Full Circle I
Orochi bit on her tongue. Agony and discomfort filled her throat as flesh twisted and molded itself to the shape it used to have, a few drops of blood rising to her mouth.
The memories of what happened echoed inside her eyes like pale shadows, reliving what happened to Genma. How easily he was disposed of, how he was killed so easily, and how she was powerless.
Anxiety and hurt inside her came to a boiling point, bringing forth poisoned thoughts: 'I am weak, meek, a failure.’
Orochi could not break free from those thoughts anymore, despite what others had said to her and what Hiro had said to her.
Orochi was not incredible for how someone “incredible” can fail at saving others; letting the big bad guy trample over her like that?
When faced with Feral, she was tortured to hell and back, and against Sandatsu, she could not even buy time for her friends to escape or for help to arrive, and the worthlessness of her actions made everything worse.
It made Orochi doubt herself, especially the worth of her strength. Her eyes trembled, her breath unsteady and hot, the taste of blood inside her mouth got bitter, the taste of copper and venom intertwined with the strong scent of defeat.
Orochi stared at the ambulance’s ceiling. She felt her eyes wet, but no tears came out. Even as her eyes burned, her agony and the demons inside her were plain to see, but no one there knew how to approach her and ease her pains.
Hiro wanted to say something, but no word came from him, only a heavily pregnant silence.
Orochi sighed, letting her dismay and pain come to her face. Her muscles twitched, and she opened her mouth, but no words came—just muffled, choked sighs.
Without Rosethorn and the prying eyes of other pro-heroes, she could show her pain as she wanted without masks and personas of strength.
Her mind whirled in agony, the death of Genma replaying over again. It forced Orochi to see where she was in the grand scheme of things. There were lows, and then rock bottom; now she had reached the latter.
The training she did with Kaylee, the fight against her gang, all the bravado, and attempts to become stronger were for nothing.
She was not born to be strong; on the contrary, While her classmates got so unfeasibly strong, she remained in the gutter, not an inch stronger than she was a year ago (stuck in time).
The world was not fair, a world where people like Feral and Sandatsu had such overwhelming power, and she, even after her trials and attempts to become more, do better, and fix herself, couldn’t achieve anything.
Heartbeats rang hollow, an empty pain inside her chest. This defeat was different from the one she suffered before—no great aftermath, and too early to tell any lasting consequence.
‘To him, we were not even a side hustle. He was toying with us.’ And act like toys they did.
Sandatsu had them at his mercy at all times. He could have ended it quickly but chose not to.
"Why am I still fighting?’ The questions that plagued her heart months before came back; they crashed against her shoulders and the burden, the doubt, and the impotence she felt all came back with vengeance.
Orochi closed her eyes in a vain attempt to hide from the shadows of Genma’s death.
Slowly, she fell into reverie as the voices inside her head screamed.
(WE COULD HAVE DONE BETTER! WE COULD HAVE!
(Too hard, too dangerous.) (Run, fight.) (You flee instead of fighting the hard fight, as always.)*
They were no longer whispering inside her.
Hiro stared at his friend. She was not alright. Who would be after dealing with a monster like Sandatsu and seeing him? kill another person before their eyes? Taking his quirk to himself?
He wanted to help, but words failed him. Hiro was lost as to what to do. Hiro desperately wanted guidance—any help to deal with this situation—to not let yet another friend wallow in suffering.
Orochi failed to hide the pain she felt, the anguish she tried to keep out of sight; it was plain for all to see; even the EMTs could see it, their faces solemn and pitying their situation.
Hiro looked to the side. While lost and lacking the wisdom to help his friend, he had to do something. “Hey, Orochi… Whatever happens, I’m still here.”
Orochi gasped as she was brought back from her stupor by Hiro’s words. The voices subsided inside for a moment.
He was right. He was still alive, and so was she. Even if Sandatsu didn't come back to finish him off, he still needed help with their secret weapon.
For those still alive, she needed to fight, but the poison in her mind whispered to her: "Fight for what? When you can’t fight for yourself, Hiding behind excuses of weakness instead of pushing yourself over the ledge, as they did?"
She was disappointed in herself; she was not a hero like Kaylee, Chris, Inigo, and Hifumi, or like her classmates.
Orochi played safe; even against her gang, she hadn’t fought to her maximum, not like how she fought against Feral months ago, with her back against the wall at the threat of death. It was true that Orochi never fought in a situation she couldn’t win before Feral.
Orochi looked down. While the voice was right, she would fight; she needed to, despite the excuses she made. She made her bed, and now she would lay on it, for worse.
Suddenly, something heavy clashed against the ambulance, throwing it to the side. The twin revving of chainsaws came from outside. Orochi’s heart stopped her body's deadly chill.
The world froze before her eyes, and her body immediately entered a flee-or-fight response out of her control, understanding right there what was happening, even if her mind had to play catch up.
Purple eyes widened in terror, breaking free from the constraints of the stretcher on instinct, her body pumping heavy doses of adrenaline, and her ears rang, not because of the sudden fall to the side but because of the revving of the chainsaws.
The ambulance’s doors were forced open—better yet, they were cut open.
What stood outside was a monster with a blood-thirsty grin. “When I heard from HIM that you became stronger, I got excited, but now I’m quite disappointed. Why are you on a stretcher?”
Fear made her head shake and her throat close, a deafening fear that erased every other sound in the world besides the revving of the twin chainsaws.
Her mind almost shut down as Orochi paled before the threat before her eyes. It could not be happening—Sandatsu, and now Feral.
Orochi tried to make her presence known, to move out of her position and shield Hiro, she opened her mouth, but no words came; the world seemed to stop, and the tears held back in her eyes started to fall.
Right before her eyes, any hope left in her body died out as the EMTs started to recover alongside Hiro, noticing the monster right before them.
Orochi was in a position to fight. She got stronger to fight that monster; she needed to protect Hiro and the medical personnel, but her body didn’t bulge; it was frozen in place, save for her hydras, who assumed a defensive position around her.
She was such a pathetic wretch.
(Minutes earlier)
"Rosethorn, we need you over here."
She took a deep breath, her eyes still on Hiro. "We'll talk later," she said firmly before turning and walking away with the other hero.
She was brought to a makeshift security room, with several screens showcasing real-time footage of several drones in the immediate area of Shiketsu. The hero pointed at one of the screens.
A deceptively fast individual was running with a giant case; its features were slightly blurred, but the reptilian scales and tales were unmistakable.
Rosethorn’s heart skipped a beat. That villain was Feral. A battle with her right there would cause too much collateral, and they had too few little heroes able to handle her quickly enough to avoid said collateral.
‘What that bloody psychopath is doing here?’
“She, Feral, entered the immediate surroundings of Shiketsu but immediately ran away. We think she is chasing after an ambulance.
Rosethorn widened her eyes. If she was chasing after an ambulance, there was a big, glaring reason for that. “Who is inside that ambulance she is chasing?”
“We think it is... Atsushi Orochi and Kyoda Hiro.” That was all Rosethorn needed to be real.
“Get me a car; do not attempt to engage against Feral. Call in Saurus. I will try to keep her busy.”
Rosethorn’s voice was stern and without space for questions. They needed to act fast, lest Feral reach the ambulance. The hero understood that and did not question it. He exited the makeshift security room and ran immediately to get a car for Rosethorn.
Her heart raced at the sudden events. Rosethorn clicked her tongue as her arms slightly shook. She was a hero, a top-ten hero. She learned how to deal with anxiety, but even then, who could deal with the feeling of knowing that a monster was reaching your students?
Rosethorn needed to be resolute. First, she had to get the car into Karaburan’s hands; by that time, the car would be ready.
(Back to the present)
Feral heard a car approaching from behind her. The vehicle hit her with full force, forcing her away from the ambulance and clashing directly with the body of one of her chainsaws.
She withstood the impact, planting her feet firmly on the ground and throwing her strength against the vehicle, deforming its front as it tried to push her further, damaging the car into an inoperable state.
A lesser mutant than Feral would be thrown away by the impact; it was almost cute in her eyes that someone thought that a car would move her around. She turned on her chainsaws to rip the car and its pilot apart, but only one worked.
Her slitted eyes moved to the chainsaw that was hit. If the objective was not to hurt her but to damage the weapon, they may have had a point.
The biggest surprise came from inside the vehicle.
Someone tore from its side, her form almost like a blur to the enhanced senses of Feral.
She took the car by the door, punched through the metal, and forced it against Feral. The disaster villain got pushed by the attack.
The reptile villain clicked her tongue in annoyance, revving her functional chainsaw while dropping the defective one on the ground.
In no effort at all, the vehicle was cut. Sparks flew as the two sides of the car fell on opposite sides.
From the dust made by the cut, someone jumped, her fist colliding against Feral. The villain was sent flying several yards, her feet taken off the ground by the sheer strength and explosive power behind her first.
Feral’s world darkened briefly, more than enough for Rosethorn to get to the ambulance.
Orochi broke free from the constraints of her stretcher but was still like a corpse, her gaze fixated on where Feral stood.
Hiro was still on his stretcher while the EMTs tried to get themselves pulled together. Rosethorn grits her teeth.
The only one in a position to help now, and with strength, was Orochi, but the trauma and the fear were palpable in the air, thick and choking her student.
Maybe Rosethorn could flip the ambulance and use the distraction she got against Feral, but that line of thought was cut short. A chainsaw revved. Feral was back.
Rosethorn’s heart raced. ‘What to do now?’ While Feral’s endurance was known, Rosethorn hadn’t expected her to shrug it off so easily. ‘Maybe she got stronger after fighting Impact.’
Her thought process hastened, processing information quickly. Orochi was strong, but strong enough to flip a vehicle? No one else had such physical fitness as her in the ambulance.
She was also completely healed. “Orochi! Hear me well! Our time is short! I need you to get out of this ambulance and turn it over! If it starts to get off, get inside it and out of here as fast as you can!”
Orochi's eyes snapped open, her self-awareness and thought returning to her body coated in poisonous sweat, but she had no time to waste.
Rosethorn’s heart raced as she turned around and ran out of the ambulance’s vicinity. Her running triggered the predatory instincts of the villain, and what followed her was a chainsaw biting against the ground. An apex predator landed behind her. Rosethorn turned to watch the monster.
Feral was there, grinning ear to ear. “It seems I have a big fish, huh?” She licked her lips in excitement. Rosethorn narrowed her eyes.
Only one chainsaw was working, but a single hit from it was deadly. If the fight dragged out, Feral would unanimously win. ‘Impact’s report…’
In a context of brute strength, the only way to win against Feral was to land a hit so strong it would take her out immediately without allowing her to regenerate and adapt.
Rosethorn hardened her heart and mind as Orochi got out of the ambulance, trying to turn it over using both her arms and hydras.
Rosethorn breathed in; she and the S-class villain were locked in a staring contest, waiting for the other to move and attack.
Their hearts raced simultaneously, Feral excited to get herself into a quarrel against a top-ten hero, and Rosethorn out of anxiety and fear for her students, but she needed to be strong for them.
“You can do it, Aiko. You can defeat her.” Energy rose through her body, her strength increasing as her quirk activated itself to the fullest, her heartbeats racing as her body pumped faster, and her adrenaline sparking into a pyre.
Her red hair flowed with the pressure the rising of her energy and strength released. In a burst of explosive speed, Rosethorn broke the staring contest. Feral widened her eyes as the much shorter woman was near her, so close that her chainsaw could not be used.
The Top Ten Hero grabbed Feral by the wrist and twisted it, pushing her hand out of the chainsaw. The villain smiled and swung her free hand against Rosethorn, who moved slightly to the side to avoid the attack.
Rosethorn used the chance given by Feral’s attack to grab her armpit and throw her in the air, away from the ambulance.
The heavy chainsaw flew on the ground as the villain found herself in mid-air again. ‘That’s getting annoying.’
Feral landed with a heavy landing, cracking the ground beneath her feet. The villain advanced, expecting herself to be faster than Rosethorn, but she was unpleasantly surprised.
The red-haired hero was already upon her, fists clenched and already striking against the villain’s body, “weak” attacks to test where Feral’s body was softer, and without adding fuel to the villain’s evolution.
Rosethorn held the urge to groan as she found no weak point; her muscles and scales were too hard to find a noticeable difference without applying more force.
Feral smiled and swung her tail against Rosethorn, who dodged it with a step back. She tried to attack the red-haired hero with her claws, but once again she dodged. Feral kept up her onslaught of claw swipes, drawing Rosethorn’s attention to the more pressing and deadly of Feral’s current natural weapons.
Feral’s tail was not as fast to prove a threat; at least that's how she wanted Rosethorn to see it. A deceptively fast movement caught Rosethorn off-guard. The villain’s grin grew wider as her tail wrapped around Rosethorn’s leg and pulled her forward.
The S-class villain’s claws connected to Rosethorn’s side, drawing a bloody gash on it—a sharp gasp forced out of Rosethorn’s mouth as her side bled. Feral’s claws cut deep, but not enough to keep her from fighting. She gritted her teeth and gave a small jump, both of her feet off the ground.
Rosethorn’s feet landed on Feral’s chest with a swift movement as she shifted her strength to full output, cracking Feral’s ribs and tearing apart her muscles and lungs with a single attack.
Instead of being thrown back, Rosethorn grabbed Feral’s tail and used it to stay close to her, almost pulling the tail from its base due to the strength generated by her kick.
Rosethorn landed on her feet and followed up with a spinning kick to the side of Feral’s head, attempting to give her a concussion and take her out of combat, refusing to allow Feral to have time to regenerate from her wounds and adapt.
Once again, bones cracked, but Feral stood her ground, planting her feet firmly on the ground. Rosethorn gritted her teeth and did another spinning kick, jumping in the air and landing her heel on the top of Feral’s head, driving the mutant’s whole body down on the ground and smashing her head between her feet and the asphalt of the street.
“Heh.” A small laugh came from the villain. Feral’s head became thicker, thick like a boar’s skull, her face taking on armored features to make up for the damage as her adaptation kicked in full overdrive, her skin becoming slimy and wet, and she started to breathe through it like an amphibian.
Rosethorn stepped back, sensing the coming danger, but she was too slow, as Feral’s body started to slender itself for a more aerodynamic and faster form. Feral rose with a brutal jump, her claws aimed up.
The Top Ten Hero avoided one of the claws by reflex, moving to the side before it connected, but the other one connected against Rosethorn’s left shoulder, blood jumping from the fresh wound as Feral was ready for another round.
‘I need to finish this now.’ Feral was close to hitting her point of no return in a fight, much like it had happened to Impact. Once she started to evolve, there was no stepping back.
Rosethorn moved forward, her heart racing as she thought of a daring strategy, but probably the only one that would work to defeat the villain.
Feral attacked again, her sharp claws grazing against Rosethorn’s face, the hero barely able to avoid the point-blank attack.
Rosethorn clenched her fist tightly, channeling all of her energy into her fist. Feral prepared herself for another attack, but Rosethorne struck first.
Her fist clashed against Feral’s chest once again, releasing all of its energy and impact directly on her. Flesh, bones, organs—everything was almost pulverized by the strength of the punch, echoing through the villain’s body as blood burst out of her chest in a great scar.
All adaptations were reversed, as Feral fell to the ground and collapsed, but somehow he remained breathing despite the damage. Rosethorn grabbed her sides, feeling her blood slip through her wounds.
She turned around to watch Orochi try her best to flip the ambulance. With a deep breath, she walked to her student. “You can do it, Orochi.” The purple-slitted eyes of her student turned to her battered form.
Orochi gulped dryly but nodded, grabbing the ceiling of the ambulance and breathing deeply. The sight of Feral’s defeated form sent her over the edge, and with that monster beat, she had nothing to fear.
“Raaaah!” In a burst of strength, the ambulance was turned over and returned to its intended position. Maybe it could still work.
Rosethorn gasped in relief. ‘Now we just have to get out of here and let Saurus sort out what to do with that villain if she is still here.’
Yet relief was short-lived. Rosethorn saw an attack come to Orochi, and the hydra girl widened her eyes. Rosethorn jumped in front of the attack.