CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
Rio chased after them, leaping over a beam and landing with a jolt. His shoes scraped against dust-covered concrete as he caught up to them, careful not to outpace the pack.
He had only met them today, and they were leading him to an unknown destination—he needed to conserve energy for any unexpected events that might crop up.
Kenji was up ahead, tail wagging like this was a game. Daiki disappeared through a crack in the ground like a rock slipping into water. Kiba's howls echoed, loud and wild. Sae was up ahead, hovering above the group as she dashed through the air like a bird—her laughter lingering like smoke.
Hayato was nowhere in sight. They had lost him at the beginning, and Rio didn't think his quirk nor his physique would enable him to catch up to the group anytime soon. Not everyone was as physically strong as he was at this age—barring mutant or enhancer quirks, of course.
Still, his physicality was far above the standard. Rio scaled over rubble from abandoned construction materials, large metal structures that had been so badly oxidized they were no doubt a safety hazard—with nothing but the virtue of his sheer physical quality.
They weaved through the interior of the construction site; the deeper they went, the quieter it got, the world above melting away, replaced by the hum of underground pipes and the rustle of shifting gravel.
It was a whole different world out there. From the corner of his eye, Rio spotted a bunch of people scattered around the premises; the deeper he went, the more of them he saw.
Sentries…
Dressed in leather biker vests and covered with all manner of tattoos, piercings, as well as the most colorful hairstyles imaginable. They inspired a sense of rebellion… or, well, they just might have watched one too many Mad Max movies.
Eventually, they stopped in front of a gate—a warped, rust-covered slab of metal half-buried in debris. It looked like it hadn't been opened in years.
Kenji stepped forward, gave three hard knocks, then two light taps against a metal plate beside it. An eye peeked out from a small screen on the iron plating, covered in dark eye shadow. It observed Kenji for a moment and then immediately closed the screen.
A second later, a grinding noise—the groaning sound of rusted metal—rose from the earth like the place was waking up. The gate slid open, and Kenji immediately ran in, the rest following after.
Rio curiously studied the door and its keeper—a teenager a little bit older than them but with the most absurd fashion sense ever. He wore heavy makeup on his face, his dark eye shadow stretching down like tears to his cheeks. His colorful Mohawk—a mixture of red and green—made it look more like a rooster's comb than whatever look he was originally going for.
The failed art project also studied Rio curiously as he turned to the rest of the group in inquiry.
"Oh, no worries, he's a friend. Say hi or something, Rio. Woof," Kenji said as he plopped into a raggedy cushion. It had probably seen better years, but by god, Rio could have sworn he saw a couple of cockroaches swim out of the cushion when Kenji sat.
Rio just mouthed a quick "Hi," to which Mohawk-san nodded and bowed slightly in response—all while Rio studied the place.
It was an old, wrecked subway station. The walls were covered in graffiti—tags, splashes of color layered over government-issued "NO ENTRY" signs. The walls were adorned with posters of old heroes. Some torn, some defaced, some reimagined with devil horns and crooked halos. The air smelled like rust and spray paint.
Dim lights buzzed overhead, barely functioning. Someone had jury-rigged a power line into the tunnels. A cracked screen was bolted into one of the pillars. Cables ran like vines across the floor. Makeshift hammocks hung above crates. There was a punching bag hanging off the ceiling in pristine condition, the newness of the material standing out in the rather dingy setup.
Sae stepped out of the shadows, hands on hips, her smirk already in place. "Welcome to the Pit."
Kenji flopped onto a pile of cushions, tail thumping. "This is where the real ones hang. Woof."
It was a quaint, messy place. He wondered if the kids ever cleaned. It was littered with disposable bags filled with snacks and drink cans carelessly disposed all over the floor.
A loud banging on the door broke him out of his musing as the rest of the group visibly tensed.
"I know you're in there, you little shits. Today is the day of the agreement—open the door before we make you."
"Why is he here already… he shouldn't be here yet," Daiki said, visibly panicking, the gravel on his body vibrating.
Kiba crouched low, a growl escaping his mouth as he stood guarded against the door. Hayato slinked into a corner as he pulled out a plume of fire from his hair, the flames rising in intensity as he aimed for the door.
Sae walked ahead of the group and turned to the rest of them, signaling them to be quiet.
Rio just observed them in confusion. He went from running across alleys and the underbelly of the city in one day, and now there was an altercation about to start. He had already forgotten what led him to come down here in the first place. He was already regretting following them on a whim when he could have been holed up at home doing something actually productive.
Rooster Hair signed to Sae. The younger girl hesitated for a bit before nodding her head in affirmation. Rio was unaware of what he had said—he had never picked up sign language before, and he wasn't aware Rooster Hair was mute.
With a groan, the metal gears turned and the door was opened. A loud bang followed as the door slammed against the wall with a loud boom.
The kids shivered a little at that display of power, and even Kiba—who had the most predatory instincts among the group—shivered for a bit.
"Sae, you little bitch! It's already the end of the month—you have nowhere else to hide. I'm going to enjoy messing you up," the burly teenager who stood at nearly six feet tall shrieked in an unexpectedly girly voice.
The kids shivered even more at that, while Rio had to suppress the urge to laugh—a task he ended up failing spectacularly at.
"Oh my god, that's hilarious. What the hell happened to your voice?" Rio said between laughter, the dissonance between his voice and features painting a really funny picture.
The burly teen snarled at that statement and roughly dropped Sae, whom he had been lifting up to eye level earlier. With a telekinetic pull, she stopped herself from collapsing in a heap on the floor as she slowed her fall.
The burly teen stood in front of Rio, sizing him up condescendingly. "Who the fuck is you, and why the hell are you inserting yourself in my business?"
"Ah, I'm just nobody, who's concerned by the way you were treating my friends. Still, nice voice—you should try for the opera. You'd be a hit in no time."
"Then you need to evaluate who you call yourself before you speak to me, Mr. Nobody," the teen said as he suppressed his rising rage.
"That bitch crushed my balls!" the boy said in uncontrolled anger and grief. Rio, for his part, was dumbfounded by that revelation and swiveled his head to the side to lock eyes with Sae, who sheepishly averted her eyes, her face the picture of pride.
Rio just stared, dumbfounded at the girl, as he cast a glance full of pity at the burly teen. That was a hatred great enough to wipe out someone's clan and dig up their family's ancestral graves.
His respect for the boy grew, knowing he was still being level-headed about it. He knew if he were in his place, Sae would have been long dead. Thankfully, he was not in his place—having no balls sounded like the stuff of nightmares.
The boy huffed in annoyance and walked out of the room, not even looking anyone in the eye.
Rio watched his retreating figure, then turned to Sae, his face indifferent. "Explain… now!"
Sae just twiddled her thumbs sheepishly. "Okay sooo like… it's kinda a whole saga to be honest—long story, don't clown me."
Sae then went on to explain, an explanation that had him staring at Sae with eyes as wide as saucers. Rio had never even fathomed there could be a nine-year-old this unhinged.
Rio massaged his temple as he tried to process that information. "So you're trying to tell me that this guy insulted you, so you crushed his balls when he was fighting a match, and now he wants you—or three representatives—to fight him in this Devil's Pit place to regain his honor?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Hayato said as he plucked a plume of fire from his head and lit a broken barrel. Sae also nodded her head innocently in affirmation.
Sae also added, "So like, imma need you to rep for me, okay? Normally I'd throw hands myself, but the Devil's Pit got rules n' stuff—no quirks, just raw knuckle energy." She pointed at her petite frame with a pout. "Like, be for real, that dude would fold me like laundry if I squared up."
Rio just sighed at the girl's antics. All he wanted to do was investigate Dr. Hibiki, and now he was being roped into a conflict against his will.
"Fine. Let's get this over with," Rio said with a huff, and Sae and the rest smiled brightly.
Rio pushed against the crowd, his squad in tow. The burly teen—whose name he still didn't know—was grinning menacingly, a burly minotaur and a short-statured individual standing at his sides.
"So what's it gonna be? Are you taking us on, best of three? Or are you going to take me on in the ring yourself?" the burly teen stated with a snarl.
Rio just scratched his ears boredly. While the burly teen seemed to have a lot of power to him, he seemed to be easy pickings. Then again, no quirks were allowed, which was a bit tricky—but he had trained to handle situations like this.
"Let's settle this. I'll be representing her." While he may have respected the burly teen, he was clearly outclassed. This would be over in a jiffy.
Rio and the burly teen walked into the Pit, a large cage encasing the two fighters, hoisted by a crane. Rio squared up as he sized up his opponent. The burly teen stretched his shoulders and grinned wildly.
Rio followed his opponent with his eyes. He was looking at him—but he was seeing beyond him.
Rio had been training a new aspect of his ability. This would be the first time he would be testing it, but he was completely assured in his training.
The burly teen dashed at Rio, roaring loudly—an aggressive barbarian war cry. Rio observed his opponent as he watched the world slow to a crawl, the charging movement of the burly teen in choppy slow motion.
He observed the twitch of his muscles, the way power was generated from his feet, transferred to his hips, and sent in a wide swing from his right.
The action had yet to happen—but he had already seen it. The actions of the burly teen had been seen through in advance.
Rio sported a mad grin at his opponent. "These eyes can see through anything."
He slipped into his opponent's guard and sent a blazing uppercut at his opponent's chin.
The burly teen didn't even know what was going on. One second he was charging at the kid—and the next, the world turned dark.
The crowd looked on in confusion. The size disparity was reminiscent of the biblical tale of David and Goliath—and also ended in the exact same manner. The only problem was that it happened too quickly to process.
"Ah, that was fun," Rio thought to himself as he looked upon the lying body of his opponent. "I can get used to this."
Author's note: I'll be real with y'all the foundations almost fully in place. In three chapters at most we'll be done with all these miscellaneous chapters and start on the events of MHA:Vigilante. Also I'm adding authors notes here because I've seen like two sites this is getting plagiarized on. I don't mind because this is a free release but let everyone see the author's note.