Central Park was always crowded with all manners of tourists, joggers, and families enjoying the warm, cozy weather in summer. Although the bustling streets of Manhattan surrounded the park, the atmosphere within it was rather tranquil. Well, that is until a man with a head resembling a Beetle's sprinted onto the packed Bethesda Terrace, shoving aside anyone that got in his way. He paused at the fountain, his beady black eyes looking nervously over his shoulder. When he saw no sign of his pursuer, he sighed in relief and leaned against the fountain's marble edge. Then, the sound of rushing water got louder, and he turned to look at the marble fixture in confusion. Mere seconds after he realized what was happening, a torrent of water slammed into his unguarded back, knocking him into the air and crashing into the decorative marble angel atop the fountain. Amidst surprised gasps from the crowd, a figure dropped down from the archway.

Harmony Kristenson landed gracefully, brushing away her black hair and rolling her shoulders. The red-tinted lenses of her goggles locked onto the man as she strolled across the Terrace. The beetle-headed man yelped as she got closer and tried to get back to his feet and flee, but he tripped over a chunk of the marble angel and fell face-first onto the ground. "You know, you're pretty tenacious for a purse snatcher," she said. As she stood over him, the lenses of her goggles flipped upward and revealed her eyes, which sported fresh tear tracks snaking down her cheeks.

"What the hell are you talking about, lady? I didn't steal no purse," he protested meekly, trying to edge away from the young woman. Harmony snorted and held up a small, gold-colored handbag.

"Just because you ditched the evidence, doesn't mean you're of Scott free. Now come on, get up. My backup will be here in a minute, and you're going to pay a little visit to the police department." Sensing the man wasn't exactly cooperative, she reached down and grabbed him under his arm. With a grunt, she pulled him to his feet and pulled the handcuffs from her utility belt. Before she could put them on him, however, the beetle-headed man rammed into her with all the strength he could muster. Harmony stumbled backward, losing her grip but not her balance as the man took off in a sprint.

Harmony, angry with herself for letting her guard down, scowled and took off after him. Fortunately, he wouldn't make it very far. Just as he reached the edge of the Terrace, the ground beneath his feet changed from brick to sand. Immediately, his foot sank up to his knee, and his forward momentum sent him sprawling.

"Oh-ho, quicksand? Haven't gotten that one in a while. Talk about luck!"

The crowd exploded into surprised whispering and exclamations of surprise as a third figure, this one donning a giant, white sphere on his head, stepped out from behind a nearby oak tree. It wasn't every day, after all, that the Number Three Hero appeared seemingly out of the blue and stopped a criminal in his tracks. However, while the crowd was sufficiently entertained, Harmony was not. She stormed up to Oddball, a dangerous look in her eyes, and thumped him on the shoulder with the back of her hand. "Oi! Who said you could just butt in? I had the situation totally under control, old man!"

"And yet a five-hundred-year-old fountain is irreversibly damaged. Your definition of 'under control' could use a bit of work, Tear." Her mentor's tone was light, but with that unmistakable edge he had whenever she'd done something wrong. The teen looked over her shoulder at the crumbled pieces of the marble angel and sighed. When she turned back to the sight of Oddball handcuffing the beetle-headed man, she avoided looking at his helmet. Even though she couldn't see his expression, she could imagine the disappointment in his eyes.

"I… might have gone a bit overboard. Sorry, Oddball," she said, her face heating up in shame. After he'd hauled the purse snatcher to his feet, the Number Three Hero sighed and shook his head. Over the past two summers, he'd gotten more than a little accustomed to the Hero trainee and her eccentricities. She had a strong code of justice, but at times she could be very flighty and reckless, much like he'd once been.

"What do I keep telling, princess? Keep your wits about you. Just because you've got a license, doesn't mean you can always just rush off and disobey orders. You'll make a lot of enemies that way, and not just among the Villains," Oddball preached, sitting the detained man down on a bench. Almost instantly, the shame disappeared from his apprentice's face and was replaced by indignation.

"So, I should have just let the guy go?" She barked, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at her teacher.

"Of course not. However, since you are technically a licensed Hero, you must be more careful than ever when it comes to doling out justice. Just because this man stole a woman's purse does not mean you can use lethal force against him."

"Lethal force?" Harmony said incredulously. "I used one Tear Torrent against him. That hardly qualifies as lethal force!"

"The council won't see it that way. Nor will the police, so you're lucky the N.Y.P.D owes me some favors; otherwise, you'd be investigated for Hero brutality. The fact that you used your Quirk to inflict harm on what they see as an ordinary citizen is usually grounds for suspension." He could feel the girl's anger and annoyance rolling off of her in waves. 'Oh, to be young and naive,' he thought whimsically.

"What kind of bullshit is that? Heroes are supposed to help people, regardless of the circumstance. All this bureaucratic nonsense just makes it harder to do our jobs," she said, her lips pursing into a pout. Oddball let out a genuine laugh and patted the girl on the back.

"You're telling me. Deal with that for ten years, and then you can try and complain. Oddball Super Teaching Lesson Forty-Eight: the council is just as much your enemy as they are your ally. Compromise where you can. If you can't, then don't."

"I'm starting to see why the council hates your guts," Harmony deadpanned, a small smile gracing her lips. After a moment, however, the smile faded, and she scowled at the sky. "The Hero world is a lot more complicated than I thought."

"Oh, and what, pray tell, did you expect?"

"Kicking Villain ass and saving people."

"Ah, therein lies your mistake. See, being a Hero is the easiest part of our job. It's the politics that tend to send more of us to earlier graves than any Villain. You'll learn, don't worry. By the time you're my age, you'll have it down to a science!" Oddball exclaimed as the whine of police sirens got closer, making his detainee's beady black eyes water. Harmony rolled her eyes and flipped her goggles back down to cover the upper portion of her face.

"I'd rather not wait forty years."

"Hey! I'm only thirty-five!"

Purpose of a Hero

"–ball? You in there, old man?" Slowly, the world started to come back into focus. With a quick look at his surroundings, Oddball let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. He was in the commentary booth, sitting several feet away from his microphone, facing the battlefield next to the window. Even through the sound dampening walls, he could hear the thunder of a hundred thousand people waiting for the next match to begin. Derek Holl, the booth's only other occupant, stared at him. Through the neutral facade, Oddball saw the worry in his features.

"Sorry, old friend. I was lost in my memories. Did I miss anything? Has Melody's fight started?" He asked, trying to keep his voice as impartial as possible, but he wasn't the only one who could see through the other's facade.

"Not yet. She's a lot like her mother, you know. You'll have your work cut out for you if you take her this summer," Derek said calmly, though his casual tone did nothing to stop the pang of despair that burned in Oddball's chest. For once, he sorely wished he could take off his helmet and take a breath of non-filtered air. All his memories did was remind him that Harmony had died still younger than he had been when he'd first taken her under his wing. Sensing his discomfort, Holl spoke up once more."Though, she isn't nearly as rebellious. She's headstrong but much more adherent to the rules than her mother ever was. 'Spose she gets that from Carlyle."

"Ah… that's good. I'm too old to take on another rambunctious brat anyway." Silence hung over the booth like a shroud for several moments before Oddball grinned. 'Perhaps the memories aren't all bad. I'm sure Melody would like to hear some stories of her mom's younger years. Not even Carlyle can tell her those,' he thought, making a note on his helmet's HUD to remind himself. "How has her schooling been going, anyway. I'm sad to say I've been too busy to read the progress reports."

"She's doing fine. Her academics could use a little work, though I'm sure she'd do better if she didn't spend half her classes daydreaming. Physically, she's among the top in our class in terms of close-quarters combat. She isn't as strong as others, but Carlyle has taught her well."

"I'm guessing she shares her mother's naivety?" Oddball asked. From his pair of brief conversations with the girl, he'd noticed she carried herself much differently than her mother. More unsure of herself. She had confidence, but it was much quieter than Harmony's. Holl chuckled and turned in his chair to face the crowd.

"You've no idea. She's as idealistic as they come. Oh, and get this, she doesn't even swear. Haven't heard her say so much as a 'damn' since she started," Holl said conspiratorially, making Oddball chuckle.

"She'll do better in formal situations then. I can't tell you how many times I had to scold Harmony for her language, even after she set out on her own," Oddball said, leaning back as far as his chair would let him. The pair once again fell silent, the only noise in the booth was that of the crowd outside, eager for the tournament to get underway. He remembered his warning to Melody on the rooftop in Yonkers. "This might be a bit… harsh, but I'd quietly get rid of any other offers she receives for her summer internship. There's too much of a risk for her."

"You might be right," Holl agreed with a sigh. There was a sudden beeping sound, and the teacher glanced down at his watch. It was time. He motioned for Oddball to join him and tried to put on his best 'commentator voice' for the crowd. He noticed how his companion straightened up as Melody emerged from the preparation tunnel. She didn't look nearly as hesitant as her opponent was, nor was she as flamboyant in her entrance as her mother would have been. 'I hope the future doesn't jade you and your classmates as much as it has the rest of us. The world could use more genuine Heroes.'

Purpose of a Hero

Time was on his side.

Damien knew this to be true. Even with roughly three hours until sunset, the shadows were much longer than they had been in his first battle of the day. However, as much as it was aiding him, time was also working against him. From what Mr. Holl explained during the waiting period, there would be a three-hour break before all four championship matches would be fought one after the other. Unless he beat Melody quickly, his daylight would be spent.

Of course, there first came the matter of defeating Melody, who, in terms of fighting style, was his antithesis. He'd been able to deal with Zach the day before, thanks to Oliver's direction and the lack of any mid-ranged techniques of his opponent. Melody, while having the same issue with ranged combat, had a Quirk that allowed her to get in close and evade even his most potent attacks. Thus, his most logical choice was to go at her with everything he had and wear down her stamina.

And that's what he did.

The second Ms. Whittaker started the match, he stomped the ground and swept his arm through the air in front of his chest. The shadows around his feet bent to his will and shot through the air like bullets toward his red-haired opponent. As he'd expected, the attack passed harmlessly through Melody's Wraith Form, but that didn't deter him. Damien clenched his hand into a fist and rose it towards the sky. Immediately, his Shadow Spears attack split, creating a web of shadows that completely engulfed his foe.

Even fifty feet away, he saw her blood-red eyes narrow in concentration before she sank into the ground. 'She's using that trick too much,' he mused. The web of shadows quickly shrunk back to its original size before Damien spread both his arms out, surrounding himself in the middle of a large black circle. 'This won't do much damage, but it should alert me the second she comes up. I've gotta keep the pressure up and create a chance to immobilize her.'

After a few moments of tense stillness, a chill went down his spine, and he spun around just as Melody emerged. Though her expression was difficult to read, he could tell she was surprised as the thin layer of shadow rose like an inky black wall around her. Predictably, she quickly phased through the obstacle and shifted back to her normal state. 'Now!' Damien closed his eyes and reached out, feeling a familiar tug in his chest. Melody hesitated in her charge and dove to the side to avoid two more barrages of black spears from her opponent. Once she landed, she glanced up and watched as Damien crashed his fists together.

His body felt as if it'd had just been submerged in ice-cold water. Instead of reacting in shock, however, Damien took several deep breaths and opened his eyes. 'With the sun at this angle, I've got more shadows than I've had all day. I've gotta be quick with this before the cold overwhelms me,' he thought, trying to ignore his trembling body and chattering teeth. As he rose his left arm, he felt the damn break. Due to the setting sun, half of the arena had been engulfed in the shade. Now, those shadows began to surge, rising into a fifteen-foot-tall black wave that swept forward, spreading across the entire battlefield.

Purpose of a Hero

"Holy shit!" Kira exclaimed, and she was not the only one. It seemed as if everyone in the student suite, including Damien's classmates, had been caught by surprise by the black maelstrom raging in the arena below. Andi turned in her seat and looked back at Oliver, surprised to see the look of confusion on his face. 'Even his teammate didn't know about this move? Talk about keeping it close to the vest.'

"I d-don't really like this technique," Diana grumbled as the arena's temperature dropped rapidly. Suddenly, someone placed a hand on her shoulder, and immediately a wave of warmth flowed throughout her body. She glanced over and was surprised to see Lyon standing beside her, though he paid little attention to her, his gaze focused on the battle below.

"It seems second-ranked in our year is not to be taken lightly. Very interesting."

Purpose of a Hero

Damien grimaced, glancing down at the black tendrils that were beginning to crawl up his leg slowly. He'd expected a move of this magnitude to have some adverse effects on him, but he'd hoped that his endurance would last a bit longer. 'Doesn't matter. Keep up the intensity. She can't keep this up forever.' He couldn't feel her moving in the storm, so she was either still in her Wraith form or underground again. Either way, he was cutting down on her durability.

Suddenly, he caught a flash of blue in his peripherals and turned just in time to watch Melody stumbled into the storm's eye. Her red eyes glared at him while her breath came in short, hollow-sounding intakes. Before she could shift again, however, Damien clenched his fist and let the storm rage closer, despite the risk of getting caught in it himself. Once again, his opponent disappeared into the dark.

Out of nowhere, he felt intense fatigue spread throughout his body, nearly bringing him to his knees. The storm around him faltered, a bit of blue sky poking through the black veil. 'Where the hell did that come from?'

A disturbance.

Something was wrong; he whipped around as fast as he could but saw only the swirling black cloud. The shadows crawling up his legs, seeming to sense his exhaustion, had reached his hips, cutting off all feeling from his lower half. A slight chill running down his spine alerted him to a displacement of shadows just a second too late. Melody's ghostly blue fist swung at him from within the vortex, making him tense up. She wanted to make him move, allow her space within the eye to get out of the maelstrom, and deactivate her Quirk; of this, he was certain.

Then, a surge of pain came from his right cheek, and he lost his footing, falling backward onto the arena floor. The storm surging around them finally began to dissipate, retreating towards the edges of the arena. Feeling returned to his lower half as the shadows creeping up his legs vanished. It took him just a brief moment to realize what had happened, and his head snapped up to look at his foe in shock. Melody was still in her Wraith form, yet she'd managed to make physical contact.

That's when he noticed her arm. Unlike the rest of her visible skin, which was stained a dark blue, her right arm was pale from the elbow down. It all clicked in his head, and he scrambled to his feet as she marched toward him. This time, when she struck, her leg changed back to normal, kicking him hard in his ribs, while her arm shifted to match the rest of her body.

With a grunt, he picked himself up out of the dirt and rose one hand toward the sky. A lasso of shadows shot up and wrapped around Melody's leg. When he tried to pull, hoping to knock her off her feet, the tendrils came back empty as she once again changed to her full Wraith form. Before he could recover, she was advancing on him with her fist reared back. Damien brought his arms up to guard his head against her haymaker, but her fist passed right through him. He was unable to contain his yelp of pain as her foot, once again, connected with his ribcage.

Perhaps it was due to the exertion he'd exhibited during his ultimate move or the fact that he'd been fighting for the past few days, but as he stumbled back, it felt as if all his strength had suddenly left him. However, as he fell to his knees, something odd happened. Melody, who'd been advancing towards him, stopped. Her eyes widened in surprise as the blue tone to her skin melted away, leaving her in just her normal state. For a moment, the two just stared at each other, equally bewildered at the turn of events.

Gathering the last of his power, Damien punched his fist forward. His shadow shot up from the ground like a cannon and slammed into Melody's stomach, throwing her halfway across the arena. She landed with a thud and, for what seemed like an eternity, lay on the ground, unmoving. Before Damien could celebrate, however, the redhead shakily got to her feet, glaring at him. All hope was lost. He barely had the strength to stand, let alone continue to fight.

Melody lumbered forward a few steps before gasping in pain, placing a hand against her temple. As Damien watched, bemused, his opponent fell to her knees and began shaking uncontrollably. The hand that was not pressed against her head reached up and began tugging desperately at the collar of her costume. For a brief instant, Melody looked up at him, with a grimace on her face and eyes betraying what he could only describe as agony. Damien glanced over at Ms. Whittaker and was surprised to see a glimmer of recognition pass over her before her expression turned hard, and she grabbed the walkie-talkie at her waist.

"Stay back, Erebus. Nurse Holl, we need –" She stopped as Melody heaved, and a trickle of black liquid dripped from her mouth. Whittaker swore and began rushing forward, barking orders into her walkie. As if she'd finally heard the referee, Melody looked up, and Damien felt his stomach somersault.

The bottom half of her face was melting away, already showing signs of starch-white bone. Her eyes were unfocused, locked in a thousand-yard stare even as Whittaker got within a dozen feet of her. Suddenly, though, the teacher stopped. For a brief time, she was still, but then she shuddered and collapsed into a heap. Melody didn't even notice her gaze now locked on some random point on the arena's dirt floor.

Even though he was running on fumes, Damien reached out with his shadow. The black mass surrounded Ms. Whittaker, and she promptly sank into the darkness. 'She has a heartbeat, thank god. What the hell did she do?' Whittaker's body rose from his shadow; it seemed like the best option he had considering how low his reserves were and the fact that he'd been unaffected by whatever had felled the former Pro Hero.

"Mel! Open the gate, dammit! Mel!" Nathan roared from behind the prep tunnel's gate, slamming his fists into the metal bars to no avail.

"How did he…" Damien held that thought, however, as when the ringing in his ears died down, he began to hear the quiet, pained whimpers from his opponent as she seemed to curl in on herself.

"Fulcrum!" The sound of Mr. Holl's voice booming throughout the arena only further shook Damien from his trance. Still exhausted, but somewhat more cognitive, he grabbed ahold of his fallen teacher and pulled them both down into his shadow. As always, his shadow was freezing, but the journey was instantaneous, and the two rose safely in the tunnel just behind Nathan, who was still banging on the bars.

"Damien! Get me out there now!" Nathan demanded as soon as he noticed the newcomers in the tunnel.

"No… no, way. I don't know what's going on, but going out there is too risky. Especially after what she did to a fully qualified Hero."

"I'm her friend! You can't expect me just to sit here, bastard. We have to help!"

"We can't, Nathan," Damien said firmly. If looks could kill, he'd already be six feet under from the glare Nathan leveled at him. His classmate snarled and turned back to slam his shoulder into the bars. He leaned back to repeat the action when he stopped in his tracks. Following his gaze, Damien found himself looking directly into Melody's eyes, filled with pain and panic. As they sat there, frozen, Melody threw her head back and screamed.

Purpose of a Hero

"You seem to be healing well enough, Mr. Mondronen. Your eardrums suffered the worst damage, so don't be surprised if your sense of balance is off for a few days and make sure to come into my office in three days to get your stitches taken out. Other than that, just rest for a few more hours, and I'll let you out to see the finals," Nurse Holl said, shining a flashlight in his right eye. Narruk barely registered anything she said; his mind was still a mess after losing control. 'It was like this back then too. He's still fighting for dominance, even more so now that he's had a taste.' The nurse frowned and moved the light over to his left eye. "You're not showing any signs of a concussion, but obviously, let me know if anyth–"

"Stay back, Erebus. Nurse Holl we need–" Leena's expression turned grim, and she set down her flashlight on the small nightstand. It was only after she had exited the room that the words seemed to click in Narruk's mind, breaking through the fog that had plagued him since his transformation. Faster than the blink of an eye, he leaped to his feet and sprinted into the hallway. He blitzed past Mrs. Holl, ignoring her warning cry, and nearly bowled over her poor assistant, Sophia. He skidded out of the infirmary into one of the stone preparation tunnels. The feeling of dread, which had been building over the past day and a half, finally reached a boiling point as he heard her scream.

He reached the iron gate separating him from the arena in record time. He glanced around desperately for a lever, or a switch, or even the creepy twin groundskeepers. There was nothing. With the echo of Melody's scream ringing in his ears, he grabbed hold of two of the bars and pulled with all his might. The bars creaked but didn't bend. Narruk swore loudly and struggled against the metal. His heart sank, and he cursed the damn iron bars, he cursed Clara for beating the shit out of him, most of all, he cursed himself for still being weak after everything that had happened. He knew he was stronger than this, the wolf, for all it had cost him, had granted him more natural strength than any fifteen-year-old boy should have.

Then it hit him. Ever since he'd gotten into the hallway, Alpha had begun to fight harder than ever. This in itself wasn't very surprising; however, something about this time was different. Its goal was to flee, not to fight. Alpha was fighting him every step of the way to get as far away from the arena as possible. Once again, the wolf was standing in his way. "No, you aren't stopping me. Not this time," he murmured dangerously, closing his eyes and trying to push Alpha's will back. For a brief second, the wolf wavered, and something in Narruk snapped. He let out an animalistic growl and yanked on the iron bars. However, this time, they gave no resistance, bending outwards until the gap was large enough for him to squeeze through. Without any more preamble, he slipped between the bars and stepped into the arena.

Being in the dark for nearly twenty-four hours, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the mid-afternoon sunlight, and when they did, they widened in alarm. She was alone. Sitting in the middle of the battlefield, surrounded by a thick gray fog, holding her face in her hands.

With his canine hearing, he could make out nearly inaudible whimpers and ragged breathing. He had no idea what caused her to turn and look up at him, whether it was just by chance or if she'd heard his footsteps, but the look in her eyes scared him more than anything. "Melody?"

"Narruk…" Her voice sounded hollow as if she were speaking in a large, empty space. The same black fog surrounding her body clung to the lower half of her face like a mask and behind that…

"Mel, you have to calm down." His words didn't seem to have any effect on her, as she just continued to stare at him.

"Narruk… what is this? What is this… please?" Narruk gulped and took a step forward, almost immediately regretting it when the effort to keep himself upright became too much, and he fell to one knee. The black fog swirled around him, lazily sapping his strength. Melody began making an odd, echo-y sound, and it slowly dawned on him that she was hyperventilating. Even though he could guess what was happening, it didn't mean he was prepared for her next scream. "Narruk… please? What is this? It… hurts!"

"Remember… remember what you've been teaching me. Don't give in. Find something to anchor yourself!" Narruk shouted though it appeared as if Melody couldn't hear him. The black fog became thicker and began wrapping itself around her head, obscuring her face and making her breathing even more labored. Her pale, shakily hands began to claw at her throat while her body started convulsing. Narruk tried to get back to his feet, only for the proverbial weight on his shoulders to triple. This time, Melody didn't even make a sound when she screamed, she simply threw her head back, and her skeletal jaw opened as far as it could go.

Suddenly, from somewhere over his shoulder, Narruk heard a loud crack, and a small, red dart sprouted from Melody's collarbone. She gasped for air a few more times before her already unfocused eyes closed, and she fell to the ground with a thud. As much as he wanted to run over and check on her, Narruk couldn't even summon the strength to stand, just barely managing to stay upright on his hands and knees. 'What the hell was that?' he thought wearily. With no small amount of effort, he turned his head right as a mountainous figure walked past him. His efforts to pick himself up doubled until he caught sight of the man's white apron and wiry red hair. "Mr. Halloway?"

"I should have known this day would come sooner than I expected. I'm so sorry, Melody." Narruk stared at the man as he gingerly scooped his daughter, now utterly devoid of the black fog and looking almost like herself again (her skin was much too pale and the black circles around her eyes, which were not there when she'd come to visit, worried him). If it were not for Mrs. Holl kneeling beside him, he might have questioned how a civilian had broken through some of the most intense security in the world and gotten onto the field. He didn't have the willpower to ask, nor did he object when Castor and Pollux finally appeared and, once again, rolled him onto a stretcher when it became clear he couldn't walk himself back to the infirmary.

As they carried him off, he managed to turn his head just in time to catch one final glimpse of Carlyle retreating down the opposite tunnel, a still unconscious Melody curled up in his arms looking much frailer than he'd seen in the three months they'd known each other. He supposed it was a good thing she'd stubbornly decided to help him with his Quirk. Now, at least, they had a starting point to help her with her own.

Melody Halloway

U. S. A. E. I. Freshman

Quirk: Unknown

Purpose of a Hero

So I've had this chapter in my head since I started this story. Hasn't changed too much over the last two year but regardless, hope you guys enjoyed. Next chapter will be the last of the tournament but not the end of this arc. Still got three more followup chapters to go.

Some good news: I adopted a kitten recently! She's a complete and utter spazoid but she makes up for it by being adorable. Alright, onto the preview.

Next time on the Purpose of a Hero

Chapter 46: Champions