Batman
The hero, Hawks, was trailing Batman overhead. Bruce overheard him yelling over his earpiece, signaling to Aizawa about his position and where he was headed. That was a mistake letting Hawks get an eye on Batman, one Bruce planned on resolving for any future instances that could occur.
He slammed his heels on the ground, skidding to a halt and facing the winged hero. The hero smiled, lowering himself slowly.
"Did you realize just how impossible it is to lose me?"
Bruce narrowed his gaze, letting his cape fall around him. He didn't speak.
"Listen, I don't think either of us want this to end up ugly. Just return what you took, and we can still talk about this." The foreign hero lowered even further, eventually landing on the rooftop around three meters away from him.
He fell for it. The vigilante looked up, only one eye visible from the little bit of light that made it on the rooftop, revealing his eye had no pupil. This apparently made him nervous, which created a small window of vulnerability.
"No, we can't." Hands emerged from the cape, small balls accelerating at Hawks feet.
They struck, and before Hawks had time to react, smoke dispersed around him. The formula wasn't simply a smoke screen, he knew that would only end poorly, so he replaced it with a tear gas formula to daze his enemies further. This instance was where this change of formula came in handy most. Hawks couldn't breath enough to move his body in a way that used his full strength, so he couldn't fly, leaving him on the ground. This opened the small window he once had as wide as a garage door.
Bruce rushed in, striking the hero's right shoulder, releasing his arm that reflexively held his diaphragm and allowing Bruce to jab it three times. Any wind he had in him was now fully gone, so the vigilante swiped his leg under the man then grabbed his head. He followed through, sending Hawks to the ground, unconscious and with the ground below him slightly cratered.
Hawks was down.
Bruce knelt down, picking up the earpiece and listening in.
Eraserhead broke through the other side, speaking in Japanese, "Hawks, where are you now?"
Batman responded in the same language, the growl still present, "He's on Dini Tower. Don't follow."
He threw the earpiece on the downed hero's chest, then ran to the rooftop edge overlooking the street, in a different direction than he was moving in before. He stepped forward, opening his cape and gliding over the cars below.
Halfway to the other side of the street, the police cars came speeding through. They definitely saw him, as they turned on the street parallel to the direction he was headed. Batman landed on the rooftop, sliding forward before diving into a roll and burst forward to keep his momentum. He was about halfway past the rooftop before he heard a familiar voice yell at him to stop.
Batman pulled his grapnel gun out, shooting upwards at a rooftop that was four stories higher and a little off to the left of him. He jumped off the roof once he reached the edge, but rather than repelling up to the top, he let himself swing towards another building. He landed on the side, running forward and pressing a button on the gun to cut off the line once he was at the apex of the run. He jumped off the side, placing the gun at his belt and grabbed his cape so he could reach the rooftop across from the parking lot below. He didn't stop once he landed, going with the assumption that Aizawa was following behind somehow.
Bruce kept on his way, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. He turned around, finding that Aizawa was nowhere behind him. That wasn't right!
Bruce sidestepped, rolling across the ground, dodging the heel that came from the teacher from above. He threw two shuriken, which the dark pro hero attempted to dodge. The first whizzed past easily enough, but the second managed to hit him in the left shoulder. It was dull, so it only deterred his balance, but he recovered by leaning into the direction he stumbled in and running towards the vigilante.
Aizawa threw a right jab forward, which was avoided by the opponent leaning back. The opponent grabbed the teacher's arm with his left hand, spinning the right side forward and reaching for a kick to Aizawa's left knee. It landed but he recovered as a cloth tendril launched forward, attempting to catch the vigilante. Bruce sidestepped and earned the tendrils nothing but air. Bruce rotated behind Eraserhead, which he grabbed around the waist and pulled back, attempting to land the teacher on his head. Said teacher elbowed the boy in the head, but it resulted in no change, so he struck again on the other side, this time landing a blow between his neck and shoulder.
Bruce let go halfway through, throwing the man instead and sending him inside an old office building. The vigilante knew he had to incapacitate the foreigner before getting away, so he jumped after him.
The teacher was just getting on his feet as Batman moved through the cubicle isles. Aizawa lost sight of him, an when he rounded the same corner Batman moved through he seemed to have vanished. Little did he know that the boy had found a ventilation grate to duck into. He began to walk forward, looking for any sign of him. Step by step, as the glass beneath his boots crunched. This was how Batman kept track of him, those sounds would be his end.
As the tired hero walked over him, Bruce took a deep, silent breath. One step away. Two steps. Three!
He jumped up, emerging from the grate and meeting the hero who was just turning around. He slammed into the teacher's back with a booted heel, sending him through two cubicles and destroying the desks! The vigilante jumped again, letting his cape expand as he fell and raised his right fist. As he landed over the hero, his fist slammed down, but met a keyboard which was broken in half into the desk below it as the teacher slid down and behind Batman. The Bat was kicked in the lower back as a result.
He rolled over the next cubicle, regaining his footing before redirecting a punch from the teacher, then blocked an elbow, then another full punch, then a knee. Bruce kept hold of the knee, pulling it upwards and sending his own knee towards the man's crotch! The teacher jumped, catching the knee with his foot then used the knee to jump and twist and just barely was able to reach the head of his adversary with his now free foot. This, too, was caught and the vigilante pushed forward, slamming the man into the ground and winding him.
It wasn't enough. Bruce threw another punch at Aizawa's face, but he rolled away from the strike and the cloth tendrils wrapped around the Batman's head.
Batman stepped back, taking hold of the cloth and tried to rip it off but was thrown across the room before he got the chance. This released the tendrils and freed him, but he slammed against the wall behind him.
Aizawa went on the offense again, lunging forward and jabbing at the head of the Bat. The defender dodged, knocking the hand away. The other hand went up for an attempt to uppercut, but that was blocked and one of Batman's hands went up and landed square on the offender's chin. He was sent back, which gave Bruce enough room for a full kick directly to his gut.
Surprisingly, Aizawa grabbed the foot as he was hit. In response, Bruce turned and pushed the teacher to the left. The leg hit the wall, but the person went through a door to the office room, breaking it down. The Bat pushed through, spun around the frame and sent a knee towards the man.
Peculiarly, he lifted his head and just stared at the vigilante at first, his hair beginning to flare up and his eyes glowing red. Bruce followed through, landing his strike and sending the man at least twenty meters down the hall via the force of the knee alone! The teacher picked his head back up, blood rushing down his nose now and a look of surprise on his face. He stumbled up, gritting his teeth.
Batman was the first to speak, lowering his head, "You tried disabling my quirk."
"Yeah, and it looks like it wasn't super strength."
"You read the paper?"
"Once. You?"
"No."
Batman swung both hands forward, shuriken being thrown forward. This time, Aizawa easily dodged both, ducking under both projectiles and smirking at the vigilante.
"You missed."
The vents above him snapped from two unnoticed shuriken and fell down, smacking Aizawa in the face and were suddenly pushed against him as Bruce drop kicked the vents into the teacher's face. Both the vents and the teacher were sent back even further down the hall and landed him on his back. Aizawa was really getting annoyed at this point. He pushed himself up and peered over the now-fallen vents to find the Bat standing over him.
"Shit." The teacher quickly remarked.
An uppercut landed on Aizawa again, sending him to his feet when he rolled over his back and landed. Bruce jumped over the ventilation, sending a kick downwards, and just barely missing the tired man. The teacher sent a strike, which was redirected and was returned with a strike to the gut. That return was also dodged by the teacher and two tendrils were sent towards the vigilante. One was grabbed and the other was cut midway through using the blades on the underside of Bruce's gauntlet.
The Bat charged forward, headbutting the teacher and picking him up by the back of the belt. He kept charging until he hit the elevator door, punching him in the gut as they hit the door. Another strike was pushed towards the man's face, but it was evaded and the strike hit the elevator door with enough force to knock it out of place! Eraserhead pushed forward with both hands against Batman's core, pushing him back. This strike, however, also knocked the hero into the door which gave in to the force. The hero fell backwards with the door, gravity taking it's course.
Dammit! The boy cursed himself, I should have been ready for that strike. At the very least, I should have been ready to catch him before he fell!
"Aizawa!" The door he fell through was shoved to the side as Batman jumped through, diving downwards with one hand outstretched towards the hero and another hand at his side. Bruce grabbed the hero, pulling out his grapnel gun which hadn't had the spare hook placed yet. He let the gun go, grabbing his cape with that hand, forcing it to take shape and stiffen. Their descent slowed, and though by his calculations they would survive, it was still going to hurt. As they reached the bottom, Bruce tucked himself under Aizawa, the cape still maintaining it's shape so as to continue to slow their descent.
They struck the ground, both panting and Bruce's back aching. He pushed the hero off him, attempting to stand and regain composure. A second later, the gun he had let go landed next to his feet, relatively unscathed. He crouched down, picking up the gun. As Bruce tried to straighten his back, he heard a small pop which made him wince. But he powered through, not letting the teacher notice any amount of pain or weakness from him. The billionaire looked down to the gun, pulling out the spare hook and replacing it on the end for use.
The hero, who was still on the ground, looked up at the man in the cape and cowl, the frown gone from his face, "You saved me. Why?"
"I don't kill. Besides," Batman twisted the hook on the end of the gun, finally looking down at Aizawa, "You're just trying to do the right thing. So am I."
The teacher finally got a good look at his face through the red emergency lights of the elevator shaft. He was young, and by the man's experience he would guess he was still in school. This made him chuckle before letting his head hit the metal floor.
"What's so funny?"
The teacher looked up, "Why don't you join a hero academy?"
The boy looked down, caught off guard by the comment. "I couldn't."
"Why not?"
"I'm no hero."
"Not yet, but if you go to U.A. you could be."
"What are you saying?"
The hero stood up, holding out a hand and returning to his bored expression, "You beat me in a fight and saved me at the same time. Not many could say they could do the first part, especially not one-on-one. You have great potential." The boy remained unfazed by the compliment, "I want to invite you to U.A. Academy as my recommendation, Batman. Then, you could return to Gotham City a full-fledged hero and with how lax America's laws are with crime fighting, you'd be able to do everything you're doing now without the police interference."
The boy lowered his head, "Do you know who was importing those drugs?"
The hero's hand went down, confusion making its way to his face, "No, I don't."
"Carmine Falcone, he's the crime boss that runs this city, including people in government. I've been following his case for about three weeks now, and I'm close to ending it." Batman turned away from Eraserhead before looking over his shoulder to him again, "I can't leave until I at least take him out in a way that keeps him behind bars."
Eraserhead placed a hand on Bruce's shoulder, "Then let me help you."
He turned around, "How?"
"Those imports are from Japan, and are just as illegal over there as they are here. However, this means he's dealing with crimes across waters. He's liable for international crimes now. If we can find a direct correlation with these dealings you can get that sentence." Eraserhead nodded, "That's something only I can do, having temporary Japan Representation of our laws. It will make this a lot easier on you, and I'll keep tabs with you on everything I find."
The boy turned away, then looked up, aiming the gun at the elevator above. He turned his head over his shoulder, "You investigate the botany lab upstate. It's run by a Doctor Pamela Ivy. I'll hit the Narrows." He looked back up, shooting the gun and latching onto something solid, "If we can convict Falcone and the corrupt officials, I'll join your academy."
The boy was suddenly sent upwards, being pulled by the hook reel until even to Aizawa's trained eye, he seemingly vanished into the darkness.
Diana
The Amazonian eventually got fed up with waiting for the inevitable nothing to happen. It was time to sneak out of the police station. First, however, she needed her things.
It was the middle of the day when she decided to go, but it was a hot day and she wanted some fresh air that wasn't at the rooftop of the Musutafu Police Department building. So, she got up from the bench and began her way down the hall.
"Um, Prince?" the clerk made his presence known. She turned to him, "Where are you going?"
"I'm relieving myself."
The clerk shrugged, turning back to his computer screen, "Alright, take your time."
She frowned, beginning her way down the hall.
I could have just asked to get my things and leave? Why had they not told me so? She pondered as she got a drink at the drinking fountain before walking past the bathrooms.
She marched past the interrogation rooms, towards the place her sword and lasso were being kept. The worst part about the police station, in her mind was the smell. It always smelled like those cigarettes the adults always put to their mouths, and the further in you got the stronger the stench became.
The walls past the lobby turned to a white color rather than the browns and oranges that made up said lobby. Though it was white, it only made all the little pieces of litter seem that much more prominent. It was as she was passing the vending machines that a pink and fluffy woman in her police uniform stopped her.
The woman leaned over, "Prince, what are you doing heading that way?"
"Don't worry, I got permission from Hayashi." She pointed to the vending machine, "Getting a water?"
The woman looked to her left, then to her right, then leaned in close to the girl, "I'm using today as my cheat day. Don't let any of the other girls know I drank a soda, they would be furious!"
Diana gave a piece sign with her fingers and a wink, "Don't worry, my lips are sealed."
The woman giggled to herself and the princess carried along her merry way. She eventually got to the storage room where a person would usually be stationed to deal with everything. This time however, no one was there. She put her hands on her hips and puffed one of her cheeks, looking around and thinking about what she should do. There was one idea that came to mind, but there was no way it would work.
Despite her assumptions that the door wouldn't just be open, she still tried anyways. But the police officers wouldn't leave such an important room like this unlocked, that would be a dangerous oversight that in some cases could lead to-.
The door opened.
She put her hand on her face, rubbing her temples, "I can't believe these are the people protecting the citizens."
That wasn't exactly true, the Pro Heroes were also protecting people in their own ways. She shook those thoughts out of her head.
Either way, she walked inside and began looking around for her things. It didn't take long, as everything was in alphabetical order. Once she had her things, she slid the tub back in place and began marching in the opposite direction of the lobby towards the nearest exit. No one was there to stop her as she opened the doors leading out towards the parking lot, taking a breath of fresh air before taking off in a full sprint, heart full of joy as she took in the Summer heat!
As she ran, she kept asking herself what she wanted to do. She came up on a bus stop, looking at the ad that was plastered on it. It was an ad for sunscreen with a picture of a family playing at a pool.
"They look like they're having fun!" Diana decided to go to the beach.
Clark Kent
The sound of a loud crash woke up the son of Krypton in a start. He shot out of bed, looking around the house with his x-ray vision for any sign of trouble, then towards the barn. Nothing.
"Okay, Clark. Calm down, it's nothing immediate." He took a deep breath and peeked outside, peering over the horizons visible to him. Still, nothing. He closed his eyes, listening closer at the sounds.
It was almost like a wind now, but more aggressive. "A fire?" Then he siphoned for whatever was close to that, anything he could identify. Then he heard it, like a robotic scream over and over the alarm sounded! "The school!"
He jumped out of his window, pushing himself up and into the air before turning around and looking towards the direction of the school. It didn't look like it was on fire, but he heard what he heard. He pushed his hands forward, bursting him through the air! As he approached, his ETA seemed to be roughly fifteen seconds. The closer he got, the more apparent the fire seemed to get.
He stopped right above the school before circling it, searching for people inside the with his x-ray vision. He counted four people, two boys in the gym, one girl in the cafeteria and the principal in his office. The single staff member was unconscious, but the others were awake for the moment.
Clark lowered himself to the ground so fast his bare feet cratered the pavement. He felt nothing as he walked towards the debris and began climbing in. He pushed through the debris effortlessly, breaking it down like it were cardboard as he made his way through the flames. Once on the other side, he picked himself off the ground and flew forward towards the principal's office! When he got to the door, he rammed through, finding the man still out cold.
Clark rushed forward and behind his desk, seeing no debris around him. With a sigh, the alien picked up the man and went back the same way he came in, making sure to act as a shield as he burst through the main entrance.
The principal was slipping in and out of sleep but was coherent enough to make a sentence. "M-my daughter… Save my… girl…"
With a nod, he flew through the new hole he made, heading towards the cafeteria where the girl was. The doorway he met was open, but there was a barrier of fire between him and the girl! Clark cupped his hands over his mouth.
"Hey! Principle's daughter! You okay?"
The girl was sobbing, but she managed to shout, "My-my leg! I'm… I'm stuck and it hurts!"
"Don't worry, I'll get you out!" He rose above the flames before yelling again, "It's about to get really chilly here in a second, bear with me!"
Clark took a deep breath, then released his lungs with his mouth constricting the air flow. The amount being released and the volume it was being released in turned the air that once was reaching unbearable heats was now a freezing cold, striking down on the source of the flames and putting it out. Once the line of flames was out, he rushed forward, finding the girl who looked to be in the second grade on the ground with a small vent on her leg.
He moved down, tossing the vent aside with ease and picking her up bridal style. "Is this comfortable for you?"
The girl nodded as she held onto him. He rushed out of the school again, this time a bit slower than he moved with the principal, but he was out of the school in no time. He placed her on the ground with the now conscious principal. Once she was on solid ground, she was embraced by her father.
Kal-El rose, "Be careful with her leg," He used his x-ray vision on her leg, "Keep it straight, she sprained her knee but otherwise is okay."
He turned back to the school, bursting back inside and making his way to the gym swiftly! He didn't bother with the doors, bursting through and catching the boys standing in the center of the room with fire all around them. One of the boys saw Clark and began to wave at him.
"Hey, what's your quirk? Can you help us?"
They were both wearing dark clothes, the jeans being ripped and one of them even sporting a leather jacket.
The Kryptonian shook his head, "Definitely the culprits." He opened his mouth to answer them, but he was interrupted by a loud crash above. The roof of the gym collapsed, the entire ceiling heading right toward the boys! Clark rushed forward, ignoring the flames around him as they licked and scorched his t-shirt and sweatpants. He began to angle himself upwards slightly, so by the time he reached the debris, his was still a whole person above the boys. This debris was heavier than anything he'd ever lifted before!
He managed to keep it up, however, and took a deep breath like he had done before. When he released, he spun around, being sure the get as much of the flames as he could. This wasn't helping him, however, as his work was almost immediately being undone as flames crept right back after he took them out. He let out a groan, thinking about another way out. He looked up, trying his best to think and to keep the ceiling from crashing. Then he noticed the rope climb as it burned all the way up and turned to ash.
He turned to the boys with a smile, who were staring at him in awe, "You two, grab onto my legs! Like the rope climb!"
They didn't waste any time, latching onto Clark because their lives depended on it. He began to rise again, taking the ceiling with him as he continued to rise. His altitude rose until he was well above the rest of the school. Then, he tossed the ceiling into the air so that it was as high above him as it would be if he was standing in the room it was made for. He then grabbed the two arsonists with his hands before rushing down and past where the ceiling would land as it came crashing down!
It was a close call, but Clark and the two boys managed to squeeze between the flames and the ceiling!
When he landed by the other two survivors, the fire fighters had arrived as well as police officers and a local hero who had major bedhead. Her outfit was what you'd expect from a farm girl, except her flannel shirt was tied up so her belly and chest were more visible. All of them stared at Clark in awe as he let go of the two boys, nodding towards them.
"These two are the ones that started the fire, I believe." Nodding to the police officers.
They looked at the boys, who were crying on their knees, "We didn't think anyone was here, we never wanted to hurt anyone." One of the boys announced.
The other boy nodded but he didn't say anything.
The hero placed her hands on her hips, which had a single boxing glove tied at either side of her. "Say, what's your name, kid."
"Oh, I'm Clark Kent, ma'am."
"Well, Clark, that was an amazin' stunt you just pulled, savin' two youngsters from bein' crushed by a gymnasium! But don'tcha reckon' yer a bit on the snifflin' side right about now?"
Sniffling? He looked down, and immediately he sped off behind the cover of the police cruiser. His clothes had almost burned off completely! His underwear was the only thing that wasn't burnt to a crisp. He was just happy it wasn't any embarrassing underwear. His face was red as he peered up, "U-um, is it okay if I headed home?"
The officers nodded and the alien gave a thumbs up before bursting into the air and speeding home fast enough that no one could catch another glimpse of his boxers.
"Great job, Clark. Your first rescue and you go an embarrass yourself like that." The boy cursed at himself as he climbed through his window and searched for some new clothes.
Diana
She wasn't even to the beach when the smell of sea salt filled the air. She was literally floating on her way to it when she saw the watery horizon! As she approached, she only imagined what kinds of fun would be had! Then she saw the shoreline. Then the sand. Then disappointment.
Not only was there no one on the beach, but there were heaps of junk scattered across it as if it were a junk yard!
When she finally reached the railing separating her from the beach, she slammed her foot on the ground with a thud, "This is a blight on this beautiful view! How could anyone let this happen?"
She realized that there was no one to answer her questions, as instead she began tracing the railing, simply watching the junk as it sat and sizzled in the sun. A sigh quickly rolled out of her mouth as she sat on the railing, looking off into the direction of the sea.
"There goes the refreshing air I wanted." She looked up at the sky, placing a hand in front of her eyes to block out the sun which was now headed towards the sea's end. "Perhaps there's a garden somewhere with bottles planted in the pots, too."
Her moping was interrupted by the sound of someone tumbling on the sand to her right. She quickly jumped up, floating towards the thud where a familiar head of green, curly hair was picking himself up along with a rope connected to a refrigerator. As he got up, he began to pull the rope and the appliance with him in the direction of a truck with much more junk in the back of it.
Diana couldn't help but feel a giddy in her step as she rushed down! She landed behind the appliance, grabbing it and lifting it above her head, a smile on her face. The boy turned around quickly, his face filled with shock.
"Midoriya! I knew your heart was strong!" She began to walk forward, letting go of the fridge with one hand and wrapping it around the green head of hair for a hug, "Don't worry, friend, I'll help you preserve the beauty of the ocean view!"
"P-P-Prince!? W-what are y-you doing here?!" The boy recoiled, waving his hands around trying to figure out what exactly was happening.
"I wanted some fresh air, but when I got outside I felt so free and alive that I wanted to go to the beach! However, I had not realized it was such a mess." She grinned widely again, slamming her hand above her chest over her heart, "But fear not, we will conquer this landfill and have our seaside fun!"
She began to run forward, but Midoriya shouted out, "W-wait, don't do that!"
She turned around, one eyebrow cocked, "What is wrong, friend?"
He walked forward, fiddling with his fingers, "W-well, it's j-just that I, uh, need that because I'm d-doing something very important with t-that, you know? And I have to pull it from the landfill t-to the truck. It's not that I don't appreciate the help, I-I'm really – uh – really touched that you want to help, b-believe me…" The stammering took a few more seconds before another voice intervened.
"What the young lad means," Diana turned around, coming face to face with a deathly skinny man with long, yellow hair that was somewhat familiar as well, though she couldn't put her finger on it. He had a white t-shirt and green cargo pants on over a pair of sneakers. "Is that he's trying to train with the appliances as he cleans the beach." The man began to chuckle, "Though, I have to admit, your eagerness to restore this beach is quite refreshing."
"Oh, is that so?" She turned to her green-haired friend, walking down and placing the fridge where she left it and even retied the rope around the fridge. She turned back to Midoriya, lifting her arm and flexing it with a grin, "I believe in your efforts, Midoriya! You have a warrior's heart, and with that anything can be accomplished."
The man nodded, crossing his arms with a smile, "That is one sentiment I can agree with." He turned to her, "I never introduced myself, I'm Toshinori Yagi, I'm training Midoriya." The man held out a hand.
The girl took his hand and gave it a shake with a friendly smile on her face, "My name is Diana, Princess of Themyscira, a pleasure to meet you Yagi."
She turned back to the green-haired boy, who was struggling to pull the fridge, but was still making progress little by little. For that, she could only sit back and feel sympathy for his efforts. The girl sat on the sand where it was clean of debris, watching as he put everything into his training of pushing garbage. The man training him sat next to the princess, joining her in overseeing him work.
The man eventually joined the silence between the two, "You're pretty strong, young lady. That, combined with your flying you seem to do, your future seems very bright."
The girl nodded, turning to him, "I would hope so, I am planning on becoming a hero, after all."
"Oh? You mean U.A.?"
She nodded, staring at the blue sky, "That is where you go so you can help others freely, right? Then that's what I need to do in order to help mankind!"
The man smiled, nodding to her, "That is true. There, every future hero has the chance to get proper training and opportunities to become the best them they can be."
The girl looked at Midoriya, "Are you going to attend U.A. too, Midoriya?"
The boy almost fell on his face, just barely catching himself on the sand front of him before rising to his feet again and turning to her, "U-um, yeah, I w-was planning on it."
She held a thumb up with a smile on her face, "I believe you can do it, even without a quirk to speak of!"
The boy stood there, staring at her blankly before snapping back to reality, "U-u-um, right! Yeah! T-t-thank you, that, uh, means a lot!"
Izuku got back to pulling, sweat rolling down the side of his face. She looked to the man, who was already reeled back. She cocked her head to the side, confused as to why both of them had such a reaction. Especially Izuku, considering she defended him when the other heroes were lecturing him about running into a fight with a villain. Even still, she's said it before and she believed what she said to her core, that boy had the right spirit to do what it takes to become a hero, no matter what.
All he had to do was believe in himself as much as she believed in him.