The echo got to her. People messing with her head without her being able to fight against it was one of the things Retsu hated the most. It awoke in her a cold kind of anger. One that didn't prompt another stream of fire so much as it caused her mind relentlessly pursue on a single goal. Removing the source.

As Aika Ao continued talking Retsu could tell he was using the carrot and stick method. She restrained herself from doing something she'd regret, utterly ignorant to how different the mere thought was from her usual ways. She wouldn't forget his actions however. Oh, she'd continue playing along until she got her hands on him alright. The moment she did though...

Later, Retsu reminded herself as she paid attention to the rest of his words. A performance wasn't exactly what she'd been expecting. Perhaps in hindsight she should have. The center of this whole operation had been a Grand Stage after all. The further into his explanation he got the more confused Retsu was. How was she supposed to discuss things with a goose? Could it understand her? She supposed the other one seemed to have done so. Retsu scratched her head before shrugging. Nothing to it, she'd have to give it a try.

Her gaze was drawn to the smoke cloud. She froze when she saw the audience. So many faces that looked familiar, even if she barely remembered the majority of them. People she'd crossed on the street, nameless figures that had given her looks when she was out shopping, faces of opponents from her youth she only vaguely recalled and more. It was amazing the stands could fit them all. Some she did recognize easily. Rui sat in the audience right next to her brother, the expression looking almost uncanny on her features. Facade, Elias and Azazel sat not far from them; Each more condescending than the last. Even her parents sat amongst the crowd. They were observing the other contestants, pointedly avoiding ever looking in her direction.

"Huh, those really are realistic."
 
She tried to muster up her anger but the shreds she could manifest were simply siphoned into her hair. It left her feeling a familiar emptiness. The fact that she couldn't fill it with fury or let herself see red to blank out the truth made it even worse. Retsu shook her head. She couldn't afford to get caught up on it. She only had five minutes and holy hells she couldn't believe she was playing along with this. 

"Roite. Let's make things clear. Ah dun' lahk you and you dun' lahk me. The sooner we're done with this shite the sooner we ken both go our seperate ways, yeah?"

"Honk."

"So let's put our heads tagether and... what the fook am I even saying. Roite, ah'll come up with somethin'."

"Honk."

"Roite, so, uhm. Ah ken throw chunks a' hair at ya and ya ken dodge 'em in midair as a stunt with explosions behind ya?"

"That's a stupid idea."

"Huh?"

"Honk."

Retsu squinted in suspicion. The goose stared back with a feigned mask of innocence that couldn't hide its malice. 

"Roite then, fookhead. Here's what we're gonna do..."

---

Wings of fire spread behind Retsu as she shot through the air, higher and higher until she was little more than a dot in the sky. She hadn't know whether it'd work at first but five minutes had been more than enough time to prove that the bubble wasn't the sole thing responsible for her flight. Her new quirk was perfectly capable of doing so without it. Convincing the goose had been far harder than figuring out how to fly. Even now she was still half convinced it would screw her over partway through.

One final flap of her hair brought her as high as she was willing to go. The moment of weightlessness at the apex of her flight was almost intoxicating. Fear mixed with joy, pride, giddiness and a dozen other feelings she didn't have the time to dwell on at the moment. Not that she tried. She was wholly focused on taking the sensation in.

Then came the drop.

Her skin prickled with cold sweat. Retsu didn't let it stop her. As she fell she reached into her fiery mane, pulled and threw. Orb after orb joined her descent until it looked like a veritable meteor shower was heading right for the stage. Down below she could see two white wings spread in a threatening display. Its head reared back and despite the distance she swore she could see its chest inflate from where she was moments before it let loose.

"Honk! Honk! Honk! Honk!"

The echo filled the air, a sonic boom visible in the sky as it spread in a half-sphere right towards her. Every single one of the orbs detonated upon contact briefly turning the sky into a violet tapestry of fire. Only one streak pierced through it like a falling star, shining so brightly she was barely visible amidst the flames. 

Fire roared around her so loudly she could barely hear her own thoughts. Retsu's smile spread so wide her cheeks hurt. Down below a white blur rose to meet her, its wings flapping to put them right on a collision course. At the very last moment they both swerved, passing each other so close she could feel its pinions grazing her. With a flap and a twist Retsu flew back up as the goose flew down. They spiralled around each other like a double helix as they circled the area until they were both behind the stands. From there their paths split, Retsu going left and the goose going right. When they were both on opposite sides they turned once more and flew towards the middle in an arc. Up and then down they flew, both of them heading straight for the ground to land right in front of each other.

Retsu hit the stage in a three-point landing, hand and knee on the ground, while the goose kept its wing wide open in a threatening display the moment it landed. Slowly Retsu stood, but a single thought going through her head.

'Fook, hero landings hurt like hell.'

As one they both turned to face the audience. Their expression wasn't something they'd planned yet in their own ways their faces showed the same thing. A challenge. As if they were daring the crowd to say something. It wasn't even a warning that they'd face their combined wrath if they did so. It was a promise.

---

TL;DR:
Retsu's anger turns cold at the thought of Aika Ao being in her head. The anger sputters out into a numbness when she sees the audience. After a rough start the goose and Retsu manage to coordinate to put on a show, blanketing the sky in fire and performing an arial chase before landing in the center of the stage and turning towards the crowd, daring them to say anything.

Tags: Aysu,Arataki Noa,Jack Orion

It hadn't been long since the Dream World had ended and spat her back into a waking nightmare. Retsu limped through the streets, her phone in one hand to direct her towards Rui and her pistol clenched in a white-knuckled grip in the other. Only half the magazine still remained. The rest she'd already been forced to use. Blood flowed off her like ink off a page, revealing nought but a stained, empty mess beneath. Her hood was raised, covering her head and body alike as if it were her shield against the waking world. 

It was a flimsy lifeline. Blood stained polyester did little to defend from the harsh reality she'd found herself in. Had she had the energy for it she might have chuckled sardonically. Truly, it was amazing that she'd never noticed something was off. Everyone else seemed to. Only upon returning to a cold, empty existence did Retsu get a sneaking suspicion.

Something was terribly wrong. 

There was a hollow feeling deep inside she'd carried with her for so long she hadn't even realized it was there, filled by outlandish reaches, constant distractions and burning wroth. Little but fumes remained at the moment. Just enough to put one foot in front of the other, sputtering sparks trying and failing to reignite the fiery rage she now realized she relied on to carry on. Had existence always felt so cold without her constant hate and single-minded pursuits to sustain her?

She didn't remember. No, perhaps she simply refused to remember for fear of what she would find. Wasn't that something? Bakuretsu, terrorist extraordinaire and higher up in an organization that had turned Tokyo upside down, afraid. It was laughable. 

Retsu couldn't muster up so much as a chuckle.

She didn't even bother greeting Rui when she finally spotted her. Just one foot in front of the other, uncaring of what it would look like to any outsider. A hooded, bloodsoaked figure approaching the little devil with gun in hand. Who knew what anyone would think? Who knew what they'd do? Retsu didn't. Know, nor care. Not today. Not now. Perhaps not ever again. A derisive snort left her at that thought. When had she sunk so low?

------

Tags: Rui Matsui

"Ah roite, the phone ah got ya moite be a bit too old ta set up an account with. Hmm. Wait, didn'tcha 'ave an ENKI phone too now?" Retsu asked while snapping her fingers in realization. It wasn't exactly common these days for any phone on the market to not be a smartphone but the 'retro' style of phones had the kind of niche popularity that meant you could always find a few stores that kept them in stock. Something that suited Retsu perfectly. While the ones she used for her C4 were sourced through more untraceable means having access to other suppliers in a pinch was rather convenient and the lack of internet connection the 'true retro' phones had made it far less likely someone could activate her explosives when they were a bit too close to her for comfort. 

It was rather inconvenient in this case though. If it hadn't been for the ENKI phone Lylyana would likely still be cut of from quite a few conveniences. 

"We'll 'ave ta getcha a proper smartphone soon, risky usin' the untrackable fer everythin' after all, but fer now ENKI's will do. Lemme show ya 'ow ta set up a temporary account once ah've finished ordering."

Nodding along to Lylyana's words Retsu's eyes were drawn to the fridge and she took several steps towards it. 

"Now dis bring back memories. Ah started out fixin' stuff up lahk this one ya know?" Retsu said while running a hand over the side of it. "Ah reckon ah've worked on about 'alf a dozen a dis model."

It was rare that Retsu was confronted with anything related to her past in a positive manner, much less anything she could be proud about. A content sigh escaped her before she turned back to Lylyana and ran her through the process of setting up a bank account through her ENKI phone. Normally it'd take quite a bit of paperwork but the advantage of getting an anonymous bank account through less than legal was that it had a lot less red tape. They were just about done when there was someone at the door, even with Retsu taking the time to make sure Lylyana understood it was best not to use this less than legal account for everything and that she should probably see about setting up a normal bank account soon.

"Ah reckon that's the food. D'ya wanna get that? Moite be best if ah'm naht seen 'ere, just in case."

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Tags: lylyth

Hearing the fox mutant and the ringmaster argue Retsu clicked her tongue and shook her head. Of course she just had to quite literally be the captive audience to a shouting match like this. Ah well, if nothing else it distracted her from the height. Not that she minded it, of course. Not at all. Any allegations to the contrary were lies and slander.

"Do ah know you?" Retsu asked Jack with a furrowed brow. His words seemed to imply that they'd met. Had he gotten caught on the edge of an explosion caused by one of her grenades once perhaps? Yeah, surviving that seemed like just the kind of thing a shrimp like him would get all righteously smug about.

 Seeing him shoot ahead before she managed to get a move on made her ball her hands into fists. She was allowing herself to get distracted far too easily. A choice had to be made. Her first instinct was to just ignore all three paths and get to the finish line her own way. Had she not been so high up in the air it'd quite likely have been the choice she'd gone for. Not that being up here was affecting her, of course. No, it was the fact that she'd planned to pretend to play along with the whole charade that had her pick one of the three. 

Her eyes went to the lowest one. It was practically riddled with obstacles, which in Retsu's experience meant pushing through them was the way to get ahead. If anything went wrong it was also the one that placed her closest to the ground, which was a plus. Her teeth grit. Who was afraid of heights? She wasn’t. Absolutely not. Nuh-uh. That settled it then. Another spark burst out of her left eye and added to the crackling fire that was her hair. The lowest one was right out and Retsu wasn't gonna accept second best. The top path it was.

It seemed to have a lot of birds. Retsu scowled at the reminder of an encounter most fowl. A manic grin settled on her face. Perfect. She was just in need of some stress relief. A flap of her hair carried her towards the top path and more importantly right at one of the larger coins. The ringmaster had mentioned extra rewards and if the games of Kart Kart she'd played had tipped her off to anything it was that the coins would be key. Extending her hand she reached for the first, wondering whether it'd shrink or vanish and be added to some kind of invisible score when she or the bubble made contact.

...It would do either of those, right?

Another flap of her hair attempted to slow her down again so she wouldn't slam right into it, pop the bubble and go falling to her death. It was too little too late. The coin arrived all the same. A fun little tune like an electronic chime marked her success, albeit it was possible a memory of her past gaming session caused her to hear it and that the sound wasn't really there. Before she could think about it any further a feathery foe flapped fiercely with fangs flourished her way. Her hand acted before her mind did, pulling loose a chunk of flaming hair and tossing it at the bird. The resulting explosion swallowed it before her bubble could get popped. A relieved sigh left her. Too close.

Were anyone looking at her at that exact moment one thing in particular would have stood out. Retsu was smiling. It was wide smile -more of a grin- and on the verge of turning into full blown laughter. Her eyes shone as she took in the rest of the flock. Without looking away from them her hands pulled two more fireballs free and with a flap of her hair she was off.

"Eat this, you fooks! Ahahahaha! Ahahahahahahaaaaaa!!!"

Orb after orb flew out and detonated as Retsu flew from one coin to the next, laughing uproariously all the while. Was this what people with a quirk felt like all the time? She should've been angry about it. For some reason she wasn't. Her smile simply widened as she continued throwing more and more fire at the enemies. It didn't take long for her to reach the apex of her climb, the very top of the path. Taking in a deep breath she inhaled the crisp air up so high before turning to look at Rin and Jack in turn.

"See y'all at the finish line!"

She couldn't keep the glee out of her voice nor did she care to try. Her emotions bubbled to the surface and escaped as cackling laughs. Yet the bubbling was more like that of a jacuzzi, pleasant and freeing, than the normal fiery wroth that was like magma sizzling to burn away at the world. She threw and threw and threw until her hands grasped empty air. Panting for breath she calmed down as the speed of her flight slowed to a crawl. 

Ah. That might be pretty bad.

Patting her head down Retsu noticed little more than a bob cut remained of her once elongated hair that had gone all the way down to her knees. With it went her ability to steer the bubble. Unless she was willing to sit tight and wait for however many months it'd take her hair to regrow she had to find an alternative. She shrugged. Hair didn't grow back instantly but flames had a tendency of swelling when stoked. So far only her anger had done so but perhaps she could do it manually as well.

It almost came naturally. As if an instinct that had laid dormant all this time had awoken the moment she ended up in the Dream World and guided her hand; Or in this case her eye. A plume of fire practically burst forth from her left eye before curling back and setting what little remained of her hair further alight. The process was far from instant but as if she had a connection to the flame she could feel it swell more and more by the second. It took almost a full minute for her hair to grow back to its full length, undoubtedly setting her back massively in their little race to the finish line, yet despite starting it Retsu couldn't find it in herself to mind.

The experience had been -if she allowed herself to be so sappy- almost magical. She couldn't help but wonder just how much she'd yet to learn about this quirk. Her smile widened even further. She'd find out in due time. First she had a race to finish and birds to punt out of the sky.

---

TL;DR: 
Due to not at all being afraid of heights nor having a tendency of lashing out at things she's afraid of Retsu picks the highest path. Taking as many coins as she can along the way Retsu declares a war on bird-kind that goes far better than the Australian version and makes her way through most of the course before running out of hair. Along the way she shouts back at Jack and Rin that she'll see them at the finish line. After her boast her progress is massively delayed due to having to manually regrow her quirk-boosted hair, ensuring she'll secure nought but last place at best.

New Quirk: Blazing Hair
Changed Appli: Dream World Retsu

------

Tags: Aysu , Arataki Noa , Jack Orion
 

"Try naht ta rek the contents. If there's a folder or some kinda disk in there make sure ah get mah hands on it, ah'll pay extra." Retsu shouted back, making sure her voice was raised enough to be heard over the sound of Taro's percussive unlocking method. Judging by the first reply she got it seemed Taro wasn't the only one Retsu's voice reached.

"Ah fuck it's her. No mercy, lads."

A laugh forced its way out of her throat. Treat others the way you wish to be treated, was it? Well. They'd just made their wishes clear. Retsu's arm reared back before the first enemy even crossed the corner, two half sprinted steps making her nearly run into the man as he did. Unlike the tropes however she wasn't eating a sandwich. He was eating a hammer.

Thu-thunk. Ksssssshh.

The lizard-faced man's wide eyes showed for but the slightest moment in her field of view before a hammer head replaced them. The first impact shattered hastily reinforced scales. The second made sure he wouldn't be getting up again, either because it gave him a concussion or worse. Heated air escaping the hammer with a hiss like a snake in the grass marked her withdrawal back around the corner right before the shocked goons managed to open fire.

"Come on, fookheads! That all ya got?"

A maniacal laugh escaped her. It served as much as a tool of intimidation as it was real. Whoever said work and fun should be separate was full of shit. What was the point of living if you didn't get to enjoy it? She could practically feel their hesitation. Never let it be said she didn't help people get past their traumas. Picking up a piece of debris she lobbed it as far down the hallway as she could while shouting.

"Grenade!"

That got them moving alright. Of course being the good person she was she had to give them a little reward for their courage, didn't she?

Thu-thunk. Ksssssshh.

Right after she gifted a nap to the next person to come within reach another nearly bowled her over. The balls of her feet skidded against the ground while she kept him at bay with the haft of her hammer. With a heave she forcefully raised said haft, knocking his pistol off course enough that the barrel wasn't aimed her way before she swung the back of it into his temple to unbalance him further. A move that put the head of the hammer rather close to the ground. Firmly planting her legs she swung diagonally up, hitting him full force in the side before he could recover.

Thu-thunk. Ksssssshh.

To her surprise he went flying. It wasn't much, in fact flying might be a bit of an exaggeration, but his feet definitely left the ground. Regardless of whether it counted or not it was enough to bowl over the final combatant just as he'd skid to a halt grimacing at the sickening cracks her strike had caused. Retsu wasn't one to turn down an opportunity. Taking a single step forward she turned her hips to add momentum to the strike and swung the still raised hammer down onto the fallen pair.

Thu-thunk. Ksssssshh.

It had only been a momentary exertion but it still left her panting. As she straightened her face scrunched into a grimace. Yup, her back would definitely be feeling that one tomorrow.

Hearing a far more organised -and far larger amount- of footsteps in the distance Retsu made up her mind. It was time to dip. She hoped Player One had managed to get what they came for. If not, well, she'd have to make use of the piece of C4 in her back pocket to get rid of the safe's contents before the cops got here. It'd do no one good for that to end up in the wrong hands. Especially not her.

"Oy! We're leaving! Grab y'r shit and get to the van!"

With that they were home free. Retsu let out a sigh. She just had to think that didn't she? With some luck the only thing it'd bring down on their heads is a traffic jam. A girl could hope, right?

------

Tags: Taro Yamada

"Only sa much fuel ya ken stick inta one a' those things," Retsu replied with a shrug. When it came to making explosive hammers reusable there was a surprisingly tight margin between fuel capacity and durability. Too much fuel and too little durability and it turned into a tool that blew up entirely on the first thing it hit, too little fuel and too much durability and you'd be left with nothing but a normal hammer after the first strike. Most other engineers would've decried the concept entirely and called it a day after the first few prototypes turned out to be duds or nearly blew their own arms off. Retsu wasn't most other engineers. Especially when it came to explosives.

The fact that she'd gotten a bit too caught up in it and spent more than 48 hours on too many energy drinks and too little sleep had nothing to do with it.

"Oy, go fetch some more hammers from the van!" Retsu shouted to the unfortunate subordinate still with them.

She had two hammers left on her person and from the footsteps she heard rapidly getting closer she'd be needing one of them. Pocketing her notepad and pen she let one of the two drop from beneath her arm and grabbed hold of it in mid-air. With a hammer now in each hand she held both up and looked at Taro.

"Take y'r pick," she said before gesturing with her head towards the approaching footsteps. "Jus' be quick 'bout it. Ah'll need the other one."

In her left hand she held a hammer that appeared little different from a normal sledgehammer, albeit with its wooden haft wrapped in rubber and a fair few weld lines and circular holes across the head. Within said head Retsu had installed several pistons that were part of a small combustion engine. When the hammer hit anything it would trigger and the pistons would add a second impact to the strike right after the first. As if that weren't enough the small circular holes on the sides served as exhausts to vent the heat, likely giving whoever had been hit with it a nasty burn. 

Her right -on the other hand- held a weapon that looked far more like the kind of rocket hammers one would find in a video game. A large haft with a trigger held up a cylindrical head that was mushroomed near the front. The back of the head had four thrusters to quite literally put the 'rocket' in 'rocket hammer' and an equal amount of fuel tanks set into the curved back of the mushroom-like face of the hammer. 

"Just lemme know 'ow it worked after, will ya?" Retsu asked while tossing whichever of the two Taro chose at him and flourished the other one before properly gripping its haft with a fierce look in her eye. With slow, measured steps she walked away from Taro and towards the incoming footsteps. "Ah've got the feelin' ah'm gonna be a bit busy ta pay attention ta what y'r doin' with it."

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Tags: Taro Yamada