[The Magmafields] To New Heights

It did not take long for the spice to take its toll on Miyuki. It coursed through his veins, causing the boy's eyes to dilate, and the rest of his body followed suit. He muscles tensed, and his senses became jittery. It wasn't designed for Miyuki's body, but this wasn't the first time he had consumed Miss Flashfire's spice, either.

For all the good it did. Miyuki's jaw clenched, then rebounded into place as he was forcibly dislodged from the woman's ankle, lest his dentures tremble. There wasn't much he could do about being launched into the wall, either. Miyuki's body hit the wall, and he hit it hard. He slumped, but slowly got back on his feet. Miss Flashfire was right. He had left himself wide open with that. He shrugged an arm against his mouth. Blood... it was hers. That made him grin, proud and wide. Miyuki started walking towards his opponent again, but not like a rush. He held his arms out in front of him, waiting to see what his teacher did next before reacting. Mister Retribution had drilled the importance of patience into him time and time again. For once, Miyuki ought to follow that advice. Miss Flashfire would show a window sooner or later.

At first, Miyuki grimaced when he saw what Miss Flashfire was doing. Did she know what the other Heights were teaching him? It seemed likely, and even more likely that she would use those lessons against him. But, that didn't matter! Nothing was going to stop him from winning! Heck, this was still to his advantage!

Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, the boy raised his arms to brace against the flames as he kept walking forward. The flames washed over his skin. The searing sensation was familiar to Miyuki, grossly so. It was almost comforting for Miyuki to continue advancing on Miss Flashfire. That wasn't to say that it didn't hurt. It did. Badly. He would regret the blisters later... probably.

Once Miyuki got close enough, Flashfire would be able to see the bulging lump that was his Adam's apple had grown several sizes. Then, Miyuki's smiling maw unhinged, and unleashed an overwhelming burst of purple fire right in her face! It was time to see how she handled his fire!

Their duels always came to this point. Each of them trying to outsmoke the other with their flames. It was only fitting, really. It was a reminder of how Miyuki saw himself, an echo of this imposing Pro Hero that had taken care of him for so long... more importantly, it was a reminder of how things really were. Little by little, Miyuki's vibrant purple streaks were being beaten back, dwindling before the white-hot strength of Flashfire. Just for a moment, he thought that he had had the upper hand, and that he might have a chance of this turning out differently. Not so.

Miyuki took a half-step back, then a full step. Though no one (save perhaps for Miss Flashfire) could see his face right now, it was scrunching up in frustration. It wasn't fair. Why did he have to be so weak?! Before his retreat turned into something worse, Miyuki broke off the engagement, diving away from his mentor's breath attacks. He scampered on all fours, doing what he could to make space between himself and the next attack. Miyuki didn't go far, but his small frame allowed him to reposition himself to Flashfire's flank, if only just. He took a gulp of air as he rushed in from this new direction, head pointed straight up at his opponent. Though it looked like the angst-ridden dragon boy looked ready to try the same thing twice, he didn't unleash his flame.

Not yet.

Miyuki could barely keep up with Miss Flashfire. That wasn’t anything new. Just lasting this long against her - and now that her second spice had run out - gave the boy a sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, this time would be different. The emotions coursing through the boy’s veins argued differently. Already he could feel that empty feeling settling in, wildly ato dds with the adrenaline that unleashing his Quirk gave him at first. How much longer could he keep this up? He had barely even felt the last time Miss Flashfire had hit him.

It would come down to his next trick. All or nothing. Miss Flashfire looked like she was going to exploit his hesitation again. He would be ready this time. At the last possible second before Miss Flashfire was on him, Miyuki’s throat was full to bursting. So then he roared and… !!!

Nothing. Miyuki started choking from the backup in his throat that had refused to leave his body. That empty feeling again. Miyuki;’s small frame was immediately pinned by his mentor’s arms. Almost instantly, his body lost all resistance. Miyuki stared blankly at Miss Flashfire. He forced himself to smile. His voice was weak, and sounded like black tar.

"Good… good job, Miss Flashfire. You… win."

H-Huh? Miyuki couldn't make heads or tails of this He, he had lost. Lost lost. As in, a loser. Why was Miss Flashfire celebrating? He did this all the time. When the rest of the Dragon Heights joined in, Miyuki forced himself to smile. This, this was for real? This was a good thing?! The boy perked up, his arm hung high overhead. He could feel his feet just barely leaving the ground, thanks to Miss Flashfire's arm. What was it that she called him? Primal?



"I'm... I'm a... I'm a r... Ruh... real... dragon..." Miyuki half-coughed, half-choked out the words. The tears he had been holding back could no longer be held back. Now, though, they were tears of joyous triumph. They all noticed him. Of course they noticed him. Even Miss Flashfire. He never had any reason to think otherwise. The Dragon Heights were his family.

As the cheering subsided, Miyuki leaped onto Miss Flashfire's shoulder, clutching onto her like a scaly spider-monkey in a loving embrace. He needed this more than he thought.