Chapter 9
“Come on Camie, keep up!” the instructor yelled over his shoulder as they ran through the ruins. They were doing rescue drills today in a training field that had been destroyed by an earthquake. “Time is of the essence.”
Camie slipped through some of the debris and carried on behind the instructor and Inasa as they used their quirks to propel them forward. The distance between them was growing by the second.
I should add some speed training into my schedule. What good is a pro hero that can’t keep up with their colleagues?
“We’re going to stop here,” their trainer said after a while. “You two wait here and I’ll go make sure everything is set up. We will give the signal when you two can start.”
As he walked off, Camie finally sagged and let her heavy breathing become audible.
“You shouldn’t be pushing yourself too hard,” Inasa said, worry etched into his face, “You look like you’re about to pass out.”
Camie shook her head, straightened up again and took in a deep breath, “I can do this, I just have to work on keeping up more.”
Inasa’s eyes widened, “Camie, no one expects someone to be able to run the same speed as people’s quirks. Pro heroes without quirks that can transport them have cars to keep up.”
“You never know what will happen out on the field, a villain may try to get away and it’s a hero’s job to keep up with them regardless of quirks and cars.”
“Still, don’t push yourself to the point of breaking,” Inasa gave up trying to reason with the girl in front of him.
“Don’t worry,” Camie said just as a loud buzz sounding through the training ground, announcing they could start. “I’ll be careful.”
Both wished each other good luck before splitting up. They had decided before hand that Inasa would use his quirk to survey the area from above and Camie would do what she could from the ground. They had ten minutes to rescue as many people as they could. The teachers had gathered props to use as people who needed rescuing. After running two blocks Camie caught sight of a brightly coloured shirt underneath some of the rubble. She immediately headed over to the ‘person’ while informing Inasa.
“I’ve located a prop underneath some rubble; it doesn’t seem to be too bad, I’m sure I can lift them out by myself.” She spoke into her communication device the trainer had given her.
“I’ve just spotted two props in a building that’s caught alight. I’ll put the fire out, take them to the medic tent and then I’ll loop round to pick up yours.” The reply came softly in between the static caused by Inasa’s quirk.
Camie wasted no time picking up the bricks that lay on top of the mannequin and tossing them to the side. Within seconds the top half of the mannequin was unearthed.
“So far so good Camie,” she said aloud, “Now, you can’t just pull a buried survivor out as that may damage their legs.”
She worked in silence as she finished the task and lifted the mannequin in her hands and carried it away from the building. As soon as she was far enough away she placed the mannequin down on the ground and waited with it until Inasa arrived to take it to the medic tent that had been set up. With seven minutes of their time left; Camie took off at a fast pace, eyes peeled for any signs of other ‘victims’.
“Help!” a high pitched scream stopped Camie in her tracks.
She had cut through an alley while searching when the unidentified person called out. The sound had originated from her right so she crouched down to peer through a window that faced the alley way.
“Help! Somebody, I’m stuck!” the voice called out from the room she was looking into.
“Hold on, I’m coming to get you!” Camie called back and quickly continued through the alley towards the street that housed the building’s entrance. She let Inasa know what was going on through the communication device as she entered the building.
Camie rushed to the building’s stairway and headed down. Due to the ‘earthquake’ that had shaken the building, a pipe had disconnected and water was rushing down the stairs with her. At the bottom of the stairs a door stood slightly ajar, a storage cabinet had fallen in front of it, preventing it from opening fully. Banging and screaming was heard from inside the room.
“I’m here, everything’s going to be okay, I just need you to calm down,” Camie spoke as gently as she could; hoping to soothe the person inside.
Adrenaline coursed through her, fuelled on by the consistent pleas for help. Camie managed to pull the cabinet forward allowing enough room for the door to open halfway. She slipped in through the opening, switching on the torch that had been strapped to her hip and searched the dark room. The window offered little light to aid her search and it didn’t help that the person had stopped making noise.
It was probably a recording that played while the door was closed or controlled by the teachers. They wouldn’t have put a real person in these situations. Most of the students are too busy to volunteer as victims anyway. There’s already quite a bit of water in here, they must have had the system on before we entered the grounds.
The sound of something moving in the water below stopped her train of thought. She shone her torch in the direction of the sound but the light didn’t quite reach the back corner.
Did a student sneak in and actually get stuck?
“Hello?” Camie called out warily, “Is someone there?”
She was met with silence.
Deciding to have a look anyway, Camie stepped down into the small pool of water that had gathered and made her way closer to the corner. She was halfway across the room when a person lunged from the corner and tackled her to the ground. Water splashed over up as her back hit the concrete, the torch fell out of her hand and landed with a dull thud before its light went out. Hands pinned her down and panic crept in through her stomach. Mentally preparing herself, Camie stilled before bringing her leg up and kicking the person in their stomach. They flew over her head and landed on the ground which sent another splash of water into the air. Camie stood up as quickly as she could and turned to face the assailant.
“Who are you?” she demanded from them as she got into a fighting stance.
A deep chuckle resonated through the room as the man stood and faced her. “Oh, little hero, that information isn’t relative, don’t you think?”
He lunged for her again without any warning. Camie slid to the side and raised her elbow. She prepared to slam it down onto the back of his head as he passed. Almost as if he read her mind, the man pushed his arm forward, knocking Camie backwards. She stumbled and attempted to regain her footing but the room started to shake and she landed on the floor. The man righted himself up and stood towering over her.
“Pathetic,” he sneered. “It seems that they are lowering the bar for heroes every year.”
Camie grit her teeth and let out a sigh as she stood up, ignoring the pain that throbbed from her stomach and back. Letting out a yell, it was her turn to lunge forward. She sent of multiple punches and kicks that the man blocked and deflected with ease.
Camie started to breathe heavily, causing the man to chuckle. “You did all that running around for what? Pride? What a waste.”
Camie wiped a bit of sweat from her eyes, brushing her face out her face at the same time. She stood straighter and smiled, “I wouldn’t call it a waste exactly.”
The man’s brows furrowed before taking note of the smoke that now hung in the air around them. “What’s this?”
“Oh, old man, that information isn’t relative, don’t you think?”
The smoke suddenly glowed and the man found himself standing in the midst of a flowering field. He looked around, confusion etched onto his features. He took a step forward and heard the water from the floor move.
“Visual illusions, right?” He laughed, “I’m assuming that’s your quirk. I hate to break it to you but this is for show; you should have joined a theatre school, it would have been more fitting for your so called talents.”
“Well I hate to break it to you-” Camie’s voice seemed to come from all directions at once. She used her quirk to mask the water movements and sounds she created. Creeping up behind the man she used a fire extinguisher she had found on one of the walls and brought it down on his knee, “-but I am a hero and nothing’s going to get in my way.”
She swung again, this time the extinguisher hit the man on the side of his head and he fell forward. The smoke illusion dissipated and Camie had to let her eyes adjust to the dim light again. She used quirk cancelling handcuffs to restrain her attacker and dragged him up the stairs and into the street with some difficulty.
Just as she was about to radio Inasa the signal went off to let them know that their time was up.
“Camie where are you? I’ll pick you up.” Inasa’s voice came through the device.
After giving him her bearings she sat on the ground and waited for him to arrive. She found herself looking at the man that lay on the ground beside her.
He looks somewhat familiar... I just can’t place where I’ve seen him before. Luckily Inasa offered to pick me up because I don’t think I’d be able to carry him all the way to our meet up point. I’m strong but just not that strong. Maybe I should add weights to my stamina training as well?
“There you are.” Inasa stated as he landed in front of her. “Why is one of the second year’s trainers tied up and why are your clothes soaked?”
“Is that who he is?” Camie asked as she shielded her eyes to look up at Inasa. “I couldn’t exactly remember where I had seen him.”
“That doesn’t answer any of my questions.”
“I’ll tell you just now, let’s head back so I can change,” Camie reasoned with him.
The two headed back together, carrying the trainer between them. As they landed their trainer came to greet them.
“Well done, you two. Go take a shower and we’ll meet back the control room to give a performance review.”
Five minutes later they were seated across from both trainers.
“I just want to say that we are both very impressed with your performance today,” their trainer said, “Inasa you were fast and efficient in rescuing people and escorting them to the emergency first aid tents that were set up. Camie you displayed excellent intuition when faced with an unexpected situation.”
“More often than not heroes are faced with villains who take advantage of the chaos surrounding emergencies. You worked hard to take the unknown danger down as fast as possible and were not discouraged in any way when you were verbally devalued,” the second year’s trainer spoke. “You have a strong spirit that is befitting of a hero.”
Their own trainer nodded, “You two must remember something that this world seems to have forgotten; the strength of your quirk doesn’t make you a good hero, a good heart and a strong spirit are what makes a great hero.”