How are we supposed to beat that monster?!
Liam watched in horror as Lee dodged each and every one of Superstar's attacks, then stared as Obanai jumped onto the giant Villain's back.
Superstar lifted his shoulder, and Obanai shot off his back. Superstar whirled around, grabbed Obanai's ankle, and slammed him down at Lee.
"GAHAHAHA~!" he laughed as he continued chasing Lee down.
"Obanai!" someone shouted from behind Liam.
Something cold zoomed by Liam's shoulder towards Superstar. Liam stared at the bluish streak as it sped toward the Villain's back.
An icicle won't work!
Superstar turned quickly and used Obanai to bat the icicle away.
"Oh?" he laughed. "You want to join in?! THE MORE THE MERRIER!"
With that, he launched Obanai at them.
Liam's mind went blank as the large boy flew towards him.
"Outta the way!"
Liam was shoved away, and the wind picked up sharply. He looked back to see Rex standing where he had been, his arms outstretched. In front of his hands was a powerful vortex of wind that pulled in grass, dirt, even pieces of the broken track.
Liam's eyes widened as Obanai crashed into the condensed air and bounced off. Frowning deeply, Rex pointed his arms upward—
BOOM~!
Liam slammed his hands over his ears in pain, and a powerful blast of wind pushed him back. When he cracked an eye open, it was to see a bloodied and battered Obanai lying at his feet.
...What.
Liam felt his knees weaken, and he fell to Obanai's side.
He heard shouts around him and felt people pass by. Someone crashed down beside him, crying and yelling.
...What do I do?
Liam blinked, realising a beat later that he was holding his arms out. He blinked, then looked down at the multiple cuts and bruises all over the large boy's body.
His horn got broken, Liam thought as he glanced at Obanai's bleeding forehead. Blood was leaking from the horn's now-blunt tip, and Liam stared at it.
Why am I so calm?
He had no answer to that question. He felt somewhat detached. Numb, yet sensitive. A little nausea pooled inside him, but it had no effect.
He had no way of knowing, but due to blood loss, panic, and confusion, Liam had fallen into a state of shock.
He was hanging on by a single thread of reason, so Liam being Liam, he guided the thread to the one thing he was used to:
Solving the problem in front of him.
He held a hand to Obanai's horn, and something grabbed his arm. Someone yelled at him.
He ignored them.
What did I call it?
...Coagulation Control.
Liam furrowed his brow in intense focus, and for a moment, nothing happened.
Soon, however, the blood coming out of the horn solidified. Gnashing his teeth together, Liam moved his hands to Obanai's other injuries.
Sweat began pouring down his face, and a headache began developing. At the same time, the blood around Obanai's cuts began clotting.
Soon, his headache became a migraine, and Liam stopped.
Ugh... He grabbed his forehead and stood. That was too much. I can't help if I'm like this...
Liam looked to the side and froze at the sight of the people around him.
On his left, Po was shivering and crying, mumbling something to himself. On his right, Daji was holding onto Obanai's ripped shirt, crying quietly.
"Thank you..." she whispered. "You big oaf."
Liam blinked at her, then turned his eyes to the fight before him.
There was a light fog surrounding the giant, and the other eight were doing their best to stop him.
We can't win...
Suddenly, Liam felt a strange sense of déjà vu come over him. It took him a few seconds to place it, and when he did, he finally noticed the state his body was in.
I couldn't beat Kazumi either, he thought as he held up a hand and looked at the steam rolling off it.
So I won't think about winning.
Liam took a deep breath, then his breathing settled into his familiar box breathing rhythm.
I'll just think about surviving.
****
Sixty percent maximisation.
A shudder went through Lee's body, and he darted several metres back to avoid the tremors from Superstar's stomp.
He's insane, Lee thought as he dashed to the side. Both mentally and physically.
The muscles under Superstar's clothes bulged, and the Villain laughed.
His strength is insane. His speed doesn't match his body, and from the way he used Obanai to stop an attack, his spatial awareness is good too.
Lee gritted his teeth and grabbed the large piece of the track that was thrown at him and spun round to throw it back.
His defence is impossible to breach, he thought as Superstar smashed the piece with a backhand and walked towards him. He seems to be immune to Raidou's flames, unbothered by Lance's ice, and barely stunned by that loud explosion.
"Hey, kid. Is that all?"
Lee gulped and met the giant's eyes. Superstar had a bored look on his face, and when Lee blinked, two different faces came to mind.
He scowled and balled his hands into fists. Forget them!
"Hmph," Superstar sighed. "It'll be boring for anyone watching if you just dodge. Try hitting me."
Before Lee could even process the absurd request, a fiery explosion blew up right beside his head.
Lee blinked, then immediately took off running. Within seconds, he reached the seven who had run up to join him.
"If you can't handle this, run. Now."
The others stared back, anger and conviction burning in their eyes. Lee paid it no mind, however, and turned to one person in particular.
I need to gather my thoughts.
He groaned and put a hand to his head.
"Lisa."
She met his eyes.
"Leave. Now."
"I refuse," she spat. "And don't give me that nonsense about me being too weak; I have my own strengths."
Lee gritted his teeth, and for a brief moment, powerful anger washed over him.
"Urgh..." He put a hand to his head. This is why I don't push Sixth Sense to sixty percent... I can barely get my thoughts straight.
"Fine," he grunted. "But this isn't some spar—"
"I know."
Lee met her eyes and flinched. Deep within them, behind her resolve and fear, was the unmistakable calm of someone who had been through a similar experience.
How... why? How can she act as if she's been through this before?
Lee suddenly winced. He decreased his power's maximisation to avoid a sensory overload, then turned to the others. Before he could speak, however...
"What... do we do?"
Lee glanced at Nanami, then back at Superstar. He pursed his lips and clenched his fist, then sighed.
"We have no way of winning as we are..."
Raidou looked at him, then up at the stands. "But the Heroes can."
Lance nodded. "Yes, but they're busy. We have to find a way to deal with him now."
"Are you brats done with your little strategy meeting?" Superstar cut in. "If so, attack me already. This is getting way too dull..."
He paused, then his gaze flickered to something behind the students. "Or, if it's a good motivator, I could kill the brats in the back... oh?"
Superstar chuckled at the sudden change in expressions of the children before him.
"Come on. If you're so pissed, it's better to put it to good use."
Nanami took a step forward, his face hardened in anger.
"Don't act on impulse, remember? Jet taught us that."
Nanami glanced at Raidou, who had grabbed his shoulder. Not trusting himself to speak, he shook Raidou off and stared Superstar down.
"So what do we do?" Rex asked. "How do we win?"
"We can't."
Everyone turned to look at Aren. The boy met their collective gaze calmly and continued.
"There's no way we can avoid getting folded like laundry if we fight to win."
Lee blinked. "So... what do you suggest we do?"
Aren frowned, then scratched his chin. "Well, we could stall him until the Heroes come."
The others shared glances, then nodded.
"Good idea, Aren," Lance said.
"So we don't fight to win," Nanami muttered. "We fight to survive."
There was a pause.
Nanami looked up to see everyone watching him, then scratched his cheek.
"Um... how exactly do we do that?"
Raidou pursed his lips. If only Jay were here. Maybe he would have been able to come up with something...
He shook his head, then an idea popped into his head.
"You look like you've thought of something," Lee said. "What is it?"
Raidou glanced at Superstar one more time, then sighed.
"It's like this..."
****
"Ugh. When's the next shift again?"
"An hour from now."
The Pawn gaped at his fellow guard. "You're kidding, right?!"
The other Pawn rolled his eyes. "Stop whining. We can't get out of this even if..."
"Eh?" the other Pawn turned to look at him. "What...?"
Both men fell to the ground, their eyes glazed over. As they twitched and drooled, a shiny black suede shoe stepped over their bodies.
To think that my hunch was right.
He had initially been heading towards the large blue box that had fallen from the sky, but had stopped when he noticed Hunters nearby.
He had then defeated several Pawns and handed civilians over to the District Heroes. Before he had left, he overheard a Pawn whispering into a comm behind a nearby building, and had discovered that there was a Villain carrying out a certain operation nearby.
After a short... interrogation, he received a map. Three large spots had been marked: an office building, a noodle shop, and a cell tower.
He checked all three.
Didn't think there'd be this large an area underneath a cell tower.
Nocturne chuckled as he walked down the brightly lit corridor.
"First things first..."
He removed a hand from his pocket.
"Let's get rid of these annoying lights."
The panel above the Hero shattered.
He continued walking, and one by one, the lights before him shattered, slowly filling the corridor with darkness.