A Hero's Quest

Chapter 15

" Katsumi, Izuku, look!" Olivia shrieked. She pointed to the streets of Bijoux.

More villains—no—reinforcements had arrived. Tens of thousands of brutes descended, mindlessly destroying everything in sight.

A slinky, almost catlike man, burst through the window of a dress shop and grabbed a woman and her daughter. Several, boulder-sized oddities with malfunctioned Arts ransacked the town, leveling buildings and setting off a chain of explosions.

Izuku clenched his fists. " We have to start evacuating. The people won't last long against—" he instructed, but the balcony where they stood, disrupted to pieces. Izuku got blown forwards, bouncing off the hotel awning and whacking the pavement.

In the spray of debris, Katsumi managed to clutch the remaining banister and grabbed Olivia awkwardly by the wrist out of mid-air.
Unfortunately, the added weight and natural pull of gravity was straining Katsumi's body. His arm cramped and his sweaty fingers began to slip.

Izuku coughed up dust, massaging the pain in his shoulder and trying the get the knot out of his spine. He had a number of cuts and scrapes, but no time for first-aid. The citizens were in peril.

" Hey, guys! This is it! Our moment to prove ourselves and show the world that we deserve to be heroes!" Izuku encouraged.

Katsumi wrinkled his brow. " Really? You think now is the right time for a pep speech!" He shouted, gritting teeth and fighting not to drop Olivia.

Izuku ignored Katsumi and continued. " I know we can win as long as we win together! Katsumi and Olivia, remember, vacate as many people as possible and take them to the beach! There's the yacht our parents rented, have it radio for backup and start escorting people to the mainland! I'll take care of Silver and his machine! And if any villains attack, make sure you keep the fights quick, these people are counting on us! Let's do this team!" He punched the air with conviction.

Izuku knew in his heart that no matter what happened, they would come out on top. They had to succeed for all of humanity.

Olivia chewed on her lip. Izuku's speech was very rousing, but the idea of relinquishing an island from highly skilled villains was a great responsibility.
Olivia was sixteen with no training. She didn't even know her Art's limitations. Izuku was ambitious and willing to lay his life on the line. And Katsumi charged straight into danger and always came out on top.

Why was she so petrified? Heroes wore smiles and brought peace. But right now, Olivia wished to curl up in a ball and hide.

" Olivia, don't overthink it. You aren't gonna be fighting alone. I'm Izuku's sidekick too, remember? Now, I could really use some hh—help." Katsumi said, grimacing as he adjusted his grip. The weight wrenched him towards the pavement, but Katsumi refused to let go of Olivia.

Olivia smiled her biggest smile. " Absolutely! Sidekicks to the very end! Go Izuku, we'll take care of Bijoux!" She shouted, waving her friend away.

Izuku nodded. Now, the real battle commenced. He saluted his friends, then launched into the air. Izuku used the lampposts as springboards to carry him to Silver.

It was very dangerous to fight atop a gigantic building with billions of glass windows, but Izuku had no choice. He needed to obliterated the machine or every Art ( including his ) would be stripped from the world forever. And the age of heroes really would become another page in the history books.

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Once Olivia used her bubbles to gently land Katsumi and herself on the remnants of Queen Ave., they rushed to help the civilians.

Katsumi darted straight for the cage, enkindling his fire Art and dodging debris as he plowed toward the crane. He wanted his mom to be safe, before Silver powered up that machine.

" Wait Katsumi, we have to stick together!" Olivia called after him. She huffed, turning back to the situation at hand.

Bijoux use to be a magical town full of life and beauty. Now, a quarter of Bijoux was annihilated beyond salvage and Olivia was positive nobody survived. Her chest clenched and she got an unsettling feeling in her stomach.

Olivia hastened over to an intact flower shop and banged repeatedly on the locked door. " Hello, is anyone in there? Please, open up! It's a hero! I'm here to get you to—" before Olivia could finish, the door jarred open and two perturbed faces greeted her.

" A hero? I don't see no heroes. And you're—you're just a teenage girl?" The man said dubiously. He had to be in his mid-seventies and his wife was probably a year or two younger.

Olivia rubbed her forearm nervously. " Yes, but I'm studying to enter UMA. Please, we don't have much time. I can help." She insisted. Olivia gently touched the couple.

A bubble morphed around them and slowly rose into the sky. Olivia could move the bubbles mentally, that way she didn't lose track of the people she saved. Izuku had instructed her to escort the citizens to the beach, but wasn't the coast too obvious a place?

" Help!"
" Someone—ahhh!"
" Ew. Get away from us!"

Olivia froze. The shrieks sounded nearby and were definitely female. She glanced at the mountains of wreckage, but most of the shops had been squashed and bodies scattered. Olivia finally spotted a group of three teenage girls by what use to be a café.

Towering over the horrified girls was another hybrid. It's lower half resembled a lizard and the upper half was bird, but the head resembled a man with lion ears.

Olivia recalled something similar on the airplane. Silver's whole army was Arts gone wrong. How was she going to outrival this beast, when she failed the previous time? He'd pulverize her in minutes.

" Mmm.....you chics will make the perfect hostages. Haha! I like my food kicking." The villain hissed. He licked his lips with a reptile tongue.

Olivia didn't know whether to be terror-stricken or nauseous. Like Izuku advised, she had to act quick and keep the fight brief.

" Hey! Ugly, over there! You work for Silver, right? Well, I'm a hero! Come catch me!" Olivia yelled, immediately regretting opening her big mouth. She waved her arms frantically in the air, desperate to snag the villain's attention.

The monster heard Olivia and perked up. He whirled around to meet her with a foul grin.

" She's a hero?" One girl whispered.

" No way, she looks our age." The blonde remarked in disbelief.

" It must be a hoax." Another one shrugged. The three girls stared at Olivia with pitying eyes.

The beast spat, " is this a joke? You're no hero, just a fragile little girl!" He slammed his feathered fists into the cobblestone, tearing up rubble in frustration.

His words sliced right through Olivia's self-esteem. She raised a hand to her chest, feeling for the metaphorical knife wedged in her heart. Olivia's passion was being used to flout her. She felt her body tremble. Fear? No, anger.

Olivia had always seen herself as a burden to others, someone requiring constant help and protection. This time, she was going to reveal to the world that she didn't need rescuing. Olivia was independent. She could defeat the villain on her own.