𝐋𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐫 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ☆ ᴀ 𝙼𝙷𝙰 𝙾𝙲 sᴛᴏʀʏ

13 | ᴄʜᴇᴍɪᴄᴀʟ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ

Warnings: Swearing, Uki's a little multilingual but you don't need to know what she says, a bit more of that fun glitch text (keeping it as a warning because it hurts my eyes)

Word Count: 1142

☆-----...•ᴄʜᴇᴍɪᴄᴀʟ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ•...-----☆

I react quickly, reaching out to contain the gas within a barrier of troposphere. It hurts already, but I don't know what else I can do against chemical weapons.

"Miracuity," I say, disappointed at the hue of desperation in my tone, "why are all these people here?"

She groans. "It's a protest against Heroes interrupting everyday life! The most inconvenient protest possible, for fu.. ah, shit, I'm not meant to swear on duty," Miracuity says, seemingly oblivious to the fact she just swore on duty. "Hopefully backup gets here soon..." She looks helpless. "I can't sustain a barricade on a crowd that size by myself. I'm going to call the police too." She drags herself up, leaning against a nearby wall.

"It's useless," Bloom says in a conversational tone, leaning forward. "You can't stop me."

She doesn't seem to bothered by my barrier, just standing there with an eye on me in case I make any sudden moves.

The gas appears to be coming from her skin. Quirk, almost certainly. It'll be hard to fight. She has a lot of canisters around her waist, though. Perhaps producing it tires her out?

...the Eichelberger-Franz Quirk Equilibrium Theory rules that likely. If I use T-M, I might be able to figure out what kind of... no, that'd be too...

By the binary systems, this is fucking annoying. まったく, knew I'd hate being a Hero...

Focus.

I glance back at Miracuity. Bloom is an unknown factor, but she could be solved if we had more... "Status update on backup?"

The Hero shakes her head. "There's a huge fight going on. Nobody nearby can be spared."

Bloom smiles. "Hey, can we do something interesting already?"

I glare at her. I'm wary of attacking again, all too sure that she'd be able to release more horror into the air. I'd get too tired, too quickly, and I always was bad at chemistry and chemicals.

But you're an expert on horrible Quirks, my brain supplies.

Right. Bloom's chest is swelling more now than before, small twitches disappearing as soon as they arrive on her face. And the gas I'm struggling to hold in place is thin. This is taking as much out of her as it is out of me; perhaps more. My eyes flicker to the containers at her waist again and-

She has to store for use, which means that's probably a reactive agent-

DON'T THINK, MOVE!

I'm so sorr̵̤͖͔͝y̵͔͐ ̷̻̝̗͊̆S̵̢̮̠͖̏̎̈́̕ḫ̷̱̹̻͙̝̓́̃̏͊͌͘͜ū̷͔̪̠͕͔͎̑͘

"Trust me, Mira," I say, and leap at Bloom, ripping the canisters from her belt and wrestling her into the air. The grey cylinders roll on the ground, stopping at Miracuity's feet. She looks at them, looks at me, and I drag the villain into the air with me, burning through space faster than I thought I could as I crash the two of us on a rooftop.

A rooftop where there is nobody to get hurt.

My eyes glow purple as I increase the pressure on Bloom. She scoffs, shouldering me off her. I roll off-- don't get ideas. I'm perfectly strong enough to resist, but I don't prefer fighting so close-- and back up a few steps, hands hovering by my sides.

Bloom's eyes snap back to the clock. It's in a building complex nearby, displaying the time to all to the harried, hurried locals dashing through to get their goods. The hands as long and slender, and it makes it rather difficult to actually read the numbers. The villain seems to have no trouble understanding, though, so perhaps my Quirk's beginning to mess with my eyes. Bloom clicks her heels together and spins to face away from me.

"Alright. Your time is up." She turns her face to smile over her shoulder. Bloom blows a whistle, and I wince, hands instinctively clapping over my eyes to block out the horrid, horrid, high-pitched screech. "Here comes society's doom. Save the citizens or detain the villain. The choice is yours..."

Bloom bows before she tips herself backwards over the side of the building.

"...little doll."

I blink as I stare, expression as perfectly neutral as ever, at the empty space. Wings flash into my vision and Bloom is far away in a second, her ally steering them to safety.

Idiot. I turn curtly and stride over to the other side of the roof, jumping and spreading my arms-- I close my eyes and the word is wings instead-- before I freefall, pushing forward and speeding back towards Miracuity and the protest. Those options are no sort of choice. A Hero's job...

My boots land on pavement, tap, tapping as I take a step, two steps. A momentary fumble as little doll rings a bell, silences it, then I'm sliding to a stop in front of the protest.

Spin.

Extend a hand.

A dance with the devil herself.

A battle between a monster and a Nomu.

A Hero's job...

The beast roars at me, and the beast within me roars back. These things are designed to be unstoppable killing machines, the perfect weapon, but I am their match.

The protesters scream bloody murder.

My legs stretch, tense, my head pounds and my eyesight leaves me as I push the monster with all my force. Even demons have weak spots. And these were not always demons.

Air leaves my nostrils and my brain tracks it, tracks the miniscule weight, before flicking to the larger mass. My eyes are gone, burning purple into the atmosphere, but my vision is just fine.

Punch. Punch. Block, met. Punch. Duck.

My body twists, perpendicular to the ground as I sweep a leg under those of the Nomu. Resistance meets strain, and my leg is no longer quite right, but something so large is so unstable and it comes crashing down.

Everything hurts. My fingers prickle and my lungs complain.

Weak. Never show your weaknesses.

I raise a leg, the good one planted on concrete, and smash it down into its body. The Nomu breaks, and my leg is far, far, far from right now, but I keep it pressed down. I ignore the ringing in my ears, the stabbing in my fingertips, and increase Gravity to increase mass.

The Nomu is crushed. The citizens are safe.

I will protect everyone.

I cannot see. I cannot hear. But the weight of the crowd turns my face towards them, stretches my lips to my ears and my arms to my sides as I bow.

Bloom may be a threat in future.

I am a bigger one.

"Pardon for the interruption," I say. Metal rope winds itself around the Nomu as I conduct it.

My body tears itself apart.

But it doesn't matter. I will be better in a few days. I will still be strong enough to hide my weakness.

A Hero's job is to protect the people.

AAA I don't know if you guys can tell but I dislike (and also suck at) writing fight scenes.. I think it'd be easier in third person but I find it so difficult to show everything else if it's not first person,, sobs

Next time on Lunar Night: More Nomus, a change in perspective, and the Hero Killer...