Chapter 16: Star Of The Show

Suijin's back was facing the ground, with his hands and legs spread out in a star, slowing his descent, he was still facing a very imminent death crisis though, and Suijin himself was thinking,

'Damnit, this wasn't supposed to happen, Everything going all wrong.'

Suijin had estimated that deviations from his plan would occur, with such a rushed plan involving an uncountable number of external factors, he suspected that changes would occur.

The plan was to deal with them as they came, but he couldn't deal with the current situation. Mina and Tsu were so close to where he needed them to be, the robots were in position, and the stage was set. 

That was what made it so cruel for him—his stage, the moment when he was supposed to prove himself. It was in front of his eyes, but with each second it drifted further and further away.

While this was happening below, they weren't just standing idly by.

Mina, Tsu, and Yuga continued to push themselves. 

A comrade, they knew him for a few minutes at most, yet even as pain assaulted Mina's body, and her quirk became tired from being overworked, she still tried.

Tsu's calm demeanor cracked as her eyes grew wider than she'd shown today, Worry and pure terror were etched onto her face as she foretold Suijin's future.

They pushed their Quirks and bodies going faster than before, both collectively cursing at the rubble in their way.

The star of the night devolved into a crashing comet, Suijin, despite the air resisting against him, stretched out his hand towards the sky.

'The stage.'

He bent his head so he was looking at the road from an upside-down position. This allowed him to both hear and see Mina's outburst,

"SUIJIN!!!!!"

Her eyes had acidic tears, which burned the ground upon contact, she pushed her body even though she knew it wouldn't be enough.

Bafflement befuddled Suijin.

'Weak, Failure, Pity, Disgust.' 

Thoughts and emotions like these swirled through his mind. His subconscious came to life, repeating what he never wanted to hear, like the devil it whispered all that he dreaded.

'Another tally to add to the list of Suijin's disappointments.'

"SHUT UP!"

Suijin grabbed the trigger part of his face as he forced his head to do a 180°, a perk of his quirk, he hardened his face this time, staring dead at the ground as his body was facing upwards.

"Suijin, the most important part of being a hero is..blah…blah.blah-"

Suijin from 10 months ago, ignored his dad as he thought of his answer. Since they were four, most children had pondered on this question; he, like many others, had long since come up with an answer: a moniker. 

Suijin didn't know what he was going to name himself, however, having something more distinguishable than his body was a first start.

"A series…"

"Suijin, are you listening?"

"Huh…wha-...oh yeah, dad."

"Oh really? Then recite Hero Law 38, Section 4, Articles A-E."

Suijin allowed himself to get way too close to the ground for comfort. Once he deemed it adequate, he thought of the name of his recently created next move.

[Spray- Pressure Hose.]

A jet of liquid, which was harder and more spread out than last time, came out of his nozzle, about the size of one's forearm. This liquid hit the ground.

However, unlike before, it was a continuous jet of water, which meant that Suijin was still forcing out more and more. It looked like a beam that connected from Suijin's nozzle to the ground.

This force and collision bumped Suijin back up into the air, temporarily saving him from becoming a puddle of blood and guts.

Mina, Tsu, and Yuga all softened their hardened expressions. But their pace didn't drop, rather it increased. Knowing their comrade was out of danger, they remembered they had a job to do.

Meanwhile, Suijin was in the air, considering the problems. 

'Our positioning is very spread out, the robots are a bit farther than expected, and….huh?'

Looking ahead, he spotted someone who was lying on the road, passed out in the path of the villain bots. If Tsu were here, she could identify this man as Sato, whom she had previously met.

She would also analyze, that from the tiredness of his body, how pale he was, and the occasional chills he got that Sato was likely experiencing a Sugar Crash.

'I can't wait for them to get close, I can't get things in the order I need them to be. How the hell can we pull this off?'

Enkai stopped Suijin before he left the door.

"I don't know what else I can give you to prepare you for this test. Whether you get in or not, you're still my son."

Suijin's face scrunched up a bit. 

{Don't ask how that's possible. Anime Logic}

"But as a teenager, you probably don't want to hear that." Suijin did not respond and looked his father in the eyes.

"All I can say is trust, Suijin. I know it's hard. I know that you, even though you don't tell us, have a very hard time putting your hopes and dreams into the hands of others. Always overthinking. Always planning ahead."

Suijin had an awkward face. He didn't want to lie, but admitting it openly wasn't something he would do. So admittance by silence became Enkai's way of understanding him.

"You try to prepare for any possible outcome and choose the one that you deem the best. Getting rid of unnecessary variables is part of that. I know that this quirk has only been with you for 10 months, however, it will become your partner for life."

Enkais's voice took on a wise tone, "As will any possible comrades you make at that school. Remember, Suijin, you can't do everything alone. So it's ok to lean on a crutch every once in a while. No relationship will work without trust."

Remembering Suijin couldn't help but think, 'I don't know how we can do this. Less than half of my water supply remains. Nobody's where they need to be.'

Sigh

Despite his sigh, Suijin smirked. 'Although you said whether we win or lose, I'd prefer it if we won.'

The boy then closed his eyes, put his hands on the trigger again, and thought, 'It's up to your guys, I'm sure to pull this off, we'll need a miracle.'

On the ground, Yuga looked around and saw tons, and tons of villain bots running in his direction. He stood his ground taking a stand despite his rainbow-covered mouth.

Remembering what Suijin said, he faced the bots while taking a glance to confirm that the immobile boy was behind him.

"I've gotten some intel from some tech-savvy people, that the core panels of these bots are located in the middle. So I need you to line them up and knock them over like dominoes with me."

Yuga understood that having the best long-range abilities in the group outside of Suijin himself made this job perfect for him. 

However, the hidden parts of the job, which made it a tad more dangerous, only came to his mind right now.

"You'll need to time this perfectly with the others, so wait, wait, wait."

They got closer with each step, while he had to stay put. The meeting point, which was originally made by Suijin, was re-adjusted because of this man (Sato) behind him.

Meaning Suijin had to shoot from a farther distance than he planned.

'How does he maintain his composure?' Yuga envied Suijin.

STOMP

Looking ahead, a single tear came down his face, He closed his eyes and thought, 'Please hurry up~'

"1 MINUTE LEFT!"

While Yuga was with the robots a few seconds ago, Tsu had started charging into a building. 

She had left Mina in the dust and hopped over towards a building near the one that had just collapsed at maximum speed. Her tongue was connected to Mina, causing a comical scene of Mina being dragged and getting pulled along.

Ribbit

'Come on!'

As she was about to collide with the building but she sprung up onto a ledge of the building with all the strength she could muster, her tongue stretched to the point that Mina was still touching the ground for the moment.

Once she landed on the ledge, she noticed that it wasn't stable, so she jumped again before it collapsed. She jumped from the side of the building into the air.

Now both she and Suijin were getting airtime, and as Tsu twisted her body in a 360° angle Mina was propelled up by the force.

She was flung into the sky, and Tsu let go of the hold her tongue had when it was wrapped around Mina's waist, sending Mina flying in the sky towards the descending Suijin.

Tsu landed on a lamppost as Mina flailed her arms around in the air, flung in the direction of Suijin.

'Lastly, you two, I need you to get in the air somehow and deliver ___ to me. This is one of the most difficult parts of the plan, and I know you're tired—'

'Don't worry, Suijin, both I and Tsu can get the job done. Right, Tsu?'

'Right.'

Suijin nodded his head at them and said, 'In that case, I'll be counting on you.'

Tsu remembered their dialogue about the final part of his crazy plan. 'Really Suijin, you're the only one I know of who'd come up with this suicidal plan.'

Mina was in the air unaware of what Tsu was thinking, she did, however, hear President Mic and his reminder about the last 1-minute timer.

'This is it.' She looked and saw Suijin ahead.

Her hand was outstretched as if she wanted to grab onto his. Suijin himself had his eyes closed at this time, and his hand was just inches away from his spray nozzle.

She was so close to grabbing onto his clothes, but right when she was within grabbing range, she didn't.

Instead, acid was produced by her hand, and she flung the condensed ball of acid she just created into the air.

The stage was set.

Yuga had just shot his beam, knocking the bots down slowly angling them into the mid-air Suijin's path, Tsu had sent Mina into the sky, and Mina had delivered the final piece Suijin needed.

[Spray-Piercing Shot]

Suijin once again produced a liquid beam of water.

Even thinner than ever before, smaller than a toothpick making those who were to witness this spectacle have to squint their eyes to properly make it out.

The color of the liquid was questionable, as the front of the jet stream was yellowish, with the rest being about 75% of the normal clarity of water.

The stream intercepted Mina's droplets of potent acid and continued on its path. The beam passed through all 37 villain bots as the acid helped the beam pierce through their cores, making the collection of Robots inactive.

Suijin looked at their work as the streets rumbled for the umpteenth time today.

"IT'S OVER!"