Chapter Text
Ihwa was waiting for Yeon at the door, Butter Knife in hand. She had been relieved when the announcement from Vendetta went out. Finally, a reason to stop talking to Philip Newville or whoever. She loved Yeon more than anyone in the world, but she didn’t get why she thought he was important enough to scare the shit out of, especially considering the fact he was a normie. If Yeon wanted to kill him, she should have just gotten it over with. But nope, apparently he was important, or something. Yeon probably did this whole thing as a roundabout way to tell her he was important for something or other.
Yeon joined her by the door, nudging Ihwa to take the lead. Ihwa opened the door, ducking her head in. This car was different from the one she and her sister had been sitting in. Instead of compartments, it was just rows of white and blue benches with an aisle down the middle. The benches were occupied with frightened passengers, their attention fixing on her and Yeon when they walked into the car. Ihwa was tensed up, eyes locked on the far side of the door. She didn't know who may come through, or when. Yeon was behind her, and if she knew her big sister, she knew she would be looking completely relaxed. She had dealt with much worse than a train jacking by some guys she had never heard of.
“So kiddo, what do you think makes sense for us to do next?” Yeon asked lightly. This was a test from her, and Ihwa relished the chance to impress the sister she loved so much. Ihwa thought for a moment, opened her mouth to speak, then remembered her throat injury. Practice for the oath of silence, when she became a full fledged black hand member. Ihwa turned around to Yeon, pointing towards the far door, making the action of opening it, then swinging her sword.
“If you do that, then how are we going to make sure the passengers aren’t caught in the crossfire?” Ihwa turned around to look at her sister. She wasn’t looking at her, rather the passengers on the train. Right, there were a lot of civilians on the train. Normally they would be able to cover up civilian deaths, but with Philip Neville there, who apparently was important enough to keep alive, she couldn't be sure. This would take some preparation.
If this car was evacuated, Ihwa could afford to cut loose some. She loudly clapped to get the passengers attention, then pointed to the door she had come through. Hesitantly, a few got out of their seats, before suddenly they began streaming through all at once, desperate to get behind the heroes. The train car was mostly evacuated when the opposite door opened, a red tentacle racing towards Ihwa, who quickly used Butter Knife to cut it in half.
“You're not Bareknuckles.” A man accused as he stepped forward, tentacles writhing around him as two more stepped out from behind him. He wore a suit and tie, and had green hair. He wore glasses, but not the sort with straps to keep them attached. Stupid then. Ihwa stepped forward to match him, sword held in a casual grip. He sent several more tentacles racing towards her, which she slashed apart. This guy wasn't just stupid, he was weak, this was gonna be an easy fight.
Ihwa took in a deep breath, grasping the anger she was feeling. Her stupid fucking neck injury made talking impossible. This should have been a fun train ride with her sister, talking about the different places they saw and getting ready for the hero trials. No, instead they were just sitting there in silence, with Yeon occasionally telling her about some minor thing. Even district 17 had been boring, most of what they had done had been reviewing the dead bodies again for the clan, and trying to identify any whereabouts for the one MIA clan member. There were no real indications of who had done the attack, which Yeon had told her meant someone who had a gift that made EST constructs. Not very helpful.
Ihwa curled that anger and annoyance and frustration around her sword, weaving it into the EST she was shaping around her blade as she swung diagonally with an enraged slash, EST attack cutting into the man and the two near him. The tentacle man had blocked enough of the slash with his tentacles that he survived with minor injuries, but the same couldn’t be said for the other two with him. Each of them had been bisected. The one on the left at his legs where the cut was lower, the one on the right the upper half of his head where it was higher.
The train car was in tatters. The left side of the car had had all its furniture sliced apart, with pieces flying everywhere, Ihwa covering her eyes in response, stumbling a bit. The floor was unsteady because she had cut the train car in two. Shit. Ihwa looked back up at the tentacled man, who was grinning at her as he got further away. Ihwa took two steps back before running forward and jumping towards the half of the train with Vendetta on it.
The tentacle guy shot out one of his tentacles at her midair. She twisted around, avoiding a body hit, but his tentacle managed to knock Butter Knife out of her hand before she landed, weaponless. He sent several more tentacles her way, which Ihwa could no longer cut out of the way, and she had to resort to dodging. He managed to back her against one of the side walls to the train, maybe he wasn't as stupid as she thought.
“Not so tough without your sword, are ya girl?” The man said, leering at her with a cocky grin. Ihwa opened her mouth to respond, but the second she started speaking the pain in her throat flared up again in pain. That was it, she could use the pain knife, at least defensively. Swordsmanship was finicky, with EST techniques requiring matching sword types, so she couldn't use the dagger for it, but it would be enough here. She was certainly faster and stronger than this guy.
Ihwa spit at him in response, latching onto the window beside her and vaulting upwards onto the roof of the train car. She didn't like the idea of being in an enclosed space with all those tentacles flying at her. And where was Yeon? She- Must be doing something important on her end.
The top of the train car gave her much more room to dodge, as well as a moment to think, as she jumped onto the roof of the next car. Better safe than sorry, she didn't know how stable it would be. Ihwa conjured the pain knife in her right hand, twirling it around a bit. It didn't have the weight of an actual knife which threw her off some, but it wouldn't matter against someone as weak as tentacle guy.
“Hey bitch!” Speaking of. “Don't think you can run!” he climbed onto the roof, face twisted with anger. Several more tentacles shot out at her. This time, instead of just dodging them, she cut into some of them with her dagger, to no reaction. That meant they weren’t a real part of his body, and she had to cut his actual flesh to see how badly the knife would hurt him, which entailed getting in close. Ihwa dodged a few more tentacle slaps to make sure she knew how he attacked, then quickly moved towards him, flipping her knife into a reverse grip.
She was moving too fast for him to put up an effective guard as Ihwa rushed past him, slicing into his arm. He immediately let out a blood curdling scream as he fell to his hands and knees. This guy probably spent most of his time beating the shit out of normies, he wasn’t ready for some real pain. Ihwa turned to face his hunched over form, flipping her knife around and walking over to him. He was cognizant enough to send a weak tentacle towards her, but she batted it away before grabbing him by the hair and driving her blade into his head.
Ihwa felt the same sort of flow of energy as she had when she killed for the first time, but weaker. Weird, because his gift felt bigger than the other woman's. Where was Yeon? Ihwa knew she would have been able to get onto this half of the train no problem, but why hadn’t she been here? Probably wanted to see how Ihwa would do. Ihwa herself felt quite confident in her performance. She looked down at the tentacle guy’s body, resisting the urge to kick it off of the train. Evidence, or whatever.
Ihwa was dragged out of her thoughts by a shift in the EST around her. Ihwa jumped back, a figure wreathed in light green energy kicking where she had been standing the moment before. He had short black hair, and was wearing a white long sleeved shirt with a brown vest underneath. His shirt partially concealed the tattoo on his neck, but enough of it peaked through for Ihwa to figure out the design. A snake, eating its own tail.
“HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO MY FAMILY!” He screamed at her, tears in his eyes. Talk about dramatic. These two guys looked nothing alike, they obviously weren’t real family. It was an insult to the bond she shared with Yeon to be compared to these two losers. “I’LL KILL YOU!” Tattoo Neck shouted at her, charging forward again. He was letting his emotions get the best of him, going in blindly. Ihwa cut his hand as he recklessly swung a punch at her. He fell to the ground with his gift disengaging like the last guy, screaming in pain. Ihwa walked over to him, shifting the grip she had on her knife for a fatal blow. As she stood over him, he suddenly looked up at her with hatred in his eyes as he let out a massive burst of wind, sending her flying off the train.
Tokata cradled Scar’s body as he wept, both from the agony of the cut on his hand, and the agony in his heart. Scar, the most precious member of his family, was gone forever. The girl had been dealt with, but it was a cold comfort. She wasn’t dead, and would have to be Vendetta’s next target. He didn't know any heroes like her from around here, so she was probably here for the trials. He had already been contacted by Jintae Yang to help him infiltrate them. Tokata knew he wouldn’t survive another encounter with her, but if Jintae lived up to his reputation, he would be more than enough to crush her.
There was still the matter of Bare Knuckles, the bastard. Tokata checked his watch, they still had fifteen minutes to go before the hour mark, but there had been enough interruptions that if Bare Knuckles was going to appear at all, he would have. Besides, the distraction of the pain in his hand, alongside how much EST he had already expended made him doubt he could win that fight without Scar at his side. He would cull the passengers before the escape cars pulled up. Vendetta would keep its word, as always, even if revenge had to be delayed.
“You have some unfinished business.” Tokata looked up from where he was cradling Scar, seeing a different woman with silver hair. When had she gotten up here? He had never felt pressure like this before. Her eyes shone as she began to speak. “Kill the girl you were fighting immediately.”
Ihwa was walking backwards along the train tracks, looking for Butter Knife. She had been surprised when he had pushed her off the train car, but the attack only resulted in some bruising. She was fine physically, but she was pissed at herself that she fell for the trick. Once she found Butter Knife, she was going to find where the back half of the train was and join the people there. There was no chance she would be able to catch up to the moving train, she couldn't move like Yeon, and she wanted to be found quickly. She had just spotted Butter knife when she heard a whistling in the wind, and EST that was full of hatred.
Ihwa jumped away from where she had been standing, tattoo neck slamming into the track where she had been a moment ago. He was using his gift to make himself move faster, a neat trick. She decided to try out the new gift she got from the previous guy, growing a tentacle out of her arm to wrap around the guy to try to crush him. Ihwa wanted to taunt him with the fact she was using his dead friend’s gift, but still couldn’t speak.
“I’m gonna murder you, you hear me!” The man shouted at her as he gathered his energy again, blowing the tentacle gripping him apart with a look of rage on his face. As Ihwa landed from her jump, he sent a big blast of his gift at her. Without the element of surprise, Ihwa was able to dodge it. Another blast followed, smaller this time. The idiot must have let emotions get the better of him and was over extending his EST.
Ihwa played defensively, letting him wear himself out. Each blast of EST was weaker than the last, and when a break in his attacks came, she took it. Ihwa rushed towards Tattoo Neck, grabbing his injured hand and wrapping him up with tentacle guy’s gift. He was looking at her with rage before a tentacle covered his head, crushing him to death.
Ihwa dropped him as she walked over to Butter Knife, picking it up. She had gotten lucky because these two guys had been pushovers, but if she lost her sword in a real fight, things would have gone very bad for her. She had to figure out a way to make sure she wasn’t disarmed of it in the future. Maybe she would find someone whose gift let them keep objects with them. Satisfied she had killed the wind guy, Ihwa began to follow the tracks to find the separated half of the train. Yeon was probably with the other half, getting things under control.
Ismiral looked at the destroyed train controls in amusement. It hadn’t been planning on trying to save the train passengers, and now it couldn't even if it wanted to, not that it would have mattered. They were barrelling towards Cloud Garden, where it knew Bishop was staying. He would stop the train before any real harm came to pass, unfortunately. Ismiral sat down in what had once been the train driver’s seat and kicked its feet up on the ruined console of the train and waited as the vehicle screamed down the track.
About fifteen minutes later, Bishop finally deigned to make his appearance and stop the train from crashing into the city, safely encasing it in water and gently stopping it from crashing. Ismiral wondered whether the marvel of seeing Bishop use his gift to painlessly stop the train would be what the passengers remembered, or the horrible suicides Ismiral made Vendetta commit. It had enjoyed itself, making each member kill themselves in a different way as it passed through the train carriages. One had smashed a window and cut their necks with the glass, another defenestrated themselves out of said broken window. Yeon’s gift really was a delight. It would miss using the gift once Ihwa was strong enough to inhabit, but it was sure she would have enough interesting gifts to make up for it.
Ismiral exited the train, a smile plastered on Yeon’s face as it laid its eyes upon Bishop’s diminutive form. Tu’umlim had decided the peak of his physicality was that of a boy in the midst of puberty. It was sure he preferred it this way, easier to have others underestimate you when you looked like a child. In a comical contrast, behind him was an old, gray haired woman wearing an eyepatch. Madam fullmoon, it identified. Bishop locked eyes with Ismiral, almost bounding over to it as he began to speak.
“Yeon! It's been a long time, how is the sister?” Him referring to Ihwa as “the” sister instead of “your” didn’t go over Ismiral’s head. Didn’t miss a chance, did he? He was one of the very few people who knew enough of the world’s history to be able to identify it as one of the beings of Ige, so it had to keep itself in check around him. It was confident it would emerge victorious if they came to blows, but that didn’t mean it had a reason to want that. He was still far too important to die here.
“Oh, she's doing okay, she was cleaning up Vendetta's gift users, and should be with the other half of the train by now.” It answered in an equally light tone. no way the appetizer it had sent after Ihwa would have been a problem for her, especially in the state he had been in. All factual information, giving just enough confidence in her abilities to pique his interest, but not so much as to be braggardly.
“Is that so? I’ll pop over there then.” he said, turning around to face Madam Fullmoon. “I’ll go check on the other part of the train, I’m sure you can handle this part of the rescue, Fullmoon!” With that Bishop summoned watery wings to himself and began to follow the train tracks. Ismiral watched him flying away. It would have preferred to be there when he met Ihwa, but it wouldn't pose any issues. Its claws were far too deep into Ihwa for the likes of him to dislodge them.
Ihwa wished there were more villains to fight, it would have been much better than what she was doing now. Now, she had been roped into helping the damn civilians stay calm by that annoying reporter, Philip. The moment he spotted her he shouted out that the hero was here to the whole damned train. She really wanted to knock a few of them out so they would stop bothering her. The only thing stopping her from doing that was that stupid reporter. Yeon said he was an asset to the clan, and Ihwa didn’t want to mess with him until she knew more, so she couldn't remove witnesses with him here, he seemed smart. The only solution Ihwa found was to flee to the top of the train. Nobody else could get up there, and Ihwa got to enjoy sitting in solitude for a time before backup inevitably arrived.
Ihwa had expected the legion to be ones to show up, not an Elder. She had felt something shifting before she saw him approaching, his butterfly-like wings the first thing she noticed. Ihwa knew he was short, but seeing him in person was different. Ihwa found it funny, seeing this short little man descend from the sky on watery wings, knowing he was the strongest person she had ever met. Maybe the whole train situation had been affecting her more than she thought, as her body started to shake with held laughter now that someone else could deal with the problems. She wanted to give voice to her mirth, to let out her laughter, but she couldn’t. Her throat would kill her if she did. A few moments later, Bishop softly landed on the same train car she was sitting on, about five feet away from her.
“I take it you’re the sister?” he gave her a smile as he asked that. Ihwa nodded, stone faced. She would have smiled back, if she couldn’t feel his power in the EST all around them. He could crush this entire train with the same amount of effort it would take her to crush one of the train passengers. It was hard to be friendly with a stranger who held that much power over her.
Bishop flipped his cane around and held it out to her, star handle first, while he held onto the back end. Ihwa stared at the cane for a minute, taking it in. This was a fucking elder star. Ihwa had always assumed that the stars didn't actually have nine points for nine elders, but it did. Did the people who made the elder stars know how many elders there were going to be?
Ihwa grabbed the cane by the shaft, underneath the star, and pulled herself up. Bishop didn't budge a millimeter. He extended a hand to her for a handshake, which Ihwa returned, borrowing his gift. Despite the fact she was only borrowing it and couldn't take the full thing, it was bigger than all three of the gifts she had right now combined. His eyes narrowed slightly at her, and Ihwa had the sudden impression he was up to something. Ihwa blinked at him as she let go of his hand. “You're quite different from Sixth.” He said before floating a few feet into the air. Ihwa wondered what he meant by that, and if he thought it was good or bad.
There was a shift in the EST around her, the grass surrounding them withering away as a torrent of water swept through the train cars and immediate area.
Ihwa was now sitting in a watery facsimile of a passenger plane, several meters off the ground. There was a moment of silence, as everyone was full of awe, before she heard Bishop's voice from the front of the plane, carrying impossibly far. “Unfortunately, the Victoria express had an accident, so you will finish your trip on Bishop airlines!” All at once, the people around her started screaming in excitement, celebrating the fact they got to experience an Elder's power firsthand. Ihwa looked around to see what the reporter guy's reactions were, but didn't see him anywhere. Must be in another part of the plane then. Ihwa shrugged, trying to ignore the strange sensation of her not quite solid water seat. She did her best to relax, wondering how Bishop knew Yeon, if he knew her well enough to call her Yeon's little sister. Something to ask her about soon then, along with the questions about Philip.
THE DISTRICT DAILY
Four and a half days ago, an attack on the headquarters of district 17 occurred. No villain group has claimed responsibility for the explosion that destroyed the district 17 headquarters, nor the large crater several blocks away. All active heroes within the district have been classified as killed in action, with Sharpshooter being declared missing in action. This has greatly shaken confidence in the clan, turning all eyes towards it and the upcoming hero trials.