As the rod closes in, something hits me on my shoulder, knocking me down. As I fall, the rod glazes my arm, leaving a big cut.

Landing with a grunt, I looked over to my shoulder to see scorch marks on my uniform.

"Suki! What are you doing?" Mei angrily screams from the other side of the exhibit. She's using her quirk to fly, as she engages the man with the rhino quirk in combat.

Mei! She must have used her quirk to knock me out of the way!

"If you want to save your aunt, you need to fight Suki! Fight! Otherwise get the hell out of--"

The rhino-quirk user grabs her leg and pulls her down.

"Let go of me!"

Mei then lands two consecutive punches in the rhino-man's nose, causing him to let go and step back.

"Now make a choice! Don't just stand there! Move!" Mei says, glancing over to me before she engages in combat once more.

Mei is right. I need to make a choice.

"Suki, please. I beg you. Get out of here," Auntie Ami pleads as she reaches out towards me.

My body begins to shake, but this time it is not out of fear.

I know what I have to do, but it is against everything I know.

"I am sorry Auntie Ami," I say as I lift myself up to my knees. From the corner of my eyes, I spot a katana. I reached out for it and carefully pulled it towards me. I use the blade to support myself as I lift myself to my feet.

"I will not leave you."

I twirl the sword in my right hand, and point it towards the man in the suit, who eyes me curiously.

The katana is heavier than my saber. However, it is not as heavy as I initially thought.

"You too? I guess stupidity really does run in the family," the man said with a yawn

He may think I am weak, but it does not matter. I do not need to beat him in combat, I simply need to stall him until the pro heroes arrive.

"Suki! Ugh, you are just like your mother, stubborn as hell," Auntie Ami comments as she lets out a sigh.

"As you can tell, the katana is a different shape and weight than a saber. While a saber is designed to thrust into your opponent, a katana is designed for swift, cutting motions," Auntie Ami explains.

Well, regardless which sword I use, it will only be effective if I get close enough. I do not have the element of surprise, so I am left with one option.

I firmly grab the hilt of the sword with both my hands, carefully hold it along the side of my body, and begin running straight towards the man.

I highly doubt I will have the opportunity to use the katana, as the man will most likely use his quirk to rip it out of my hands. But that is exactly what I am counting on.

"Despicable. Yet, I oddly respect your efforts. Too bad they're in vain," the man says as he lightly flicks his fingers to the side.

The sword suddenly jerks to the side, as if it is possessed. Luckily, I had a firm grip on the sword, so it did not escape my grasp. However, the force causes me to stumble, nearly causing me to fall. But I quickly regain my footing and continue running towards him.

As expected, he used his quirk. Now I need him to use it at least one more time.

He watches me as I quickly close the gap between us.

"Interesting. Now, let's see if you can hold on to this," he says, time gesturing to the side with his entire arm.

I immediately let go of the sword, and watched from the corner of my eyes as it took off with such force it created a crater through a wall.

The man looked shocked, not expecting me to still be running towards me.

But before he can react, I lower my shoulders and tackle him into a pile of rubble.

Something splats on my face as he yells out in pain. But I ignore it and quickly pin his arm onto the ground with all my might.

He cannot use his quirk if he cannot use his arms. Now I have to keep him down like this..

To my surprise, the man begins to laugh hysterically, causing me to look over. With the sunglasses off his face, I can now see his dark gray eyes.

"Clever girl! But not clever enough."

He then moves his head, facing one side, then quickly rotates his head to the other side.

My eyes widened in panic.

He does not need his hands to use his quirk?

"Suki! Look out!" Auntie Ami warns.

But it is too late. I look to my side, only to see the katana I was wielding pierce me right below my ribs.

I cry out in pain as the force of the sword knocks me off of the man and onto my back.

"Haha! I gotta admit, you almost had me there!" The man says as he gets up.

I gasp as I spot a piece of metal deep into his left shoulder.

"But you were not good enough," he continues as he stands over me. He stands on my stomach, adding pressure every time I move, causing the pain to increase.

He reaches for the sword.

Is this it?

He must realize what I am thinking, as he begins to laugh once again.

"Oh, don't worry! I ain't gonna kill you!" He says as he grabs the hilt of the katana.

"I'm a firm believer that there are worse things than death in this world," he says as he pulls out the sword. I let out a whimper, and stare at the blade, covered in blood.

Covered with my blood.

"And based on your reactions, watching your sweet auntie die is one of those things for you," he says with a smirk as he steps off me. He then props me up against some rubble.

"There you go. Front row seats," he says as he begins to laugh, walking towards Auntie Ami.

No.

The very thing I tried to avoid is happening.

"Pay attention darling, as this is gonna be somewhat quick, but very painful. All because you decided to play hero," he says as he raises his right hand up, and slowly brings it down. The mountain of rubble on top of Auntie Ami begins to move downward, slowly applying more pressure onto her body. She screams as the rubble proceeds to further crush her body.

This is all my fault. I caused this to happen.

I close my eyes. Tears leak out as I sat there, helpless.

No! Stop it! Auntie Ami is suffering right now and all you can do is cry?

Get up!

I take a deep breath, and wince as I slowly lift myself to my feet.

I must stop him! No matter the cost! So ignore the pain and run at him!

My body, as if listening to my command, regains enough strength to stand back on my feet and run, and I found myself in a full sprint towards my opponent.

He still hasn't noticed me.. He is slowly walking towards Auntie Ami, twirling the katana in one hand as he continues to crush her body with the other.

As I am running, I take a glimpse at the drawing on my forearm.

If only I had a weapon.

Suddenly, I get this itching sensation coming from my forearm right where the drawing is on. I ignore it at first, as I am closing in on the man. But my eyes widened with surprise and shock as the sword drawn on my skin suddenly popped out of my arm, in full size, in front of me.

I have no time to think as I instinctively grab the hilt of the sword and swing it at the man. The man barely has time to react as he lifts the katana to block it.

"What? How are you on your feet?" The man exclaims as I swing the sword again, not giving him any time to recover.

If he recovers, then he will just use his quirk to swat my sword away. I need to hit him with a barrage of attacks to keep him busy.

He backs away, trying to create space between us. But I quickly closed the gap, and continued with my attacks.

I can feel my attacks getting slower, as my muscles ache for oxygen.

I knew I would eventually tire, but I did not think it would happen so quickly.

"Tired already?" The man taunts. I respond by swinging my sword at him, forcing further away from Auntie Ami.

Slowly, I begin to feel as if the room is spinning. My knees begin to buckle as I take another step. My vision slowly begins to blur as I force myself to a stop.

The man laughs as I fall to my knees, using my sword to keep myself from fully collapsing on the ground.

"Pathetic! Maybe I should just put you out of your misery. But then again, I–"

He suddenly turns away and presses his index finger against his ear.

"Heard. I'll meet you there," he says as he glances back at me.

"I hate to leave things unfinished, but unfortunately I have to go. Until we meet again!" He says as he runs off, waving goodbye.

What just happened? Did he have an earpiece?

Before I can move, a bright flash blinds me, followed by a deafening boom.

In the center of the room, there is a man with dark skin and dreads standing in the middle of the room. He appears to wear a black and yellow hero costume, with a black cape that has a yellow lightning bolt in the middle.

He looks over to the rhino man, who has Mei cornered.

In an instant, he grabs Mei out of the corner and in the middle of the room, with her in his arms.

"Oh my gosh! Flashpoint, is it really you?" Mei tiredly exclaims.

"Yes it is. Now, stay here while I take care of business," he says as he gently lays her on the ground.

"A pro!? You will die!" The rhino man yells as he charges right at Flashpoint. Flashpoint raises his fist and aims it at the rhino man. A thunder bolt flies out of his fist and lands directly on the rhino man's chest. Rhino man is launched back into the air, and lands on the ground, unable to move.

"The coast is clear. Bring in the paramedics now," Flashpoint says as he holds his ear. Shortly after, paramedics and other emergency personnel rush into the room. Flashpoint helps put Mei on a stretcher, then turns and faces me.

As he walks over to me, his body slowly disappears as everyone begins to go dark.

"Young lady! Stay awake, you hear?" He yells as he carefully took the sword away from my hands and picks me up.

"Please, help Auntie Ami," I mutter as I try to lift my arm to point.

"Shh. Don't worry. We'll take care of it. Just focus on..."

His voice trails off as my eyelids finally give in, and everything goes dark.

Author's Note:

I know, I know. I took wayyy too long to upload, and for that, I deeply apologize. I had to go on a work trip, and deal with some personal issues. But I hope you enjoyed the chapter! And yes, Suki is indeed not quirkless! Everything will be explained in the next chapter, which I hope to upload within the next week or two!

Character Spotlights: Suki Tamura

Quirk: Canvas

Likes: Art