Plus Ultra!

He was so close. So close to gaining a new humans soul, one that he hoped wouldn’t put up too much of a fight. All he needed was for her to come closer. Just a bit closer.

The monster saw the moment the girl saw the body behind him. He saw the way her eyes widened slightly in recognition, felt the way her soul froze at the sight of a dead human body. It was a strange sensation, he’d learned, when a human saw another one of their kind dead. They didn’t have the same reaction towards dead animals or monsters. They were still horrified, of course. But whenever a human saw another dead human, you could never truly predict how they would react.

His hand grabbed for hers, a split second after she’d already leapt away from him, and his hand closed on air. A scowl crossed his skull for just a moment, but was quickly replaced with a grin. he’d been hoping he could gather up this girl’s soul without much of a fight. But now that it looked like that was out of the question, there was no reason he couldn’t have a little fun with her.

“Oh? And where do you think you’re going?”

The monster raises a bony hand, the same one he’d been about to shake her hand with. Around him, dozens of hands appeared. They were all a mirror image of his own hands- pale and made of bone, each one with the palm gouged out.

As she tries to jump away, the hands lunge at her, trying to grab at her form. One manages to wrap its thin, boney fingers around her leg, preventing her from getting too far away.

“Wouldn’t want to leave before the fun starts, would you?”

{ ✿ }―

   Apparently an altered appearance wasn’t the only thing the doctor’s quirk provided to him. Out of thin air, more hands began to form around him, all exact replicas of the original one she had almost grabbed onto before. Inhaling sharply, Kanna futilely attempted to twist out of the way, but in mid-air there was little she could do to dodge properly, allowing for one of the hands to wrap around her calf and yank her back down.

      ❝As if I’d just leave!❞

   The accusation offended her more than she liked to admit. Combat wasn’t one of her strengths - a fact which she was fully aware of. But still, her duty as a hero was to protect the people out there! And she wasn’t just going to leave this apparent villain here to do as he pleased!

   But sadly, she also didn’t know just how to deal with the doctor just yet. Judging by his physique alone, he seemed as though he wouldn’t be too strong, but Kanna knew better than assume things based on appearance alone. His quirk, while she didn’t completely understood it yet, seemed like it would be plenty of a threat, so she couldn’t allow herself to get too careless.

With each passing minute, his bemusement and wariness only served to increase. Though judging by how wildly she was flailing, she genuinely appeared to not have expected to have garnered his attention. The extras in their surroundings have also appeared to catch on and were watching closely, as if there was something to wait with baited breath about. Busybodies. The thought earned an irritable grunt from Bakugou. Not known for his tolerance towards gossip, the hero in training has no qualms about turning the attention on himself instead when he snaps. “THE FUCK ARE YOU PEONS STARING AT? MIND YOUR OWN GODDAMN BUSINESS BEFORE I END IT FOR YOU!!! NOSY ASS DIRTBAGS!” His mood is only further worsened at her stammered comments. Lower lip jutting out in a childish sulk for a brief moment, Bakugou’s yells dwindled into a grumble. “Yeah whatever. S’not like it’s a proper fucking win so I can’t even be proud of that.” At least making good impressions were better than nothing. Eyes narrowed as he squints, attempting to place a name to her face, only to come up blank. “You ain’t a participant in the festival this year, are you? At least I didn’t see you in them and stuff. I take it that you’re a senior then?”

{ ✿ }―

   Her wild gestures came to an abrupt stop at Bakugo’s grumbled statement, the older girl now looking at him in bewilderment. As far as Kanna was concerned, the win had been plenty proper - especially considering he had been up against someone with such a powerful quirk! But... somehow she could tell that it was a touchy subject to the other student. And she had messed up enough already as though she felt like making his mood even worse.

      ❝Ah- Y-yeah. Kanna Sonshou from class 3-B. N-Nice to make your acquaintance... A-and sorry for disturbing you during lunch...!❞

With the help of medical quirks, Rin hadn’t been laid up in the hospital for too terribly long but it was a little longer before he convinced his father that he was well enough to go back to school. Everyone knew hero work was dangerous, but most were under the impression that high school shouldn’t be such a risky endeavor that he ended up kidnapped and nearly left for dead in that old office building. No parent wanted to let their child go into something so perilous, and when it came to choice in school his father really had the final say on the matter.

If the best hero school in the country couldn’t keep him safe, then who could?

For now he’d convinced his dad to let him come back, though the man was much more wary about who Rin was spending his time with at school. Himei wasn’t safe to be around, having her in his entourage was a risk but one that Rin was willing to take. No matter how much his dad would rather he weren’t friends with the girl, Rin couldn’t abandon her now. If he wasn’t safe, he could hardly imagine the sort of danger that she was in and leaving her alone now would only exacerbate that problem. A hero didn’t run away from someone who needed protecting, and a friend didn’t abandon those he loved.

When he was finally allowed back to school, he knew he had to buckle down and catch up on any work that he missed and he had to find Himei. Letting her know that he was find and that he was going to stand by her was imperative, he couldn’t let her think that he’d just left her out to die after all. Not to mention the dance that was coming up, as stupid as it might sound… There was someone he wanted to ask about that and it would serve to tick off two boxes on his to-do list at once.

A voice from behind him caught his attention, someone calling to him through the crowd stopped him in his tracks and caused him to turn around and face them.

“Sonshou-San? Is something wrong?”

{ ✿ }―

   Standing before Rin, Kanna took a moment to eye the younger student from head to toe, scanning him for any possible leftover injuries. She had only heard rumors about what state he had been in after the fight... and, as she was well aware, rumors only seldom held any truth to them. It seemed though that, whatever had happened in the end, he had recovered well. A relief to Kanna, even if she didn’t really know the boy aside from the occasional things Himei had told her about him.

      ❝I’ve heard from Himei about what happened... at least in parts. I’m glad you have healed up again.❞

   Wringing her hands, the girl fidgeted for a bit, seeming to be unsure about how to address the matter at hands as she looked for the right words. Then, finally she took a deep breath, steeling herself before meeting Rin’s eyes again.

      ❝Would you still be willing to help protect Himei after this?❞

Send me a “✎” and ill draw your muse | Not Accepting

The monster’s smile grows a bit wider at the cheery nature of this human. Though she’d seemed put off by his initial appearance- which, was perfectly understandable, he knew he was rather frightening- she seemed more than eager to try and make a good first impression. Gaster didn’t know what the Eidolon’s Hero Office was, nor did he particularly care. All he really cared about was getting a better look at this girl’s soul, which, hopefully she would do without too much of a fight.

“Good evening, my dear. Pleased to meet you as well.” the monster extends one of his hands for her to shake. Upon closer inspection, Patchwork would find that his hands weren’t of flesh, but of bone. As he stepped closer to the light, it became apparent that his face wasn’t a normal human face, but a cracked skull. The rest of him, shrouded in darkness as he was, seemed to have a more humanoid body.

“My name is Dr. Gaster. My apologies for startling you. I understand my appearance can be rather off-putting, but I assure you, I mean no harm.” The monster put on his kindest smile. Given the creepy state of his face, the expression did little to make him look any less frightening. In fact, it might have made him look worse.

As he took a step closer, offering his hand for this strange girl to shake, the monster forgot about the body behind him in the darkness. He was too focused on this new target, too intent on collecting a new soul for his research, that for just a moment, he allowed his body to shift to the side, and the body behind him was exposed to the light. Not that the doctor noticed. His eyesockets were focused on the girl before him.

{ ✿ }―

   Her gaze flickered towards the hand which he now extended, startled by the gesture for a moment, the thought of him possibly being a foreigner crossing her mind, before she found herself being distracted by an entirely different thing altogether.

   His hands... they had holes in them. Not to mention that, now that they were no longer obscured by shadow, they didn’t seem to be made of flesh either, instead seemingly consisting of... bare bone. And they weren’t the only thing seemingly made of bone. Now that he had stepped further into the light, Kanna realised that his face wasn’t just skull-like, it was an actual skull, long cracks adorning his visage and spreading all across his cranium.

   The heroine only became aware of her gawking when the stranger spoke again, introducing himself and making a remark about his appearance which immediately painted her cheeks red in embarrassment. She hadn’t meant to be rude, knowing all too well how much people like him had to suffer thanks to their quirks, but... at the same time, she just couldn’t stop looking, her curiosity awoken by his appearance.

     ❝Ah! N-No, please don’t apologize, Doctor! I was rude - I’m sorry.❞

   Relaxing at last, another smile of relief appeared on her face. Whatever he was, Doctor Gaster did seem to be a friendly individual - much like those other acquaintances of her had turned out to be. Stepping closer, the redhead had already raised her hand to finally shake his, eager to learn more about the doctor and his quirk. Then, just as her fingers were only inches away from his bone-white ones, he shifted, giving view to what had been hidden behind him until now.

For some, the idea of existing outside time and space would seem like an impossible, terrifying prospect. They couldn’t comprehend how they would be able to exist without their friends or family. The idea of being able to visit different places and timelines was frightening in that it made them feel small, and they couldn’t imagine the kind of lifestyle someone might live if they had this sort of power.

Gaster didn’t find these powers frightening. Not anymore. In fact, he rather enjoyed them. The ability to visit different places, different timelines, was something of a game to him. Every time he encountered a new area, he enjoyed watching its inhabitants, learning about those who lived here, and trying to discern the differences in their souls. After all, human souls were powerful, but there was always that hope he’d come to a new timeline and find souls that were somehow even stronger than a human’s. Stronger than his own, even.

The place he now found himself was a sprawling city, much unlike the places in the Underground he was used to. Even though he was used to the cold, dark confines of the void, this place somehow made him feel claustrophobic. He didn’t even think that was possible, yet somehow, it happened. Perhaps it was simply the high number of humans in this place.

Examining his first human here hadn’t been too difficult. The monster had kept to the shadows, finding it a better strategy than waltzing into the middle of the street to announce his presence. And soon enough, a human had come. They had been curious, no doubt. But their curiosity had soon turned to fear as they’d been pulled inside the dark alleyway, their soul ripped out for Gaster to examine. Despite the hand over their mouth, they still tried to shout. Despite Gaster’s strength, they still tried to fight back.

The monster had begin to lose his temper, wanting nothing more to just examine this soul without the human fighting back. He’d hissed a few warnings to the human, louder than he’d intended, his hissings sounding like the static one might hear on a television.

And then he heard it form behind. Another voice, another human. In an instant, Gaster made his decision. The little yellow soul shattered under his fingers, and the human on the ground fell limp. This human was a waste of time. Perhaps now, he could focus his attention on this new one.

Hoping the darkness of the alley would conceal the body, Gaster stands, turning to face the interloper. He steps closer to the light, plastering the kindest smile he could muster on his face, and hoping the human hadn’t gotten any blood on his face during the struggle.

“Why, hello there. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone here.”

{ ✿ }―

   At first, Kanna thought that it actually was a ghost that was emerging from the darkness, all colour draining from her face as she stood frozen in place. However, the moment came and went by quickly, her tension easing when the apparition spoke, revealing itself to be a person in fact.

   However, she wasn’t as naive as to believe that this fact made them any less of a threat - just now one she could possibly fight if necessary. Exhaling, only realising now that she had instinctively held her breath, Kanna offered the stranger an embarrassed smile, greeting them with a small nod... but didn’t make any move to approach yet.

      ❝Good evening! I’m sorry for getting so startled. I also wasn’t expecting to run into anyone back here.❞

   It was still difficult to make out the person, the darkness seemingly blending in with their form and making it hard to determine where the shadows ended and their body began. However, from what Kanna could see, they seemed to be masculine - at least if she went by the voice. And whatever their quirk was, it clearly seemed to be of the mutation type. With the featureless and almost skull-like face and dark eyes, the man looked truly intimidating, making the sudden encounter all the more eerie... but Kanna wasn’t going to judge him on appearance alone. After all, she knew multiple people whose quirks made them look like living nightmares, and all of them had proven to be utterly sweet and caring individuals. Hopefully, this one would turn out to be the same.

{ ✿ }―

   The sun was slowly setting, painting the city in a soft gold light, by the time Kanna started her final patrol for the day. While she didn’t dislike her work at Eidolon’s Hero Office, this was by far her favourite part of the day. It was that time, where almost no villain-related incidents occurred, as most of them either attacked in broad daylight or in the middle of the night.

   Taking a deep breath, the heroine allowed herself a moment to stretch, before finally beginning to walk. Following her usual route, she attentively scanned her surroundings for any signs of trouble, chatting up the various shop keeps along the way to hear if anything bad had happened since her last patrol. As she had expected, none of them reported anything of the like, nor did anything more threatening than a group of small-time delinquents show up.

   With nothing happening, the girl’s mind soon wandered off as instead she started musing over what to cook for dinner, trying to remember if she had any homework left for the next day. Turning into a side street, away from the crowd of people eager to get home after work, she had ended up being completely lost in thoughts, not checking her surroundings until a sudden noise ahead of her startled her, waking her from her dazed state.

   The sound was... odd to say the least, hard to describe. Something like static, maybe... crackling and not unalike to the white noise she knew from the old TV her family had had during her childhood, yet somehow she felt like this wasn’t made by a machine of any sorts. Stopping, Kanna tried to figure out just where the noise was coming from, fingers instinctively moving closer to the cracked plates that adorned her costume. Finally, her eyes stopped at the entrance to a narrow alley, not too far ahead of her.

   Unlike with the wide main street, the passageway in which the heroine currently was didn’t allow for any light of the setting sun to enter, making it hard to make out anything in the darkness of the ally. There... there weren’t any ghosts in this part of the city, right? She would have known about that beforehand, no??