This new dog is a biter, haha
Anyways, please enjoy this chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Everything was not great for Kevin.
Another hit collided with Kevin's stone form, sparks flying off from the hit. What hit him was, oddly enough, an auger drill, one of those spiral drills you see on excavator vehicles. The drill's engine revved as its owner stepped forward, each step thundering in the stone chamber Kevin found himself in.
After he was teleported by Sunny, he found himself in another barely decorated room, like the one that Amijiki fought three of the Eight Bullets in. Of course, when his opponent decided to announce his presence, he did it in the usual way, sucker-punching Kevin with what seemed to be an excavator claw.
"Using a kid as a source of income, harvesting them to make a quick buck...it figures you'd be here," Kevin sneered.
"Oh come on Levin," Vulkanus said as he came to stop, "You act like it was a traumatic experience!"
"It kinda was!" Kevin countered, "You tried to mine me!"
"I meant for me," the Detrovite mobster shrugged. Of course, even Vulkanus wasn't stupid enough to keep the same technology as he had all those years ago. The suit he dubbed his "Mining Rig" had been reinforced with the same metal used in starship construction, doonium. The rig, which usually had a rust-red color scheme, sported a green coloration now thanks to the new material. The excavator claw fist and the auger drill bit were part of his weapons suite, just to really fit with his aesthetic.
Kevin growled. "How much Psyphon promise you if you did his dirty work?"
"Enough tadens to buy a summer home on Andesite." Vulkanus smirked. "I don't care about the Hassaikai or whatever...but as long as the room keeps singing. That's just the business I'm in."
Kevin snarled. "You make me sick," he spat, charging forward with a mighty punch aimed at Vulkanus' head. Vulkanus merely chuckled, sidestepping Kevin's attack and delivering a powerful blow to his back with his auger drill. Kevin grunted in pain, stumbling forward as he felt the drill pierce his stone skin.
"Is that all you've got, Levin?" Vulkanus taunted, revving up his drill for another attack. "Don't tell me your stupid kid made you go soft..."
"You're one to talk. How many upgrades did you shove into that suit? How many are you gonna just rely on?" Kevin countered, "After all, once you're outta that suit, how much of a fight can you put up?"
"Hahahaha! See, I always liked you Kevin. May not see eye to eye, but I can always appreciate the banter." Vulkanus chuckled, but his eyes narrowed as he prepared for another attack. "But talk is cheap. Let's see if you can back it up!"
He charged forward, his drill whirring as he swung it towards Kevin's head. But Kevin was ready this time, dodging the attack and landing a solid punch on Vulkanus' chest. Vulkanus stumbled back, giving Kevin a chance to shift materials. He pulled out some iron he had in his pocket, and quickly absorbed it. His stone skin turned into hardened iron.
Kevin clenched his fists, ready for another round of combat. He charged forward, his iron skin deflecting the blows from Vulkanus' drill. He landed a few solid punches on Vulkanus' armor, but it seemed to barely make a dent.
"You're going to have to do better than that," Vulkanus taunted. "My mining rig is the toughest around."
"Good to know," Kevin muttered, a plan immediately forming in his head. He dodged a few more heavy swings from the alien crime boss, taking advantage of any opening he found and landing some good swings on the Detrovite. The hits were landing, but no damage was being dealt. He just needed to make it look like he was just throwing punches at a brick wall.
Kevin continued to fight, he slowly started backing away towards the wall behind him. Vulkanus, sensing that he was gaining the upper hand, pursued him relentlessly, swinging his auger drill with deadly precision. But Kevin was too quick for him, dodging each attack and countering with his own strikes.
On the last swing, Vulkanus reared his auger drill back and revved the engine. Kevin smirked and dodged under the drill, letting it dig right into the wall behind him. With a quick kick, Kevin forced the drill even further into the wall, pinning Vulkanus in place.
"The hell-?" the alien black-marketer gasped as he tried to pull his arm free. The Osmosian hero just punched the rig's elbow and undid any progress his enemy made.
"You really thought you'd be a problem? For me?" Kevin scoffed, "Maybe a few decades ago, if you got lucky, but not today." He ducked under a wild backhand swing from the Detrovite before putting his hand to the back of the mining rig and absorbing the doonium it was made from. Much like his iron form, the green metal slid over Kevin, covering him complete in his own personal starship hull-level armor.
"See what I mean?" Kevin smirked.
"Ohhhhh crap," Vulkanus muttered, looking over his shoulder. Kevin gave a shrug that just screamed "sorry, not sorry" before he unleashed a flurry of punches into the criminal's back. While steel or any earthly metal wouldn't have really done much against the current rig's plating, doonium was devastating. Each punch that connected left another dent in the plating, soon leaving Vulkanu's suit with more divots than there were asteroid craters on the moon. To finish it off, Kevin gave one last massive front jab, the power behind it crushing the auger-equipped arm like a tin can at the bottom of the ocean.
"And I just got that ARM!" Vulkanus called out before he crashed through the wall.
"A long time ago, you tried to profit off of MY body because of MY quirk." Kevin frowned. "And even though I didn't fully deserve it at the time, Ben came to save me. No one should have to live through what I went through- and the fact you thought you could support this again, without running into me?!"
Kevin's fist embiggened.
"You're a real IDIOT if you thought otherwise."
With one final punch, Kevin sent Vulkanus flying through the wall and out into the open. The alien crime lord's suit sputtered and sparked, clearly beyond repair. Kevin stood there for a moment, watching as Vulkanus's body twitched and sputtered.
"And I just...fucking got this thing...polished," Vulkanus groaned as he seemed to fall unconscious.
"There's more important things than money." Kevin scoffed, stepping out of the hole. Where was he? It looked like the first floor, given the wooden floor beneath his feet. And where was Alan?
Alan had been teleported once or twice. It tickled. Sunny's teleportation spell was different. This one...hurt. As Alan's body materialized in a new location, he immediately doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach.
"What the hell was that?!" He gasped, struggling to catch his breath. He weakly stood back up, and looked around. It looked like he was still in the Hassaikai base, just...in a courtyard area. Alan looked around the courtyard, taking in the sights and sounds. The architecture was definitely different from what he was used to, with ornate pagodas and delicate gardens surrounding him. He could hear the sound of running water from a nearby fountain, and the chirping of birds in the trees.
It was too nice...Was it a trap?
"I'm...back outside?" Alan asked aloud, mostly in disbelief. He still knew the way down, though, so it wasn't like it was a big deal. He could just retrace his steps and catch up with the others, no problem. He made his way to try and find the way back, but he was interrupted when the sound of a roaring engine caught his attention. He dove out of the way of a massive, almost alien-bird shaped vehicle.
"Wait a minute...a...glider?" Alan asked.
Alan looked back up to see the person riding the glider- a hulking, humanoid alien, with grey skin. He wore a black, overall-like outfit with red trim. He wore a metallic mask with two black indentations around both of his eyes, long, white hair and a black trim around his face. He also carried a giant axe on his back.
The alien touched down on the ground, his glider folding up neatly behind him. He turned to face Alan, who was still recovering from the shock of almost being run over.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" the alien said, his voice deep and gravelly. "You don't look like one of the Hassaikai's lackeys."
I've seen this guy before. Alan thought. When I was browsing through some of the criminal records at the Bellwood base, I think I saw this guy...
"S-sunder, right?" Alan stood up straight, eyeing the alien warily.
The alien chuckled, the sound low and menacing. "Ah, so you know who I am. Saves me the trouble of introducing myself." He stepped closer to Alan, who took a step back. "What are you doing here?"
"Crazy story- got warped away. I don't want any trouble-"
"Too late." Sunder said, grabbing ahold of his axe. "Better be careful...if anything even happens to him, Overhaul might just kill you worse than I will."
"Him?" Alan repeated.
Sunder sighed, realizing he's said too much. Instead of answering, he just snapped his fingers and the glider flashed red. It turned, seemingly gaining a bit of autonomy, began to fire at Alan on its own. Sunder began to walk over without much care as Alan dodged the laser blasts coming from the glider. The alien mercenary brought out his main weapon and activated it, a small capsule that extended into a full on energy battle-axe.
Alan quickly backed away from the glider and put up a defensive stance as Sunder approached him with his energy battle-axe. He knew he had to be careful; this alien seemed like a skilled fighter.
"You should leave now if you don't want to get hurt," Sunder said, swinging his axe in a warning gesture. "I don't have time for pointless battles with insignificant Earthlings."
"Insignificant?!" Alan said, as he entered his Pyronite form.
"Oh. Alright, let me rephrase," Sunder said, "Insignificant half-breeds." Sunder's glider continued to rain down fire as the hired thug got closer. Alan dove out of the way of another barrage, just Sunder wanted him to. The alien raised his weapon in the air, ready to strike, only for Alan to see that coming. He fired off a line of flames at the retriever that blinded him for a brief moment.
Of course, Alan was nowhere near affected by his own power, so he just leapt through the flames and began his assault. Flames roared from his fists and he took the first swing at Sunder. The hunter brought up his energy axe to block the strike, letting the energy of the blade ripple like water from being hit. Again and again, Alan struck out, each hit being blocked by Sunder's axe.
Sunder gritted his teeth as he tried to keep up with Alan's fast movements. The half-breed was much more agile than he anticipated, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to land a hit on him. However, Sunder also noticed that Alan's attacks lacked power. He was relying too much on speed and fire, but his punches and kicks didn't have enough force to break through Sunder's defenses.
Sunder decided to take advantage of this weakness. He swung his axe in a wide arc, forcing Alan to jump back to avoid the attack. Sunder then charged forward, using his size and strength to his advantage. He swung his axe down at Alan, who barely managed to block the attack with his flaming fists.
Sunder grinned when Alan did that.
"Big mistake."
Sunder's axe cut through Alan's hands like butter. Alan YELLED- he expected a fountain of blood to gush out from his hands, like an over dramatic movie. But the pain faded seconds after.
"W-where the hell..." Alan asked, looking down at his arms. "Are my arms!?"
In place of where Alan's arms would be, there was now two 'red holes'. Alan swore he could still feel his arms, moving and grasping around for something.
"You know me, yes? Then I assume you know of my axe, the Interdimensional Cleaver?" Sunder smirked.
Alan winced. C-crap, that's right...his axe can cut something, and send it to another dimension!
Sunder chuckled as he saw the realization dawn on Alan's face. "Yes, that's right," he said. "Your arms are currently in another dimension. A useful little trick, don't you think?"
Sunder lunged forward. Alan stumbled back, trying to get away. He quickly realized that he needed to adapt his fighting style if he was going to stand a chance against Sunder. Sunder swung his axe, but Alan was too fast. He ducked under the attack and countered with a strong hit to Sunder's gut. The alien mercenary grunted in pain, but he was still standing.
Alan continued to move around Sunder, trying to find an opening to land a powerful hit. He remembered the lessons from his training, the importance of using his opponent's strength against them. Sunder's size and strength were intimidating, but Alan knew he could turn it into a disadvantage.
As Sunder swung his axe again, Alan jumped up and used his legs to grip onto the handle of the weapon, twisting it out of Sunder's grasp. The alien was momentarily surprised, giving Alan the opportunity to deliver a powerful kick to Sunder's chest, sending him flying back.
Sunder landed on his feet, his metallic mask cracking from the impact. He looked up at Alan with newfound respect.
"Not bad, half-breed," He smirked. "But not good enough."
Alan huffed, and looked down at his arms. Without them, he couldn't reliably take Sunder down...how could he mess up this bad? He should've remembered that detail about the axe. The heat of the moment just got to him, and he didn't think.
...and that's exactly why Albedo sent him to UA.
Alan Albright was born in Los Angeles, California. His father was a Pyronite, named Cyrus, and a highly decorated Plumber. His mother was a Xhosan woman named Langa, and she was a member of the Plumbers Alpha Squadron. As a result, Alan grew up with an innate sense of duty to protect others and the desire to live up to his parents' legacy. However, he struggled with self-confidence and was often afraid to use his powers, fearing that he would cause more harm than good.
His powers of being able to 'transform' into a hybrid made him very unique, especially amongst his peers. Alan felt 'out of place' in school and struggled with his identity. He often kept to himself and had trouble making friends.
The universe has a...weird way of fixing problems. The universe sent him Ben Tennyson, a friend of his parents. It was supposed to be a one time mission, a short team up. Ben saw something in him from that short experience so, he made a hail mary pass- "work with me, kid."
Alan was beyond thrilled at the opportunity, and he didn't hesitate to accept. And from there, he met…people like him. Three of them were alien hybrids but with different species. They didn't have his ability to swap between human and alien, but that didn't really bother them. With each passing day, Alan felt more...confident.
But confidence was not what one needed to fight.
He needed experience, cunning, and he got plenty of that. The cases that Ben handled in the states were...well, in a world of super heroes, to call something unique would mean it was incredibly different to the norm. And that definitely counted with Alan's first case with Ben on his work study. One of Ben's old foes, an elephantine alien named Trombipulor got an upgrade, a gang, and they weren't afraid to use any of that to get what they wanted. That was also the first case that he worked with Albedo. While the case went smoothly, (a story for another time), Albedo was less than pleased with Alan's performance.
"Mr. Albright," Albedo said when they got back to the hotel their agency was using as a headquarters, "a moment, please."
Alan swallowed nervously as he followed Albedo into a separate room. The tall, white-haired mirror of Ben looked down at him with a critical eye. "You were...adequate in the field," He said. To Alan, that meant 'bad'.
"I...I'm sorry, Albedo," Alan stammered. "I'll try to do better next time."
Albedo's expression softened slightly. "It's not just about doing better, Alan. You need to be able to anticipate your opponents' moves, to think strategically, to work as a team. It's clear that you still have much to learn."
Alan nodded, feeling chastened. "I understand, sir."
"I decided to look at some of your old files, to see if there were any cases like this in the past. While Ben prefers to 'throw someone into the fire' because they have experience...I am not like that." Albedo pointed out. "However...there was one case that caught my attention. The Hosu incident..."
"You read up on-?"
"I did, yes. I will admit, given the opponents you were up against, some challenge was to be expected. These...bio-weapons, these 'Nomu'...with all the Quirks haphazardly thrust into their bodies in combination, it would only be natural that some hits would land against you," Albedo explained.
"Well...thanks for understan-" Alan began.
"But...at the same time, you allowed one of the Nomu to nearly escape. It 'played possum' as the saying goes, unsure if it was a Quirk or a natural ability, and waited for your guard to be lowered before taking to the sky again. We're lucky that Endeavor was able to incinerate it before it got too far."
Alan felt a wave of shame wash over him as Albedo continued to speak. "I'm not saying this to make you feel bad, Alan. I'm saying this because I want you to learn from your mistakes. You're a good kid, and you have potential. But potential alone isn't enough. You have to work hard and keep improving, always."
Alan nodded, taking in Albedo's words. "I understand, sir. I'll do my best."
"Unfortunately, I can't always be there to help you 'improve'. So...I want you enroll at UA." Albedo explained.
"W-what!? Seriously!?" Alan said.
"UA is the best place to hone your abilities. And given your unique circumstances, I believe it would be a great opportunity for you." Albedo said. "You'd be one of the first alien-hybrids to attend."
"Do...do you have that kinda pull?" Alan asked.
"To have you transfer over? Of course. Granted, it will be after their own Provisional License exam," Albedo continued.
"That way, you'll be on the same level as the other students, and you'll have to prove yourself just like everyone else. But I think it will be a good chance for you to get better at what you do in a more structured and demanding setting," Albedo said.
Alan couldn't believe it. "I...I'm not sure if I'm up to that, Albedo. I mean, so many UA students are talented, and I'm just..."
"A good kid, trying his best. But, your current best isn't meeting expectations for me." Albedo said. "Don't see this as getting shamed, but an attempt to help you before something happens."
While unintended, those words made Alan's mind jump to the worst case scenario immediately.
"Uh, right," Alan nodded, trying to push those thoughts away just as quickly as they first popped into his head.
"By the time you finish your first year there, I want to see some improvement." Albedo said. "You'll still be welcome at the office under internship, of course."
"Whole year...that's not so bad," Alan admitted, "Plenty of time for improvement."
"You'll be attending the full three years there." Albedo said. "Don't think of this as a punishment. Please."
"I won't, sir. It...should actually be interesting, going to the greatest hero school in Japan," Alan admitted.
And it was.
Alan looked back down at his arms. No, this wasn't gonna beat him. He didn't need arms to beat this guy, he just needed a good plan(one that would, admittedly, result in him getting his arms back, but that was besides the point). Sunder's glider found him and, with a blaring, droning sound, it locked onto the Pyronite-hybrid and began firing on him against. He ran out of the way, letting the bullets tear up the wooden floor. If the glider was here to draw him out, then Sunder wouldn't be too far behind.
Alan quickly gathered his energy and created a thick smoke cloud around him, obscuring his vision but also blocking out Sunder's vision. The smoke filled the area quickly, forcing Sunder to slow down and search the smoke cloud. Alan focused on his surroundings, listening carefully for any signs of Sunder's movements. He could hear the sound of his glider moving around.
"Okay, Alan...build up...and keep building." He huffed, looking down at his arms.
Sunder's eyes were darting around the smokescreen, looking for even the slightest hint of movement from the Pyronite hero. If he didn't find him, the glider would. He just needed to-
Before he could finish that thought, a fist came flying at him from the smoke. The retriever barely dodged the strike, ducking back as the fist flew over him. He tried to take a swipe at the limb with his energy axe, but much to his surprise the blade actually phased through the limb. It didn't make contact! But that shouldn't have been possible. He watched the arm that took the swing submerge back into the smoke. Sunder growled in annoyance, raising his axe in the air and slamming it down with enough force to unleash a gale of wind. The winds blew away the smoke, bringing back his full field of vision.
And Alan's.
Alan was standing in front of the hired alien muscle, already prepared to launch himself back into the fight. What caught Sunder's eye was the fact that Alan had his arms back. But...no...they weren't really his arms. They were replacements, made solely of his Pyronite flames, but that didn't mean they would hold no impact. Wisps of smoke actually blew off Alan's body, making him seem a bit more infernal.
"Done running, half-breed?" Sunder asked with a smirk.
"Not running. Prepping," Alan corrected.
"Call it what you want," Sunder sneered, "All it did was delay you-"
"Do you have any other lines? Any that aren't clichés, maybe?" Alan cut him off with a smirk. Sunder wasn't amused by the comment, readying his axe again. He watched as the glider silently flew behind this despised half-blood. The wings of the glider were quickly covered in a field of energy, similar to the mercenary's energy axe. With a spin of the axe in his hand, the glider's engine revved up and flew straight at Alan from behind. It was like the Plumber's Helper knew what was coming, though. He aimed his flaming arms to the floor and launched himself skyward, letting the glider fly straight through the pillar of flame. Sunder didn't even move as the glider raced towards him. The flying machine swerved to the right, circling around the hunter and coming to a stop next to him, as if it were a loyal pet. Sunder smirked and leapt atop the glider, locking eyes with Alan.
"Doin' this in the air huh?" Alan asked, "Hope you're ready for a bit of a fall then!"
"I'll cleave more than just your arms off, half-blood. Present what's left to Overhaul!" Sunder roared, the last words almost drowned out by the thruster of the glider. The hired thug raced up above, axe reared for a swing. When he swung though, he only struck air; Alan had maneuvered out of the way. Alan shifted his legs to their Pyronite forms and launched two, smaller jets of flame from his feet.
He wasn't good at sustained flight yet, but he could keep himself aloft for long enough to deal with this guy. He launched himself forward, flaming fists clashing with the hard-light blades of Sunder's weapon. Shield and axe, it worked well for him, but everything had a limit before it broke. Sunder shoved Alan back when one of his strikes clashed with his blade. It wasn't an easy struggle though, with both pushing back with equal strength. In the end, Sunder overcame Alan and became to take swings. Alan threw out a spray of embers from his flaming palm, blinding the hulking hunter for a moment. Alan raced back in and began to throw a few more punches, this time actually connecting on the hunter.
Each fist that found its mark singed the alien thug's hide. The glider readied one of its other defenses and began to activate a protective field, but Alan heard it powering up. The half-Pyronite turned and fired off a burst of flame at the glider, melting metal and circuitry.
"NO!" Sunder yelled.
"Hell yes!" Alan countered, throwing a punch to disarm Sunder. One quick strike and the hunter's grip was loosened. His energy axe fell to the ground, still on but firmly out of his reach. And then Alan began to pummel the hired alien hunter. Punch after punch, strike after strike, there were so many punches that it looked like Alan created multiple additional flaming arms to aid in the assault. Maybe he did, there was no way to tell.
"Blaze," Alan began, clenching his fist as the flames burned hotter, "UPPERCUT!" With one last shower of sparks, the burning impact slammed into Sunder's chin and knocked him off his glider. He fell to the floor with a crashing thud, his glider sputtering and sparking.
"Yes!" Alan pumped his fist in celebration, before he lowered himself back to the ground. He walked over and deactivated Sunder's axe, reversing the effects. His arms reappeared and he flexed his fingers, opening and closing his hands just to make sure everything was intact. Once he was sure, he turned to see the door that Sunder was guarding.
"Now...let's see what Overhaul thought was so important," Alan muttered. He walked over and slid the door open, revealing the bed-ridden boss of the Hassaikai.
"...oh, shit."