Hey dudes and dudettes. How're your weekends going? This won't be a long author's note because I just woke up and don't have the energy. Anyway, there is an 85% chance that this will be my first Double Update Week. If I finish it in time, there will be another chapter uploaded tomorrow or Monday.
As always thanks to Hiatus for beta-ing.
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I hope you all enjoy, if you have any questions comments or concerns, don't hesitate to let me know via your preferred messaging thing. Let's get going!
Purpose of a Hero
Spitfire grunted as a massive sunflower sprouted, slammed into him, and sent him crashing into the side of a travel agency. This was basically how the battle had progressed the past few minutes. The golden-haired Villain was seemingly running out of steam and on the defensive, while Overgrown battered him with relentless attacks intended to wear him down enough to capture him in those damned vines. 'Shit, and I had the gall to call Heroes cocky...I'm no better, I should've known better than to get comfortable. This guy is Number One for a reason.' He though in dismay as he shot a blast of grayish flames from his mouth, cursing mentally as he did so. 'Almost spent.'
Overgrown easily dodged the attack, which had none of the ferocity of his earlier strikes, and attempted to punch Spitfire as he recovered. At the last moment, he moved so that the blow caught him in his right pectoral instead of his solar plexus. He countered with a high kick but was swept off his feet by the Hero, who seemed to have been expecting it. The Villain rolled away from a stomp and hastily got to his feet, only to nearly be knocked off them again by a flurry of thorned rose stems hitting him hard in the stomach. Spitfire slid backward and clutched at his injured abdomen. "Dammit."
"You've weakened as I said you would. Your flames have lost their heat. Now would be a good time for you to surrender, it's clear that this battle shall be going in my favor," Overgrown stated matter-of-factly, poker face still intact. Spitfire turned his gray eyes, which raged like a wildfire, onto the man and sneered.
"Go to hell, flower-head. I'm still standing, so I'm good enough to keep fighting. Black Buckshot!" He roared and, instead of his normal steady stream of flames, he pursed his lips and shot small projectiles, which moved at blinding speeds but carried far less power behind them, especially in his tired condition. Overgrown managed to dodge a majority of the miniature missiles and those that did hit him bounced off easily. 'Well that didn't work. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn! I shouldn't have gone all out when we first got outside. Showing off really hurt my longevity in this fight, plus useless Barty still hasn't gotten outta that damned tree prison.' Spitfire scowled at the four massive redwood trees in the distance, he could only make out the top thirty feet or so above the roofs of nearby buildings. "Bla-"
"Redwood Prison." Spitfire's eyes widened, he swore and leaped to the side, just barely avoiding the finisher. He stood shakily, his knees nearly buckling, and glared at Overgrown, who just regarded him with the same deadpan expression he'd worn for most of the battle. "You realize you accomplish nothing by continuing this fight, yes? There is no point. You shall answer for the crimes you've committed today. There is no escaping a lengthy sentence in the Citadel, but perhaps if you give yourself in and turn over your accomplices you will be able to avoid life in solitary."
"Do you ever shut up? Holy hell, all you've done since we started is blab on and on about me paying for my crimes. It gets annoying after a while. Can we just fight with you not running your arrogant mouth, please?" Instead of a verbal response, Spitfire was assaulted by another wave of instantly grown plantlife, most of which he dodged or burnt with the dregs of his fire reserves. 'Any time would be absolutely amazing morons. Running short of options here."
"Do you even realize what you've done here today?" Overgrown demanded and Spitfire was shocked to see an actual emotion in those dull green eyes. The Number One Hero was livid. The golden-haired Villain smirked.
"It burns you to have failed so badly doesn't it?" He mocked. When he saw the green-haired Hero stiffen, his grin only grew...and so did his confidence. "I've killed countless people and you haven't done a single thing about it. I'm quite shocked, to be honest, the Number One Hero simply standing by as dozens, if not hundreds, of lives are stolen while he had every opportunity to save them? The most renowned Hero in North America and he couldn't even get it done when the people he claims to protect needed him the most. I can see why you're angry. I mean, if I were in your shoes I'd burn the bastard responsible to ash but you...you just seem content with locking me up. Where's the justice in that? What's the saying? 'An eye for an eye'? By that logic shouldn't you be trying to put me in the ground?"
"That is not the way of a Hero," Overgrown said calmly, though Spitfire could tell it was through clenched teeth. 'Okay...keep pissing him off, hope I don't die, and wait for him to get sloppy. Gotta play this smart if I wanna send our message without being sent to prison. Although...this is kind of a double-edged sword.'
"The purpose of a Hero is to save people, right? Well, you obviously failed at that, quite miserably at that. Do you know what I say? 'If I can't save those important to me, you better be damned sure I'll avenge them'. Oh, but I guess that's not the way of a Hero, huh? Oh well. You wanna arrest me, Overgrown? I dare you to try!" Spitfire roared before releasing a wave of flames from his maw.
Purpose of a Hero
Fifteen Minutes Ago
Leech scowled as he and Kaboom scaled the side of the Miller-Braun building with the custom-made grapple guns Sierra in R&D had given them. Below him, all he could hear was the sound of his companion's insane laughter and random bouts of equally deranged muttering. 'Why do I always get stuck with the shit jobs?' Add his crazy partner to the fact that the planning for this job had left him without a wink of sleep the past two nights and he was admittedly a bit jumpy. It wasn't that he hadn't suffered from sleep deprivation before but unlike all those previous times he hadn't had a chance to use his Quirk to refill his energy. Finally having had enough he snapped at Kaboom. "SHUT UP YOU LITTLE SHIT!"
"Kaboom will make him go boom as well, yes~. I think so, he will go BOOM!" The orange-haired man began laughing so hard he nearly lost his grip on the rope he was using to climb. Leech just placed his face into one of his hands, the other still gripping the rope tightly, and let out a loud groan. A few more minutes passed before the two reached their destination, the fifth story. They had to go to this floor thanks to the Miller-Braun security system that was triggered when the threat level in the building was designated as 'High Danger' and included steel sheets dropping down and covering the windows of the first four stories, ergo they had to make their way to floor five. Leech peeked inside and saw that it was largely abandoned. 'Most likely the sheep moved down to the second level when they heard the alahm trigga. Time to get this auva with I suppose.' He reached down to his belt and grabbed the small handgun, also supplied by Sierra, and unloaded the clip into the plexiglass, shattering it and showering the two in glass shards. The simple sound of gunshots seemed to excite Kaboom, who responded by whooping and leaning back, holding on to the rope by just his legs and the bottom of the rope which Leech had smartly tied around his waist, allowing the glass shards to rain down on him.
"Hey, moron get up here." Leech wasted no time in pulling himself through the broken window before lowering his hand to pull up his partner. The man grabbed him and was unceremoniously yanked up. The platinum-haired man barely paid the muttering man any attention as he observed the deserted room before him. 'Stairs are a no-go. Those would've been the Boss' first target. Elevatah is the best way.' He sighed and walked over to one of the two doorways occupied by sliding metal doors. With a great bit of effort, he managed to yank one open and was dismayed to see three mirrored walls and eloquently upholstered floor of the elevator car. When he opened the second set of doors, he was even more dismayed to see the other car two floors down. 'We'll have to go to the second floah to get access to the maintenance shaft. Great, what luck. Maybe Spitfire isn't so crazy talking about 'Fate' all the time,' Leech thought with a snicker. "Alright, here's the plan-"
"Plan is...BOOM! Yes?" Kaboom interrupted, making an explosion sound with his mouth. Leech facepalmed and groaned into his gloved hand, the leather cool on his face and a faint hissing-like sound emanating from it.
"I understand. No, Kaboom. We gotta get to the sella. These jackasses've got some great shit down there. It'll help us go boom lata, yeah? " After the past five months since he'd joined the Black Order and been assigned to Spitfire's personal guard, the Villain had gotten accustomed to Kaboom's eccentricities. The man's Quirk was really sensational if put in the hands of someone who was not a complete fucking maniac.
"Yes~. Then we BOOM!" Leech just rolled his eyes and stalked over to the doorway. The third and fourth floors were relatively quiet, a few stragglers that rushed to get out of their way as the two Villains descended. As he made his way down, the platinum-haired man grimaced at the sounds of hundreds of people cramming themselves into the collapsed stairwell below. 'Acting like caged animals. Have some goddamn dignity, you sheep.' Luckily, the doorway to get onto the second floor was clear. The cubicles and general feel of a desk job sent a wave of revulsion flooding through his body. He ignored the looks of terrified workers hiding beneath their desks and made his way to the elevator doors.
"Alright, Kaboom! Get auva here!" His partner continued to mutter madly, but complied and moved to stand beside Leech. The doors groaned in protest as they slid open but, as they reached the halfway point, they started becoming easier to open, like there was less resistance. For a moment, the sleep-deprived Villain was in shock...and so was the battered and bruised Hero on the door's other side. "Ah, Spitfire got sloppy and let aune live. How...annoying."
"What's going on?" Piston demanded. Leech, realizing the man missed his little slip-up, put on his best winning smile and placed a hand on the man's shoulder.
"I'm so happy you've arrived, Hero. Just in time really, the people are starting to panic." Piston opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly he felt heavy. It was like someone had attached a ten-pound weight to each and every muscle in his body. The Punching Hero grunted and through the distant sounds of battle, heard a sound like ripping fabric. He pushed the green-eyed man away, who was smirking triumphantly and nearly gagged at the sight before him. The black leather glove which covered the Villain's hand, Piston knew for sure this man was a Villain now, was in tatters but that wasn't what shocked him. One each of the man's fingers and in the center of his palm was a mouth, full of fanged teeth and a forked tongue. Leech sighed in what appeared to be ecstasy and his platinum blond hair seemed to become fuller, his eyes brighter and a tiny bit more stable.
Spitfire's Squad: Leech
His Quirk: Leech
Using the leech-like mouths on his fingers and palms, Leech can sap the energy from his opponents, restoring his own energy as well as his sanity.
"Ah, wonderful! It's been so long since I've been able to think straight. Three weeks auf no sleep will make you pretty crazy, eh?" Leech ripped his second glove off and turned his hungry eyes on Piston, who despite his injuries and sudden tiredness, got into a fighting stance, his fists held up in front of his face. The Villain scoffed at this. "Come aun. Don't be like that! JUST LET ME SUCK YOUR ENERGY DRY AND WE'LL ALL BE HAPPY!"
"Mach One Puncheroo!" Wasting no time, Piston thrust his fist through the thin wall of a cubicle as Leech dodged and attempted to palm-strike the man in his chest. The Hero leaped back and drove his foot into the Villain's chest as he hungrily pursued.
"LET ME DRAIN YOU! IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I'VE FELT SANE! THEY SAY I SHOULD LET THEM EAT YOU WHOLE!" Piston glowered at his opponent and tried to work some of the stiffness out of his muscles.
"Cal Jordan. You're the serial killer known as Leech. Eight deaths and forty-two assaults have been attributed to you in the Boston area over the past three years. Those who survived told of feeling completely drained, as if they hadn't slept in days."
"You know me?" Leech asked, his eyes wide in surprise.
"I know every Villain classified as Rank-B or above. This is outside of your usual M.O. what's your stake in this attack?" Piston demanded, trying to buy himself time to recover. He reached into the small container strapped to the back of his belt, pulled out a small needle, and jabbed it into the back of his thigh. The adrenaline coursed through him as Leech took his bait.
"They told me to."
"Who did?" Leech grinned wickedly and held up his mouthed-hands, each one licking its lips in anticipation of its next meal, which only further set Piston's stomach on edge.
"They did. They were hungry. When they're hungry, they talk to me...usually in my sleep, which is why I attacked all those people. As long as I can drain the enagy from autha people, I don't need sleep and I won't heah their incessant whispers. But I've been lacking sleep fah...heh, I forget how long. Well, wheneva I go that long, they start to talk in my waking hours as well. If I kill you then...they'll stop." With that, Leech rushed him again. This time, however, Piston was prepared.
"Mach Three Puncheroo!" The springs in his arms sent his fist flying into Leech's chest with the force of a rocket. The Villain coughed up blood and flew backward, crashing through a cubicle and landing next to a terrified businessman. The blond coughed and glanced up into the scared man's eyes. Then, without hesitation, Leech latched both of his hands around his neck. Piston couldn't react quick enough. In seconds, the businessman's lifeless husk hunched over and there crouched a completely different person. Where his platinum blond hair had been wild and untamed it now neatly flowed down over his ears and touched his shoulders. His eyes were no longer hungry, but gleaming with satisfaction. His inhumanly pale complexion was still stark white, but no longer as ghastly as before. Leech stood to his feet, allowing Piston to get his first view of the man without the hunch he'd had, and took a deep breath. When he spoke, his voice sounded more put together than he'd just been.
"Ah, I've missed this. Like waking from a refreshing nap downing a glass auf whiskey. It's got that same incredible burn right in the centa auf your chest, you know what I mean?" He turned to Kaboom, who'd been standing off to the side fiddling with the wires in a neighboring cubicle's computer. "Hey, you get moving. We got a schedule to keep, yeah?"
"Boom?"
"Nah, just head downstairs and await furtha instruction," the Villain said with a wave of his hand. Piston tried to get in the way of the man, but surprisingly Kaboom caught his fist. The crazy man's grip was like iron as he glanced over his shoulder at his superior, an excited look on his face.
"Can I boom him?" Piston struggled to get free but to no avail. He even tried punching the man in the face, which had no effect. The Hero couldn't punch too hard lest he sends himself flying with his enemy or, worse, yanks his arm out of its socket. Leech considered the two of them for just a moment and shrugged.
"Eh, if it'll keep you happy. Only his ahm though, leave me the rest." Piston renewed his attempts to get free as he saw the Villain's expression. Never before had he seen someone so happy to be able to blow something up. Over the next few seconds, the Hero would've rathered Leech drained his energy again. His arm, which was still clamped tightly in Kaboom's hands, burned like fire. Then...boom. Piston cried in pain and shock as his right arm, up to the elbow, shattered like glass.
"BOOOOOM!" While it wasn't a traditional explosion, Kaboom seemed happy enough watching the destruction he had created with his Quirk. For a moment, even Leech looked worried about what his cohort might do now that he had that bloodlust. Luckily, he only clapped his heavily burnt and scabbed hands before bounding off and leaping down the elevator shaft. Leech's grin grew and he walked over to kneel next to his opponent.
"Incredible isn't it? I'm sorta shocked he didn't just make it blow up. I guess he was in a festive mood, aunly a few months 'til Christmas afta all. Wanah know how he did it?" The Villain asked malevolently, that crazy, hungry look making its way back into his forest green eyes. Without waiting for an answer, Leech slung his arm over the man's shoulder and began to speak. "You see, his Quirk is called Chemical Manipulation. It's exactly as it sounds, let's him create and amplify compounds using the elements that make up a human body. He could be an amazing heala, scientist, aur something along those lines but no, he loves blowing shit up. I didn't know this, and I don't wanah know how he found auut, but the elements in your body can be used to make some pretty powerful bombs. Plus the bastard eats gunpowda. Fuckin' lunatic."
"What do you people want?" Piston demanded. In truth, he was running low on options. Just the fact that Overgrown hadn't come after him yet was a sure sign the golden-haired Villain was giving him some trouble. He also didn't know how Maelstrom's mission was going and Dove was...dead. 'These people aren't your normal run of the mill Villains. They're organized. They've been planning this for months. Why did Malcolm and I have to be on duty today? Gah, stow that shit, Nick. You gotta job to do, these people have no one else to protect them. You already failed with the lobby...Dove...that employee, the least you could do is stand and fight! Make sure everyone else makes it out of here alive!' Piston shrugged Leech's arm off his shoulder and got to his feet, raising his one remaining arm is defiance.
"What we want, is a bedda world. A world free auf false Heroes, is that so much to ask? Fah the people protecting you to actually protect you instead auf playing to the cameras. But as fah me...well, I'm just in it fah a chance to finally get a good night's sleep."
"You'd kill so many for such a ridiculous goal!?" Piston exclaimed, causing Leech to laugh. He dodged the Hero's punch and swept the man's legs out from under him.
"Tell me Hero, when someone goes to wah, kills a buncha people fah some...bullshit cause, and returns they're revered as a Hero, but when we do it fah similah reasons we get thrown in prison and called monsters, and that's if we're lucky. Heroes are nothing but hypocrites. Your sense auf justice is mired in the muck auf media. You're no bedda than us! You just have the people's blessing! You stand in the way auf change. How is mankind gonah improve if it ain't allowed to evolve? We are that evolution. The Black Orda will bring about an age auf prosperity and true Heroes, those who wanah save people fah nothing in return. I'm sorry, but you ain't gonah be a part auf it." Piston roared and jabbed at the Villain, his fist moving in a blur. The blow connected and threw Leech back, but only seemed to make him angrier.
"That's the talk of a Villain, trying to cover his crimes with noble words. You call us hypocrites, but what people are you saving by committing mass murder?" Piston demanded as he slugged the wall next to Leech's head, giving the platinum-haired man an opening to grab the Hero by his neck. Piston grunted as his energy began to drain, his adrenaline already dangerously close to wearing off.
"Who the hell said I wanted to save people, eh? I don't give a damn about you pigs. You kill each autha in droves daily without auur help. Spitfire's in a similah boat, while Kaboom and Bardee are in it fah their auwn selfish needs. Eh, explosions and food respectively."
"Why are you telling me this?" Leech laughed hysterically as Piston's attempts at fighting back began to weaken. The Hero felt his eyes starting to sag, his functions starting to shut down.
"Oh, who the hell you gonah tell? My grandma? Tell ha I love ha while you're at it, 's been twenty aur so years since she got put in the ground and I'm feeling nostalgic." Piston's eyesight went blurry. He felt Leech's hands disappear from his neck and he slumped to the floor, so exhausted he had to remind himself constantly to breathe. As his eyes fluttered shut, the last thing he saw was Leech, standing over him with his hand held up to his ear, talking to someone Nick Merkley couldn't see.
Purpose of a Hero
Return to rendezvous. Those were Leech's new orders and he was not happy about it. Right when things were starting to get good. He'd delivered Kaboom and could now hop into battle beside his commander. Instead, he was leaping down the elevator shaft that opened into the lobby, making sure to let his hand mouths gnaw their way through the elevator car's cables, which caused it to fall with a mighty boom, and then closed the door for good measure. 'No one's getting outta there. Boss did a fantastic job barricading the stairway, so no need to worry about people from above or below at this point. All that's left is to...oh hello there.' Leech stopped as he nearly stepped on something half buried in a pile of plaster from a collapsed wall. It was a girl, with mousy brown hair and a stream of dried blood trickled from beneath her hairline. "Hm, Spitfire sounded pretty strained. Good chance we go to 'Plan B', so I guess it wouldn't be bad fah me to take ha along. And if we don't…well, I could always use a snack aun the trip home. Hey, you awake sweetheart, aur do I gotta carry you?"
"Ugh." Was her only reply. With a heavy sigh, Leech reached down and hefted the girl over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. As soon as he stepped out of the front door, he could tell the battle was long gone. Pretty much everything except the asphalt was scorched black. The acrid smell of smoke, sounds of distant battle, and the wail of sirens filled the air. Leech stared at what looked like black boulders before he realized they were actually the burnt-out remnants of firetrucks and ambulances. The carnage was truly a sight to behold. For three blocks surrounding the building, there was evidence that his Boss had fought with the Number One Hero. As sadistic as he normally was, even Leech had to look away the few times he came across those unlucky enough to get in the golden-haired devil's way. 'Guess Fate is pretty busy today. Dealing auut death like candy.' Eventually, he saw his intended target, a large building with a man sitting on its roof, sipping leisurely on a cup of tea without a care in the world. 'Be careful boss. One helluva stohm brewin' and I'd hate to lose you and have to transfa to Puppet aur, god forbid, Prophet.' Almost like he'd heard his subordinate's plea, the black flames billowing in the distance grew in intensity.
Purpose of a Hero
Hm, these Villains don't seem to all be in agreeance in terms of loyalties and ambitions. How in the world are they all working together without killing one another, eh? Well, I know, but I can't tell you, so HA!
Ugh, remind me to update the character profile page when I'm not so friggin' tired or busy. Hope you all enjoyed and let's get right to the preview.
NEXT TIME ON THE PURPOSE OF A HERO!
Chapter 14: The Message