#zeke funkee

[j--meat-hook--j]

Zeke Funkee, my funky little lad.

[peculiarnation4u]

zeke’s trying based on this

@incorrect-taiyuu-quotes

[incorrect-taitwo]

Ame: Pop-Tarts aren't sandwiches, Funkee-san!

Zeke: Fried chicken is also a sandwich.

Ame: A SANDWICH HAS BREAD, FUNKEE-SAN

[life-of-ice]

Round 2: Masaki Sako vs. Reiko Sukoru

@taiyuu-high-oct​ Time for them to battle it out!

Jewelry for this round above!

A few days earlier…..

It was break time in Class 1-A, and everyone was conversating before class started. Tokachi walked up to the front of the classroom and waved, getting everyone’s attention 

“Hey guys! So I had this idea, maybe we can make walkie talkies for us to use during our next test? And we could have codenames! It’ll give us a huge advantage, and it’ll be fun!” 

The class buzzed with excitement, and as one they gave their affirmation.

Tokachi beamed, glad he idea went through. “I got really really excited about this, so I came up with some code names already! Here!”

She started writing down the codenames on the board, and after a moment of silence, silly grins began to spread across people’s faces. 

Oh, this was going to be good. 

-------------

Sako stared out across the makeshift city,taking account of what he had on him. Plastic and iron? Check. Walkie Talkie? Check. Unknown Fabric? Check. A stupid, inaccurate codename? Sigh. Check.  He took in all the sights and the eerie lack of sound. Everyone had gone to their areas, and each of them was isolated, leaving a bridge of silence that no one could cross. The city was well endowed, complete with signs and vehicles, there must have been a huge amount of electricity used for this round.

There was an overlay of chatter from the radio.

Now, the feathered boy knew who his opponent was. His opponent was Reiko Sukoru, the girl who literally shocked Lyrimon, and if what he heard was true, she had flown over most of the obstacles in the entrance exam, by turning her legs into freaking tornados. Or maybe she had drifted as a cloud, but either way, pretty cool, right?

Sako was fucked. Like normal. But hey, what’s a fight without a challenge?

He stood listlessly, his arms at his side, his wings folded up, and he was trembling with adrenaline, finding it hard to breathe. 

Aurora cheerfully began explaining, with gruff inputs from Wolfsboon every once in a while, and then she began her countdown, everyone silencing as she went. 

“On your mark!” He looked up, searching. 

“Ready!” He leaned to get ready to run

“GO!” And off he went, running at a fast jog, not quite ready to spend all his energy yet. Even so, his endurance was pretty good, and he looked, up, down and all around for the faint glow of the orb.

The feathered boy thought it was a good idea to go just straight towards the middle of the course, that would make sense, right? They want to make it fair for both the students. And off he ran, taking note of who his area overlapped with. 

Oh look, there’s green fire. ….. And all the power went out over there. Looks like Funkee and Koatsu. 

“HA! SEE HOW MUCH YOU LIKE THAT- oh. He sets things on fire.”

“COME AT ME BRO!” 

There’s Lyrimon, and I guess that’s Suzuki. Oh dear, she’s staring at me. Haha, and now she’s not, good job Lyrimon!

Returning his attention to the task ahead of him, he glanced down alleys and streets, not willing to take too many chances. Directly ahead of him was a roundabout, and in the middle was the orb, gently floating above it’s pedestal.

WHOOSH!

Reiko with tornado legs, dropped from the sky, and she reformed just in time to land gently on the ground, grabbing the orb as she went. 

If I just turn around and go back the other way, she’s going to think that I have it, right? I mean, she knows what my quirk is, right? Oh boy. 

Sako turned around and started walking off as though he was trying to be stealthy, as she examined the orb, probably trying to figure out whether it was real or not.

And there it was, the rumble of noise coming from behind him, and he took off in a sprint, definitely not holding the orb, but making one as he ran, along with one of the other most stupid looking things he’s made in a while. 

He loaded his homemade orb into the hand held ball launcher, like the kind you use for dogs, and as he ran, he threw the ball as hard as he could down one of the streets, luckily, he judged the timing correctly and it flew quickly, going decently far before dissipating, leaving nothing behind. Just to be safe, he ran down one more block, pretending to throw something again, and then he put his acting skills to work, pretending he was shocked. 

Now he was “angry”, stopping and glaring at the street he just threw the orb down. “FUCK! THAT WAS THE WRONG ONE! UGGGH. I have to go get it now. Hrmph.” He took off again, this time going down the street, dropping the ball thrower, knowing full well that there wasn’t anything down there… Except for Shou and Otsuka.

“Hey Chicken Little, you good?”

Sako sighed at the name, he’s not short, dammit. He didn't know who it was, but he responded back anyway with a grunt of affirmation, “Yeah, it’s all part of my plan. Hey, I’ve Got A Bone to Pick, Reiko’s heading down your way, can you try and distract her?”

Otsuka’s voice came through. “I’ll try my best! I’m a little preoccupied, Shou keeps changing the range of their quirk and it’s very disorienting.” 

Sako was pretty sure that Reiko was getting more confused now. And that was a good thing, and now she looked conflicting, glancing between the orb she was holding and the way Sako was running, and the first orb he threw, and she went off to follow the first orb, putting down the orb because she couldn’t carry it and go full speed arm and leg tornado at the same time. 

He glanced behind him and silently cheered as he veered off into an alley, Reiko not taking any notice of him, thinking that he was looking for it. 

And all through this, he backtracked while carefully stayed out of Shou’s range, knowing full well that Reiko was going directly into it, and as he ran, he checked to see how she was doing, but Shou’s activation and deactivation of their quirk range was disorienting her, despite her ability to propel herself. 

And he ducked and scooped up the orb, and sprinted like there was no tomorrow.

Glancing around, he goes a block down further from the main road, hopefully to avoid Reiko if she came sooner than expected. He pressed himself against the side of the building to catch his breath, and as he stood there for a few minutes, Funkee came running around the corner, also catching his breath, and the two made eye contact.

“.....”

“....”

“Uh, hello Hacker Voice.”

“Hi Masaki. Or should I say Chicken Little.  Alright, so I’m running away from Koatsu, I have the orb.”

“.. Oh nice! Me too! You think you could help me with something?”

“Sure.”

Sako explained his plan, telling Funkee he just had to stay there, and run electricity through a wire for him. Funkee nodded in affirmation, and Sako began his plan to lure Reiko towards him.

He went back to the main street, and saw Reiko.

Now an angry tornado was after him. Great!

He was going to have to move his plan forward in time a little bit, and this time he slapped one of the exposed wires as he created a light, thin, metal web, and one long wire weighed down by what was essentially a hockey puck.

He threw the web at Reiko, and the puck at Funkee, who was connected to the building already, and as soon as Funkee caught it, he electrified the thing, Sako getting out of the way of the web as it fell, electrocuting Reiko. 

The two boys winced at her fall, she was now unconscious, with slight burn wounds where the net landed. 

Ouch. 

Sako pulled up the web, intending to simply get it off her, when Koatsu came across them, and there was a beat of awkward silence before everyone starting moving, Sako throwing the web at him too, and Zeke channeling electricity, while Koatsu was running over to Reiko. 

Bzzzt!

He dropped like a rock, and the two boys stared at their handiwork before sighing in relief, high fiving.

Speaking into the radio, Sako made eye contact with Funkee, grinning all the while. “Chicken Little and Hacker Voice here, we took down both our opponents. Mix n Match, I’ve Got a Bone to Pick, need any help?”

“Masaki, we can’t reach their areas.”

Sako blushed, and returned back to the radio. “Never mind then! Carry on, haha.” He turned to Funkee. “Hey man, thanks for your help.”

Funkee grinned. “Any time. And now, to win our rounds.”

The two of the shared one more smile before sprinting off to their goals. Sako carefully placed the orb in the goal, and Wolfsboon's voice growled out from the speakers. 

“Masaki Sako wins!”

[taiyuu-high-oct]

Round 1 Results

Congrats to everyone who completed their entries! Your teachers (and judges) were super impressed! 

Tokachi vs Gaksuka : Tokachi wins! Takakutou vs Svetlana: Svetlana wins! Seishin Tamashi wins by default Inoue vs Kottoba: Kottoba wins! Yukino vs Suzuki: Yukino wins! Arakan Koatsu wins by default. Yameru vs Hotaru: Hotaru wins! Spellman vs Reiko: Spellman wins! Shimokizu vs Yasashii: Yasashii wins! Nanako vs Kemuri: Nanako wins! Sako vs Ningyo: Ningyo wins! Grigori vs Fujinuma: Grigori wins! Shou Mujuyo wins by default.

Good job both 1A and 1B, round two will be announced soon! Also, welcoming our transfer students Otsuka Aimi, Funkee Zeke and  Sugiyama Tsubame to 1A. Any more prospective students have until the end of round two to ask about joining so we suggest you hop down to the discord asap! 

[bunnibai]

Round 2 But It Actually Works

Wow imagine getting your round done – characters featured in order of appearance: Tokachi Ameko, Sugiyama Tsuki, Inoue Hiraku, Grigori Vai, Takakutou Shakou, Spellman, Lyrimon (mentioned), Hiyasu Shimokizu (mentioned), Funkee, Zeke, Otsuka Aimi (mentioned), Fuji Hotaru, Seishin Tamashi, Yukino Zoe, Tokei Yameru (mentioned), Gakusa Oh, Fujinuma Ozen (mentioned), Ogura Svetlana (mentioned)

“This is Hop To It, reporting in.” 

“Now You See Me Now You Don’t, reporting in.”

“Key Lime, Reporting in.” 

“B - bondage-san, reporting in.” 

“This is Takakutou--” 

“I’m sorry, who?” 

“Now You See Me Now You Don’t is right, we have to use the code names!!”

There was a silence on the other end, followed by a heavy sigh. 

“...Holey Cow, reporting in.”

-----------------------

A week before, Ameko had been sitting in homeroom with the rest of 1A. It was a little energetic in the classroom, which had intimidated Ameko at first, but the careful excitement of 1A was quickly starting to grow on her. She appreciated the way that Lyrie-chan had a habit of lowering her volume when it got too loud for Ameko, and how it was becoming second nature for the person closest to Hiyasu-chan to put their arm around her when she seemed too cold. 

Ameko leaned against Lyrie-chan as the class chatted, feeling the warmth of her part-horse body taking over the coolness of Hiyasu-chan beside her. 

“Hey, guys!” 

Ameko’s voice carried over the others, and they all looked over at her, finishing up conversations and turning over in their spots; in a chair, or sitting on a desk, or enjoying the giant cuddle-pile that had collected around Ameko. 

“What’s up, Tokachi-kun?”

Inoue-chan raised an eyebrow and rested his chin on his hand. Ameko straightened in her spot, letting her hands flitt around her as she spoke. 

“We should have a secret comuni-ni-nation device!” Ameko declared. Inoue-chan paused for a second, before clarifying in a smooth, calm voice, “Communication device?” 

“Yes! That!” 

“How would we even do something like that?” Takakutou-chan snorted, rolling her eyes. It was, of course, to be expected of the grumpy girl who never seemed to care much for being a team player. The entire class gave each other a knowing, amused glance. 

“Like - like a walkie-talkie or something!” Ameko continued, “For when we’re doing training stuff.” 

“That’s actually not a bad idea.” Inoue-chan mused. “If we had the knowledge to do something like that, anyway.” 

“We probably could,” Spoke up a boy in the back. He was a transfer student, and had arrived that day in the train station alongside another late arrival, Otsuka-chan. 

“We can?” Ameko lit up. 

“Yeah. I could make some headsets and connect the transmission to some AM radio waves; if we all hit the same channel, we can talk to each other. They won’t hit a terribly long distance, and anyone with another radio can listen in, but they’ll work.” 

Ameko hopped up, her hair bouncing with her and a grin on her face. “You’re so super smart! Haaah, what’s your name again?”

“Funkee, Zeke.” 

Ameko blinked a few times. 

“Fu… foon-kee…?” She scrunched up her nose. 

“You can call me Zeke, if it’s easier for you.”

Ameko blushed, shaking her head. “That’d be really embarrassing. I could--” Her voice lowered, “--do you mind being called Kisai-kun?”

“Talented? Why?” 

“Because - because you’re making the radios!” Ameko bounced on her heels, feeling her quirk threatening to burst. “And if we have radios, we gotta have codenames!” 

There was a bubbling excitement in the class as they all huddled together, paper in hand… 

-----------------------

Fast forward to a week later, and their first hero lesson had started. Ameko quickly learned her field was connected to Inoue-chan, Gigi-san, Takakutou-chan, and the newest transfer, Sugiyama-chan. She had caught her just before they split up, handing her a headset and collecting a code name. 

She stood on the edge of a dilapidated city, looking at the aged buildings and the almost peaceful atmosphere. It would have been just Ameko, if her ears couldn’t pick up the faint chatter of her classmates. The overhead speaker boomed an excited set of instructions from Kyokkou-sensei, interrupted every so often by a mildly-irritated Kuzu-sensei. 

“Ready!”

Ameko crouched down, letting her foot skid slightly on the ground, gripping the concrete under her. 

“Set!”

Her hand brushed the dust-covered surface. Breath in. Breath out. 

“Go!”

The dust stirred as Ameko took off, and the familiar feeling of jumping high, so high, gave her a quick rush of excitement. When she was hopping, it almost felt like flying. Ameko felt like she was making good progress when -- 

“Shit!”

Ameko skidded to a stop when she saw one of her other classmates, Gigi-san, sprinting towards the goal. Behind them, an empty trash can that had sprout legs -- their quirk, Ameko knew -- was running along at a frankly impressive pace. A glob of lava flung out at the trash can, melting it and leaving the orb rolling away. 

Right at Ameko. 

“Bondage-san--” Ameko blushed as she spoke into the headset. “--how fast can you run?” 

“Pretty fast,” They replied, “Why?”

“I can kick the ball towards the goal, but you gotta catch it before it goes over.” 

“I have an idea.” Gigi-san sprinted towards the sidewalk, finding a bench and touching it. Their quirk made it come to life, and like an animal, pranced anxiously as Gigi-san climbed on. “Go.” 

Ameko kicked the ball, and Gigi-san hurtled after it, their opponent struggling to catch up. Without much hesitation, Ameko kept hopping towards her goal, and after a few minutes the radio crackled to life with a relieved, “Thanks, Hop To It.” 

Ameko spotted the shining from a window a few buildings ahead, and slowed down, slipping into the doorway with quiet focus. The building was run down, but maybe not as much as some of the others, because it was clearly sturdy. Dust coated the floor in a very thin layer, and the air had a heaviness that made Ameko’s breath hitch the wrong way. There were a lot of floors; Ameko figured at least five. With the winding rooms and nooks and crannies, it felt like hours (although in actuality, she had only been searching maybe five minutes) as she shifted boxes and climbed staircases. 

She tried to listen for her opponent, but she heard nothing. 

Although it would be lying to say that Ameko knew all of the kids in 1B well -- She had classes with them, but besides the people that she had gotten close with, she was much more focused with the familiar, family-like feeling of her own class. But Ameko had run into quite a few, and she could recognize a lot of them. 

Ameko had known Seisei-chan since the exam, and she had a pretty solid grasp on his quirk. She had gotten used to the way that he popped out of existence when he was startled, the way his heartbeat was a bit too slow whenever she went in to hug him. She knew that Seisei-chan was slow; maybe not to the average person, but definitely to someone who’s quirk was good with speed. 

Ameko really liked Seisei-chan. Some might even say that she loved him; that, of course, would depend on whether you believed love could even be accomplished after two weeks of school. But Ameko was also here for a reason. She was here to grow, to be a good hero, and Seisei-chan was too. 

If she didn’t try her best, even though she liked him, then she wasn’t being nice to either of them. 

“Hop To It, this is Now You See Me Now You Don’t, reporting in.” 

“What’s up?” Ameko whispered, opening one of the doors and poking her head in. 

“You’re fighting the purple ghost kid, right?”

“Yeah?” Nothing. Close the door, rush down the hallway, look in another door.

“He’s running towards the goal with the orb.” 

Ameko stopped. For a split second, she’s confused. She would have definitely heard someone come in; footsteps, breathing, little huffs and puffs and bumping around that, although not much, was enough for someone with sensitive ears. 

Unless, of course, he was invisible. And he couldn’t be touched -- or touch the things around him.

Ameko cursed a soft, “Sweets and sugar,” as she opened the window and launched herself out. “Where?”

“I’m bad with directions,” Sugiyama-chan admitted on the other end. After a beat of silence, Yukino-chan piped up, “You’re looking for Seishin-kun, right, Hop To It?”

“Yeah, I am.” 

“He’s nearby!” Yukino-chan assured. “Go three blocks East and two South, and he’ll be there.” 

This was, of course, something that the class had considered before the match; because of Yukino-chan’s quirk being like a person detector, she could easily direct people towards any targets. In preparation, they had all made sure to have compasses on hand. Ameko had to thank Tokei-kun for that idea. 

“Thanks a ton!” Ameko called out, and started sprinting in the direction. 

Seisei-chan was floating, fast but not as fast as Ameko. He saw her coming, and when she went to tackle him, he floated up and out of her grasp. 

Ameko rolled on the ground and popped back up, her feet skidding on the ground. Seisei-chan floated further down, eyeing her with apprehension. 

“Sorry, Tokachi-chan.” 

Ameko lurched forward again, and again, he flew back. Ameko quickly realized that this wasn’t going to work. 

Ameko had remembered the days afterschool in her backyard, in the makeshift training ground, trying to knock Gakutori-nii off of his feet. She’d try the same lunge. She remembered his slightly amused tone when he told her that it wasn’t a good idea -- Ameko would get tired a lot quicker than Gakutori-nii would. She bit the inside of her cheek and thought. 

Ameko’s quirk buzzed with energy waiting to be used. When Seisei-chan took a floating step towards his side of the goal, Ameko knew what she was going to do. 

When Ameko was little, she used hopscotch to try and control her quirk. She tried to stay in the squares by doing little jumps, because otherwise, she could hurt herself. Her quirk was one that she loved, but it was dangerous, too. 

Patience. Self control. Ameko tapped her foot on the ground and lunged, aiming higher. This was no problem for Seisei-chan; he ducked lower, instead. 

That was his mistake. 

She shifted her attack to kick his side, and he cried out in alarm, the ball rolling out of his arms and down the street. Ameko was fast; she scrambled, grabbing the orb and breaking into a run towards her goal. Seisei-chan floated after her at a speed that was actually a little startling for Ameko; she was faster, but if she made one wrong move, he’d catch up in no time. 

Ameko heard it before it was going to happen. She could hear most of her classmates’ fights from the headset, but Takakutou-chan’s boisterous, “We’ll see how you like this building, Tall Girl.” 

A building. 

“Holey Cow, this is Hop To It, reporting in. Did you say you’re going to bring a building down?” 

“I sure as hell am! Why do you care, Bunny Girl?” Takakutou-chan spat into the mic, followed by a grunt from what Ameko assumed was her battle. 

“Where are you? What’s your 20? I need to slow my opponent down.” Ameko ducked into an alleyway to her left, ran, then hopped a street over. The orb was cradled in her hands like a child. 

Takakutou-chan laughed haughtily. “Saving your ass, am I? I’m on the building on the corner -- it’s the one next to the burger shop.” 

Ameko clicked her tongue, and on her next hop, spotted it a few minutes away. “I need you to hold off on that building. Can you do that?” 

“Of course I can! What, you think I’m in trouble? I’m already winning the--” Takakutou-chan shrieked, and there was a crash, “--I’ve got Tall Girl under control!” 

“Great.” Ameko waited, and once she passed the building, she shouted a loud, “Now!” 

A lot of things happened at once. Behind Ameko, there was a rumbling, and the building Takakutou-chan described started toppling in on itself without the weight of the chunk she punched out. Ameko looked back, but kept going, and stumbled over the finish line orb in hand. Her chest heaved, and she slumped against a tree, the orb rolling at her feet. 

Ameko heard the call of, “Tokachi Ameko wins!”, but she was more focused on the sweet, satisfying taste of her candy. 

After the exercise and a shower, the bed Ameko rested on wasn’t her own. She closed her eyes, soaking in the quiet of a soundproofed room and the vibes -- the cool breeze of a fall night, brushing your cheeks and enveloping you in a refreshing embrace. She could feel the slow, steady rise and fall of breathing from the person she was laying on. 

Underneath her, Lana-chan let out a gruff oof as Gakutori-nii flopped on top of the two girls. “So, 1-A had radios, eh? Who’s idea wassit -- Bird knock-off?”

Ameko grunted as she went to twist, looking up at her best friend and his dumb, smug smile. She stuck her tongue out in return, blowing a raspberry. 

“It was my idea!” She bragged. 

He snorted, ruffling her hair roughly. “Not too bad, Amenee.”

Ameko couldn’t help the smile that infected her entire being.

[j--meat-hook--j]

The Storm vs The Volcano

[j--meat-hook--j]

Taiyuu Prequel: A mess of a day

The train to Taiyuu was a long one. The speed the train was going at accentuated and exaggerated the little shakes of the carts. 

The carts were full of potential candidates, a boy who radiated heat like a small furnace, two people with stars glowing through their hair, a boy made out of slime, there was one boy at the back who was playing with a couple batteries. And then there was Andrew Meda, the boy made of pure energy, beside him sat his friend Nento Attoteki.

Andrews doesn’t see the way normal people do, so Nento had to describe herself when they first met. Nento described herself as ‘just sort of someone. My hair’s a faded blue mess and I have way too much acne. I wear these ugly glasses, as you can obviously tell and, I don’t know, I’m just a regular turbo-nerd.” 

Andrew didn’t know why Nento put herself down so much, from his point of view she looked fine. Andrew doesn’t even know what acne is. Or the colour blue. 

“It looks like there are a lot of people here Andrew.” Nento said, her voice quivered.

“And now they’re all looking this way.” Nento continued. Nento shrank away from the attention Andrew naturally (An)drew.

“Ish fine. TH-er aw-ll here tuh-bee heroes, ever-one seemsh cool.” Andrews words all slurred together, his energy body had no mouth or vocal-chords so talking required some extra concentration. 

“There are some types that want to be heroes, not all of them want to be good. Like that guy with the grey skin, I am getting some bad vibes from him.” Nento, quickly drew judgement about a boy Andrew couldn’t recognise.

“Can’   t see gRey Nen.” Andrew gave Nento a quick reminder.

“Wai, no, stop juh-jing people so k - kwi-” Andrew threw up his hands in frustration at not being able to pronounce the word.

The floaty stumps that tipped each one of Andrews arms formed full hands with full fingers. He thrust them out in a compressed thumbs-up shape. 

‘Quickly’ Andrew signed.

After Andrew signed the appropriate word his hands and fingers dissolved back into their floaty stump shape. 

“I know, you’re right. Wouldn’t want to be on his bad side though.” Nento kept going.

The two continued in idle chatter on the train, Andrew chastised Nento whenever she quietly badmouthed someone.  

Andrew had come to Taiyuu today to take the entrance exam, ever since he was a kid he’d always wanted to be a hero. Nento came to just get away from the house, she was going to catch the next train back to the mainland and meet up with Andrew after he was done.

The next train back to the mainland was in about 20 minutes so Nento and Andrew had some more time together.

“It says here, that you all take the written test. It should be modified for you. Then it is the practical exam, that should be a breeze for you.” Nento read from the papers that were sent to Andrews house. 

“Alrigh’, I’ll see you after yeah?” Andrew asked his friend.

“Yeah. Send me something when you’re done and I’ll meet you at the train station.” Nento responded, her posture was nervous but she rarely went anywhere without a plan.

“Sounds good. Anyfing comes up don’ be afrai-d to shoo’ a message my way.” Andrew said.

“Of course. I’ll see you later Andrew.” Nento said before walking off.

Andrew continued with the flow of people, he got the occasional double take and hushed whisper about his unique body. He didn’t mind, he liked the attention, it made him feel special. The crowd funnelled into the Orientation Zone, Andrew forgot the building name.

The Principal, Laccadaisy, pointed out all the major landmarks of Taiyuu, the dorms, the track, the classroom buildings, the multitude of gyms, the etc. She explained how the day would work, first came the written exam and then the practical exam, once you’ve finished everything you can go home. The details for the practical exam came later.

Just as the written exam was going to start Andrew was pulled into a different room by someone who introduced themselves as Aurora. Aurora was going to read Andrew the multiple choice questions and options and Andrew would tell her which one he wanted to fill out. 

The questions were mainly about the laws regarding heroism and quirk usage. When it's okay to step in and when isn’t and how to prioritise civilians in dangerous situations. 

After everyone had finished the written exam they were explained the details of how the physical exam would work. There were 8 trials total, each student was randomly assigned 3. Sounds easy enough. Andrews sheet was written in japanese and braille, he got assigned trials 1: Shaky Shimmy - located at the track, 3: Dogcatcher - located in the forest, and 5: rope climber - located near the coast of Taiyuu.

The Shaky Shimmy Trial would be happening at the track very soon. Aurora pointed Andrew in the direction of the track field and he took off. 

It didn’t take too long for him to catch up to the silhouettes of the other people doing the Shaky Shimmy Trial. One was radiating heat off them like crazy, one had the night sky in their hair, and there were two more unexciting people. 

They were all standing around awkwardly with the silhouette standing at the front, Probably Laccadaisy, impatiently looking at her wrist. 

“Wait up! Hold on!”  Another boring silhouette came running from behind the group. They already looked out of breath. 

“Now that we’ve got all 5 of you we can start.” Probably Laccadaisy said. 

“Start the Sh-” The Furnace Person said. “The Shaky Shimmy trial, yes. Your goal is to get to where those orange cones are.” Probably Laccadaisy answered. 

The two cones were about 10 meters in front of the group framing some the track lines of the field.

“Oh, well that’s not that bad.” One of the boring silhouettes said.

“3 times. Just two laps of the track and you’ll be good.” Laccadaisy responded with a bit too much excitement.

Andrew couldn’t see where the track lines were, but he assumed it’s the hard stuff without grass. It made a large oval shape about 400 meters in length. 

“Alright, line up, get ready.” Laccadaisy said, she stood to the side of the track and raised her arms.

The students all picked a lane, the ones with meat started doing stretches to limber themselves up. Andrew could tell the one radiating heat was getting hotter, more around the shoulderblades than anywhere else. 

“3. 2. 1. GO!” Laccadaisy shouted. One of the boring silhouettes started skating forward; the rules of friction didn’t seem to apply to her now. The hot ones back exploded in fiery wings and he shot forward, like a high speed jet or a particularly angry Phoenix. Andrew, not wanting to be outdone flew after the flaming phoenix as fast as he could. 

Once Andrew and The Phoenix reached a curve in the track the ground started shifting across the whole field. The Phoenix tried to turn to make the curve but lost height in the process, they crashed hard into the ground. Andrew gave them a mock salute as he overtook them.

Andrew continued pushing forward, it wasn’t too far until he would finish his first lap when he heard a voice behind him say.

“I’m not losing like that!” It was the Phoenix, quickly back in the air after eating dirt. The second bend wasn’t too far away now, Andrew could control his flight easily enough that he decided to do an air drift over the second bend.

The Phoenix, predictibley, hit the shifting ground again.

“FUCK!” They called out.

Andrew raced past the orange cones, starting his second lap. Ahead he spotted the two boring silhouettes, one was really struggling against the shifting landscape as they hadn’t made it past the first bend, the other had already skated past the first bend. The silhouette with the Night Sky in their hair was about halfway between the other two, they were skating too but not as well as the boring silhouette in front.

Andrew flew over the first boring silhouette who was still struggling to gain his footing. The Phoenix was back in the air and hot on Andrew’s heels. 

Andrew took the bend narrow, hugging the inside of the track. The Phoenix ended up taking the bend wide and started to lose altitude when WHAM they slammed right into the silhouette with the Night Sky in their hair. Andrew winced at the sudden impact between the two. Instead of tumbling straight into the ground The Night Sky stayed upright, The Phoenix used the Night Sky to keep himself balanced and in control of his flight. The Night Sky got a free speed boost, The Night Sky’s shoes sliding perfectly across the shifting and tumbling ground.

Andrew kept pushing forward, past the second boring silhouette that was skating. The Phoenix hadn’t stumbled across the bend and was catching up. The skating silhouette joined the train of the Phoenix, adding even more to the stability and control the Phoenix originally lacked. 

The second and final bend of Andrews lap two was coming up soon and the Phoenix Train was catching up. The boring silhouette placed her hand on The Phoenix’s face and the Trains speed was increased by a little bit more as the Phoenix Train all of a sudden had less drag. 

The three were gaining speed and catching up to Andrew when finally the bend came. Andrew took the bend narrow again, keeping as close to the inside as possible. The Phoenix Train took the bend a bit wider. The Night Sky and the boring silhouette kept The Phoenix from crashing into the ground. The Orange cones were close, so was the Phoenix Train. The two groups were pushing further and further until… There, The Phoenix Train pulled in front at the last second. 

“Don’t stop now! We still have one more lap to do!” The Night Sky said. 

Andrew pulled off to the side having finished his two laps. He caught his nonexistent breath while the other three finished their two laps. The Phoenix Train pulled up after not too long, the last boring silhouette had to keep huffing along. 

“Woooahhhh! That was so cool, I mean hot!  Whatever!” The Phoenix said.

“I’m Nerva Rekka - Burning Soul.” The Phoenix, no, Rekka said. Name, then Quirk, as was custom nowadays.

“Meda Andrew- Energy Physiology.” Andrew responded.

“Naishin-Sunomu Isejin - Sandman.” The Night Sky, Isejin said.

“Kouka Fuitchi - Path of Least Resistance.” The boring silhouette, Fuitchi said.

“Dude you were so fast, it was like zoom and whoosh and PHWAAAA.” Rekka said, with equally extreme hand motions to emphasise the sound effects.

“No meat, no drag.” Andrew said. He liked simple and short words, they were easier to say.

“You look so, sparkly, almost see-through.” Isejin commented.

“Rekka what as with that reckless flying! It was so cool, you could have gotten hurt.” Kouka said excitedly.

“It’s no biggie really, just ate it a few times.” Rekka said, brushing the dirt on his face and torso off.

As Andrew was thinking of something to say the fifth participant of Trial 1 finished up.

“Huff, huff. What the fuck,, was that.” The new boring silhouette doubled over gasping for breath.

“You good?” Isejin asked.

“Fuckin, barely, I swear to god the next test I’m in better have a robot or some shit.” The new one said.

“You are?” Kouka asked.

“Zeke Funkee - Electrokinesis” The basic silhouette, Zeke, said.

“I think the next Trial’s starting now.” Rekka said.

“Fuck.” Zeke said, or was it Kouka.

“That’s me.” Kouka said, probably, the two look so similar.

“Anyone else?” Zeke asked the group.

“Nope. I’ve got a bit of a break.” Rekka said.

“No, I’m the one afta.” Andrew managed to stumble out.

“I’m the same as Meda.” Isejin said.

“Alright, off we go then. Um, I never got your name.” Zeke said to Kouka

“It’s Kouka, lets go Funkee.” Kouka said, slightly dragging Zeke with her. 

“So are we watching Trial 2 or what?” Isejin asked the other two.

“Yeah, that's at the forest, isn't it?” Rekka said.

“Souns goo” Andrew said. 

The three made their way over to the forest area where the 2nd Trial was happening. They sat a distance away from the trial happening.

“I like to play a game with my dads where we try to guess other people's Quirks, you lot wanna give it a try?” Rekka asked the group after they sat down.

“Sure.” Andrew said. “I’ll give it a try.” Said Isejin

The trial started and some wolf shapes started lunging at the student shapes. One student threw something that grew out of their hand.

“Uhhhh, that one’s really good at throwing things!” Rekka interjected.

The thrown thing exploded into huge gobules of cotton candy, it stuck a couple wolves together making it easier to dodge them.

“I think it’s a cotton candy bomb.” Isejin said.

“Tha’s a safe bet” Andrew said with some effort.

A wolf lunged towards another student, but they were pulled back by their jacked in the nick of time.

“What’s that, a cloth manipulation one?” Rekka said.

“Yeah, I think so. They’re moving as if they’re being dragged by their clothes.” Isejin agreed.

Andrew saw something the other two didn’t, his energy sense finally came in useful, the clothes on their body were colder than everything else. Super cold, like starting to freeze temperatures.

“No, ish bit more. Cold.” Andrew said. 

“Huh, cold quirks suck. Garbage. I hate ‘em. YUCK.” Rekka said.

One student simply stood still, sometimes a wolf would approach them but after they did a small maneuver the wolves lost interest. 

“What about her?” Isejin asked.

“I don fink hers is suited for this trial.” Andrew said.

“She’s  totally Quirkless. That’s super impressive!” Rekka said.

The trio's eyes and similar sensory organs shifted towards a girl who launched into the air, propelled by a platform underneath her. 

“Woah. That one’s flashy.” Isejin said.

“Yeah, is that… asphalt or concrete or something like that?” Rekka said.

Andrew’s energy sense came in handy once again. The pillar was warm, not boiling hot but not room temperature. 

“It looksh like freshly laid asphal” Andrew said.

“I mean, I guess so. Sorta.” Isejin said. 

The group moved focus again. 

“What about her? She’s not doing anything flashy.” Rekka asked the group

It was the girl that was standing still again.

“We alread-ee talked abou’ her.” Andrew said.

“Really? What was the verdict?” Isejin asked

“That she was Quirkless but it was cool.” Andrew responded.

“Ooooh yeah! I remember now.” Rekka said.

The group faced towards the next person, this one has almost comically long hair.

“Woooahhhh. That’s so cool!” Isejin said.

“Yeah, that looks like it could come in useful for like, stealth missions and that.” Rekka said.

“What are you talking abou? I can’ shee anyfing.” Andrew asked.

“Seriously dude. It’s so obvious. They’re hair’s changing colour!” Rekka exclaimed.

“Oh, okay.” Andrew said.

There was another student who was dodging wolves only based on his own athleticism. Rolls and tucks and short sprints all over the place.

“Seems like a strength quirk, or maybe they’re just in shape.” Isejin said.

“Yeah, I dunno. There’s nothin superhuman about it. What do you think Andrew, you seem to see some stuff we don’t.” Rekka said.

Nothing out of the ordinary revealed itself to Andrew’s unique sense. 

“Dunno, just seems like a regular dude.” Andrew responded.

“What about her.” Rekka pointed at someone.

It was the girl standing still again.

“She’s just standing still, maybe some sort of stealth Quirk.” Isejin said. “Guysh, we already talked about her. Twice.” Andrew said.

“Wha. Oh yeahhh, now I remember. Silly me.” Rekka said.

“Hmmm, that is a bit odd.” Isejin said.

The trio spotted Zeke and Kouka again. Kouka was being super slippery with her movements, the wolves couldn’t get a hold of her. Zeke was already pinned to the ground.

It wasn’t too long before the trial ended. In a couple minutes the third Trial would be up and running. 

“Welp this is my trial. See you both later.” Isejin said.

“I’m doin this one too.” Andrew said.

“Alright, I’m gonna grab a snack. I’ll catch y’all later.” Rekka said. 

Andrew and Isejin were already in the right time and place for Trial 3: Puppy Catching. It took a little bit for the other silhouettes Andrew assumed were students to funnel in and out. After a quick headcount from the silhouette in charge, probably Laccadaisy, she squared up and announced.

“BEGIN!” 

There were flashes of kinetic energy everywhere as people took off running. Andrew took off into the sky and kept his “eyes” open for the distinct silhouette of a wolf. His vision didn’t blur or decay over distance like a normal human does, it sometimes gets a little overwhelming but it comes in as an advantage today. 

He scanned around from his vantage point. His full 360 field of view was an advantage for scouting. 

‘Wolf shape, wolf shape, THERE!’ Andrew spotted a gaggle of the plant puppies breaking off from the crowd.  He took off chasing the breakoff group, the best he could do is round up 4 of the Good Boys at once. 

Andrew was tailing the gaggle of Plant Dogs but he couldn’t quite catch up to them. The group was always just out of his reach. This wasn’t a problem for Andrew, he reached out with both hands and his arms extended far beyond human proportions.

His long noodle arms wrapped around two Plant Puppies and pulled them close to his chest. Andrew did a quick aerial maneuver so that his chest faced the sky and his legs were at his front. Andrews' legs then stretched out and wrapped around another two Wolves and pulled them close.

Andrew looked like a chandelier of a jacket and wolves as he raced back to the starting area to claim his Good Boy points. When he reached the starting area the person in charge called out to him. 

“Good job Meda, that's four points to you.” 

“Fan-s Lacca-d-d-day-see” Andrew assumed it was the principal running this exercise.

“I’m not...” The silhouette began but Andrew was already gone taking off into the forest again. 

Andrew was searching for another set of dogs when he spotted the Person with the Night Sky in Their Hair sitting and surrounded by sleeping dogs. He flew past them as more and more dogs went to approach them.

He flew past as Isejin gathered something that acted like sand or dust and launched it at the new dogs. Isejin waved up at Andrew.

“H-Hey.” Andrew managed to stutter out. 

WHACK! In his light daze Andrew wasn’t watching where he was going and slammed right into a tree and its branches at high speed. 

“Aww my jahck-eh iz rew-inned." Andrew managed to stumble out. A branch had managed to go right through his energy body and poked a huge hole in the back of his jacket. 

“Woah, are you okay?” A new silhouette said from next to Andrew. Which is weird because he’s far off the ground. Andrew managed to maneuver his jacket free of the branch, his energy body could easily shrug off a branch through his chest. 

“Yeah. Jush tings a lihl.” Andrew responded. 

“Just be careful when you’re in the air, aight?” Andrew got the chance to take a better look at this new silhouette now that he wasn’t impaled. The silhouette didn’t have any distinct energies or silhouettes. Just a regular person floating next to Andrew. 

“I’ll try harda.” Andrew emphasised with a quick laugh at the end. 

“The exercise is over!” The person running the exercise, Laccadaisy probably, called out.

Waiting/Exploring - Not recognising people

After the end of the exercise the students piled together in one place, one student ran off to attend the next trial but the main student body just stuck together. Andrew spotted the Night Sky of Isejin through the whole crowd of silhouettes. He flew closer before he was asked by one of the silhouettes.

“I haven’t seen anything like you before? Such a unique physique.” said this new silhouette

“Uhm, yeah. Mah Quirk is Energy Physiology.” Andrew responded.

“Your whole body is made of plasma? Fascinating. I’m Naishin-Sunomu Seisho - Bioelectricity Manipulation.” The silhouette said. Naishin-Sunomu, wasn’t that the same as Isejin?

“Not plas-” Andrew started but was cut off by another silhouette.

“Nice to see you back in one piece. I’m Sainoch Yurei - Phantasm.” The silhouette said. “Yeah, i’ was jush a scrach. Mah jahk-ehs coul’ use a rep-air though.” Andrew struggled out.

“You really helped me out there Seisho, thanks.” Another un-unique, an ique silhouette approached the small group. 

All the other students talking amongst themselves, their unrecognisable voices blended together, the movement of all the students made it hard to keep track of who was where and with who.

“Yeah, how’d you find the trial Andrew?” A silhouette said.

“It wash preddy easy I fink. I got four poin’s, wha abou’ you Seisho?” Andrew said.

“I’m not Seisho, I’m Kayaki.” Kayaki? When did Kayaki get here? Who’s Kayaki?

“Yeah, m bad.” Andrew said apologetically.  

“I’m shree, I’fe gotta go. I fink my next Trial is up soon.” Andrew said to the small group that had gathered. 

Andrew flew off from the group. His next trial was the Rope Climb, located near the coast of Taiyuu. He spent his time looking around the cliffs and beaches of Taiyuu. Along the way he spotted a short silhouette with a large hat. He floated close to the small silhouette assuming this was where the next trial would be.

“Can I help you?” The silhouette said when Andrew got close.

“Is this where tha rop-ah climin trial is?” Andrew said.

“Not quite kid, follow this cliff face round till ya hit the ocean, then head up, go North-by-North-East by 62 paces and ya should be right there.” The silhouette said.

“Okay, fanks.” Andrew said. 

‘Those were some confusing directions’ Andrew thought to himself. 

He followed the cliff face around for another while until he finally hit the ocean. He then flew straight up the cliff face.

‘Which way is North-North-East?’ Andrew thought. Compass directions are wild and weird and whacky. Andrew kept flying up to gain a vantage point to see if he could spot any groups of people. 

He was scanning the environment around him, “eyes” darting around the place searching, searching. THERE. Andrew found a cluster of people standing in front of a small thin line of stuff, probably rope.

Andrew rushed towards the group, hoping he wasn’t too late. He was close by when the silhouette in charge spotted him. Andrew landed near the back of the students, his energy “feet” never touched the ground. 

“Well it looks like we have a volunteer. Late start. Step forward.” The silhouette in charge said. 

Andrew imitated a step forward as he maintained his floaty nature.

“Just slap the rubber ball up top and you’ll be done.”

Andrew nodded with his whole body and flew up to the top of the rope. 

‘Rubber ball, rubber ball.’ Andrews lack of traditional sight has betrayed him once again. The silhouettes of the rope all blended together and looked the same. Andrew was a little confused and just smacked the highest point of the rope.

“Nope, that’s stone.” Called the silhouette in charge.

“Oh, shree.” Andrew apologized. He aimed a fair bit lower and smacked there.

“That’s rope.” Came from the silhouette again.

“Uhhh.” Andrew aimed a bit higher and smacked. If he had blood it’ll all be at his face.

“That’s the one. You’re all good.” The silhouette called. 

“Fanks.” Andrew responded quietly. He slowly floated down back to the ground. It was the other students' turns but Andrew didn’t really care at this point, it’s been a long day. He just floated back to the train station on Taiyuu Island. 

Train ride home/ Meet up with Nento

While Andrew was on board the train he pulled his phone out of his pocket. His other hand formed a full finger to unlock his phone. After some struggling he got his messages app open.

‘Alright, deep breaths Andrew, take your time.’ Andrew hyped himself up for this bit.

“Ne-n-t-oh” He managed to struggle out. 

‘Sending message to Nento’ The phone responded.

“I’m do-ne wif my physical tri-als. M-e-e-e-et y-ou at the lib-rar-ee?” Andrew slugged through, talking so much was like rolling a metal ball through his nonexistent mouth. Andrews' phone wrote down what he said and with a voice command it sent.

After a minute a blip came from Andrew's phone. 

‘Message from Nento.’ The phone's text-to-speech said. Andrew fumbled around with his phone again until he could get it unlocked. 

‘Sounds good. I’ll meet you there.’ The phone said aloud. 

Andrew enjoyed his time on the train. It was a break from the bright and unending technicolour barrage from the sun. All the energy coming off of it was so intense and focused, it gave Andrew a headache. The night sky is far better, Andrew could see all the energies of such far off places with vivid detail. The sky was beautiful at night.

Andrew nodded off a little for the rest of the train ride, when he woke up again he was only 5 minutes from the mainland station. Andrew navigated his way through the familiar streets of the city until he found the library. 

Andrew got his messages app on his phone again and prepared himself for the high-concentration speaking action that tired him out so much.

“I-m outsi-de Nen--to.” Andrew said. The phone bleeped and blooped and sent the message. Andrew was stuck outside the library, he didn’t want to disturb the peaceful goes inside. After a little bit someone exited the library. This person's hand signed the letters for “A” and “N”. 

“Hey Ne-nt-o.” Andrew said to his friend.

“Hey Andrew.” Nento said back.

The two made their way back to the Train Station to head back home. The two walked most of the way in silence, perfectly comfortable with the other.

“Hey Andrew.” Nento piped up. “Wassup.” Andrew slurred out.

“Do you think Nick would mind if I stayed over?” Nento asked. “Nah, not at all.” Andrew said.

[incorrect-taitwo]

Zeke: but, how do they get onto the moon to wax it?

Gakusa: You fucking idiot

Gakusa: they use rockets

[incorrect-taitwo]

Zeke: Drink Cactus juice, It'll quench you. Nothings quencher. It's the quenchiest!

Tamashi: Ok, I think you've had enough

Zeke: Who lit Gakusa on fire?

Gakusa: Can I have some of that cactus juice

[j--meat-hook--j]

Taiyuu round 3: Villains aftermath

Zeke was sitting on the sidelines cheering on the rest of 1A when the birds went silent. 

Thinking back on it, Zeke thought there were an unreasonable amount of birds at Taiyuu.

BOOOOOM

The PE facility went up in flames.

BOOOOM

1A’s classroom collapsed into a pile of rubble.

BOOOOOMM

The Dorms were reduced to ash.

BOOOOOOOOOM

The Makeshift buildings that Laccadaisy had made, burst into dust. At the exact places Zeke felt the buzz of an unknown electronic device. 

The rest of the day was a blur. Aurora and Buckskin escorted Zeke and the other students to safety, telling them that everything would be alright. But Zeke knew better, he knew he could have stopped this. Every explosion, every pile of rubble, every gust of ash started from a Buzz, a buzz of electricity Zeke could have stopped. 

Zeke couldn’t remember how long he walked for, the only sounds being footsteps and distant explosions. The destruction of Taiyuu sparked the greatest fear Zeke had, the fear of nothing.

Rather the fear of not existing to be precise.

Oceans, Mountains, even planets, they all come and go in the mere blink of an eye. Even if we as a species manage to survive the combined threats of global warming, internal cooling, a dwindling magnetic field, asteroids, solar flares, rogue black holes. Nothing changes the fact that our sun is on a constant countdown to death. Even if we did manage to flee to distant stars they’re all equally marching towards their own annihilation. Time and events work to destroy all we have ever comprehended, the decay of all matter as we know it, the decay of all life as we know it. 

One really has to wonder what is the point of anything? Why continue? Why progress? Life even at its most advanced is still doomed to nonexistence! Why? Why go on?

And Spiders, Zeke had just finished checking the dorms for them. 

Replaying the last week in his head over and over, looking for somewhere to change. Somewhere and somehow he could have stopped the destruction of Taiyuu. Zeke especially focused on the past day when he came across something. 

Illusions can’t conduct electricity. 

“Hey Zako?” Zeke asked his much shorter friend. “What’s up Zeke?” Sako responded. “Do you really create illuzionz?”.

“Course I do.” Sako was stone faced.

“But, illuzionz don’t conduct electrizity.” Zeke was starting to doubt his feathery friend “I was wondering how long it would take.” Sako finally cracked a smile. 

“You vere lying to me thiz entire time!”

“No, no, no, no, ok yes but, please, do you know anyone elses Quirks?”

“Of courze I do! I know Amekoz, Zpellmansz yourz and Yuu’z. I’m not an idiot.”

“Ok, what’s Amekos?” “Well now I’m embarrazzed to zay.”

“C’mooonnnn. I won’t judge too badly.” “Fine, Amekoz Quirk is Human Form. Sche can take on zhe form of a Human.” “Hmm, yes, of course, of course, but here’s the question, what is she actually?” “A Kangaroo.”

“Ahem.” Sako coughed into his fist. “Yeah, you’ve figured it out. Ameko is a Kangaroo with the Human Form Quirk.” Sako confirmed.

“I knew it.”

The two went on discussing their fellow students. Just some basic stuff, Yuu is a bat, Shou is related to Spellman, Ameko and Buckskin are related, Ozen is part building, Hirakus covered in mouths. 

“So what do you think about the new girl? Take a guess at that.” Sako put forward.

“Ok, this one I know for schure. You zee sche looks just like zomeone back home in Germany. That girlz Quirk is either a Mizty or a Clone Quirk. Sche looks just like someone wis a clone Quirk back home but she’s all floaty and...” Zeke lost his train of thought.

“Misty?” Sako answered questionably

“Yez!” 

“You’re right, she reminds me of a foggy day..” 

The new familiar-looking girl tensed up and seemed to lose a bit of her cheer. She sped up her pace to distance themselves from Zeke. 

“...”

“...”

Without the lighthearted banter between the two silence, like a cancer, grew. Tired of the sound of explosions and frustrated at his own inability to act, Zeke had an idea. Heroes aren’t just about fighting villains, heroes are about keeping people safe and happy. A True Hero makes everything ok even after a disaster. 

Turning to no one in particular, Zeke decided to use his loud mouth for something useful. 

“Hakuna. Matata.”

He got some odd looks.

“Hakuna Matata, vhat a wunderbar vhrase.”

Silence.

“Hakuna Matata, ain’t no pazzing craze! It means no worriez for the rezt of your dayz.”

Yuu started to mutter along. It wasn’t much, but it was someone. 

“It’s our problem-free, philosophy. Hakuna Matata.” Koatsu, the Green Guy Zeke had previously tased, joined in and he was singing louder. Was this a challenge?

Zeke pointed far in front of him, to Wolfsboon.

“Vhy, vhen he vas a young varthog!”

A slight humming from Ameko, better than nothing. Doing his best Wolfsboon impression Zeke pulled out all the stops.

“Vhen I was a young Varthoooooog.” 

Some irritated looks from people, and a great harmony on Koatsus part. 

“He found hiz aroma lacked a Schertain appeal. He could clear the Zavannah after every meal.”

Whack.

“Shut up!”

Zeke felt a stinging pain in his cheek, recoiling from the hit. Zeke saw that is was a girl from 1A, best known for her attitude Kuta, Kata, Katou, Takamakalaksaka? Something like that. 

“Ow.” 

“Stop, he isn’t hurting anyone!” Ameko interjected.

At least Ame’s talking. 

“Vould you prefer the zilence then, cuz I don’t think anyone elze here doez.”

“Keep that mouth shut unless you want another one.” Takamakalalaparatou was stanced up and ready for a fight. 

“Kutou!” Ameko was angry. Was that possible? “You’re just making everything harder, hasn’t everyone been through enough?”

Ozen, the local giant, got between Zeke and Takamalakealatou and placed a hand on her shoulder.

‘Try getting through that building you jerk!’

“I’m a sensitive soul, though I seem thick-skinned.” A new guy continued. It was Hiraku! The Mouth Man. Takakalakamaktou attempted to lunge towards Hiraku but was stopped by Ozen’s building like body. 

“Oh for fucks sake.” A 1B girl said. Zeke had seen her around before, she reminded him of the circus. 

“And it hurt that my friends never stood.” Koatsu joined again, emboldened by Takamakahoouzous restraint.

“DOWNWIIIND!” All three sang together.

“And oh, the schame.” Zeke followed through. “He was ashamed.” Hiraku continued.

“Thought of changing my name.” Koatsu followed.

“Oh, what’s in a name.” Hiraku perked in again.

“And I got downhearted!” It was  Zekes turn. Some frowns were disappearing.

“How did you feel?” Hiraku, playing the supporting voice.

“Every time that I-” Koatsu, adding some depth.

“Pumbaa! Not in front of zhe kids!” Zeke and Hiraku sang together.

“Hakuna Matata. What a wonderful phrase.” The three joined together

Now Zoe was starting to hum along. 

“Hakuna Matata! Ain’t no passing craze.” They continued, bolstering each other along. 

“It means no worries for the rest of your days. It’s our problem-free philosophy. Hakuna Matata” The Fire, Electricity and Wind kids finished.

“Oh thank fuck.” Popi said relieved. None of the singers was satisfied. 

The Band of Merry Men all looked to each other, took a deep breath. “I can show you the Woooorld!”

“God Dammit!” Even Popi’s mind was off the destruction of Taiyuu. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After who knows how long of walking and songs, the group finally reached the bus. Every student feeling the exhaustion, some feeling it way more than the others. Sako, Senshii-none and Tamashi seemingly the worst off. Spellman was in literal shambles, she just barely had the basic limbs. She assured everyone she would be ok. 

One sleepy bus ride later and the Taiyuu Team arrived at their destination, UA high. Zeke, like his other students, was whelmed by the whole thing. 

There was a general sense of alarm when Senshii-none passed out. After the routine checks on everyone, mainly Senshii-none, Taiyuu was shown “Gym Gamma” an indestructible gym meant to contain even “The Hell Class”. Had demons gone to UA?

Finally, the thing Zeke had been waiting for all year. He could finally embrace his truest self, he could finally wear that cool-ass mask he designed. And also the rest of the hero costume but whatever. The metallic mesh was cool but The Mask took the cake. 

“Get in your pairs, stay on your mats and don’t kill anyone.” Eraserhead announced to both classes. Zeke was paired up with Ningyo Mya, he’d never met her before so it’s going to be an interesting… oh, oh no. Ningyo Mya looked like a doll from a horror movie, she looks terrifying. 

“G-Good to meet you I’m Needlepoint, what’s your name?” She seemed nervous but it was better than the dead scared everyone was back in the tunnel.

“I’m Zeke, nice to meetcha.”

“No, I, I meant your hero name.” “Oh, uh, I dunno yet.”

Seems like a nice enough girl. 

“3!”

Zeke started doing a little jump on the spot. 

“2!” 

Zeke spread his arms wide.

“1!”

Zeke opened his electrosense, let everything flow in. All the lights, the wiring, the electrical sockets, the batteries in Hero Costumes, the fire alarm, the smoke detectors, the alarms and bells. 

“Begin!”

Zeke used it all, pulling as much as he could out. Rage at the villains, anger at his family, grief at the loss of Taiyuu. Anger at himself, sick of his own inaction, frustration at his laziness, hate at his cowardice. He pulled it all out.

CRAAAAASHHHHH. 

KZZZZZTTT.

Silence. 

Every light inside the gym had exploded, all the electricity inside crashing outwards like a wave of bright anger. All unfairly directed at Mya. When all of a sudden, everything stopped. He couldn’t feel the buzzes of electricity anymore. The electricity had nothing to guide it and so it harmlessly fizzled out. 

“Purple Girl, you lose.” Eraserhead pointed at Mya.

“And you! Next time I see your ass pull something like that again, you’re out.” Eraserhead then pointed at Zeke

‘This Eraserhead guy was scary.’ 

[j--meat-hook--j]

A Trip to the Mainland (Taiyuu cooking event) (?)

@taiyuu-high-oct

A Train from Taiyuu Island to Mainland Japan took a couple hours, hours of ocean, boredom and more ocean. Staring at the TV, Zeke remembered a time before Taiyuu, before Japan even. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A small town on the coast of Germany, a large building, a small apartment. 

A teenager enters, around 17 years old, wiping his feet and looking around, the clock reads 8pm. He spotted his younger brother in the living “room” by himself watching cartoons. The younger one couldn’t be older than 9. 

“Hey, kiddo. Where’s Mum?” 

“She got called into work.”

Frustrated in his mother’s irresponsibility and lack of note, the older brother tried to keep the conversation going as he made his way to the kitchen.

“Whatcha doing?”

“Watchin TV.”

“Oh, so you found the remote?” “No.” Flick. The channel changed. 

Opening the pantry the older brother found… half a loaf of bread and a whole lot of empty space.

“Have you had anything to eat yet?”

“No. Mum was gonna get groceries but she got called into work.”

Biting his fist in frustration, the older brother pounded the pantry door with his head. Silently seething in anger the older brother put on a happy face, the older brother came out and sat next to the younger brother. 

“Let’s go out for dinner tonight, just you and me.” “Won’t Mum and Dad get angry?” “They’ll never know, I got a little extra money from work today.”

“I mean… sure.”

“Alright, get your stuff ready and we’ll leave in a few.” The older brother wrote a note for their Mother, if she returned home tonight. 

When the two got ready and were almost out the door, the younger brother stopped.

“Umm... Schlaut?”

“What’s up Zeke?”

“Are you sure Mum and Dad won’t find out?”

“Hey, we’ll leave our trash in a public bin, they’ll never know.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally on the Mainland of Japan Zeke had a couple trips to make. 

The first stop for today was to withdraw money, but look like a cool guy, Sunglasses on. Wandering around the Whatever City, Zeke can’t remember what it’s called, he started to get his bearings. 

‘Alright, grocery shop’s there, post office’s there and-’

Zeke felt a rumble down to his core.

‘It’s going to be a thunderstorm tonight.’

Finally finding an ATM in Whatever City, that took forever. Taking his “Credit” Card out Zeke approached the ATM, noone was nearby anyway but he still felt he had to play the part. 

Feeling the ATM Zeke felt all the different compartments, searching for the most used 4, Zeke found what he needed.

Trying the first one: Whirr, Zzzt And Dispense. 1000 Yen, not quite what he needed. 

Next compartment: Whirr, Zzzt and Dispense. 5000 Yen, close but not the notes he needed. 

The Third compartment: Whirr, Zzzt and Dispense. 10,000, exactly what Zeke needed. 

Grabbing an extra 13 10k Yen bills Zeke had enough to pay for his tuition, with some left over. 

That wasn’t right, only take what you need. Zeke remembered when this all became second nature to him, why quickly searching these machines became so easy. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“That’d be 50 Euros sir.” A cashier lady, in a large mall grocery store. 

“I’m really sorry, can you wave it just this once?” Schlaut, now at the age of 19, pleaded to the cashier holding a 20 Euro note. 

“I’m sorry sir, if you couldn’t afford it you shouldn’t have picked it up.” 

“But this is all we have for the week, we’ll go hungry without this food.” Schlaut 

“Then get 20 Euros worth of food or get out of the store.”

“Fine. C’mon Zeke we’re outta here.” Zeke, now 11 years old, followed his brother out of the store.

“What’s the plan now Schlaut?”

“I dunno kiddo, we’ll figure something out.”

It wasn’t long into the usual walk home when they walked past an ATM, it’s screen illuminating the sidewalk. The screen flickered strange colours, reds, blues even a neon green. Schlaut paused, did a slow turn on his feet and paced to the ATM. 

“Zeke?” “Yeah Schlaut?”

“Are you doing that?”

Zeke’s stiffened and he turned his face away from his brother. 

“Zeke look at me.”

Zeke reluctantly looked at his Older Brother, the pupils of his brown eyes glowing a slight blue. 

“Did I do something wrong?” Zeke was looking at the ground in shame.

“No no no no nononono nono, no Zeke. You did something very, very right.” Schlaut hadn’t felt this excited in a while. 

“Let’s play a game Zeke, see if you can find some paper in this machine.” Schlaut pointed to the ATM. 

“You mean money, isn’t that stealing?” Zeke was willing to do this, but he wasn’t very happy about it.

“Hey, we’re only going to take what we need ok? No more. We’re not villains, we’re survivors. See if you can find a 20 note and a 10 note.” Zeke had found a way to save us!

“Ok. I’ll try.” 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Returning back to the present Zeke held about 2000 Yen too much in his hands. The fridge at Taiyuu was running low, this money seems appropriate for everyone to use. 

Zeke went to that small grocery store he passed by earlier. Fresh fruits and vegetables, that’s what Taiyuu needed, none of that instant shit. Apples, carrots, broccoli and one pack of the cheapest Cup Noodles he could find. 

‘How would the others at Taiyuu react? I don’t think Sako or Spellman would be particularly fond of me anymore. Ah well, they won’t find out. All the years of pulling this same stunt we were only found out once.’

Zeke paid a total of 1962 yen.

“Have a good day.”

“Yeah, you too.”

‘Only found out once.’

Supermarket (Schlauts Quirk)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“How’s that Zeke, just enough to get us through this week. Mum should have  the day off tomorrow so we’ll cook a whole bunch then.” Schlaut, now 21, said to his brother Zeke, now 13.  

“Yeah, maybe Dad’d have time to help as well.” 

“I doubt it kiddo.”

RUUUUUUMMMBBBBBLEEE

“We should get going before it rains, seems like a storm is brewing. 

Off they were on the usual walk home, Through an empty courtyard, groceries in hand. Not too much, just enough to get by. 

“Hey Asshole!”

Schlaut turned, almost like he was expecting this.

“Yes, Gregory?” 

A potbellied man, more of a sphere than a man, called out to the two. 

“You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us.”

“Us?” Zeke panicked.

“There’s about 4 of them, stay behind me Zeke.”

“What, who are you talking about, how do you know these people?”

“It’s complicated. You wouldn’t understand.”

3 other men came up from behind the Sphere Man. One looked too long to be normal, another looked like a leaf man, the last one had spines coming out of his back. 

“Yeah, not so tough are ya now there’s more of us.” Sphere man said, he sounded like he was from New York, which is weird because this is Germany. 

“Huh, Good one boss.” The Leaf Man said, he had a very deep voice.

“Yeah, good one boss.” The Spine Man said, he had a very snively voice.

“Hehehe, heheh hehehe hehehe” The Long Man said, he had a very creepy laugh.

“You made it easier for me.” Schlaut butted in, sounding far too confident for a 4 on 1 fight. 

RUUUUMMMMMMMBLLLLLLEEEEE

Long Man reached over and punched Sphere Man in the face. 

“Aaaah, Tony, whaddya doin? Hit him not me!” Sphere Man was both confused and angry

“Heheheh, heheh, Hehehehhe!” The Long Man’s laugh seemed very panicked and confused. 

Leaf Man punched Spine Man, Spine Man grabbed Long Man. It was a free for all, none of the assorted goons and henchmen ever came near Schlaut and Zeke, Zeke leaned over Schlauts shoulder.

“What are they doing Schlaut? Why are they here?” Schlaut looked back at his younger brother. “Don’t worry, Zeke, they’re taking care of it themselves.” Schlaut looked at Zeke for a moment, just one moment was all it took for Zeke to notice the slight red glow from his brother's pupils. 

It wasn’t too long before the four strangers were all on the ground unconscious. Not once did the 4 even take a step towards the Funkee brothers. 

“Let’s go Zeke, it’s all taken care of.” “But… but-” “Let’s GO Zeke.” 

RUUUUMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLEEEEE

They turned to continue on their way home, when Zeke heard skidding. No. Rolling? Turning around in curiosity Zeke saw Sphere Man rolling towards them, like a ball. A very angry ball. 

“Schlaut, look out!” Zeke jumped, panicked and….

FLASH

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM

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Not done for the day yet, still gotta send a letter off to Mum back in Germany, quick visit to the Posty and back to Taiyuu. Card, letter, shipping. Totaling 300 yen, that is cheap! 

Hey Mum,

Taiyous Taiyuus going great, i think im really hitting it off with everybody here. This place seems more my style than uA anyway. Theres a whole bunch of really weird people here. One person can  even shapeshit shapeshift!

Anyway hows things with you, hows the new job in France? 

Has Schlaut come back yet?

Love, 

Zeke

“Just one letter, wouldn’t a text be better?” The teller was confused.

“It’s just a little tradition we have. Notes and written things are easier to keep anyway.”

Zeke made his way back to Taiyuu, hours on the train, again. The news reports were going on about a villain by the name “The King”. Luckily Taiyuu covered the costs of going back to Mainland Japan. Making his way back to the kitchen area Zeke deposited the fruits and veggies into the communal fridge. However, Zeke kept the Noodle Cup.

Zeke set the kettle to boil and thought of the day everything changed, the day Schlaut left. There was no bang, there was no warning. Around when Zeke was 13 Schlaut just, poof, gone. The whole family thought he was dead for months until Zeke’s 14th birthday, where Zeke got an RC car, brand new and very high end. It came with a note.

Hey Kiddo, Happy Birthday. Sorry I couldn’t be there this year

Noone ever really bothered Zeke again, of course Zeke still had his friends but noone bullied, assaulted or even annoyed him again. The icecream place even gave him a discount. Teachers were a whole lot nicer, even recommending him to hero courses like UA: LA, Shiketsu and Seijin. That was 2 years ago. 

The screech of the kettle brought Zeke out of his thoughts. Filling his Cup Noodles with boiling water Zeke had made a shitty meal at Taiyuu.

BOOOOOOOMMMMMM

“Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot.”

Maybe not.

[j--meat-hook--j]

Taiyuu Round 2: Capture the Orb! Zeke vs Koatsu

Taiyuu OCT: @taiyuu-high-oct​

Arakan Koatsu: https://banababanababanaba.tumblr.com/

Zeke Funkee: Me :]

Round 2: Capture the Orb!

Electricity is in the smallest of things, something as small as a battery can hold 3.5 watts. A battery on its own can generate 1.5 volts, if something were to… force it out. The entire 3.5 watts in less than a second, that may be enough to give someone a good shock. If we were to scale this up to 50 watts in less than a second, you may be able to deal a lot of damage. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zeke was incredibly nervous, his first fight! Even if it was just Capture the Flag it’s still very stressful. Apparently his opponent was someone called Koatsu. 

“Who is he? What does he do? How does he do?. I could ask the 1A or 1B kids, but nah, this is my first one. I gotta do it on my own.” Zeke said to, noone really. Zeke has no idea who this person is, what their Quirk is or even what they look like. 

‘I gotta prepare for any and every situation to come up.’ 

“My Quirk is useless on its own, I gotta get some items and some range. UUUUGGGHHH, but what if they have a teleportation or speed quirk? What  happens when they bring the fight to me? I gotta expect the unexpected which means I have to do something unexpected, something… Funky.” 

After some brainstorming Zeke came up with a plan: Step 1: Get some distance. 

Step 2: Get to the Orb ASAP Step 3: ???

Step 4: Win

Needs some more work. 

Step 1: Get some distance Step 2: Use Reginald to get the Orb Step 3: Move Reginald unpredictably

Step 4: Move yourself unpredictably

Step 5: Win

Dammit! What if there’s an angle I’m not seeing!

Step 0: Find out the enemies Quirk

Step 1: Improvise.

Perfect.

It was the day of Capture the Orb and after a bit of experimenting, Zeke had his equipment ready. Reginald, the RC car Zeke got for his 14th birthday, now with a small net on spokes duct taped to the top, Zeke lost the remote to Reginald ages ago but can still control it with his quirk. 

His weapon of choice however was the “Car Battery”, jumper cables attached to a car battery. 

The area the match takes place in is a small warehouse in the middle of an empty courtyard, it looks like it used to be an old Food Court. Standing at the edge of the marked area Zeke couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. His first actual fight, not just a street brawl. With Reginald already turned on and ready to go, Zeke had the “Car Battery” hanging off his belt loops. 

The teachers were given different areas to watch over, his area happened to be one with the Class B teacher, she was scary, can’t remember her name though. “3, 2, 1… GO!” a voice rang through his earpiece… his earpiece, surely the opponent would have one as well. Not having time for the rest of the thought  Zeke sprinted across the empty field, Reginald blazing ahead. 

Reaching the door to the warehouse Zeke slammed into the door. It didn’t budge, he tried pushing again, harder this time. 

It read Pull.

“Fuck.”

Wasting precious seconds Zeke finally made his way into the warehouse, the door to the other side also flung open. The Orb resting on a pedestal in the middle. The whole warehouse was buzzing with lights, electrical sockets, wires, switches, batteries, it was hard to pinpoint just one source. Taking a second to tune out all the ‘still buzzes’, the electronics that aren’t doing anything. Zeke’s senses had calmed down, he can think, he can fight. 

Step 0: Find out the enemies Quirk.

Zeke sucks at being sneaky, he’s like a bull in a china shop. He walked over to the Orb Pedestal, Zeke had tunnel vision so the only thing that warned him was a new small buzz just being turned on a buzz that was still until a moment ago. Zeke did a full 180 to see Koatsu swinging with a baton, it’s buzz seemed to wrap around the whacky bit… 

KZZZTT 

Sparks of electricity arched out the tip, and stopped suddenly. WHACK! Stopping the electricity was all he could do, not the actual baton. Knocked to the ground, Zeke finally got a good look at Koatsu. He’s fuckin scary. 

Koatsu seemed satisfied enough with the hit and left Zeke on the ground still a little dazed. 

‘I’ve got a read on him now.’

Following the two small buzzes Zeke turned on the “Car Battery” but stopped any electricity coming through. Weaving through the warehouse Zeke had no idea where the Orb was or even where he was. 

“Gotta find out his Quirk. Gotta suprise him.”

Zeke closed his eyes and took some deep breaths.

“I don’t need to see for this.”

All those ‘still buzzes’ came back, if slightly tuned out. Zeke could sense the electricity in the walls, the wires under the floor, the alarm system above him, the fuse box on the outside of the warehouse, the batteries in the boxes on shelves. Reginal, The Baton and the earpiece. He could almost see the movements they made, the arm swinging, the head bopping and he could definitely hear Koatsu’s footsteps. 

Reginald moves very quickly, the box says 45km/h and that's not with the overclocking Zeke can give. With some fancy weaving and plain old luck on Zeke’s end, he heard a slight slam, an oof and the sound of something rolling. 

“Gotcha.”

Reginald ended up catching Koatu’s foot in the net, sending him tumbling down. The Orb rolled along the ground, somewhere and somewhen Koatsu had picked up the Orb. After regaining his senses Koatsu finally showed his Quirk.

A wall of Green Flames erupted between the two stopping Zeke in his tracks. A fire quirk huh?

Step 1: Improvise. 

‘Alright Zeke, focus. Time to do something Funky.’

Zeke split his focus into 5 things: Reginald, The Baton, The Car Battery and the two lights above them. Reginald pushed the Orb out of Koatsu's reach, The Baton and The Car Battery both had their electricity held, effectively useless. The two lights above them flared in brightness. 

Koatsu recovered and was on his feet before the flames receded, slightly blinded by the lights above. Reginald didn’t have the body dynamics to control the Orb properly, so it hadn’t gone very far yet. Koatsu caught up and kicked Reginald off the ground just as the flames started receding.

‘He kicked Reginald.’

“You kicked Reginald! You bastard.”

Dropping his focus on The Baton and the Lights Zeke unwrapped the jumper cable and started swinging it in a circular motion.

“Hey Asshole!”

Koatsu turned to face Zeke, and Zeke let that cable fly. Zeke overcharged the cable and hit Koatsu square in the side of the head.

KKKKZZZZZZZZTTTZTZTZT.

For just a moment Koatsu became a face contorted in pain and a spasming body, his hair even stood on end.

Dropping to the ground, unconscious Koatsu was down. Zeke took a second to check Koatsu’s breathing and heartbeat, not great, but not damaged. 

“Take ‘em home Reginald.” Straightening up Reginald, Zeke placed the Orb in the net. Once out of the warehouse Zeke had Reginald cross the line first, didn’t count though. Only when Zeke crossed the line and picked up the Orb did the horn ring. 

“The fire wasn’t hot...”

Zeke had passed Round 2(?) and with it had cemented his place in Taiyuu. 

[incorrect-taitwo]

Funkee: can't stand these fuckin ghosts

Tamashi: cries

[incorrect-taitwo]

Zeke: Hey check out this new SpongeBob umbrella I got

Tamashi: Don't bro that's bad luck

Zeke: Relax

Spellman, looking like whatever the fuck: WHO SUMMONED ME

[incorrect-taitwo]

Sako: What time is it?

Zeke: Lemme check

Zeke: sets off the fire alarm

Lana: WHO THE FUCK SET THE FIRE ALARM OFF AT THREE IN THE MORNING

Zeke: 3am