Chapter 28: Go Beyond!
Lyle's right eye twitched in annoyment at his teammate's incessant foot tapping. 'Why does she have to have such an irritating nervous twitch? Why can't she just wring her hands or something… quieter?' He asked himself silently. His memory drifted back to the first time the two had met to train and strategize before the tournament. Her tapping had pushed him to near insanity during his briefing. Otherwise, Lilia was a fairly competent teammate. She was easy to get along with, even for someone like him, and contrary to her initial cold and stoic demeanor, once she'd gotten more comfortable around him she'd turned out to be quite bubbly and full of life, another constant annoyance. "Okay, we've still got a few minutes. You remember the plan?"
"Of course… maybe go over it one more time? Just as a refresher?" She said sheepishly. Though he'd expected the response, Lyle still rolled his eyes before speaking again.
"Fine, I'll go over it one more time. Our main priority is Sirius. If we can take him out quickly then we eliminate Epiphany from the fight altogether and can focus on Clara. We'll have to be quick about it – this is where you come in – and knock him out before Epiphany can get her bearings. The two like to banter, so we'll take advantage of that before they can get too serious. Don't you dare laugh!"
"Oh come on!" That… was another thing about Lilia that constantly got on his nerves. As soon as she'd figured out the name of their opponent she hadn't missed an opportunity to make a pun – and usually a bad pun at that – about it. He'd explained multiple times that 'Sirius' and 'serious' were two completely different words but she had a knack for ignoring him. Lyle sighed and face-palmed at her antics.
"Anyway… I got Lyon to go and try to distract Clara. That will either put her off her game… or turn her even more murderous than usual. We're hoping for the former. Then–" The voice of Mr. Holl reverberating through the arena cut him off. Lyle stayed silent while his teacher welcomed the crowd and introduced Oddball and the referee – his history teacher, Ms. Whittaker – before his color commentator expressed his desire to watch them tear each other apart. Then came the bombshell. "Subdue and capture? Damn, I should've known they'd throw something else at us. Doesn't change our plan too much but be mindful and don't get yourself caught early on."
"Right-o!" Lilia cheered, her excitement visible on her face. "At least that's not too impactful. Not much of our plan has changed."
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first match of the freshman bracket. Our first competitors, whose real names will be withheld for their safety, are Elisnore and Clyde on the blue side, while the red side is Hemlock and Irusan. Remember, full use of Quirks and support equipment is allowed. The match will end when one side is either captured or rendered unable to battle. And now, to choose the field."
"You just had to say something, didn't you?" Lyle muttered as a dense forest emerged from an opening in the dirt floor of the stadium.
"...sorry."
Purpose of a Hero
Very quickly, it became apparent for Clara that the forest was not as simple a stage as she'd first thought. Not long after her stampeding into the forest, her 'team' scrambling after her, every tree had started to blend together. No matter how many times she changed direction, she'd always see the same oak tree here and maple tree there. It was really beginning to grind on her nerves and the complaints of the ghost girl didn't help much. "Oh yeah, great idea. Rushing in blindly without a plan always works. Thanks, Sun Tzu," Epiphany said sardonically. Clara growled and continued her aggravated tromp through the woods.
"That right there, that's helping a shit-ton," she called over her shoulder as she walked. The ever-present darkness caused by the thickly interlocked canopy above, as well as the fairly small color pallet was making the girl's eyes sore. 'I'm gonna kill whoever decided to make this forest a fucking maze. This is completely counterintuitive to the idea of a fighting tournament. Everyone's gotta have a gimmick nowadays,' she thought angrily as she snapped a tree branch that got in her way. "Dumbass fucking ghost."
"Hey!"
"Girls… please, we've gotta work together," Sirius interjected, causing Clara to shoot him a look over her shoulder which screamed 'murder'. The short boy had been trying, and failing, at being a peacekeeper between the two. Unfortunately, his voice was easily drowned out by the noise of his teammates. Which brought Clara's train of thought back around to something she had noticed not long ago. The forest was almost completely silent. The only sounds reaching her – even with her enhanced hearing capabilities – was the occasional cawing of birds and the sounds of her team tromping through the stillness. 'Something must be deadening the noise from outside the arena. Even if they weren't cheering we should still be able to hear the crowd. It's probably some sort of psychological test or some bullshit. See how we handle different environments or whatever. Just makes this forest even more unnerving.'
"Thank you, Sirius! Hear that, Clara? Next time why don't we come up with an actual plan instead of, y'know being complete neanderthals about it?" The ghost inquired, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Something inside Clara snapped and she whirled around on her teammates with a vicious smile splitting her face. Sirius squeaked and took a step back.
"You wanna know what my fucking plan was, ghost bitch? Tell me, what went through your mind when this forest rose from the ground?"
"What the hell does that have to do wi–"
"Did your mind go blank? Did you lose your fucking train of thought? Did every plan and preparation you've made over the past week go sailing out the goddamn window?"
"Yeah? Maybe? What are you–"
"Wonderful. Now tell me, what's stopping our enemies from experiencing the same thing? Nothing, right? I can say with almost absolute certainty that they went through the same thing we did. However, seeing as that fucking poison moron admittedly has a somewhat functioning brain I deduced that he would quickly figure out a strategy to beat us. I did not want to give him that opportunity. If this fucking forest wasn't like a fucking funhouse we would have found and beaten them already. So next time you question my plans, take a minute to think about your fucking enemy and how they'd react, capiche?" Clara said, her voice getting more and more spiteful with every word, stepping closer to the ghost girl and jabbing a finger into her chest. The two girls glared at one another for several moments until the taller of the two stiffened. Then, to Epiphany's surprise, she suddenly pushed her away and dove back as a glob of poison splashed onto the ground between them. "Shit, he's in the trees!"
"Sirius, my sword!" Epiphany shouted. Sirius, who'd been watching their previous exchange with both fear and interest – it wasn't often that someone could out-argue Epiphany, after all – grabbed the wooden weapon off of his back and tossed it to the girl, only to fumble the throw and have the sword land in the ten-foot gap between them. As she groaned and took a step towards the weapon to retrieve it another glob of a viscous green liquid splashed on the ground in front of her, burning the grass around it. "Crap!"
"We're in a fucking forest! Fuck the sword!" Clara bellowed, aiming her voice upwards and blowing a hole into the canopy, letting sunlight stream through.
"Doesn't work that way! I can't use living trees!" Epiphany shouted in a panic as she stumbled out of the way of three more globs. Clara gave her a look that said 'are you serious?' and scowled at her grave nod.
"Fan-fucking-tastic! You're useless. Oi, snake-bastard! Come out and fight like a man!" Clara taunted, nearly receiving a blast of poison in return. She grinned and fired a 'Howl Missile' in the direction the attack had come from, but to no avail as the tree branches shuddered but didn't draw out her enemy. Just as quickly as they'd started, the attacks stopped and the forest fell silent. Sirius, who'd not been targeted as far as Clara had seen, jogged over to his partner and handed her the wooden sword, or the stump of it that remained, with a miserable expression on his face. After a few seconds, the Howl Quirk user sighed and relaxed slightly. "Either it's a trap, or he retreated. Hopefully, that means my attack blew out his fucking eardrums. Stay vigilant, we're going hunting."
"You sure that's a good idea? He can obviously find us a lot better than we can find him," Sirius noted, glancing nervously at the trees. Clara ignored him and turned to walk away. The Two-Bit Heroes shared a glance, shrugged and followed after her. As they traversed the woodland, Sirius couldn't help but think what a horrible idea it was. 'We're just playing into Lyle's games, right? Clara has to know this… is she really that eager to fight? Crap, we are at such a big disadvantage. All they've gotta do is get a lucky hit in on Clara and take her out and then Lyle knows Epiphany is tied to me, so he'll have his teammate focus on me while Epiphany is distracted by him. This is such a lose-lose scenario. We're screwed,' he bemoaned, hanging his head. This turned out to be a bad idea. With his eyes glued to the forest floor, he never saw the branch Epiphany and Clara had ducked under and slammed his head right into it. With a yelp, he fell backward and gasped as the wind was knocked out of him.
"Sirius? You okay?" Epiphany asked, rubbing her head in the exact spot he'd hit his on the branch. The two girls stood over him, though Clara looked more annoyed than worried. Then, he saw it. A pair of yellow eyes looking down at him. Then a dark silhouette appeared attached to the eyes.
"Above us!" He shouted. Without a second's hesitation, Clara reared her head back and prepared to scream into the foliage above, only to stop and blink in confusion. This quickly turned to anger and she scowled down at Sirius. Epiphany followed his gaze and tilted her head in bemusement.
"It's… a cat. Huh, I wouldn't have thought they'd stock the forest. I mean, there've been a few birds but a feral cat? Seems a bit overkill," Epiphany remarked, grabbing Sirius' hand and pulling him to his feet. The trio watched, apprehensively in Clara's case, as the cat leapt down and stared at them with calculating eyes. Then, without prompting, it strutted over to Sirius and began rubbing against his leg. The magenta-haired girl scowled and turned away.
"Don't waste our time, furball." She began walking away but the sound of Sirius crying out and Epiphany grunting in pain caused her to whirl back around. The sight was something she did not expect. Sirius lied with his face shoved into the forest floor and a girl straddling his back and wrapping his arms in rope while Epiphany was nowhere to be seen. When she glanced up, Lilia Ayria smiled brightly at Clara.
"Hiya!"
Lilia Ayria
Her Quirk: Cat Sith
She can transform into a dark-furred cat at will, though transformations do cause her pain. Her size can range from a housecat to a massive panther. However, she can only use this Quirk nine times each week lest she be stuck as one or the other.
"Howl Missile!" Clara roared though her attack was nimbly dodged by the girl. Lilia darted behind a nearby tree but before her enemy could attempt to flush her out, a barrage of poison rained down from the treetops. Barely managing to dodge, Clara slammed her back into a nearby tree and heard a low growl from the underbrush, where a big cat – slightly larger than a saint bernard – emerged and pounced, forcing her to duck. The mass of hissing black fur flew over her and landed deftly on its feet. "Come on!" Clara urged, lowering her center of gravity and preparing to charge. She was forced out of her stance as another attack came from the canopy. The girl sidestepped the venom and narrowed her eyes at the cat bounding towards her. Lilia leaped at her but this time Clara was more than ready. She dipped under the cat's claws and roared. The resulting soundwave shook the forest and sent Lilia soaring through the air.
The panther landed gracefully and pawed at her ears before whirling around on her prey with a feral snarl. 'A two-pronged attack on me after taking out the weak link. Not bad, Wolfbane. Can't risk a hurricane just yet, I'm gonna need that for wolf boy in the next round. Whenever I move against one the other will attack from my blind spot, so I've gotta go for both at the same time. Only one way to do that… fucking embarrassing but it's my only choice now.' Clara took a deep breath and, as the cat in front of her tensed and prepared to dodge an attack, she turned on her heel and sprinted into the forest.
Lyle frowned from his perch as the magenta-haired girl disappeared into the underbrush. He didn't even flinch when the two hundred pound cat landed on the tree branch next to him, only gripping his chin in thought. Lilia, still in her cat form, tilted her head questioningly at him and flicked her tail in the direction Clara had run. "We'll have to play it smart. She wants us to follow her. You can find her with your nose so I'm not concerned with her escaping us forever. Okay, let's keep it simple. Follow her trail until we get fifteen meters out and alert me. Then we'll close in on her from both sides and, with a bit of luck, take down the beast quickly." In response, Lilia nudged his arm with her furry head and leaped down from the tree before stalking off into the underbrush.
The panther quickly caught the girl's scent and raced off towards it. Lyle grinned under his mask, dropped to the floor and started following his teammate at a respectable distance. After a few minutes of searching and tracking the scent, Lilia stopped and began swiveling her feline head in several different directions. The white-haired boy came to a stop and gave her a questioning look. Unable to speak – and looking quite peeved by that fact – the cat used one of her retractable claws to sketch something in the dirt. A number '3'. "You mean her scent is coming from three separate directions? She's smarter than I thought if she figured out how we found them. Be alert, we'll go one by one and investigate. She won't get the better of us."
Purpose of a Hero
"Uh, sorry folks. We can't seem to find Elisnore on our cameras. While our techs work on that, what do you think of the match so far, Oddball?" Holl's voice echoed throughout the stadium. There was a sound of contemplation from the Number Two Hero before he spoke in his usual high-pitched, and slightly goofy tone.
"Both sides are pretty evenly matched in terms of smarts. We haven't seen much of what Elisnore can do but if the way Hemlock is avoiding her is evidence of something, she's a tough cookie." Richard Ramirez scoffed at this and reached one of his hands up to adjust the metal fastens of his dampener. Beside him, Vesuvius studied the contraption amusedly, like a child inspecting an interesting insect.
"She's doing well. Though, I don't think she'll last much longer if she gets pulled into combat. That Hemlock boy seems to have a good head on his shoulders and I for one would not like to be on the opposing side of that Irusan's claws. A valiant display but with her teammate indisposed she–"
"Would you please shut the hell up?"
"Am I getting on your nerves, Richie?" Vesuvius switched between calculating and provocative quick enough to make someone with a lesser constitution's head spin. Seismos just growled at her.
"Fuck off. Don't call me that."
"Because she did? Oh! That really got under your skin. I'm sorry, I forgot how sensitive you were when it came to your precious 'Harmy'. Such a dreadful nickname, I don't know how she put up with it. Imagine being in love with someone, so enamored that you ignore their inner ugliness and then they have the gall to call you 'Harmy'. Maybe it was a good thing I put her out of her misery." Lydia knew she'd crossed a line. Though, that's exactly what she'd been aiming for. Her orders were, after all, to break this man. "Is your love for her what's really keeping you from loving your daughter? Afraid she'll betray you as well?"
"I'm going to enjoy ripping out your throat and watching the light leave your eyes."
"So violent. I apologize, I'm just having a hard time fathoming why you despise your own flesh and blood so much. Especially a girl with so much potential. It's quite hard to believe, I mean I could never feel that way about my little sunshine but the fact that you seem to have no sense of familial love for her baffles me," Vesuvius said, causing the Number Three Hero to snort derisively.
"That's rich, coming from you. When was the last time you saw your kid? My sources say the little pest ran off a few years ago and good riddance. You're about as big a failure as a mother as Harmony was a Hero." Vesuvius looked stricken at his words and fell silent, a faraway look in her eye. For the briefest instant, Richard felt a pang of sympathy for the woman. Then, of course, he purged that feeling from inside the depths of his mind. Scum didn't deserve that commodity, after all. "In any case, despite her teammate's incompetence, Clara will win. She's sworn to overcome me and that girl is nothing if not obsessively stubborn."
"Is that admiration I hear?" Vesuvius purred, though the slight edge to her voice alerted him to the fact that his comment was still affecting her.
"Fuck off."
Purpose of a Hero
Lyle sighed heavily as they came up to the second source of Clara's scent, one of her black leather boots just like the first source. He didn't like the fact that his opponent had seemingly wretched control of the game away from him. However, if there was one thing the white-haired boy enjoyed it was a game of cat and mouse. 'Lilia hasn't been able to detect any more trails so this final one should be her. Nevertheless, we can't let our guard down for a second. Clara is actually pretty intelligent when she puts her mind to it it seems, though I'm sure she's still pissed at me for what happened in the labyrinth on the first day. My ears are still ringing,' the boy thought, remembering the expression on her face when he'd called her a 'she-gorilla'. "One more, right?"
"..." Lilia said nothing as one of her dinner plate-sized paws scratched at her pointed ears. For a moment Lyle wondered what was wrong, then he remembered Clara's earlier attack. Her Howl had even caused him discomfort ten meters away, he couldn't imagine how Lilia felt being within a few feet of the Howl and having far better hearing than him. 'She's still got her sense of smell and her whiskers. They should be enough to track Clara. And hey, worse comes to worst, being slightly deaf will help her withstand the she-gorilla's next attack.' The panther shook her head once more and swiveled her head around to get her bearings, then turned and trotted into the forest once more. As before, Lyle followed her at a safe enough distance where he'd be able to jump in to help and to where Clara wouldn't be able to take both of them down with one attack. The final marker of her scent was much further away than the other two. He'd always suspected it was the real Clara but felt it was safer to make sure. 'Almost seems like she threw her boots away at random to try and throw us off. Clever but there's no place left to run.'
Suddenly, Lilia came to a stop and tilted her head at something just blocked from Lyle's view by the lower branches of a maple tree. He repositioned and sighed at what he saw. "What the hell?" Hanging from the lowest branch of a tree was Clara's fur-lined jacket, it's owner noticeably absent. The panther raised her head and looked at him quizzically. He motioned to his nose and raised an eyebrow. The cat shook its head and walked a few steps closer to take a closer look, er sniff of the jacket. Against his better judgment, Lyle dropped from his perch and walked up beside his partner. "You sure there aren't any more trails?" Lilia hissed lowly at him. The boy frowned and reached out a hand to examine the article. Then he heard it. An intake of breath so low he wouldn't have been able to hear it if he were any farther away. "Shit! Move!"
"SHRED HOWLER!" The tree exploded in an explosion of sound and vibrations, pelting Lyle and Lilia with wood fragments and sap. The latter – having been closer to the origin of the blast – went sailing into the underbrush with a loud yowl of pain. Lyle, meanwhile, stood his ground and grunted in pain as pieces of his costume were sliced away like a hot knife through butter. Small but very deep cuts began forming on his exposed skin and what was left of his costume looked as if someone had attacked him with a switchblade. His eyes drifted back up and he saw Clara standing where the tree once had, her jacket gone and blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth. He quickly formed a ball of poison in his hand but never got the chance to throw it. His opponent seemingly anticipated the move and the next thing he knew, he was lying on the ground with a burning pain in his jaw from where Clara had punched him. She huffed and spoke with a raspy voice. "How's that... asshole?"
"I-" He tried to reply but was cut off as Clara stomped over to him and knelt down to the forest floor. When he first felt her hands drift underneath his body he thought she was going to pick him up. He was proven wrong with a mouthful of wet leaves as she flipped him over. Within a few seconds, his opponent had bound his hands tightly with the capture rope. Instantly, he felt his control over the ball of poison still positioned in his palm dissolve. The liquid flowed off his hand and burned away the grass beneath him.
"Quirk suppressing? So that's why ghost bitch didn't stick around after useless got caught. Okay, don't go anywhere. I just have to tie up that damned cat and this'll be over."
"You sound way too enthused to be ending a fight. Plus you used your brain for once. Who are you and what have you done with Clara?" Lyle asked snarkily. The girl glared down at him and, in an action he probably should have seen coming, placed her boot on the back of his head and pushed his face back into the damp earth. Clara froze and turned towards a nearby cluster of oak trunks. She heard her enemy far before she ever saw her.
"Howl Missile!" She roared. Unlike her previous attack, this blast left no cuts on the wood of the trees. Instead, several of the giants were completely uprooted and fell to the ground. 'The ability to switch between raw power and more precise attacks… she's more dangerous than I thought. Has she been holding back in General Hero and combat classes?' Lyle wondered as his teammate pounced and nearly blinded Clara with her claws. The magenta-haired girl didn't seem outwardly affected and swung her foot into the panther's midsection. Lilia wailed in pain and again rounded on her opponent. Her next swipe landed and Clara stumbled back with a grunt. Large chunks of her shoulder-length magenta hair floated down to the forest floor and a trickle of blood splashed her shoulder from the three claw marks on the back of her neck. "That's it. You're dying!"
Lilia hissed and took a few steps back, staying within pouncing range but away from Clara, who countered by getting into an offensive stance. In the end, it was Clara that made the first move. She inhaled deeply and Lilia immediately moved to get out of the way, which played right into her opponent's hands. Her feint successful, Clara swiftly closed the distance, grabbed Lilia by the scruff of her neck and threw her against a nearby tree trunk. The panther recovered and leapt away from another 'Howl Missile' before sprinting in a circle around the girl, darting from tree to tree for cover. The strategy worked in the sense that her opponent was unable to properly aim an attack. However, it also exerted Lilia to near her breaking point. 'I don't have very long left in this form. I have to finish this quickly before she can regain control. Her Howls are getting less effective with every attack and I'm faster, this is no time for hesitation!' She decided before turning on a dime and charging at Clara's exposed back. Her plan – as had every single one she and Lyle had come up with over the course of the day – backfired spectacularly. Not only did her opponent see her coming in time, but she also intercepted her charge with a well-aimed kick and followed it up by slamming her into the ground. "How many more lives have you got, cat?"
It was then that something peculiar happened. The panther wriggling desperately to free herself from Clara's chokehold stiffened and, to her combatant's surprise, shrank to the size of an ordinary house cat. Lilia's smaller body allowed her to sip through her enemy's grasp but landed in a heap of black fur on the forest ground, breathing heavily. It took the magenta-haired girl a bit to fully process what was happening before she broke out laughing. "You've gotta be kidding me! Here I was thinking your Quirk was badass, turning into a panther and all, but that's actually pathetic. What the hell are you gonna do, short stuff? OW!" Clara's mocking tone disappeared when the small animal flashed its claws and slashed the girl across her face. "You little fuck, try that again and I will punt your ass into the stands." Lilia gave the girl, who even in a kneeling position towered over her, one last look before turning and attempting to run away. She only made it a few feet, however, before she was grabbed roughly around the midsection and lifted into the air. Despite her thrashing, scratching, and biting, Lilia was unable to fight off the other girl for long and soon found all four of her legs bound tightly together.
"Uh, I guess that's it. Ladies and gentlemen the winner of today's first match is the team of Elisnore and Clyde!" Mr. Holl announced. From the woods behind her, Clara noticed both Ms. Whittaker and Mrs. Holl approaching. She gave one last baleful look at the hogtied cat before tossing it to the referee, who just barely managed to catch the poor creature.
"What a rollercoaster! Elisnore's team managed to turn an unfair three-on-two advantage into a two-on-one disadvantage! Then as the lone survivor, Elisnore kills it and takes out both of her opponents single-handedly and with a ton of style! Great way to start today's freshman bracket, can't wait to see the next slaughter!" Every word of the Number Two Hero made Clara grind her teeth.
"Ms. Ayria? The battle is over, you can deactivate your Quirk now," Elvira said, eyeing the cat bemusedly. The cat just stared back at her and shook her feline head. "No, you don't want to or no you can't?"
"She can't," a new voice said. Lyle sighed heavily as he walked into the clearing, though Clara smirked in satisfaction at the number of bandages covering his body. The boy walked up to the teachers and gave his partner a look that clearly said 'I told you so'. Mrs. Holl walked up to Clara and placed a hand under her chin, raising and twisting the teen's head to try and get a better look inside her mouth. After an irritating amount of time – probably only around thirty seconds – the magenta-haired girl snapped her teeth shut and glared at the woman, who gave her an unimpressed look in reply.
"You're going to need medical attention. Your throat is bleeding profusely and if that move earlier did what I think it did, you need to have your larynx healed. Come, my assistant, Sophia, can tend to your cuts and bruises as well." Leena studied the girl for a while before sighing and shaking her head. "You'll also probably want to ask her or one of the other girls to even out your hair. You've lost quite a bit."
"Fucking great." Clara scowled at the woman but followed her lead out of the forest and towards the tunnel that led to a first aid station. As soon as she exited the woods, the sound of the crowd returned, almost deafening after the silence of the forest. It made her head swim and she had to shake it to regain her composure. Then, of course, there was her state of dress. For the second time in a month, her coat had been destroyed – although this time by herself and not an annoying pyro – meaning she was standing in front of tens of thousands of people in nothing but her brassiere. She scowled and sped up, passing Leena on the way to the tunnel. Unfortunately, she made the mistake of taking one last look into the crowd. Staring back at her, eyes full of resentment and disappointment, was her father.
Purpose of a Hero
Heyo! What's up guys and gals. So I decided from now on my Author's Notes will be down here so you all can get right into the chapter without listening to my drivel. Anyway, Thanks to Hiatus for beta-ing as usual. I didn't have an AN last time so I'll just put this here. Spiderman: Far From Home... A. I really enjoyed it and Mysterio is one of my favorite Marvel villains. Actually... nah, change it to an A+ after that mid-credits scene. I cheered louder for that than I did for Thor's entrance into Wakanda in Infinity War. Might just be nostalgia but he (not gonna spoil it) is by far my favorite cast for a comic book movie. Also Phase 4? Fuck yes! Gah, I hate that there's not an MCU film for the rest of this year. Okay, I'm done. Hope you all enjoyed!
Alright, let's get to the teaser.
NEXT TIME ON THE PURPOSE OF A HERO!
Chapter 29: Team Sunwolf