Shoto usually has a great control of his own emotions. Even during dire situations, cool head takes precedence, and he tries not to let his own feelings get in the way of a fight. However, this calm spell shatters like a cheap-rate glass once he discerns an escalating plight from the other area of the botanical garden.
"Stop! Let me go! Don't inject me with that!"
The second Shoto hears Arata's frantic screams, it's like a switch flipped over in his brain. The moment he registers what he is seeing: a demonic villain cruelly trampling her down, a syringe glinting above her wrist, a heated, bubbling panic slams into his being like bursting lava.
Crap! Is he trying to drug her? Why!?
"Ara!" His own fight be damned, all of his ice power instantly goes to his right foot, charging himself towards her with the maximum speed possible.
Where is Kirishima!? He's supposed to be with her! Did that demon get past him—
"Where are running off to, Cocky Brat?" Nobu roars, catching up to him, and unleashes a blue-transparent blast right to his face. "Feel so high and mighty that you're two-timing me for that bitch now?"
Shoto barely manages to jerk himself sideways as the air convulses an inch shy from his left ear, hollowing the space where he had been into nothingness. Gnashing his teeth together, he curses Nobu's ability to displace matter.
It's a natural enemy for his ice, and if he ever slipped up, even if it was just for one time, he could end up with detached body parts. Most importantly, it deprives him of the chance to help Arata, who is struggling against the demonic villain with all of her might.
"This is just beginning. I'll see more of you after this." Shoto can barely pick up Ephialtes's words to Arata, but when he does, something hot and scathing erupts in his chest. "I'm sure you look more beautiful. In the dream. Without this dress."
"N— No! Help! Shoto-san... Kirishima-kun... Anyone...!"
Shit! That sick bastard! His glare quickly flicks to Nobu as the goat-faced villain impedes his path. I don't have time for this! Ara is in danger!
A raw growl escapes Shoto's throat as ice surges from his foot, lashing out viciously for Nobu. "You, out of my way! Now!"
"This again? Pathetic!" Nobu bites out, his webbed hands slapping the ice before it reaches his face. "You won't be able to hurt me— What!?"
Once the ice clears up, without warning, Shoto appears in front of him. Right hand ready to slam on the floor and grey-cyan eyes flashing dangerously. "Get frozen... or get away!"
This villain can displace my ice, but there must be a limit to it. Then, I'm going to overload that limit!
The instant his palm connects, an enormous ice glacier bursts open. Giant frost shoots with an unimaginable speed, plummeting the area around them into subzero. And even when ice begins to surface on his own skin, Shoto doesn't feel cold at all. It's like invisible flames are scorching his body, blazing in fury.
That degenerate demon, I will crush him for this.
He needs Arata to be okay. To be safe from that disgusting creep. Fighting and getting injured are one thing. But, he is not going to stand by and watch the villain forcing himself onto her. It doesn't matter that she's far away. The fact he can't go there and shield her himself doesn't matter either.
Distance doesn't matter. If he needs to plunge this entire garden into ice age to protect her, then so be it. Because her safety is his top priority.
A massive influx of ice strikes. Nobu swiftly leaps back, avoiding a direct hit. He quickly releases another displacement blast to the ice. Space sizzles and hollows out, displacing a part of Shoto's ice. However, the majority of it is left untouched, whizzing straight for Ephialtes.
This kid— he's certainly not normal! Even my displacement can't expand that big! Nobu's dark eyes widen at the sheer size of the glacier. And that range... He's covering almost a fourth of this botanical garden with ice!
Channeling the rage in his being into firepower, Shoto wrings every bit of coldness he can conjure, sheets of ice manifesting on his right half. "Leave her alone!"
Alarmed by the sudden drop in temperature, Ephialtes looks up in time and dodges. The glacier whips like a belt, its jagged edges almost graze his soles if he doesn't leap away from Arata in time. His heels haven't even touched the ground when the ice swerves and shoots up, drawn to him like a magnetic force.
"Ice, huh?" Ephialtes grumbles, fluttering his wings to maneuver in the air. One hand is fisted next to his waist, clenching the syringe. "What an annoying quirk."
A large-scale move like that must've been so difficult to control with precision, yet that boy could pull it off flawlessly, Ephialtes eyes the definite absence of ice around Arata. It will be troublesome if he continues butting in. His quirk is more threatening for me than the Hardening one.
Trembling, Arata's breaths rise in white puffs as she tries to get back on her feet. The needle didn't pierce her skin, but she can't feel relieved yet. Because the air is so frosty that it overwhelms her senses with a familiar, burning numbness. A tapestry of bluish white veils everything she lays eyes on. Her blood runs cold, fright splashing like tidal waves.
Snow? Why is it snowing—
— No, is this... ice?
The crisp air pricks her eyeballs as they desperately search for a hint of white and crimson. When she spots it at last, the biting cold piercing her lungs and the tension in her muscles dissipates, albeit just a bit.
Shoto-san... He has saved me again, even with all this distance between us...
It's cold. It's cold. It's cold and Arata is afraid. Still afraid. The fear that has taken a hold of her does not lessen, it's still drowning her up to her neck. However, at the same time, this cold... It makes her feel safe. It makes her feel protected. No matter how paradoxical it sounds.
Because, all this coldness... It is his and I trust him.
"Sho— Shoto-san... Thank you..."
"Ara, are you all right?" Shoto shouts over the garden while sidestepping to dodge another of Nobu's blast. "Ugh! Can you get closer? I can't—"
"Little Red Riding Hood here belongs to me," Ephialtes pipes up, evidently unhappy with Shoto's interference. "You'd better mind your own business, Ice Boy. Hasn't Nobu given you enough trouble?"
"She is not yours. Touch her again," Shoto's promise rumbles in the room, heavy and forbidding, "and you'll answer to me."
"Oh, dream on, Ice Boy. I don't think you're in any position to say so. You're so far from me and Little Red Riding Hood. And there's no way you can create that giant glacier again. It must have taken everything you had. Not to mention, you're also fighting Nobu right now. Aren't you being too greedy?"
Ephialtes's guess is on point, but Shoto would sooner die than admit it. "You have no idea what I'm capable of."
"If that's true, you would've gotten past Nobu. Protected Little Red Riding Hood here. But, what did you do? Shooting ice from the other side of the garden? Perfectly shows that you couldn't do it. Just stay there with Nobu and wait while I put her to sleep."
Shoto's heart lurches to his stomach as Ephialtes swoops down, undoubtedly targeting Arata. "No! Ara—"
A gust of displacement roars threateningly, almost claiming Shoto if not for his knee-jerk reflex. "Keep that up and you will wind up dead before her!" Nobu sneers at his distraught look. "Would you like to buried together with her shriveled corpse?"
"Screw you!"
The truth is spelled out clear in front of Shoto. The fight is moving too fast, and he can't keep up. He's not strong enough to defeat Nobu. Not fast enough to escape him. Not smart enough to foresee and counteract this situation. And now, Arata will pay for all of his shortcomings.
Is this all I can do? All my abilities amount to? I'm going to see her taken before my own eyes, and there's nothing I can do!
A blur enters his peripheral vision, sprinting on his ice like a red lightning. At that moment, the crushing pressure on Shoto's shoulders slightly lets up.
"Don't forget about me! I'll beat you, demon!"
Before Ephialtes can glide further, Kirishima leaps as high as he can, taking advantage of Shoto's glacier as a foothold. Two hardened arms zap up, catch the villain's ankle, then hurl it with all of his might.
"ORAAA!!!"
Fissures appear on the wall as Ephialtes's body smashes into it head-first. Ignoring the terrible ache, Ephialtes tries his best not to fall, wings flapping furiously. Wounds are of no importance to him, for he can compensate them by feeding on the girl later. However...
These boys are getting infuriating. If not for them, I would've been feeding on this girl. Sucking the sweet nectar of youth. Smoothing all these ugly wrinkles. Turning young once more.
I really ought to do it this time, Ephialtes clenches his fist, fully expecting to sense a cylinder-like object in it. But, there's none. Wait. Where is my syringe? Did it fall off just now?
"Looking for this?"
Without warning, dull thuds reverberate in the air, along with a few clatters and clanks. His yellow eyes swiftly flit to the source, then widen. Down below, Arata is standing with a smug expression, blood gushing from the skin of her right heel. Under her bare feet are glinting pieces and crushed ice debris, traces of liquid crimson here and there.
"You bitch!"
"I think your syringe is, um, broken. So... you can't make anyone sleep again now."
Or at least that's what Arata is hoping for. Anyhow, it can't be true. Her little victory ends when Ephialtes dives down with an unbelievable speed and mutters in her ear, "Have I ever said anything about that?"
Arata snaps her head back in surprise. "What the—"
In a single move, Ephialtes wrenches her over. His shoulder jabs into her stomach without a care, yanking out a pained gasp from her mouth. Powerful, dark wings lash downward like an arching belt. The next time she blinks, they are already soaring high. So high that Kirishima can't reach them again even when he jumps.
"Arata-chan!"
"Ara!"
An enormous ice wave rapidly surges, clawing skyward. It barely scratches the soles of Ephialtes's feet when a bluish blast cuts it short, hollowing the space it is passing. Instantly displaced, rounded blocks of ice plummet to the floor and bounce off.
Arata's profile is rapidly getting further and despair tastes palpably bitter on Shoto's tongue. He snarls, teeth chattering against each other as he hounds the flying blur.
"Get back here!" Another ice skyscraper shoots upward fiercely, running on every last drop of his almost non-existent energy reserves. "Release her!"
Cutting the attempt short with displacement, Nobu gloats, sadistic glee dancing in his tone. "Give up, Brat! She's going to get the best mindfuck she could've ever dreamed of!"
He then bellows to his demonic ally in the sky, "Finish your business, Ephialtes. And jerk off in another room, will you? Do me a favor and fuck off! I'm sick of cleaning up your mess!"
"Oh, I'd gladly do so. I'm also sick of getting undermined." A vile glint crosses Ephialtes's yellow eyes. He clutches the writhing Arata tighter and speaks into an earpiece. "Did you hear that, Mr. Hacker? Got someplace where I can feed without disturbance?"
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Whacked across like a ragged doll, Arata crashes into a towering object. A pained gasp escapes her mouth as her spine smacks against its metal frames, overfilling her body with agony.
Several drawers fall upon the quake, pelting her dangled head with thousands of tiny, dry balls. Struggling to stay conscious, Arata feebly brushes her fingertips against them.
Are these... seeds? Arata thinks, mind terribly fuzzy. It is also hard to see here, almost pitch black. Is this room... the botanical garden's seed storage? Crap, did he separate me... from the others?
Loud, repeated bangs—hardened skin against steel—penetrate from the other side of the door. Muffled shouts barely penetrate the thick steel, but she thinks both Ephialtes and she know who it is.
"Your red-haired friend sure is strong." Ephialtes's chuckle reverberates in the storage, yet she can't exactly pinpoint his location due to the veil of darkness. "Although, he's dreaming if he thinks he can bust this door down using sheer strength. And your ice-wielding friend, he's about to be demolished by Nobu. After all those feats, he won't last long."
"You don't— Urgh!" A hacking cough escapes her throat, then she spits the metallic tang out of her mouth. "You... don't know that. Don't— Don't underestimate them."
Something rattles on the floor, followed by a hard stomp and a crackling sound. What is it? Arata squints, trying to figure out the wrecked item beneath his soles. Could it be... his earpiece?
"Now we're truly by ourselves. Nobody can butt in anymore." His footfalls echo closer and closer, making all hairs on her body stand up. "Shall we begin, Little Red Riding Hood? Ready for a sweet dream?"
This time... It's truly over for me, Arata whimpers, choking back tears, as his hand enters her blurry vision. There are only I and this demon in this room here. No one else.
No one could save me from this nightmare anymore.
No Kirishima-kun.
No Bakugou-kun.
No Shoto-san.
I'm all alone... like I had always been in the past.