Wasted Quirk

Chapter 11

I was more on guard now. The lack of obstacles had made me relaxed, even if it was barely noticeable. But look where that got me. I continued forward using everything I had ever learned about stealth operations.

Memories from school started coming up. I remembered when I moved into situations with little to no regard for my safety. What the hell did I care? As long as I came out on top, I didn't give a damn what happened to me. I just refused to lose, even though many times winning meant getting injured.

It took a while for me to pull my head out of my ass and get things straight. I'd stop winning if I was dead. And I was dead if I just kept moving in without caring about the consequences. I could do that in school because it was all just training. I knew I was never going to die. But when Mr. Aizawa grabbed my shirt third year and punched me right in the face, he finally got his message across. Don't be stupid. Don't be reckless. Don't throw your life away so that you could say you were first, that you were the winner. Because as soon as you believed that you were unbeatable, unkillable, you were as good as dead.

"Gro-schh-ero! Schh-ease-schh-schh-areful!"

I held my earpiece firmly, trying to make sense of whoever was trying to reach out. The comms shouldn't have been doing this. It shouldn't have mattered how thick the walls or how many floors that separated us, they should still relay clear communication, which meant someone was jamming it. I tightly gripped my hair in my fists, seriously tempted to pull it out. This was so frustrating!

Whatever it was my team was trying to warn me about, it didn't matter now. All I could do was move forward. I was doing just that when, out of the stiff silence, someone screamed.

I broke out into a run toward the direction I thought I heard it from. Though I couldn't be positive, I was pretty sure it was Le Million. It would make the most sense since he had moved ahead of me. The screams persisted, though they sounded muffled as if the victim was doing their best to keep quiet but couldn't bear whatever torture they were being subjected to. Lips tightly pressed together while sound built up inside their mouth.

I came to a halt at the end of a long hallway, where I was certain the screams were coming from. I probably should have been more careful to make the least noise possible, but the villain already knew I was coming. What did it matter anymore? But I needed to stop and think-

"Ground Zero!" Le Million shouted, obviously in pain. "Run! Get out of here and regroup! We can't—"

Bang.

The silence following the echoes of the gunshot was oppressive, pressing in on my eardrums like I was sinking deeper into water. My eyes started to get blurry and I couldn't see in front of me. Or at least... I couldn't see what I should have been seeing.

Instead of cement walls and floors illuminated by budget fluorescent tubing hanging from the ceiling by a single wire, I saw a dark blur suddenly appear in front of me. Suddenly, and yet it was like everything was moving in slow motion. Within the blur I could see a dark silhouette slowly pass in front of me, seemingly flying through the air...

Suddenly my vision cleared. My skin became clammy and I slowly realized that I was quivering. Was I cold? No...

I was scared.

I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate but I clapped a hand over my mouth. What the hell was that?! Stop it! Keep it together! Other people are counting on you! I worked to slow my breathing, inhaling through my nose and out through my mouth. I swallowed the lump in my throat and bit my hand, the sharp pain bringing me back to reality.

My legs launched my body forward towards the doorway. Le Million annoyed me to bits but he was a good guy and a good hero. If he was still alive, I wasn't going to let another good man die. Not alone. Not again.

I stopped just inside the doorway, trying to register what I was looking at. Therma was right, it was some sort of control room. I could see a couple of electrical boards and consoles covered in buttons and dials. If I had to guess, more consoles like these extended to the back of the room.

"Ground... Zero..."

My attention snapped to the edge of where the hallway light extended, about two rows in, and centered in on Le Million. The dim lighting made it difficult to see him clearly, but I could tell that he'd been injured. He was looking at me from his vantage point on the cold, unforgiving floor. Aside from the blood coming from a gash on the side of his head, he looked okay. So why the screaming? And if a gun went off, then where was it aimed?

I ran to him and knelt on the ground to get a better assessment. He looked exhausted and was covered in sweat. Was he tortured? There was no evidence of it. I looked at the wound on his head and discovered that this was the result of the gunshot I had heard. He had been grazed by the bullet, slicing through his skin but not penetrating his skull.

"What the hell happened?" I whispered though I'm not sure why I felt the need to be quiet. "What's wrong with you?" But before he could answer, another shot shattered the silence and I suddenly felt Le Million's body slam into mine.

Just like before, my vision blurred and that dark silhouette was back, but this time, the moment it was square with my body, it flew back and hit me with enough power to knock the air from my lungs. The force of his body nearly made me fly backward. Instead, I lost my balance and landed hard on my ass.

I blinked a few times, then realized that this had also happened to me in real life. I could see Le Million's body pinning my legs. For a second I was annoyed. He sure seemed to be taking his sweet time getting up. But my breath caught in my throat as I realized that the bullet had met its mark. A gaping hole in his back was haloed by an expanding ring of dark red.

"Oh god," I gasped. This couldn't be happening! What was going on?! 

For a moment, all I could hear was my panicked breathing. Then-

"That... was a rookie mistake."