A Hero's Quest

Chapter 11

The boys arrived at the last cabin, panting. Sweat beaded their foreheads. Aside from gliding towards certain destruction, the airplane was pooling with smoke and unbearable hot.

Opposite the door, a hulking brute stood, squeezing Olivia by the throat and pressing her flat against the wall. He was definitely the result of an Art failure. The man's original Art mimicked shapeshifting, but malfunctioned and now he was trapped as a beast forever.

" Release our friend, Jerk, or else!" Izuku spat boldly. His face distorted into a lour. He was in the nick of time with Katsumi in tow. Katsumi looked ailing and struggled to walk. His vision faded and the wound on his cheek was discolored.

Olivia had never been so relieved. " Guys!" She smiled weakly.

The villain tossed Olivia to the ground, popping his knuckles for another fight. He was ready to dirty his hands again and this way it was easy to stall for time. The villain couldn't allow the heroes to escape.

" Stand back you two. I've got thissss....." Izuku ordered, but was pummeled in the chest and catapulted into Katsumi who was aiding Olivia. The three toppled through the door and towards the barricade of fire.

Izuku was the first to recover. Olivia's body twisted in agony as she tried to distinguish what hurt. Katsumi groaned, soldiering to stand, but stumbled into a chair.

" Just rest. I'll take care of the villain." Izuku reassured.

" Be care—ah—full." Olivia grunted. She gave Izuku a shaky thumbs-up.

Katsumi gritted his teeth and gripped the chair cover. " Wait. I'll hh—help you." He said, cringing at the motion of opening his mouth.

Izuku appreciated his friends support, but they were in no condition to fight, not now. Izuku was the only one left unscathed. He'd defeat the monster and save the plane.

Suddenly, the airplane hit a spot of turbulence and started thrashing violently side to side. The heroes and villain battled to stay upright. A siren blared and autopilot spoke over the intercom. " Terrain. Pull up. Large terrain approaching. Please resort to evasive action."

" Looks like you're out of time heroes! Haha! Didn't expect the plane to smash into a dormant volcano, huh?" The villain ridiculed, slapping his knee in amusement.

" A volcano?" Izuku squeaked. On the screens back in the cockpit, all that was visible were shadowy peaks. Were they actually flying towards a sleeping volcano? Maybe the villain was lying?

Olivia had roughly the same thought. " If we're gonna go splat into a volcano. Why are you still aboard? Why not steal a parachute and run away?" She inquired, ignoring the inflammation in her chest.

" Heroes don't understand. We'd do anything for Silver. Including, destroy you!" The beast bellowed.

" Not if we win first!" Izuku lunged, engulfing himself in whips of lightning. " Lightning Thrust 35%!" Izuku yelled, digging the soles of his shoes into the metal floor.

The hybrid didn't know what to expect, but decided to strike head-on and with multiple punches.

ZOOM!
FLASH!
POOF!

Izuku resembled a smudge as he zipped around the cabin, dodging every jab with perfect precision. Izuku slowed his speed by a smidgen and called out, " Lightning Smash, 20%!"

" Oh no you don't, Freak!" The beast growled. He kept his gaze trained on Izuku and lashed his crocodile tail.

Izuku delivered a clout simultaneously and the impact thrust both, Izuku and the villain into opposite ends of the airplane.

The metal wall the hybrid hit, crumbled away. Vigorous winds yanked on the empennage and flung anyone aboard out over the ocean. The villain slammed into a wing and was thwacked unconscious, while Izuku, Olivia, and Katsumi slipped underneath the wing.

They flailed desperately through the sky, observing the plane as it breached the fog and accelerated right into the side of a massive, jagged volcano.

Olivia tried to retrieve the passengers in the bubbles she created, but an enormous explosion silenced the connection.

" NO!" Izuku screamed, tugging at his spiky hair. He was suppose to defeat the villain and liberate everybody, instead he was thrown from the aircraft and compelled to witness its tragic demise. How did he hope to be a hero if he couldn't rescue a highjacked plane? Izuku failed miserably and the echo of pitiful cries rang in his ears.

" Izuku! Katsumi! Grab my hand! I can slow our decent!" Olivia shouted. She hadn't come to grips with their discomfiture, but realized her Art was at least able to aid her friends.

Izuku stabbed at the air, dragging himself towards Olivia and grasped her fingers tightly. " I think Katsumi is too badly injured. Toss me to him." Izuku instructed.

Olivia nodded, drawing back an arm and threw Izuku as best she could. He soared through the air like a torpedo and knocked into Katsumi.

" Dude, get off me!" Katsumi snarled in disgust. He declined Izuku's help and struggled to pull away.

" You're hurt. Let me give you a hand." Izuku begged. His voice was riddled with concern. He noticed the cut now the size of a grapefruit on Katsumi's cheek.  " Venom? When'd you get stung?" Izuku asked over the screeching winds.

Katsumi gnashed his teeth in annoyance. " Is this really the time to be having this discussion? Shouldn't we be trying not to go splash?" Katsumi's stomach lurched at the sight of water. He wished he'd agreed to take swimming lessons.

" Guys, hurry! Grab on!" Olivia urged, stretching a hand out to them.

Izuku wrapped an arm around Katsumi's waist and gripped Olivia's fingers again. She pinched her eyes shut and fixated on forming a giant bubble. Water rose from the ocean and shaped itself around the heroes. Then it floated gently above the sea as Olivia guided the bubble towards Klafgate Island.