[Shirayuki Mai]

"You are too late, Samaritan." 

Standing in between Michael and his goal was Yuki Onna clad in her full fit. Hero outfit, combat scarves and an expression that left no question as to her intent to let him pass.

"There is no way you can save your friend and get the bomb away from here in time. It's over! I will have my revenge even if it is the last thing I do!"

Taking a guarded stance Mai prepared to counter his approach as the timer ticked away behind her with a rather stereotypical noise. The longer Samaritan took to get past her the more the odds of his success went down. A failure that would result in deaths were this not an exercise. Michael Faraday was a promising student in Mai's opinion and a fitting prospect for the Tranquil Soul hero agency. His style of prioritizing the safety of civilians while relying on non-lethal methods of combat too fit the agency to a T. Yet what he lacked was a willingness to strike first.

Villains did not play fair. It was a fact so ingrained in their society none would doubt it yet few continued that train of thought into what it truly meant for those who faced them. In an ideal world pacifism was the way to go yet to take no sides in a conflict was no different than to go with the one that was winning. As a hero there were times such a method could spell disaster, something the steady ticking behind Mai made more than clear. 

Michael's idealism was clearly a large part of what drove him but it needed to be tempered lest it break entirely when villainy pushed them all past the breaking point once more. Mai channeled a bit of cold through her lungs with her next breath, letting the chill calm her and expel her emotions as she exhaled. In between Operation Babel, the attacks caused by The Elementalist, the yet unexplained threats arising from the ocean and the recent disaster that put half the city to sleep a pattern was beginning to show and it was no longer a matter of if, only when. Mai knew she could not protect all of Tokyo on her own but she wouldn't rest until she'd prepared it as well as she could for whatever may come next. Even if it required acting the villain while a mannequin was chained to a comically oversized bomb behind her.

---

Tag: Samaritan

[Samaritan]

Michael Faraday

Chilling Choice

This was quite the escalation for what Michael was expecting for this. He had known that it would prove to be difficult as these were agency pro heroes seeking to give him some supplementary education. However were this just a matter of physical prowess or mental equity Michael would likely be more in control of the situation. But Shirayuki had seem to pinpoint a struggling 'weakness' of Michael's and was now putting him to the test.

Michael had always had bigger ideals than his capabilities. He had pushed himself for years to make his seemingly unsuited quirk work towards his goals to become a hero. However, to many outside observes all the training and potential didn't mean much without the drive to do whatever it took to save the day. Michael understood this, or at least he thought he had... but he had always been under the belief that if he was strong and capable enough that he wouldn't have to cause harm just to prevent harm. The more he honed his skills and his body, the firmer he held the belief. To cause someone pain, when you have all the means and abilities to accomplish your goal without any harm seemed unnecessary and cruel. Though since actually joining UAU, he had had to stand up for those beliefs that he would assume everyone, if not at least the majority, would also seek to uphold. His classmates and even some of his teachers showed a more brutal look towards heroics. And for most it would make sense to see it that way, that it was easier and safer to just quell the problem before it got worse. But still, Michael used this as a motivator to get even stronger so he wouldn't have to take that easy choice.

Right now was a moment that really tested him. Yuki Onna was quite well known, even just as a martial arts instructor at UAU. Power in technique and quirk, and to make matters worse for him, she was remarkably suited to neutralize Michael's quirk. Steam wisped off of Michael's balloon head lazily as the warmth of his breath was being overwhelmed by Mai's cold quirk. His body was lightly deflating against his will as the gas that he manipulated within himself began to compress due to the low temperatures. Where he usually used his body chemistry to his favor, it was failing him now. He could feel a faint brittleness to his joints and skin as the rubbery texture of his body also contracted from the cold. Two of the major aspects of his quirk were being dampened significantly by Yuki Onna's very presence.

With his physical options forcibly limited, it made the devious choice she presented all the harder to accept. Clearly the answer expected was for him to defeat the villain as quickly as possible to stop or get rid of the bomb far enough away to minimize the damage. But this directly conflicted with Michael's nature. He hated the idea of having to harm anyone, even a villain. To him, they were victims of circumstance that deserved the right to be saved and chance to make amends. Imagine the good that even a fraction of the most wanted list could do for society if rehabilitated and given the opportunities to live peacefully. Perhaps it was his balloon obscured vision that made it so hard for him to see the world in such black and white, but he refused to believe that someone would choose to do bad and hurtful things if they didn't feel like they had to.

"Ms. Yuki, please. I know this is just a character, but you don't need to harm anyone. Please, you can stop this and I can help you. I promise, I will do whatever I can to get you the help you need." Michael didn't like that in many of these exercises with 'fake' villains, they were portrayed as unredeemable and unrepentant. They had enough characters to desire revenge, motivations, desires. Why couldn't they be reasoned with... But still even assuming this was the same kind of unreachable character, he HAD to try.

With his powers weakened from the cold, there wasn't a lot of strategies he could come up with to just get past her quickly, but he still had an idea... not one he'd prefer to pursue but it was an idea should negotiations failed. "Please... I know the world hasn't been fair to you so you think you can just strike back at it. But there are people like me that DO care about you and want to help you. You just have to take that first step. Stop the bomb and surrender. Please. I don't want anyone to get hurt, and that includes you."

Notes & Tags: Shirayuki Mai

TLDR: Michael's quirk is severely dampened by Mai's quirk. He tries to talk her down into surrendering despite knowing that most exercise villains are uncompromising...

[Shirayuki Mai]

“Reason only works with the reasonable. I do not intend to be reasonable today,” Yuki Onna fired back with a cold look in her eyes. "You do not have the power to bargain here. Nor the time."

Naive. That was all Mai could say about it. She too wished for a world were words were enough, deterrents stopped all crime and everyone could live in peace. Michael seemed to understand that villains were people just like them, each with their own goals, reasons and motivations. What he failed to grasp however was that just as it made it possible to get through to them with words it made it just as likely that you'd make the situation worse. In the field you could only see a small part of your opponent, the one short interaction you'd have with them far from enough to understand their life. It was impossible to know what they'd been through and because of that it was almost as impossible to be sure of what would get them to stand down and what would get them to escalate or lose it.

There was a time and place for everything and as much as Mai loathed using force unless necessary talking a villain through their problems could not happen unless they were fully secured and could not endanger the safety of themselves or those around them. Anything less was no different from willful ignorance that did far more harm than it did good.

"I am willing to die for my beliefs and take everyone here with me," Mai continued in her best impression of a villainous voice. "Can you say the same?"

---

Tag: Samaritan

[Samaritan]

Michael Faraday

Sprinting into Action

Michael slowly shifted himself with slow deliberate steps. He wasn’t pleased that this felt more self serving than accurate. Criminals and villains were people too, to expect the worst only inspired the worst from people. Why would anyone surrender or repent if they thought the hero extending the branch of peace did so superficially. It could escalate things further but that’s because they felt cornered and deceived, that there was no other way out. If Mai wanted to play the irredeemable, that would not make Michael waiver. If Mai wanted to dampen his quirk to force a reaction she believed was the only choice, then Michael would oppose her. Michael would not give up just because he was weaker, he wouldn’t give in just because his way seemed naive. The world needed uncompromising heroes to save the villains from themselves too. “You’re wrong…” Michael said as a puff of steam surrounded his head.

“I know you’re angry and scared but…” Michael’s head made it so his eyes couldn’t be tracked. Which helped as he made slow steps. His movements were focused and deceptive in their simplicity. If Mai wouldn’t compromise and believe in the humanity of villainously driven, he’d need to act as cleverly as he did compassionately. He could focus of defusing the portrayed resentment after he dealt with that bomb. “I can’t let you harm anyone else. You want to take this pain out on someone, aim it at me. I can take whatever you throw at me.” Michael had to bluff only a little, he mainly needed to have her focus on him in an aggressive light. He had to antagonize her a little as he was ready to guide that aggression towards the goal he needed. Every step he took was building a tension in his ankles, then to his calves and up his thighs. They were small stretches but with his rubbery body being contracted from the cold, it made even the smallest stretches build greater potential energy. He was compressing onto himself, like a spring being forced tighter and tighter into itself. “You may be willing to kill for your beliefs, but I’m willing to die for you to have the chance to live.”

If she attacked before he could line himself up, then he’d need to be proactive and bound away, building the tension up with longer strides, circling her and hopefully luring her attention and power with him. If he was lucky he could keep ahead of it long enough to draw it towards his target. Regardless of if she struck first or if he got into position first, his following motion released all of that built tension, launching himself as his legs finally decompressed and jettisoned his whole body towards the bomb. He needed to be fast and precise because the moment he impacted the bomb he’d need to cover the hostage. Getting past Mai to the bomb was only the bait. As he would start trying to expand his body against the bindings that held the hostage to either break or spread enough to free them or at least move them enough out of the line of figurative fire. He was counting on Mai to attack. He wanted to use that ice power to attempt to freeze over the bomb.

Notes & Tags: Shirayuki Mai

TLDR: Michael attempted to use Mai’s portrayal of an unrepentant and dangerous villain to his benefit. While building up tension by making nearly imperceptible stretches of his legs that were already contracting from the cold temperatures, he would move himself into place to be lined up with the bomb. If forced to go quickly if Mai attacked sooner than later or if he managed to move there slowly and cautiously, Michael would then release that potential energy to spring himself towards the bomb. While he would try to expand himself against the bindings holding the hostage, he would be paying attention hoping to cause Mai to attempt to blast him with her ice, so that it may freeze the bomb by getting the hostage clear or shifting them out of the line of ‘fire’.

[Shirayuki Mai]

"Overconfidence is a flimsy shield.”

One that would get him killed. Mai knew well -it could even be said she knew better than most- that it was impossible for a single person to shoulder everything. Much as she'd love to do the same she had experienced firsthand where that led. The failure to do more than react to individual attacks during Babel. Her inability to secure civilians in time to reinforce the group facing one of the main threats during The Elementalist's terrorist attack leading to the tower rising in Toshima. The subsequent calamity that was coming to be known as Dream World or The Nightmare as a result. Not a single one of those could have been stopped by someone shouldering everything. As much as the very idea grated her to her core she had to acknowledge the facts for willful ignorance would lead to more casualties.

That was why she was here today. Why she'd founded an agency. The reason she advocated for a program to put more heroes in the field and to improve coordination between already existing ones. So too was it why she could not afford to let up on him here today. She had learned the hard way that she could not shoulder everything alone. It was a lesson that had cost innocent lives. Deaths that rational or not she still blamed herself for every night. Michael did not have to learn the same way as her. No matter how hard she had to be on him here today she'd do everything she could to internalize that lesson in him before such a bad habit could take root.

"We're in agreement then. Turn away and leave to fight another day. I will gladly walk you all the way out," Mai responded in her best impression of a villainous voice even as her posture shifted to intercept him and the bomb unceasingly ticked away behind her. She knew of course that he wouldn't take the offer. Not if this situation had been real and most certainly not in a simulation. So long as he thought to try words in a situation where he was simply talking to a wall however it was her duty as an instructor to show him why it would not work. Perhaps in the field he might observe a success once in a blue moon with such a method, yet one had to live through many days to see such a sight and but one mistake could be enough to shut one's eyes forever. Her jaw clenched as faces flashed through her mind's eye. She wished Mei were still here to learn that lesson in a kinder way, yet the girl had been robbed of the chance far too long before her time.

For a moment she saw her visage reflected on Michael's featureless face. It was good her gaze did not need to stay there. Footwork was the most important part of any martial art. She'd explained it to her students time and time again. Mai did not need to see his expression to tell what he was intending for focusing on the opponent's face was far from the only way to tell what they were doing. The legs were where motions began, quirk or no quirk. It was simply an instinct ingrained in humanity through millennia upon millennia of experience.

When Michael launched himself past her Mai did not foolishly attempt to get in between him and his goal, no, she simply swerved and struck at him in passing. Aiming quick strikes at his joints while channeling her quirk into them to hinder his mobility as much as possible she sought to harry his future moves instead of stopping his attempts here and now. 

The chain tightly wrapped around the bomb and the mannequin clinked as Michael slammed into them and tried to create a gap. The resounding clang echoed throughout the room overshadowing the steady ticking entirely for a moment. But a moment was all it was, for the test of time required far more than one instance of giving it one's all to be withstood. 

"So you have chosen death," Yuki Onna stated in a tone that was both mournful and soft. As if it were not a villainous boast, one-liner or threat. Nor even a promise. Simply a remorseful statement of fact by one who could already see how it would end. Even Mai herself was surprised by how cold and empty her words had sounded.

"Explain to me, Samaritan," she spoke as she walked towards him and his objective. "With your back turned to your enemy and your efforts on a task that requires your full attention, how do you intend to accomplish anything?"

Once she reached him she'd place the palms of her hands on his back and begin to channel the cold of her quirk to numb him ever further unless he managed to avoid her or force her to abort the action. All the while she listened for his reply without letting up, her mind set on continuing her actions. 

---

TL;DR: Mai refrains from stopping Michael in favor of hitting his joints in passing to channel the cold from her quirk into them and limit his mobility. Once he reaches his target she walks over to him while asking what he intends to do now that he has an enemy at his back and a task that requires his full attention in front. While listening for his answer she attempts to put her palms on his back and further channel her quirk to numb him until he can no longer fight.

Tag:Samaritan

[Samaritan]

Michael Faraday

Breaking Point

Michael’s plan for all intents and purposes has failed and what was worse Mai used it as an opportunity to rub it in deeper. Effortlessly delivering a number of blows that if his quirk didn’t manage the majority of impacts, he likely would have been fully immobile. Still the icy touch did its part to cripple him as his joints would contract more from the low temperatures. As painful as it was, Michael had to endure. There was far more at stake in this moment than just his well-being.

Michael struggled to try to get any kind of spread from the chains around the bomb from the hostage to no avail. The cold from Mai’s attacks only weakened him further. He was running out of time and options… Mai was too focused to let him get such an obvious advantage and as a brawler it seemed getting her to be clumsy with the ice powers with a blast was also out. However, he did have at least one advantage: as portraying a villain, she was being cocky and which allowed for mistakes, or at least taking a chance on what she perhaps didn’t expect. Michael couldn’t use his quirk like he normally did, so he’d have to think different.

His back was to Mai, poor placement in order to defend himself, but even after all this, Michael refused to give up on his ideals. With his back covering up his actions as he quickly coiled his arms around the bomb’s mechanism. The timer and detonator were housed together as an attached but separate device linked with the bomb. At first he considered crushing the device but that could trigger the explosion. His plan to freeze it wasn’t a terrible one, but the how was the biggest variable. Michael could hear her getting closer… mocking him, questioning his will. Pitying him for his desire to help people just because it was difficult… Michael couldn’t give up…

She asked him how he planned to accomplish his goal as she poured cold temperatures into his back. It hurt to have his body become so solid and brittle. But interestingly enough; there was a high whistle sound coming from Michael as she continued to freeze him. “I… know I can’t save everyone… I know there will be times I fail… but I have to keep trying my hardest, and I have to keep trying to protect everyone. Everyone deserves the chance to be saved by a hero… even when it’s from themselves… I won’t quit… and I won’t give up that good in me…” Michael sounded very much in pain as a Mai continued to freeze him, but the colder he got, the louder the whistle became.

”I know my capabilities… for example… I know while extreme cold can make my body brittle, rubber makes for a great insulator… while the gas inside me gets colder… Michael’s action was now revealed. Coiling his hands around the bomb’s timer and detonator, Michael had begun spreading out the pores of his skin on his palms. Due to his rubber-like body contracting and getting more brittle, the pores actually began to tear and crack. Next Michael focused on pumping out as much helium gas as possible through the pores his hands. As the cold only got more intense with each moment Mai used her quirk on his body, the rubber got hard but insulated the cold within his body to chill the gas. Colder and colder the gas got as Michael pumped into the bomb’s mechanisms hoping to freeze it inoperative.

Michael likely couldn’t last too long with this… the splits in his hands were cracking like egg shells as he put all he had into pushing the freezing helium gas into the bomb’s device. It was a long shot but it’s all he had left. He wasn’t going to fight Mai, even if that was his way of doing this, it wasn’t going to stop the bomb. She had too much experience and advantage over his quirk with her own. Fighting her would take too long so all it would do is cause pain before the bomb went off regardless. This was the only task that saved people even if it put his own safety at risk.

Notes & Tags: Shirayuki Mai

TLDR: Michael’s back up was to let himself be frozen and expanding the pores of his hands to breaking points as he poured freezing helium he insulated in his body onto the bomb’s mechanism in order to try making it inoperative.

[Shirayuki Mai]

Pride warred with duty as Mai listened to Michael's words making it difficult for her to keep up a villainous demeanor. For a moment she wondered whether he wasn't in the right. Whether she simply hadn't tried hard enough. The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth. Was she compromising on her morality due to her own weakness? 

"Magnificent, Samaritan." Mai muttered under her breath, a soft smile coloring her features. She channeled her quirk at low intensity through the pores on her face to cool herself down and focus her attention, pushing the smile back down so it wouldn't be audible in her tone. Taking a deep breath she listened as the ticking stopped leaving a silence that was loud in its absence. 

"Making no choice is a choice as well and trying to help everyone is the same as helping no one. Do you believe yourself a god, Michael Faraday?" Yuki Onna asked with venom in her voice. He had outdone himself in using a wonderfully creative application of their abilities to disable the bomb, yet what would it accomplish? "Would a villain harboring such hatred against someone they'd give their life to see them dead simply let them go because their first attempt was thwarted. Fool! You have simply increased the number of casualties!"

Letting out a sigh Mai stopped channeling her quirk.    

"That's enough for today. Any more would lead to severe injuries. I implore you, learn from this. You only have a single life," Mai paused for a moment in the middle of her speech. Perhaps if convincing him to take care of himself would not work she could speak to his selflessness. "It is clear you will be able to save many in the future. If you die needlessly there may not be someone else who can. Please, no matter the reason, make sure you stay alive."

By the end of her request Mai's voice was almost fragile, her words brittle as the first ice in winter. Slowly she clenched and unclenched her numb hands to increase her blood flow. Turning away she walked over to the side of the room.

"Refrain from moving too much, I'll bring over hot packs momentarily."

Returning with the box in tow Mai handed over several before placing both of her hands around one as well. Giving him a moment to recover she faced him, doing her best to look right where she estimated his eyes to be.

"How are you feeling?"

---

Tag: Samaritan

[Samaritan]

Michael Faraday

Damaged but not Defeated

Michael’s whole body stung as Mai froze him more and more, but it was her words that cut the deepest. Michael had actually shrunk as his rubber tightened and the gas in his body condensed. With him forcing out as much gas as he could from his hands his body began to crumple in on itself like an aluminum can. His head was the most showing as his normally full smooth head had shrunk enough to actually compress around his head within, showing a perfect outline of his skull. Even though his skeletal system was also rubbery, the cold was mostly affecting the his most outer layer. His skin was so brittle he could feel it beginning to splinter and crack from the cold conditions he was enduring to freeze his gas. Michael was in physical agony and it was likely for nothing…

Her words might just be over dramatized for the portrayal, but there was a bitter and brutal truth behind them. All of this… all he was enduring… just because he didn’t feel comfortable in taking the easy route. In fighting Mai rather than everything he did, there was the likelihood that he could have stopped the bomb before it got to this point. Was his compassion truly that much of a weakness? Creative as his plan was, it was also dangerous not only for himself, there was also no guarantee that it would be enough. The pain his body felt was nothing compared to the fear of failing people like this out in the field. This was just a simulation, but would he really risk other peoples’ lives just because he didn’t want to cause pain? Even now, despite the pain his body was experiencing and fear of failure, Michael was still determined to not give up on his desire for peaceful resolution. He knew that there would likely be situations where combat would be the only realistic solution, but he was determined to be strong and versatile enough to avoid that outcome. Violence should always be a last resort, otherwise how can he expect to show people his conviction to peace and empathy. Still, to hear a pro hero speak so harshly about his morality, even as just part of an exercise… it hurt.

As Mai withdrew the application of her quirk, Michael felt a hollow relief. This had only proved just how weak Michael was. If he wished to uphold his ideals, his body needed to be able to match his convictions, otherwise he was just determined to sacrifice himself out there. His death wouldn’t help anyone, especially to die so needlessly. It was only natural to defend yourself for your own self-preservation… but he was seeking to be a hero that helped everyone, that gave his all to save anyone. It wasn’t that his life mattered less, but that his dream of peace was worth dying for. If this had been a real situation, he would have died because he didn’t fight back. It didn’t matter how determined he was, he stopped one bomb at the cost of his own life… Perhaps it was true… so many of his peers and influences seemed to believe that physically overwhelming someone was the most reasonable course when dealing with a villain. Even with all his progress since coming to UAU, Michael was still too weak to disprove them.

Michael didn’t speak as his body recovered from the cold slowly. He was in such a poor state he couldn’t even try to move his hands yet in fear of worse damage than large gashes that had formed on his palms from stretching open his pores to pump out the cold air to the bomb. Even after the color and elasticity began to return to his body he was going to need to seek medical treatment for his hands. Michael’s usual sunny disposition had shrunk to a solemn silence as he ran all of it through his head again and again. Once enough warmth had returned to his body, he was able to inflate himself enough to be back to normal size and appearance, aside from his hands which were sealed shut with dozens vinyl patches like bandages until he could see a healer.

Mai must have known how much this had taken out of him, physically, emotionally and morally as she asked if he was okay. He looked down at his bandaged hands, they almost seemed to be mocking his stubborn views as the highlighter how much he went through just to keep from fighting. He finally looked up at the professional hero. “I’ll be fine… thank you.” He said politely, unsure how to branch his question. He mulled it over for a few seconds before finally asking Mai. “If you were in this situation, in my position: What would you have done?”

Michael didn’t believe he was wrong in thinking that even villains deserved the chance to be saved or that if he was strong enough that he would be able to solve nearly any conflict peacefully. So aside from getting stronger, Michael wanted more insight. He wanted to hear her suggestions, to learn from her experience. Perhaps she could teach him ways that he hadn’t thought of. There had to be other ways than punching his problems away. Even after all of this, Michael kept to his pacifistic viewpoint and only wanted to use this failure as a learning experience; gain more perspective of his options from someone that had really lived these kind of situations.

Notes & Tags: Shirayuki Mai

TLDR: Despite the pain and injuries endured, Michael’s morality remains. Now he seeks insight from Mai to know what she would have done if she was in his position; hoping to gain insight from a professional hero to widen his options, still adamant about resolving conflicts peacefully.

[Shirayuki Mai]

Mai refrained from looking too closely as he recovered. She knew far better than to risk chafing any potential pride by insisting on bearing witness to this particular moment of weakness. That was not what Samaritan needed right now. Feeling the heat infuse her own numbed palms through the hot pack in her hands Mai simply closed her eyes and went through breathing exercises until he called out to her. Opening them once more she faced him as she thought his question through. Perhaps a more psychologically savvy hero would have fed him the words he needed most right now but Mai wasn't confident she could give them without botching the whole thing. No, she'd always just acted in the way she felt was right and kept going. She'd simply reply with her honest opinion on what she'd have done, unfiltered and brash as it may be. Mai knew she wasn't perfect and that her view wasn't the only right one. There was no point putting thoughts into his head. She'd share hers and let him draw his own conclusions.

"I would neutralize the threat as quickly as possible. Injuries can be recovered from, death cannot. A villain that would do something like this needs to be stopped and if possible provided help by trained and licensed medical professionals, not words thrown at them by us in the heat of the moment. Ensuring the safety of everyone involved must be our top priority."

The words were spoken from the heart with a fervor that bordered on the zealous. No one person could do everything. No one person should have to. It was why she'd founded an agency and turned her attention to attempting to coordinate even when her talents laid in martial arts. She could make a difference out in the field and many times she had. More important was that there were a great many others that could do so too if given the chance but if half were in the wrong place at the wrong time the difference made would be far too small, even if Mai herself did everything she could. The slogan of her newfound program was a mantra she oft repeated to herself. 'Always remember. You never fight alone.'

"Professionals are each trained and educated for specific purposes and heroes are taught combat for a reason. Sometimes one must be cruel to be kind. Were there no need for direct conflict there would be no need for heroes and field personnel would be trained in a wildly different way. To take up the mantle of heroism is to acknowledge that some people have to be stopped by force, both for their own good and for that of everyone else. For just as cruelty to an enemy is kindness to an ally so can kindness to an enemy be cruelty to an ally. There is an old saying that the road to hell is paved in good intentions. I have seen far too many incidents where optimistic judgments have led to tragedy."

She didn't elaborate on what that constituted. Both because she was sure he could imagine what she meant and because she had no interest in picking at old wounds more than she needed to. Mai couldn't afford to focus on herself here. It was just a hunch but Michael's behavior felt extreme, even for a hero. 

"Should you wish to talk more on it or anything else I will be here for it. Counselor Gotoh, ah, I mean Gleipnir too is available no matter what the subject is. There is no shame in seeking advice, assistance or help. Always remember. You never fight alone."

Mai truly hoped she was wrong but the more she saw of him the more his actions nagged at something in the back of her head. Survivor's guilt drove people to unhealthy extents and her concerns were growing. In between the injuries he'd incurred in the Hostage Rescue Simulation and how hard he'd pushed his body now it'd be downright negligent of her not to pay attention. Her heart ached at the thought. She truly hoped she was wrong but if she wasn't -or even if she was- he had to know she was willing to be there for him. So she met his gaze, hoping she was looking in the right place, and spoke with her eyes the intent words could obfuscate. There were others beside him more than willing to share any burden.

---

Tag:Samaritan

[Samaritan]

Michael Faraday

Idealistic Injuries

Despite their good intentions, Mai's words were a bitter pill to swallow. Though Michael knew all too well the validity in what she was saying. His desire to help everyone shouldn't come at the expense of others. As he was now, sacrificing himself to avoid causing harm did nothing but create liabilities for everyone else. He wasn't strong enough yet to do things his way. This actually brought some relief to his aching body that this had been just a simulation. He needed to get stronger, significantly stronger in all regards if he wished to uphold his values.

Michael still didn't wish to cause pain, but there was deep points that Mai had stated. If he wanted to minimize pain, he would need to take the quickest path of resolution. It didn't mean he had to stop trying to reach out to the villain to find a peaceful outcome, but he couldn't rely on it. Until he was strong, smart, and capable enough to peacefully neutralize any threat before it could harm anyone else, he would need to engage physically.

Michael was thankful for the lesson Mai had given, "Thank you for the time and attention you have given me today." Michael said in his cheery way. "You've given me a lot to reflect upon." Michael was in no position to discredit or dismiss any of Mai's experiences, even if he still sought to be an exception to proven methods. He would take what she had taught him today to heart, but it wouldn't change his heart. If he had to fight back, let it be without malice. If he needed to take down a villain, let it be with compassion and care. Simulations like this and the Hostage Rescue seemed to be worse case scenarios... but how many villains were so driven for death and devastation? There had to be ways to reach people like this, and perhaps they would be more amiable once stripped of their leverages.

Michael had much to think through, but right now all that really kept his mind's attention was the pains on his body. His hands were still messed up pretty badly even after the rest of his body regained some normalcy. He kept a grip on the heating pads more as a way to keep their rather horrific state covered. He smiled at her, tilting his head enough to try to pantomime the obscured expression. He was glad he had come here today, even if he'd be leaving for the infirmary as he returned home. Unlike peers in his classes that held a more vicious stance on violence against criminals, Michael understood Mai's stance was still one out of compassion, at least that's how he chose to see it. So even if he still sought to find another way, it was nice to know someone like her was out there. There needed to be more heroes like her out there and it was good that she started an agency with that in mind.

Michael took one final piece of her advice personally. There had been flaws in how he went about these tests, but something that stood out to him was how much he did try to carry on his own shoulders. In seeking to find peaceful resolution he had depended on himself to bare far more of the load than he was ready for. He needed to seek out teamwork, not just a group of individuals but a proper team of heroes cooperating and functioning as a unit. If he wanted to cover the weak points in methods and still find a peaceful end to a conflict. Not every team would obviously be as open to his way of dealing with villains, but if they all could compromise, then perhaps there would be cohesion enough. This way Michael would never have to fight alone.

Michael stood up and rolled his stiff shoulders slowly. "I need to get back to the campus. Thank you again for this, I learned a lot." Michael said brightly, projecting far more bounce back than his body was fully ready to show.

Notes & Tags: Shirayuki Mai

TLDR: Michael took her words to heart and looked to how he could apply it without changing himself. Michael then tried to excuse himself so he could head for the UAU infirmary for his injuries and reflect on this experience.

[coffee]

I'M COMMANDER SHEPARD, AND I APPROVE THIS MISSION

That was intense! Nice work!

Michael: 17,000XP + 5000XP = 22,000XP (Capped for June)

Mai: 0XP + 5000XP = 5000XP

tag: Shirayuki Mai,Samaritan,