Justice Across Space and Time: Year 2
Chapter 31
Time for my OCs to show more of what they can do and how they will fight against this pair of dangerous foes. And then peek in on the others as they fight the rest of the villains that Curator had recruited. So on with the show.
(No POV)
"Okay! Looks like there's a few more down here. Get them out of here." Marcus announced to the officers with him while floating with his hands directed towards his sides. He had compressed a metal door with a singularity and that helped to open the way for the few captives they found underground. "I wonder how many more are down here?"
"You've got bigger problems!" he heard and then was struck by a rhino that was flying through the air. Though it had started as a falcon, building up speed to make good use of the shift in mass paired with the velocity. Against an average person or even quite a few heroes, it would have been a killing blow.
But due to Marcus's powers, his body was far denser than most and he took the hit relatively well. He still went flying due to his removed gravity, but his bones weren't broken by the impact. "Not bad. But let's see how you handle the force of gravity!" he called out after shaking his head. Building up a pulse of gravitational energy in his hand and launching it.
Kemono Master saw it coming and quickly transformed into a bee. Making Marcus not only miss but positioning himself right above the young hero. He then transformed into an elephant to crush the boy. But he wouldn't be squashed easily and quickly formed a strong gravity barrier around himself. "Too close! Now back off!" Marcus calls out while thrusting his arms outward to repel the villain.
It worked but KM quickly changed to a bird and was able to change his momentum and fly around the room. He then transformed again and charged Marcus as a triceratops, but the gravity manipulator used his powers to "fall" to his left and rotate around the green villain. He then fired a few gravity blasts to do damage and weigh down his foe. "It won't be that easy!" KM shouted while turning human again and then into a pigeon. And then shifting into a leopard to get around more nimbly.
"We'll see about that!" Marcus retorted while building up a small singularity in his hands. Levitating himself up and then rocketing towards KM. He gave his best flurry of punches, but the animorpher quickly changed again and again to a few different animals. 'There's gotta be a work around with his powers. I know he's a true meta like me. But that doesn't mean he has absolutely no weaknesses.' Marcus thinks while bringing down a wall.
As he does though, he got a report from the officers and Majestic. "I don't know if they're using explosives or what, but the walls are starting to come down!" was the report given through his earpiece. That was when the gravity teen realized a problem and a likely plan of Kemono's. "You're trying to make me bury them. Possibly all of them. From the civilians to the heroes. And maybe even more?"
KM transforms back into a human atop some rubble before smirking down at the young hero. "I thought you were more of an all-smash type. Given how tough your powers make you," he snarked before turning into a bison to charge Marcus again. "Oh like you're one to talk! All you've done to try and attack me is charge and crush me!" Marcus called out while floating upward.
Only to be shocked as just before he reached the wall, KM transformed into a hawk and used his velocity to quickly fly upward and then pounce down on Marcus as a cougar. Clawing at the teen's back and biting his neck. "OW! Back off!" Marcus shouted before creating a pulse of gravity to blast the villain off him. Which did some damage as KM was flung backwards and impacted a wall.
Marcus took stock and noted that the claws and teeth hadn't broken his skin, but they had hurt as he clawed into him. "Not to mention tore up my costume. Great. Gonna have to ask Aunt Rumi for an advance to get a new one," he complained while pulling at the torn pieces on his back. "You've got a bigger problem!" KM called out and had turned into a T Rex to charge and then bite down on Marcus.
'Think I struck a nerve!' Marcus thought as he made a barrier to keep from being chomped. As he was though, Kemono was stomping and thrashing around more and smashing the pillars and other supports to the building and surrounding area. "Are you nuts?! Why do you.. hold on!" Marcus said before increasing the weight of himself and the jaw of the T Rex.
Doing so caused more damage to Kemono Master as he spit out Marcus and was forced back into human form. He coughed a few times and held his head to shake out of the stun. Marcus had to get his own head oriented and make the room stop spinning before he could talk again.
"What is wrong with you!? Your own team is here! Are you trying to get them killed?!" he shouted at KM while steadying himself. Kemono coughed once more before saying, "they're not my team. I just went along because they seemed like the ones who would let me do some extra damage to a bastard company and all their affiliates. Curator doesn't have a cause beyond wanting to leave his mask off. Bearhead just wants to kill. And that Zookeeper bitch is just a brainwashed lackey."
Marcus was wide eyed hearing that. Before thinking of a different way to defeat his foe. 'I've only done this in training, but it might be the only way to stop him,' he thinks while focusing his powers. And also listening to Kemono complain about the rest of the "team" Curator had thrown together.
"That mad Italian or wherever he's from just wants to kill, the hyena bitch is only interested in expanding her clan and getting back to Africa, and most of the others were just random people who either wanted more power than their weak quirks or wanted to rage because of what their quirks turned them into. There's no real alliance here. Just a collection of idiots, monsters, and animals. Then again I suppose I'm not much different."
The rookie hero noticed something during all that ranting though. "You never mentioned that one girl. The one with the wings. And that's interesting. Something going on there?" Marcus said with a teasing smile and a raised eyebrow.
And what he got in response was an infuriated glare and Kemono Master starting to transform yet again. "You leave Ellie out of this!" he snarled while turning into an Allosaurus. "Sorry can't do that. Just like I can't leave you alone," the gravity teen says before gesturing with both of his hands. Causing a pair of effects with his powers.
The first is that he removed the gravity all around him and Kemono. Leaving them both floating freely in the underground section of the building they were in. The second was causing a singularity like effect around his foe and only in the space around him. Essentially forcing the green villain to feel the force of about ten to twelve Gs of force. Even as he tried to transform to other forms, the gravity well didn't let up and he couldn't get into a position to pull or push himself out of the effect.
Marcus was able to handle the force for the most part, but he was straining to maintain control and focus. 'Crap! This is starting to hurt inside. Just a little more!' Marcus thinks as his nose starts bleeding a little from the strain of maintaining the fields. Just as he was about to lose it, he saw Kemono Master go limp, and any transformation let up.
So, he let up as well and caught his breath. Sitting back on some debris as he wiped his nose. "Holy crap. That…. Was tougher than I thought. Not to mention the headache it gave me. Officers. This is Marcus Aoi. I've disabled one of the villains. Need pick up at my location." Marcus said and then reported to the others. Not noticing that Kemono Master was at least semi-conscious and choosing to wait for his moment.
Around the same time Marcus was being attacked, Hanabi was opening pathways to get people out of danger. Only for one of those to be blown apart and the debris raining down. And just barely being caught in time by the telepath. "Hurry! I can barely hold this!" she shouted with some of the ones who were running away turning back to help those who were almost crushed.
"I have to say, I'm impressed. I didn't expect your reactions to be that fast," she heard from slightly above her. And saw Ellie flapping her wings above while a few of her explosive scales floated around her. She had a disgusted and frustrated look on her face before sending the scales at Hanabi. Who pulled out some seeds and used her powers to quickly grow several large vines to stop the attacks. It sort of worked, in that she managed to stop the explosives from hitting anyone else.
But it also scattered several of the pieces of the vines around. "Okay. This won't be easy. Get everyone out of here now!" Hanabi said with a nervous lick of her lips. The officers acknowledged and hurried everyone out that they could. With Ellie glaring down at her as she continued to try and attack the fleeing people. And Hanabi continued to intercept those attacks.
Ellie narrowed her eyes before landing as the last of the officers and captives left. "An interesting ability you have. Plant control? Is that your quirk? No. I saw you stop the debris without moving plants. You're a true meta aren't you." Hanabi gulped before acknowledging the accuracy of the villain's assumptions.
At the same time, she was subtly pulling a few more seeds out and scattering them. 'I can't use them right away. She'll just blow them apart if use them right away…. But wait. She couldn't do this before. And maybe….. I need to get close.'
As Hanabi is thinking this, Ellie's face shows she's even more annoyed and lifts up more of her scales to launch at the telekinetic. Who gulps before trying to push the attacks away and move out of range. Only to find that her foe could always get right into range again due to her holding the "high ground". Sending wave after wave of her explosive scales to consume her foe while also breaking the floor of the room they were in and dropping them down again.
The true telekinetic grimaces before pulling some debris from around her to defend herself. Barely intercepting the explosives in time and still feeling the heat. Hanabi grit her teeth before moving around as fast as she could to try and attack her foe. Throwing concrete and broken metal with her mind. But she was barely able to get away from the swarming attacks from the winged villain.
"You don't really think it's that easy do you!? I may not have the same training, but I'm still plenty capable with my quirk and it's explosions! Especially with this on my head!" Ellie shouts as she brings her wings out and more of her scales scatter around her. And with a glare and a gesture of her hand, the scales were sent in a stream towards Hanabi.
Who cursed and had to force grow the plants she set out again, move debris in the way, and even create a telekinetic barrier to stop the attack. And even then, she was knocked backwards into a smaller hallway. "I'm getting nowhere with this," she thought aloud while nursing a few bruises.
'But then again, that's not the only place I can finish this battle. I just need to get a little bit closer. Wait….. she been keeping her distance. And it's not just because of my powers I bet….. She might not be fully immune to her own explosions. Or her scales might have a different weakness as well.'
Hanabi thought a bit more and tried to come up with more of a plan to either defeat her foe physically, or in her own special alternative. That was when she felt something beneath and around her. Finally realizing what it was as she evaded another explosion and putting more of a plan together. "I hope this works," she thinks aloud.
She checked some of her pouches and found what she was looking for. Quickly tossing a few seeds around while still throwing debris at Ellie. Until she stumbled and was at the mercy of the winged villain. "This is over," she said while her look of frustration grew more intense. Picking up more of her scales and even some of the smallest pieces of debris.
"Huh. I was wondering how that worked. So, the crown just lets you move small things eh? Perfect for tossing your bombs. Before you blow me to kingdom come though, I gotta ask. How do those little bombs of yours work?" Hanabi asked while subtly controlling the plants around her. Making the roots grow and break apart the concrete.
Ellie glared down (or that might have just been because of the crown) before sighing and humoring her defeated foe. "My wings produce these nitroglycerin like scales between the feathers. And when they detach they will explode in time. They also give me lift alongside just flapping my wings. But that has left me with nothing more than once," she said while looking to the side.
The true meta could sense (not just psychically) the pain in her foe's voice at that. Using that moment to finish having the roots of her plants grow. "Well, lets see how they handle this!" Hanabi says. As she breaks apart the floor and exposes the sewer and water systems of the building. Then using her memories of Justice dragging her to fight the flash flood to pull on all the water and consume the villain and her scales.
Ellie lost control of her flight and crashed to the ground. She panicked as she also saw her scales dropping beside her. But they didn't explode. "I'm glad I was right about the temperature. It cooled your scales to where they wouldn't explode!" Hanabi shouts before using the bellflowers she made grow fling her at Ellie.
Once within an extra close proximity, Hanabi's eyes went wide as she broke into Ellie's mind. Going deep into her mind space and seeing the various memories and ways she had been hurt over her years.
The earliest being that her wings were very different from all of her family's quirks. And then she accidentally blew up some parts of her family's home more than once. With her parents abusing her each time it happened. She eventually got fed up with putting up with it and ran away from home. Only to fall into trouble out on the streets.
Then a few years ago she had been picked up off the street by a sub company with Deternat at propped up as their latest case for aid and charity. Pledging to help her, but all they really did was improve the strength of her explosives. Before they would dump her for a different case that brought them more attention than her.
"No wonder she wants to break everything. Huh. But there's at least something of a bright spot." Hanabi noted while going through Ellie's memories. Noting the kindness that Kemono Master had shown her. Letting her stay at his home and never took advantage of her like so many others did.
And she helped him when his true meta shapeshifting came in and he was fired because his bosses figured out what he was and had a problem with true metas as a whole. It was later that they found out that both companies were partially managed as extensions of Deternat. And they had an extensive growing hate for not just quirkless but true metas. Meaning that he was removed just because his powers were much better compared to most a quirk could provide, and he was a threat to their views and ambitions.
It was at this point that Hanabi was able to enact what she had in mind. "If I can trap her in this better memory, I should be able to stop her for a time. Just need to…. There!" she said to herself as she set up her mental trap and pulled herself out of the villain's mind space.
Back in the real world, Hanabi could finally relax her mind and pulled back from Ellie (she'd actually learned her name while inside the mind space). The heteromorphic type's eyes were slightly glazed over but she was smiling. Something that made Hanabi both sad and happy. 'Sad because I had to trap her there to stop her. And the only reason I'm happy about it is because she's not fighting me anymore. What does that say about me and what doing this kind of work?' she thinks before binding both her hands and wings before pulling off the tiara.
"I have Ellie, I mean, the winged villain captured. I need help from the bottom of the building." Hanabi says. Sighing as she gets a "roger" from the officers. "What else we'll have to do to finish this fight?" she questions aloud before sitting down to relax her brain.
While both of these fights were going on, Majestic was using his quirk to fly and get around the attacks from all of the werehyenas. With the matriarch snarling and attacking him with magic of her own. "Crap! Oh man I hope I can…. Oh no!" Majestic said as a few of the creatures below were tossing one another up to attack him. Forcing him to use his "magic" to move himself out of the way.
And right into the true magic blasts from Muna's staff. It knocked him off of the rings emitted by his quirk and right into the horde of werehyenas. A few of the creatures bit into him before he could float back up once more. "Glad I brought a few of these!" Majestic said before tossing some gas grenades and other devices that Melissa had leant him. "I'm way too used to fighting simple quirk users. Not to mention just using my quirk alone. Wait….. maybe there's another way."
He looked up to the obvious leader of the group who looked angry about…. Well possibly many things. But he noticed that she didn't seem to be looking at the werehyenas wearing Japanese clothes favorably. 'Which could be something to play off of.' Majestic took a few breaths to steady himself before floating to be even with the werehyena matriarch. Who took aim with her magic once more. At least until she noticed that Majestic had his hands up and his borrowed weapons were not ready.
Muna narrowed her eyes and eased off her magic slightly. "What? Are you trying to make a parlay for mercy? Or perhaps you know you'll become one of us and are willing to join," she said with a tilt of her head. The hero shook his head before saying, "no ma'am. I uh…. I was just wanting to ask why you were willing to go along with this?"
His shaky questioning surprised the mage and she leered at him with a suspicious eye. "Why does it matter to you? Are you not one of those fools consumed by the disease of quirks? One who only fights the beasts who are further consumed by their unnatural changes?" she questioned before glaring down at her clan to keep them in line.
The phrasing of her question widened Majestic's eyes but he moved past that to admit she wasn't wrong. "But lately….. I've been thinking a number of things are wrong with the way we do things. And that includes the ways of dealing with people who could be causing chaos. Something tells me, you aren't here by choice and you don't like us much."
"Hmmmm. You aren't wrong. My clan were dragged here by that brat who calls himself Curator. And we can't return without the item he used. So we do his bidding until then. Not to mention making more of the werebeasts with the items he bought. What does it matter to you?"
Muna's eyes narrowed at the hero who seemed to be thinking on a matter before holding his hands up once more. "Listen, do you know for certain that he could return you? Do you know if there are other ways to your home? Surely we could fly you back." Majestic tried to reason with the werehyena matriarch.
Who's look went flat as she said, "do you really think we'd be doing this if we had another option? Many like us live in spaces between. Hidden away from the world. And you can't get to them easily from the outside. Especially the sheer number of us that are here!"
The hero gulped as the magic seemed to build in her staff as she was ready to attack again. "Okay I apologize, but still. How do you know that he can return you to this space? And what if the item used is a one way trip type?" That question got Muna to stop again and she took a moment to think over how haphazard Curator had been treating the various magical items he'd had in that trunk. Snarling as she realized that Majestic wasn't wrong about him not knowing how to really return them.
"And I never bothered to even question it!" she snarled and quietly vowed to rip Curator's throat out. "Ma'am please. Look, we do have magic users. She's in a different city, but she knows magic better than most. She basically is magic given she's a genie. She can probably send you home." Majestic says after hearing that. The werehyena leader eyes him up before asking what he wanted. "Nothing more than just that you and your group stand down. No more fighting us or any of the police or heroes. Please."
The matriarch raises an eyebrow at that and looks over her clan and the others. Letting out a breath of annoyance before saying, "fine. I suppose we can do that." She barks out a few orders to her clan members and they back down and stop snarling. "You had better follow through on what you said," she said with a snarl directed Majestic's way. Who gulps and adjusts his hat and scarf before levitating Muna up to bring her to her people. Introducing himself and asking her name.
Okay I know that last part was a little weak, but I don't think everything needs to involve a beat down. Sometime the "talk no jutsu" can work. Especially when you're dealing with some villains. Talking them down can do a lot of good. Next chapter though will involve Melissa vs the capture family, and then the last resort will come in to the fight. Namely Curator himself. Please review!