Breaking a promise

Chapter 70: Melissa and Shoto

They were running mostly blind in the darkness but he had his fire quirk lit in his hand. Nevertheless it was still hard to see what lay ahead besides the ground.
"AAHHH......."
The sound of a loud groaning hiss stopped them in their tracks.
"We're not the only ones here," Shoto said.
"Right you are!"
The two of them were enveloped by a mass of black that blinded all of the light. They couldn't see each other or anything else for that matter.
It was also very hot, like an acid nibbling at their skins and leaving chemical burns.
"You two shouldn't be wandering around here in the first place; time to fix that."
WHAM!
A fist that came out of nowhere slammed into Shoto's face and sent him stumbling backwards.
A bulky figure emerged from the darkness. Sporting a buzz cut and a stature similar to Fat Gum after throwing an epic punch, the man had dark smoke shooting out of his hands.
"Shigaraki had a feeling that a rescue party would find them; so he hired me to buy them some time to evac. Of course, I intend to be paid for my services."
VILLAIN NAME: CINDER
QUIRK: ASH
HE CAN PRODUCE SUPERHEATED ASH AND SHOOT THEM AT VERY HIGH SPEEDS.
"I recognize you; you're one of the sons of Endeavor, Shoto isn't it?"
He simply grunted and gritted his teeth in reply.
The air became clear of the soot revealing the two heroes to be coated in a layer of black dust. Melissa was coughing heavily.
"C'mon and show me what you got!" Cinder shouted.
Shoto immediately launched a stream of ice shards towards him forcing the target to duck.
Darkness erupted from the foe's hands and roared towards Shoto. He immediately threw up an ice wall to protect himself.
There a loud hissing noise as the frosty barrier was impacted by the hot ash. It was quickly melting into a muddy water and evaporating into steam.
"SHOTO!"
He turned to see Melissa was partially caught in the wall by accident. She was struggling to break free as the melting got closer and closer to her.
By that point it was nearly impossible to see again. Cinder was charging towards her with more hot soot shooting out. The ice barrier wasn't going to last much longer.
"Melissa! Use your quirk to shield yourself!" Shoto shouted.
She quickly shifted her body just enough to cast a uranium green armor around her entire body. Cinder's quirk was simply deflected off and unable to penetrate through to her.
In an instant, the son of Endeavor unleashed the other half of his quirk and stirred up a swirling tornado of fire.
"About time you started acting like your dad!"
"SHUT UP ABOUT HIM! FLASH FREEZE!"
A ball of ice and fire enveloped Cinder entirely before collapsing into a large explosion.
Before Shoto could catch his breath, the enemy burst out from the rubble and slammed a massive punch into the teen's stomach.
"Wha....?"
"I can handle temperatures of over 5000* C kid! And my ash forces a thermal barrier between me and that ice of yours!"
He grabbed him by the neck and held Shoto in the air. A burst of hot ash seared his skin leading to a lot of agony.
"Hands off of him!" Melissa shouted.
Her quirk armor was gone; instead a new green glow grew from the hand holding him up. The ash was shooting off in all directions. Cinder lost his grip and was forced to release Shoto as the barrier exploded in size.
"If he can handle high temperatures, does that mean that he can survive extreme lows as well?" Shoto thought to himself.
One way to find out.
He ran beneath the barrier and was immediately blocked by Cinder's ash.
The foe immediately started throwing punches at him, only to keep missing. The barrier disappeared and Melissa charged at him.
WHAM!
Shoto was grabbed by the arm and flung right into her. They both crashed into a wall and saw Cinder walking towards them slowly. He held syringe in one hand.
"You're not much of a fight. But you are starting to irritate me. So try this on for size!"
He slammed the needle into his neck and injected the contents.
"Shoto, look out! I think that's-"
"Trigger." He interrupted as the villain started experiencing the effects of the drug.
A plume of hot material erupted from all over his body and filled their lungs. The heavy coughing began immediately.
"I was really hoping for you to be more like your dad! He's going to be disappointed in you when he finds your body!"
Shoto took one last breath.
"HEAVEN PIERCING ICE WALL!"
The impact of the ice against Cinder shook the whole area that the three were in. The foe was pinned against the ceiling.
For five seconds.
The rapid melting of ice loosened up and sent him crashing to the ground.
"Not bad kid. But I got more packed in store." He said as a stumbled to his feet.
More and more ash was pouring out from him and headed straight towards both of them. The coughing was overwhelming and Shoto's vision was fading.
Was this what it felt like to be killed?
"No you don't!!" Melissa shouted through the volcanic material.
Orbs of uranium green light quickly enveloped Cinder and his clouds of hot soot.
"What the hell is this?!" He shouted.
In an instant, they were in a sarcophagus of Melissa's quirk.
With no ash getting out.
"Shoto, I need your ice one more time!"
"What do you have in mind?"
"I can't keep that shield up forever; we need him unconscious quick. Try and chill him down as much as possible."
He stumbled onto his feet and deployed several frosty layers over the entire entrapment.
Just like with that Chimera villain awhile back. That brought back difficult memories for Shoto.
"Think that will hold him," he asked.
"Hopefully enough to let us move onward. C'mon; this route has got to lead us somewhere if that villain was guarding it." Melissa commented.
They caught their breaths and charged forward, leaving behind a frozen foe.