A certain saying Retsu had once heard came to mind. When the gods were handing out brains Jack had definitely been lining up for a nose. What was he even on about? She'd heard about the tower, sure, but there had simply been a flash and then they'd found themselves in a different version of the park. What did the tower have to do with any of this?

"Will you shut up, man?" Retsu asked calmly. It was a rhetorical question. She was well aware that asking someone to shut up or calm down never worked. Not without the right deterrent and Jack was just stupid and suicidal enough that she didn't happen to have one she was willing to use. "This kind of shit is why you keep getting people killed."

She didn't know whether he did of course but looking at his behavior and combining it with his words she'd say there was a fair chance. He was pissing her the fook off and if he made it out of here she might just put a hit on him, whoever the hells he was. They were in a situation where they were all stranded gods knew where and their best chance of survival was working together. If he acted like this during whatever fuckery he'd gotten himself into when The Elementalist threw experiments at the city it was no wonder some poor sods had gotten been introduced to the bucket. 

Retsu raised an eyebrow at his next outburst. Now he was throwing a tantrum over the hand he'd been dealt? Pathetic. She'd seen his type before. Blaming anything but themselves for their problems. What, was he going to say this new quirk of this was responsible for him doing a toddler impression in more than just height next? She scoffed. Standing back up she waited until the Ringmaster had finished speaking before looking down on Jack with cold eyes full of disdain.

"Boo hoo, ya fooked up and murdered people. Gon' make that into a pattern?" Retsu asked with a wavy gesture at Noa. "She's one a' your kind, ain't she?" She followed up, his earlier outburst making it clear that they were both UAU students. "So are ya gonna fail everyone again t'day? Get another person killed bah bein' you? Do us all a favor and fookin' get over y'rself. Break down when shite's over and done."

This time Retsu didn't bother to give him time to reply before she left, ignoring any parting words he may have thrown at her as she went. Should he try to retaliate physically the fire in her hair would flare up, burning bright as the sun to ward him off. Either way she'd move to the next challenge, utterly done with him. 

"Lahf ain't fair," Retsu shrugged in response to Noa. "It's a bitch 'nd then ya die. Some sooner than others with a bit of luck," she added with a scowl, the target of her ire plain to see. "Ah rekken y'r hopes are roite. Ah dun' think it'll be as easy as beatin' each other ta win."

She had no idea why she was telling Noa any of this. Depending on the challenge it was likely that the confident the others were the more likely it was that Retsu herself would win. So why was she trying to put Noa at ease? It didn't make any sense. Her eye twitched, frustration at herself bubbling up below the surface, not quite enough to set off her quirk but just enough to be a constant irritant. Like a splinter underneath your fingernail.

At least it looked like her hunch had paid off. The burning in her hair died down to embers before fully returning to long purple locks. She wasn't letting down her guard -or at least so she believed- but there didn't seem to be a point in keeping her quirk running at full when it contributed nothing to the next challenge. Unless burning calories would count. For some reason she struggled not to laugh at that dumb thought. What had gotten into her? 

Waiting until Aika Ao had finished talking she nodded in reply while keeping an eye on him as she took a seat. Her eyes narrowed. He hadn't said they had to eat the entire cake. Just that they'd be judged based on their group effort. That was problematic. If the sinking feeling in her stomach proved to be right that meant they might just fail if her words hadn't gotten through to Jack. Either way she'd done what she could in that regard, anything else she said might just worsen the problem. All she could do now was carry her weight and then some while hoping it'd be enough. She didn't like the odds.

"Let's naht fail 'ere, aye? That'd just be the cherry on top," Retsu stated lamely while grabbing the cupcake, not entirely sure whether she was trying to give a motivational speech, tell a dumb joke or simply fill the silence. Neither of the three were like her. Putting the thought aside she focused on what mattered: getting the hells out of here.

She scarfed the cupcake down in short order, only realizing right after that she'd been rather hungry. Odd. She'd eaten plenty during the Unity Festival. Was it a result of whatever this place was or some kind of toll from using her newfound quirk? That energy had to come from somewhere, right? Maybe she could quite literally burn calories after all. It was worth a try.

As she picked up another piece of cake a streak of fire left her eye and reignited her hair. With one hand shoveling chocolate cake into her mouth the other reached behind her at neck height and firmly grasped the blaze. Pulling off enough hair to leave her with little more than a bob cut she tossed the volatile mass of fire as far away from them as she could, ignoring the following explosion in favor of forcing her quirk to regrow the missing hair. This time she felt exactly how draining making it grow back was. It wasn't enough to incapacitate her anytime soon but it definitely didn't get more fire magicked out of thin air, each use sapping her bodily reserves to fuel the blaze. Whether it would have any effect on her digestion in the short term remained to be seen but if nothing else it made her feel hungry enough to eat a horse.

Grabbing her next piece she supposed she'd find out soon enough. She wasn't planning to eat herself sick but Retsu had never been one to roll over when faced with difficulties. Besides, she was an absolute menace even without a quirk. Throwing her regrown inferno into the distance once more before channeling her quirk to refuel it again her gaze flicked to both her allies and the ringmaster alike. Even if she stuffed herself until she couldn't take another bite would it reduce her capabilities enough that she couldn't take everyone here at the same time?

Nah, she'd win.

---

TL;DR: 
Retsu talks shit and gives Jack a reality check, tries to put Noa at ease in case she needs her for the next challenge and goes along with Aika Ao's plan. Once at the next challenge she laments Jack's presence and gets started on the cake while using her quirk and regenerating it over and over to eat as much as possible.

Tags: Aysu,Arataki Noa,Jack Orion