When entering potentially hostile territory, its best to bring appropriate gear. For an attack by unknown villain equipped with goopy gunky powers strong enough to collapse a library roof, it'd probably best to get a quirk that could solidify or otherwise halt the goopification of the school. Maybe an ice quirk or something.
I circled around the now purple accented building, trying to find a safe entrance, armed with a glock, hosey hosey hands and sheer unadulterated greed. An alarm pierced the sounds of collapsing building, a cadenced ring that went on and on.
I could hear an intercom inside instructing children and teachers to evacuate the building immediately. And they were. I passed by groups of children led by teachers streaming out of the school and into the playground area. A bit of a pathetic playground I'd say, but its not as if I'm using it so whatever.
Still, it seems as if the situation wasn't as bad as I'd expected. Children were safely exiting the building with their teachers in lead. Well, now I feel a little silly sprinting over.
I approached one of the teachers, a short woman who seemed to be in her 50's. She didn't have any children following her. Her eyes lazily tracked my gun as I walked up. I guess I should have hidden it before I started trudging on up to an elementary school teacher. Whatever, novice communication and nothing strange kept me from too much scrutinization.
"Hey, I'm with the crew working on the library down yonder. Any clue whats going on?"
The teacher shook her head and spoke with a soft yet jaded voice. "I'm not sure, but I would bet its a quirk awakening gone out of control. Some kid must have awakened, freaked out and did all of this. If its what I think it is, thats the third time this year. Ugh, I need a smoke.."
I nodded at the explanation. That makes sense. I couldn't help but pity teachers in this day and age. Having to deal with crazy quirks on the daily must be exhausting.
"Is anyone still in there?"
She shakes her head. "We have really good evacuation protocols, so probably not. I wouldn't know either."
I nod, slightly relieved and dissapointed at the same time. Probably shouldn't be dissapointed at all, but my tickets!
A younger teacher walks up to the older woman, eyes frantic. "Ronda, theres a boy that awakened in my class, William Afton. I got everyone out, but he's still in there!"
Ding ding ding! Its hero time.
The two women began a harried discussion. Ronda's previously glazed over eyes sharpened at the news.
"The buildings collapsing and you left him in there? Grace!"
Grace flinched back. "No! The room was already filled with slime by the time I got the kids out. I didn't even get to press the emergency button!"
I quickly interceded the conversation before it could escalate. "Arguing isn't productive. I can help. You said he's still in there? I need a safe place to get in, do you know a good way?"
They both gave me an odd look, however Grace still frantically answered the question. "There's a faculty entrance over there." She pointed at some metal doors adjacent from the playground. Plastered on them was an ugly yellow font reading 'FACULTY ONLY'.
"They automatically unlock when we evacuate students from an orange level incident or higher. Orange means that something happened inside the school and people need to get out." Grace explained.
I holstered my glock(stuffed it in my pants gangster style). Ronda stopped me. "As a school counselor I can't condone going in on your own, but hey, its up to you." Oh, she's not a teacher. With no students to take care of, it seemed she was just kind of done for the day. I thanked them both and quickly headed inside for my tick- the kid.
The school actually seemed relatively intact, save for some parts of the walls dripping with the gunk. Oddly enough, the brick walls didn't seem to be as affected, merely the paint peeling off and liquifying. I wasn't sticking around to find out to see what happens next however.
I passed through the halls, ears aching from the keening ring of the alarm. More than once I had to stop and find another direction due to an impassible mound of goop blocking my way.
Within a few minutes I had already cleared over 15 classrooms. I found no one, which was expected since the entire student body was probably outside. Still, its nice to confirm the competence of teachers. I really should have asked where the boy was before rushing in. Oh well.
You'd be forgiven for expecting a stench from the gooey remains of the schools interior, but it smelled more of play-dough and fresh cheese. Stepping on it caused a brief toot noise not unlike the sound play slime would make when you squished it. That is, a fart. You know, ripping ass?
Abruptly the alarms cut out, and an eery silence suffocated the hallways. Sweet relief descended upon my ears, only interrupted by the flatulence of the slime under my feet. The lights were shot as well, the wiring in the walls unable to withstand the goopification.
You never really see schools with all of the lights turned off. Sure, sometimes the power goes out and the room gets a bit dimmer. But in a hallway with no windows? With no one around and almost total silence? That is some horror movie shit, and holy fuck my heart is pounding.
I take a calming breath to steel myself. Relax Evan, you've prepared for this. Like the counselor said, its probably just a kid whose quirk has gone out of control. The worst thing that can happen is the building collapsing and there are NOT evil spirits waiting to kill me-
SLAM!
"EEEEK!" The hoarse and manly cry of a viking echoes againt the halls as I whip my head towards the crash. It seems a hallway sanitizer dispenser fell over. Its contents gushed out onto the floor, diluting the goop into a watery mess.
I'm so glad no one heard that. Anyways, back to the search. I think I can hear something.
I stop, cupping my ears as I listen. Just barely perceptible is the quiet sobbing of a child. It seems to be coming from a classroom at the far end of the hallway. Unfortunately the goop seems to be even worse in that direction. It comes up to my waist. Hmm, I probably need to let him know I'm here.
"Hey kid, I'm coming to you! Don't worry."
I pull up my goopy big boy pants and trudge down. The hallway is dark, but the sobs are getting closer. This is so damn creepy.
Its a pain to wade through the gunk. like if mud was even more moist and had the consistency of sea weed. I'm almost swimming in, using my arms to push myself through. Yet here I am wallowing down towards a crying kid who may or may not be a monster beckoning me to my doom.
I reach the classroom and slowly peer inside. Please don't be a demon, please don't be a demon.
Its a purple goop demon! Oh, wait, theres a kid under all of that sludge… I can understand why he's crying now.
"Hey, its alright now. I'm here." I speak softly as I approach the child. Its a boy.. I think. I can't see anything under the sludge. He's not suffocating under all of that loogey mix at least.
He shifts in my direction. I can hear sniffling. He's clearly in the lower grades, around first or second. My hands rest against the goop as I decide what to do. First calm him down.
"Whats your name?"
"..William." He gets out through the sobs.
"William. Thats a cool name. My names Evan, and I'm one of the guys who worked on the library after the fight between bookbuster and that villain." He perks up at that. This 2nd grader doesnt strike me as the architectual type, must be interested in bookbuster.
"You like bookbuster? I heard it was a whole thing. The villains quirk was acid vomit. Can you imagine how disgusting that is? I bet he was all like "agh, I never learned how read, curse you bookbuster and this library! BLEEDGGH!!"" I mimed a full body vomit. He giggled at that. Nothing like a nasty joke entertain a crying kid.
"Alright, we should get out of here. You probably don't like being covered in slime do you." He shook his head under all of the goop before hanging his head low, as if guilty of something.
"…am I villain Mr Evan?" I picked him up and waded through the goop. His body seemed to be creating the sludge from the pores of his skin. Oddly enough, it only ate at some parts of the wall and other things. My clothing was stained purple but otherwise pefectly fine.
"Why would you say that?"
"…I don't know. Everything?" He looked around. Fair point.
"Nah. Would you call someone a villain if they did all of this by accident?" No answer at that. Its really hard to wade through this gunk with a kid in tow.
"When I look at heroes and villains, when I look past the costumes and the flashy moves, I see people who fight for what they want. Villains want power, fame, glory and bit- people to respect them." We were getting out of the deeper parts now, but the gunk is reaching my ankles now. I could hear some groaning from the building itself, so its double time.
"But they want it done the easy way. They steal from people who can't defend themselves. They don't care about other people and only look out for themselves. But heroes? Heroes take the hard way. They work every day towards their goals. They follow the law. But thats not what truly makes a hero in my book. Hey Afton, do you love your family?" The boy nodded.
"Well, then you certainly aren't a villain. Your mother, Would you do anything to protect her?" He nodded again. That was enough for me. Now, for the mushy part.
"Then you can be a hero too. Don't worry about whats happened, you cant help it. As long as you stay true to yourself and follow your heart of justice, you can be a hero too!" I spoke, taking advice from novice communication and novice performance to speak from the stomach.
I let the boy ruminate on my speech, content to stomp towards the exit. I could hear sounds from the outside getting louder. Im guessing the heroes finally arrived.
CREAAAK
Oh shit, not again! The roof made an awful grinding sound and I could see the walls of the hallway shifting, unable to safely withstand the weight anymore. The kid must've been scared again, crying into my shoulder as I began a full sprint towards the exit. It wasn't too far now, come on!
As if recognizing my urgency, the hallways goopification seemingly excacerbated itself. The purple walls visibly wilted like some deflating bouncy castle, and I'm not sure if I'm fast enough! Shit! Shit! The gunks at my knees, I can barely run!
BOOM
The roof behind me caved in. Taking a lesson from a certain hand sanitizer station, I quickly hoisted the kid on my shoulders and began spraying the ground. Immediately it became easier to move as the goop turned into a watery mess. The only issue was the drastically reduced traction.
I practically slid across the floor, skating from one locker to the next. I could hear the shambling roof right behind me, but I was almost there! . "Hey, we're in here!" I shouted to freedom. I'm almost there!
Schlrrk!
Aw fuck, I slipped! The kid yelped, falling off of my shoulders and into the mess. He couldn't get up, and neither could I. We were seconds away from being swallowed by the bulding. Well, I've got an idea, but it wont do me any good. "Hey kid, face the exit for a moment."
I quite literally kicked his ass out the door. I could see a red-probably costumed- arm snatch the kid away from the building as he slid out. Well, thats good for him, but what about me!?
"I'M STILL IN HERE! WAIT-"
With an almost depressive thud, the roof finally began a full collapse, crashing down with enough force and speed that I probably won't even be able to say 'holy shit!' before I die. Still gonna try though.
"HOLY SH-"
Floop
Wait, floop? Like the sound a pringles can makes?
One moment I was unwillingly embracing imminent danger, the next I'm being carried princess style by an orange/blue costumed man.
"No worries, Wheatley's got ya! You a teacher?" He asked in an oddly australian accent. I stayed silent for a moment in his strong arms(I swear I'm not gay, hes holding a grown ass man like nothing!) before answering.
"..no, I'm with the construction crew."
"Oh, right on! Thanks for bringing the kid out mate, would've been a bugger to grab 'em." I nodded at that. It really was. Still..
"I can stand. Appreciate the save though."
"Oh, sorry mate. You mind headed over to the responders? We've got some questions. You wouldn't have seen a woman in there have ya? We heard some screams." I did mind actually, but I don't think even Nothing Strange would be able to fenagle me out of this. Just answer questions, don't reveal too much, and I should be able to get out without too much hassle. Some ticket rolls would be nice right about now though.
…
…
I said SOME TICKET ROLLS WOULD BE-
Ding!
Save someone from death for the first time: 1 Gold Random Ticket
Survive a collapsing roof not once, but twice: 1 Silver Trait Ticket
Shriek at an excess of 125 db: 1 Bronze Ability Ticket
Inspire a child to be a hero: 1 Bronze Skill Ticket
[Procellarum Phantom]
|Rare Item|
DxD - An armor that manifests primarily as leg armor that enhances its user's kicks and speed.
[All Trades]
|Rare Trait|
Didn't even have the dignity to put "Ace of" there. You have a Basic level of mastery over all mundane skills, you know how to cook well enough to not burn eggs, know enough about mechanics to change a lightbulb, know enough how to dance to not tangle your feet, know how to hold a sword to not cut yourself. You are also mildly talented in all fields.
[Pocket Sand]
|Trash Ability|
Conjure and launch a handful of sand from your hands. Shouting "pocket sand!" as you do so might make it stronger.
[Backflipping]
|Trash Skill|
You know how to perform a gnarly backflip, frontflips may be a bit challenging though.
…
There it is!