Infectious

ch. 19

Chapter Nineteen;;- Final Exam: Finish!

Pathogen as a hero had some morals. Unless she was physically outmatched or outnumbered by her opponent, she never used her knives as a weapon. It felt like cheating, since she already had military training.

But Pathogen as a villain? She had simply never thought of the idea. How would she act?

Even though she was supposed to be putting herself in the mindset of a villain, she was still fighting against her students. She wasn't sure if she was allowed to go easy on them, since she already had the weight handicap. Still... [name] didn't want to use her blades. Villains could have morals too, right?

Act like a villain. Act like a villain. She repeated to herself again and again, drawing to mind all the memories of villains she had encountered. She thought of all the bad people in her life and how they treated her. Act like a villain.

They chose [name] to go against Ojiro and Iida because they specialized in mobility and Pathogen specialized in wearing down her opponents energy. Without as much energy, the two wouldn't be as mobile as they were probably planning on. It would be difficult to get away.

The battleground was, as she had explained to Ojiro and Iida earlier, a faux construction site[1]. It was circular in shape, half-done buildings and their skeletal structures surrounded by random construction equipment. All the machines were functional, but [name] had no plans in using any of them. Iida and Ojiro would start in the center and it was up to [name] as for where she would start.

She decided to hang out nearby them, releasing a steady stream of airborne viruses into the air without them knowing. That way, it would start taking effect immediately and she didn't have to wait for them to get close first.

[name] hid inside one of the buildings. It was obviously far from finished, the lower levels' walls consisting only of insulation and the upper levels' walls bare of anything at all. She peered out through one of the holes that had been left for windows, watching as her two opponents took cautious steps around them.

"She'd probably stay close, I think," Ojiro said softly to Iida, not looking at his partner and instead keeping his eyes trained on the area around them.

Iida did the same on the other side, backs to each other for the maximum amount of visibility. "I agree." Iida's voice was uncharacteristically quiet, probably to keep from drawing attention to them. He coughed, the sound echoing through his metal costume's helmet. Not long after, Ojiro coughed too.

It's starting to work already, [name] noticed. She cut off the airborne virus she had been emitting. There was no purpose to releasing more if they've already been infected, over than that it would sap her strength even more than the weights strapped onto her ankles and wrists already were.

Slowly and silently, [name] inched across the dusty floor of the building, wincing when her boots made a soft noise on the concrete. She crouched as she passed the window, but not fast enough.

"There!" Ojiro pointed to the building she was in, having noticed the movement through one of the window holes. He and Iida exchanged a nod. Pathogen was in a building that was relatively far from the exit and not exactly in the way. If they could hurry, they might be able to get out of the exit without her catching them.

Anticipating this, [name] sprinted out of the building, following after them. Her speed was greatly decreased because of the weights, she noticed, throwing a bit of a wrench in her plans. She could work with it though-- she would work with it.

She caught up to them 10 meters from the exit, putting on some extra speed to get ahead and block the exit. [name] grinned as they both made a face that their original plan didn't work out. They met eyes quickly and Ojiro murmured something too quiet for [name] to hear before they both turned their attention back to [name].