[Masao Ando]

As she ran through the abandoned wharf, dodging henchmen and failing to call for help, Masao stopped to take a breather. When embers covered half of her face before engulfing it fully and consuming her head in an enduring, raging and yet somehow not burning flame, she realized that she had been tricked into coming out here. Baited by someone far more sinister than she had imagined. For that reason, she was glad she brought her sword, Rosaria.

''I WANT WHAT YOU CHERISH MOST!'' It sounded like the voice came from speakers around the wharf, but it was actually inside her head ever since the flame had spread to her. ''What I cherish most?'' Odd, she was still able to speak despite her head being a living fireball. She looked over at Jingjing before looking back around them, answering to nowhere in particular. ''I will not lay down my weapon here!'' She responded, assuming the villain meant he wanted her weapons, since he couldn't possibly know that she had feelings for Enma, and so assumed it had to do with her name as a weaponsmith. ''Fan-san, don't come near me.'' The henchmen started to surround them again, all of them having combustible heads just like her. ''I suspect that this quirk spreads through touch like some kind of disease. We cannot risk the both of us succumbing to it.''

Whatever it is, she wasn't feeling any pain or other unpleasant effects yet. Was this even really a quirk attack?

Jingjing

[Jingjing]

Hopping to the side as a henchman tried to get her, then using her short height to her advantage to dive between the legs of another and scurry to her feet, Jingjing ran alongside Masao. Her horns were out, fluffy mane of sheep wool around her neck, and she couldn't remember how she got here! Obviously things went really bad really fast, but usually she didn't end up in these kinds of situations! When Masao stopped catch her breath Jingjing did the same, hands on her knees and huffing and puffing.

She wasn't really all that athletic, despite being a vigilante.

Glancing at Masao, then around the wharf and the approaching henchmen, she had no idea who they were talking to or what they were talking about. Maybe it had to do with that weird fire on part of her face? Or maybe it was a drawback of her own quirk? Either way, Masao had a point... If they both got affected by some kind of Quirk thing they'd be in pretty big trouble. "Okay but... You sure you're okay?" Jingjing wasn't sure how she could help with the face-on-fire thing, except maybe get some water? But the henchmen surrounding them was more immediately a problem, the totally-not-a-vigilante planting her feet firmly and tipping her head down just a bit. If she had to she'd start headbutting left and right, even if it cost her her civilian identity again! Better that than to get hurt, or let Masao get hurt, or who knows what else.

Masao Ando,

[Masao Ando]

''Fear not, Fan-san! I may not have much real fighting experience, but UAU trained me for scenarios such as this one. My armor will keep us safe, and with it, I will get you out of here.'' Her thoughts went out to Enma, feelings of love and admiration filling her heart. A flash of light covered Masao as her armor got ready to manifest around her. However, before it could finalize the light seemed to drain away from her, gathering in a small orb of light that hovered in the air above them. ''My... My quirk! I can't activate it.'' She reached out for the orb, but her hand phased right through it. ''HAHAHA! That's the stuff!'' A voice called out from the top of a nearby warehouse.

The orb floated up towards him, a young man with short, spiky green hair. Reaching out his hand engulfed the light and in a flash, her armor covered his body instead. ''That which you cherish most is now mine!'' He grinned, his eyes looking towards Jingjing now. ''Love...'' She muttered. ''He took my ability to love... I cannot activate or control my quirk without it.'' The despair on her face turned to anger as he jumped down, slamming onto the concrete, her armor soaking up the damage of his leap. ''Where is Freja Helt? You better release her at once or we won't go easy on you!'' She pointed her sword at him, but the villain just laughed. ''You idiot! That was just a ruse! Did you really think I had caught your friend? If you were such good friends why didn't you try contacting her before acting on my threats?'' He gloated, causing her resolve to falter. ''That's not...'' She had actually tried to message Freja and gotten no answer. However, she was insecure about her ability to connect with people, so the jab at her social skills cut deep.

''She's gotta be pretty special, did you know The Ruler of Everything wants to see her? A hero student being granted an audience with him is unheard of, and a quirkless bitch at that? It's infuriating, isn't it? What's she done to earn that kind of attention?'' He sighed, putting his hands on his hips as he shifted his weight onto one leg. ''Do you know what it's like to grow up with a quirk that can only manipulate and control people? That's my reality. Kids made fun of me, bullied me for being different, for having a quirk that can only do bad. I hated it at first, but then I realized I hadn't been cursed with a bad power at all, I was born with a power that makes me a winner.'' He indicated to his zombie-like, fire head henchmen around them. ''My 'Combustible Heads' lets me take what is most dear to someone and generate it into power, so I got the idea to lure unsuspecting idiots like you two out here.'' He pointed at Jingjing and Masao. ''...Then I'll take what little potential you, and all these people were wasting and set sail for the Islands. Did you hear of the riches they've got hiding out there? Secret labs, prototype weapons... The possibilities are enough to make me shiver! Really, I ought to thank the both of you...'' With a jerk of his head, three henchmen charged towards Jingjing.

''Fan-san!'' Masao called out, rushing to her aid, but before she could another couple of henchmen with lead pipes and bats descended on her, forcing her to protect herself with her sword. ''Don't think I'm done with you just because I stole from you already! First, I'll infect both of you then... I'll break your spirits.'' The three henchmen swung at Jingjing, clearly trying to tag her more so than actually hurt her with their strikes. ''Oh yeah, you there, other woman I'm unfamiliar with... If you could please not give up your quirk that would be grant. Don't tell anyone you got this from me but...'' His lips curled up into a smile.

''Someone I know is very interested in your quirk.''

Jingjing

[Jingjing]

Jingjing didn't know anything was wrong until Masao said her Quirk wasn't working, turning her attention away from the encroaching henchmen to give a big "Eh?!? It's not?" and making a mental note to definitely not let that weird face-fire get on her. Masao had a sword still, but if Jingjing couldn't use her Quirk she'd be completely useless in a fight. Glaring at the weirdo that showed up, Jingjing managed to ignore the impact of him leaping down to where they were on the wharf and instead threw out an accusatory finger. "Taking a Quirk is one thing, but stealing someone's ability to love is too far even for a villain!"

There was no way she was going to let him get away with doing that to someone as nice as Masao!

She didn't know who Freja Helt was, but they must have been a good friend of Masao's if they worked as bait to lure them here. She had no idea what the guy was rambling about to be honest. Ruler of Everything, a sob story about being made fun of as a kid, explaining what his Quirk did - why did bad guys do that so often anyways? - and something about riches and secret labs? The henchmen suddenly moving to attack snapped her out of her thoughts, ducking under a swipe and delivering a headbutt in return. The wharf and all the henchmen didn't give her a lot of room so she held her ground instead, blocking pipes and bats with her head and horns. "Don't worry, my head is really hard!" Jingjing called out as reassurance to Masao, twisting her head to hook a pipe and yank it out of the opponents hand and making them stumble.

Seeing her chance she rammed into them hard, bowling them into one of the other two mooks focused on her before turning her attention to the spiky-haired man and planting her hands on her hips before firmly declaring: "I don't care, you edgy loser!"

Where most people would try to sympathize, go on some philosophy tangent, or try to reason with the villain... Jingjing really didn't care! About any of that, and especially not about his weak excuse about being bullied as a kid or someone interested in her Quirk. She'd headbutt anyone who messed with her and her friends all the same. Instead, practically ignoring the villain for a moment, she called out to Masao with a thumbs up. "Don't worry Ando-san, this idiot just confirmed your friend is safe so we don't have to worry about any hostages or anything! Go stabby-stabby mode!"

Masao Ando,

[Masao Ando]

''Shut up! You're running your mouth now, but when I steal from you, you'll soon join the rest of these sheep.'' He indicated at the henchmen around them. Did that mean Masao was going to suffer the same fate soon? How long did she have until she lost control? Did she have long enough to help this civilian, Jingjing Fan escape? As far as Masao knew she wasn't geared for combat like this, but if she could run and call for help, maybe a real hero could come in and save the both of them.

She watched as Jingjing protected herself and... Came out fine? Her quirk appeared to be horns, but was that really all it was? This guy said someone was interested in her quirk, was that just to throw them off? No wait, how could she move like that if she was just a costume cafe owner?

''Edgy loser?'' The villain frowned as his henchmen were swept aside like bowling pins. Masao wasn't strong enough to take down the henchmen she were facing without hurting them, and ended up cutting their hands and wrists in the process to disarm them. ''I-I'm sorry!'' She stammered out, watching the henchmen writhe in pain through the curtain of flames that had been put over her eyes. This, all of this was like her worst nightmare. While she was falling deeper and deeper into despair, Jingjing brought up a good point. He confirmed Freja wasn't a hostage. There was no guarantee he didn't have any hostages stashed away, but he hadn't tried to leverage them yet. ''You're right, thank you, Fan-san.'' There was only one problem. Stepping forward and swinging for his head, her sword met solid steel as an armored helmet manifested over his only weak spot. The villain countered with a quick jab across her face, drawing blood from her nose. ''How's it feel to get beaten by your own quirk?'' He grabbed Masao by the throat and slammed her into the ground, knocking all the air out of her. Her quirk didn't just boost durability after all, it also boosted strength.

Picking her back up with one arm, the villain held Masao when she didn't have the strength to stand. ''And you, calling me an edgy loser, haven't you made some assumptions about me and my power?'' One of the henchmen that were standing behind Jing waiting to attack, suddenly had the flame on his head brighten and flare up, the same thing happened for Masao. She didn't realize it until the last moment, but Jingjing was caught in-between Masao and the henchman. ''Did you really think my subjects needed to touch you physically to spread the flame?!'' He smiled wickedly as a link rope of sorts of fire shot out from either side of Masao and the henchman, trying to catch Jingjing in the middle. Should the flame hit her, her head would be consumed too.

''WHAT DO YOU CHERISH MOST?''

Jingjing

[Jingjing]

Clearly Jingjing had struck a nerve, but more importantly Masao was fighting back again. "Yeah, get hi-" She started to cheer, only for the sword to bonk off a helmet that suddenly appeared. Then the tables turned very quickly, the henchmen keeping Jingjing just busy enough to prevent her from helping Masao. If she took a pipe to the leg she wouldn't be able to help much, so she had to prioritize blocking and scurrying around more or less helplessly while Masao got beat up. Blocking another pipe, a wave of fogginess prompted her to bring her hand up to her head - at a glance it probably looked like the repeated attacks to the head were starting to hurt, but that wasn't it.

"What does that even-" Jingjing started to reply, the sneak attack catching her entirely by surprise. The flames clung to her head, panicking out of reflex and trying to pat the fire out of her hair. She needed to help Masao, she needed to help everyone else that had fallen victim to this guy. What Jingjing valued most was being useful and for her that was symbolized by her Quirk more than anything other thing. Without it, she wasn't strong or fast or tough or smart. Just Jingjing. Then all of a sudden her horns and mane of white fluff disappeared, Jingjing losing her balance and falling on her butt in a stunned daze with wide eyed fear. Horns and a mane joined the villains stolen powers, sneering at them both.

Until now, Jingjing hadn't seemed terrified. Panicked, worried, and other things - but not sincerely afraid.

"Give it back!" She tried to scramble forward, only to get an armored kick that caught her in the chest and sent her tumbling back again. That hurt, more than she'd been hurt in a long time, the short girl reduced to wheezing coughs as she clutched at her chest. If it wasn't for the kick knocking the breath out of her she would have been repeating 'Ow ow ow' a lot, but she was certainly thinking it right now.

Masao Ando,

[Masao Ando]

Masao could only watch in horror as Jingjing was hit by the flames too. It was over, it was all over now. In her last moments she found herself thinking of the people in her life. Misaki, Nat, Michael, Jun, her teachers, even that obnoxious brute Ylva. The worst part however, was when she thought of Enma, none of the love that she felt for him was there anymore. That strong emotion that had made her happier than she had ever been. The feeling of loving and being loved, he had brought the color into her world and just like that they had been taken away again. She was left to slowly wither and fade away in suffocating monochromes, dead by the hands of a villain, hopefully Enma could forgive her...

''So this is what you cherish most, must be my lucky day!'' The villain cackled as he turned his attention away from Masao and over to Jingjing. Wasn't he going to kill her? She didn't understand, if he already had both of their powers what use were they to him alive? Unless... Looking at the other henchmen around them, they were real people just like her and Jingjing. They were still alive, maybe his quirk couldn't keep stealing if he killed his targets. Seeing Jingjing grow afraid of the bastard tore at her heart. Even if he didn't kill her he could still mangle her. Her sword wasn't strong enough to pierce her own armor, so that only left her with one choice. Having been given precious few seconds to rest, she sprung into action and grabbed her sword again. ''Hey, scoundrel!'' She called out to the villain, who finally turned around to see her having pointed the blade of her weapon at her own throat. ''Let go of us, and all these people, or I'll take my own life.''

''And why would that-''

''You're asking 'why would that matter?' You're so predictable.'' This was all about buying time. She just needed to buy time for now and keep talking. ''Simply put, you picked the wrong victims. I am Masao Ando, the sole inheritor of the Ando family business and the next Paragon. If I disappear people won't just come looking for me, the Ando family will spend their entire fortune turning this city upside down and hound you for the rest of your days. That girl over there? She owns a franchise of stores, if she goes missing people are bound to notice within a matter of hours.'' She was embellishing Jingjing's achievements as a store owner a little bit, but her point was valid nonetheless, besides the villain didn't know that. ''When I die, you lose my armor, don't you? That's why you haven't killed us, because you wanted to keep all that power for yourself.''

''You bitch.. I will-''

''You'll what?''

''I... Um...'' The quirk that he had taken from Jingjing suddenly faded and all the tension was sucked out of their stand-off. He looked over at Masao, then Jingjing, then around at all the other firehead henchmen. ''Um, where am I? What am I doing?''

Jingjing

[Jingjing]

Still reeling from being kicked in the chest, Jingjing couldn't feel more helpless. Masao's threat made her panic too, pushing the pain aside to push herself upright again and give a struggling cough to try and object and dissuade her from doing something that rash. Maybe other heroes or vigilantes could show up soon, and even if they didn't... what could Jingjing do without her Quirk even if Masao's armor was taken away from him?

"Ando-san, don't... eh?" She trailed off, tipping her head as the villain glanced around. She'd experienced it enough herself to recognize what it was in a heartbeat, getting to her feet and patting some dust off her shirt like she had simply tripped earlier. "Oh, you were showing us how to go crab fishing, weren't you?"

She gesture to the side of the wharf, the villain looking at her and muttering a confused "I was?" as he walked over to peer into the water - heavy armored footsteps making it creak beneath him. Glancing at Masao and making a little shove gesture with both hands, Jingjing circled slightly around and behind him. "Yup! Ready to show us? One, two, three!"

On three the villain started to turn to look at them to say something, but Jingjing threw herself at him with as much force as she could muster. Which wasn't a lot, but she had experience with shoving - normally with her head - and a lower center of gravity so she was hopeful she could knock him off the wharf with Masao's help. If everything went to plan he'd probably sink like a rock, and afterwards Jingjing would flop back down onto the ground out of exhaustion. Glancing at Masao, she'd give a sheepish smile and explain: "When he took my Quirk he got hit with a side effect instead of me, so that was actually kinda lucky!"

Masao Ando,

[Masao Ando]

What in the world was going on? One moment they were facing off against this guy and the next it felt like someone had erased his memories. She reluctantly lowered her sword away from her throat and watched him closely for any sudden movements. ''Crab fishing?'' She looked over at Jingjing with the most confused look on her face, which she probably couldn't see anyway due to their combustible heads. ''I was? Crab fishing?'' He looked back at Jingjing before smiling. ''Why of course I was! That's why we're all here! Well let me show you what my old man taught me.'' He motioned for them to follow him over to the edge of the harbor.

It wasn't until she saw Jingjing make the little shove gesture that she realized what her plan was. If they got him close to the water and shoved him in... She put her sword away and snuck up behind him alongside Jingjing, shoulder-charging the villain as hard as she could on her signal. They didn't have enough strength to send him flying, but they didn't need to. This close to the edge all it took was for him to lose his footing and fall over, plummeting into the cold waters below with a heavy thud. Jingjing was right, he proceeded to sink like a rock. ''My armor is too heavy to swim in. He's got to come up any second now.'' She let out a relieved sigh. ''That was one of your quirk's side effects?'' She put her hands on her hips and looked over at Jingjing. This was the part where they had to both hope he wasn't stubborn and actually released the hold on her quirk. Otherwise, her and Jingjing were about to catch a murder charge and ruin their lives over this whole incident.

Turning back towards the water she suddenly felt an invisible wall of emotions hit her as love, the thing she cherished most returned to her body. Tears welled up in her eyes as she clutched her chest and thought of Enma. He was back. She wasn't a failure, she wasn't incapable of love. He was back and she felt safe again. Safe enough to beat up a villain and finish the fight. ''I got my quirk back.'' She touched her face when she realized the flame had disappeared too, signifying that the villain was no longer taking control of her. Unfortunately, Jingjing hadn't been set free yet. ''One moment, Fan-san.'' She turned towards the water with determination before diving in headfirst.

The villain was already trying to make his way to the surface, gasping for air and presumably out of energy by the time Masao got to him and dragged him back onto the wharf. ''That... That was dirty!'' He hacked and coughed as Masao stood over him. In a flash of light she donned her armor again and cracked her knuckles. ''Face it, you lost.'' She punched him across the face, drawing blood. ''Surrender yourself to us, and the authorities might just take pity on you.''

''I-I... I want what you cherish-'' Before he could finish his sentence she covered his mouth with her gauntlet. ''None of that.'' With her other hand she grabbed him by the hair and slammed him into the side of the warehouse. ''Give Fan-san her quirk back, then let go of the others too.''

Soon enough the flame would dissipate from Jingjing's head, then all the other hostages.

''Let's tie him up while we wait for the police to arrive.'' In taking her revenge, Masao had beaten the villain until he lost consciousness. ''We've really got some explaining to do.''

''Huh?''

''I was...''

''Mother!''

''What happened? Why am I here?''

All the civilians started talking over each other as they came to, stumbling around in a daze. Who knew how long they had been under his quirk's control.

When the police finally arrived Masao would inevitably identify herself as a UAU student and disclose the fact that she didn't have a provisional license. However, in giving her full story and explaining how they got tricked to come out here, then cornered and was forced to defend themselves, she hoped that both her and Jingjing wouldn't get in too much trouble. Heck, she was fine neglecting to mention Jingjing's quirk use unless she brought it up herself.

''You are not a regular civilian, are you?'' She asked Jingjing once they got some time alone while the police went on to interview the other hostages. ''But I also do not see you being a villain. A vigilante, perhaps? It would explain how and why you knew how to use your power so well.'' Her tone turned a little harsher with Jingjing. ''I ought to turn you in right now.'' And were their circumstances different she might even have drawn her sword at Jingjing and cut off her chance of escape... ''But I won't. Just this once, I will not betray your trust. However, I strongly encourage you to not continue down your path of destruction.''

Jingjing

[Jingjing]

Jingjing just gave a hasty "Uh-huh, Crab Fishing!" at Masao's confusion, and thankfully the hero student was on the same page when it came time to shove the villain overboard. Plopping down with a exhausted sigh, feet out to the sides with her hands together in front of her as she peered over the edge to watch the bubbles rising up from where the villain had sank. "Good thing your armor isn't bouyant." Jingjing noted, before giving a nod at Masao's question about her Quirk side effect. She could have explained it fully, but there wasn't really all that much in her book - she forgot who she was temporarily whenever she overused her quirk. For once it had actually come in handy instead of being inconvenient, though, so she couldn't help the amused look on her face.

Sure enough Masao got her Quirk back and promptly excused herself to rescue the villain from potentially drowning, Jingjing puffing out her cheeks in a pout and complaining "Do we have to?" even as she pushed herself to her feet and helped Masao and the villain out of the water again when they resurfaced. Not that she had much strength to offer, but it was the thought that counted, right?

The flames suddenly vanishing from around Jingjing's head had her patting at her cheeks and hair curiously, a big beaming smile breaking out on her face as her horns and fluffy mane returned with a poof. "Yes! Its back!" She brought both arms up and crossed to hug her own mane and give her horns a few affectionate pats, and if Masao hadn't been busy restraining the villain she would have given her a big hug out of sheer gratitude. She did chime in with a quick "Wins a Win, loser!" in response to their victory being called dirty, but she was too busy being absolutely elated and fawning over her returned Quirk. And then too busy being on her very best behavior when it came time to explaining everything to the authorities, making sure to calm down enough to turn her Quirk off before her drawback could hit her. She considered trying to sneak off, but maybe - just maybe! - Masao still figured she was just a normal civilian?

The first thing she said to her in private dashed that, prompting a big "Ehhh?" as she looked up at the taller girl with big wide eyes and immediately started imagining getting hauled off to jail when Masao cut her fantasizing short by promising not to turn her in. This time, at least. "W-well, I appreciate it, Ando-san but..." Should she lie? If so, what kind of lie? Just insisting she was a civilian wouldn't work... And Masao was nice, and cool, and she didn't actually want to lie to her. Instead she brought one hand up to flash a peace sign and gave the hero student the most reassuring smile she could manage. "Don't worry, I'm not destructive at all and I really do work at a costume cafe. Can't blame a girl for defending herself, right?"

That was good enough, right? Not outright confirming or denying anything, but trying to reassure Masao and show some appreciation for the olive branch all the same? She wasn't sure where her newfound and hopefully still was friend stood on things like how to deal with corruption, but maybe one day Jingjing really could just retire and leave heroing to the heroes?

Masao Ando,

[Matsu]

[googlefont=Quicksand]

[attr="class","likedo"]

[attr="class","likedotitle"]

[attr="class","likedotitle2"]Approved

[attr="class","likedoinfo"]

Nice job, you two!

+7500 EXP for Masao Ando

+75 Tokens for @jingjin

PHARAOH LEAP.

[newclass=.likedo]background-color:#f0f0f0;padding:25px;width:400px;color:#888888;line-height:10px;[/newclass]

[newclass=.likedotitle]background-color:#ffffff;border:solid 9px #444444;padding:1px;[/newclass]

[newclass=.likedotitle2]background-color:#444444;color:#ffffff;font:bold 10px Calibri;line-height:35px;text-align:center;letter-spacing:2px;[/newclass]

[newclass=.likedoinfo]margin-top:-10px;border:solid 1px #e5e5e5;background-color:#f9f9f9;padding:24px;font:10px verdana;text-align:justify;line-height:12px;[/newclass]

[newclass=.likedosub]background-color:#444444;font:bold 8px Calibri;text-align:left;padding:10px;color:#ffffff;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:1px;[/newclass]