle of the gym floor, two of which were Kodiak and Hellfire. The other two weren't heroes Suri recognized at all, especially not with their backs to her.
Of the two, one was wearing a brightly colored uniform with a myriad of gold and lime green in the design. She noticed that the figure also had four arms which were covered in sleeves that were striped in black and gold down their lengths. It was when that figure turned around that Suri now saw that the figure was not only a woman, but that she also had four pure black eyes. To add to her oddity, the woman's second pair of eyes closed and their lashes created the illusion of eyebrows, giving her an oddly normal face. Now she simply stared at Suri with an unassuming, neutral expression.
The figure next to her didn't bother hiding his disdain when he turned around. He looked flat out pissed. There was the look that someone gave you like you had a second head or the kind that said you just broke their favorite coffee mug. And then there was this that was a mix between you killed my father, I will have my vengeance and you are the most evil, vile thing I have ever laid eyes on. Which was odd enough by itself because Suri had no idea who this guy was. Especially not in his dime-a-dozen black hero costume that had little to no defining traits that said who he was or anything.
He was just so... bland.
The look didn't help first impressions between him and Suri, and his costume and lack of notoriety didn't garner any respect at all. And it was lucky for Suri that Atiena chose to wake up at that moment. Right as the beast girl was about to open her mouth and probably say something stupid, Atiena growled into her ear and mentally slapped her paw over Suri's mouth. The beast simply shook her head to her human half, not that she didn't want to say anything either.
One of them needed to be an adult in this situation.
"So," he spoke first, ignoring the warning and tired glares that Kodiak and Hellfire were giving him. "You're Alpha's girl? Guess that figures. You look as unpleasant as he is to work with."
Suri was floored by the comment. She no longer had anything angry to say, she was flat out dumbfounded.
"You're also a failure as far as Hellfire's game to join our ranks would suggest. Again, unsurprising knowing your family," he continued. "I have to ask; what did you hope to gain here, girl?"
Suri turned her stunned expression to the three other individuals. The woman still looked neutral but the werebear and devil looked apologetic. Then she turned to look at Yumei beside her and found the snake girl looking away, visibly upset and shaken.
"Sir," Suri started hesitantly. "Have we met before? Have I done something to offend you that I don't know about?"
The man simply scoffed and was about to start speaking again. Suri had the right of mind to not be petty but being petty was one of her strong suits
"I get that you're one of the pro heroes in charge here but that doesn't give you a right to treat me how you are. That's not fair to either of us," Suri said, trying to be as civil as possible.
"Look, kid, the last thing we need is another charity case. And besides," he shrugged and folded his arms across his chest. "You already blew that opportunity months ago."
"I already explained that to Hellfire. I'm not here to be a charity case," Suri shot back. "I came to prove I could hang and obviously I couldn't. So if you're done being an ass, I'm out."
Suri started storming towards the door then, brushing past the four heroes in the middle of the room. She briefly noticed that the rest of the agency's heroes, sidekicks, and office staff were all watching but didn't have the energy to care. She didn't care if she was making a scene. She didn't care that she made a scene when the hero spoke again.
"Right. Run away," he scoffed. "Just like your dad, just like you always do. You'd be the first to stab us in the back I'd be willing to bet."
Suri took a deep breath then, put on a gentle smile and turned on her heel without losing momentum. She'd done this same act before with one of the last times being to punch a bitch square in the face. She wasn't going to do that here.
"Place your bets then," Suri smiled and pulled her shirt off over her head. It made the heroes freeze in shock at the gesture. "I've done a lot of running, sure. But all of this? This is because I stopped running and stood my ground. You think I'd stab you in the back? No. I'd take a knife in the back though. I've already taken hits to protect Yumei, I got all of these scars from protecting my friends. And please, for the love of the gods, I am not my dad. I'm my own hero so put some respect on my name. Got it?"
When nothing was said, Suri simply scoffed and pulled her shirt back on before turning for the door again. She could hear the murmuring above her, not that she cared. And she heard the heroes behind her murmuring. Again, not that she cared. No. Now her chest was aching. Her eyes began to sting and she was trying to hurry and get outside to the street before she burst into tears. She was fighting back her sadness and anguish of failing and then being ridiculed by people she didn't know. It wasn't fair and dammit, she would not cry in front of them.
"Aye, little one," Kodiak called out. "Where are you going?"
"Home!"
"What about your stuff," Hellfire asked.
"I'll grab it from Sasayaki and Alexandria!"
"You're missing something," he called out again.
"Don't care, devil boy. Give it to Yumei or something."
"But she already has job," Kodiak chuckled.
That made Suri pause. When she turned around, she saw the big Russian man holding a paper. The one that she'd brought in as part of the application process and needed stamped. And, as a matter of fact, it hadn't been stamped when she came in.
"But... I failed," Suri said quietly in disbelief.
"A task you weren't necessarily meant to win in the first place," the woman answered. "In a bout that was severely stacked against you. Do you believe any of those here today have fared much better in Hellfire's game?"
She outstretched her arms and motioned to everyone standing against the railings. Again, it still felt like they were an audience to a cage match or performance or something to that nature. She watched some of them murmur, laugh, and agree with the statement. It was starting to click with Suri and her mouth began to drop as she stared at Kodiak holding the application form with the bright red stamp on it.
"My game," Hellfire smirked and gave Suri a wink. "Is simply that, love. A game."
"As such with his games," the woman spoke, the motion she made with her head made it appear to be her rolling her eyes. The slight curl in her lip said she found it at least a little amusing. "We take a vote after the conclusion of the trials. We did the same with you."
"You mean?" Suri asked quietly, not caring that tears were starting to roll down her cheeks.
"Welcome, little one, to The Outsiders."