Hey everyone! Uhh, sorry about the wait. Life has been difficult recently but oh well. Here's the chapter, hope you all enjoy.
Purpose of a Hero
"It looks very pretty, don't look so down." Clara ignored the assistant nurse's reassurances and glared at her unfamiliar reflection in the small hand mirror. When she was little, her father had tried to force her to cut her hair short. 'It's not practical to have long hair. Just gives your enemy another thing to use against you and it can get in the way of your vision' he'd always said and for years she'd grown out her magenta hair as a symbol of her hate for her father. Now, that symbol was gone and, while she had to admit her new hairstyle – shaved on the sides and still slightly long on the top– was more fitting to her image, she could only look at herself in contempt. In frustration, she flung the mirror away, where it bounced off the springy side of the first aid tent and shattered on the asphalt below. The assistant nurse, a girl not much older than her with curly brown hair and a nametag that read 'Sophia', sighed and stood from her stool at Clara's bedside. "Okay, let me know if you need anything. Your upperclassmen are even worse at holding back than you guys so I have other patients to deal with. Bee stings, burns, broken bones, it never ends!"
"Get it together, Clara! It's just some stupid fucking hairdo, not the end of the world," the girl snarled and slammed a fist into her thigh. Even to her, the words sounded hollow and the pain from her self-inflicted injury felt numb. 'What the hell is wrong with me? Damnit, you're stronger than this. Don't let that bastard run your fucking life,' she mentally scolded. She ran a hand through her newly shortened hair and sighed. 'I won. I beat that little poison freak into the dirt so why am I acting so damned pathetic?' Clara flopped backward on her cot and relished the feel of the cool, soft pillow on her aching head. She was slightly off-put by her own attitude. It'd been a while since she'd doubted herself like this. Right as she was finally getting comfortable, there was a shuffling sound a few feet in front of her and her head shot up. She glowered at Sirius, who stood awkwardly at the foot of her bed. "What the fuck do you want, you useless little shit?"
"Thank you!" He practically shouted in reply and then shielded himself with his arms, as if he expected her to attack him. Perhaps if she wasn't so confused, she might've but at that moment all she could do was stare bemusedly at her teammate. Seeing she wasn't going to hit him, Sirius lowered his arms and took a shaky breath before talking again."W-We only get four chances in high school to prove ourselves to the Pros before we graduate. I… without you I would have wasted my first one. I didn't… I didn't really make a good first impression but now I have a chance to show that I'm not… well, useless."
"You're thanking me… for winning? That's fucking stupid. What, did you think I was going to lose?" Clara demanded, though there was no bite behind it. Still, Sirius paled and shook his head vigorously. 'This kid has absolutely no guts. I almost feel bad for him.'
"N-No! I just wanted to, um, show m-my appreciation for, uh… I-I just... feel like I should've done more," he muttered miserably, hanging his head.
"Chill the hell out, shrimp. Not much you could've done, that poison idiot is too smart. Neither one of us realized what was going on. So long as you don't fuck up our next match against the mutt I won't have to rip off your arms."
"B-But how do you know Narruk is gonna win? We don't know what those other kids are capable of, he could lose." Clara snorted –slightly amused he'd completely glossed over her threat– and swung her feet over the edge of her cotton white cot. She grunted at the few dozen pops her back made as she stretched and began walking towards the tent's entrance flaps.
"Oh, he's gonna win. He's stronger than most of our class. Not as smart but those dog reflexes work well for him. Besides, if he doesn't win and deprives me of our fight, I'm going to kill him myself."
Purpose of a Hero
"I still don't get how you don't know the specifics of her Quirk. You're in the same damned class for christ's sake!" Nathan, for perhaps the twelfth time that week, griped. From the moment she had told him she was unsure of how exactly Hazel's Quirk worked, Melody had to hear her teammate complain about how lazy she was, ignoring the fact that she had to tell him how Benji's Quirk worked. The redhead pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation.
"She hasn't really explained it to us but, from my observations, it's a speed-type Quirk, which I've told you several times. Now, can we continue, please?"
"I just don't see why we have to go over strategy again!" Nathan whined and lied completely flat against the wooden bench, propping his feet onto Melody's lap. The girl glared at him but – in order to avoid more whining – allowed it and tried to rein her childhood friend back in.
"We have to keep going over it because you keep forgetting! Jeez, furball I thought cats had a good memory. Did you just miss out on that?" Melody asked, exasperated. Nathan stuck his head up and gave her a look she knew all too well. His 'I know something you don't know' look.
"Actually they do, but only if it actively benefits us. Our short-term is good but our long-term is exceptional. Which is why I still remember you wearing that ghastly All-Might costume for Halloween when we were five," Nathan said, his voice taking on his impression of a professor.
"What does that have to do with anything, Nathan?" The cat-boy grinned widely.
"I just like to occasionally throw that back at you. That costume was absolutely atrocious," he said matter-of-factly, making his friend groan and smack his leg.
"You're impossible. Can we get back to the plan now or are you gonna bring up more embarrassing memories?" She inquired. Nathan was about to answer but suddenly a ripple of surprise shot through the preparation room, accompanied by the sound of a dozen whispered conversations starting. He was about to turn and see what all the fuss was about but Melody beat him to it, getting to her feet and walking across the room. The sight that greeted Nathan as he followed his teammate's progress caused his jaw to unhinge. One of the boys from Melody's class –Narruk if Nathan remembered correctly– had just entered from one of the changing rooms with a massive, battleax slung over his shoulder. The weapon was taller than Nathan and its twin blades were each shaped like a half-moon. "Narruk, what the heck is that?"
"Don't worry, Mel. This isn't the real thing. The blades are pretty blunt," Narruk said with a grin at the half-shocked, half-concerned redhead standing in front of him.
"Mel?" Nathan muttered to himself, narrowing his eyes at the much larger boy. 'Saw him at the pizzeria, his name is… Narruk? He's gotta be the guy Zach was telling us about. The werewolf… why's he calling Mel 'Mel'?' The cat-boy thought to himself.
"My real ax is awesome. Good for cutting down trees or villains or well, anything else I would need to cut down." Melody narrowed her eyes at the boy and leaned to the side to get a better look at the dangerous end of the weapon.
"Doesn't look very dull to me."
"Well, it won't decapitate or disembowel anyone. Might leave some nasty bruises or break some bones but that's easily repaired, no need to worry," Narruk said with a casual wave of his hand. Melody gave him a deadpan look and sighed.
"It's usually when people say 'there's no need to worry' that I start to worry the most. Growing up with Nathan taught me that. Just… Be careful, okay?" The redhead pleaded. Narruk grinned and nodded.
"I always am. Besides, this isn't even the real Fenrir, just a replica."
"Fenrir?" Melody asked.
"That's its name. A warrior's weapon always has to have a name, Mel," Narruk replied. Melody rolled her eyes and chuckled.
"Whatever, just don't kill anyone," she stated before smacking him on the chest before walking off towards Kira, who looked positively green sitting on the bench beside her partner.
"You look like you're gonna kill somebody," Payton commented with a chuckle as he lowered himself onto the bench next to Nathan, who jumped slightly at his entrance. The rather tense look that had been dominating his expression for the last few minutes shifted to something more bemused and slightly suspicious.
"Nah, just thinking of ways to beat the mutt FH2 has." Payton leaned over to glance past Nathan, trying to get a look at the boy Zach had told them about just a week prior. The brunet whistled and leaned back, clearly impressed.
"Impressive weapon, apart from looking comically massive," Payton mentioned thoughtfully. "Though, I don't think that constitutes being called a mutt. I haven't seen you that pissed in a while. What, did he make a pass at Melody or something?" He asked jokingly. When Nathan's expression turned dark, the boy's eyes widened and he scooted closer before whispering conspiratorially. "Oh my god! He did?"
"No! Not exactly. He just… she would never… gah! Why did he call her Mel?" Nathan groaned, flopping backwards onto the bench dramatically. Payton gave him a quizzical look, his head tilted slightly.
"Uh, probably because that's short for 'Melody'?"
"That's my nickname for her! He stole it!" Nathan proclaimed as quietly as possible. His friend just rolled his eyes at his statement.
"First off, that's extremely original of you. Second, I'm sure a ton of people call her that. Third, I've been telling you for months to man up and confess. Something like this was bound to happen, she is, in case you haven't noticed, very pretty. Hell, if Narruk doesn't shoot his shot I may try my hand."
"I will literally claw your eyes out," Nathan threatened in a deadly serious tone. However, Payton seemed more amused than afraid and laughed.
"I'm kidding dude. Just riling you up, I would never betray you like that. My point still stands though. You've been her closest friend for the longest time but she's already making new ones here. You've got a time limit before she's gone for good, man."
"... I hate it when you're right, but it's not that simple. Fucking hell, I'd rather face that laser dude by myself with no Quirk." Nathan ran his fingers through his hair and glanced at his childhood friend, who was laughing at something her classmate had said, from the corner of his eye. 'Damnit, I really don't wanna screw this up. We've got a good thing going… screw Payton. I can't risk what we have on some bullshit teenage crush,' he decided forlornly and got up to walk off the weight on his shoulders, not noticing the small girl hiding between two sets of lockers with a massive grin on her face. Once Nathan had disappeared, Andi crept out and rushed over to Kira. Without breaking stride, she snatched the girl's arm and dragged her away from her conversation with Melody, who looked after them with confusion.
"Ow! What?" Kira demanded once Andi stopped and released her. The petite brunette glanced around before she locked eyes with Eris Blackwood and motioned her over. Once both girls were standing in front of her, Andi smiled widely.
"Girls, I have got a tale to tell you!"
Purpose of a Hero
"You good, K?" Narruk asked his partner, who was looking a little pale. The boy glanced at him and nodded irritably.
"Fine. I'll be a lot better after we're outta this," he said, motioning to the tunnel they'd been led to by Castor, one of the school's two white-haired troll-like caretakers. 'Little dudes creep me the hell out. Like freaky goblins.' Narruk nodded at his teammate, pushing all thoughts of the twins from his mind and focusing on the battle ahead.
"Alright, want me to buy you some time to recover?" Kenny looked at him tersely and shook his head. Over the past week, Narruk had found out that the purple-haired boy could be quite grumpy in dark areas due to his Quirk.
"No. You're close range. We can't afford Jahaziah's Quirk to take you out. Just… just try and keep them distracted for a minute or two. No fighting but maybe taunt or intimidate them with Fenrir." Narruk looked a bit annoyed at the 'no fighting' part but shrugged and heaved the massive weapon from its shoulder sheath.
"No worries, K. You just worry about recharging," he said confidently. Kenny sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You're just gonna rush in aren't you?"
"Depends on the battlefield," Narruk answered truthfully, shrugging his shoulders. 'If we're put on a terrain like the forest Clara and Sirius fought in, then this gets significantly harder. So many variables to screw over our plans. Ten bucks it was Mr. Holls's idea to give us our matchups a week beforehand so he could screw up any plans we made.' Almost as if he could hear his student's thoughts – Narruk didn't really know if that was possible over the roaring crowd – Derrick Holl cleared his throat over the loudspeaker and began to introduce the fighters, though the wolf hardly paid him any mind, his focus firmly on the center of the arena instead, which was splitting and growing. "This is it. Come on, be something good!"
"That's certainly… unique," Kenny deadpanned as the stadium was filled with the noise of massive metal gears locking into place. Looming between them, and completely blocking their view of their opponents, was a massive titanium section of what looked to be a suspension bridge. While Narruk couldn't help but stare up in awe, barely noticing the lapping waves of the pool that had risen with the bridge at his feet, his partner gasped and shook his head in disbelief. "It's the old Manhattan Bridge, or a part of it anyway."
"Seriously? I thought they tore that down ages ago," Narruk remarked. He walked over to the ladder in front of them and grasped the rung directly level with his head. "We've got a climb ahead of us. You wanna take a minute to compose yourself while I climb up?"
"Sounds good," Kenny said as his sank to his knees and sighed with relief. The sun's light made his sallow skin seem even more sickly and pale. Narruk nodded, re-holstered his ax, and began his ascent. 'How the hell are they hiding this shit underneath the parking lot? There has to be some sort of city code against having underground bridges, right?' he pondered. The climb was a lot longer than he'd expected, long enough for the teen to start working up a sweat in the late morning heat but after a solid three minutes of grabbing rung after rung, he reached the topmost one and pushed himself over the edge of the ledge.
"Oh goddamnit, that's annoying," he groaned. Further separating him from his prey were hundreds of vehicles, ranging from sports cars to large delivery trucks and spanning all seven of the bridge's lanes, all interlocked as if they were perpetually trapped in rush hour traffic. They packed so tightly together, in fact, that it would be very difficult for Narruk to move his tall, muscular frame at all, let alone swing his six-foot battleax. 'Brute strength it is.' Aside from that inconvenience, and despite the sheer mass of the structure, he still could not see his opponents. The wolf inside him hated being the hunted instead of the hunter and for once, Narruk didn't argue. Even with the crowd completely surrounding them on all sides, the stillness of the bridge unnerved him greatly.
"How's it look?" Kenny huffed as he struggled up from the ladder. Narruk quickly rushed over and gave him a hand, noticing that his skin was visibly less pale, though still nowhere near his normal complexion.
"You good, K? You weren't really down there all that long." Kenny shrugged and began scanning the battlefield, just as Narruk had been moments prior.
"Fine. Better off up here anyway. What've they been doing?" He asked, still out of breath from his climb. Narruk sniffed the air and scrunched up his nose.
"No idea. Apparently, we don't get the same experience as Clara and them. The damned crowd is blocking out my smell and hearing. I wonder how many people know they're eating stale popcorn?" Narruk wondered, still slightly overcome by the barrage against his enhanced senses.
"Focus up, Alpha. What's our play?"
"Uh… charge in guns blazing? Not our best option but we've gotta get this over with quickly if we wanna avoid their Quirks," Narruk decided, pointing towards the middle of the bridge where a large, armored vehicle stood. "We can get a good vantage point from there."
"You know, this is probably gonna be a trap and end up with us on the bad end of an ambush, right?" Kenny inquired. Narruk grinned wolfishly and unhooked Fenrir from his back. He held it parallel to his chest and, in a display of strength, hopped onto the roof of a nearby car.
"Yeah, I don't much care to be honest. Let's get this show started, shall we?" He asked as he leaped from one car to the next on a direct path to the armored car. Kenny, however, moved at a much more sedate and lethargic pace, squeezing through the traffic and stopping every few moments to catch his breath. When he was about two-thirds of the way to his destination, Narruk glanced back and frowned at his teammate, who was several dozen meters behind. Luckily it seemed as if the longer he was on the bridge the healthier and less pale he looked. He was so distracted with his partner that he didn't notice movement until it was far too late and his entire world went dark.
"Narruk!" Kenny shouted. The wolf turned his head in the direction of the sound but continued to blink and shake his head violently, as if trying to dissuade an annoying fly. The second attack came just as quickly, as a glowing red sword sliced through the mirror of a pickup truck where Kenny had been standing seconds before. His quick reflexes just barely managed to save him from the strike, though they also put him off balance and sent him careening into another truck. Before him stood a slightly heavy set boy with auburn hair and, most interestingly, two large, black rectangular object protruding from his elbows. Jake Schmiede narrowed his eyes and swung his sword again, and again Kenny reacted just in time to roll out of the way. "Damn."
"Yahoo! I can't believe it worked!" Jahaziah Cortés cheered from his perch on the top of a flower delivery truck. He turned his head wildly, further messing up his spiky black hair, before settling on a spot ten feet to the right of his teammate, flashing a smile and giving the empty space a thumbs up. "Ow! Damned cars. Have you got Kenny yet, Jake?"
Jahaziah Cortés
His Quirk: Blind
Jahaziah's Quirk allows him to completely blind any targets within a four meter radius, though he himself is not immune to its effects.
"Working on it!" Jake growled back and thrusted again with his glowing weapon. This time Kenny wasn't quite fast enough and screamed in pain as the blade sliced through his sleeve and left a small cut on his bicep. While the wound itself was small, the skin surrounding it began to bubble. 'This is extremely bad. I don't have enough power saved up yet to go full power but I can at least push back… I think,' he thought gravely. Kenny closed his eyes and his body began to shine. Jake's eyes narrowed and his sword disappeared from his hand. The metallic objects extending from his elbows burned a deep red, making it appear as if they were made from pure magma, and crossed his arms in front of his chest. In the blink of an eye, a bright red substance started to form a glowing shield in front of him.
"Solar Flare!" Kenny roared and released a torrent of heat and light that slammed into Jake's shield with enough force to push him back until his spine connected with the side of a red van. Still, his shield held and the moment the blast ended and the spots cleared from his vision, the brunet rushed forward, only to find that his target had disappeared.
"Damnit."
"Damnit? Why damnit? Did you freakin' lose him? I told you to be on your damned guard! You had one job Jake!" Jahaziah shouted irritably. The boy had abandoned his perch and had adopted the strategy of following Narruk, though he stayed very clear of the wolf's enraged swings of his ax. Jake's eyebrow twitched in annoyance and he turned to glare at his teammate, forgetting for a moment that the other boy couldn't see his anger.
"I have one job because you screwed up yours! You were supposed to wait until they were together!"
"Yeah, yeah whatever. Just hurry up and catch Sunny-boy so we can tie up the executioner over there." Jake scowled and turned just in time to block Kenny's haymaker. A plume of smoke rose from the spot on his arm where the other boy's fist had connected with but neither seemed to notice. Kenny grimaced and took a step back before firing another Solar Flare at his opponent, who deftly dodged and responded by creating a large, double-sided ax, not entirely dissimilar to Narruk's.
Jake Schmiede
Quirk: Flame Construct
By absorbing heat in the air around him, Jake can use the metal bars in his arms to create objects. He's gotta be careful though, if he absorbs too much heat he'll get sick
"Narruk! You've gotta snap out of it! Take out Jahaziah and you can free yourself!" Kenny bellowed to his teammate, whose head twitched slightly in his direction. Narruk growled and tried to push the sounds and scents of the crowd from his mind. 'Focus, damnit!' he scolded himself, but the boost his other senses got from his lack of vision was turning out to be more of a detriment. The mild chatter and cheers from the crowd thumped against his eardrums while the thousands of different smells were burning the interior of his nose. He heard what he thought to be the voice of his gloating opponent somewhere off to his right and brought his ax down in an arc, slicing through the hood of another vehicle. Then, he heard the telltale sound of someone slamming into metal and swearing under their breath. 'So that's it? His blindness affects himself?' Narruk thought. In a move of desperation, he wound up and threw his ax like a javelin towards the source of the noise.
"Holy shit!" Jahaziah screamed as the blade of the ax embedded itself into the asphalt beside him. There was a sound of groaning metal and, based purely on instinct, he ducked just as something heavy smashed into the delivery truck behind him, showering him with fragments of glass. "What the hell was that, Jake?"
"He threw a car door at you! Forget about it and focus on keeping him contain– agh!" Jake's voice was cut off as Kenny blasted him with another beam of light. The purple-haired boy was breathing heavily but looked no less determined. He turned and shot another blast at Jahaziah, who'd just gotten back to his feet only to be knocked backwards and hit his head on the ground. In an instant, vision came flooding back to both him and Narruk, who had to cover his eyes at the intensity of the sun.
"Narruk, your ax!" Kenny shouted. The wolf recovered quicker than Jahaziah and sprinted forward, ripping his weapon from the ground and bringing it around just in time to block an attack from Jake. The air around them filled with the acrid smell of burning metal as Narruk's Fenrir held back Jake's Flame Construct. The deadlock lasted for a few moments until Narruk used his superior strength to push back Jake and snuck a glance to his teammate, who was continuously firing blast after blast of solar energy at a frazzled Jahaziah.
"You guys are pretty good. Nice to get a workout before the real battle next round," Narruk commented offhandedly. Jake knit his brow and frowned, slightly annoyed at his opponent's dismissal. He quickly swung his ax, trying to catch his opponent off guard but Narruk was slightly faster and the two were once again deadlocked. 'This is fine. As long as we stay in no man's land my construct can burn through his handle. Once he's disarmed, I can–' Jake's thought process was abruptly cut short as Narruk, seeing the shaft of his ax almost completely burned through did something unexpected. He moved his grip so that one of his hands was resting just below the meeting point of their weapons and, right as Jake saw what he was about to do, shifted his weight and power to that hand while leaning slightly to the left. Jake's construct was forcibly yanked from his hands and went soaring out of sight, followed by the butt end of Fenrir smacking into his chin and snapping his head back, though the force from the blow caused the ax's shaft to break in half. Using his momentum, Narruk swung around and planted his foot into the stomach of his still slightly dazed opponent, which sent him crashing onto the hood of a car. "Stay."
"Gah!" Kenny shouted from somewhere behind him. Narruk turned just in time to see his partner slam into the ground with a sickening thud. He locked eyes with Jahaziah and started to run towards him when a searing hot pair shot up both his arms. As it turned out, Jake wasn't as stunned as Narruk had originally though. While the boy hadn't gotten up from the car's hood, his hand produced a pair of shackles, connected to a burning red chain, that had flown through the air and hooked onto Narruk's wrists. The smell of charred flesh filled his nose as he growled angrily.
"I told you to stay." Jake gave him a look of loathing and yanked the chains tighter, forcing Narruk's arms back and making him sigh. 'People never learn,' he thought to himself before he grabbed ahold of the chains – which did not feel particularly good – and pulled as hard as he could. With a look of surprise, Jake was dragged off the car and flew through the air towards his opponent. Narruk turned, still trying to ignore the stinging pain caused by the shackles and, right as Jake reached him, brought up his knee into the boy's stomach. He gasped in pain and coughed up blood before falling to the ground and curling up. "Good, now… K?"
"Narruk! Brace yourself!" Kenny, who was being pinned down by Jahaziah, shouted as his body began to glow a deep shade of orange. Narruk's eyes widened and he quickly followed the command, grabbing his downed enemy and dragging him to safety behind a water truck. Jahaziah tried in vain to tie up Kenny in the capture string before it was too late. "Supernova!" His hostage screamed. There was a blinding flash of light and the center of the Manhattan Bridge exploded.
In the seconds that followed, Kenny became aware of two things. The first was just how bad the sunburns on both him and Jahaziah would be. The second… was that both he and his opponent were in the midst of falling over a hundred feet to their dooms and he couldn't help but scream. Thankfully, their descent came to a very abrupt end when a hand latched onto his outstretched arm and the back of Jahaziah's shirt. Narruk strained with the weight of both boys, especially considering how tenuous his grip of Jahaziah was, and he cried out as his feet, wedge in the window of a tipped over car to keep his from falling with them, began to slip. "Hold on idiots!" He called. Kenny wondered what he meant but then he felt himself swaying like a pendulum.
"Narruk, wait!" He shouted just before Narruk, the moment he hit the apex of his sway, released him and sent him flying back onto the bridge. For a brief second, he stared at the image of his partner hanging by his toes over a large, circular hole with another teen clutching onto his arm. Then, of course, he remembered where he was and shook his head before rushing over to help Narruk. "What about the other one?"
"Shouldn't be moving anytime soon! Kneed him pretty hard in the gut," Narruk said, straining to pull Jahaziah back over the side of the hole. Once all three of them were safely back on the bridge, Narruk grabbed their opponent and tied his hands together.
"Wha–?"
"Stay."
Purpose of a Hero
"Thank goodness. You had me worried," Melody admitted, letting out a breath she'd been holding since the moment Narruk had dove to the side of the hole to catch his teammate and opponent. Nathan narrowed his eyes at the image on the television screen of Narruk tying up a nearly passed-out Jake. 'Damnit, guys. You just had to lose and make him look cooler? Gah! Useless!' the blond thought. It seemed his irritation wasn't as well contained as he thought because Melody glanced at him and frowned. "You okay?"
"Yeah, yeah! Little bummed my classmates put on such a good show. Now I have to put in more effort to show I'm the best," he recovered. The girl sitting beside him rolled her eyes.
"Must be such a bother," she said sarcastically. Nathan grinned at her and shrugged.
"Has its perks."
"I bet it does. Now, before you go monologuing about yourself again, do you remember our strategy or do I have to go over it for the fifteenth time?" She asked.
"God, stop! Strategy, strategy, strategy that's all you talk about!" The blond complained, groaning in annoyance. Melody gave him a look of irritation and smacked his arm.
"This is important! In ten minutes it'll be us out there fighting. We cannot lose in the first round and our opponents are tough."
"Oh please, Benji's an idiot and Hazel's fun-sized. What do we have to worry about?" Nathan retorted dismissively. Melody glared at him, a look he'd seen countless times over the course of their friendship but it never ceased to give him goosebumps.
"Benji, contrary to popular belief, has a pretty good head on his shoulders when he isn't hitting on anyone and Hazel is extremely intelligent and her Quirk is especially powerful. We can't afford to treat them as a joke!" She spat harshly.
"Yeah… but you've got me."
"Yeah, that's a consolation," Melody replied sardonically. Nathan gave her a pointed look and his expression turned determined.
"Seriously. I'm with you till the very end, Mel. I can promise you, there is absolutely no way we are losing until we fight each other in the finals. These teams have had what, a week to build up their teamwork and train? We've been doing that for ten years! We've got this." Melody's annoyance quickly washed away and she smiled.
"You're right. We can win this… as long as you stick to the strategy."
"You just had to ruin the moment, didn't you?"
Purpose of a Hero
Alright, how was that? Next week is finally Melody and Nathan's turn. I won't keep you all long, so let's get to the preview.
Next time on the Purpose of a Hero:
Chapter 30: Benji's Bet