Justice Across Space and Time: Year 2
Chapter 20
Time for the more "limited" members of class 1-A to show what they've got. And to see a bit more of who the newest villain in the roster is and what she can all do. So on with the show.
(Itsuka POV)
What is going on? Why is someone attacking this island? And more importantly, how many of them are there? "Kendo! We need get moving now!" I hear Tailman shout to me. "You're right. We should go after the one who started up that tornado first. Hagakure. You try to evacuate who you can and then see if there are others!"
"Uh right! I'll do that!" the invisible girl says before taking off to the school. I quickly told Tailman that we need to get to the beach. "That windstorm had sand and water mixed into it. Plus something else… never mind. We need to take whoever it is there out!"
Tailman agreed with me, and we sprinted to the beach. Something is bothering me though. I'm not seeing much of a reason to attack this island. Unless there's something more here we don't know about yet. "INCOMING!" I hear shouted and I see a large tree coming at me.
Nothing a Tatsu chop can't deal with. Though it does still sting. Wonder if I'll ever get used to that. That is when we see the source of our trouble and….. well he definitely has a face only a mother could love. Wonder if that is part of the reason he's doing this.
Wait, never mind that! At least now we have something to hit. Or two somethings. Okay some offense to fan face there, but how did he end up with that tall drink of ashy water next to him? Ashy? Of course! They're partners.
Fan head kicks up a windstorm, and she adds the ash from herself. But that doesn't explain that burst of lightning or the flames up there. Which means, there's more than one villain. We'll deal with that in time. "Can you take the lady? I'll try and keep the windy guy busy!"
"On it! Good luck Resolute!" he shouts before launching a few of his Flare Shots at the woman. Now for my target. Huh. His hands rotate to create those winds. And if it's a quirk, that means he's got something like a cool down or a complication to it. "Have a taste of this! Storm Fist!" I shout before building the power and launching it at my foe.
Who stops it by rotating his arms to create a stronger gale. Great. But… yep, like I thought. He's shaking his hand and wrist after doing that. He can't keep it up for long periods. Which means, I just need to attack faster than he can recover.
"Let's see what your recovery time is!" I call out before focusing my ki into both hands. And launch a few Uneru Nami attacks to try and overwhelm him. He deflects several of them with his winds, but I notice a few blows slipped through and knock him on his back. Time for a Taifu Hashi barrage to finish him.
Right as I'm getting up close to him, I notice a bit of fear in his eyes behind his goggles. Guess it's another side weakness to his quirk that he needs those. I give him a handful of blows before he regains enough footing to blast me back with his wind. Crap I'm losing my footing!
No way. I'm not losing to this guy! Time for that other trick John showed us before he left. I must stay low for a moment, but I can still feel enough of the ground beneath me and can pull it to myself while my arms are crossed. It's hard to breath, but I can focus my ki all throughout my body.
"You won't get close to me again!" I hear the villain shout as he stops rotating one hand to switch to the other. I smirk before shouting, "want a bet!" and with burst of ki and thrusting my arms to the side, I blasted him backwards. Now for the second stage. I pull even more ki to me before spinning at high speed. Creating my own little tornado to pull him in.
I doubt he's ever been caught in his own windstorms. But that is a diversion itself. Right as he was being sucked in, I pulled a few of the various restraining gadgets from my belt and costume and threw them into the windstorm.
Good thing I did. Seems he's able to still work his quirk to an extent while spinning in there. But the various bolos and nets managed to wrap him up for taking to the cops. Wait, he looks a little more beat up than I thought. It shouldn't have hurt him… oops. Looks like I used a few other tools that do some damage along with the restraint types. I really need to remember what is in which pocket.
I see and hear him crash to the ground rather roughly and wince at the sound before checking on him. Well at least he won't be doing anything else for the time being. I wonder how Tailman's fight is going? Oh, not well it seems.
(No POV)
Right after the two heroes chose their opponents, both unleashed long-range attacks to throw off their foes. With Ojiro's Flare Shots doing some decent damage to the white ash haired woman. He leaps up and shouts, "now try my Tornado Tail Dance!" Lashing the woman with his tail and breaking the guard she put up with her club.
"Alright! Let's see how you handle a Battle Royal!" the woman shouts before releasing a large amount of ash at the teen. Pulling her mask up at the same time. Ojiro coughs after taking a face full of dust and ash. Only to get another lung full after being struck hard in the stomach by his opponent.
He continues coughing and trying to strike back while being smacked over and over by the white-haired woman. 'Shit! I should have gone for a stronger attack right at the start. I can't take enough time to fight back. Even sweeping attacks haven't worked,' Ojiro thinks after trying to do a big sweep with his tail. Only to meet the business end of the club again.
The tailed hero couldn't even catch his breath because of all the ash around him and he was finished by a new tool the villain had. An extra strong stun baton that dropped him to the ground and left him vulnerable to another heavy blow to the face. And right as she was taking him down, Itsuka unleashed her burst of ki and then the whirlwind. Dispersing the ash and dust.
"Okay, looks like a draw. For now." Itsuka says while sizing up her next opponent. With Dusty Ash gritting her teeth behind her mask. 'Sorry Gust Boy. I don't think I can get you out right now.' Ash thinks before throwing a knife and then using her quirk to it's full power to cover her escape.
Itsuka easily dodges the blade but is blinded by the ash. She curses before realizing that the foe was gone. She looks around and notes that her opponent was still there as was Ojiro. "Guess she just wanted to keep herself safe. That or she didn't think she could carry… whoever this is out. What are they after?" Itsuka thinks aloud before checking on Ojiro.
Who groans before asking if she got the villain. "One of them. The other ran off. What's this all about?" she said while helping Tailman stand. Before noting that it didn't exactly matter at the moment. "We need to take them down. Or stop them from whatever it is they intend to do."
Resolute groans before saying, "and it would help if we knew what this was all about!" Before the pair could argue more, Gust Boy was groaning and trying to crawl away. Only for both fighters to launch their ki attacks his way. "You're not going anywhere," they both said with their limbs glowing.
Once that was done and they turned Gust Boy over to the police, the pair met up with Invisible Girl to discuss what they knew at the school. Which had been turned into a makeshift shelter. "Okay, so we've lost most connection to the outside thanks to whatever that bomb or EMP thing was. Part of the island is burning, and a pair of villains that can make disorienting windstorms were on the beach. What do all these things have in common?" she asked while scratching her head.
"They're a distraction." Itsuka says with finality and a squint of her eyes. Her comrades look at her funny before Ojiro asks what she meant. "These attacks. The EMP. Even the panic, it was all a diversion. These thieves wanted to get people running or thinking that some big villain attack was here. Because then it would leave a number of places open to be either robbed….. or they're after something else. But what?"
The youth hero students were nearby, and a certain young boy spoke up. "Maybe they're after the treasure?" Ikkaku said with a nervous shiver. The teens looked at him before Ojiro gently kneeled in front of him. "Are you sure about that?"
"Uh maybe. It's one of the only things on this island that might really be worth all of this trouble," the little horned boy said while looking up at Tailman. Toru questioned how they would even know about it to cause all of this. "Well, it might have to do with that one lady with them. The black and purple lady who ran on the water."
At that, all the teens' eyes went wide. Well probably for Hagakure. "A lady who ran on the water? Are you sure?" Itsuka asked with some worry. Ikkaku nodded and said he saw her talking to the others before she had some purple lights or something flash around her. "And then she ran on the water while the boat was still making its way to the shore. I saw her with a bunch of others."
Ojiro hums before asking if Ikkaku could describe any of the others he saw. While he didn't get the best look at two, the other pair were enough to tell them they were all working together. "So the white haired woman and this huge fire or something guy are part of a team of villains?" Toru questioned as they were leaving the school.
Itsuka plays with her gauntlets in hopes of searching for profiles on the villains. But the EMP or rather the woman who disabled the electronics did the same for her gauntlets. "Why didn't it work on your other tools?" Ojiro questioned as they were making their way around.
"Those are made of condensium. They operate on the properties of the metal, not something programed in the same way as the gauntlets. Still these guys sound familiar. Any thoughts?"
The other two heroes hummed before Ojiro remembered one member of note. One seen as a dark version of a hero. "The leader of a group of villains. I think his name was Vulcan or Volcano. His quirk is like Endeavor's, it lets him unleash heat or fire of some kind. I think with the team, aside from being the leader, he was the one to make a big ruckus while the other two moved in to steal things or take out cops. And if they needed to fight, he had the firepower to do some real damage."
"That does seem similar to what we dealt with on the beach. They're quirks were a problem, but nothing on a level of like…. Well Endeavor, Todoroki, even Ida or Yaoyorozu." Toru asked if she was sure since Ojiro was beaten by one of the members. Who grumbles before saying, "I underestimated her and ended up paying for it. I won't do that again."
Resolute sighs and mutters, "let's hope not." She then notes that if they had a true meta with them, they might be in for more of a fight than before. "We don't really know their limits and if she is super fast and has these lightning powers, we could be in real trouble."
While the two fighters were looking grim, Toru seemed a different kind of anxious. Expressed when she shouted, "mou! That's enough! Look, we can't worry about all of that. This isn't like what happened on our assignments. They aren't looking to do more than steal things, so we should focus on stopping that."
Tailman and Resolute look at Invisible Girl funny before smiling and the former says, "you're right. For now, we can intercept them at some of the probable locations they'd attack. We just need to know who has the most money on the island." They hurry back and check in with a few of the officers before making their way to the mayor's home.
"Seriously! What's with all these traps!?" the speedster girl shouted after dodging the twentieth death trap of the ruins the treasure. The looter she had found and brought in on this adventure groans as well. "How should I know Felicity? I just heard about this island having some kind of treasure. Guess whoever built this place didn't want to make it easy to get to."
Felicity Shroud was the speedster's name. She had a normal enough life, if a bit boring because she was born without a quirk. But six months ago, her life had changed. A nasty shock during a thunderstorm in her home country had gifted her this power. Superspeed, high speed perception, electricity generation, and a bit of increased durability.
Part of her considered trying to do the hero thing like many of her fellow true metas. "Nah. That's not only predictable and cliché, but it's also no fun. So why don't I see what kind of trouble I can stir up with my powers?" she had thought to herself at the time.
But she hadn't been counting on something like this when she made her way to Japan to see what she could do. 'I thought teaming up with those Volcano Thieves would have more of a payout, but they seem to go for a lot of small stuff in their robberies. And this guy's target was supposed to be an easy grab.'
The bandana wearing villain growled before roaring about bringing the whole of the ruins down. "If you want to die, go right ahead. But wait until I get out of here." Felicity snarked before telling him to cool off. "Well, what do you expect?! We've been doing nothing but dodging traps this whole time! I'm starting to think there never was a treasure here!"
Felicity's frustrated accomplice punches a wall and lets off some of his quirk to vent his anger. And right as he does, the wall shows an impressive treasure room with large golden statues of varying sizes.
"Don't think you could do that twice. Now comes the problem that we need some muscle to get these out of here. Because, some offense meant dude, but you aren't strong enough to get those bigger ones out."
The looter grumbled but agreed with her statement. So, he suggested that she go get Volcano and the others to move the goods. Felicity nodded before letting her power flow and speeding out of the room.
But not before running back and saying, "you even think of trying to run off with a statue by yourself and I'll give you a few thousand volts in places you don't want it." The man held his hands up and shook his head before the villainous speedster sprinted off once more.
"Seems a little cliché don't you think?" Toru asks as they were running up to the mayor's manor. Only to be is startled by a blast of fire shot her way. Or rather a scatter shot blast of magma fired from the right hand of Volcano. "You must be kidding me! I thought you ditched them!"
"I did!" Dusty Ash shouted before dropping a few objects from the house. She produces some ash from her body while complaining about how dry it was making her skin. It is launched at Ojiro first, but he quickly counters with a Storm Fist before trying to attack the woman.
He runs in to attack with some Burst Palms and then a Burn Heel kick. Dusty blocks several blows with her clubs, but still takes a heavy hit from his Burn Heel. "Not holding back this time or are you just pissed that I beat you!?" she says while caught in a bit of a deadlock with the young man.
Tailman growls a little while admitting in his head that he was mad about losing. 'I thought I'd be past some of that, but I guess I was mad because I've trained in ki and with my quirk. And I still lost. But not this time!'
He breaks the deadlock by focusing his ki into his foot to create a small blast on the ground. This startles the woman and leaves her vulnerable to another attack. Though not one from Ojiro. "Say cheese! Warp Refraction!" Toru shouts before a flash of light blinds the villain.
Ojiro is wide eyed and wanted to know what she was doing. "Now isn't the time for pride! We need to catch these guys. And it doesn't matter how we do it. So long as the villains are stopped," she says with a likely pouting grumpy look on her face.
The young man tightens his fist in anger but quickly lets it go. Taking a frustrated breath before saying, "okay yeah. You're right. This isn't a fighting game or something to make me want a rematch. We have a job to do."
Invisible Girl nods and warns Tailman to be ready as the woman recovered from the flash. And is quickly met by Tailman's quirk. Imbued with a bit of ki for a Pyro Tail Lash and then a few more heavy blows from the large appendage.
Dusty Ash was getting angry herself and wanted to disorient the pair again. But she wasn't getting many chances to release more ash from her body. 'This kid is definitely pissed that he's not getting the fight he wanted. But he's also not giving me a chance to prod that weakness. I just need a guck!'
The villain grunted not just from a heavy blow from Ojiro's tail, but also the kick to the head Toru gave her. "I may not have the same level of training or strength as the others! But I'm still a hero and I can hit you too!" she shouted before yelping to dodge the swing of Dusty Ash's club.
Her wrists were caught though by a sneaky looping of Ojiro's tail. Allowing him to get the final blow to try and finish the fight. "Have a taste of my teacher's strength! Gaia Burst Blow!" he says while yanking the villain back to him with the full strength of his ki behind him. Sending her flying for over a hundred yards and through a few trees.
Toru whistles and noted that the attack was stronger than the first time he used it. "Still doesn't quite compare to John's Rampage Straights. But I can pack a pretty decent punch. Let's help Resolute."
Help was exactly what she needed. She didn't expect to beat Volcano, but she had been hoping to keep him off balance better than this. She grunted while wincing from the burns the villain had blasted her with.
"Whew! Those explosions would probably do more damage against most others. But against me, just a little extra heat. And I can take that to a point!" he says before charging up his right-hand magma laser to roast the martial artist.
Who barely dodges in time and tries to use both ki and some thrown weapons to push back her foe. 'Of course, I still can't use my gauntlets for more than just protection. And none of my other tools have that much impact,' she thinks before tossing a smoke bomb to the ground and trying to keep away.
And running right into Ojiro. "Ah! Oh let me guess, a lot more trouble than you expected right?" the tailed teen said while rubbing his head. Itsuka sighed and agreed. Noting, "I can't even distract him for long with my gear. Most of it still isn't working."
"Well my quirk is. I'll try to blind him so you two can move in to do some damage." Toru says while taking her gloves off. Itsuka grumbles as Invisible Girl takes off her boots and starts sneaking over to the villain. "Yeah, I wasn't happy she interrupted my fight either. But she made a good point. About how this isn't just some fight. It's our job to stop them." Ojiro explains before passing some water to Itsuka.
She sighs before drinking and slowly has an epiphany. "We've been going about this all wrong. We shouldn't try to stop him from using his quirk. We need him to use up everything he has!" Tailman asked what she meant, and she smiled while looking up at him.
"He's not the true meta. He just has a quirk that lets him launch heat, fire, or something right? So that means he's exhausting himself each time he uses it. Whatever the source of his power is, it comes from within. So, we just need to get him to over use it."
The smirk on Itsuka's face worried Ojiro but he put it aside for the moment. The pair waited until Toru unleashed a flash from her quirk. The pair jumped out of their cover before launching attacks to either knock out or force Volcano to attack.
And attack he did. After being knocked to the ground, he roared about the fact that their strikes were small and nothing compared to his. Unleashing a scatter blast of magma from his left. To which Toru was panicking.
The two martial artists however were able to create bursts of ki from around themselves to fend off the attack this time. "Helps that he's firing randomly. Which works for us!" Itsuka says before throwing some shuriken and then bringing her arms down to launch Ken no Nami waves. Ojiro agrees before trying a few Flare Shots before leaping up to do a Tornado Tail Dance.
"You let yourself get too close brat! Have a taste of my this!" Volcano shouts after catching the large limb. And then slamming Tailman to the ground. Finishing his combo by punching the ground with his right and unleashing magma and lava up all around him. "Volcannon!" he cried out as the ground turned red and exploded upward.
Tailman would have been cooked. If it hadn't been for Toru running in and pulling him as fast as she could to get away. Though she herself wasn't out of danger. "Ow! My feet!" she cries after getting a distance away. And her feet are covered in the lava like substance.
"Hagakure!" Ojiro cries out before using his water bottle to try and cool her feet off. Tearing parts of his clothes to bandage her up. "Nice try but I'm taking you gack!" Before the villain could monologue, Itsuka created her Ruyi Jingu Bang attack and pushed Volcano away from the pair. "We can't get close to him! He's like a natural disaster!"
"So then maybe I'll do the same." Ojiro says with a bit of venom in his voice. He held his hands to his sides and pulled large amounts of ki to himself for one big strike. 'Nowhere near enough to fight for long. But I can get out one big hit. And probably counter a few of his attacks.'
Volcano eventually figures out the trick to Resolute's attack and gets out of the way to strike her again. Using blast after blast of his fat cells to take out the hero. But she keeps dodging him and kiting around the destroyed remains of the mayor's house.
'Well he's not going to be happy, but not really the thing to worry about now,' she thinks before taunting her foe. Calling him a wet match and other things to make him burn up his fuel source. Or at least until Ojiro can finish what he was doing.
Volcano started breathing heavy after a few minutes and he was looking a bit emaciated. He finally noticed the alarm beeping from the thermometer in his mask. "Shit. I overdid it and…. That's what she was after. If I could put out a little more, I think I can get away," he thought aloud.
"Well I won't let you," an almost echoey voice said from behind him. Tailman's eyes were glowing and his muscles were twitching from the strain. But he had enough in him for this attack. Volcano fired one last laser of magma at the hero, who created a ki barrier in front of him with intense concentration.
Then in an instant, he seemed to be in front of Volcano. He went down to the ground to sweep the man's legs with his, then knocked him into the air with his tail. "Have a taste of my Rising Pheonix Tail!" he called out before using his tail to push himself up to follow his quarry. Comboing multiple kicks and burning tail blows into the stomach of his opponent. Wincing in pain all the while, but still able to finish the job with a burst of burning yellow ki around himself. A burst that looked like a phoenix as it faded away and knocked the villain out.
Though not without the consequence of knocking Ojiro out. "As cool as that was, I'm starting to see more of the drawbacks of learning that technique." Itsuka says while subtly pouting. She had wanted to get a few hits of her own in on the villain.
"Hey what are you guys doing?! I thought you wanted to steal stuff not…. Oh shit." Felicity said upon arriving to the scene of the battle. And looking at the defeated state of her allies. Itsuka though was a bit happy for this turn of events. "Looks like I'll get to see what you can all do, miss true meta," she says with a cracking of her knuckles.
Okay, that might not have been the best way to end it, but I felt I needed to do it this way. I want to pad out a bit more of who Felicity is, but I can't do that if I'm having to focus on other matters. Besides, she needs to grow into the idea of being more of a villain for herself.
Right now, I've just got her at a….. Well anyone who's seen X-Men Evolution might remember a different speedster who has a somewhat similar mentality to her. Pietro, namely. She's looking for fun and a challenge. And she will eventually find it. Just, not with these kids. Not now. Please review!