"Sumoka, you're with me! Hound, you go and find anyone who's still inside the stadium's interior! We'll clear a path for you!"
"Got it!"
Barrier shoved his palm in her direction, and a thin glow wrapped around her body. At the same time, a white explosion rocked the surroundings, stunning and injuring every single Pawn nearby.
'Comms are active. Stay in touch, Hound.'
'Roger that.'
Hound burst out of the white smokescreen, running full speed towards the civilians.
She took a deep breath as she ran, then closed her eyes. A shiver went down her spine, and the hairs all over her skin stood on end.
Roken.
In her mind's eye, the entire stadium flared to life in ghostly blue.
Several other forms flared to life, and Hound took a short breath before darting into action.
Five Pawns darted towards her, two from behind, two from either side, and one in front of her. They all glowed the same colour as the stadium, but the moment they got within striking distance—
Weaknesses detected.
Hound grabbed a seat to her left and pivoted herself into an axe kick straight to the left Pawn's shoulder. She then hooked the Pawn's neck with her leg, pushed herself off the seat with her hand, and slammed the Pawn into the seat behind him.
As his back made contact with the edge of the upper tier, Hound planted her foot on the chair and pushed herself forward, dodging a Pawn's hand.
The next moment, a black wire whipped forward and wrapped itself around her.
"Got her!"
Ugh... Hound thought as she was lifted clean off the ground...
This... is going to hurt.
Hound squeezed her closed eyes tightly right before she got slammed into a nearby set of stairs.
"Guh!"
The black tether grew taut, and Hound held back a yell as she was lifted off the stairs and spun around in a tight circle.
Dammit! she thought as she detected the end of the swing.
She clenched her jaw tightly and relaxed her body, and the next moment—
BOOM!
A force almost twice that of a speeding truck slammed into her and sent her flying, destroying dozens of chairs and a guardrail, and tearing up the ground behind her.
A large cloud of dust rose up in her wake, and the Pawns watched it warily.
"Is she down?" the Pawn who had created the wire from her hair asked.
"Not sure..." the Pawn who had landed the blow replied.
Another Pawn kicked the prone figure of the Pawn Hound had defeated. "Yo, Al, get up."
Al groaned as the Pawn lifted him up. "Urgh... damn, that bitch hits hard."
"She didn't really hit you—"
The Pawn's voice caught, and they all turned to see a dart buried in his throat. Horror filled the Pawn's face as he grabbed his throat, and after a few seconds of choking, he fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Shit! How's she still alive?!"
"Forget that! Just focus on taking her out!"
Al grunted, and the remaining three stared as he fell to his knees and passed out, slack-jawed and blurry-eyed.
It's a good thing Barrier's forcefields are powerful.
Hound took several deep breaths before pulling out four needles.
They're getting closer... available targets are the neck and arms. Now, if only Roken included super-fast reflexes...
Hound sighed before jumping to the side, staying inside the dust cloud. She took several quick, noiseless steps forward, then noticed ten more Pawns approaching at varying speeds.
"Tch. I hate it when they always have backup."
Her hands blurred, and three needles buried themselves in the backs of the Pawns' necks. Hound pulled out a pill from one of the pockets on her cargo pants and popped it into her mouth.
Barrier's forcefields negate damage and even shockwaves, but pain still remains very much alive.
Hound dashed forward to intercept her first attacker.
Roken: Combat Focus.
As the Pawn's head began to crack and shift, Hound's awareness zeroed in on several points on their body: pressure points.
She darted to the side towards her next three opponents, and the Pawn dropped to the ground, a needle sticking out of their carotid artery.
She ducked underneath a punch and twisted herself into a punch to her opponent's solar plexus. She leaned down and spun herself back, then threw herself into a kick. Her heel connected with a Pawn's wrist, knocking a knife out of their hand.
She quickly straightened up, then grunted as the same Pawn drew a gun and—
BANG!
The bullet sent Hound stumbling back, but her hand shot forward at roughly the same time, throwing a needle straight into the Pawn's neck.
She grunted as the last one drop-kicked her over several seats. When she landed, she rolled to the side to dodge a powerful stomp, then rushed forward and speared the Pawn into the ground.
She leapt up and kept running, but not before knocking the Pawn out with a powerful chop to the carotid.
There are too many of them! Hound panicked as she took a quick count. Almost two hundred of them on the inside! How... how do we protect them all?
As if punctuating the hopelessness of the situation, the display exploded, knocking Hound out of her mental space and shoving her into the seats.
****
Liam stumbled as he reached the edge of the track, then flinched when the wind picked up beside him. Confused, he turned around to see the rest of the children standing beside him.
"H-how—?!"
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
Liam flinched, then pushed Chad away from the track. He rushed forward to grab the other kids, and the next moment something hit the ground and sent Liam flying.
What the—!
Liam winced as he struggled to his feet, then turned to the kids.
"Grab Chad and run. Don't waste any time. Just run."
The children whimpered and cried, but a girl managed to pluck up the courage to rush towards Chad and pull him away.
Liam gulped as the sounds of fighting around him intensified, then turned back to the person who had landed on the track.
Then he froze.
"Ugh. What a pain... hm?"
Superstar turned to look at Liam, then chuckled.
"Well, look who it is. Mister-saviour. I remember giving you the chance of a lifetime, and you blew it."
What... do I do?
"What, not gonna say anything?"
I can't do anything.
"Hey! Brat! Didn't your parents teach you not to ignore adults?"
I'm injured too... the bleeding might have stopped, but my leg isn't exactly in the best situation—hm? Is it colder?
He glanced to the side.
"Woah!" he yelled as he jumped backwards.
Holy...
Standing right between him and Superstar was a tall wall of ice.
Before he could even process what had just happened, the ice wall exploded. Liam stared at the gaping hole inside it to see a hand outstretched.
"...Kids these days," Superstar chuckled as he turned to the side. "No manners."
He shifted his hand back a little, and in one swift motion sent part of the ice wall zooming towards the Dawn students.
Another wall of ice broke out of the ground and blocked the projectiles, but—
"Ugh!"
Obanai groaned as he blocked one of the projectiles with his back, protecting Daji and Aren.
Liam stared at Superstar in horror, and only when the villain turned to him did he realise just how dangerous it would be if even a single finger landed on him.
I... have to run.
Liam turned to run...
I... can't move.
But his legs were frozen stiff.
"Well, kid, it's been—"
Out of nowhere, the ground between them exploded.
"Gah!" Liam shouted as he was thrown back. The very next moment, something grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him far away incredibly fast.
His mind went blank as he soared over the track, then grunted after getting dumped onto the ground.
"Hey, you moron."
Liam flinched. With a silent gulp, he turned his gaze up slowly to see all five of his friends glaring at him.
"I-I can explain...!"
Liam's voice caught in his throat as his brain began to process their expressions. Raidou was worried. Nanami looked like he was choking on something. Po was on the verge of tears. Lee looked furious.
Lisa's expression... was unreadable.
"Are you insane?!"
Liam turned to the side in surprise. Lance had bared his teeth in anger, and the other Hero Class students had expressions of varying degrees of shock.
The common trait in every one of their faces, however, was quite obvious:
Fear.
"Enough." Lee gritted his teeth as they all turned to face the giant walking out of the flames.
"Whether we want to or not, we aren't getting out of this alive if we don't fight."
Lee lowered himself into a stance. "I'd say we should run, but..."
There's nowhere to run. Liam gulped.
A sudden tremor shook the ground, and they all turned to look in the direction of the site of the display's destruction.
...What kind of Venma...?!
"FOCUS!"
Everyone jumped at Lee's yell, then stared as Superstar folded his arms and stared at them.
Though it was hard to tell if he was actually staring, considering the fact that he had a visor on.
"Hah~" he sighed. "I wanted to fight a big-name Hero so that I could get some good clout..."
He frowned, then tilted his head. "Hm? You kids are strong, right?... Twelve on one... hm."
Superstar chuckled. "Fine. I guess I can play with you. Who knows? If you're strong enough, you might help me look good."
****
"Get all the civilians to the CEZs! Hurry!"
Jet sighed as the local Heroes rushed the civilians to one of the far-off domes in the distance, then turned to the black-haired Hunter beside him.
"Rapido. Sorry to interrupt your day off like this."
Rapido shrugged. "What can you do? Villains are unpredictable. Lives are at stake, so my day off doesn't really matter right now."
'Um... Jet?'
"Yeah? What is it, Anansi?"
'We've got a... problem.'
A problem? Jet frowned. They were already in a tight situation. If Anansi was saying there was a problem...
'Senior Jet!'
Jet winced as Code's worried voice came over the comm. "Calm down. What is it?"
'Mo have appeared inside the city!'
"...What?"