"Hello."
"Heyo. It's me."
"Are we set for the meeting tonight?"
"I believe so. As long as Deku doesn't flake out."
"Oh. Great."
"It's just us, Touya. Nobody is tracking this call. It's a private line."
"I'm not trusting you with that shit. Not anymore."
"You should start. I could have turned you in weeks ago. Do you know how much jail time I'm facing if you were found out."
"We."
"We. If we were found out."
"Well, I don't have much else to say until tonight. But I did make contact with them. They're very interested in our offer."
"And the tech?"
"I think we got a lot of work before they let us get close to that."
"Okay. Let's keep working."
"Yeah. And Hawks?"
"Yeah?"
"That last phone call from my brother...that was in that digital universe. Right?"
"Correct."
"And the kids...they saw him afterwards, right?"
"Yes."
"So...Heaven...is that a real place?"
Beep.
Shhk!
Lynn awoke to a loud slurping noise.
She groaned with her head throbbing from the gash that was covered by papery gauze. She ruffled her legs through the thin white hospital covers and scrunched her eyelids from the sunlight drenching the hospital room. Her throat was parched, and the bruises forming on her arms beat with angry scarlet discoloring her normally fair skin.
Lynn opened her eyes to see the sparse hospital room. The pale periwinkle walls were painted by the harsh sun peeking through the thin blinds. A small IV dropped pricked into Lynn's forearm with a silent heart monitor blinking next to a wooden nightstand. Above her, a white fan wafted cool air over the covers which chilled her aching limbs.
Slurp!
Lynn craned her neck to the left. Next to her, Leon sucked on a long curly straw connected to a giant plastic tub of some viscous dark liquid. Donning the same flimsy cerulean hospital gown, Leon locked his blank eyes towards Lynn while continuing to suck the day away on the thick straw.
"Hey," Lynn said.
Leon said nothing as he continued to suck.
"Hey," Lynn said and turned her body on her side to face Leon. "Where's you get that?"
Leon smacked his lips. His face was dotted with small cuts with a cast placed on his left arm. His bulked shoulders slumped while he tried to scratch an itch atop his white hair.
"Mister Deku came in with some girl in some hero costume. She said this would make me feel better. She drank it a lot down where she was from."
Lynn lifted herself up on her forearm and peeked over the rim of the plastic tub in Leon's lap. She sniffed towards his bed just a few feet away separated by a crash cart.
"Is that Doctor Pepper?" Lynn grimaced.
"It's really good," Leon shoved the straw into his mouth and slurped harder.
Lynn fell onto her back and clasped her hands over her middle. She tried to rack her brains on the previous events of the day. Within the span of a couple of weeks, she almost got run over by Deku, negotiates her way into his school, and was blasted by that Japanese hero with a bazooka. And yet….
Lynn flipped back over. On the crash cart was her cell phone. She grabbed it and pressed the button to turn on the Home Screen.
Zero notifications.
Lynn sighed and dropped the phone onto her pillow. She lay on her side and stared over at Leon who sat upright while he drank the soda. He had little on his mind beyond the incredible drink that the odd hero with a southern accent gave to him. Despite Deku's interjections that perhaps this "Doctor Pepper" was not the best thing to cure Leon if his ailment's, he had to admit that his muscles felt far more powered and energized than when he had awoken a half hour prior.
He did feel a sense of relief when Deku told him that they had passed the test. Of course, even if he didn't, he knew his father could simply tell Hawks to keep him in the school. However, he wanted to leave a good impression for the rest of the class. He hoped his father had seen some of the action and was proud of what he and his technology did during his fight with that weird guy that kept calling people animal names.
"Did we win, by the way?" Lynn asked.
Leon finished a pull of soda and licked his lips. "Yep. Apparently, Skylar held onto the money from pretending to be a pizza person and not giving people change apparently counts as stealing."
"What a weirdo," Lynn shook her head and laughed. "But maybe he has a few more brain cells than I thought."
Leon shrugged. "Well, one is more than zero."
Lynn have off another chuckle. Then, she propped herself up on her forearms and sighed. "So at least we won't get kicked out. I wonder if this is gonna make the news. It's not every day downtown gets shut down for some high school test."
"I heard Skylar asking that as we all passed out," Leon said. "If we'd make the news."
"Well, you don't become a Pro-Hero if you don't want some fame," Lynn said. "I just hope the right people notice."
Leon stared back at Lynn. Her green eyes avoided his gaze.
"Right people?"
"Well," Lynn pressed her finger on the phone screen. Yet again, no notifications. "I was kinda hoping my parents would have texted me by now."
"Oh," Leon said. His eyes flickered to his phone. It was also dark inactive from any messages.
"I mean, they live nearby," Lynn said. "And I just thought they'd say something to me by now. I only moved out today. And I'm literally a mile away."
"Maybe they haven't told them you're in the hospital yet," Leon said.
"I doubt they'd show up anyway. Wouldn't be the first time," Lynn sighed and flipped onto her back. She stared up at the shaking fan on the ceiling.
"I understand," Leon said.
"What?" Lynn asked. "Your folks don't give a shit, either?"
"It can feel that way," Leon said. "Or, they only care about certain things."
"Yeah, that was kinda my life the first fifteen or so years," Lynn said. "I don't think they ever liked each other. Or me."
"They do," Leon said. "I'm sure."
"I guess," Lynn turned back to Leon. A ghost of a smile etched on her face. "They put me in that private school. You know, it's not hard to blend in at Catholic school. Just don't break the dress code and remember a few prayers and whatever."
"I was homeschooled," Leon said.
"Makes sense," Lynn played with a thread on the edge of her duvet cover. "Considering how much of a weirdo you are."
"Weird?" Leon asked.
"You and Skylar. But I guess a good weird," Lynn said. "Then again, I was the one scrolling through Instagram at Mass all the time. So maybe I'm the weird one. To be fair, most people do that during Mass nowadays."
"I wouldn't know," Leon said. "I'm agnostic."
"So...like...Heaven," Lynn said. "Is that not real to you?"
"Maybe. I've never given it much thought."
"Okay," Lynn sat up and hugged her pillow while draping her legs over the edge to face her body towards Leon. "Then, I'll make a deal with you. If I go to heaven, and all the angels are like Skylar, I'll switch to your side. Alright?"
"If all angels are like Skylar," Leon deadpanned. "I think that might be Hell."
Leon considered Lynn who held a grin. Leon, not knowing if he said the right thing, held his breath with the sound of nurses walking throughout the corridor outside. Then, Lynn laughed. A silly, genuine laugh that first trickled out of her mouth before cascading into an aching chortle that made her double over.
Leon did not smile. However, he felt a small weight brush off his shoulders. He relaxed and drank more from his tub of Doctor Pepper. Perhaps he was not so bad at this "socializing" as he previously thought.
"There you two are!"
The excitable blonde boy with a halo burning over his head burst through the room. His wings phased through the narrow doorway as he bounded into the room like a hyper puppy. Despite wearing the same hospital gown as the others, Skylar otherwise appeared immaculate. He twirled around in the center of the room and posed like a model towards Lynn and Leon.
"Like it? I think it's my color," Skylar looked over the two with a bright expression.
"I'm glad you're all awake," a softer voice said.
Behind him, Deku strolled into the room. Leon perked up and forced his back straight as a board. Lynn grabbed her phone and placed it under her pillow.
"Professor Deku," Lynn said. "I hope we made you happy."
"You all did a great job," He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "I have to apologize. I didn't expect James to be so aggressive to you, Leon. And I also didn't anticipate Creati trying to explode you all into smithereens."
"It's okay, Mister Deku," Skylar said. "I was able to get rid of all of my cuts and bruises with a small layer of blush and foundation!"
"That's not exactl-," Deku cut himself off and shook his head. "Well, I'm just glad you're all safe. The doctor said you should all be good to leave here in a few hours, and I can't wait for what the rest of the year has in store for us."
As Deku turned to leave, Skylar raised his hand.
"Oh, but Mister Deku," Skylar said. "Don't you have like tips or something for us?"
Deku stopped and quirked his eyebrow back at Skylar. "Tips?"
"Yeah? Like super Pro-Hero secrets you can tell us?"
Izuku stroked his chin. He examined the trio with Skylar practically glowing perched just at the foot of Lynn's bed. Truth be told, they all did as well as he could have hoped.
"I guess I could say one or two things," Izuku said. "Lynn, you reasoned out your escape from the building. But you can't rely on explicit facts all the time. You got lucky with your dad knowing about the construction of the building and teaching you, but that will likely never happen again."
Lynn nodded. Yes, she was a bit lucky in that way. However, the ability to make her strategy work was enough for her.
"Leon," Izuku pointed. "You were getting hit hard by James. I don't think he should have been so harsh, but that will happen in the real world. You were literally backed into a corner, and you got lucky that you found a corner that broke and allowed you to change the terms of the fight. It worked, but it was reckless and could have resulted in you splattered on the pavement."
Leon understood and looked down at his hands. A dull blue light emanated from his veins glowing within them. He hoped that, when he had a better grasp of the machine within, he would be more formidable.
"As for you, Skylar," Izuku stopped and looked down at the thin boy. He considered his words and crossed his arms. He wanted to convey his message as succinct as possible, which would be the only way to connect with Skylar.
He took a step to Skylar. Another one. Skylar's smile fell as the shadow of Deku loomed over him. Then, Izuku hunched down and craned his mouth right to Skylar's ear.
"If there's one thing you take away from my class," Izuku whispered. "Remember…you're just as a human as I am."
Izuku stepped away from the boy with angel wings and a halo and trudged out of the room. After all, he still had to track down Ivan who was swimming in a sewer and Ayumu who was asleep in a dumpster. Already, his class was making him scramble around the city.
Izuku left. In the room, a silence permeated over the three. Skylar had a surprised look and stared out the doorway towards the bush hall of nurses pushing carts around and doctors towing stretchers. He blinked his golden eyes and gave off a soft hum.
"What does that mean?" Skylar asked more to himself than anyone else.
Sam The Dog trotted out of the elevator. His ruby eyes gleamed with the reflection of the class as his tail wagged with each bounce into the main control room.
He sauntered inside with his tongue sticking out and huffing in the hot air of the control room. Sigi had a blueprint of the building rolled out on the table and pointed at the front entrance.
"And I think that's what we need to do," Sigi said. "Any problem with that?"
The girl scanned over Riley and Merle. They both shook their heads as Sam came up and thunked his chin onto the table covering a part of the map.
"Oh, Sam," Merle said. "Was wondering why it took you so long."
"Bark," Sam The Dog said in a muted, almost robotic tone.
Sigi peered at the dog. Perhaps it was due to the lightning, but the odd scarlet tint from his eyes was different than what she had seen when she first met Sam. She hummed to herself and looked back to Riley.
"Hey," Sigi said. "D'you notice-."
"Alright, Class!" Izuku burst into the room and clapped his hands. The group turned to face him when he strolled into the room. "Is the next group ready?"
"We are," Sigi said without any further input.
"Excellent. I love the enthusiasm," Izuku said. "So, I have good news and bad news for everyone. The bad news is that we still have yet to find Ivan who is likely somewhere in the Detroit sewer system. Also, the trash man came and picked up the dumpster Ayumu was sleeping in. So she is being taken to the landfill, and we will need to search for her as well."
"That sucks, Aiden said. "So what's the good news."
"I ordered pizza!" Izuku said.
A line of delivery people came in with steaming cardboard boxes of pizza. The remaining students cheered save for Tao who simply crossed his arms and scowled at everyone else.
One of the boxes fell onto the table with the map. Sam The Dog nosed at the box and flipped open the lid. He panted in excitement at the piping hot pepperoni pie glistening like liquid gold under the fluorescent lights. He opened his muzzle and was about to chow down until-.
Slam! The box closed with a small hand shutting the lid. Sigi glared at Sam.
"No pizza until we win," Sigi said. "And I'm still watching you!"
"Bark!" Sam said in a monotone voice.
Outside of the bank, the trio congregated by the marble staircase leading up to the large doors. Merle tied a bandana over his mouth.
"Okay, so now that we're here," Sigi said while tying her long hair into a neat obsidian bun. "Do you remember your roles?"
Riley raised a hand. "I understand, but you forgot about yourself."
Sigi tightened the yellow scrunchie around in a knot and stared up at Riley. "What?"
"You haven't even told us what you're going to do," Riley said. "It would be nice if you let us in on that."
"I reckon we don't even know your quirk," Merle said from behind his bandana.
"Look, right now, I don't have time to tell you my life story," Sigi said. "Just stick with the plan and-."
Ding!
Sigi gasped and grabbed Riley's arm. "Go time!"
"But wait?" Riley shouted while being dragged to the double doors. "I don't even know what to-."
Bam! Sigi kicked open the door and pushed Riley inside. The muscular boy stood with a blank expression into the ornate lobby. Some of the workers traversed the golden tile gleaming under the tungsten lights.
Heaving her small frame upward, Sigi leapt right into Riley's taut chest. The boy instinctively held out his arms and cradled the girl within his grasp.
"Help!" Sigi screamed. "Help! They're holding me hostage!"
The denizens of the lobby stopped in their tracks. One person dropped a stack of papers at the sight of the two tall men next to the screeching girl.
"Uh…," Merle scratched the back of his head. Then, he gulped and scanned the area. He saw in the corner an open supply closet.
"Sam," Merle said. "Get me a weapon."
"Bark." Sam said. The dog darted for the closet and rummages through the tight nook. His nozzle bopped past some tools within a bag with his paw clawing through clinks of metal.
Sigi glared over at Merle. Then, she huffed and laid back in Riley's arms.
"Can we hurry this up, please?" Sigi whispered in frustration.
The rest of the lobby stared at the odd pair. Then, they turned to Sam as a loud metallic ding rang out from the closet. The floor squeaked like nails itching over a chalkboard as Sam returned with a small metal handle in his mouth.
The handle of a plunger.
Sam dragged the rubber plunger over the tile until he reached Merle's shoes. He dropped the handle at his feet and sat with a blank look in his red eyes.
"Bark."
Merle Lawson! His quirk: Sam!
Silence.
The rest of the lobby looked up in confusion at the ceiling.
"What?" One of the employees said. "His quirk is a dog?"
Merle examined Sam whose tail wagged over the floor. He had asked for a weapon akin to a hammer or ratchet. Instead, Sam provided him with a plunger. Why did he give him the wrong thing?
"Sam," Merle said. "Why'd you bring me a plunger? I asked for a hammer or something."
"Bark."
"Now is not the time to get nervous," Merle said.
"Can we get a move on!? Sigi seethed through her teeth.
With a pursed lip, Merle grabs the plunger. He points the wooden handle at Sigi's head. Clutching the rubber head, he jabs at the girl in Riley's arms.
"Uh…nobody move!" Merle shouted. "Or the girl gets it!"
"Yeah," Riley cleared his throat. "What he said!"
Click! From the corner office with glass panes shining under the chandelier, an ostentatious man in a black suit stepped into the lobby. His misty blue eyes swished from one of the trio to the other with a debonair smirk on his face. His blonde hair merticulously gelled so not a strand was out of place, the man adjusted one of the many chains on his suit holding small golden wristwatches that glistened over the marble statue of a moneybag he passed.
The clack of his leather loafers echoed over the room. Along with the beat, a strange musical passage seemed to quiver from far away.
Beep beep.
Riley blinked. His head tingled with some strange vibration running over his face. A snap clicked in his head from just behind him, but noise was faint like the sound of his Walkman playing a soft song from a deep distance underwater.
The blonde man sighed with a pleasant smirk and crossed his arms in amusement.
"What appears to be the problem?" The man said with a pretentious, playful attitude.
"The problem is that these two are holding me hostage!" Sigi shouted. "And they won't let me go until you open the vault and let us-I mean, them in!"
Beep. Beep.
The sound grew louder. Riley looked down at his Walkman. No noise came from it.
A static ruffled through his ears. As if a communication was trying to breach an invisible radio jammer.
"Right," he said. "And if we don't let them in, you die?"
"Oh," Sigi said. "Well, I-I don't know. But these two mean business!"
"Agreed," he said. So perhaps I should call another hero to come in and save the day."
Crackle.
"…Behi…behind…,"
The music crescendoed. Merle noticed and started to look around in confusion. He tried to spot the speakers in the cavernous ceiling. Only the stained glass of the golden dome stood above.
"That won't be necessary," Sigi said. "Listen, you have to do what they say! Or they're going to waste all of you fools in this lobby."
"Huh?" Merle said.
"Play along," Sigi whispered.
"I can call the police," he said. "They should only be a few moments away."
"These guys are way too fast for you," Sigi said. "In fact, they can make it to the vault right now. Right, guys?" Sigi elbowed Riley's chest.
Riley clenched his teeth from the jab. The static pounded into his ears. The hiss rushed over his mind like a waterfall of information cascading into his heart. His chest grew hot with the strange vibration eviscerating his head.
"Alright, mister," Sigi said. "Then you tell me how you're going to get in their way."
Beep.
Riley grunted out. He still held Sigi, but Merle noticed and narrowed his eyes. The music grew louder.
"I don't have to," the man said with a laugh.
Beep.
A crash of a cymbal.
"Instead…."
Beep!
A scratch of a nylon string.
"I can show you!"
Beep.
The smash of a chord!
"Ugh, enough," Sigi jumped out of Riley's arms. She glared at him and jabbed a finger at the Walkman hanging of a buckle on his belt. "You. Turn off your Walkman. I can hear the music on your headphones."
"It's not playing anything!" Riley yelled over the rock symphony. "My Walkman is off!"
Beep!
Behind you! Two O'Clock! Go left!
"Abel! I choose you!" The blonde man shouted!
Riley, with a knowing gasp, grabbed Sigi. He wrapped his arms around her and threw her to the ground with himself cushioning the fall.
Crash! The doors splintered apart with a roar shattering the windows within the lobby. People dived into the ground when the foundation shook like a raft in a crossfire hurricane.
With bricks from the wall raining down, Merle leapt forward and skittered across the floor. In front of him, the blonde man dived and slapped his hand on top of his cowboy hat. He knocked it off and grabbed the top of his brown hair. Breath hitched out of Merle's mouth for a second with an empty chill making his body shiver.
The man launched his legs forward. He bounced backwards and somersaulted back before landing on his feet. Sam The Dog stood between both of them unperturbed by the blast. Bricks still rained down with dust coating the sunlight pouring into the destroyed entrance. Concrete and marble skipped over the floor with a purple haze glowing over the entrance.
The music, now louder than ever, blared from a pair of earbuds into the brain of shaggy-haired brunette. He was a thinner man wearing the most elaborate cerulean jumpsuit with star-shaped glasses and a large top hat emblazoned with a golden star on the front.
"Sam," the blonde man said. "Come over to me."
Merle looked over at Sam. The dog spun around and trotted over to the blonde man. He stood up and brushed away the dust over his silk suit and straightened his baby blue tie. Sam circled around his feet and sat with a cute tilt of his neck towards Merle.
Nieto Monoma! His quirk: Copycat!
Riley, still protecting Sigi, coughed out some dust. His head still hurt, but only one brick had battered his back with a small tear in his brown muscle shirt. He looked down at Sigi. She rubbed dust out of her eyes and rested her wiry frame under the larger boy. Sigi spotted Monoma who clicked a wristwatch on his belt. The clock had started to tick, and she narrowed her eyes as Sam decided to follow Merle's orders.
"You alright?" Riley asked.
Sigi looked into Riley's forest green eyes. She blinked and felt a strange calm soothe her aching muscles.
"Yeah, I think that guy's quirk-."
Beep.
Five O'Clock! Roll left!
The world descended into a smear of soft lights that slowed to a crawl. Riley heard his own breathing echoing around himself and Sigi. A fly, normally fast, hovered by Sigi's eye. A bead of sweat dripped off his chin, but the droplet rolled through the air like a mosquito stuck in molasses. Whatever strange voice this was, it was telling him what to do. He had to trust it, but it was a voice that he had known from before. Not his own, but from where he was from.
Riley Garrick! His quirk: Constructive Cortex. He can sense and analyze opponents attacks while calculating the chances of success from his own.
With the rest of time in a slow jaunt, Riley grabbed Sigi again. This time, he spun them over to the left.
As he did so, the world rushed back into a fast stupor. The music reverberated in the lobby with a rumble shaking the ground.
Slam! Right where he and Sigi had lay previous, a hand chopped right into the marble and crushed the concrete underneath. The smash rained bits of debris onto Riley's back as he looked over to the young man in the tight hero costume.
"A pair of tumbling dice, aren't ya," the Pro-Hero said.
"Who the hell are you?" Sigi shouted underneath Riley.
"What's wrong?" The boy said. "A little thunderstruck?"
Abel Chevelle! His quir-.
"Actually, I'll take it from here."
Wait. What are you-?
Click. Cue "The Sprit Of Radio by Rush.
Smack! In front of one of camera lenses streaming the scene towards the class across the street, an album cover with a picture of the bespectacled boy covered the entire frame. On the cover, he soared through the air posing with his trusty Stratocaster in hand mid-strum as he sailed over a bright city underneath with his tongue sticking out.
"Alright. Let's do this one more time."
Back in the control room, Izuku fought with the controls to get a good view of the fight still ongoing. However, it was obscured by the footage of the thin young man chasing after a car on a busy city street.
"My name is Abel Chevelle. And for three rocking years, I have been the one and only…Helter Skelter!"
The car turned the corner. The robber in the driver's seat looked back. He laughed at the lack of police lights behind him.
Thud! A pair of yellow boots landed on the roof. The robber looked up. Abel stood above him. With a quick wink, he jumped right in front of the car and stomped his foot on the road.
"My quirk is that my physcial attributes are enhanced by whatever music I'm listening to. So metal will make me as strong as a tank. Jazz makes me limber as a gymnast. And, of course, a little bit of Rush makes me everything!"
The car flipped. The robber screamed with the car twisting through the air like a dreidel. Then, it splashed into the river of the city.
Seconds later, the robber bobbed up to the surface. Abel held out his hand. The robber grabbed it, only to feel the tightening of handcuffs around his wrist.
"I grew up in Malibu with all of family crashing mansion parties and shredding the guitar with my homies!"
Crash!
Abel slams down onto one knee as he fingerpicks away a monster solo.
"Then, I got into the newest big hero school so I can melt all the baddies faces off!"
Abel, laying on a workout bench, screams while attempting to lift up a ten pound weight. He dropped it, and the metal slammed down onto his neck. He choked and flailed his arms until a well-built kid with long brown hair and earrings pulled the bar up with one hand.
"But everything changed when I woke one day in some strange warehouse which turned out to be a transport station between Earth and Heaven. But, as it turns out, I wasn't actually in the real world at all but a digital environment created to imprison us but also we weren't ever in the real world at all! Just some creation artificially made by some crazy lady but in the process proving the ability to transport people through digital footprints and the existence of an afterlife!"
Abel slams his guitar on the head of a goon outside of a bank robbery. A guitar string snaps!
"But other than that, my life is pretty normal, I guess."
Abel stood before a desk. He flashed a sheepish grin across the table. On the other side, Izuku held a red pen and stared at Abel with a nonplussed expression.
Then, Izuku scratched out the "69" grade on the final exam. He wrote a "70" instead.
"I entered the real world. Graduated. Barely."
Abel flipped in the air. He landed on the large, broad shoulders of a tall blond man with spikes in his forearms. The man slashed the face of some poor bloke while Abel spun around and kicked in the skull of a gangster.
"Fought crime with my best friend, Austin. Went solo after he moved away with his fiancée."
'What does she have that I don't!' Abel shouted.
'Well, for one, Synaes said tugging at Austin's arm to leave the ramshackle apartment Abel resided within. 'Good hygiene.'
"But I handled being by myself like a champ!"
"Wahhhh!" Abel cried with ice cold water sprinkling down on him from the shower. His hero costume cling to him like a second skin and trapped the water onto his frame.
"So I joined a band. Rule the stage most nights. And wherever my tour takes me, I pop in to stop crime!"
In front of the Eiffel Tower, an evil purse snatcher grabs a lady's bag. She shouts at him, but it only makes the man snicker with each push of his legs off the grass.
Bam! The man, still laughing at the woman behind him, did not spy the fist tougher than concrete that he ran into. His skull cracked with his nose flattened. He crashed onto the ground passed out and dropped the bag. Abel switched off his music player which blared Iron Maiden and picked up the purse.
"Here you go, miss!"
"Oh, thank you so much Helter Skelter," the woman said. "If only I could repay you."
Abel smirked at the woman who returned the same expression.
"Met a girl. Didn't work out."
Abel, once again, cried in the shower. This time, he scarfed down a slice of old pizza.
"Met another one. Same thing."
More crying. This time, Abel has a whole pie in his lap getting soaked by the shower. He is unconcerned as he shoves another sopping slice in his mouth.
"Had an…embarrassing tape of myself leaked out."
Abel, wearing his hero costume, wipes away a tear before a webcam.
"And I want to apologize to all I hurt."
"Twice."
This time, Abel appeared on screen with a video playing on a website. He has a guitar and strummed basic open chords as he sings his apology.
'I'm so sorry," Abel sung. "I'll never make a video like that again!"
"But since then, I've been The Trooper climbing the Stairway To Heaven. Saving kittens from trees. Babies from burning buildings. Yeah, maybe I'm only the 69th ranked Pro-Hero on the U.S, but it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll!"
Abel leapt off the ledge and flew towards the pair like a trained wrestler.
And smashed right next to Riley.
Dive! Twelve O'clock!
Riley threw Sigi to the side. He pushed himself backwards as Abel bounded over to him. With the bright and loud song blaring away, the man had razor-sharp speed as well as powerful jabs. Riley flipped back to his feet and gathered into a fighting stance.
Next to him, Merle rushed over to Sam. However, the dog started to growl and barked in a menacing fashion at him.
"Sam! What are you-."
"Sam is my dog now," Monoma said. "It appears he is only smart enough to be under the tutelage of one owner. So Sam...attack!"
Sam charged after Merle. The boy had no choice but to flee. He turned and sprinted away with Sam in hot pursuit baring out his teeth. Merle ran for his life around the lobby in a circle and almost bumped into Riley who did a cartwheel to pivot away from a jab by Abel.
Abel pounced right over Sam The Dog and burst through the air at Riley. With the speed of lightning, he clenched a fist and barrelled it right to Riley's jaw.
Duck!
Riley ducked, but the speed was too much. Abel's fist bashed into his forehead. Riley's eyes rolled back, and he crashed backwards onto a linoleum counter. The table broke under his weight, and the limbs snapped off which him collapse back onto the floor.
Karate chop! Mid-section!
Riley had no choice but to trust whatever voice was leading him on. He kicked his legs up and flipped back up to his feet. The attack just missed with Abel slashing the remnants of the table like a flimsy scrap of cardboard. Riley landed on his feet. His vision funneled down to his adversary as Abel leapt into the air and rocketed towards him with a flying kick.
In mid-air, Abel pressed the button on his earbuds. A funky seventies song began to play through his ears when he landed just inches away from Riley.
Attack!
Riley took the advice from the voice and ounched forward. Abel ducked under to the flow of the rythym and grabbed his clenched fist. He pushed it back towards him, and RIley grunted when his own hand smacked into his nose and jabbed upward into the bridge. He shouted with his eyes watering and his sinuses stinging.
Leg swee-!
The voice was cut off by Abel who fell onto the ground. Or it appeared to be the case until his hands caught him. He swung his legs out and raked at Riley's ankles. He toppled onto his side and slammed with his ear bashing the broken tile underneath him. He rolled over and picked himself back up just when Abel clicked his earbuds again.
Cue Holy Diver by Dio!
"Come at me," Abel gestured at Riley.
Riley wiped away blood that trickled from his ear. He stumbled back to his feet and balanced himself with his arms still outstretched in front of him. The world slowed down again as he caught his breath and examined the smirking Pro-Hero before him.
Direct attack. Two percent chance of success. Song is heavy and makes him nearly impenetrable.
Sparring. Ten percent chance of success. Will tire you out faster than he can. Still little damage you can do.
Insulting his favorite guitarist. Fifteen percent chance. Unknown who his favorite guitarist is.
Popping out his earbuds. Eighty percent chance. No music means no additional power.
Nuclear blast. One hundred percent chance. Will end his life and likely yours.
"Huh? How could I even-."
"Duck!"
This time, the voice was a female's right behind him. Without a moment to hesitate, Riley fell to his knees as Sigi ran right behind him. She stepped onto Riley's back and sprang off of him like a diving board. She sailed through the air with a loud scream and pointed directly at Abel...
A plunger.
Sigi pointed the rubber head towards the Pro-Hero who stood just feet away. Abel blinked in confusion. He never thought he would be facing off against someone with a plunger, but he figured this was perhaps normal in the world of Hero-ing. He crouched down with Sigi coming closer to him. Closer. Closer.
And then sailing right over him.
Sigi, however, had not revealed her plan. She shouted again and jammed the plunger into the side of a pillar. Then, she held herself up in a deadhang on the bar as the rubber kept her weight. She levitated feet above the floor and waited for Sam to run past again.
Merle, seeing that she had devised some plan, rushed past her. Then, Sam was just about to sprint past. As he was about to race by, Sigi dropped herself onto Sam and grabbed onto his collar. She held on as Sam continued towards Merle. The dog dragged Sigi over the lobby as Merle ran towards Monoma.
"Hey, get away," Monoma yelled. "This isn't part of your objective!"
"Give me my dog back, lemonhead!" Merle shouted.
Monoma, seeing how Sam had been slowed down, twisted on his heels and ran away from Merle who was angry with adrenaline coursing through his veins. He sprinted away towards his office.
"Sam" Monoma shouted. "Stop Merle now!"
Sam tried to reach Merle, but Sigi had him slowed down enough to where Merle could reach Monoma. The shorter man was no match for the tall cowboy who cornered hm right by the office. Monoma ran inside and slammed the door shut. Merle, in a fit of rage, ran right at the door and yanked his shoulder out.
SLAM!
The glass shattered and rained down onto the floor. Monoma shrieked and fell into the corner of the room. Merle loomed over just as Sam entered with Sigi releasing the collar.
Sam leapt right up towards Merle. His teeth gnashed, and his snout opened as he prepared a massive bite on Merle's face.
He stuck out his tongue, and...
Ding!
Licked Merle's cheek.
Sam landed into Merle's arms. The dog licked his face again and panted with his tail wagging in Merle's grasp.
Monoma looked down at the wristwatch on his belt. The clock had struck zero.
"His quirk is time-based," Sigi said. "So you can only copy a quirk for a few minutes."
Monoma could not help but give a soft nod.
Merle, understanding the situation, dropped Sam and stepped back to the broken doorway. By creating distance, Monoma had no way of copying his quirk again. "Sam...don't let him move an inch. if he does, you know what to do."
Sam perched himself at the corner of the room with a cowering Monoma. He growled and flashed his teeth at the man. Monoma shouted and hugged himself.
"But wait! I'm afraid of dogs!" Monoma shouted as Sigi and Merle left him.
Merle hopped next to Sigi and stepped into the lobby. It was a complete wreck with a pool of dust and destroyed marble littering the upturnt tile. Smoldering lights popped with steam rising from destroyed computers by the counters. A few people poked their heads out and stared at the two with inquisitive glances. Sigi raked her eyes across the room.
With one of the heroes down, they needed to get one more incapacitated to get to the vault. However, they found that Abel and Riley were nowhere to be seen.
"Where did they go?" She demanded.
Boom! A loud rumble shook the bank.
One of the cashiers pointed outside. From the large hole, everyone witnessed Riley flying through the air backwards before slamming onto the street. He skittered like a skipping stone into a light pole with his head bashing the foundation. Whatever stage of the figth he was in with Abel, he was clearly losing.
"He's distracting him," Sigi said. "Riley is letting us get to the vault. We can still win this!"
Before Merle could comprehend what was happening, Sigi grabbed his arm and yanked him towards the back hallway of the bank. Passing the counter towards the back entrance, she grabbed an unattended ID badge and ran with Merle to the doorway leading to the backrooms. She pressed the card onto the scanner, and the light blinked green. The door slid open, and Sigi was about to run inside with Merle.
She in fact did run in. Until she noticed Merle had stopped at the precipice.
"What? We have to go!"
Melre looked back. They could see Riley's silhouette being held up by Abel. Then, Abel tossed the large figure again into a window across the street. His body smahsed limp into the storefront.
"I think he needs our help."
"He is doing us a favor," Sigi said. "Riley is a big boy. He can handle this."
Blam! This time, Abel tossed Riley in the air. Then, he took his guitar and swung at his middle. The body of his Strat connected like a baseball, and Riley keeled over and cracked his head into another light pole.
"Okay, he'll be healed up after," Sigi said. "A Pro-Hero wouldn't kill someone during a test. Not on purpose, at least."
"We can't leave someone behind," Merle said. "We win as a team or we lose as one."
"Are you serious?" Sigi yelled. "We have to win! I need to be in this school! And so do you. And so does Riley! We're doing him a favor."
"Is this how you're gonna be as a hero," Merle said. "Letting your teammates get the snot beaten out of them?"
A loud crack emanated through the room. This time, Abel had simply let Riley punch him in the chest. However, the song he listened to made him nearly impervious. Riley's hand snapped like a twig before Abel simply shoved him back on the ground.
Sigi bit her lip. "Okay, I get it. But...Riley is...I mean..."
"It's up to you, Team Leader," Merle said. "Help Riley or go to the vault. Your choice."
Sigi peered over Merle's shoulder. Of course she wanted to win more than anything. She had to pass this test. And really, she was doing Merle and Riley a favor by going for the vault. This was for their own good. After all, this was likely the plan that Riley had thought up for himself. She had deduced that Monoma could have his quirk exhausted. Perhaps Riley knew that this annoying Pro-Hero would be too focused on him to stop the other two. That's why he kept fighting despite the pain it was causing.
And yet, she could not step backwards towards the vault. Riley was certainly a weird student. An imposing presence, yet seemingly shy and even socially awkward. Despite that, he still saved her from the earlier attack. And he did his best to protect her from any damage. Not only that, but she heard that song when she looked over at him. Not the song taht blared in that dumb Helter Skelter's headphones. The one on his walkman. The one that reminded her of-.
Sigi stopped herself and shook her head. No. Enough of the past. She had to make a decision. Now.
"I know what we should do," Sigi said. "But...I know...what we have to do."
"And what would that be."
Sigi gave one last look towards Riley. He stumbled about and gave a lackadaisical swing towards Abel. He simply stepped to the side, and Riley fell onto his knees exhausted.
"We're going to do...what we have to."