[Arsenal]

Climbing up atop a tree, Arsenal took a moment to catch her breath as she looked around at the battlefield unfolding in front of her. There was no end in sight to this struggle, just how many disposable monsters did this Elementalist have under his control? At this point she was starting to wonder whether she should have tried teaming up with him and whether opposing him was a good idea at all. However, she didn't want to overthink it all either. For now she needed to fight on. How convenient that there had been a tall tree for her to take cover in.

''Hm?'' She looked over as the bark and wood creaked, the face of a monster staring back at her as it turned out she hadn't climbed a tree at all.

This was another Nomu!

She let out a yelp as she jumped, just barely softening her fall in time before transforming her head into a defunct chainsaw and her arms into red fire axes. ''Where did you come from?! These monsters are seriously giving me the creeps.'' She spotted another person fighting one of the monsters in the distance. Weren't they all alone? That was super dangerous if they couldn't get away like she could. Dropping her guard she sprinted towards Michi. ''Look out!'' She called out, hoping that she could lend them a helping hand.

michi machida

[michi machida]

This was not what Michi had expected to get tangled up in so early into their hero career. Eventually someday as a pro, or maybe even in their final year of UAU when they were doing sidekick work or something. Minor crimes and good Samaritan stuff sure, that was something Michi felt fully prepared to handle even without official training from UAU, but super villain stuff and big scary monsters? Right about now they were wishing they had slept in, maybe called in sick this morning...

Michirou hopped backwards as the monster took another big swing at him and forced him to focus on the present, the impact put a worrying cracking dent in the ground. Eyes and hair both red he bolted forward to try and level as strong a kick as he could muster to try and knock the creature off balance and do some damage... and instead all he really did was make it stumble back a bit and quite literally shrug his Quirk-powered kick off. Landing with a scowl on his face he tried to ignore the twinge of muscle strain, shifting his weight to his other foot warily. How was he supposed to fight these things? Where had the teachers and other students and heroes gone? Well technically he was the one who had gotten lost but he would really appreciate some back up right about now!

A sudden warning being shouted out caught his attention, briefly turning his head and catching a glimpse of someone running towards him when another monster attacking from the side caught his attention and he dropped in a sudden crouch to avoid it taking his head off with a swipe while calling back: "Brain Chain? What're you doin' here?"

Arsenal,

[Arsenal]

''Huh?'' That voice... ''Wait a minute, you're that guy who got in my way! I lost out on a job because of you!'' She called out, immediately annoyed that the person she was going to help was someone who had made her lose pay in the past. Back then she was supposed to assassinate whoever had upset the villain that put a bounty on his head. However before she could, Michirou here had gotten in her way. She raised her axe arm to swing at who could be assumed to be Michirou at first, but she actually swung to cut off the arm of the Nomu he had just narrowly dodged.

The creature writhed, but just as quickly as the arm hit the ground, another grew out of its limb, duplicating like a hydra head. ''I'm fighting, that's what I do! Didn't I tell you I'm an assassin?'' She panted, starting to feel the wear and tear not only of using her quirk a lot, but running around all over this damn facility. ''I thought you were just some random guy, why are you in here? You with the heroes or something?'' That had to be it, right? Either heroes or vigilantes. No way Michirou was on her side, unless he was affiliated with some villain she didn't even know. The Nomu that had swiped at Michirou reared back to strike again, but this time Arsenal jumped in front of him and deflected the brunt of the attack by turning her arms into two katanas. It did however, still hurt really bad as she was sent tumbling back. ''This is unwinnable...'' Her arms trembled as she fought to get back on her feet. ''We can't stay here, I'm at my limit.''

michi machida

[michi machida]

Michirou warily brought his hands up got ready to move if Chain Brain swung that axe-limb at him, but despite seemingly being between an assassin and a monster one eyebrow went up and replied in a deadpan tone. "You were trying to kill a guy, remem..." He cut off suddenly as the axe swung, blinking in surprise as it cut off the arm of the monster instead. How sharp was that? Maybe they could win after all if he could run distraction and Chain Brain could chop it up and - no wait, it regenerated in a split second, Michirou's brief flash of inspiration sputtering out in an instant. The following comment prompted an annoyed scowl to cross his face, giving a huff. "I am some random guy! I'm also a hero student, I guess, but I wouldn't be here if I had a choice y'know."

Chain Brain suddenly leaping to defend him made Michirou blink again, then recognizing that even as impressively sharp and durable as her Quirk seemed to make her the monster was simply in a whole other league. Darting in with a hooking kick that hit just the right part of the monsters leg to force it to buckle and stumble onto one knee, he immediately whirled around to turn his attention back to Chain Brain and offered whatever help was needed - lending them a hand to get back on their feet or outright grabbing them to make a break for it in the small window they had before the monster could lumber back onto its feet and chase after them.

Either way he was going to frantically reply "Same here, so lets run!" while trying to spot somewhere safe they could retreat to before exhaustion could force his Quirk off.

Arsenal,

[Arsenal]

''Duh! Killing random guys is my job!'' She would absolutely love to stand around and argue with this idiot one more time, but they didn't have that luxury. Not only was the Nomu able to negate her slash by somehow growing more limbs, but at this rate it would kill the both of them if they didn't act quick. ''So you ARE with the heroes, I knew it! That's why you're such a brat!'' And yet, Michirou wasn't one of the bad guys, so she couldn't afford to let this brat die. Not even if they were technically enemies.

She looked over as the hero student kicked the creature just right, making it stumble for a moment. It was a nice move, but much like her earlier cut, not nearly enough to put the thing away for good. ''Eh?'' She looked as Michirou as she was suddenly scooped up off the ground and being carried away. ''Are you kidding me? You can't outrun that thing while carrying me!'' She appreciated the helping hand, but it was clear as day that Michirou was tired too. Arsenal could only shriek when the Nomu shook its head, shaking off the daze before using its power once more to grow even more legs to help it run faster as it gave chase. ''Find somewhere to hide, quick!'' Maybe it was the adrenaline, but she didn't notice how exhausted she was, and that the quirk powered disguise she was using had turned off, turning her chainsaw head back into her regular one. It was the moment she had always dreaded, turning into her civilian persona Amber in front of someone who didn't know her secret identity as a villain.

michi machida

[michi machida]

"So what, let you get squashed while you're on the ground?" Michirou snapped back, wincing at the shriek and peering back over his shoulder before letting out a startled yell of his own at the now multi-legged monster barreling down at them. There was no way they were outrunning that! With what little stamina he had left to keep his Quirk going, Michirou made a hard turn when they passed just between a tree and the Nomu enough to break its line of sight right as it lunged ahead in an attempt to crush where they would have been - slamming itself into other trees in the process. "Shit shit shit..." Michirou mumbled under his breath, doubling back the way they had just come from while the Nomu rampaged in the trees.

Making it to another big tree to hide behind, Michi practically flopped their back against it, breathing heavily as the red left their hair and eyes.

Instead of black and gray, it was pink-and-pink that poked out from behind the tree just enough to try and peek at if the Nomu had lost track of them. It seemed like it had for now, rampaging further away from them, and Michi gave an exhausted sigh of relief and slid down into a seated position on the ground. "Looks like we lost it... Any ideas what we do no-" Michimi glanced at Chain Brain only to find the chainsaw head entirely missing, blinking at the familiar face that greeted her instead. One beat passed, and then another, and then Michimi threw her hands up in surprise - dropping Amber if she hadn't already gotten back on her own feet - and giving a shrill "EEEEEHHH?!?!?" of complete shock.

Arsenal,

[Arsenal]

''Better than dying, isn't it?!'' This was what was so puzzling to her about heroes. Why did Michi risk their life for a complete stranger, and not only that, someone they knew was a criminal and had done horrible things. Well, they didn't know that, but it could be reasonably assumed from the fact that she assassinated people for a living. She kept a hand over her mouth to avoid screaming as the Nomu came right for them, only for Michirou to swerve and lose it in the trees before they could take cover themselves.

She hadn't even been running but by the time they were behind cover she was gasping for air. ''That was seriously close...'' She pushed herself up to a sitting position as she turned to look at Michirou. Her reaction was... Odd. Why was she looking at her like that? Putting a hand up to her own face she realized that her disguise had been undone. Wait, pause. WHY DID MICHIROU LOOK LIKE MICHIMI?!

''Y-Y-You're Michimi?!'' She was just as surprised as her homework friend. So that guy that had stopped her assassination was the same girl she befriended at Random Cafe? ''How? Your hair- weren't you a guy just now?'' She pointed at Michimi, furrowing her brow. ''Don't think I'll go easy on you because we're frie-'' Before she could finish her sentence she felt her body grow limp as her head lightly bonked against the tree. ''Oww...'' She whined, exhausted from overexerting her body, to the point that she couldn't even stand or control her limbs. Anymore movement and she might start losing her ability to think and feel too. ''Who are you... Exactly?'' All she could do was look up at Michi as she waited for her body to recover.

michi machida

[michi machida]

Still frozen with her hands up and a look of complete surprise on her face, Amber's questions prompted her to glance down at herself with a raised eyebrow and a retort ready to go and oh, she'd changed forms again... no wonder Amber was just as surprised as she was. Leaning back against the tree warily at the sort of threat Michi wasn't sure if she had it in her to fight off 'Chain Brain' again. After seeing some of what she could do against the monster she was pretty sure she hadn't been going all out against her before, and that was when Michi hadn't been tired at all.

But then Amber bonked her head and was obviously in even worse shape than she was and Michimi murmered a quiet "Ah... that looked like it hurt." in sympathy. She'd flopped sort of similarly before as Chain Brain, just as a knife, and hadn't suddenly attacked her then either. So Michi was half-confident and half-hopeful that she wouldn't try something like that now and with her palms flat to show she meant no harm, and trying to keep them steady despite the sudden chills that were running through her and making her shiver, Michimi tried to help reposition Amber in a more comfortable way in their hiding spot. While she did, she tried to explain something she had explained more times than she could count in the past in a tone that made it pretty clear she was reciting the same old spiel out of habit.

"Was a guy, am now a girl... and its not a disguise or anything, and I can't control it much. Neither one is 'the real one', both are and I just kinda swap between them. My name really is Michimi, and Michirou, so either works. Or just Michi, that's fine too." Crossing her arms under her chest, hands rubbing at her upper arms out of habit to try and feel warmer, Michimi quickly added with a defensive look to the side: "I wasn't trying to spy on Chain Brain or anything either! I just happened to go to that cafe in girl mode and... I dunno, I never would have guessed a friendly, cute dork with a sweet tooth could possibly be an assassin..."

Michimi didn't sound accusatory so much as sincerely reflecting on that revelation. That her new friend and future study-buddy had turned out to not just be a villain, but a self proclaimed assassin. As well as one she had stopped from killing someone not that long ago either! Was she just that bad a judge of character or something? After another quiet moment, after Amber said anything she might have to say in response, Michimi was going to ask a question in a much more serious tone than she usually used in either form.

"What kind of people do you kill?"

Arsenal,

[Arsenal]

''So what?'' She mumbled with a furrowed brow, eyeing Michi carefully. Were they going to laugh at her, or take the opportunity to kill her? When Michi went to adjust her position she feared the worst, but she soon realized they were just trying to help. ''So, it's like a quirk thing?'' Figures. Her quirk altered her body into weapons, who's to say quirks couldn't affect your body in other ways. ''That's not what I meant! I keep my civilian life and assassin life separate!'' She blurted out defensively too. ''What's so weird about an assassin liking chocolate anyway? I need sugar to get me through the day.''

Michi's question gave her pause. ''What kind? The bad kind, the people I get paid to kill.'' She might be revealing too much about her true identity, but at this point Michi had already seen her face so it didn't matter anymore. ''Think of the evilest thing a human could do.'' She paused for a moment to let Michi think about it. ''People like that.'' She averted her gaze and pouted a bit. ''That's why I was so annoyed you got in my way. You're a brat, but you're not evil.'' Her body still felt like a bag of cement, and if she had to die lying to Michi she was going to feel bad so...

''Chain Brain is just a name I made up. My real name is Arsenal, and I'm a villain.'' She looked back at Michi. ''You realize that means we're enemies, right?'' That also meant she had just lost her study buddy. So much for helping her with homework... ''But I also have a human name.'' It was a weird way to phrase it, but until recently Arsenal had been nothing but a living weapon with no human rights. ''It's Amber.''

michi machida

[michi machida]

Michi just gave a little nod to confirm that it was indeed just a quirk thing and content with not having to answer a barrage of questions about it. Blinking at the defensive outburst, it actually made sense now that she thought about it. Plenty of heroes did the same thing, why wouldn't villains have secret identities too? Michi herself still hadn't decided if she wanted it to be well known that Michi Machida was the hero Trixtor, but villains would almost have no choice but to hide who they were... Otherwise they'd just get busted immediately, right?

More importantly the answer Chain Brain... Arsenal, or actually just Amber as it turned out really was her name... gave settled things for Michi. Giving a firm nod to herself, having stayed quiet while Amber explained some things, she would have hopped to her feet if she wasn't still tired and trying not to shiver uncontrollably. "Well, if thats the case... I probably woulda thought about letting you do your job if I'd known." She wasn't entirely sure if she would have just allowed an assassination right in front of her, but she definitely would not have tried to give the guy time to escape. She'd have tried to do something or other to see to it that whatever awful things he had done got punished somehow, even if death by chainsaw head seemed a bit too... harsh, to Michi. "But... since you only kill really bad people, and having seen how you can actually move against that monster, I'm pretty sure you coulda killed me whenever you wanted. So, I don't think you're evil either."

Giving a little 'brr' and shaking her head as she rubbed her upper arms a little faster, wishing the sudden chills would go away sooner than later, Michi listened to the distant sounds of the rampaging monster and let her thoughts wander out loud. "You sure we gotta be enemies? Maybe 'Arsenal' and 'Trixtor' gotta be, but Amber and Michi? Two sweets loving dorks that hang out at a cafe sometimes?"

Arsenal,

[Arsenal]

''...I get where you were coming from, you were only doing what you thought was right.'' She couldn't help but feel a little more at ease, despite her secret identity being revealed. Michi seemed like not only a chill person, but someone willing to hear out a criminal like her. Amazing what clear communication could accomplish. ''Are you cold? You keep shaking.'' And for some reason she doubted it was fear of the monster returning to their hiding spot and finding them. Sure, Michi was probably a little shook too, but she didn't exactly look terrified.

She furrowed her brow at Michi's question, thinking long and hard about it. ''Well, I don't hate you, and I don't think I could suddenly start hating you like an enemy... But I'm told if people find out who I really am I'll be locked up again.'' She paused, looking over at Michi with a sad expression in her eyes. ''I don't want to be locked up again. I-I also kill people! Are you okay with that?'' She made her fingers twitch, then she could move her hand again and slowly but surely she regained control of her own body.

Looking in the direction of the rest of the battlefield she heard the monster stomp around as it terrorized someone else. Poor bastards, hopefully it was someone who deserved a beating and not someone innocent. ''If you're not going to hand me over to the police, then I only have one more question for you, Michimi.'' She gave her a determined look, knowing full well they might have to fight their way out of here. ''What is your favorite weapon? Have you ever trained with one?''

michi machida

[michi machida]

For how often people talked about villains being completely unreasonable madmen, Amber was really not giving her that vibe at all. Giving a shake of her head and bringing one hand away from rubbing at her arm to give a wave-it-off gesture. "Quirk things." She explained simply. The chills would go away soon enough... and she just counted herself lucky she didn't end up super drowsy or something instead. That would not have been good in the middle of this kind of situation. Focusing on Amber again, mentioning that she used to be locked up prompted a curious look and a slight tilt of her head. But before she could ask the other girl used on the most villainous tactic of all - puppy dog eyes!

Whatever internal debate Michi might have gone over for this decision, she instead crumbled instantly. "I'm not going to lock you up." Michimi promised sincerely before giving a huff, puffing her cheeks out in a briefly grumpy pout. "Looking at me like that, you're definitely evil after all..."

Michi didn't get to be grumpy for long, the question that followed catching her by surprise as she glanced upwards in thought for a moment. "Weapons? A little bit of a lot of things, I guess, but my favorite..." Did Michi even have a favorite weapon? It was a question they didn't ever really consider much. Maybe just the one they had used the most in practice would be best? "Any idea what an Oxtail Saber is?" To try and convey what Michimi was talking about she brought her hands up to try and trace an outline of a sword with a curve and a flared tip and a similarly curved handle.

Arsenal,

[Arsenal]

''Oh.'' The nondescript explanation of quirk things was all it took for her to understand. Everyone who had a power dealt with quirk things in their own way. Like her own problem of being incapable of moving her body right now, this also technically counted as quirk things. ''If you say so...'' She pouted, wanting to trust Michi, but feeling unsure because she had never really shared her big villain secret with anyone who wasn't a villain themselves. ''Looking like what?'' She asked cluelessly, not aware that her sad eyes had such an effect on Michi.

She looked over at them as they described their favorite weapon, her eyes even following Michimi's hands as she gestured and traced the outline of what an Oxtail Saber looked like. ''Got it!'' She nodded firmly, before instructing them. ''Michi, hold out your hands and get ready to catch me.'' She furrowed her brow as she posed and struck a Henshin pose before turning her entire body into an Oxtail Saber, hoping that Michi was fast enough to catch it by the handle. ''Like it or not,'' she continued speaking in sword form even as she didn't have a face. ''We have to fight that thing if we want to make it out of here. I know technically we should see each other as enemies, but what if we said... Um, surviving is our homework? That way, surviving this thing means we're fighting together as study buddies, not hero and villain..''

michi machida

[michi machida]

It really was unfair of Amber to pout on top of it, after Michi had already promised not to rat her out! She was either a really good actor and teasing her, too, or she actually didn't know what kind of terrible ability she had unleashed... Michi wasn't sure which option was worse. So she just grumbled back a quick "Don't worry about it..." and focused on how slowly but surely she was feeling warmer again. Holding out her hands as instructed, an amused grin spreading across her face at the pose Amber struck - villain or not she was absolutely every bit the dork Michi thought she was when they'd met at the cafe. The transformation itself was cool to see and Michi leaned forward a bit to make sure she caught the handle, giving a few cautious test swings and making sure to keep a loose grip as she listened to Amber's not-quite-disembodied-but-still-strange-to-hear-coming-from-a-sword voice.

"I guess that makes this our first study session then?" Michi quipped, holding Sword-Amber out and pointed away from her before scurrying her way up the tree as well as she could with only one free hand. After a little scrabbling she made it up into the branches, peeking out from between the leaves at the monster in the distance. As big as it was it was easy to spot, and taking a deep breath she murmured a quiet "Here goes nothin'." before calling out in a loud shout: "Hey, big and ugly! Are you gonna make me wait around all day for you to find me?"

The thunderous charge of the monster immediately heading their way sounded like a stampede, with all those legs it had it might as well have been, and as it rounded the tree Michi leaped out of the tree and stabbed Sword-Amber deep into it's shoulder, the creature giving a yell that sounded more like ferocious anger than any kind of pain as it brought a hand up to try and swat at them. Tugging the blade free with a quick jump over the hand, Michi managed to stab it again in the back, in an awkward spot it had trouble reaching - but even as they briefly dangled there it was starting to form extra arms to fix that problem.

Michi hadn't seen it, but the wound across its shoulder had dug just deep enough into its chest to reveal the edge of an object lodged inside - not bone or muscle or anything that should be there.

Arsenal,

[Arsenal]

She smiled, even though Michi couldn't see it. ''I guess it does! I'd like us to have more, so let's give it our all out there!'' She turned her attention towards the battlefield and the encroaching monster as Michi called out to it. She was impressed not only by Michi's trash talking, but their dexterity and speed as well. They jumped around so effortlessly, like a feather just riding on the breeze, letting their movement guide them. ''You sure aren't scared of taking risks!'' She exclaimed, feeling a little nervous even though she was just a weapon in this fight.

She made sure to twist her body a bit as Michi stabbed her into its shoulder, adding insult to injury before Michi could pull her back out. ''Wait, Michi!'' She realized something as the tip of her blade had touched something different than uh, monster flesh? When she had been stabbed into the thing's shoulder moments prior. ''I think there's a core inside its chest, a solid core! I felt it just now.'' She turned back into a human and leapt away to put some distance between herself and the monster and Michi. ''I'll cut it free, you grab it if you can! How does that sound?'' The monster roared once more as it charged at Arsenal, the villain turning her arms into katanas as she dodged and weaved its many arms, leaping up to cut its chest open just in time to reveal a perfectly spherical, gray, stone core. She only caught a glimpse of it, however, as the arms overwhelmed her in midair and send her flying with a series of jabs. Hopefully Michi could follow-up on her attack and put this thing away for good.

michi machida