[Freja Helt]

The last couple hours had been a blur. Blood was dripping from the side of Freja's head as she woke up in a dark room only illuminated by a single lamp overhead. The stinging pain in her head made her jolt instinctively. Someone had knocked her out and brought her here. She tried to stand up from the chair she was seated in, but her arms and legs were tied down. How did she get here... Rin had texted her, hadn't she? Rin told her to meet her in Shinjuku. Freja had gone because she was still pretty new to Japan, she had no clue that crime rates were higher out here, that she had been walking straight into a trap.

''Rin? Rin!'' She called out into the void as she struggled to try and get free. ''Rin where am I?!'' She could feel her adrenaline rising, she was in some real trouble right now, she had to get the hell out of here, call the police, the heroes, anyone who could help her.

''Freja Helt.'' A guy's voice, it was impossible where it was coming from, only that it was somewhere in the darkness around her. ''W-Who are you?!'' She looked this way and that, panicking as she tried to spot her captor. ''I have been following you for a while now. UA University student, I figured you would make a guinea pig for my quirk.'' Stepping into her field of view, the man, probably no older than herself had a black bowl cut and dark, soulless eyes and a neutral expression. ''Y-You have?'' She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Damn it! Why now of all times, why was she so easily scared? ''I... Yeah. I was stalking you for weeks do you not recognize me?''

Stalking her?

''N-No... Sorry?''

With a huff the man took out her phone and turned around. ''What are you doing? That's my phone!''

''We're almost ready to get started. Your friend should be here any minute now.''

Rin

[Rin]

Rin had her phone tightly clutched in one hand as she hurried along, glancing warily around this way and that. Shinjuku was a scary area, and every second that she didn’t spot Freja she was feeling more and more concerned. Had something happened? Or even if not would something happen to her, being in such a dangerous place by herself? She had gotten a text from Freja telling her to go someplace specific but she wasn’t familiar with the area and was trying to be quick without getting herself lost or outright panicking.

When the directions took the brunette to a really shady looking place and down into a dim creepy hallway, she was slowly losing against her own rising anxiety… actually entering a dark room with only Freja - tied to a chair at that! - and a man with a bowl cut she didn’t recognize made her breath catch in her chest in horror.

“Fre… Freja-san!” Rin took a step forward, the man turning to look at her and without even a twitch in his flat expression.

“Ah, there she is, right on time.” The man gave a slight nod towards Rin. “Rin Gotoh.”

Rin brought her hands up in front of her chest, not entirely sure what to do with them as she anxiously glanced between Freja and the man. Should she try to call the police? What was even going on? Was Freja okay? She couldn’t tell from here, but she didn’t see tons of blood or anything at least? And… How did this guy know her name? Was this some guy with a grudge against her brother or something like that? Or a customer she messed up an order for? There was no way someone would capture her roommate over something like that, right?!?

“H…” Rin started but the man cut her off. “How do I know your name? I have been following you and your friend here for a while now, you must recall seeing me around now?”

Oddly there was an almost hopeful note to his voice, but no matter how Rin racked her brain she… couldn’t recall ever seeing this man before in her entire life. Slowly, shakily Rin shook her head. “Sor… Sorry, but I… I must have forgotten…?”

“You too? I was stalking you, for weeks?”

Rin just hesitantly shook her head again, even as she hunched her shoulders in and could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes - she was being stalked and hadn’t realised it?!? That was terrifying! When had he been following them around? Would she have recognized him, or noticed, if she could look people in the eye in general? Was it her fault a stalker had managed to capture Freja?

“I… Sorry!”

The apology was honestly more at Freja but the man seemed to take it as one towards him, but he gave a quick shake of his head as he menacingly approached Rin.

“I don’t need an apology, but you can make up for it by being a guinea pig for me.”

[Freja Helt]

As if on cue, another set of footsteps made its way down the stairs. They didn't sound particularly heavy, in fact they were really easy to miss, but it was accompanied by another sound too. The sound of whirring? She looked up at Rin, wishing she had the courage to tell Rin she needed to run away now, but the truth was Freja was happy she was here, that she wasn't alone with this guy anymore.

''You will fight.''

Freja looked back at the villain as he stepped aside, allowing for a mannequin to walk past him. Hold on, was that mannequin walking on its own? And the whirring sound... A spinning propeller was sticking out of the top of its head. The mannequin snapped its head over, featureless face looking directly at Rin before it suddenly lounged forward to try and hit her with its arms.

''Or you will die.''

''Rin! Look out!'' Freja began struggling even harder against the rope that had been tied around her wrists. If only she had the fire quirk sis had, she could have burned through rope like this in no time. In her panicked attempt to escape, Freja accidentally knocked the chair onto the side, slamming into the hard floor. The mannequin was solely targeting Rin from the time being, and the guy was just watching them from the stairs, so if there was a time to break free and help Rin, now was it. She just needed Rin to last long enough, to buy her a little more time...

Rin

[Rin]

Rin went stiff at the footsteps behind her, hands close to her chest and one still tightly clutching her phone as she slowly turned to the side. The whirring sound conjured up all kinds of horrible ideas in her head, but somehow... somehow the reality of what it was was scarier than anything she could have imagined. A mannequin that shouldn't be able to walk, walking way too closely to the way a person would - it wasn't like a animatronic or anything, it was moving 'normally' and that was way more abnormal because of it! The propellor spinning around and around on top of its head was the source of that creepy whirring sound, and when the mannequin turned to face her Rin froze up entirely as a feeling of dread consumed her.

She didn't even really hear anything the man was saying, but Freja's voice cut through her paralyzed thoughts like a hot knife through butter.

The mannequin lunged at her and Rin tipped backwards, twisting to the side and out of the way in a motion that would have been impressive if Rin didn't let out a panicked shriek at the same time. The mannequin circled around to try again, and Rin felt like she couldn't breathe. How was she supposed to fight this thing? She didn't want to, she wasn't good at fighting, she just wanted to help Freja and go home. Could she help Freja and go home?

Rin shifted her stance, feet set wider and a bit more sturdy like she was getting ready to fight as the mannequin turned around to face her again. The two circled each other for a moment, Rin warily trying to stay away from the mannequin and the mannequin just trying to get a good opening to lunge at her again. The man watching crossed his arms over his chest as he moved to block the way out... and then Rin immediately turned around and ran. Not towards the exit, not towards the man to attack him, but towards Freja down on the ground and still tied to her chair. The mannequin seemed somehow surprised for a moment before it gave chase, and Rin hopped right over the downed Freja and started frantically pulling at the ropes.

"We have to run we have to run we have to run" Rin kept repeating over and over in a increasingly panicked tone, just as much to herself as to Freja, and before she could fully untie Freja the mannequin came barreling into her and tackled her down against the hard ground.

[Freja Helt]

Rin pulling on her ropes loosened up their grasp on her wrists just enough so that Freja could wiggle her way out, and with her hands free she quickly managed to undo the ropes around her ankle, or were they always this loose? Now that she thought of it, why was he just blocking the exit, why wasn't he helping his mannequin go after them? Did it have something to do with what he said about making them his guinea pigs? In any case, Freja agreed with Rin. They needed to run, they needed to get out of here, but with the way blocked the only thing they could do was fight their way out. Now that she was able to stand up, Freja sprung into action.

With a swift kick to the side of the mannequin's head, the creepy minion collapsed onto its side. When she got backed into a corner Freja didn't hesitate to fight, she wasn't a former delinquent who almost joined a gang for nothing. The mannequin was about to make its way back up, but Freja quickly stomped it back down, before grabbing one of its arms with both of her hands. Pulling as hard as she could, she tore the arm off to use as a makeshift weapon, with which to beat the shit out of the mannequin. It wasn't a baseball bat like she was used to, but it was still a blunt object.

Not until the arm was almost broken and the mannequin underneath her was torn to pieces did she finally stop smashing it. Panting, out of breath and sweating as she looked back at Rin. ''We have to.. We have to fight him!'' She straightened her back and glared at their kidnapper. She didn't like fighting like this, but it was clear their lives were in danger and they had to do something. Charging at the villain, she would get ready to swing the moment she got within range of him, only he leaned forward and gently tapped her forehead before she could strike him.

''Come Into My Head.'' He whispered softly, a cold shiver running down Freja's spine before her whole body froze on the spot. She couldn't move a single muscle. Then, something painful began sprouting out of her head.

She screamed.

Then the propeller started whirring.

''R-Rin I'm sorry..'' Terror was painted on her face as she turned towards Rin, mannequin arm raised and ready to hit her against her own will.

Rin

[Rin]

Rin made incoherent shrieking noises as the mannequin got ready to pummel her, shaking her head from side to side but too afraid to even think of how to get the thing off of her or properly defend herself. She hadn't been able to get Freja free and now she was going to get beat up and Freja was probably going to get beat up too and maybe even worse would happen and - the kick from Freja sent the mannequin tumbling off of her, and Rin watched with blurry eyes as Freja went to town on the mannequin. Sniffling, Rin gave a nod at Freja - they had to pull together and fight their way out if they wanted to be safe! Struggling to get her breathing steady, Rin got to her feet and Freja charged forward.

"Ah, wai-" Rin was going to say 'wait for me' but then the guy just tapped Freja on the forehead and Freja locked up on the spot and Rin felt what little resolve she had mustered up drain away again as Freja screamed and the whirring noise started up again. It was like a sinkhole had opened up in her stomach, and when Freja turned to attack her while apologizing... Rin's chest felt so tight that she could hardly breathe. Backing away from Freja, Rin scurried out of the way of that first strike and rambled desperately. "S-stop, you can... fight it off or something!"

Rin actually had no idea if that was even true, but she heard things like that in stories? Freja was a lot stronger than she was, so this had to be like the heroic moment where things seemed bad but then turned around, right?

"That kind of thing is not going to work here, Rin!" The stalker called over, using her name so casually and sending a wave of discomfort over the already terrified girl. "Use your Quirk to fight, like a hero would!"

Hesitating as the controlled Freja got ready for another strike, binging her hands up for just a moment it looked like Rin really was going to try to fight back. But then she didn't, breaking down into more tears as she scrambled away from that attack too and fled towards a corner - she didn't want to hurt Freja! Freja hadn't done anything wrong, and if anything was the one who had actually tried to fight! If Rin had been... not Rin, she probably could have rescued Freja properly and wouldn't have needed saved from the mannequin and then they could have run away! Or she would have been faster to get on her feet and ready to back Freja up and then Freja wouldn't have gotten controlled like this!

[Freja Helt]

Her arms and legs were shaking, no matter how much she tried she couldn't move her body. This guy's quirk, it had effectively made her a passenger in her own head. Forced to watch everything play out in front of her like she was watching her own life as a movie. ''I-I can't! I'm sorry I can't...'' Tears were starting to roll down her face as she continued to swing at Rin and pursue her. No matter how much her friend struggled, she wouldn't be able to escape Freja unless she attacked her.

''If you run upstairs.. You might be able to escape.'' At this point knowing that Rin was able to escape was a lot better than being forced to attack her, even if that meant Freja would be left alone with their stalker. ''This won't do at all. You disappoint me, Rin-chan.'' He pushed himself off the door and casually sauntered over towards her. He would time it so that Freja was striking at her upper arm at the same time as he reached out to try and touch her forehead.

''Come Into My Head.'' He whispered.

The outcome was inevitable. Rin and Freja weren't strong enough and soon, Rin would feel an indescribable amount of pain, and then she would be controlled too.

''Now, you can both die gloriously.'' He walked back to his spot, blocking the door. ''You should really be thanking me, you get to die in the line of duty. This is the kind of death every hero should wish for.'' Freja turned to face Rin once more, mannequin arm raised at her. This was going to hurt. Not just because Rin was going to hit her against her will, but because she didn't want to hurt her friend.

Rin

[Rin]

Rin hated it, but she thought about it. Thought about fleeing up the stairs, trying to find help. Someone who could actually save Freja and defeat this crazy stalker for them. She'd like to think she wouldn't have decided on that, that she'd make the heroic decision and decide to stick with Freja and figure out some way to save the both of them. She'd never know if she would have though, because while she was agonizing over the decision and dodging attacks the stalker walked right over to her. The only warning she even got was his comment, the brunette twisting her head around with wide, panicked eyes right as he tapped her on the forehead. Then he whispered something strange, and Rin felt like her head was going to split open.

Shrieking incoherently, Rin couldn't even shake her head back and forth as she felt her body moving against her will. Standing tall, straight, and then lunging towards the controlled Freja with a focus that Rin herself never had. The arm got swung at her again, and she felt herself snap a hand up to catch it - felt pain rush through her fingers and hand, unable to pull away and cradle her injured hand like she would have normally. The two struggled over the mannequin arm until, tugging and twisting it this way and that, the controller Rin managed to wrench it free of the controlled Freja's grasp.

For a brief moment, Rin hoped that would be the end of it - that disarming Freja would satisfy this stalkers experiments.

It didn't, and Rin found herself forced to throw her tiny frame into Freja's and after more scuffling somehow she ended up on top with both ice-cold hands tightly wrapped around Freja's neck. "Stop! Stop! I don't want to!" Rin begged and yelled and cried, feeling her fingers tighten around Freja's neck no matter how much she tried to resist.

[Freja Helt]

Seeing Rin getting hit by the same quirk that she was suffering under was a nightmare coming true, living through the absolute worst case scenario they could get hit by. The only way things could get worse now was if either of them, or both of them were actually killed here today.

Freja felt her windpipe being squeezed hard as Rin's cold hands grasped her throat tightly. She had spent all this time being afraid of fire. Ever since the first day she died, that day that lived on like a hazy memory inside her head. The hotel hallway, the raging inferno all around them and the oppressive layer of black smog obscuring the man who killed the Helt twins. Indeed, Freja had spent a long time being afraid of fire, of hallways, so much so that she hadn't spared a thought to the cold, black darkness which right now was likely going to be what ended her life. The icy hands of Death slowly choking her out in a kidnapper's hideout.

She gasped, tried to flail but she couldn't.

''That's it. You'll be joining your brother soon enough, Freja-chan.. Shh it's going to be okay.''

''W..'' She fought, fought like her life depended on it to get the words out.

''What was that?''

''We..''

Somehow, it worked.

The stalker presumably ordered Rin to stop, and for her to take a step back from Freja as she heaved for air.

''What were you saying?''

''W-We can work for you! H-Haven't you always wanted to be close with two pretty women?!'' She hated herself for saying it, but hating herself wasn't a new thing to Freja. Heck, she would be happy to continue hating herself if it meant it got her and Rin out of a fight they couldn't win.

She felt a twitch in her fingers, the sensation of feeling in her body coming back to her. She could also feel something melt on top of her head. Looking up at the stalker confirmed her suspicion. It was the propeller. It was melting, presumably because his quirk effect was coming undone.

''I hate women.'' He leaned down and reached out towards her to try and touch her forehead again, but through some quick thinking Freja thrust her own forward in a very specific motion that might seem familiar to the stalker.

''Sacred Flame!''

Just as she had hoped, the man flinched and reeled back, raising his arms up to cover his face. Most likely because he had done research about Freja when he was stalking her. Anyone who looked her up would know her and Elias were caught in a villain attack, could easily find out that her quirk was a fire quirk. According to all the news articles, Elias was the one who passed away, not Freja. The reality was that she couldn't use fire, but she could bluff into giving herself an opportunity to counterattack. All because the stalker talked too much and Freja picked up on it. Almost felt like some weird, cliche movie moment, but hey! Anything to get the hell out of this situation.

Lunging forward, Freja smacked him upside the head, causing him to stagger for a moment, only to swiftly recover and touch her forehead again. The propeller growing back out of the top of her head as her body locked up.

''That was a close one. I don't know why you didn't use your quirk, but that was probably your only chance to escape. I won't let that happen again.''

If Freja's propeller had run out, wouldn't Rin's too? Did that mean, Rin was gaining control of her body again?

Rin

[Rin]

Rin could hardly even see through her own tears, but when she felt herself suddenly let go of Freja she couldn't have been more relieved. She wanted nothing more than to run away with Freja right then, but she couldn't. There was no way either of them could run away so long as they were being puppeted around like this. There had to be something they could do, right? Some way to undo this horrible nightmare of a Quirk? At any moment he could decided to make them fight again and Rin was thinking harder than she ever had before in her life.

Only for her thoughts to derail at Freja's attempt at bargaining, the brunette glancing between the two with big wide eyes in surprise. Normally she'd be flailing her hands around in warding gestures in front of her, stammering and rambling, but... well she still couldn't move herself, and maybe Freja had a plan? The following fakeout attack actually gave her a lot of hope, that Freja would break out some kind of fire attack... but the lunge that followed was just as good with that big smack upside the head!

"Y... Yeah! Get him!" Rin cheered - she was still scared, still terrified, but seeing this stalker guy get smacked like that was immensely cathartic. But then Freja got tapped on the forehead again, and Rin's hopes sank right with it... but not entirely. How had Freja gotten free? Had she done anything special, said anything special? Or was it just... time? Could it be that simple?

It was, and the first thing that confirmed it for Rin as her propeller started to fall apart was the trembling in her hands and the sudden feeling of weakness in her legs. She tried her best to keep standing straight though, to not move too much in the hopes that she wouldn't give it away before she could think of... something. He was talking to Freja now, focused on Freja and making sure she was fully back under his control. Rin took one one step, then another, hoping he wouldn't notice or that having her approach Freja and him again was something he was trying to make her do right now.

Rin could be fast when she wanted to be, but usually performance anxiety got in her way. With her heart pounding in her chest and their lives on the line, she was falling into a fight or flight moment and right now was a rare instance where in order to flee she had to fight.

"Wait, I didn't-" The stalker looked over at Rin just as she got close enough, a split second of realization coming across his face. He tried to make Freja intercept, but the terrified brunette punched him right in the throat. She wasn't the strongest, but a hit like that out of nowhere hurt a lot and more importantly it made him choke and bring his hands to his throat as he temporarily found himself unable to breathe. Rin didn't give him much time to recover, desperately bringing one foot up to deliver a kick into his stomach - hoping to make breathing harder for him for a little bit longer.

His Quirk must have required focus too, because as he folded over to clutch at his stomach the fresh propeller on Freja's head melted away again.

Freja Helt

[Freja Helt]

She was so close... So close and yet, it just wasn't enough. It was never enough. No matter what she couldn't make up for lacking a quirk. Put any other UAU student in her situation and they would probably have wiped the floor with this guy. How was she this pathetic? To make a comeback only to immediately lose her momentum again. She could feel the dread set in again as she realized she was about to attack Rin against her will once more.

Thankfully for both her and her friend however, it looked like Rin was finally going to do more than just cheer Freja on. She watched in awe as her timid friend went right for the throat, then proceeded to hit the villain again, making him reel so hard that the propeller on her head started to melt just as quickly as it had appeared. ''Rin.. you..'' What were they standing around for? Freja managed to kick the door open, seeing sunlight for the first time in what felt like an eternity. ''Run!!''

Freja didn't look back as she hit the streets, she didn't even confirm if Rin was keeping up with her. With the state she had left that guy in he probably wasn't about to catch up to them any time soon. It wasn't until the adrenaline had burned out of her body and her and Rin were sufficiently far enough away from the house that she collapsed up against a wall. Her lungs, sides, burning with pain as she heaved for air. ''T-That was so close..'' She was probably going to cry about it later tonight. How was Rin holding up? She wanted to ask but... Now didn't seem like the right time. ''Let's get back to uni before that guy finds out where we went.'' She stood up, dusting herself off before taking a few steps forward towards a nearby train station. She looked over her shoulder at Rin, trying to flash her a confident smile. It wasn't. It was a smile, kind of.

Rin

[Rin]

Freja absolutely did not need to tell Rin twice. The second she heard the word Run, the second she saw Freja move to kick the door open, Rin was bolting. Maybe it was just some kind of herd instinct, but even though all she had in her head was 'get out of here as fast as possible' she stuck with Freja as they both ran away. Her heart was still pounding in her chest, her eyes hurt from crying, her hands hurt from fighting - especially from blocking that mannequin swing when she was being controlled. She wanted to curl up in a ball under her covers at home and never come out again.

She settled for collapsing against the wall next to Freja, sliding down it a bit with her back against it and bringing her knees up to her chest as she tried to get her breathing under control. For a long moment all she managed was a shakey nod in agreement - that was way, way too close. Lingering by the wall for a moment longer, she took one extra deep breath as Freja started to head back to the dorms. Did she even have it in her to go back, after how much of a disaster this had been? Tricked by a stalker, unable to help her friend, almost strangling her friend, only being able to run away thanks to her friend? Maybe she should just give up and quit?

Even though it wasn't confident, the smile from Freja helped put her a little teensy bit at ease, and Rin managed a very small and awkward smile back as she picked herself up and started to walk back with her.

"Yea... Yeah, you're right." She noted, walking along quietly for a few long minutes. Then, with a little "Ah!" of alarm and quickly fumbling for her phone, she added: "We should call the police on that stalker guy!"

Freja Helt

[hugs]

☆ MISSION SUCCESS ☆

Y'ALL THAT WAS SO SCARY 😭😭😭💙 really happy they eventually made it home okay!! I SENSE SOMETHING BUILDING... Excellent work!!!

+5,000 EXP!!

Rin: 0 // 5,000
Freja: 0 // 5,000

tag: Rin Freja Helt