Chapter 59: Overhaul and Strongarm

(Previously)

Nighteye took over from there. “Hassaikai's movements are had to trace, but we have reason to believe that a major source of income for the organization comes from the illegal drug trade, so I requested help from heroes with some expertise in that area," Kirishima recalled that during their last patrol, Fat-Gum had said something about having been a big force in the counter-drug game back in the day.

“Yup, I brought in my fair share of drug dealers back in the day, and in Red Riot’s debut fight, he proved he could do.” Fat Gum crushed the remaining hard candy he had in his hands. “Tamaki was shot, and the bullet contained some kind of drug I’ve never heard of before, one that destroys quirks.” When he opened his fist, the crushed candy fell away as the room grew shocked.

"Destroys quirks?" One asked, as the idea seemed insane, but for some, it carried weight. It was a terrifying one, as for Gran Torino, he had years of conflict against All for One. For Uraraka, she recalled just how terrifying it had been just to be in his presence. All Might already shared their belief that the Nomu were AFO's creation; could it be possible that this quirk deleter was his work as well? 

Line Break

Upon hearing that, Togata was up on his feet. “Tamaki, are you all right? Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

"I didn't want to worry you, but the stuff wore off while I slept. Here, look." Amajiki replied, holding up his arm to reveal he had shifted into a cow's leg, complete with a hoof for a hand.

“Guess we know what you had for breakfast.” Togata joked but still breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad to know that this stuff isn't permanent, at least, so this stuff doesn't zap quirks away for good?" Rock Lock stated, as while this thing would still be a problem, especially if you got hit during a fight or other important time, it wouldn’t force a pro into retirement.

Nighteye didn’t agree with that assessment. “Amajiki’s blood work came back a negative on that, though when it comes to such matters, it would be best to hear from an expect, isn’t that right, Eraserhead?” He turned his gaze onto Eraserhead, the same as the rest of the room.

To his credit, Eraser didn’t react to the attention and just responded to the question. "I've looked over the incident filing and Amajiki's blood work, and I can say that it doesn't function like my Erasure. My quirk targets the quirk genes and blocks them, preventing their effects. However, this drug damages the quirk gene to suppress it. In this case, the damage was minimal and repaired itself without an issue, but the same might not be true in another case." Eraser gave his perspective on things.

“What do you know about the substance he was shot with?” Ryukyu asked, to which Fat Gum frowned.

"It didn't seem to have any other effects on him outside his quirk. He was fine. And the guy that shot him clammed up and won't say a word, and the round that hit Tamaki was a bust." Fat Gum hadn't been present for the interrogation; heroes rarely were, but he heard that the guy hardly responded to anything.

However, if he thought his silence would stop their efforts, Fat Gum was happy to report that the villain's efforts would be in vain. "But the guy did get off another shot at Tamaki, but Red Riot defended him, and he had his quirk active; it bounced right off him so we could recover it and send it over to the lab."

“I did that, really?” Kirishima asked as he had even forgotten about that. Wait, how'd they even find such a tiny thing in the middle of a busy street? That bullet could have rolled into a drain or bush or just not been found.

Bakugo grunted, but he had an impressed smirk on his face. "Looks like being a big dumb rock paid off this shitty hair."

“(Kero) It’s not the place for nicknames, Bakugo.” Asui reprimanded him as Fat Gum continued, his smile wrapped out for a scowl on the typically joyful man.

"When we analyzed the substance from the bullet, we found something that made me sick to my stomach. It contained human blood and cells.” He stated, which dropped a veil of horror over the room, one that hit the youngest ones the hardest.

‘Human blood?’ But Uraraka and Togata started to suspect what this was, and they couldn't stop the pit in their stomachs from widening as their blood boiled in range. At the same time, their faces paled from the horror.

"It sounds like something out of a scary movie," Asui commented, but the girl was just as disturbed by this as Bakugo and the rest of the U.A. students.

“What the…who in their right mind would cut off pieces of themselves for some stupid bullets?” One of the minor heroes asked, as that just sounded insane.

“That’s a good question, as it’s fair to assume the effect in this case was caused by a quirk. One that could remain a ready threat even when separated from the host and used in such a manner.” Ryukyu didn't appear bothered by the topic, focusing on the issue rather than her feelings.

“Have any of the villains that the Shie Hassaikai interacted with displayed such a power?” Gran Torino asked, as stealing your quirk was nothing new to him. Still, he doubted even AFO could turn his cells into quirk-targeting weapons.

Nighteye shook his head. “No, and it’s doubtful that they would have been the source, as with that information, I can pose another possible source.” His gaze, always akin to that of a hawk, only sharpened all the more while his student interns only sunk deeper into their chairs as they shared the theory and prayed that it was wrong because it wasn't…they hadn't stepped in then…

Before Nighteye could speak, someone raised their hand. “Before we get to that, how is this related to the Shie Hassaikai? I get that it’s messed up, but it seems like two unrelated crimes and groups.”

Fat Gum was the one who answered the question. "The man who shot Tamaki used an illegal drug to boast his quirk during the fight with Red Riot. The distribution channels for stuff like that are complex and secretive, with plenty of need-to-know and middlemen. However, the Shie Hassaikai interacted with one of those middlemen."

"That's all? They met with a middleman, but you have no proof they even knew about the Trigger, much less handled it?" The hero who asked hardly seemed convinced, and when both Fat Gum and Nighteye confirmed that they had no proof of even drug procession, he sighed, crossing his arms.  "Seems incredibly weak if you ask me."

"The other day, Ryukyu's agency broke up a fight between two villain groups, one of which was controlled by that intermediary organization that Fat Gum is referring to," Nighteye stated, which helped explain why the Dragoon Hero had been invited to the meeting.

She picked things up from there. “One of the 2 giants had been given an inferior drug that didn't last long, and when questioned, claimed that they had been in a fight against a rival group controlled by the Thunder who seem to have strict rules against the drug trade. From what I know, at least a dozen other gangs involved in Japan's trigger trade have been wiped out either by them or subordinate groups under them."

Bakugo and Uraraka didn't know how to feel about that for several reasons. It was good that Trigger was being hunted from inside and outside the criminal underworld, but the idea that the Thunder, that Pyre, was growing enough strength and influence to move against such a lucrative business without fear of push-ups or repercussions was concerning.

For the heroes, that concern was amplified as they knew that for any group to even try to make such a move, they would need to have notable influence. But with how many petty criminals and small-time villains were being arrested carrying the Thunder's mark, this was just an inevitability. One that will lead to a conflict within the underworld over the existence of Trigger and its continued trade in Japan, a conflict which, in the short term, could see crime and collateral rising but, when the dust settles, could see the Thunder cementing itself as a prominent force in the underworld.

“Events like that spread fast in the criminal underworld, and we have info that Shie Hassaikai just happened to cease operations in a city where the Thunder had been cracking down on Trigger. On paper, the business had nothing to do with drugs, but one can’t say that the coincidence doesn’t seem off.” Centipeder spoke up, having been the one who looked through their targets registered businesses.

"There's been a rise in gang-related activity, and a fair portion can be connected to the Shie Hassaikai, either the targets or the perpetrators." Bubble picked up from there. She had gone through police reports on the issues and had formed a line chart, one which she put on the screen along with a map of locations where the Shie Hassaikai had closed up shop, making it seem like they were being targeted.

It was impressive, but if they were going to make a move, they would need to be damn sure, or else this get dragged through the courts at a snail's pace, or worse, hero skeptic media would use it as fodder against them. "Coincidence, chance, happenstance, and theories. That's all you have, and you and I know that's as weak as a wet paper towel. We can spend the entire day linking them with strings and trying to lie them to crimes, but don't you have anything concrete?"

Nighteye agreed with that, as the pros needed a win now more than they had in years. More than that, he refused to allow the chance to damage their efforts and see Overhaul escape justice. When they switched the screen to Overhaul’s picture, one could hear the carefully hidden yet still present conviction to see their target stopped in Nighteye’s voice.

“Chisaki Kai, the current head of the Shie Hassaikai. His quirk is Overhaul: With this power, he can disassemble and reassemble anything with but a touch.”

With that information out there, he posited more: "A quirk that allows him to completely break down matter as he chooses, and a bullet that specially targets quirks, we also know that he nearly finished studying medicine at Kyoto University before mysteriously dropping out in his fourth year despite having exceptional grades and no disciplinary issues.”

Nighteye had spoken with the man's former teachers. Aside from some odd behavioral quirks, such as his germaphobia and slight anti-social tendencies, he had been an exceptional student. He was able to work with others and work well, and his quiet charisma always placed him in positions of authority in group assignments.

Everyone was surprised when he showed up one day and informed them he was dropping out not even a week into his fourth year's second semester. He offered no explanation or justification, just that he wouldn't be coming to lectures anymore…and never returned.

However, that wasn't the entire story about Chisaki's personal life. "Chisaki has a daughter named Eri, though we have no records of her existence. When Mirio and Uraraka encountered her, they noted that her arms and legs were covered in bandages."

Ryukyu instantly understood the implications and felt sick to her stomach. “Could he really do something so horrific?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, the possibility exists. They’ll always be people wicked and malicious enough for such, nor more than ever in our superhuman society.” Gran Torino spoke from years of experience, as even if discounted the monster that was All for One, he had encountered many other horrible human beings. The veteran hero has witnessed some horrific and depraved things in his time.

“Hold on, what are they talking about?” Kirishima asked. It seemed like all the heroes were on the same page, but he, Bakugo, and Tsu were lost.

“Again, why are their children present?” Lock Rock asked before casually explaining things. “Listen up, I’m going to say this once: We’re wondering if this Chisaki bastard is harvesting his own daughter’s flesh and turning them into bullets he’s selling for a profit.”

When it was said aloud, its presence smacked the students like a bat to the face. The room grew colder, and the light seemed to fade as they tried to understand something so horrible, so out of nature for any of them, that the thought alone made them sick. Tsu worried that if she spoke now, she'd throw up, as she couldn't help but imagine her busy yet loving parents being even a fraction of that cruel to her.

"Wha…" Kirishima was in the same boat as this…this was a whole other level of messed up than what he would have discussed with her.

"That's…" Uraraka gulped; her throat had gone dry at the idea of a child, of anyone being used as material for weapons, to the point that their limbs were covered up in bandages to hide who knew what injuries and scars they'd amassed.

"Fuck…" Bakugo's response was short, but for one, it wasn't because he didn't feel like speaking, but because he didn't know what to say to that.

"To clarify, we don't believe that he's actually selling the bullets; their effectiveness is questionable at this point. As such, we believe he's trying to garner capital investment to refine the process and deliver a more…permanent final product."

"We have no hard evidence, but we know he's gathering allies and funds and that their organization is under threat from the Thunder, giving him all the more reason to accelerate production of this new product. One that, in theory, could terminate someone's quirk permanently. Such a tool can never exist, or chaos on par to the early days of quirks shall rise."

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go get him.”

Lock Rock eyed the two students. “Would have saved us a lot of trouble if these two amateurs had just grabbed the girl when they had the chance.”

"I take full responsibility for them. Please understand that they did not act out of malice or incompetence but because they wanted to save the child, each in their own way." Nighteye explained. "Despite not knowing the full story, Uraraka wished to rescue Eri despite the risks. Togata believed waiting would be better to ensure success and that we could nail Chisaki with crimes with strong foundational evidence.”

Despite his words, neither Togata or Uraraka took any comfort from them. As it didn’t matter why they acted or what they did, the result was the same. They allowed Eri to remain in Overhaul’s grasp where he could continue to harvest her flesh for his bullets.

‘Save a million people? I couldn’t even save her!’ Togata gripped his pants in frustration.

'How can I be a true hero when I let her go?' Uraraka felt the power of One for All humming beneath her skin, as if the power was also disappointed in her.

"No one here is as frustrated or driven as they are to save the girl and stop Chisaki's plans." Nighteye told the gathered group.

Line Break

Unlike before, Pyre felt no desire to mess with Mimic or push his buttons, so the walk proved to be uneventful. However, they did go down paths that he was sure he had had a reason or chance to venture down on his own time. In fact, they needed to use two separate flights of stairs as they descended deeper into the complex that Chisaki had managed to build in the middle of the city.

Once they reached the area, they walked into a large empty room. The only features he could make out were the pillars holding up the ceiling. But when it came to people, there was plenty, as a crowd of Yakuza thugs had gathered, and when they spotted him, they eyed him like a piece of meat.

“It doesn’t seem as perverse as some other looks you get," Koharu noted as the crowd parted ways for them to walk through.

"No, it doesn't," Pyre replied. “They seem to see me as…meat to be thrown to the beast.” Just how dangerous was Rappa? More than that, why did these people think he would lose when Overhaul seemed to think it was the opposite? Was he correct in his assumption that it was a trick to deceive him into lowering his guard?

“What are you on about?” Minic grunted, turning an annoyed eye to the brat he had to escort.

Pyre offered a light smile. "Just speaking aloud, say why are there so many people here?" He changed the subject before the tiny man could question him further or get that other truth seeker involved.

Mimic kept eying him for a moment but turned away with a snort. "Hmm, Rappa doesn't know how to shut his mouth, so he probably talked about finally getting his fight."

“Entertainment must be rare; it's just a little spar," Pyre replied, as he did this sort of thing with the rest of the Thunder all the time. It was a good way of keeping sharp and in tune with one another.

Mimic gave him a cruel smile. "Just don't go down too easy, else the idiot will be more annoyed and probably do something stupid."

“He seems as friendly as a jagged rock," Koharu commented. Mimic walked off, leaving them to enter the clearing in the mass of Yakuza, where their opponent stood waiting for them.

Seeing them, Pyre could spot the smile on the man’s previously anxious and irritated face through that mask. "You finally got here. That's good. I was getting worried you'd back out."

“And why would I do that? Also, did Overhaul tell you I even accepted?” Pyre asked. In fact, now that he thought about it, how’d this many people gather for this?

Rappa got into a combative stance. “Less talk, more fighting, little man. But we gotta set some rules.”

“No lethal hits?” Pyre asked, recalling Overhaul's words, only for Rappa to sneer at his suggestion.

"Screw that; what I want is a real fight, but I ain't gonna accept you using the coward’s way, so no weapons and get the stupid pet out of here." He pointed at Koharu, who raised her head in anger.

“Stupid?!” She hissed at the Yakuza, Pyre knowing that she could take his place and ensure that Rappa wouldn’t be leaving here without some new burns.

"Calm down, Koharu; no need to get violent with him; he doesn't know better." Pyre calmed her, taking advantage of her mood being clear enough from body language.

“Yeah, he’s an idiot! He’s the smartest person here!” He stopped, Koharu’s gaze snapping into the crowd of people as she looked for who said that, as that voice, that vibration was familiar.

“Twice?” Pyre asked, only to feel someone pocking his pack, causing him to jump in fright and turn to see a giggling Toga.

“He’s not the only one,” Toga smiled as Twice made his way forward, waving at the two. Pyre was still unsure how Himiko could keep masking her presence from both him and Koharu. "Hi Pyre! I was so excited to see this fight that I skipped out on my boring chores and hopped on over."

“You want someone to hold onto your stuff? Find someone else!” Twice offered, though turned away just as fast.

“Thank you,” Pyre could only laugh at Twice's oddities as if nothing else; they made conversations a treat. So he left his fans fall into his hands, taking a breath as he heard that sweet chime of their bells before he handed them to Twice, along with Koharu, who reluctantly parted ways with him, but not before telling him to make sure he crushed Rappa.

"And here I was hoping to get more practice with them; just about every job since we got back to Japan has been too easy." Pyre started stretching, and as he did so, he eyed up Rappa, who, as he already knew, was a big man. Nearly as big as Chimera, which was saying something. His size wasn't just for show either, as his muscular frame was lean, with little pointless muscle mass on him like on a bodybuilder, but closer to a proper brawler.

His clothing could work, as the grunts he's seen and worked with just dressed how they pleased. Aside from that other big guy, all the people Overhaul had wearing plague masks had a more put-together look to this. Rappa seemed to buck the trend, wearing just a tattered t-shirt, dark paints with a light blue tunic, and two gloves made from leather straps and metal.

Feeling his bones get nice and loose, Pyre got into a fighting stance. "Sorry for the wait, but I needed to relieve myself of my friend and tools, but when this is over, you will apologize to her." His gaze sharpened near the end, to which Rappa only smiled wider.

"Beat me, and I'll do it." Rappa declared.

"And you've just given me a reason to care enough to try," Pyre replied as he felt his body heat up. The young villain called on his boiling mountain form, which saw his temperate skyrocket as steam raced through his body and his blood boiled in his veins, a feeling which, rather than causing unimaginable pain, brought him a profound, primal sense of relief. It was as if he was letting the chains off himself.

Rappa didn't waste time as he charged Pyre, pulling back his right fist. Pyre could have dodged it; Rappa was fast but not that fast…but he wished to test something, so instead, he raised both arms to block it.

When Rappa's blow hit, Pyre's eyes widened out of shock as he felt bones shatter, muscles tearing, and his blood spilling. His arms were nearly completely shattered from that single hit, the force sending him flying back; Yakuza thugs managed to dive out of the way as he was sent crashing into the wall with an explosive thud.

“Did…did he just?”

“With a single blow.”

While others were left in awe of the seemingly quick and decisive match or, in the case of Toga and Twice, had their jaws on the floor from shock, Rappa was far from happy with things. The man was shaking with his fist still outstretched. 

“What…is that it? You mean to tell me that’s all you have, Pyre?!” He yelled at the dust cloud.

“Nope!” Many were just as if not more surprised when they heard a chipper response. Pyre jumped out of the dust cloud, landing in the impromptu arena with a big smile. "I was just surprised; I had no idea you could hit that hard; I mean, look at me. You did all this with just a single strike. I've fought pros that could barely hurt me, and you managed to blow them outta the water."

He complimented the man, seemingly ignoring how his outfit was now dirty and damaged from the hit and rough landing, as well as the fact his arms looked terrible, bent in inwards, covered in horrific cuts and tears with even the bone sticking out of them, leaving him to bleed all over the floor.

Rappa was in the same boat as his opponent, smiling. He felt like he was going to get something out of this, as the kid was already proving to be a better opponent than everyone else he'd had, even if he was already messed up. He was still standing and willing to fight, which couldn't be said about most of his foes.

“However, if you’re worried that I can’t give you a good fight in this condition,” Steam burst out of his wounds. The crowd watched in repulsed yet intrigued curiosity as his arms righted themselves. The torn flesh stitched itself up as his bones were pulled back into his arms, setting themselves before repairing like nothing had happened. If not for the blood splatter on the floor, he could very well claim as such.

Clenching his hands, Pyre took a fighting stance, matching Rappa's excitement as the light of his emerald eyes was all the more prominent in such a dark space. "Then you don't know much about me; you'll need to hit me harder than that to keep me down.”

"Oh, a regenerator are you? Well, let's see what else you can do!" Rappa moved in again, but this time, when Rappa came in for a strike, Pyre waited until the last moment, knocking the right side, giving him a chance to clench his fist and land a clean left jab to the man's gut. His core might have been covered with dense and strong muscle, but he could hear the man grunt from the blow.

Pyre went for another, even stronger blow but noted out of the corner of his eye that Rappa's left first was already being pulled back, far faster than he should be able to move. Not thinking but acting, when Rappa's blow came, Pyre loosened his neck and turned his head to the side while leaning it back. So when the hit landed, instead of most likely snapping his neck, if not knocking him out, he only felt a fraction of the force of the blow, which still knocked a couple teeth loose.

Using it to his advantage, Pyre turned with force to deliver a strong punch to Rappa's side, which knocked him off balance and allowed the younger fighter to pull back for a moment.

Rappa looked unphased by those 2 blows, but he didn't care that he wasn't taken out. He was starting to enjoy this as the kid wasn't all talk or some punching bag; he had some skill. He could see it in him; the boy was enjoying this fight. Those emerald eyes were glowing with an eagerness he had rarely seen. Even then, that always faded from his opponent's eyes when he landed even just a single blow, and yet, the kid was still up and fighting.

"Not just strong, but incredibly durable and fast. Oh, it's been so long since I had a proper fight against someone I've not worked with, so let's keep going, Rappa!" Pyre yelled as he charged his opponent.

“Oh yeah, this is sweet; you really get me, kid!" Rappa laughed as he met him mid-charge, his right first pulled back. As he punched forward, launching a barrage of strikes toward Pyre, he shifted so that most of his body was out of the way-

-All except his arm, which was predictably pulverized, but instead of the pain slowing him down, the young villain's smile remained strong, flashing a smirk that seemed to contain smile fangs in them as he sent a flood of the stream to the wounded limb, not healing but blowing it off.

Swinging his steaming, bleeding stump at Rappa, he managed to get his blood into the man’s mask, blinding him for a moment, allowing him the chance to get in close and land another heavy jab towards the man’s side, quickly following it up with a kick to the same spot he had kicked before, this time with even more force.

Rappa let out a roar of laughter as he unleashed another flurry of punches; he could feel him out, not needing to see where the boy was. Down an arm, Pyre bent backward so hard, his steam-infused muscles holding him steady as he pointed his stump to the ground and took a breath of air, firing off a fireball that caught one of Rappa's fists while immediately after, firing off a blast of steam which lifted his right side off the ground like a rocket, allowing him to kick at Rappa's shoulder with a hard thud.

Spitting out a quick fireball, he used its force to shift out of Rappa's extended counterattack and gracefully landed to the side. Now, both fighters carried some damage, and if this was a normal fight, that would have been enough to end things, as one was down a limb. The other had a first that was badly burned, his leather and steel gloves offering no comfort but seemingly making it worse as both were still hot.

But these weren't normal fighters. Rappa just tore off the still-hot glove, revealing how bad his burns were, while Pyre just smiled as, through a blast of steam, smoke, and flames, his arm regenerated as good as new. But it didn't stop there. Both arms kept going as his flesh and bone melted away, replaced with volcanic stone, with lava flowing as blood just beneath the surface.

Neither spoke as they charged one another again and thinking he saw an opening, Pyre got in close, falling for Rappa's feint as the man grabbed his first. Burning himself as his grip cracked the stoney exterior, he swung him over his head, slamming him into the ground. Pyre only tickled his teeth as he buried back first into the cold, unforgiving concrete.

Rappa didn't give him a moment to breathe. Not even a second after he was left in a Pyre-sized crater, the man was on the offensive. Rappa launched a punishing barrage of strikes that Pyre defended, his arms cracking under the force, even as he continually reinforced and repaired damage.

Forcing him to back off with another fireball, Pyre was quick to rise out of the hole he had been pummelled into, his smile wider than it had been through the fight, launching as he rushed Rappa. The fight fell into a pattern where Rappa, the more experienced fighter, sent the speed of things as his punches came as fast as it took Midoriya's heart to beat, each strike faster and stronger than the last.

On the back foot, Pyre relied on his smaller size, speed, regeneration, and flames to both avoid hits and keep those blows from knocking down as broken bones and bruised muscles healed in seconds. His flames kept Rappa from capitalizing when he could, especially when Pyre would add to that by letting steam burst from any part of his body, creating horrifying gaping wounds of boiled flesh that healed in seconds.

Toga loved every second of it, watching as the two men spilled each other's blood without pause or regard for their mounting injuries. Oh, how she wished she could jump in and have a lick, but she couldn't, mainly because she wasn't sure Rappa wouldn't hold back, and she knew one of those hits would probably do her in.

With Twice, he cheered for Pyre to take the win despite the damage the younger villain had taken. It was all good, as he was regenerating without issue, and he was getting some good hits in, bending and slithering through Rappa's defense and retreating to strike at his shoulders, arms, and chest.

“Yeah! Let him have it! Oh, go easy on him!” Twice called out as Pyre right a left hook into Rappa’s right side, feeling the man's rib break under the impact. However, still, he didn't flinch as he swung his arm out, knocking Pyre in the side of the head and sending him to the ground, where he rolled for a few moments.

"That was strong," Pyre declared as his neck snapped into place, and he could feel his body again. Getting up with a groan, he could say that he was starting to feel all those blows and would finish this.

"I got more of it!" Rappa roared as he charged him, the dirty, bruised, and burnt-covered man having the time of his life as Pyre breathed, feeling the flames at his core rise.

“Serpent’s Fire Scales!" Pyre roared as he let loose the biggest attack yet. Rappa dodged the fireball; it exploded at his side, burning his left side and parts of his mask. The other smaller fireballs managed to strike his back, mainly his legs, which threw him unbalanced as he felt his calves and knees being struck and burned.

With the man off center, Pyre charged him and delivered a brutal uppercut, his stone fist slamming into Rappa's chin like a car driving full speed into a brick wall. The force of the strike lifted the man off his wobbly feet and sent him flying for a moment before he landed on his back with a thump.

Rappa was lucky he hadn't bit his tongue off after that hit. Still, Pyre landed on him, pinning his arms to the floor as he leaned over him, another fireball primed and ready to be unleashed point blank. Still, right as Rappa closed his eyes to accept his defeat, the boy killed his attack and got up.

“What?” Rappa asked as he looked at his foe, who was powering down.

"I win," Pyre replied.

"You didn't win, I'm still alive," Rappa yelled, slamming his burnt hand into the ground.

Pyre frowned as he looked at him over his shoulder. "Yes, I did, I had you dead to rights, but I don't kill, and Overhaul explicitly told me not to do, and I don't want to cause problems."

Rappa growled under his breath, cursing Overhaul for ruining his fun again, but he had to bite the bullet as he got up; only now was he starting to feel the pain from his injuries. “…Fine, but don’t think this will be the only fight. That was too good to just have the one.”

"Some other time, but I need to clean up for now." Pyre looked at himself, knowing he'd be up late doing laundry. Luckily, he had other stuff he could wear in the meantime.

“I’ll show you one,” Rappa grunted as he nodded in a direction, the crowd parting as the two walked off. "Then I need to get back and apologize to you, whatever you call it." Pyre would need to work on that, but he had other reasons to wish to talk with Rappa later, having picked up a lot about him from that fight.

Line Break

I fucked up with an assignment's due date, as it was today, which I had known and planned for, but I misread my own notes on it. It wasn't due in the PM but AM, so I had to stay up till 4am working on it, and even then, I could only submit it uncomplete; the only silver lining I can see from that is that it's the only one I had that issue with, as my other assignments for all my classes were all completed and handed in on time with each being a passing grade.

So yeah, I woke up late and started this late, but I aimed to try to find a balance between it and my schedule. The last chapter was cut short due to terrible timing for a test by the local provider, leaving that chapter around 3500 words. With this one, I wanted to both finish the Nighteye meeting and jump back to what Pyre and co were doing, so I planned to cut this off at 4500 words. It's still short, but that's about 1000 more words than the last one.