Making a Splash
"The four 'A's of intervening in confirmed villain activity in progress are…?"
Rob looked up from his text-book. Inigo, sitting cross-legged on his own bed opposite, listed the answers off on his fingers as he responded.
"Easy; Assess, Approach, Attack, Apprehend."
"Correct!" Confirmed Rob, with a big thumbs up. He put his book face down as his room-mate picked up his.
Rob's side of their shared dorm-room was awash with knick-knacks and tacky tchotchkes from tourist destinations all over Japan, but mostly from Kyoto. An entire shelf was crammed full of little, plastic, 'chibi' figurines of famous heroes past and present he'd got from vending machines and the wall behind his bed was hidden entirely beneath posters of views of Mt. Fuji, the Imperial Palace, Itsukushima shrine and so-on.
Although Inigo's side was a little cluttered, with a few posters and a whole bookshelf full of visual novels, crowned with an array of Popsy merchandise, it seemed positively spartan compared to Rob's vast collection of plastic ephemera. Against the rear wall between the two beds was the big-screen T.V. with its little nest of games consoles which didn't see nearly as much use as Rob had initially hoped they would; the hero course was very demanding, after all.
"Okay," Inigo asked. "What is the law that permits heroes to access private property in pursuit of fleeing villains?"
Rob frowned, his antennae twitching and twisting as he thought.
"The… uuh… the…" He snapped his fingers as the answer came to him. "The emergency pursuit act!"
Inigo made a face like he'd just bitten into a sour candy.
"Ooh, close, but it's the exigent pursuit act."
"Arg! That's what I meant! I guess I should work on my Japanese some more."
"Sure thing! Hey, pass me the flash-cards would ya?" The little, green, dragon which had been sleeping at the foot of Inigo's bed uncurled and stretched. As it flitted up into the air to grab the box of cards from the bookshelf where they rested Rob interrupted.
"Actually, I changed my mind. If I have to study any more right now I think my brian might fall out of my ears."
Inigo pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen.
"Well, we got about half an hour before the cafeteria starts serving dinner. I was going to go for a run. Wanna come with?"
"Heck, yeah! Gimme a sec to put on my gym clothes."
‼‼««««僕のヒーローアカデミア»»»»‼‼
It was getting a little late in the day when the two boys rounded the corner of the wall which enclosed the Shiketsu grounds, and the sky was just developing an orange tinge at the horizon, faintly edging the clouds with pink. The athletic field included a track, of course, but many of the athletically-inclined students preferred to do laps around the outside of the school. Being built at the top of a gentle rise in the landscape the school had a good view over the rest of Kyoto, and a few laps around the property afforded the opportunity to take it all in.
Having not long started, the boys were barely even out of breath as they both slowed to a halt, arrested by a strange sight. At first they thought it was just heat-shimmer, but the cool of the evening air belied that possibility, and besides, it seemed to be strangely limited to just one area at the edge of the city, miles away.
"Is that a flood?" Asked Rob, his antennae waved above his head. "It smells like a lot of fresh water has been standing for a few hours."
"You can smell water!?" Inigo and the tiny, green dragon perched on his shoulder both turned to look at him, eyebrows cocked in unison.
"These things aren't just for show!" He tweaked the tip of one of his writhing appendages. "Let's check… hey!" But Inigo had already set off at a run towards the phenomenon, the emerald figure of Gigan sailing along kite-like behind him. He beckoned as he ran.
"C'mon man! Keep up!"
‼‼««««僕のヒーローアカデミア»»»»‼‼
Inigo and Rob reached the edge of the flooded region; a large construction site where the city was adding an entire district, expanding out into the surrounding countryside. The project had been highly controversial and had attracted a lot of protest from environmental groups, now it looked like some sort of post-apocalyptic swamp. Past the hastily-erected police barriers, skeletal, partially-constructed buildings and cranes loomed out of the dense, milky, mist which covered the surface of the water. The Kyoto police were keeping back the crowd of gawkers, most of whom were filming the bizarre sight.
Rob turned to Inigo and saw that the blonde boy also had his phone out, on the end of an unusually long, emerald-green selfie stick, getting a bird's-eye view of things. Gigan-stick twisted this way and that as it took in everything. Lights began to flicker within the mist, and strange, eerie sounds echoed out. The crowd gasped as demonic faces formed in the fog, and the silhouettes of little creatures with humanoid shapes, but inhuman proportions could be made out cavorting in the haze. A high-pitched, reedy voice rang out, as loud and clear as a church bell. It seemed to be quoting some sort of poetry, but the accent was strange and almost impenetrable, and it ended with a shrill, cackling laugh like a weird sort of bird-call.
Inigo Looked over to his companion.
"Was that English? It kind of sounded like it in parts."
Rob rubbed his chin.
"Uh, I think so. Sounded like some sort of British; like maybe Irish or Scottish or something? We should find a British person to ask."
"Kaylee?"
"Kaylee."
‼‼««««僕のヒーローアカデミア»»»»‼‼
By the time the two boys barged into the cafeteria, still in their gym outfits and more than a little sweaty, most of the students were already seated and tucking into their meals.
Kaylee was sitting at a table across from Chris, who was looking a little the worse for wear, as though he'd been having more than a few late nights recently. They both looked up as Inigo and Rob breathlessly jogged up to the table.
"Hey, Chris." Inigo greeted his friend.
"Hmmhnigo." He mumbled back, listlessly shoving another bundle of sauce-soaked rice into his already-full mouth with his chop-sticks.
Rob Was talking loudly and animatedly in a way that drew plenty of curious (and some irritated) looks.
"Kaylee, Kaylee, there's something weird going on at the construction site of that new district!"
Inigo followed up equally excitedly, waving his phone in her face.
"The whole place is flooded, and there was all this fog! And there were weird creatures!"
"I don't know if they were really there; I couldn't smell anything, I think they might have been illusions!"
Inigo turned to Rob.
"Wait, really? You didn't tell me."
Rob shrugged.
"You never asked."
Kaylee, her head turning between the two of them as though she were following a tennis match, piped up.
"GUYS! What are you talking about and why are you talking at me about it?"
"There was a British guy talking, and we need you to translate." Clarified Inigo, prodding at his phone to bring up the footage.
"...Doesn't Rob speak English? Actually, don't you speak English?"
"Yeah, but this guy was, like, British British." He gave his phone one last jab and the thickly accented verse played.
<"Ye raise yer buildin's, tall an' grey
But water washes all away!
Yon city shall not raise but one
While t' forrest's 'ome t' Tiddy Mun!
Eeheheheheeh!!!">
"Oh." Said Kaylee. "Uh, yeah, that sounds like someone from up north. Yorkshire, maybe? He's saying how the city is constructing all those new buildings, but he won't let them, and then he says his name is, uh, 'Tiddy Mun', I think? It's been a while since I heard that kind of accent."
"Who's Tiddy Mun?" Asked Inigo.
Kaylee shrugged. Chirs swallowed and interjected.
"Why don't you just Bing it?"
"Oh yeah." Inigo again began swiping and poking at his phone's screen, accessing the all-but-ubiquitous search engine and entering his query. "Ah, here we are…."
Rob fetched lunch for himself and Inigo and the four sat and ate while they watched a video someone had made on ancient British folk-lore.
‼‼««««僕のヒーローアカデミア»»»»‼‼
A towering figure stood on the steps of the picturesque Kwoolani temple, watching the sunset. There were very few black people in Japan, and fewer still as tall and broad-shouldered as Imamu Belmitope. The high priest stood with his hands clasped behind his back, feet shoulder-width apart and head tilted to look at the peach-pink clouds in the darkening orange-red sky. He breathed deeply, steadying himself. His conference would happen soon, and although he would never let any of his subordinates see it, he was just a little… not nervous exactly, but perhaps apprehensive.
He returned his gaze to the foliage in the carefully landscaped grounds surrounding the temple. The air had a damp to it all of a sudden. Out of nowhere, fog began to roll in, until Imamu could barely see to the bottom or top of the steps. Soft lights flickered in the mist, and Imamu fancied he could make out demonic and skeletal-looking faces in the vapour. Suddenly, he became aware of a presence standing right next to him. He looked down and saw a tiny shape standing beside him; a little man no bigger than a three-year-old child, dressed in green-brown cloth and leaning heavily on a cane. His tangled, grey-white beard reached almost to the ground and his ears were large and leaf-shaped. The eyes with which the tiny man now scrutinised the imposing priest were completely black, and his long nose twitched in a manner reminiscent of a mouse. The little man addressed Imamu in heavily-accented English.
<"Ye priest o' spirits
Frae times o' auld,
Ha' called fir them
What makes sae bold,
T' come an' pledge t' yer worthy cause,
So Tiddy Mun's service is now yours.">
So saying he swept the little, pointed, hat off his head and bowed low.
In truth, Imamu had barely understood half of what the tiny creature had said, but he got the gist of it. He smiled. After all, more help was always welcome.