Raise your hand if you're still here. 🖐️
=============================

][ Previously: Elyse hacks computer, finds Ryo was once a registered slave in fighting ring, snags a lot of info from computer, and is chased out by chainsaw Nomu. She saves the people trapped, grabs Zeya, and runs into Makima, who is an evil villain lady who makes people fight each other. Elyse forced to fight Zeya. Elyse gets F-ing sawed lmao. ][

.

     The room danced; it swayed around her. Elyse's glossed over eyes couldn't focus on anything. The sharp pain dulled out, replaced with a mild burning where the gash marked diagonally across her chest.

     She could still breathe. Her heart was still beating. She wasn't dead yet.

     But, she couldn't hear anything quite right. Even Zeya's screams right beside her were drowned out, as though her head was under a foot of water.

     "EELLLYYYSSEEEE!!!" Zeya's arms wrapped around her own chest, dropping to her knees at the sight of her newly found aunt laying half dead on the floor. Her body shook terribly, unable to look away from all the blood.

     She had seen many horrors in her life, the poor girl, but the first memory that came to mind in this moment was the image of her mother bloody and lifeless in the driver's seat with fire all around, the image unchanging no matter what she did.

     The Nomu stood over Elyse's body, right chainsaw dripping with blood. It stood there silently, ready to strike again if the woman dared move.

     "Denji." The villain's voice flatly called to it, stretching her arms out, open in welcome. "Leave her."

     The Nomu's weapon of a head shifted up immediately. It strode over the bleeding hero, kneeling before the lady and dipping its head. She gently traced her hand down his metallic face.

     "Please don't tell me you're dating a Nomu." Though she loved the woman for whatever reason, Zeya's face contorted in disgust.

     "He's my brother." Makima clarified, turning toward the youngest. Zeya was quick to purse her lips, dip her head, and shut up on the spot.

     Elyse wasn't sure if she heard that right. That thing..? Her brother?! Images of her own brother came to mind. Imagining him turned into a Nomu?? Sickening.

     "Ughh!" Elyse groaned, rolling onto her side. Blood leaked out of her like it was nothing, spilling more red over the floor.

     "Elyse, no-!" Zeya reached out for the elder, but was too afraid to touch her.

     Leaning on her elbow, the hero lifted her heavy head, glaring the ginger down. "Youuh.. You-kh! ..Why the...h### would you..disgrace your brother like that? Guh!.. Turning his body into a Nomu. What kind of a monster are you to do that to your own brother?!" She could feel the adrenaline kicking in.

     She was really doing this, aye?

     First came an expression of appallment, then a sharp glare. "Of course you heroes would find this as nothing but repulsing. You all fail to care in the slightest about the real needs of others. It was because of your kind that he ended up like this in the first place! I had no other choice!!

----------

     I had the worst paranoia regarding love. I was so scared that everyone was faking it. Didn't help that my quirk had a bad habit of activating at random, suddenly making everyone around me treat me so differently than before.

     The only one who evaded this paranoia of mine was my step brother, Denji. He always treated me the same, whether my quirk was activated or not.

     Since our parents weren't home a lot, my older brother was like a parent to me as well, seeing that I stuck to my studies and was safe with friends. He even interrogated any boys who claimed to have a crush on me, which was pretty easy for him, because...

     My brother's quirk: "chainsaw" affected his life every minute of the day. His head was a chainsaw 24/7, which, as you can imagine, didn't get him the most girls, friends, or positive attention for that matter. Unfortunately, as a mutant, there really wasn't much he could do about it.

     He always kept his chin up, though, determined to look on the bright side of things. He told me he had plans to become a lumberjack if all the hero schools turned him down. There, at least he'd make enough money with his quirk to live a stable life, find a girl who loved him, and have a family of his own someday.

     His dream was to become a hero, but...he was okay with settling for less. He'd been told his entire life that he would turn out to be a villain with his quirk, so even living a simple life would prove all of them wrong.

     He was such a sweet, gentle boy...who, unfortunately, for this situation at least, tended to go a little ape-#### when his little sister was in trouble.

Pop-pop! Pow! Pop!

     It all happened so fast. I was on my way home from school when suddenly a band of villains crashed into a nearby store. I ducked for cover behind a mailbox as a gun fight broke out between the villains and police, plus a couple heroes. Terrified, I dialed my brother and called him for help.

     A terrible choice.

     "MAKIMA!!" Denji roared, racing across the road to reach me. The fight had progressively grown closer to my huddled form. Denji had been training for this. From his arms protrudes two chainsaws, which he used as shields against the bouncing bullets and a few rocks sent his way from an explosion. He rolled over his shoulder, leapt over the hood of a police car, all on his way toward me.

     Then the heroes spotted him.

Pop!

     Blood spouted from Denji's left arm. I screamed out in terror as my brother was showered in bullets. However, he was determined to reach me, not even registering that the only reason he was being targeted was because he looked like a villain ready to slice up an innocent girl. He was still wearing his middle school uniform. Surely they would notice this!

     They did not.

     "You gotta....hide..better..." Crawling toward me, a bloody mess, Denji reached out to me with his arm saws still out. He pointed to the nearby abandoned shop. "Hide 'n...bathroom.."

     "..No." I cried. Tears leaking from my eyes. I couldn't leave him behind. 

     Denji dragged himself forward with one arm, reaching out and nudging me on with the tip of his trembling saw. "You have to... I'll be okay..." I should have never trusted those words. But, as the naive little girl I was..I did. I scurried into the shop through the broken door and hid in the bathroom.

     Behind me, I could hear a hero approaching Denji. Naively, I hoped the hero would help him.

     He did not.

     I emerged from the bathroom about half an hour later with a very grim expression. The noises had ceased, but no one came and told me that my brother was alright or that it was safe for us to go now.

     I stumbled out of the shop, shocked to discover that my brother had indeed not been helped, but rather murdered. The hero had finished him off with a final stomp to his already bleeding back.

     "...Denji...?" I dropped to my knees. Gently, I traced my hand over his facial blade all the way to his head, which was now splattered with his own blood. "Brother, wake up. Wake up!" I shook his bloodstained shoulder, which did no good. Tears fogged my eyes. I screamed out an agonizing cry. I pulled my brother's larger body closer to me, not caring that I got dirty.

     Nobody was here. No heroes. No villains. Like a ghost town... I mourned alone.

     "Please, get up, please-please!--"

     "-What is the matter, little one?" A short, plump doctor with a bushy brown moustache and round goggles approached with his hands folded behind his back. I glared up at him with the most hurt look. Wasn't it obvious?! "My my..." Kneeling down, the man in doctor's clothes examined the lifeless body of my older brother. He'd just turned sixteen... So excited for trying out at entering a hero school later this year. "...He's salvageable." Referring to the body currently laying partially over my lap. I just stared up at him, more confused than ever. "My name is Dr. Garaki." Bowing his head. "And I know this may sound a little strange...but I believe I can help him."

     I gasped. "Really?!"

     "Yes." The Doctor chuckled. "I just need you to promise me something." I leaned over intently. "Will you promise to join my cause? Ensuring that All For One becomes ruler of this world?"

     I gasped. This was quite the commitment. I had no idea who this All For One was, but helping anyone conquer the world was a BIG task to ask of ANY ten year old girl!.. But, by this point I was willing to do anything to bring my big brother back. And besides, I could already see some major things about this world that needed to be changed... Starting with the heroes.

     "Yes." Without skipping a beat, I agreed.

----------

     Why was she fighting..?

     This singular thought rang through Elyse's head as she struggled onto her knees. Her niece's words had cut a lot deeper than even the teen probably intended.

     She had no idea how, but Zeya had pegged her true motives perfectly. Motives she hadn't even realized until now.

     Put simply, Elyse was angry at the world for everything it has done to her. Crappy childhood. Crappy parents. Crappy sister. Crappy deaths. Crap, crap, CRAP! All of it was a heaping pile of crap!! Elyse shoved a wobbly foot under her weight, knee and ankle buckling. As she put weight on it to slide the other foot underneath as well, the stinging returned. The hero gritted her jaw, hissing through her teeth.

     She had used finding Zeya as an excuse for so long. But now that she was finally found...the tarp had been removed. The tarp had been removed, revealing the real s### show that had become her very life, passion and drive.

     This was terrible... Turns out she was no hero. Not a real one that should be idealized at least!

     ...She just wanted to beat some bad guys up to take her anger out on the world while pretending it was for a good cause...

     "S###!... You're right, Zeya.. I... I really am a terrible hero, aren't I..?" Tears brimming her eyes, Elyse finally made eye contact with her niece as she fought to stand. "I have no reason to save peo--ple.."

     Then the strangest thing happened. Interrupting her self sabotaging statement, an image of Mob flashed before her eyes. But, not just at any moment. Specifically right after she had helped save him, when he still looked like a little child.

     The relieved faces on everyone around her, the boy at last allowing himself to relax after a tough week. She...helped him.. She helped him without the twisted sense of revenge as her driving motive. But instead to make sure that little boy was alright.

     Taking a moment to remember, Elyse recalled all the people she had saved so far. Though it may have only been out of beating villains up, she always was filled with a sense of pride to hear that those she saved were alright; that the citizens she poured all her effort into were safe at the end of the day. ..Because of her..

     Then she remembered Zeya, eyes unfogging, mind returning to the present. Though she had become a hero for unclear reasons, seeing that girl finally alive and mostly well... Why, that may just be the most rewarding rescue of them all...

     A rescue that wasn't finished yet.

     Elyse clenched her jaw, hissing, "Nevermind that... I've still got a niece to save." The hero's fists rose to defend her jaw, glaring down the Nomu that stood between her and the villain. "...Now get out of my f###ing way..."

     "Hm... Zeya, don't get yourself involved in this." The villain ordered, eyes preoccupied with glaring down the hero.

     "But!--"

     "What did I say?!"

     The teen cowered away, submissively. "..Yes ma'am..."

     "Denji, you know what to do... Take out the trash."

     The monster growled sadistically, all three saws revving into action. Elyse crouched lower, blocking out every internal and external distraction she had.

     'Ignore the pain.. Ignore the anger.. Ignore the fear.. Ignore the memories.. Ignore it all. Right now... I am Mirko, the hero who doesn't give a d### about what happens as long as she WINS IN THE END!' Opening her eyes, Elyse's lips parted into a broad, toothy smirk. As the Nomu charged at her, saws roaring, time slowed down. 'As she always says, find your limits, and go beyond them!' She drew from this determination, new inner strength. Pushing her broken body forward, Elyse grabbed the blade off her hip. 'And go.. PLUS ULTRA!!!'

     The hero flipped over the Nomu's left blade, hand hooking around it's arm to redirect her momentum towards its back. She climbed up the Nomu and slipped her arm under its chin to catch it in a choke hold.

     Her quirk was unsteady. It waved in and out of her desired speed. The Nomu simply tucked its chin, metal jaw snapping her arm!

     "Agh!" She wasn't giving up that easily! Her other arm was alright, so she angled it right and jabbed the big knife into the back of its head, specifically between the armor plating of a chainsaw helmet and its vital brain. She shoved the handle up, wedging the thick piece of metal apart from the rest.

     The Nomu shrieked, blood trickling down from its head. While Elyse was distracted, the Nomu retracted it's right saw, leaving only a hand with large, thick claws. It reached behind itself for her, grabbing her body via it's large claws and digging its tough nails through her skin. Elyse was torn off of the Nomu's back and thrown across the room! Her knife remained in the Nomu's head, however.

     "ELYSE!!!"
     "DENJI!!!"

     Zeya ran to help her aunt while Makima raced to reach her Nomu brother.

     "Elyse, just stay down! I- I can talk to her about it! She'll let you live, I just know it!!"

     "That isn't good enough!" Elyse grunted, jumping up surprisingly quickly. "The only way to grant your safety will be through killing that thing! Search yourself, Zeya! Her quirk is- ghh- it's messing with you!! She's not your mom and she never will be! So help me fight her!"

     "I-- I can't!!" Thoroughly panicked, the teen backed away from her aunt, grasping at her own loose clothes and hair madly.

     Elyse spat out a mouthful of blood. "Then let me do it for you.."

     Time slowed again. Elyse ran on wobbly legs toward the slowed down Nomu. Again, she dodged, this time two simultaneous strikes, narrowly leaping through the small gap granted her. She landed harshly on the ground under the Nomu and crawled under its legs before it could react. As it began to spin around, she jumped onto its back and grabbed the handle of her dagger yet again to pry through to its brain.

     "Nooooo, yyoouu, ddoooonnn'tt!" Makima drew her pistol, only out of desperation, and aimed it to strike the hero in the head.

     Zeya jumped at the woman, sliding one foot behind one of the ginger's to break her footing, arms tearing the gun out of her hands, the two movements forcing the woman to fall backwards onto her back. "Ssoooorrryyy!" The teen apologized, clearly torn emotionally.

     And as Makima clattered to the ground, Elyse successfully pried the shell of a chainsaw up just enough to stab the Nomu deep into it's now exposed brain.

     Both siblings fell, one shortly after the other. And though the Nomu still twitched, it was officially dead. The lights, to perhaps the entire facility...finally flickered out.

     The villain gasped when she realized she had momentarily blacked out after the fall. When she opened her eyes, Zeya was already beside her fallen aunt, trying to help patch the hero up with her own emergency medical supplies. It was dark, but the sparse LEDs in the floor somehow remained alight, giving the room just enough brightness to barely see.

     "S###- s###- s###!!" Zeya horsed. "How are you even still alive after all that?! This is--" Gagging, "a lot of blood."

     "It's okay..." The woman whispered. Her eyes were now too blurred to even tell where her niece was. She lifted her best arm, waving it around a little for the girl to grab. Zeya did. She grabbed it, and she held it closely, tearing up again. "I... I'll be okay... I've saved you.. after all... You're free now.."

     "..No..." Zeya whimpered. "Stay, please!.. I need you to hang in there..."

     Elyse smiled tiredly, gripping Zeya's hand a little tighter.

     "....You're a good kid... And I believe I made it my life's goal to find you for a reason. ... Zeya..?"

     "...Yes..?"

     "...You're going to save the world one day... I can feel it..." Barely whispering, each word was fought for. "Be strong..."

     Elyse's hand slipped out of Zeya's grasp. The teen gasped, hardly able to keep herself together. A pathetic mess.

Ch- ch!

     "I know All For One wants your quirk..." Came a low growl from behind. Zeya's eyes widened, horrified when she felt the barrel of a gun planted directly against the back of her head. The tall woman stood sloppily now, a wreck as well, no longer even trying to put on an act. "But, to be honest... I don't give a s### anymore... I just want you to burn in Hell..."

     Zeya held her breath.

Pa- Pa- Pa- Pa- Pa- THWAP!

     Mirko entered the scene, jump kicking the villain into the ground. The gun skidded across the metal ground. Zeya jumped towards it and grabbed the weapon, arms still trembling like crazy!

     "Don't worry, kid!" The rabbit hero sneered. Her left arm was completely gone! A tunicate and a few loose bandages all there was holding the remains together. "The medical team should be here any minute now!"

     "But she's--"

     "-We're not giving up on her yet, girlie!! After all, Mei's got a lot of people to impress; she's not going to risk her reputation by letting her go!"

     Zeya desperately wanted to believe there was hope. Though, judging by past circumstances, the chances were grimmer than grim. She remained pessimistic, though decided to keep that to herself for now.

     Mirko stomped toward Makima. "Nowww," grinning widely, "You're going to tell us everything we need to know about All For One~"

     The ginger pushed herself up slowly, not hiding the pain in her ribs and back. The woman just stared ahead with the coldest, deadest look.

...

     "She's going to kill herself!!" Zeya shouted. Mirko acted quickly, pouncing the woman again and tackling her to the ground. A knife tip entered her thigh, but it was much better she get cut than risk losing such a valuable pool of information.

     "Thanks, kid!!" Mirko called back over her shoulder.

     "..It's not fair..." The villain's eyes filled with tears. Now pinned, it looked like there were no good outcomes sprouting from this! She'd already seen Mirko in action. The rabbit girl was far too bent on accomplishing her mission to flinch when her quirk was activated! "It's no fair!" Sobbing, the woman choked back tears. "You heroes don't even realize what you're doing! You just take and take and take and TAKE!.. I HATE YOU ALL!"

     "That makes two of us. Now can you please shut up?!" Mirko throat chopped the woman, making her pass out instantly. She held her breath....then sighed. Standing, Mirko turned to the teen. "...Let's save your aunt... Kay?"

----------

     Reigen had feared this. He hung just outside the danger zone, clutching the chain-link fence while peering in. The medical staff finally pulled Elyse out on a stretcher.

     After she'd told him to run, he just couldn't do it! He told Serizawa and the new guy to go while he stayed behind just in case. And as he feared, the hero didn't return from the mission on her feet. Far from it.

     The blond climbed to the top of the fence and fell off of it into the other side. He ran toward the medical staff and ambulance.

     "Careful, sir!"
     "Don't come any closer!"
     "She's in critical condition!"

     Whphh!! Well he could tell by that!! Her entire body was covered in blood!

     Reigen bolted to the ambulance she was headed toward, rolling up his sleeve and covering up his arm. "I have type O+ blood!.. Drain me!!"

----------

     Riding in the ambulance on the bumpy trip to the hospital, Reigen sat with a distant  look in his eye... His head hurt now, his body a little numb... Maybe he should lay down.

     "Thanks..." A girl sitting beside him mumbled.

     "Hu...?" His head slowly pivoted, tired eyes scanning the teen, who was a little scuffed up, but obtained no serious injuries.

     "For donating the blood." The girl clarified. She didn't stare at him long, her own worried, glossy eyes returning to the terribly beaten hero, who was now heavily bandaged, a respirator on her face.

     But...she was still breathing.. though barely. Reigen exhaled, emotionally too numb to even consider the worst outcome. Zeya was the opposite, naturally accepting and preparing for the worst.

     But she did admire how much this man was willing to help... Family, maybe? Perhaps that uncle Elyse mentioned?.. She'd have to ask later. For now...she was too deep in a trance to process conversation on top of all that.

     Mirko sat across from them, presently fighting with a nurse over the way her nub of an arm should be wrapped.

     ""Alert to all units. To all units, come in."" Someone called on the rabbit hero's coms, loud enough for the others to hear too.

     "Yes? What's the matter?"

     ""The villain's base! The whole thing! It is self destructing!!""

     "What!?!"

     ""The whole thing!-- *booom!* The base's detonating from the inside-out! The computers, Nomu, all of it!! They're ALL *boom!* cratered! -- A-and the villain's been somehow blown up as well! Currently being resuscitated!"" Mirko didn't even have anything to say. As voices began to roar back and forth at one another, she crushed the device in her palm and dropped it to the ground.

     Everyone was feeling the same way.

     ...That was enough for today...

----------

Beep...beep...beep...

     "Ugh-...hhhhh.." Elyse groaned. What an annoying noise. She pried her eyes open, which were all crusty and dry. Why was...she so...tired?

     Elyse blinked-- no, wait. She closed her eyes, instantly slipping out of the present.

...beep...beep...beep...

     There goes that annoying sound again. Wait a minute.. she recognized it! Crap! Was she in the hospital?! She has to get up and- and...

     You know what...? Sleep sounds good.

     Yeah..

     Sleep...

----------

     "So, how long 've I been out, doc?"

     "About three days." The lady doctor answered. The hero blinked a few times, dumbfounded.

     "...D###... Wh-what about Zeya?"

     "I'm afraid I'm only a doctor, ma'am. Though I can try to request a guest visit if that is what you would like."

    "Yes, please." Elyse was careful with every breath. It hurt to breathe. Her lungs, as well as the rest of her body stung no matter how much medication they pumped into her! And she was told not to peel the bandages back to see the extent of her injuries yet. Also...her mind was a little sluggish. She knew it too. It was kind of like being drunk, except the whole time being painfully self aware about it.

     Elyse hated being injured. Though she had never been injured this badly before, she had been hospitalized several times, followed up by painfully slow recovery periods. Thank the quirk nation healing quirks exist, but there is still a lot that magic and science simply cannot handle on their own. Elyse would just have to bite the bullet and sit through said recovery process.

     Much of the damage was thanks to blood loss, which she was still terribly low on, but should have recovered sooner than later. Other than that, she's got a broken arm, a few broken ribs, torn muscles, and, possibly worst of all for any woman, a completely destroyed left memory gland. Most amazing of all is that the worst injury to her face was but a mere cut across her cheek, nothing that would completely ruin her facial features.

     The doctor left the room after checking Elyse's monitor one last time, replacing her in the doorway was a young blond man. Reigen.

     "You're awake??" He gasped.

     "Please don't tell me you did the sappy romance thing where you slept in a chair beside my bed..waiting for me to wake up." Leaning her head back against the pillow, the woman sighed, eyes shifting to stare up at the ceiling.

     "Um... Well... Not...exactly?" To the hero's right, under the bright glare of the window was a stiff hospital couch. On it were about three messy blankets, intertwined with one another. Too on the couch sat a couple empty boxes of ramen yet to be thrown away. Elyse craned her neck to see such a sight...following it up with a chuckle.

     "Heh... I'll allow it...only if you promise to break me out of this joint once I'm feeling better." Reigen chuckled softly with her. Not knowing what to do now that she was awake, he sat beside her, sighing in relief to know the worst part was over. "So.. what's been goin' on while I was out?"

     "Well, the.. um... I've got a new employee now!" The man smiled. "Boy what a pain it is keeping up the facade that we're a vigilante group in disguise. And I thought pretending to be a psychic was crazy!" Man was glad he had someone to vent these kinds of frustrations to now. And like always, Elyse was all ears. "..But he's already proved himself helpful on the field... Especially when it comes to dealing with people.. You know, there was this one guy who-" Elyse sniffled at his side, drawing the blond's attention to her again. "Are you okay??"

     "Yeah.." wiping the tears away with her only unwrapped arm. "M-jus-worry-m'bout-uu-you-k'now..?"

     "Huh?"

     The woman finally made eye contact with Reigen, her eyes filled with tears. "...Do ya think scars on a chic looks hot? Cuz-cuz I-I- th'nk scars are rad, but I 'm worried 'bout you.."

     Reigen exhaled a quick sigh of relief through his teeth, and shook his head, chuckling a little even. She offered her hand to him and he held it. "You don't have to worry about that, Elyse... Yes, I think scars are hot." Going along with this. He knew how much medication she was currently on. Elyse smiled so warmly, both thought she would melt.

     "...I love you.. Reggie."

----------

     "Only an empty USB was on Elyse. Nothing of value to the mission." An officer spoke to a laptop screen near the now crater site, which was still under heavy investigation. Beside the laptop stood an intently glaring Mei. On the monitor was a very worried looking Nezu.

     ' 'But I remember talking to her while she was downloading everything! It should be on that USB!' '

     ""Well..."" Staring down at his paws, himself trying to recover from that terrible let down, ""though we may have lost all of that valuable information, at least we put an end to some of the biggest crime bosses in this country. Maybe even the world. And we saved Z and many others along the way. I'll consider this a half mission success. If we can find that missing USB, however, I will gladly declare it a full one.""

     "Right.. We're scanning the site for it right now. Over-and-out." Nezu left the call and Mei closed the laptop. She left the officer and stood at the very edge of the huge, gaping hole in the ground.

     Makima had survived by a hair, but she was no use to them either. She was in a coma; barely considered alive. And who knows if she would ever wake up?

     The dark haired woman glared into the massive dark pit.

     The woman's phone vibrated in her pocket. Pulling it out and turning it on, the detective saw a message from-- Elyse?! How did she get her phone number?! She clicked the message, bringing her to a picture of the hero heavily wrapped up in bandages and her red eyed niece taking a selfie together.

Elyse:
[Picture]
Thanks for helping me find the girl I have been looking for half my life!! Just call, and I'll help you find your brother however I can!

     Mei slid her phone away, a forced stoicism in her eyes. She glared ahead at the orange sun setting over the city scape, which cast terribly large shadows over the site.

     Her eyes brimmed with tears. She was too scared to be caught wiping them away, so she just let 'em fall.

     Elyse already tried and failed to help.

     ...And they were so d### close too...

     Where'd that USB go?

.

.

.

Zeya: So what did you have in mind specifically when you said I would save the world? You get some kinda vision or something?

Elyse: Hhhhh... Just forget everything I said. I thought I was dying and wanted to sound cool.

Zeya: Darn..