Small Fish in a Big Pond

For the next minute, Miyuki saw nothing but red. There was no getting around it. Anger had taken hold of his senses, and he wasn't going to stop until these animals got what they deserved. That stopped, if only in part, when Umi pulled Miyuki off of the man's leg. Miyuki had held on tight, and it looked like the damage might have gotten worse if Umi didn't have such profuse strength. He did come loose, though, and try as he might, Miyuki of all people was never going to escape a whale girl's grip. He gnashed his teeth at them as they fled, too angry to yell anything coherent at them as they limped away.

For a while, Miyuki was quiet, simply standing still where Umi had let him down. Though he felt like he could have caught up with those punks, he stayed right where he was. He seemed unresponsive to Umi's grief, but he was lost within his own. The boy's thoughts weren't even his own for a time, frozen in the moment. Eventually, Miyuki looked up, and saw his friend crying.

"Hey! Listen here, Umi! This ain't your fault, and it sure as hell ain't mine!" He pointed in the general direction that the men had run off to. "It's theirs! If they can't put up with two upstanding Heroes like us, then the world is better off without 'em!" Miyuki started hopping in place, swinging his balled fists in the air like... well, he was a child, but that wasn't the point.





"I don't wanna hear you sayin' yer not a Hero, Umi! 'Cuz... you are, okay?! You're, you're better than me, that's for sure!" Miyuki stops his hopping. He tugs at one of his arms. He was looking down at his feet now. "You... You tried to do the right thing. I just... beat them up. Like an animal." He ran a hand across his snout. It caught tears and snot, which he did his best to rub away. He reached up to Umi with his clean arm. He has trouble meeting her eyes, and not just because of the height difference. "Come on. Forget the dumb clothes. Let's just get out of here."

"Mmmm, see that?" Prism giggled. The two stood at the end of the corner. The invisible one of the two wiggled with excitement. 

"I've seen plenty. Better question is did you get it on film?" A white-haired teen sprinted off to catch up with the victims. Prism would follow behind, though the only noticeable marker was her boots stomping. "I always do! And don't leave me behind, I'll kill you!" The two made quirk work in little time. A gunshot could be heard in the distance. The crowd cleared, making the place scarce quick. 

A scream could be heard from one of the men, the other presumably dead. The two young heroes would be introduced to the smell of burning flesh as November walked up, something dragging alongside him. "Oi oi oi. I think you let him off too easy chibi-chan, and big-chan. People like this should really be taught a lesson, right?" He stood tall, holding the man by the neck. With such a difference in size, the man should have broken free but the heat applied to his neck had him in a weak panic. "Heroes can't let villains like this off so easy right? Right?!?" He shook the struggling man like a sack of potatoes. November's frame was skinny but his strength was apparent, being able to handle a person with a single hand. He was obviously baiting them both, but he was serious about his inquiry to Miyuki. He caught a snippet of their conversation. They were hero students. Like Nocturne, this purple boy seemed to be prime bait and good television. He already had the video saved, all that was left was to boot it to Kirishma for processing. 

Nov made sure not to kill the man... yet at least. He'd pass off a smile as if all these actions were logical. "Lots of villains start off as young bullies don't you think? Better to punish them now rather than to have them develope into REAL bad guys, right?" He wasn't that much older than those two. High school aged, but he was obviously a threat. 

Umi's words caused Miyuki to stop seizing. Despite how deafening the situation was to his senses, her words reached him more clearly than any other sound in the moment. He looked up, not at this villain, but at Umi, standing up to him. His fists clenched tight, but no longer out of fear. She was a real Hero... and so was he! Miyuki got to his feet, snarling at their enemy. This wasn't to say that Miyuki wasn't scared anymore. He was terrified. Every bone in his body was screaming at him to run away. This guy had a gun, after all, and he clearly wasn't afraid to use it. But there weren't any Pro Heroes in sight; he and Umi were the only ones who could do something about this.

The boy narrowed his eyes, growling as he often did when he was starting to lose his patience. "Raising stakes"... he kept saying that, but Miyuki wasn't so sure. He started to breathe heavy, enough that his skin was starting to glow warmly. Purple embers were escaping his mouth and nostrils, but faintly. "You're, you're just a... big bully, with a gun. You're no better than he is."

Click!

For a moment, Miyuki's life flashes before his eyes. He isn't even the one who was about to get shot. Images run through his mind, most of which he doesn't even recognize. Purple, orange, green, all of them familiar, painfully familiar blurs. There had been a gunshot back then, too... apparently. If they got out of this, maybe he could talk with Miss Flashfire about it. There was so little of it that he could remember. Just as quickly, Miyuki came back to the present moment. He needed to make Miss Flashfire proud! "You won't kill him. You want me to do it."

Miyuki took another step forward. This time, it was with purpose, aimed squarely at this thug who thinks he's just like him. A primal fire burned in the boy's chest. "I won't. And I bet you won't, either." Miyuki puffed his chest out. He folded his arms proudly in front of him, striking a pose that he had seen in one of Retribution-sensei's old DVDs. The purple flames were much more present about Miyuki's mouth now. The embers were becoming more visible, hotter. This guy was toast.

"But we will stop YOU. Because we're Heroes! So why don't you put that guy down and we settle this like men!..." Immediately, Miyuki regretted his words. His shoulders slumped, and he craned his neck up at Umi. His confident smile was replaced with a sheepish, jagged grimace. "I-I mean like Heroes! Settle this like Heroes!"

"I won't. And I bet you won't, either! But we will stop YOU. Because we're Heroes! So why don't you put that guy down and we settle this like men!..." Immediately, Miyuki regretted his words. His shoulders slumped, and he craned his neck up at Umi. His confident smile was replaced with a sheepish, jagged grimace. "I-I mean like Heroes! Settle this like Heroes!"

"I'm not sure you know what you want to be." The steam punk chuckled.

"Let him go. He's done nothing to you! If you want to hurt heroes... then aim all of your attention to us! Innocent civilians shouldn't be dragged into our fight!" From Umi

"Soooo~ touchy. Sheesh! What fight? I don't recall either of you laying a hand on me. This is a conversation that this not-so-innocent person is not included in... " The hand around the man's neck seemed to be losing it's color, shifting into an opaque white. As the air cooled further away from him, it was beginning to become more obvious that his power of heat was based in steam. It was too hot to bare, the man wouldn't let a noise out but his pained expression was enough for one to understand.  Tears rolled down the man's face, as life slowly... slowly - November would toss him right to the heroes before totally killing him. The only way to save him was to take him to a hospital immediately! Their was a scorching hot handprint still visible on the man's neck as he fought for something as simple as breathing. "You're right. I only was gonna kill him if you made it interesting.  I've already gotten what I want. I can say that with confidence." There was the cue. His eyes pitched to Umi, as if he had something vital to say. He wouldn't let the secret slip now that he was "unarmed." An unknown and incredibly sharp object would find itself slowly gliding along the lower back of Miyuki. He wouldn't be cut, only teased by an invisible assailant wielding what one could assume to be a knife. Prism would giggle knowing it was a very shallow slicing, but oh the sweet sweet element of surprise! If Miyuki made any subtle movements toward November, he'd be stabbed again. "No sudden movements to me or my friend, please. Just do your hero thing, and ugh save your bully." November prodded the two with verbal spikes. 

With a satisfied nod, he'd say " Mmm, I'll raise the stakes one last time. Not like you'll know what I mean until it's too late." November would holster the pistol, and swap it for a cellphone. With a send button, he'd blast the short video off to Kirishima for an express broadcast. The sooner they could get this out, the better! Of course, sending it meant he'd have to destroy the phone(it wasn't his phone anyway), which he would. The device cracked as it was sent to the ground, frying from the boy's residual heat. "Well, Chibi-chan... Big-chan. Anything else you'd like to discuss before I go on my merry way? Consider this a humble hello from Team Confidence. Saying hi is all I really wanted. " He laughed as if his entire being didn't come with imposing despair. 

Umi squeaked in frustration as November tossed the man aside. Was he hurt! She didn't dare move, frozen in place, and then she heard a small thumb beside her. Miyuko fell forward, bleeding from a wound on his back. Umi cried out, but November's words stopped her from reacting. Him and his friend? She looked around, wildly. Was there someone she couldn't see, or that could attack at range?

Umi felt adrift, lost. What could she do? Her fists tightened as she turned her head towards November. She was at a loss for words.

"Don't... don't think you can get away with this!"

She crouched by Miyuki, using her size to shield him, eyes now fixed on the villain. A hard, frantic expression was plastered on her face.

"You can't... you can't just do something like this and walk away!"