This Time

Chapter 8

All the breath left my lungs as I landed hard, rocks scraping my back and arms, even though my hero suit. The one I'd commissioned as a student was not too different in make from the one I'd worn for vigilante work, only in style and in that this jumpsuit was sleeveless - I missed the sleeves, however, as I tumbled a few feet and felt the jagged edges of stone scrape across the exposed skin. Somewhere nearby I heard other grunts of pain and the sound of crunching pebbles. The other student I grabbed must be here too... but where was 'here'?

It took me a moment to orient myself before I realized the domed ceiling above me was the same as before, just a different perspective. We were in the USJ still. Around me lay scattered debris, collapsed buildings and a rocky, sandy tide that looked like it had washed over it all - this had to be the landslide zone.

Todoroki was climbing to his feet a little ways away from me, staring down the dozen or so villains that were approaching with devious grins. Quickly I rolled over, jumping up and igniting my hands with purple flames. "Careful, Todoroki," I warned. I was fairly confident I could take down most, if not all of these guys, but the number two hero's son was definitely strong enough to be a target. If they really wanted him, they'd do all they could to get him.

The boy cast a quick glance at me and looked almost bored. The icy blast was near instantaneous, and in a matter of seconds the villains were all frozen to the spot, entombed in frozen casts. Several of them gave startled shouts, and I relaxed a fraction at the realization that Todoroki was more than able to handle himself without me just fine.

"Aren't you embarrassed to lose to a child?" he asked coldly, approaching one of the men. "For God's sake, your adults. Put up a real fight," he said harshly.

I whistled lowly, stepping up beside the kid and his living ice sculptures. "Damn, save some for me next time, would ya?" I teased. Todoroki was not amused.

"I did what needed to be done," he defended.

"Chill out, I was only joking," I said with an eye roll. If he would stop being an angsty teen for five minutes, I'd probably talk with him more often.

He shrugged and turned back towards one of the villains. "So the plan was to scatter us, and then kill us? Pft," he made a noise of disgust, his breath visible in the cooler air. "You were woefully unprepared." He looked over his shoulder at me, and I tilted my head, waiting for him to go on. "In fact, it looks to me like they've had no training. They don't have the slightest idea how to use their quirks."

"Bit harsh there, don't you think?" I said flippantly. "It's not their fault you're just better," I said, sizing up the villains while I spoke. For a second, I thought the icy kid almost smiled.

He was right though - this pack of losers had just been taken out by a kid. No matter who that kid was, they should have been better prepared than this. A cry from our right was all the warning we got as a villain who'd been hiding leapt at us, but it was enough. My fist connected with the guy's jaw at the same moment Todoroki grabbed his staff and froze him in place. The two blows combined were enough to knock the fool out cold (no pun intended).

Okay, maybe a little bit of pun intended, I thought to myself with a giddiness that was probably a subconscious coping mechanism for the stress.

"There's more going on here than meets the eye, I think," the white and red haired boy said, before raising his voice and addressing the thugs again. "Listen well! If you stay frozen, your cells will slowly die as your body succumbs to frostbite and hypothermia... luckily for you, I want to be a hero." He reached out towards the ice sculpture that had been at the head of the group before Todoroki had frozen them. They guy's eyes were wide and wild with fear at the teen's words, and I wondered where he was going with this. We needed to get moving, and if the threat was neutralized here, then we needed to find the others.