Holy hell it's been a minute, eh guys? Well, here is the exciting conclusion to the Relay Race of Death Arc (Name not set in stone)... But first announcements.

At the urging of the Discord peoples, I have set up a community for omakes and short stories written you guys based on this story. I'm giving you all free reign over what, if anything, you want to write. If anyone does end up doing this, just shoot me a PM with the link you your story and I will add it to the community.

Also, also, Join the Discord! It's really lively and the people there have given me some absolutely incredible ideas. Uh… we also have some NSFW drawings and a story (that I will not be posting on here) if that interests you.

As always, thanks to Hiatus for beta-ing and not murdering me for deleting my first horrible draft of this chapter. This chapter is also the longest to date! Oh, and a special shout out to ThalioTP and Cyber Taco for their contributions to the community! And Thalio, again, StrifeStellar Mizo, and Mish (sorry I don't remember your fanfiction username) among others for the artwork they've done for this story so far.

Friendly reminder that Pro Hero, Upperclassman, and Villain OCs can still be submitted. And also, a question: Am I supposed to put a disclaimer at the bottom of my AN's? I've seen so many others do it and don't know if it's required or not.

Uh, I think that's it. I hope you guys enjoy and by now you know how to contact me. Have a good weekend!

Purpose of a Hero

"Physically you're fine, Mr. Mondronen," Leena Holl stated as she examined his exposed back with practiced movements. After his surrender against Andrew, Narruk had been dragged away from the viewing room at the insistence of two little dwarf-like creatures, barely tall enough to reach his waist, with snowy white hair and pale blind eyes who'd brought him to the infirmary where an irate looking nurse awaited him. "Just a few minor cuts and burns. What I am really concerned about is your mental state. Exactly how long has it been?"

"Nearly two years," the brunet replied miserably. The nurse pursed her lips and passed him a clean white shirt to replace the charred one he'd arrived in. 'I should've forfeited earlier. I knew something like this would happen with it being so close to the full moon. Damnit Narruk, you never learn, do you? How many lives is your damned ego worth?'

"-dronen?" The wolf-boy's head shot up as his self-loathing train of thought was derailed. Nurse Holl was looking at him expectantly, obviously awaiting his answer.

"Sorry, zoned out there. What's up?"

"I asked how this past cycle went? I heard from… your teacher that you skipped your usual spar with Andrew that day." Despite the context of the question, Narruk couldn't help but smile. Whenever Mr. Holl was doing something to upset his wife, which was quite often by Narruk's estimate, he would become some variant of 'Mr. Holl', while when on good terms she'd call him by his real name.

"Well, shaking off Andrew was the hardest part. Other than that I just locked myself in my room all day and took some sleeping pills at dusk. The stiffness and irritability have been… worse than usual," he explained. Mrs. Holl nodded and jotted something down on her clipboard.

"Holding back the full power of your Quirk is starting to wear on your body. You need to find some sort of release. We have a counselor here that could be able to help you."

"I'll think about it," he responded briefly, causing Mrs. Holl to sigh and rise from her stool at the side of his bed.

"Alright, I'll be back in a little bit once my Quirk wears off. Until then, just relax and perhaps try to get some sleep," she commanded before exiting the curtained off square surrounding his bed. As her footsteps faded away, towards where he knew Marcus was lying unconscious, Narruk let out a low growl and his grip tightened on the sterile white sheets of the infirmary cot.

"Damnit."

"Language." The sound of a second voice caused his head to whip up and stare in slight shock at the ghostly visage of Melody's Wraith. 'I didn't even hear her coming,' he noted. The second the redhead returned to her normal state, his nose was assaulted with a myriad of scents that weren't there a moment ago. Polished wood, smoke, the faint smell of mint 'Is she using Kira's shampoo?', and fresh blood; that particular one made his stomach crawl.

"You okay?" He quickly asked, causing Melody to raise an eyebrow.

"Asks the guy lying in a hospital bed," she said snarkily. When the wolf-boy continued to look at her inquisitively, she sighed, turned and lifted up her shirt, showing off her bare back that was covered in small, bleeding scratch marks.

"Things get freaky in the girl's dorm, huh?"

"Oh shut it, these are from Epiphany. I can see that smirk, Narruk. They're from her Quirk," the redhead scowled, letting her shirt fall back into position before turning to glare at the wolf. Narruk grinned and immediately shot back another mocking response.

"Kinky."

"There's literally no way to explain this without it being misconstrued is there?" She groaned. "Ugh, whatever. My wounds reopened after Sirius tripped and knocked me over, so I need Mrs. Holl to stitch me back up. Then I heard your voice and decided to check on you."

"I'm fine," Narruk said too quickly, immediately wincing at the withering look his classmate gave him. With a frown, he leaned back against the wall and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'It's your own fault for telling her about your Quirk,' a part of his brain reminded him. "Not fine then."

"Clearly," Melody retorted dryly, though her tone softened when she spoke again. "Everyone's worried about you."

"Worried I might maul them, maybe," Narruk said under his breath. Obviously, he was not as discrete as he'd thought, because Melody reached over and chopped him on the head without putting much force behind it.

"You're an idiot. I know we haven't been friends for long but that doesn't mean I, or the rest of the class for that matter, don't care about you. I would have been here even sooner but I had to tell Kira and even Alex that you probably weren't in the best of moods," she explained, getting a skeptical look from the wolf-boy.

"I thought you said you came to get stitched up?"

"That was the deal breaker. While we were arguing, Sirius tried to get closer so he could be involved but tripped and knocked into me. Since I was already coming here, well… I could make sure you were okay." Despite his rotten mood, Narruk tilted his head down to hide the smile fighting to break free on his face.

"Thanks, I suppose."

"Don't feel too special. I'm supposed to see how Andrew and Marcus are as well. You were just the closest one," Melody said haughtily. For a moment, the small curtained off square fell silent, until Melody held up her left wrist, showing Narruk a very nasty looking scar stretching across her wrist.

"Don't tell me Epiphany did that?" He inquired, his eyes locked on the girl's arm.

"No, this happened when I was five. Around the time my mom died and I manifested my Quirk if I remember correctly," she said casually, though Narruk could tell by the look in her eye that she remembered the event with perfect clarity. "I was testing out the limits of my Quirk, which weren't a fraction of what they are today. It was incredibly hard to control. Whenever I entered my Wraith form it was a constant struggle between my two states for dominance. Back then I could only hold it for a few seconds, which… well, which almost cost me my dream of being a Hero."

"What happened?" Narruk asked with a bemused expression. Melody grimaced and clenched the fist she held aloft.

"Well, have you heard of the Rebuilding Hero: Construct?"

"Yeah, he was ranked like fifteenth years ago. He could rebuild or reattach anything… Wait, are you saying-?" Melody looked down sadly and ran the index finger of her right hand over the scar.

"My Quirk nearly cost me my hand. I was hanging out with Nathan and a few other kids. One of them dared me to shift states, 'Go Ghost' is what they called it, and try to steal some comic books through a closed window. Well, I tried and my Quirk failed when I tried to bring the comic back out. There's a pretty good reason why I tend to primarily use my right hand in fights. The left one is… well, kind of screwed up as you can see."

"I'm sorry to hear about that, Melody. Though I'm not sure why you'd be giving me your biggest weakness," Narruk replied with a wolfish grin. The redhead chuckled and smacked his foot before her mood turned somber again.

"After that day, I didn't use my Quirk for three years. I was scared that I would get hurt again. I thought my future as a Hero was over before it'd begun. I've got an idea of what you're going through. Probably better than anyone else, even if you won't tell me why," she finished with a pointed glare at the scarred boy, who rolled his eyes and rested his head against the plaster wall behind him.

"Maybe another time," he said simply. 'I'm not ready for that.'

"Why?" She asked, and for the life of him, Narruk couldn't help but answer honestly.

"I'm afraid. That you and everyone else will see me in a different light." To his surprise, Melody beamed at him and stood up. She walked to the curtain and pulled it back before looking back over her shoulder.

"It's okay to be. Everyone's afraid of something, but if we face our fears and overcome them… well, then we prove to ourselves and everyone else that we can be Heroes. Now, I've gotta go check on the others. Get some sleep, you never want to make a nurse angry. They have access to needles!" The redhead said cheerily before exiting. Narruk just snickered and shook his head as he listened to her footsteps getting further away.

Purpose of a Hero

"Losing steam, Angry Girl?"

"HOWL MISSILE!" Lyon grimaced as the blast of sound hit him like a freight train, nearly sending him plunging into the bubbling lava river below. At the very last second, the pyromaniac righted himself and raised his left hand, snapping his fingers and releasing another barrage of spear-shaped flames. Clara glared at the boy and inhaled again, this time her scream was more widespread and easily broke through the flames, though the aftermath left her throat feeling particularly raw. 'I've gotta finish this quickly. This bastard is tough, but he's holding back. I can use that to my advantage… and kick his ass for pulling his punches,' she silently decided before leaping to the next rock. Now she was just two more good jumps away from hitting the opposite bank of the river. "I thought you were supposed to be the strongest in the class but that's all bullshit. You're weaker than Halloway!"

"Am I? Hm, perhaps I should ask her for a spar in the future." Seeing her attempted taunt fall flat, Clara lowered her head and aimed her next attack at a spot roughly ten feet in front of her. 'Eat this, asshole.'

"Howl Bazooka!" Despite the literal wave of molten lava now surging at him, Lyon grinned and lowered himself into a crouch. Using his flames as propulsion, the boy launched himself into the air, above the river and landed on the rock just in front of Clara, whose eyes widened in shock. She started to inhale for a close-range strike but her opponent put a quick stop to that with an uppercut to the magenta-haired girl's chin. Her teeth clicked together uncomfortably and, for a brief moment, she found herself free-falling to her certain death by liquid fire until a strong hand gripped her wrist.

"Okay there, Angry Girl?" Lyon asked snarkily, though his smile wavered when he saw the malicious smirk on Clara's face. The girl quickly used her savior to regain her footing and close the short distance between the two, slamming her forehead into his and quickly leaving Lyon in the exact predicament he'd just saved Clara from and, just like he'd done, she grabbed his wrist before he hit the boiling surface, though she definitely let him fall further than he had, resulting in his hair getting singed. Still gripping his wrist, his foe turned her body and used the momentum to toss Lyon into a nearby stalagmite, which cracked under the force. The orange-haired boy's smile returned as he wiped a thin trail of blood off of his forehead. "Damn, you're quite the brute, Angry Girl."

"Sounds like you're prepared to finally take this serious, huh?" If it were anyone else, the feral grin on her face would have sent chills of fear down their spine. Lyon, however, merely met her smirk with his own, a hitherto unseen determination in his eyes. The staredown lasted only for a moment before each side attacked. Lyon snapped his fingers, while Clara unleashed a devastating blast of sound that ripped apart the river and sent lava flying around it. For the first time, Clara's Howl broke through Lyon's flame and would have slammed into the orange-haired boy had he not snapped again and created a wall of fire. "I am so gonna enjoy this."

"This is a race, is it not? Your team is behind, don't you want to get a better time than me?"

"To hell with the race! I haven't had this much fun in years!" Clara bellowed and leaped across the gap with her fist drawn back. She didn't even flinch when her fist connected with the already cracked stone, causing it to shatter, and instead raised her other arm to block Lyon's strike. Before she could retaliate, the boy slammed his knee into her gut, making her grit her teeth to hold back the bile. "FUCK!" She roared and wrapped one of her arms around his leg and twisted it hard at an odd angle. This, of course, only gained her a pained grimace and a punch to the back of her head.

Lyon jumped from the stalagmite to a rather large rock and snapped his fingers again, only this time the fire didn't immediately charge at Clara, as she expected it to. At that moment, she could simply watch in confusion as her opponent's attack turned back on him and went straight into his open mouth. The orange-haired boy swallowed and, through his costume, a white light shone from his stomach.

For a moment, the only sound was the bubbling of the lava below but then, as Clara was preparing to charge, a thin stream of fire emerged from his mouth and began to accumulate into a massive fireball of pure white flames that caused the rocks, his clothes, and Clara, who was nearly ten meters away, to begin smoking. The magenta-haired girl winced as her skin began to burn and, rather worryingly, her sweat began to evaporate. 'So this is his power? Heh, interesting. I'll probably rip my throat a new one with this but it's the only way I can counter him. This battle is ending way too soon, it's been a while since someone pushed me this far.'

"HOWLING THUNDER!" In her loudest scream yet, Clara's voice seemed to solidify into a solid sphere of energy above her head. Within the ball, her voice started vibrating the very particles in the air to create very visible sparks. Lyon's eyes widened slightly before he made a pushing motion with his free hand, his other was busy holding the fireball together, toward Clara.

"Greater Pyroblast." The massive ball of white flames soared through the air with the force of a bullet until it made contact with Clara's 'Howling Thunder'. The instant the two attacks came into contact with one another, the explosion shook the entirety of the underground training facilities, as well as its neighboring caverns and even the school grounds above. In its epicenter, Clara and Lyon were both assaulted with whipping flares and flashes of lightning caused by the combined final attack. Shockingly enough, the river below them stayed completely calm, as if held down by an invisible force. Just as soon as it had begun the explosion ceased and in its aftermath, a thick blanket of smoke concealed the competitors for several long minutes before the majority of it rose to the high ceiling of the training center. Lyon was the first to become uncovered, his costume in tatters, his hair standing partially on end, and his body as a whole covered in soot and scorch marks. Nevertheless, his trademark grin still creased his ash-covered face. "I-Impressive… Clara. Quite the show."

"Pi-piss off. Lyon, you… fuck," Clara huffed as her form became visible from within the smoke. She was in just as bad shape as Lyon, though she had quite a few more burns and… a lot less covering her dignity. Unlike her male counterpart, whose costume was just a normal pair of jeans and a white t-shirt with a fire retardant navy-blue trenchcoat, Clara's consisted of a black brassiere partially covered with a fur-lined coat. After the explosion, however, much of the jacket had burned away, leaving her in only the brassiere, not that she seemed to notice nor care if she did. "I am… not done yet."

"Ahem… you, uh… Angry Girl… um, you're missing, uh," Lyon sputtered, his face beet red. The Howl Quirk user blinked in confusion at his sudden change in demeanor before glancing down and noticing her current state of dress. 'Well… never would have pegged him as a prude... Hold on, I can use this,' she thought, examining her opponent, who'd completely turned his head in another direction. She inhaled softly in preparation for an offensive but only managed to cough up blood due to the abhorrent state of her throat after 'Howling Thunder'. 'Sonofabitch! I knew that was a bad idea. Screw it, I can't let him recover. Better to just use this opportunity to finish the race… as much as I hate the idea, I can't fight in this state much longer.'

"AH! PERVERT, DON'T YOU DARE LOOK!" She roared in mock outrage, grinning as he turned even further away. 'Too easy,' she snorted and started leaping rock to rock towards the opposite bank. As her feet met black sand, she sighed and glanced back at Lyon, who still stood on his rock with his eyes squeezed shut. 'What an idiot… a strong idiot, but an idiot all the same.'

Purpose of a Hero

"Well… that was anti-climatic," Oliver murmured as Mr. Holl announced the final times. Clara had finished with twelve minutes and two seconds, while Lyon got fourteen minutes and fifty-two seconds. He heard an amused chuckle and craned his head back over the back of his chair to see Rylee standing across the room with an amused expression on her face. While she was facing away, looking at one of the video screens, the black-haired boy knew she was listening. 'Alright, from what I can gather this is another maze… wonderful, I didn't get enough of the last one. Less conventional too, since it seems to be based on alleyways in a big city. With his injuries, Marcus is still most likely in the infirmary so I won't have to suffer in training tomorrow for not trying. Gotta stay away from Steam girl though. Heat and moisture are not good for my skin, which would just make things more troublesome. Alright, my best strategy is to hope she doesn't try to attack me right out of the gate and split off at the first available turn. If I hit a dead end, then oh well I put some effort into it. If I find the exit…' He rolled his eyes at the thought. With a decent plan in mind, Oliver leaned back in his seat and gazed at the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Rylee snuck glances at her opponent from the corner of her peripheral vision. The black-haired boy had made exactly zero attempts to talk to her or get into her head in any way, which was fine by her. The almost indifferent look he wore whenever she caught a peek of his narrow face was another matter entirely. 'I should be able to take him down if need be. My Quirk counters his pretty effectively and… it doesn't really seem as if he's enthusiastic about this.' She gave her opponent, who yawned and continued to stare at the ceiling, a flat look before shaking her head. Suddenly, a sound like a boulder rolling down a hill emanated from the hallway leading back to the observation area and an extra crispy looking Clara barged in, stopped and appeared to glare at the room itself.

"Must've taken a wrong turn. Damned Fire Idiot, I blame him for making me go all out. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT STRING BEAN?" She roared when she saw the disgusted look Oliver was giving her. Rylee winced and moved as far away from the duo as possible, determined to not get in her way.

"You're at a fifteen. Get down to a reasonable five or six and then we can talk… or better yet, how about going down to zero?" Oliver said, his tone bored, though Clara noticed a slight tenseness in his body. 'Rubber boy gets tense too, huh? All sorts of surprises today,' she thought before turning to grab the back of the boy's chair and swiftly tipping it forward. The black-haired boy made a strangled yelp as he was unceremoniously deposited on the hard metal floor before glowering at the towering Clara standing over him.

"Got any more snarky remarks, smart ass?"

"How much time you got?" The magenta-haired girl snorted and reached down to grab the scruff of Oliver's shirt, not giving him any time to react. To his and Rylee's surprise, instead of throwing him as both had expected, Clara placed him back on his feet and smirked.

"Cute. Now, I can tell just by looking at you that you don't care about this exercise, am I right?" She demanded in a faux sweet tone that dripped with venom. Oliver scoffed and used his Quirk to lengthen his legs until he was almost nose to nose with Clara, whose grin only widened.

"And if I don't?" He asked challengingly. "It didn't sound like you particularly cared when you were fighting Lyon. In fact, you clearly stated that you didn't."

"Oh trust me, I didn't. Then that Fire Idiot went and blew us up, so we didn't get to finish our fight. Therefore, I'm gonna make sure we win this whole damned thing. I managed to get us some time back after that useless wolf forfeited to Gravity Punk, so now you have to beat the everloving snot out of Steamy over there because I have about as much faith in Kazani as I do in the idea of world peace. So, if you go out there, dick around, and lose… I am going to rip you limb from limb and use those severed limbs to hold my homework together. Sound fair?" Oliver scowled and took a step back. 'As much as I hate to admit it, I can't stand up to her. Why did I have to get put on her team?'

"Yeah, yeah my ears work. If you could keep your voice that low for, say, a week… I suppose I could actually try to win this," he relented. Pleased, Clara smirked and turned to walk towards the door she'd come through not two minutes prior. As she left, she gave Oliver one last piercing glare and then disappeared down the hall, her muffled curses aimed at 'Fire Idiot', 'Lazy Asshole' and 'Pussy Wolf' echoing in her wake. "She's quite pleasant."

"I'd hate to be on your team," Rylee said, her eyes still trained on the door as if she expected Clara to come back through and berate her at any moment. Oliver ignored her comment and stood his chair back upright. Unfortunately, right as he sat down the intercom crackled to life with Mr. Holl's distorted voice.

"Enough planning, let the third match begin!"

Purpose of a Hero

Coming from a small town in Kansas, Rylee still wasn't quite used to the hectic layout of New York City. Why she had insisted upon taking this particular course when her teammate Lyle wanted it as well was beyond her. A possible mixture of curiosity and her need to prove herself, but whatever it was, she regretted it after only about five minutes running around the maze of alleyways. "Shit!" She cried as she reached yet another dead end and turned back. 'I wonder how Oliver is doing. I haven't even seen him since the beginning of the maze. What if he's almost done?" She shook her head to clear it and quickly chose a different path when she arrived at the fork that had led her to two straight dead ends.

As she turned into the corridor, she, for perhaps the eight-time, cursed U.S.A.E.I. on their incessant realism in these courses. The passageways of the maze were filled with broken glass, trash, and a wide variety of odd odors. When she turned yet another corner at a full run, her feet slipped out from under her on some sticky, smelly substance that clung to the back of her jacket. "Gross," she muttered with a grimace. Once she got back to her feet, a feeling of dread filled her and she whipped around just in time to see a hand shooting at her from the darkness. Rylee instinctually rose her arms in an 'X' over her face but was again surprised when the hand wrapped tightly around her waist. Her brief hesitation allowed the fingers attached to it start to stretch and proceed to plug up five of the six dark holes that lined her collarbone. "What?"

"You took forever getting here, you know. Not from a big city?" A pair of yellow eyes inquired casually as Oliver emerged from the shadows of a sidepath Rylee hadn't even seen before. The black-haired boy clicked his tongue in thought before his left arm followed his right's lead and shot towards the blonde, who just barely managed to release a burst of steam from the only open pore she had left. The hot, humid fog hit Oliver directly in the face as his arm dipped and proceeded to clog up the holes on her calves. 'Shit, this is bad,' Rylee thought in a panic. "That was simpler than I imagined. Now, I don't really want to hear Clara's voice again, since she annoys the hell outta me, so I'm gonna have to ask you to surrender."

"W-What? NO!" Rylee bellowed angrily, renewing her struggle to break free. Oliver hardly even blinked and tightened the grip he had around her waist, causing her to gasp. 'Think Rylee, think!'

"Come on, I haven't got all day. I actually agree with Clara that Kira will most likely end up making a fool of herself and costing us time, so I need all the time I can get."

"Go to hell," she growled in reply. Oliver's pale yellow eyes narrowed and his grip got even more oppressive but that's when Rylee got an idea. "You're pathetic, you know that?"

"What?" The black-haired boy demanded. Internally, Rylee cheered though she managed to keep her pained and angry facade in place.

"You really have to resort to such cowardly tactics? Are you really that afraid of what Clara will do to you?" Oliver's face grew several shades redder and his grip loosened a bit as he tried to reign in his temper. That's when Rylee made her move. She focused all her energy into the one open pore on her chest and released a pressurized burst of steam, much more powerful than the last one, straight into Oliver's face. The boy grunted as the hot air burned his skin which gave Rylee an opportunity to grab the fingers blocking her chest pores and rip them out, causing herself a small pinch of pain in the process. "Boiling Fog!"

"Fuck!" Oliver winced as his entire right hand and chest were doused with searing hot steam that forced him to remove his left hand from clogging the holes along Rylee's calf. Not even taking a moment to appreciate her good work, the Steam Quirk user bolted the opposite direction of the one she'd originally come from. Unfortunately, she didn't make it very far before her left leg was tugged out from beneath her, followed by the girl's entire body being strung upside down by her ankle. Pain flared in the appendage causing Rylee to yell out. "Not… letting you get away that easy."

"Let me down, you bastard!" The blonde roared, making Oliver wince as he walked past her with his left arm cradling his burnt right arm, which was still ten feet long and didn't look to be shrinking any time soon.

"Stay up there until someone comes to get you, got it?" Rylee cried in frustration as she attempted to free herself but only succeeded in hurting her ankle, which she was sure was strained if not broken, even more. Before Oliver could turn the corner, another idea blinked into existence in her mind and she grinned.

"I forfeit!" Oliver heard this and sighed in relief before leaning up against the wall of the alley, his arm still in pain.

"Uh… okay, well then… Rylee Ingram has forfeited and taken the two-minute penalty… damnit, we did not think of this when we conceptualized this exercise did we?" Mr. Holl's voice froze Oliver in his tracks as he realized something.

"Don't tell me…"

"So… uh, the match continues… I guess? How did we not see that was exploitable? Okay! For the final match, no forfeiting!'

"GOD DAMN IT!"

Purpose of a Hero

"Pfft, that's amazing!" Lyle laughed as he watched Oliver finally reach the top and finish the maze… three minutes slower that Rylee's time with the two-minute penalty for giving up. "Too bad Mr. Holl took that away. I'd have forfeited right from the start."

"Kinda odd they didn't see the potential problems with it, huh?" Kira added with a smile. During their time in the waiting room, the klutz and her opponent hadn't shied away from commenting on the other matches to one another and, to her surprise, the guy she'd pegged as shady and a loner was, in fact, a nice guy, once you got past the sarcasm anyway. He'd been one of the few people in her class, a list including Clara and Oliver, that she either hadn't interacted with much or had no intention to in the future. She'd never even been paired with him in sparring or on a group project, so really this was their first true meeting despite being in the same class for a month already.

"The idea occurred to me when Narruk first did it, but I thought 'nah, they'd have to have some sort of rule against that'. Guess even the country's best misses things sometimes." Kira grinned at that and continued going over her stretches. 'From what I saw on the elevator ride down, it's just a big black surface of some kind. Gotta be prepared for anything. Even killer robots…' she thought. As no one had been seriously injured in the last match, the waiting time for hers was almost instantaneous. The second Mr. Holl gave them the go ahead, she and Lyle charged out of the waiting room and both nearly toppled over into the black top… which was, in reality, a massive hole she couldn't even see the bottom of. "Of course."

"I'm just lucky I didn't fall in," Kira muttered, feeling immensely relieved her clumsiness had some leniency on her. However, that relief soon vanished when she really took in the immenseness of the crevice before her. 'Wow. That's intense,' she thought. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lyle walking to the edge of the pit. Once he got there, he observed for a moment before grinning at the extremely narrow ledge that went the length of the pit.

"Perfect," he murmured. 'Kira won't be able to follow me this way. Her balance is absolutely abhorrent. I should be able to use this to get all the way across and, with luck, if she gets stuck for long enough they'll have to stop the match. All I have to do is… well, not fall to my death. Easy. Though, just to cover all my bases…' Lyle grinned and took a few tenuous steps onto the ledge before turning and aiming his hand at the very start of it. "Sorry, Kira. I'm not losing. Venom Magnum."

Lyle Wolfbane

Quirk: Poison

Lyle can create and secrete hundreds of different kinds of poisons from the pores in his skin.

"Oh, come on!" Kira whined as a thick layer of viscous purple goo coated the first five feet of the ledge. Judging by the sizzling noise the rock made when it came in contact with the poison, the girl knew she wanted nothing to do with the substance. 'Great, just great. Now I'm gonna lose and have to listen to Clara's stupid freaking complaining and probably go deaf again. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!' She glared at Lyle, whose back was turned to her, and stomped away from the ledge to check the other side of the pit for an identical structure… only there wasn't one. In frustration, Kira began kicking the ground and forming a small dust cloud. "GAH! You're! Making! Me! Kick! Dirt! NO! You know what? Screw this! You're not making a fool of me! Fiery Steps!"

Lyle glanced back as he heard the girls angry screams and was shocked when she leaped over the side of the cliff and slammed her heels together, creating a small explosion that propelled her into the air. "Oh you've gotta be shitting me-" the white-haired boy said as the girl inched closer to him with every click of her boots. Even when he doubled his speed and moved as fast as he possibly could while keeping his balance, she passed him in a matter of seconds. It was only when she was less than fifteen meters from the other side of the crevice that everything went wrong. Instead of clicking her heels together, Kira faltered and ended up just kicking herself in the shin, which while it did give her a slight boost, it also caused her to cry out in pain and lose her rhythm. Her eyes widened as she began to fall and even Lyle looked mortified. It was only when she reached a point in the air level with the ground on either side that she stopped… or rather slammed into something completely invisible and completely solid.

"What?" She grunted and shakily got to her feet. It took her and her opponent a moment to realize what had happened before Lyle tentatively stuck down one of his feet, almost as if he were testing the water's temperature in a pool, and felt a solid surface.

"Sonofabitch!" He bemoaned and took off running towards the other side just seconds after Kira. By the time he made it to the climbing wall, she was already halfway up, despite her aching leg. "Nasty Arrows!"

"Jerk!" Kira shouted as a hail of small, droplets of forest green poison splashed into the rocks around her. She managed to dodge a majority of them but somehow, perhaps just her bad luck rearing its ugly head once again, a single droplet hit a small cut on the back of her hand she'd gotten earlier in the climb. Almost immediately her entire left arm went slack. "What?"

"Sorry, Kazani! You lose!" Lyle called as he climbed past her, only to stop as her hand grabbed his leg and yanked hard, causing his grip to fail. For a moment, Lyle could only watch as Kira got further and further away from him, her feet exploding against each other like gunshots. "Fuck."

Purpose of a Hero

"Alright, that was fun wasn't it?" Mr. Holl asked his assorted class, many of which were bandaged in some way or another. Marcus, Lyon, and Clara seemed to be in the worst shape of the bunch, but if he were being honest, Derrick considered this a massive success… despite the death glare from his wife. "So as for the final scores…. Eh, I lost track a while ago. No one fails except those who forfeited."

"Aw come on! I won!" Rylee cried indignantly.

"By losing," Derrick pointed out, which quickly silenced the teen. He cleared his throat and then gestured for Igor, who'd been hiding around a corner, to come forward. "Since you, all haven't formally been introduced… meet Principal Igor Fetisov."

"Da. How's it going, runts?" Igor bellowed, immediately drawing the attention of every student in the class, even the rowdier ones like Clara and Kira. Derrick could only chuckle in amusement. 'He's always had that commanding voice. The only reason he' principal is his leadership ability. Other than that he is more unqualified than I am.' When silence reigned, the elder coughed and waved his hand at the group of students. "At ease, hell. Uh, where to start? Oh, good job on the obstacle course… some of you did better than others but you've all got room for improvement. So… get better! Become good Heroes and get this school more funding! We're running out of money to maintain the animals."

"Animals?" Eris questioned. Igor stared at her for a moment before guffawing and shaking his head.

"I'll tell you when you're older."

Purpose of a Hero

Okay, three battles and a secret meeting between Melody and Narruk to talk about unruly Quirks. It's been brought to my attention that this Arc has raised a ton of questions and hasn't answered any of those from before and I gotta say... I know. Let me know if there are questions you still have unanswered and I may be able to help, but for the most part… well, the answers are Spoilers.

Two or three more chapters to cut off this Arc before we move into the tournament and the introduction of class FH1, so get excited about that. Okay, let's see that teaser.

NEXT TIME ON THE PURPOSE OF A HERO

Chapter 22: The Forge's Best