There comes a time in a hero's journey where they feel outmatched, and doomed to fail, the only thought pushing them forward begging, "Please, don't let me screw up."

    Before that, though, I felt confident in my training. I had already put up with wacky lessons from Professor Q, the blaring lectures from Present Mic, and the merciless work-outs from Erasurehead. By then, I was certain I could handle anything. As my history repeats itself, I later learned that my confidence only led to downfall.

    "Alright, interns, listen in," Huntsman called us over. Mika, Venus, and I joined him on the ground floor. "I don't know what they've been teaching you at my alma mater, but I can assure you that training at my agency won't be easy." His steel blue eyes glinted with anticipation, as if Huntsman had been waiting to drag us through an afternoon of rigorous training.

    While I was sure he'd love to talk about his plans, Huntsman didn't say a word as he led the three of us outside. Pushing past the back gates, we were welcomed to the largest backyard I had ever seen. His layout of lush, green grass and fully grown trees was the size of a park, and something told me there was more than I was seeing. A creek ran through the center of the land, leaving a stone bridge to cross over to the other side, decorated with flowers, bushes, and willow trees. This man was a fan of nature, and I had to admit, there could have been worse places to be stuck at for a week.

    Huntsman didn't let us wander around the yard. No, he stayed close to the house where he stood in front of two enormous boulders. As he talked, Venus motioned his arms as the grass and vines began to curl around the rocks, pushing them further out into the yard.

    "Training today will start out simple," Huntsman explained. "It's helpful for me to have an idea of where you kids are at now. I have a pretty good grasp with Quartz, but you've yet to grab my interests, Biónica."

    Great, I think. He's going to judge me based on the first exercise. Let's hope it's as simple as he promised.

    Huntsman moved to stand behind us, pointing his hand out as Venus finished moving the giant, heavy rocks to sit in front of us.

    "Use your Quirks to move the rocks at least three feet. It's that easy."

    My fingers tightened up, curling into my palms. Easy, huh? Right, that boulder was twice my height and probably weighed far more than it looked. Even if I had a useful Quirk, I couldn't see a way to push that thing.

    As I nervously awaited my attempt, Mika remained deadpanned and serious. She stepped up to the rock furthest to the left and stretched her arms. Her eyes never left the rock as she took two breaths and clapped her hands. She carefully crouched down to the ground, keeping her eyes up and her lips a straight line of focused energy. When her palms made contact with the grass beneath us, she stopped.

    I almost began to wonder what her plan was, but having known her skills in the Festival, I watched out for her Quirk. Dark brown chained of dirt and rock sprouted up from the ground. The ends of the chains slithered up like intense snakes before they charged at the boulder, wrapping around it. As Mika dug her hands harder onto the ground, more chains rose from behind the rock and clamped onto it, pulling back. The rock inched in the direction of Mika's chains, but it was too heavy.

    She didn't give up. Pushing her right hand around until it sat against the dirt to her side, her emerald eyes narrowed in on the rock. Not a second past before more chains, darker in color, flew up from deeper in the Earth. The shackles of the chains drew open as they were thrown over the short distance from mika and the rock, soon slamming their sharp edges into the hard surface. The force was enough to knock the rock back, sliding back then falling over.

    When Mika stood up, she turned to her father with her hands at her sides. I looked with Huntsman to the patch of dirt where the rock had been earlier. No one had to measure to see if the rock was moved farther than three feet from its original spot. Mika didn’t break a sweat, but she didn’t make it look easy either.

    My guess was she’s had training from her dad and Venus since she was little. While I wasn’t sure what power Huntsman had, Venus’s Flytrap was a lot like Mika’s Chains. If my theory was right, then she had been through these exercises before, and I was further behind than I thought.

    As Huntsman called me over for my turn I began to contemplate. Mika finished quickly, but it was all from her Quirk. I obviously can’t do that, and all my gadgets are made to destroy objects not move them. Come on, think, what could I do?

    The boulder grew larger as I got closer. I analyzed my limited options as Huntsman gave Mika a report on her performance. My Hero costume was complete with knives, guns, bombs, you name it, but none of them could move mountains.

    I stepped forward until I could push my metal hand against the rock. I felt nothing against the surface, but I noticed the pushback as I leaned onto it. Heavy, I thought. I took a breath through my nose and raised my other fist. Here goes nothing.

    I tried punching the rock, activating the protection on my knuckles. When I looked down, my hand felt fine under the brass, but the rock didn’t budge. I pushed my shoulder against the rock and tried shoving it with all my strength. It was like pushing a building: impossible on my own. I reached behind my back and wrapped my hands around a pole. Throwing it out to my side, I didn't take my eyes off the rock as my war hammer retracted out.

    An aggravated roar escaped me as I shut my eyes and threw all of my weight against the rock, never letting my grasp waver or slip. The force was like a blow to my arms, but I felt just the slightest nudge that raised my hopes up. Though, when I opened my eyes, my shoulders dropped at the sight of the same, unchanged rock.

    I was starting to get angry with this thing. In my life, I faced villains, heroes, and robots all while I was in support for crying out loud! I had come farther than I ever imagined, and I would not be matched by a stupid, fucking rock!

    I tried leaning against the rock again, feeling nothing but my boots slip against the grass. I punched and kicked until all the energy was gone and my fiery stubbornness was replaced with a subtle surrender. My back leaned against the rock as I slowly slid down the side and caught my breath.

    It's hopeless, I admitted. I spent years figuring out new ways to blow stuff up; that's not much use here. I watched Huntsman roll his eyes at my defeat, and I avoided his gaze by glancing down to the ground, the soft dirt that held the Boulder in place.

    Unless…

    Huntsman looked ready to tell me to end it there, but as the thought grew more vivid in my head, I stopped him by standing up and turning around to the rock. Something I learned over the years was that any situation can be manipulated to work in my favor. It just took some creativity.

    I dug deep into my pockets, finding carts of compact, explosive light bullets. Made to destroy metal without causing a fire, I left them stashed in my Hero costume instead of a bag. I was almost grateful for Dani's blunt insistence that I keep all my gadgets on my person.

    The carts could break apart to give me four stakes. These were designed to fit into a cannon or a gun to fire against distanced targets, but one could easily activate the detonation with kinetic motion. That's how I planned to move this thing.

    I paced around the boulder, shoving a stake in on either side. After, I moved way back and grabbed a hold of my handgun, leaving it on locked shooting. I aimed for the dead center of the rock's base, firing between it and the grass. With one shot, I watched the force inch the rock and trigger the carts.

    I shut my eyes on instinct as the beeping progressed and the stakes exploded. Venus had grabbed Mika's shoulders and kept her back while Huntsman looked ready to stop me. But by the time we all opened our eyes, the rock had moved.

    My stone enemy didn't get pushed back, but the dirt beneath it had been chipped away on impact, collapsing it three feet under.

    I wanted to scream in victory. While I refrained from the obnoxious whooping, I still let out an excited, "Yes!" at my accomplishment.

    I looked over, and Huntsman was stunned. His mouth gaped open while he watched the rock as if it had just moved itself. Venus on the other hand, let go of Mika and clapped his hands together.

    "That was insane!" He congratulated me. "Hey, we might have underestimated you, Support Course. Not bad!"

    I smiled, about to thank him before I was stopped. Huntsman's voice was low and galled as he scorned me, contrasting to Venus's positive reinforcement.

    "Are you kidding me? What's wrong with you, child," he sneered. I almost thought he wasn't serious, but one look at those irked ocean eyes, and I knew he wasn't happy with me.

    I didn't answer, something telling me he wasn't interested in knowing what was going through my head. Next to him, Venus put his hands down and hung his head. He kept quiet, but Mika gladly jumped in.

    "What's the issue? She moved your dumb rock, didn't she?" Mika crossed her arms as she bickered with her dad. She clearly couldn't care less about my argument as long as it disagreed with Huntsman, but I was still glad to at least have her on my side.

    "Stay out of this, Mika," Huntsman warned. He focused back on me, his glare as livid as ever. "I asked you to use your Quirk to succeed."

    I cleared my throat before answer, "Okay, but my Quirk wouldn't have helped—"

    Huntsman raised a hand, his gentle way of telling me to shut it. "You need to learn to follow directions. I don't know what they taught you in General Studies-"

    Support.

    "- but here, you won't get anywhere without listening to what I tell you." It was then I began to realize why Mika so openly despised him. A part of me wanted to pack up and leave or fight him on the spot, but the smaller, more rational voice in my mind kept me still and silent.

    "You obviously rely too much on these tools of yours. A real Hero, like myself, can fight effortlessly without some piteous playthings. I'm thinking you might need a different kind of regiment for your work, don't you agree?"

    I wasn't sure what he meant, but it didn't sound like anything I should be thrilled about. Alas though, I knew I wouldn't have a choice, and I nodded my head yes. Huntsman smiled as if I sealed my fate with a simple head nod. He soon stepped off into the agency, and I was forced to follow.

   Huntsman raised his hands above his head as he walked into the indoor training grounds ahead of us, “I think the problem with you first years is that you’re too cocky. You think you can do anything, don’t you? If that’s the case, which I’m willing to bet it is, then maybe a real challenge would suit you better, hm?”

    As Huntsman turned around and faced us with that unsettling look of eagerness in his eyes, I felt back stiffen up and my hands grasp tightly on each other. Huntsman waved a hand over the back wall of the gym where another collection of rocks, stone, boulders, and even crystals were arranged. I began to pick up on a pattern going on, but it wasn’t any I felt ready for. Huntsman stopped near the entrance, his hat dipping down until the long brim masked all but his deceptive smile.

    “I believe this activity will push you both to your limits, face you against the frozen terror us Spotlight Heroes face all the time.”

    I needed to figure out what Huntsman was planning. Turning around, I figured Mika might have a clue. She took a quick look around the room before catching me as I watched her. I motioned my hand near the training grounds to ask what this was about.

    Mika's brow hitched as the gears in her brain turned. Surely she knew what was about to happen. Though, the only hint she led on was, "This won't be much fun."

    Awesome.

    I was left to figure things out on my own. The rocks along the wall didn't seem like decorations even if they fit the theme of the agency. They weren't the soft, fake decorative kinds of rocks and crystals. They were random pieces of topaz and quartz. Q says they're high up on the Mohs Scale, and they were used a lot on weapon making for their durability.

    I never got a chance to think more on the stones and crystals as Huntsman went on to praise this plan of his.

    "Don't worry if you never succeed, interns. You won't stand a chance." He moved over until he was standing back near the rocks. I was confused for a moment, but it all started to click when Huntsman clapped his hands together and laid them flat on the ground.

    Just like Mika.

    The ground shook, but Huntsman never broke his kneeling stance. Mika's Quirk allowed her to create chains from any surface she touched, and I feared that her father was similar.

    The rocks cracked and turned, moving closer to the crystals on their own. A green lightning sparked from Huntsman's hands until the energy wrapped around the figures that rose from the rocks like possessed monsters.

   Stones formed together to create four legs, a large rock supported everything as a torso, a cracked geo created the silhouette of a small head with deadly sharp teeth, and finally, more crystals lined the back of the monster. It twitched and stretched as the lightning pulled everything together until facing me was a pack of four stone hyenas.

    Stunned, I took a step back. The hyenas bared their crystal teeth and growled at me and Mika. She seemed unphased, as if this is something she's dealt with before, but if she had, I couldn't see how she lived to tell about it.

    "You kids really think you're unstoppable?" Huntsman asked, living himself up and standing behind the feral rocks. "Then let's see how you stand against my golems."

    Golem. I thought. That's his Quirk.

    He wanted us to fight them, knowing that we didn't have to hold back, but the hyenas wouldn't either.

    Mika didn’t bother waiting for any sort of signal to start attacking. When she ran forward, the golem hyenas split off in pairs, two going after her and two charging for me. The two running towards Mika never stood a chance; before they got close, she clapped her palms together and onto the floor, chains soon rising and wrapping the golems up.

    I wasn’t able to watch and see how she finished them because I had my own opponents to worry about. Unlike moving a boulder, attacking and destroying objects was my specialty. I felt just the slightest excitement bubbling up as the faux predators came close and my opening was made. I summoned my knuckle protection and grabbed a hold of two twin katanas from my back. My friends in support had gone all out to make sure my costume could stash all of my creations. When this internship was over, I considered writing a thank-you letter.

    But back to the task at hand: I was outnumbered by one. That meant I had to stay on my toes and remain focused. The first hyena, smaller and decorated with orange crystals, leaped at me and swung its claws. I pushed the weight onto my right foot and deflected with both swords. After I hit the flat of the sword against its nose, I threw the dead weight of my metal leg up and kicked it back.

    Hyena #2 continued to circle me, and I knew it would attack in a matter of seconds. I threw one katana into my other hand and reached for a handgun from my utility belt. The second my hands were busy, the second, larger hyena made a move. I jumped to the side, making sure to land on my fake leg, so I could roll back up. I quickly took aim, and shot down the second golem. That’s when the first made another attack.

    I felt it’s sharp claws grab at my hair before I barely got away. I dropped my gun and adjusted my grip on my sword. As the first hyena got close, I swatted it back with the blade of my sword. My attention was on the hyena in view, and that proved to be my worst mistake. I realized this after feeling the force of something on my shin, and, looking down, I was met with the picture of a stone hyena digging its crystal teeth into my leg and shaking its head as it yanked.

    I had never been so grateful for having lost that leg a long time ago.

    My temper rose, and I didn’t waste another second before pulling my bionic back, getting the hyena closer, and slashing my katana through the opening between its head and its neck. Once the second golem was down, the first flexed its back legs as if it was preparing to jump me again. I didn’t give the bastard the chance before I grabbed my gun, took aim faster than I ever had, and shot it down.

    “It’s about time.” I turned my head over to see Mika waiting with her arms folded over two hyenas tangled up in chains helplessly. Rolling my eyes at her comment, I took it that we were done, and I met with Venus and Huntsman.

    Venus cheered us on, that was no surprise, but it was a bit of a shock to see Huntsman smile at Mika and even at me for a brief second. He took a look at our defeated golems, and he gave us a grin.

    “Mika, that was marvelous. I really did an incredible job training you,” he ‘complimented’ and gave his daughter a cold pat on the back. Looking back at me, Huntsman continued, “New intern, I’d like to say the same for you, I really would, but that was utter garbage.”

    My breath stalled and my eyes drew open as Huntsman went from kind praise to blunt insults with the flip of a switch. I should have known better than to get my hopes up, but I still thought my work had at least improved since the last exercise.

    Huntsman said otherwise. “I thought we talked about the weapons. Listen, child, if you ever make it as a Hero like me, you can’t face a villain looking like some cyberpunk vigilante. You think the public will be impressed? Citizens will call you weak, and you wouldn’t want that, would you?”

    Obviously not. “No,” I answered, pulling my head away from Huntsman and Venus.

    With the next challenge coming up, Huntsman left me with one piece of advice, “Drop the tinker toys, Biónica. It will be for your own good.”

   I had heard enough from him. If he thought I didn’t need any sort of help in battle, then I would just have to prove him right. Venus informed us that the next challenge will be me and Mika pinned against only one of Huntsman’s golems. I made sure to wait before feeling relieved at this. Knowing Huntsman, there was sure to be a catch.

    “You two will have to work together,” Venus explained with a thumbs up as if he had been waiting all day to teach us a lesson in teamwork.

    There it was. We only had one opponent, but that meant Mika and I had to coordinate, share, and worst of all...work together.

    Huntsman faced both of us, but he narrowed in on Mika as he said, “I ask that you don’t disappoint me here. I have high expectations for both of you.” Despite his address, I knew his standards for me were far lower than Mika’s. Regardless, we were set up with the same challenge.

    Huntsman stepped back to the wall near the collection of rocks and crystals. As he activated his Quirk and laid his hands against the floor, I tried to guess what type of golem he was creating. This one had several more legs than the hyenas. It was far larger in size, but stayed low to the ground. Two long arms formed at the front, and I began to connect the dots and guess the animal it was based off of.

    My suspicions were confirmed when rocks collected at the base to form a long tail with shards of emerald at the end. When the golem was finished, it stared down at us from 20 feet tall with blazing sapphires for eyes. The emerald tipped claws flexed down at me and Mika as the golem raised its sharp stinger high enough to touch the massive ceiling.

    “Scorpion,” I croaked out, frozen in fear. Huntsman not only expected us to stand a chance against this creature, but he actually expected us to win‽ I looked over to see Venus staring up at the scorpion golem with a slack jaw, and his boss only seemed amused.

    I realized that the only prayer I had rested with Mika who was cracking her knuckles and getting ready. I took a step over to her with my hands in my pockets, and I tried to ask as casually as possible, “So, what's the plan?”

   Mika didn’t take her eyes off the golem. She clapped her hands once before running forward, only giving me a quick answer.

    “Just stay out of my way.”

    “Cool,” I shouted after her, unable to follow her lead. “Yeah, I’ll let you take that side. I’ll just be over here.”

    I was screwed. There was no way I could fight this thing on my own, and Miss Quartz was no help. My only option was to think of a plan myself and try my best. Mika went after the front of the scorpion, using her Quirk to try and wrap up the scorpion’s claws in her chains. I saw an opening by the golem’s legs near the stinger, and I knew what to do.

   If that crystal tail follows her, Mika's plan wilo fail. I can push it down on its back legs, and that will give her a better chance at wrapping it up.

    My plan would go over effortlessly if I could use my gadgets. But Huntsman watched me carefully, and I had to keep my hands off them. I made a break for the end of the scorpion, running past Mika and under the golem.

   I stop my running to assess what's been done so far. Mika has both hands wrapped around her own chains, pulling them back as they tied up the scorpion's claws. She was keeping all her focus on the golem's face, which was a bad move as the scorpion raised it's emerald stinger to attack.

    Summoning my brass knuckles, I backed up before running forward and used the momentum to slam into the scorpion's back leg, pushing it down. I made sure to land on my metal arm, saving myself some impact, but it still hurt like hell.

    The golem fell back on it's other legs and failed to hit Mika. The stinger slashed through the floors right next to her before getting stuck.

    Mika stopped as the stinger collapsed next to her, clearly not having seen that coming. She still glared at me though, as if I was the one who just tried to slice her in half.

    "I had that," she claimed, false confidence in her tone as she kept a tight grip on her chains.

    I began to get frustrated. "Seriously? I just saved your ass, and you're still not okay with me?"

    Mika's cold gaze didn't blink once while she paused. She quipped, "What are you, my narrator," before going back to fighting the scorpion.

    While rolling my eyes for the hundredth time that day, I caught a glimpse of the golem pulling itself out of the metal floor and raising it's stinger back up. With the way she had been acting, a tiny voice in my head said 'let her handle it.' But I wanted to be a Hero, and Heroes helped even the cruelest people out.

   "Look out," I warned Mike, pulling my fists close and preparing to run away.

    Mika didn't watch me nor the scorpions tail as she struggled to keep her hold on it's claws. Seconds before the tail swung down to us, Mika replied, "I told you to mind your—"

    "Move!" With no other option, I rushed over to push Mika out of the way. We both hit the ground the same time the emerald tipped stinger did in our old spots. Mike quickly pushed me away as she lost her hold on her chains. She stood up with me, her back to the golem.

    "What is the matter with you?"

    I picked myself up soon after. "Well, that's a harsh way to thank me."

    "Thank you‽" She irritatedly repeated.

    "Don't mention it."

    Mika shut her eyes and took a breath, calming herself down. She held her hands up and carefully repeated, "I told I had that and to keep out of my way."

    "And I was fine doing so, if you could keep yourself from getting killed every five minutes."

    "I knew what I was doing!"

    "Obviously not! Because you've been arguing with me this whole time instead of paying attention to the golem that's about to attack again." I waved up to the scorpion as it raised it's now free claw at us.

    "What‽" The large, stone claws took a swing at Mika, and this time, I let it hit her. She was sent flying back and tumbling to the ground. I wasn't proud of how I laughed along, but karma paid me back by letting the scorpion's other craw slam into my back.

    I fell onto the ground near Mike, me on my back while she coughed on her side. Neither of us stood up, and Huntsman saw that as our sign of quitting.

    "Alright, that's enough for now," he ordered, allowing the golem to revert back into a pile of rocks. "I gotta say, even with low expectations, you still couldn't succeed. That's quite the shame, Biónica and Quartz."

    Mika quietly raged under her breath at the name, moving to stand up with her head bowed and her fists tightly balled up.

    "I expected more from you. It's obvious teamwork isn't your girls' strong suit, so until you can work things out, I want you to stay upstairs together. Maybe settling in will fix this disgraceful form of yours."

    It wasn't my favorite thing to hear, but I was in no place to pass up the chance to lie down. Mika, on the other hand, held a look of both shock and aggravation.

    "You can't be serious," she suggested, but her dad responded with a stare that said he was never joking. Mika turned to her dad's sidekick, hoping for a different response. "Yang?"

    Venus rubbed the back of his head. Something told me he wanted to side with Mika here, but he had reasoning to go with Huntsman.

    "I'm sorry, kid, but I kind of agree with Leo here." Mika's eyes drew farther open, hearing this. Venus went on, "Part of your training will involve cooperation with others, and you could use the lesson."

    Mika didn't say anything. It was like she expected Venus of all people to have her back, but both Heroes felt strongly about this. As I finally stood up, I still couldn't care less as long as I didn't have to fight any more rocks for the day.

    Seeing her frustration, Venus explained, "Look, shit gets messy in this industry, but if you can't power through it and face your fears head on, then what are you aiming for? I know you don't like training this way, but I promise it's for good reasons. Besides, I know you can handle it, you both can! Don't they teach that plus ultra thinking up at UA?"

    "Don't get me started on that," Mika asked, but she was soon interrupted by Venus's enthusiasm.

    "Plus ultra!" He raised a fist, requesting for us to join in. All he got though was two exhausted groans in response from me and Mika.

    With that, Huntsman dismissed us for the night. No training, no dinner, just me and Mika asked to go to our rooms and get along nicely.

    I dreaded the idea of spending all night sharing a room with someone who hated me. It was almost as loathsome as the thought of training for my life with another person who disliked me. I was at least pleased to know it was the end of the day, but one thought quickly ruined that.

    It's only the first day.

A/N

Looks like Rose is in for an adventure. For this chapter, I wonder what grinds your gears, readers?

It's been a crazy month over here, but on top of the huge work load, I also have some great news!

Firstly, I have a ton of art to share:

With my birthday being this month, I had the honor of receiving lots of fan art from friends! This one comes from the spectacular FoxyPuff! This is one of few drawing of best girl Clover that I've received, and it's definitely my favorite! She's for sure the Bionic Bloom sweetheart, and this picture does her SO much justice! Thank you, Foxy!

If you like the art, FoxyPuff is also an incredible writer so please give their story Muted Voices and Jaded some love!

Next comes from T-Generation2378! And it's my first fan drawing of Double!! Yay!

I absolutely love the quoted text in the image depicting him as the Marvel wizard from the film Doctor Strange. If you're unfamiliar with the scene, it involves Stephen Strange repetitively asking the characters Dormammu for a moment as he's constantly being targeted. With the scene being very repetitive and a tad comedic, it's perfect for Double! Thank you so much, T!

T-Generation is not only a fantastic artist, but also a hell of a writer! Please give his story The Hero From Beyond a read if you haven't already, and let him know what you think!

The next piece comes from the INCREDIBLE @QuaccSmaccSnacc who always outdoes herself with amazing art!! This piece features my character Rocket and FoxyPuff's Koto Yamada from MV in a cute, winter scene. The crack ship we call MordeKoto always proves to be a fan favorite, and this is one of my favorite drawings of them! Thank you, Andi!

On the topic of MordeKoto, I want to share a drawing made by spinchh__ on IG: another MordeKoto Christmas! Thank you a million to spinchh for being so nice and making all these drawings for me!

Alright, that's it for art. Onto other news, I have a few stories to mention real quick.

Double's Christmas one shot will drop Christmas day! Be on the lookout for that in the EXTRAS expansion book!

I have also released a new crossover book titles  Fault In Our Sound that I am collaborating with FoxyPuff! The first chapter will be published Christmas eve! Please give that a look because Foxy and I are so hyped to start this amazing project!

Okay, now we're done

Character Spotlight: Leo "Huntsman" Quartz
(Original)
Quirk: Golem
Likes: fame

Dedicated to sd1229