— Sequel: Has a short time skip and is set approximately six months to a year after the events of Quirkless King —
Just as Nico swung his cabin door closed with a solid click, Percy and Leo emerged from the Hephaestus cabin with a long metal tube carved with swirling grooves and packed with gunpowder and coloured paper. Leo hoisted the contraption over one shoulder and turned to return to the bonfire and the source of loud cheering but was stopped by Percy's hand on his shoulder.
"What's wrong waterboy?" Leo joked and Percy shot him an amused smile before looking in the direction that the unusual noise had come from.
"Do you think that noise came from Nico's cabin?" He asked and Leo shrugged and replied,
"Maybe he went to get the same as we did."Percy raised one eyebrow.
"We went to get an 'Ultra Mega Party Popper'." He said, lifting his hands into exaggerated quotation marks. "You think he went to get one of those?" Leo dismissively waved over in the direction of the noise with an exaggerated huff, smiling.
"Fine, let's go check on him." He said and set down the creation by his cabin door, careful to keep the delicate end out of the mud, and the pair trotted down the pavement to the cabin door. Swinging it open revealed a dark room, curtains drawn and lit by a shaded lamp on Nico's bedside. The bed sheets were creased inwards to where Nico sat pulling his jacket on his shoulders, a small dark gray bag crammed full of crinkling snacks lazing to one side.He gave a start and a wide eyed look when the door opened before composing himself.
"Hello Percy, Leo." He greeted nodding to each.
"Nico." Leo nodded back, imitating him with a wide grin. That unwound Nico's tight expression into a small smile.
"Where are you off to?" Percy's question brought the grim look back on his face.
"Ah. Well, I was thinking of maybe.. visiting Hazel.. in, you know?" He stumbled over his words and the answer ended up sounding more like a question. Leo frowned,
"But Hazel and the rest are here tonight for the party." In that moment, while Nico froze, Percy placed his hands on the younger's shoulders from behind him, only his firm grip downwards stopping Nico from launching up in surprise.
"Come on Nico, you know you can't avoid joining us in the party conga line this time." Percy exclaimed, gently shifting him side to side while himself, shaking his hips. Leo added himself to the precession kicking out his legs to the chant as they shuffled across the cabin. Percy leaned over Nico shoulder to get into his field of view with a wide grin.
"Just this once, would you like me to let you be second in line instead of first?"
"Perce, if you let me go now I'll be back faster you know." Nico said, prising the older teens fingers off his shoulders. Sensing he was about to leave, Percy grasped at Nico's collar. Jerked abruptly into Nico's shadow travel, Percy himself yanked Leo forward, unbalanced with one leg out at a right angle, still preoccupied with his dance.
They landed from the momentary tumbling sensation in the shadow of a short statue in the middle of a pedestrian street. Nico righted himself easily but the other two attached to him reeled forward - Leo unbalanced, standing on one leg, accidentally pushing Percy forward into the statue who banged his head on the granite surface.
"Right in the middle of that street. Real subtle shadow travel." Nico muttered sarcastically and side stepped to direct his companions attention away. But Leo, pulling himself up of the ground found a hanhold gripping the statues ankle and hauled himself up onto the granite.
"Remind me never to travel with Nico again." He informed the towering figure in front of him. It was only when his vision cleared that he cracked a smile at his own mistake.Also ignoring Nico, Percy circled round to the front of the statue to take a look.
"He's barely taller than you Percy. And that's with the pedestal." Leo joked, sidling up to his right.The small collection of boys drew a few looks and a couple smiles. A pair of young girls, fresh out of class with backpacks and short plaid skirts recognized Nico slouching uncomfortably to one side and begin chattering loudly, pointing and drawing their phones. Those around them followed suit and a small crowd grew around the trio. Nico's ears pricked as he picked up the speech with his Interpreter but the other two demigods only looked confused at the commotion.
"Attracting attention already Percy?" Nico said, pulling a tense, distracted smile that brought rounds of squealing from the girls.
"Must be my smoking hot looks." Leo joked with a wide smile, then perked up as he reached for his belt.
"You know, I've got just the thing for this. The cabin developed this not too long ago to translate speech directly." He explained to Percy and his hand rummaged through the pouch.Needing to get away before they take pictures and spread news, Nico made a move to get out the circle. Mentally apologizing, he roughly yanked Leo forward by the forearm into the mass of bodies, sending a fistful of junk and wires flying from Leo's hand and creating a partition for Nico to pull the older boys through behind him.
"Sorry, Leo," Nico called as Leo drew himself up and jogged behind, before smirking at him. "Was trying to get the crowd to stop, drop and roll out the way." This brought a laugh from Leo despite his limp and he nodded his acceptance of the apology. They ran further along the street, the calls of the passers-by expressing excitement as they waved to the trio. Leo, still limping slightly, shot Nico a confused glance which he didn't catch being in the front of the group.
As they neared the end of the high street, the crowd fell behind them and the people in front were startled by the appearance of three sweaty running teens.They slowed to turn onto the next street, passing a small gym and a bakery store on the corner. It had an English name, in contrast to the foreign shops surrounding it and Leo barely made out the title "Mr. San's Dough" as they blurred by.Two young adults sat at the counter inside and both waved to the demigods as the passed, the younger noticeably lacking an arm from the elbow down.
Nico sent them a tight smile and lifted his hand up in greeting then the trio rounded a second corner quickly and skidded to a halt.
"Okay, here's out of sight. Let's get back then, quick." Nico said, moving to grab onto Percy's shoulder but the older teen pulled the fingers off with a frown. Nico shot him a glare and reached forward again.
"Percy, let's just go back, I don't know this place and I didn't really mean to pull you along anyway since you yanked on my shirt."
"No way neeks. You definitely knew that kid you waved to in that.. bread shop! And that's really weird for 'not knowing this place'."
"Bread shop?" Leo broke in, smiling.
"Shut up! Bakery, whatever!" Percy exclaimed frustrated, with arms up, and Leo grinned behind his hand.
"Don't antagonise him Leo. And Percy, how about I just get you back to the party and I'll go where I was trying to go."
"Nico. You're either explaining this or you're attending the party. You're not going to skip celebrations like this again. Else: I'm gonna sit over there and won't move until you attend. I'll be waiting." Percy finished with a huff and stepped away, crossing the street and sitting on a flower shop ledge with eyes closed and arms defiantly crossed.Nico sighed and shot Leo a look, who merely shrugged and both moved out of the shadow to walk over the oldest in the three.
"Fine percy, I'll g-" Nico started to say, then was abruptly swarmed by the mass of people that had been searching for them earlier.Leo who had been in front was pushed forward by the force of the people and swiveled to see his view of Nico was entirely blocked by a group of shouting citizens. He tried to reach through but was forcibly pushed back by the mass. Leo shoved his hand into his utility belt and had half a mind to scare them off with the infrasound emitter clenched in his hand, or even with just his fire power (even if he felt that would expose him as having unnatural powers), but paused when, from the corner of his eye, he spotted that Percy was no longer in the place he had been previously. Leo stood up straight, eyes searching for Percy's new location but was unable to see where he had gone.Casting one last look in Nico's general direction, Leo started running back towards the statue, eyes searching and voice yelling for the oldest teen the whole time.
Nico meanwhile was sandwiched between an overly perfumed girl holding out a sparkly pen and notebook and a bearded middle aged man in a fedora, pretty much shoving a voice recorder up his nose.
"Hey! Wait a second with the questions, at least let me call my friends over."
The mob paused for a brief moment and let him through, only to find neither of the other two demigods in the places he had last seen them. Nico sighed and turned back to the owl-eyed bunch of fans and reporters.
"Alright then, I'll find them later. What is it you want?"
Percy had huffed, sitting himself down with eyes closed and chin held high. In his mild tantrum he didn't notice the tapping on his shoulder at first, rhythmic but intentioned. He opened his eyes to a sea of people but nobody to his right where he had felt the sensation coming from. Looking up, it wasn't a leaky drain pipe leaking water onto him and he cautiously stood up and moved towards the right to step into the unlit alley.
A shadowed figure sat, hunched, at the end of the alleyway and Percy moved forward, shifting forward into a half-crouch and one hand on Riptide in his pocket.
He kept an eye on the shape as he approached, his eyes only pulled away when he felt his foot stuck to the ground in an awkward skewed position. He spent a long moment trying to pry it off the ground, finally resorting to pulling out his pen and using it as a lever beneath his heel.
Below, and still leaving residue on his sole, was a squashed wad of gum, almost black with the alley's filth and nearly the size of a tennis ball.
"Eww.. really? Who would even chew that much gum?"
His suddenly felt a sharp tingling pain spread across his legs and forearms and his vision turned blurry and dark, a heavy pressing feeling covering the right side of his head.
A lilting voice spoke softly close to his other ear, the words strangely emphasised as though they had been learnt without any reference and, unlike all his experiences so far, speaking in a language that Percy (unlike all his previous experiences here) managed to recognise.
"Ooo this is a level of power I haven't felt in a long time. Perhaps I can use this one for longer before I have to dump him. He might even be a bit like me... This is going to be fun!"
He tried to throw off whatever or whoever was blinding him - his arms were unresponsive and crashing into the alleyway wall only brought stars to his vision and a ringing in his right ear that had been deafened.
As the searing pain continued and the stars in his vision faded to black, the last thing he heard from his left ear was a loud shout of,
"Percyyyyyy...!"
We've got some exciting news for you folks!The Quirkless Hero Nico di Angelo has reappeared, spotted on Hanagawa street as he had been in the Urokukichi case. Unconfirmed sightings had been reported in previous months but the current storm on social media points towards a longer stay and a full case for his previous vigilantism. Tune in to our channel every day at 8pm for further information on this and other related stories.
Breaking news! Another dangerous villain has been identified as the cause of several murder cases across the district. As many victims were injured or killed by asphyxiation and were often soaked in fluid, the police believe he may have a liquid manipulation quirk used to drown his victims. No photographs are available but if you see any suspicious behaviour you are urged to avoid contact and inform the police. Use the name "Cyclone" in reporting for this villain.
In latest news, the attacks by the elusive villain nicknamed "Cyclone" have continued into this week. Reports of an almost identical villain in appearance, maiming victims with a glowing weapon, have been made and some suspect this may be an accomplice or relative of Cyclone, or even the villain himself. If you see the man displayed on the screen now, he is dangerous. Call the police and avoid contact at all costs.
Leo sat on a park bench, slumped with his legs outstretched, fiddling with some scraps of metal, wire, and glass in a roughly circular shape. He held it up to one eye, a grid of thin gold wire meshes across the inner surface, blocking the image at a distance but near-invisible close-up. He searched for something to test the prototype on and spotted a stubble-faced man with wild dark hair that seemed to shine with a sheen of green, exiting a building labeled yata no kagami koubou or as the eyepiece told him, the eight-span mirror studio. He had no idea what it meant and suspected a fault with the translator, if only for the 'eight-span' part, whatever that meant. It was being translated into Greek, but that shouldn't have been an issue. A similarly exhausted 30-year-old looking guy followed, both of them setting off through the park and out of sight.Leo sat back, tugging out some wiring and replacing some chips with new components. He kicked together some twigs together onto the pavement and lit them, to keep himself and his nearby equipment from freezing as the chilly night dragged on.
He'd been searching for Percy and Nico for the first few days but unable to talk to the majority of the local people he had set about recreating the Interpreter. He had lost those that he had been keeping in his pocket during the trio's stampede and he couldn't conjure a functional one from his belt, so he had spent about a week scrounging for the correct machines to break down, eventually forming a newer updated model but it had been in vain. Leo had only swapped on suspicious nature for another. The previously wild foreigner had been replaced by a dirt-smeared, sweaty and unkept native speaker who still turned away self respecting noses. People also seemed protective of information when Leo brought up Nico's name. He sighed heavily and slumped down on the bench.
It was nearing dawn as Leo finished off his prototype, his back bitten by the chilly morning winds but his hands warmed by his work. He finished screwing together the outer metal ring and moved to try his new gadget out as a loud pair of jogging teenagers came into view. He put the gadget onto his cheek and tried to focus through it.
One was blonde, his hair spiked into an explosion that flew at right angles from his head, unflattened even with the pale sheen of sweat that covered his forehead and neck. Leo quietly wondered if it was the work of some powerful hair spray.The other had a much more sober style to match his placid face but instead was equally extravagant in colour, two sides split between a deep crimson and snowy white.
He caught the red eyes of the blonde who then skid to a halt, eyeing the fire burning quietly by Leo's feet. Leo also looked down and the unstable monocle slipped from his eye, falling into the fire momentarily before he snatched it out.
Not the best design in retrospect...
The blonde stalked over. He paused directly in front on Leo, staring him down.
"You're not allowed to use dangerous quirks in public spaces."
"Quirks?" Surprisingly the interpreter didn't have an issue with the strange use of the word.
"Yeah, setting things on fire is illegal you know."
"Ah, so a quirk.. is.. setting fire to things?"
"Yeah, sure. I mean look what I can do."The teen raised his arm, palm up. Across the skin, streaks of fiery light crackled and sparked, sending up wisps of smoke into the cold air.
"And Icy-hot, you do your thing too."
"No thank you, Bakugou..."
"Whatever. Your quirk's not worth looking at."
The same green-haired 40 or so year old who had left the studio earlier passed by the street again, catching Leo's eye. Leo was about to look back to the pair of teens in front of him, when the man sneezed unexpectedly, shooting an impressive plume of fire and smoke. The man wiped his nose and continued onward, his face and throat glowing gold for a moment until he passed around the corner out of sight.
So everyone here has fire powers, that's weird.
"Excuse us, we should have introduced ourselves. I'm Todoroki Shouto and this menace is Bakugou Katsuki. Also, you should really put that out before some law enforcement comes around."
"I'm Leo Valdez. I just set this up to keep warm, but if you want me to put it out so badly..." he trailed off, grinning, and extinguished the fire, pocketing the monocle in his tool belt.
"Ha! If you need warming up that much with your pathetic little flame, then spar with me and get roasted!"Leo grinned, standing and cracking his knuckles.he backtracked a couple of steps and bent his knees slightly into a fighting stances, fire licking at his fingers. "Well then, come at me, sparkler hands."
"Ex-fucking-cuse me?! Right, you're dead now, you shitty zip lighter!"From his position at the opposite end of the pathway, Bakugou launched forward, fist outstretched. Leo stood his ground, hands ablaze, in a sideways stance with knees bent and feet firmly planted to the concrete. Near simultaneously, each shot a blast of their power towards the other.
While Bakugou set off a secondary explosion to narrowly throw himself out of the way of the oncoming fireball, Leo was doused with a bath of snapping fire that nipped at his skin and was encompassed in thick dark smoke. He heard Todoroki's voice from the leftmost smoky silhouette.
"Look what you've done now Bakugou. You've blasted a poor man into the ether."
"If that matchstick snapped with just that, then he really wasn't worth my time anyway."
"And you totally forgot the disciplining you did literally five minutes ago. What was that 'you can't use quirks in public' business you said...?""I have my hero license so I can do whatever I want.""It's provisional... and I don't see any villains Bakugou.""Shut your fucking face, half-and-half.""Really you've only been trouble this morning. I could've just had my run in peace without you tagging along but you just had to ruin that.""I told you to shut your mouth."
Leo stepped forward from the smoke, grinning.He put his hands on his hips, face somehow even more soot-stained than before and dust still swirling high behind him. Bakugou turned towards him and grinned too.
"Hah! You're not as weak as you look, fucking zippo. Ready for round two?"
A lone figure limped through the empty streets nearing the park square, shoulders hunched. It spoke in low murmur.
"Huh? I sense three signatures just this way. And they seems powerful too. Not as powerful as you darling but perhaps they'll put up a fight before we let them go to the other side."
The shape paused for a moment, twitching slightly, then turned and shuffled onward.
In the midst of the student's arguing, Leo heard the stilted rhythm of footsteps approaching in a crescendo. He turned from the pair and stepped away from them, peering into the still settling dust.A distinctly human shape stepped forward as the pair behind Leo also followed his gaze and quietened.
"Percy? I've been looking for you everywhere!" Leo called out as Percy continued moving towards them. Then, at the older boy's lack of response, he quirked up his eyebrow, noticing his limp and slightly glazed look.
"You don't look too great man. Have you been getting anything to eat and drink? It's been a couple weeks." He called again, subtly shuffling backwards and into a slight crouch, one hand on his belt. Todoroki sent him a strange glance before elbowing Bakugou and settling into a similar stance. The figure lifted his right hand, palm towards the trio.
On the rightmost outskirts of the plaza a woman's quiet singing in her shower room was abruptly cut off by a resounding screech of tearing metal as the building's waterworks were ripped away from the foundations. The same voice let out an indignant yell as the pipe burst, spraying a torrent onto the ground, and a pale pink stream of smoke drifted down the outside wall of the courtyard from the room's small window. With a vague motion of Percy's hand, the water began to peel off the pathway and drifted towards his body, collecting in a shapeless mass behind him. Todoroki started.
"Isn't that...?" he trailed off. Bakugou butt in,
"Hey! That's Cyclone, isn't it?"
"You should back down Bakugou."
"Retreat?! I'm didn't get my license for nothing."
"It's provisional, Bakugou." Ignoring Todoroki, he blasted towards Cyclone.
"Come at me, you villain motherfucker!" Immediately the water behind Percy shifted, swirling upwards and forwards, encompassing Bakugou. His speed slowed to almost zero but he managed to land a blow against Percy's chest large enough the push the both of them apart. Bakugou landed in a crouch near the other two, while Percy had been knocked toward the bench.
"I dare say you look a little wet there."
"No shit, princess."
"And your quirk won't work diluted like that."
"Fuck off." Shouto sighed and put a hand on Bakugou's exposed shoulder.
"I'll assist you if you're not going to ask for it."
Starting from the shoulder and spreading across
Bakugou's chest and arms, the water sizzled from the skin, leaving it pink, warm and dry.
"If I've got it, might as well use it."
"Fuck yes. Now you stand back there dyson and dry me when I come to you."
He leapt forward and Shouto huffed again, rolling his eyes.
"Knock yourself out Katsuki."
Bakugou quickly formed a tight cycle of attack and retreat. He leapt in, landed a blow and stepped out to be dried. Sometimes he'd strike an effective hit on a weak leg or rib but mostly he we tossed around in the villain's erratic wave motion.
Nearly a dozen dries later and no sign of either side deteriorating, Todoroki grew impatient. As Bakugou turned once more to Todoroki for his quirk, the student shook his head, staring down his slender nose at the explosive teen.
"You're not doing anything more to him Bakugou. We're going back to the school and getting a pro hero."
"Come on, one more and I'll crack him."
"No."
"How about you flip lighter?"
"What about me?" He asked back, warily eyeing Percy's steadily approaching form, undeterred by the hero-in-training's attacks.
"You warm me up. At least get my arms."
"Your arms?"
"Yeah fuckwit. My sweat makes my hand explode. You think they come from nowhere?"
"Well-"
"Just do it."
"I bet you make an explosive impression on first dates."
Bakugou shot a glare at Leo's lopsided grin. He licked his lips nervous and wrapped his hands around bakugou's wrists.
"I don't think-"
"Fucking do it, zippo."
Leo concentrated for a moment and it seemed to work, water hissing into steam from bakugou's skin. Then, the student suddenly wrenched his arms out of Leo's grip. Two angry red handprints bloomed above bakugou's wrists.
"Son of a bitch!"
"I-"
"What the fuck ever. Let's-"
Leo flinched back as suddenly a white wall shot between them and his side was doused with freezing water.
An ice barrier had suddenly been erected to Leo's left, the side facing the villain but water (rapidly cooled by the ice) from the almost unnoticed attack still made its way around the frigid wall to soak the pair.
"Let's go. We can find a better place to fight where we won't tear up an entire public space."
Todoroki's creation was slowly thinning and forming pale cracks as the trio dashed away. Ice fell away in chunks and swirled, dissolving into the water and Percy stepped through the makeshift barrier, running as fast as the villain could push his body to go.
"Do you never heed my warnings?"
Bakugou just blew air angrily through his lips and turned his head away.
"At least we're heading to UA now, there should be a hero we can hand over to." Bakugou's head whipped back around,
"Hand over to? We're just repositioning." Shouto ignored him.
"I think Midoriya mentioned Shinsou comes early to class." Leo raised an eyebrow and spoke.
"Shinsou?" He asked. Katsuki butt in again,
"A fucking extra. We could use him though. Keep Cyclone still while I beat on him."
"Has anyone told you that you're too violent Bakugou?"The makeshift trio continued dashing down the street, coming across a small river bank with no bridge in sight. After just a moment's hesitation, They slid down the grassy bank, two much more gracefully than the last. They pattered through the shallows, kicking up sludge that splattered each other backs, and scrambled up the opposite bank in their water-logged shoes. They continued through the residential district, when a tremendous crash resounded behind them and a glittering shadow fell across the street over them. Leo looked behind them - a large tendril of water towered overhead, glittering in the low sunrise. It was noticeably increasing in width and seemed to bend towards them in a menacing mockery of a bow.
He got Todoroki's attention, pointing frantically towards the threat, and the teen pulled the three of them to the right towards a small winding footpath. They began to weave between the streets, slowly gaining an increasing head start on the villain but not entirely losing the glittering shadow of the water that continued to nip at their heels.
Very quickly, they reached the academy, sliding to a stop just inside the gateway, heads swivelling and eyes searching.
"So, where is he?"
"I think I spotted him just going in."
"Well, what are we waiting for then? Cyclone will be here soon and I call first dibs."
"Honestly, I think you already hit him ten minutes ago. Dibs doesn't apply anymore." Leo chimed in.
They barrelled through the school's entrance way door and into the genkan, where Shinsou was just closing his shoe locker.
"Mindman come quick! We need your quirk!
"You need.. but I-"
"I said hurry brain blaster. Cyclone will be here any second!"Bakugou grasped Shinsou's wrist and spun on his heels, yanking the unusually uncomposed teen behind him.
"But my indoor shoes!-"
Shinsou was roughly dragged back to the front gate, stumbling forward off balance and heaving.
"If it's so important, why aren't you getting the teachers help you morons!" Leo answered him,
"I don't know. This one seemed to think you'd be good enough for the job." He gestured to Bakugou as they ran. "You must be pretty strong if you're gonna subdue Percy!"
"Subdue?"They barrelled back through the gateway, sending a few early morning students scattering to the sides of the pathway with confused looks.
"Leo! What are you doing?"
"Nico! I've been looking for you everywhere." Leo exclaimed as he whipped his head around and spotted Nico leaning against the entrance archway.
"And now where is this guy fucking off to?" Bakugou puffed. Nico sent a small distracted wave at the rest of the group then faced Leo.
"I've been looking for Percy and you. I hope you haven't been going too hungry." He turned to the UA students, addressing them. "Have any of you seen Midoriya?"
"Deku?!"
Nico winced and Leo heard the low whine from the Interpreter which Nico has somehow gotten.
"Okay fine, have you seen Deku?"
"He's in the dorms. If you haven't organised a meetup then he won't come out to the gate, you'll have to meet him inside." Shinsou reluctantly explained, gesturing vaguely towards a block of buildings located to the far right of the school.
"I see."
Nico hummed as he leant on the gate and Bakugou scowled at him.
"You can go in. The barrier's been reconfigured since that shitty hero Di Angelo climbed it. And that was all over the news - You been living under a rock?"
"I think that might be Di Angelo." Shinsou pointed out, deadpan. Bakugou scrunched up his face and visciously flicked sweat off his forehead onto the pavement where it sizzled and left pockmarks in the concrete.
"Just because it is him, doesn't make him any less shitty. I'm not gonna be polite to someone half my size." Nico crossed his arms and glared but ultimately didn't answer, turning back to Leo.
"My original question still stands, what are you doing?" The question brought Leo back to attention.
"Oh yes! I found Percy but something's wrong."
"Cyclone.. I'd heard on the.. news, but I didn't really believe he'd be running rampant."
"He's not exactly himself Nico, someone or something's got a hold of him."
"Well, I can tell that. He isn't exactly the murderous type, Leo. At least, not for no reason. You should know that."The group was still mulling at the front gate when a moment later, a swift current of water swept under their feet, toppling the unprepared Shinsou. As he stood back up, wringing streams of water out his hair, they turned to the source of the torrent.
Succeeding the wave, the villain appeared. Percy Jackson approached the group, water swirling around his body. The wave ebbed, bringing all the additional water in the surroundings, locked in the drains and sprinklers, with it.
Dripping wet and shivering in the early morning breeze, Shinsou stared at the approaching villain.
"Isn't that...?"
"Yep."
"You weren't lying, huh. I didn't realise you meant it when you said 'Cyclone'."
The group - Nico, Leo, Bakugou, Todoroki and Shinsou - arranged themselves in a wall in front of the school's gate.The pair of hero students stepped forward from their position, buttresses of the group. The villain's hand lifted and swept forward, bringing a cascade with it. Used to the villain's timing at this point, Bakugou blasted high into the air but the wave hit Todoroki with a hammer's blow, sending him skidding backwards on the slick pavement. The water sizzled off his skin as he re-positioned, his hair a mess of almost vertical ribbons of interlaced red and white.He cracked his knuckles loudly and a pale frost rose off one side.
"Ok Bakugou, lets get this done quickly."
"Don't be a burden this time half and half."
"I'm never a burden Katsuki."With a tight shared smile, together they dashed forward, one sailing through the air with the assistance of an explosive blast while the other coasted on the icy ground.
"You distract him while I surround him." Todoroki instructed his classmate, as he crouched in his motion, arms forward. "He can remove my ice with his quirk but there's only so much he can take. We need to surround him and trap him." Katsuki didn't change his path, so Todoroki took that as reluctant agreement.
Bakugou reached Percy first, immediately engaging with the same hit and re-hit tactic but at a greater speed, dancing out of reach to remain dry and in use of his quirk. Todoroki swept his hand up and a glacier formed in the front of the villain. His hand swept across his body as he glided around the villain's left side, the glacier building along as he went. He pivoted, sliding on the edge of his trainers as he shifted direction, continuing to drift past the villain, surrounding the Percy and Bakugou both with ice.As the circular barrier concluded he yelled,
"Bakugou! Out!"His hand flew high above his hand pointed at the open top, shooting out a final blast. It encompassed the top just as bakugou sailed out the opening, sailing on a gust formed from his blasts. Something heavy collided with the inside of the structure but it only shook and held firm.
In the middle of the gateway, an ice dome stood. Frost drifted from its surface, curling out over the ground. Todoroki slid to a stop and Bakugou followed. The hero-in-training turned to Nico,
"If he's smart he won't try to melt the ice and overfill the dome with water. Your friend might be in danger if he did."
"Percy can breath underwater but I don't know if the villain would have tested that."
"Let's hope not." Leo agreed.
"Either way, it should hold until adult assistance comes."Bakugou huffed once, arms crossed.
"You didn't give me enough chance to knock him out. He wouldn't be any trouble then."
"I think if he isn't out already, then we probably can't knock him out Bakugou."A loud crack resounded in the courtyard. A crunch and loud scraping noise followed. At the base of the makeshift enclosure, a crack formed, stray fragments of ice spraying from it into the street. Following it, a glowing bronze blade erupted from the inside, sliding in a vague arc until it reached the base again. It toppled forward toward the group, shattering on the pavement.Percy lowered his leg from his position inside the ice. The demigod could be seen shaking from across the street but was clearly active as he stepped clear of the dome and out into the open air. It began to buckle behind him as its smooth structure disintegrated into its liquid form and pooled out of the exit.
"He has a sword?!"
"I had almost forgotten." Nico looked up at the dark but steadily brightening sky. I should still be able to do this.He disappeared from sight, reappearing own sword unsheathed in front of Percy. It flickered upwards, slicing through the older demigod's shirt as the villain leaned backwards to avoid the blade. Nico leapt up again. Mid-stride he shadow-travelled again, materialising behind the villain. He brought down his broad sword's flat side in a swift disabling blow on the unbalanced villain when the full force of Percy's power collided with his side. The impact of all the water melted from the ice launched him away from the scene like a cannonball. He lost his grip on his sword and it was sent skittering out of sight. Tumbling through the air, Nico collided with the ground, bringing a grunt of pain as his chest contacted the floor.He scrambled upright, swaying on his feet and spotted his sword idly spinning on its hilt stone near the student group. He dashed over, noticing the purple haired student picking up the blade as he did so. Nico reached with one hand to take it from him. Shinsou gingerly handed it over, elbow sagging from the weight as he held it and a confused look on his face as he eyed Nico. Grasping the edge of his jacket, still vaguely dry on the innermost layer, Nico gently ran the fabric along the broadside of the blade, flicking off the excess moisture and resheathed it.Todoroki looked over at Nico as well, shaking his head slightly.
"You won't be able to get behind him again like that."
"I can see that, but let me try something else first. Can't give up just yet."
He concentrated, keeping his eye on the villain, staring hard at the ground beneath the water that surrounded the villain. A long moment passed, Percy's body steadily approaching. Nico could feel Bakugou's impatience from just out of view. Cracks ran through the pavement, dust and dirt steadily seeping upwards. The concrete buckled and the material lifted into the air. It swirled sluggishly into the water, causing it to almost sag with the weight and it turned the liquid into viscous mud, mostly slowly upwards into the mass.The villain noticed the discrepancy almost immediately as the bottom of the ball failed to follow his command. Deflecting a strike from Leo, sending said demigod careening backwards, he pivoted on on heel to face his water weapon. He paused a moment then splayed his fingers - the sphere dissolved into ten uneven blobs, forming a vague ring but remaining separated. The bottom three, choked with mud, dropped almost instantaneously, leaving seven balls suspended high behind behind Percy.Nico tried directing his power to bring the soil upwards and into the separate water globe, but with a movement of the villain's fingers they jiggled and evaded all of Nico's attempts to contact them.Nico dropped his control of the ground, standing, and in that moment, the villain lifted three fingers towards him, three lances of water following the line of Percy's hand speared towards Nico.
Nico began to raise his hand in defence but the blast of water were faster, striking Nico's face in successive blows that left his upper body soaked and skin coated in a stringing fire from the force.A strange un-Percy-like smile stretched across Percy's face as the villain lowered his arm, forming a swooshing motion towards himself as he did so. Nico felt his body shift forward against his own volition with a pushing force that blanketed his back and legs. The force grew and his wet hair and clothes drifted away from their normal position, as if pulled by an invisible hand towards the villain. The ghost king kept sliding forward, some droplets flying off his slick skin and into the water ball forming behind the villain. Percy's controller shifted, lifting his sword to match Nico's angle of approach.Nico himself, began to reach for his own sword when a blast of fire, originating from the corner of his eye and blazing towards the villain at speed, swept past his right side. Moments later, a tremendous hiss and clouds of steam as the villain defected the flame with a wall of water. Fully dry now and unattracted to the water absorbing 'black hole' the villain formed, Nico backtracked to the group, Todoroki following shortly after. Leo stared at Percy then at Nico.
"Holy hell, that guy really knows how to use Percy's power. Probably more creative with it than water boy is."
"Hear that Percy? You've got to step up your game." Leo joked. A small frown formed on Percy's face and Shinsou began speaking,
"If you had power this strong, how'd you get stuck with a villain in the first place?"
"What exactly do you-"
Percy was abruptly cut off as both his own puppeteer and Shinsou took control over his mind, stilling in place.
"Break free of his control."Sweat beaded on Shinsou's forehead as nothing continued to happen.
"Escape." Nothing." Come on, you can do it." Still nothing. Then Shinsou untensed with a frown.
"Nope, lost it." He sidestepped to where Bakugou, Nico and Todoroki crouched.
"That doesn't happen. He didn't have the normal breakout conditions so I shouldn't have lost control. Damn it."
"Weak ass bitch. First Deku in the festival but now a villain, when winning actually matters." He eyed Nico and gestured with his head towards Shinsou."Here's a kid who wants to be a hero too." He ended the sentence with a wumph as he leapt upwards, away from the pair and back into the fray alongside Leo. From his position, Todoroki sent another ice wall rocketing towards the villain which side-checked Bakugou roughly as it passed.
"Watch it peppermint bitch! Not a burden my ass!"Nico briefly patted Shinsou's shoulder with a tense look.
"Two controlling type quirks at once. Just a matter of experience or practice there I imagine. Don't fret it."Shinsou huffed and turned away when a loud yell could be heard behind them.
"What are you doing!?"
Those not immediately engaged with Percy turned to look as Midoriya Izuku dashed up to the small group of fighters.
"Oh wow! Todoroki! You look... great!"
"Thank you Midoriya but perhaps now is not the time to comment on my appearance, positively or otherwise."He gestured vaguely behind him to where bakugou was once again attempting to batter Percy while Leo fended off his sword strokes.
"Woah! Cyclone and the Swordsman are the same person!"
"Don't you dare start fanboying right now Midoriya." Shinsou said resignedly. "You need to come up with one of your plans."
"You can't get him under your control Shinsou?"
"Something weird is going on in there - the person you see is actually being controlled by someone else, the real villain. I tried to get him to break free but he's stuck fast, something pretty strong and painful is keeping him under." He turned to Nico.
"I'm not sure if the villain knows speaking was the cause of your friend's escape attempt in the there but we would need to get the villain to talk, not just your friend."
Leo sprawled on his back onto the ground next to the group and Todoroki stepped out of the conversation to take his place, sending out spears of ice.
"Disabling his water quirk? If the villain is controlling another's body then they shouldn't have the experience with the quirk that they do."
"The villain has been in contact with Perce for too long, he's too adept at using Percy's power at this point..."
"And his sword?"
"You won't be able to separate Percy and his sword."
"Not even-"
"You won't." Leo chipped in this time, nodding his head sagely in agreement. Izuku stroked his chin in thought.
"If we can't get rid of his quirk or sword, we'll have to work with Shinsou's quirk. Maybe we can trick the villain into speaking by doing something unexpectedly. Perhaps provoking him with something. Do you know the villain personally?" Nico raised an eyebrow. "We've got a voice activated mind control quirk here." Midoriya tried explaining gesturing with his hand to Shinsou but Nico shook his head smiling.
"I'm not prepared to diss a villain with 'yo mama' jokes Midoriya but I think I have an idea. Just scatter around and hit him whenever you see an opening. Keep him busy." As the group dispersed, crouching into ready positions around Percy, Nico pulled Leo forward and behind a nearby steel bin on the street corner.
"Leo. You're the gadget man. Got something?"
"I think I do. Someone distract him for a moment." He replied, raising his voice at the end towards the rest.
He noticed the purple-haired student they had picked up last moment turn back towards Percy and begin speaking again.Leo fished frantically around in his belt when his hand closed on a familiar chunky rectangular object. Eureka!
He yanked it out, turned the dial up to full with his thumb and tossed it in an arc towards Percy.Even from the distance away that he was from Percy, he could feel as his eyes vibrated and his vision turned into a haze of iridescent colours, immediately regretting his rash decision to dial the emitter up to full blast. In a few moments of loud shouting from those around him, Leo heard a crunch between them as Percy's controller forcibly crushed the device under his foot.
"Shit!" The villain bellowed, hands still over eyes and Nico shot Leo a glance, eyes wide.
"What the hell was that! Remind me never to go near your inventions or I'll get my face blown off."
"A frequency resonator. And perhaps I should have yelled fire in the hole."
"Not sure if that would have helped." Both of them shared a tight grin and turned back to see Percy's body totally still.
"You are going to let go and leave his body."
Nico realised that as the two of them had shared their exchange, the purple-head, Shinsou, behind him had taken the opportunity to use the villain's 'word' to finally take control over them and pull them out of Percy's body.
"Woah."
A dark dust like material was pouring out of Percy's skin, drifting downwards, pooling and swirling on the pavement, the dust lifting up and Percy fell sideways into a slumped seated position, as the material formed into a similarly placed but much smaller a sleeker form into opposite direction, the rest of the dark stuff meshing into a silhouette that seemed to border the villain and silently ebbed and flowed from him in tendrils like strange dark 'anti-solar' flares.
"Ah, a trap. My power failed me this time... You've got me heroes."
"Hey! Shut your fucking mouth and stay still!"
Bakugou yelled, appearing suddenly from behind and kicked the villain to the ground, standing heavily on his back.
"Shit! Treat me with a little respect!"
"Villains don't deserve any respect!
Nico shot Bakugou an unimpressed look.
"Back off a little bit, we still need to ask him questions. Anything we can learn will help the victims we have on hand and that's what heroes do, no?"
Bakugou shot Nico a fuming glare back but stepped off the villain's back, however keeping one foot on, forcing the adult into a permanent seated half-bow.
"Well then, What have you done to Percy?"
"Your friend? His ear should be alright but I can't guarantee that. As for the rest of his body, he'll recover from the strain of my quirk without any lasting effect eventually. Trauma might be a little more tricky." A lopsided smile found its way onto the villains face. Leo butt in,
"We mean what have you done using your power. What is it? Wobbly dark dust?"
"Dust, but it also forms long living shapes that I can extend, control and trap with. I don't know what they are, snakes I guess but to me, they're more like leeches - as dust myself in my targets bodies, I can feel and control and take energy through them. Anything biological that is, including your friend."
He turned to said friend and smirked tiredly.
"This one's got a lot of energy to take. He's powerful. Not a powerful quirk but something greater than anything this world has seen. A descendant of the great hero perhaps, a great and very very useful lineage. I'm afraid to admit he is stronger alone than I am, and if he's taken in what I've done with him, he's going to be stronger still. Lucky man."
"I know what he is, you don't have to be vague on my account." Nico snarked. "We are demigods too."
Despite his defeated situation, the legacy perked up,
"Legacies? I didn't think you'd be strong enough with your godly powers to realise, I guess your family must have been keeping track since it's surely your quirk I've been seeing and not your power. Which god are you from? Or maybe even two?" He ended, raising his eyebrow as he smiled slightly.
"No, I said we're demigods. Not legacies. I don't have a quirk."
The villain's expression distorted from one of apprehensive delight to a curious frown then finally settling on a disgusted sneer.
"Demigods? Impossible. You can't trick me with that, even with my power acting like this."
"Trick you? It's true. This one right here is a son of Hephaestus and the one you've been using as a puppet is a son of a Poseidon." He gestured to the two in turn. The legacy shook his head feverishly.
"It can't be. The gods haven't been in contact for ages."
"The gods haven't spoken? Where are They? What have the oracles said?"
"Nothing, They're just gone. I thought you would have known that. The Gods have been gone for nearly five hundred years. Five hundred years since this blasted quirk era that made me who I am, that destroyed our species and left the mist in shambles. They don't need you demigods any more, these heroes have nearly vaporised the monster's existence. And then without any children, They basically faded out of existence. I don't know how you're here but you have absolutely no right to be."
The demigod began to wail, voice rising as they crumpled forward onto the ground. Nico stared at him speechless.
"I could have been the most powerful of our kind alive, I'm an 8th generation legacy while there are even 20th generations around now. And I had a good quirk too, on top of my abilities, while they're mostly quirkless and powerless. Taking over someone strong I could have worked my way through this whole blasted bastard city. A strong legacy like me is above all these shitty nobodies but I've been defeated by a shitty time traveller who shouldn't even fucking be here. Damn it!"
The UA students turned away from the impromptu interrogation, a pair running towards the building, probably to get a member of faculty, while another, the purple-haired kid Shinsou, crouched near Percy and spoke to him gently. Leo cautiously stepped in as Nico continued to gape,
"Are there any other demigods?"
After a moment of shaking, the legacy on the pavement lifted his head to look at the pair.
"Demigods? I said there aren't any. And legacies? I only know a couple who can identify themselves as legacies. You won't find any around Japan if you're planning on asking around. There's loads but most won't know they have godly blood - you demigods meshed too well with the people with quirks after the gods disappeared. They might have powers like demigods. They might be legacies only in blood. Very diluted blood at that."From his low position, he gestured first to the student to his right and above him and then swept a hand towards the group standing behind the demigods.
"At least one of them will have godly blood. From the way you lot got around, I wouldn't be surprised if it were two."
"You're part of the 'you lot' too you know, asshole." Leo was surprised that it wasn't his voice answering but rather that of the gloomy demigod next to him.
"Oh, you're back to the land of the living."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Nico growled and Leo leaned back, hands up in mock surrender.
"Ok ok it's chill man."
"I'm sure you'd be freaking out too if your fire blasted you 500 years into the future."
"Surely it can't be more than 400 - He's exaggerating! Plus, if you got here then there must be a way to get back, right? Right?"
"That's not the issue I'm worried about Leo. I can go back any time if I need."
"So you do know-"
"And most importantly, it's what happened to the demigods, the people we know. Did you even hear what the legacy said?"
"Yea it's been 400 years, barely more than 300 I bet, and the gods have disappeared."
"Stop trying to distract me with your jokes, Leo."
Bakugou butt into the trio's conversation, digging his heel into the Villain's back as he leant over him, drawing a yelp from the man on the asphalt,
"It's been 500 years, he's not wrong. You should know that, they teach that in grade school, or are you really that much of a dumbass, zip lighter?"
Leo passed him an awkward frown as Bakugou began to tell in the student group's direction, the sheepishly pitched down his voice to avoid any more over-hearing.
"Alright alright. So we've gone 500 years into the future and found out that the world we know has ended. That's ok, we can just go back and work on stopping it from happening - we're like three mini oracles." Leo glanced at Percy, who seemed to be calming under Shinsou's steady hand, and sighed, slumping in his stance.
"Like three oracles with half a prophecy," However, the son of Hephaestus perked up, continuing. "But the universe isn't deterministic and prophecies can be bent or even delayed to near infinity. We know that from first-hand, right?"
"Not all prophecies can be stopped, Leo. I know that from first-hand too." There was a long moment as Nico stared Leo down, air intangibly charged until it suddenly dissipated as Nico rubbed his eyes and sighed, casting a long glance at Percy as he did so.
He smiled tightly at Shinsou who barely tilted his head in acknowledgment, and crouched next to Percy, hands on his idol's shoulders.
"How are you doing Percy?"
"I'm... I don't know, really." He said quietly, staring slightly off into the middle distance. "The villain has really wrecked my ear though, I can hardly hear anything through it."
"We should get you back to Will and the rest of the Apollo cabin then, for that check-up, treatment and some medicated rest. Annabeth will be there to keep you in check and help you recover too, so you should be back to somewhat normal in no time." Nico reassured him and the other demigod bobbed his head in agreement.
"Yeah, I guess." Percy shrugged, focusing a bit as he let Nico haul him to his feet. "It'll be nice to see the other campers again. What has it been, three weeks?"
"I think it's getting onto twice that long now." Answered Leo, slipping under Percy's other side to support him.
A commotion to their left and the three shuffled around to see what was happening. The two students who had left previously were now re-approaching, a handful of adults in tow.
Shinsou stood up from his crouch and moved to stand near Izuku, coasting clear of Bakugou, then immediately regretted his decision when Midoriya lifted his arm and waved, brightly yelling,
"Mr Aizawa! Mr Cementoss! Over here!"
"And exactly what the hell is going on now? Two students come rushing up to me, yelling about a villain at the gate and I come here to find nothing."
"Sorry to confuse you Mr Aizawa, we finished that fight. We've already defeated Cyclone."
"Cyclone like the killer Cyclone? Not this again." Aizawa groaned at Midoriya's nod then turned to the trio, squinting suspiciously. "What are your names? And that is the villain, is it not?"
"Nico di Angelo, Leo Valdez and Percy Jackson. Percy here was being controlled with a body control quirk by the real villain there, to commit the murders. That's the one you should be arresting."
Aizawa raised one tired eyebrow at the names given then turned to the man pinned on the ground. He abruptly sent out his tethers, encompassing the man and yanked him upright from under Bakugou's foot, nearing downing the blonde teen in the process.
"And your name villain?"
"Kamiyama Huri. 29 from Colusca city, Shizuoka prefecture." Aizawa rubbed his eyes and turned to the other teachers with him, speaking to them quietly.
"You'll be able to explain it to them?" Nico asked Midoriya with a side glance as the adults were occupied. When Izuku nodded, the demigod cautiously continued, a little louder.
"I'm sorry but we have to take our leave. We've got to get Percy to our doctors." He sketched a quick bow as best he could under Percy's weight and took in a breath in preparation.
"Oh no you don't."
Aizawa turned back and stared Nico down, his hair lifting like it was being pulled to heaven by a God's invisible strings. As Nico's back bolted straight up in fear and he grasped firmly onto Leo's forearm from behind, the teacher dashed forward, hand and tethers only grasping at where the demigod had been standing moments before. Eraserhead briefly scanned his surroundings for sight of their presence or anyone observing before sighing and turning back to the battered villain wrapped in the rest of his gear.
"Right, 'Quirkless King'."
The three fell back into the Hades cabin, the two oldest demigods slumping onto the bed in exhaustion. Nico sat lightly on the stool set near the bathroom door huffing slightly.Leo turned his face to Nico, his cheek squished into the hard mattress.
"I've only thought of this now but how much time would have passed here while we were gone?" Nico sat up straighter, eyes suddenly wide.
"It depends really. The first time I tried, the full period I spent there had passed here, but after that, it sometimes brought me back to barely a moment after I left."
"Let's hope it's the second one. I sure wouldn't want to miss the party. I'd been building that party popper for at least half a day and I want to put it to use." Percy let out a long breath and heaved himself up, rolling his shoulders and turning to the others.
"I guess we'd better take a look."They stepped out the cabin - Percy mostly recovered but still leaning somewhat on Nico - door clicking heavily behind them. The air was stiff and heavy, a pattering of rain quickly dampening their skin and clothes.
"Well, we've been away long enough for it to start raining. It's still dark though, maybe everyone packed it in for the night?"The trod up the pathway, approaching the Hephaestus cabin. Leo spotted his contraption and dashed forward hefting it up from the slowly pooling mud and checking it over quickly.
"Looks like it still works!"
"Let's check in your cabin and see if people are in bed. It'll be too late to set off your thing if the party's done." Nico pointed out, subtly shifting from foot to foot in nervousness.
"Well, even if they're in bed I can wake them up with it and throw an after party!" Said Leo grinning widely. He turned to the door, shouldering it open and turning into the entrance way. He paused and Percy peered in after him.It was empty. Bedsheets unfurled, scraps of material littering the workstations and the floor, and a mysterious pale sheen of white glowing on every surface.
"It's messier than I remember. Everyone must still be at the campfire. Let's go." Leo spoke. They pulled out of the doorway and the trio walked onwards, pace quickening as they approached, in a near sprint at the end as they continued to hear only silence from the camp.
The campfire was deserted, the grass faintly yellowed and not even a wisp of smoke rose from the clumpy ash that was all that was left of the fire. The trio stood in a line, heads swivelling slowly as they scanned the area. The wind picked up, flinging dust from the benches into Nico's eyes as he squinted at the scene.
Leo had moved to set down his invention when the contraption fired, toppling forwards. The colourful tissue drifted and swirled around the small group in the strong wind, quickly forming multicoloured clumps of sludge at their muddy, sodden feet.
"Surprise...?"