♊︎ 𝘔𝘺 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘢 - 𝘎𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪'𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 [𝘈𝘜] ♊︎

[Season 6] Ep. 13 - Goodbye

Across the forest, once intended to be our training ground, chaos reigned supreme. Flames roared from what used to be our catch-up exam building, now reduced to smoldering ruins, isolated from the rest of the forest by a fiery wall. Battles raged between the trainee heroes—Riko, Shiro, Suejirou—and our Pop Rock Agency instructors, Melody, Rock Devil, and Head Bang. Meanwhile, villains like Hypnos, Blank, and The Hunter had vanished into the shadows. All around, my fellow classmates lay unconscious, casualties of the relentless conflict.

And where was I, Ken, during all this? Running. Always running, deeper into the forest, trying to escape. Ever since Envy received a strange radio call from a voice that sounded like Hypnos, she pursued Joichi and me with a newfound ferocity.

Envy moved through the trees like a kunoichi, her red stiletto heels barely hindering her. She relentlessly hurled hairpins as deadly as senbon, while Joichi and I took turns deflecting them with our quirks. But exhaustion was creeping in, our defenses weakening. When Joichi barely managed to deflect one of Envy's projectiles, which grazed his shoulder, she smiled wickedly and shouted:

- "Grapnel! Now!"

Out of nowhere, Grapnel's metallic claws shot out from behind Envy, hurtling toward us like a deadly grappling hook ready to snatch—or eviscerate—us.

- "Attraction Ray!" I extended my arms, using the last of my strength to divert Grapnel's terrifying hands, sending them crashing into a nearby tree.

But Grapnel, her metal arms tethered to her body by long chains, used the recoil to propel herself rapidly towards us, leaving us stunned by her speed. Not wanting to give her the upper hand, Joichi, bleeding from his arm, summoned his remaining energy to launch a volley of five razor-sharp cards straight from his wounded limb.

- "Take this, you freak!" Joichi's voice was strained, his determination unwavering despite the pain.

Facing the oncoming projectiles, Grapnel quickly shielded herself with her metallic forearms. Despite the pain of Joichi's cards scraping her shoulders, she showed no signs of slowing down. With our focus on Grapnel, Envy seized the moment, launching her serrated whip straight at me. Panic surged through me; I instinctively used the last of my strength to create an attraction field with my hands, ripping a chunk of bark from a nearby tree to use as a makeshift shield.

But the bark was a poor defense against Envy's whip. It shattered on impact, and the whip's teeth slashed across my face before coiling around me.

- "Argh!" I screamed as the whip's barbs dug deep into my flesh.

- "Let him go, you—" Joichi tried to come to my aid, but the blood loss from earlier uses of his quirk clouded his vision and dulled his reflexes. 

His legs wobbled, and he moved sluggishly, struggling to summon his quirk.

Seeing an opening, Grapnel grinned slightly. With a powerful swing of her right arm, she launched her metallic forearm, connected by a chain, straight at Joichi.

- "Grappling Jab!"

- "ARGH!" Joichi's scream echoed through the forest as the blow struck him, shattering at least two ribs and sending him crashing to the ground, pinned by the weight of Grapnel's metal fist.

- "Joichi!" I shouted, my voice raw with desperation. I struggled against Envy's whip, but the barbs only sank deeper, each movement sending fresh waves of pain coursing through me.

Not far away, Masako was sprinting towards us with incredible speed, her quirk boosting the muscles in her legs. The stress she felt only made her horns grow faster, adding to her already impressive stature. The agonizing scream of Joichi, her childhood friend, alerted her.