How Stories Unfold

Round 8: Heroes

It had been three years since the Final War had turned Musutafu into an international battlefield between hero and villain, deciding the fate of a quirkful world.

All for One had been defeated by One for All, but at a huge cost. The world as we once knew it, no longer existed.

The world as we once knew it, had been torn apart.

An unexpected hero had risen. As she floated in the air, Uravity inspired people to be kind, to have mercy and to let the few remaining heroes into their heart, but the damage had already been done.

The Final War and the huge media storms surrounding it, had taken their toll and one by one the heroes laid down their cape.

After all, who would want to be a hero nowadays?

The media scrutinized every little thing they did and didn't do, even long before they had decided to become a hero, but what was worse, was what had happened during the Final War, but what no media ever covered.

Bloodied and bruised, many hero had dragged themselves through rain, storm and mud in search for shelter and food.

They had come across citizens of Musutafu and begged them for help.

The citizens had snarled. They had either laughed at the heroes or bashed them up some more, but either way the citizens had left them to rot.

Some had been found on time by other heroes and could tell the tale, but for most of them it had been too late.

Most heroes weren't killed by villains in the Final War; they were killed by the people they had been protecting their entire adult life.

-

Missy swallowed back tears as this last thought haunted her mind.

My brother wasn't killed by villains. He was killed by the people he tried to protect.

The warmth of the sun hugged Missy tightly as a soft summer breeze stroked her ink black hair.

She stared at the brand new buildings of Musutafu below her and clenched her spotted fists.

Tears fell passed the railing onto the salmon bricks. "They won't get away with it."

Missy's body shook. She fell to her knees.

"They won't."

***

The warm summer sun burned through the tall U.A. dorm windows.

Eri drooped across the table. Her tummy growled. She groaned.

She hmfed and groaned much louder, but there was no Eri, are you alright?, no What's wrong, Eri-chan?.

The dorm was utterly deserted for summer break.

Eri peeled herself off the table. She dragged her feet to the freezer.

She opened its door and her scarlet eyes eagerly searched the freezer from top to bottom.

Her expression turned emotionless. "Empty."

Eri shut the freezer.

She sighed and dragged her feet across the room.

She checked her scarlet messenger bag and then plodded towards the door.

The soft summer breeze made the warmth more bearable for Eri, but her bluish, off-white hair still stuck in lumps to her head.

Her cheeks were almost the same shade of her clothes and sweat trickled down her neck.