Kyle was walking through the halls, and because of Nejire's tour earlier, he knew exactly where to go.
It was the best place for him to get as many quirks as he wanted, and even better, a place where he could get them easily.
The infirmary…
After every fight, the injured students were taken to the infirmary for treatment, meaning instead of searching for them, Kyle only had to go to one location they were guaranteed to be.
It was for this very reason that he waited for Kirishima to be taken away before he acted.
He could have waited a bit more for Deku and Bakugo, but there were two reasons he had chosen to ignore them.
The first was the nature of their quirks and girth. The others may be relatively easy to take down, but Deku and Bakugo were resilient.
There was no way they would go down without making a scene, which led to his second reason…
Kyle had no intention of interrupting the cultural festival, not when there was still so much money to be made.
This had to be a quick in and out. Move in like a ghost and out before the heroes knew what hit them.
As they ascended the stairs, about five guards saw them and were about to pull out their weapons when Cyno effortlessly tossed his staff.
The polearm dug into the floor right in front of them, then purple sparks erupted, electrocuting the guards, white smoke oozing out of their heads as they dropped.
"So what is the plan?" Cyno asked as he pulled out the staff.
Kyle raised a brow, looking at Cyno as though he had said something absurd. "There is no plan, just make sure no one interrupts me."
The two then arrived at the door to the infirmary shortly after, and Kyle walked up to grab it when he suddenly paused, fingers seconds away from touching the handle.
He stared at the door for a few seconds before frowning. "Hmmm, that explains it."
Cyno glanced at him from his side. "What is it?"
Kyle then proceeded to tell him what he had noticed when coming here.
It was nothing major, but he realized that the sound from the stage didn't get to these parts of the arena.
There was a sound bubble cutting off sound from both sections.
At first, he thought little of it since the arena was bound to be loud, but now…
He smiled. "The heroes are on to us…"
Cyno remained impassive and just lazily glanced at the door. "Who is it?"
Kyle sniffed the air, easily detecting the scent in the room, and then for good measure, he used geolocation.
Then his eyes lit up slightly. "Mirko?"
From what Kyle remembered, Mirko was not at the sports festival.
'Did they invite her here to capture me? Or do they have any other goal?'
Kyle sighed… he was wasting precious time.
He took a step away from the door and nudged Cyno. "Handle her, I'll take care of the others myself. When I'm done, I'll summon you back to myself."
Cyno nodded, the staff in his hand pulsing as he grabbed the door handle and stepped into the room…
Kyle, on the other hand, was gone, vanished as though he was never there.
•••
Immediately Cyno stepped into the room, he was surrounded by thick imperceivable darkness. He could not even see his arms in front of him, talk less of anything else.
After walking for a few seconds, he turned to the other side of the room. "Cutting off my sight to create a handicap… not bad."
Electricity flowed out of Cyno's body, darting around the room and seeping into the lights.
For a second, the lights buzzed to life, dozens of bulbs lighting up the room—
That was when Cyno saw them… about twenty large robots that had already surrounded him.
Standing atop one of them was a woman with white hair and piercing red eyes. Her long ears were twitching to pick up even the faintest sounds, and a bright smile was on her face as she watched him.
'She's the one from that night…'
"Let's just hope you don't regret your choice…" Cyno muttered.
Btzzzzz!
The lights all exploded at once, glass shards descending on them.
Mirko smirked in the darkness as dozens of red eyes lit up like demonic orbs. "Ready for round two?"
Cyno took his stance. "Let's hop to it."
Whoosh!
Cyno heard the sound of Mirko's lunge but saw nothing; instead, he relied on his ears and the faint light from the robots.
Bang!
He was one second too late—no, it wasn't that…
He had moved just on time; it was Mirko who had gotten faster than the last time they fought.
The ground exploded as Mirko's feet cut past him, brushing his side. She landed beside him and spun, her head and arms positioned on the ground—
While her feet spun like spinning blades.
Whoosh!
Cyno blocked the first two kicks with his staff, a metallic ring spreading through the room, and then he twisted his body to avoid the last one before bringing his staff down.
Clang!
The staff never met Mirko; instead, it hung in the darkness, meeting the metallic fists of one of the robots.
Cyno's gaze darkened, and then currents poured out of his arm, coiling around his staff like a serpent.
In less than a second, the gigantic robot arm was cleaved off, and then Cyno tossed the staff, calculating the position of its head just from that one glance.
His staff cut through the darkness, implanting itself right in the spot between the two glowing orbs.
The robot's head burst into pieces, and down it came like a fallen Titan, metal, glass, and oil spilling out of its gargantuan frame.
Cyno lifted his arm, a shockwave cutting past him as Mirko's fist exploded into it, sending him several steps back.
"You've gotten stronger…" he said as he shook the pain off his arms.
"And yet you are still standing!" Mirko spat, moving through the darkness like she had a second pair of night-attuned eyes.
Which she did; rabbits could see in the dark, after all.
All he saw were flashes of movement bathed in red, followed by a gust of wind as she reached him.
He took a step back, his feet sliding over the floor as though he was in a dance. Mirko's punch cut into empty air, and Cyno took another step forward, cutting into her guard.
She jumped back, but Cyno caught her, grabbing onto her arm and holding it like a vice.
He twisted his body, placing her arm over his shoulder just before elevating her and bringing her down with a bang.
Boom!
Dust flew up from the point of impact, the ground shaking from the force.
Blood trailed down Mirko's face, running into her mouth as she smiled like a feral beast.
Cyno, on the other hand, was smirking down as well, and Mirko could see it in near-perfect clarity.
"No need to get so cocky; we've only just begun…" she hissed.
"You shouldn't get so stressed; it will ruin your perfect hareline." Cyno smiled.
"I hope your jokes hit as hard as your punches, Mr. Unknown."
"Cyno… but you can call me Harrey." This time, Cyno chuckled to himself.
"Do you get it? Harrey as in Harry…"
Mirko gave him a deadpan look, a small silence even enveloping them.
Personally, she didn't hate or like rabbit jokes, but she found it weird that he somehow seemed to have the right joke every moment.
Even if most of them were plain stupid…
Whoosh!
Like a breakdancer, Mirko spun out of his grip, distancing herself from Cyno.
The robots were about to lunge, but Mirko pulled out the remote from her pocket and turned them all off.
There was a whining sound as steel limbs fell, and the robots settled down, the red light still glowing in their eyes the only sign that they had been active.
"I never wanted those clankers in the first place! Come on, Cyno, let's see how good you really are!"
Her thigh muscles contracted, raw fibers of rippling muscles expanding as she tightened them, building up the pressure like a spring.
The ground cracked, a net of cracks spreading under her feet—and then she vanished.
All Cyno saw was a faint flicker, a blur of white mixed with the ever-present vestige of red.
There was a sharp whistle, like the sound of a jet engine at full blast, and then came the explosion.
..
..
A/N
Kyle and Tsumi's images are up on discord. link in bio :)