STRINGS // KATSUKI BAKUGO [2]

Chapter 35 // Succumb

"You and all these video game references are getting old," you scoffed toward Emerson. "Got anything better? I'll wait."

"You're funny," Emerson began, voice monotone, "but I'd rather kick your ass already."

"Big talk for someone dressed like a knockoff Darth Vader," you replied, gesturing toward the cloak wrapped around their body from the neck down. "Got a lightsaber under there?"

"It doesn't matter how long you keep me taking," they stated. "You won't figure anything out."

You scowled, shifting your feet in preparation to attack. However, before you could even lift a foot, Emerson, threw the edge of their cloak over their face and disappeared.

'Teleportation?' you thought, whipping around just as Emerson reappeared from nothing, cloak floating around them like a leaf atop water. 'It doesn't matter how strong I am or how many quirks I have if I can't catch him. Maybe, if I can make eye contact once, though, I can use Ephemeral. Yeah, that should do.'

You narrowed your eyes, attempting to catch a glimpse of Emerson's past his cloak. However, before you could lock them in, they shrunk further back into the material surrounding their body and vanished.

You didn't make an attempt to search for them. You knew what they were trying to do. It'd be easy to make you dizzy with endless teleporting and then make a move while you're delirious, but you knew better than to chase the bait like a clueless puppy.

Instead of looking over your shoulder every two seconds trying to predict where they'd appear, you inhaled deeply, closed your eyes, and listened.

By the law of physics, matter could not be destroy nor created. One may be thinking, how is that possible in a world where ninety percent of the population has powers?

It's simple. It may not look like it, but those powers come from within the body. Bakugo didn't just generate explosions from nowhere. They were produced through his sweat, the nitroglycerin in his body, the base to his fiery.

This meant that Emerson had to go somewhere. Even when something burns, it becomes ashes that eventually dissolve with the wind and turn into particles so small no one can see. Emerson had to have a base, a trigger.

Then, you felt it, a small breeze floating past your right arm before appearing once more just above the nape of your neck.

You waited until you felt phantom fingers brushing your upper back before whipping around and shooting out your hand, catching Emerson by the throat as they reappeared.

"I knew that cloak wasn't just for show," you hissed, ripping Emerson's cloak off of their body to reveal a jumpsuit that covered every inch of their skin with the exception of their face. "Shadow teleportation. You can't vanish without darkness. That's your base."

"Y-you," Emerson chucked, clawing at your hand with a broken scoff, "figured t-that a little too quickly f-for my liking, Pest."

"Boo-fucking-hoo," you spat.

You glanced over your shoulder at where Bakugo was fighting, seemingly as energized as ever as he pummeled Shigaraki.

"Katsuki!" you screamed, immediately gaining the blond's attention, who settled back on the ground before whipping around to face you.

You waved the cloak in your hand before tossing it up into the air, and Bakugo was moving before you even spewed out any instructions.

"Burn it up!"

Bakugo snatched the clock out of the air before gravity could take over and used his explosions to tear it to shreds, destroying Emerson's one advantage.