| Running Out Of Time | 172732014

Babysitting Duty (R)

Crashing thunder and striking light flashed across Musatafu. The storm had been present for a couple of days now, raging through the city, turning day to night and leaving traffic bumper-to-bumper while the streets were decorated with a sea of umbrellas. Amidst the crowd, a man pushed and shoved through the busy streets, jumping and hurdling over moving cars before grabbing hold of a fire escape within an alley towards the rooftops.

"Why is it always the rain?" he questioned, wiping his hair out of his face before the sound of tape caught his ear. He rolled across the wet slick concrete, evading a strip of tape that floundered about yet held strong against the pelting rain. He spotted his pursuer swinging around, the glint of his helmet alit from the flash of lightning that danced across the sky.

Sero swung towards the rooftop, missing by a hair's breadth while on the chase. Every swing made it more difficult in the rain, finding that the adhesive lost its potency quicker than most. The culprit bounded across the wet, his cloak heavy against the storm, dragging behind him. Sero only hoped that handicap equaled his own.

"Kaminari, I got him on the run! He's heading towards Esuha City," relayed Sero.

"Roger that. Keep him busy for as long as you can. If you can divert him towards the convention centre, we'll be ready for him," responded Kaminari over his earpiece.

"Easier said than done."

"Well, if you could capture him, even better."

Sero kept pace, but the rain splashed into his helmet and obscured his vision every once in a while. Thankfully Iida helped him out in this predicament, or rather, his star mechanic did. The HUD appeared with schematics of his surroundings, trailing behind footsteps left behind by the heat signature of his target. The new year didn't come to a huge loss in his time as a Pro Hero, but a conversation with Iida helped in improving his outfit best suited for "wild goose chases". Still, this wasn't what he had in mind when testing the outfit.

Another shot of tape flew towards the culprit, wrapping loosely onto his cape, pulling it taught.

"Gotcha!" exclaimed Sero with a grin, causing the man's body to jerk and slip on the wet.

Seek groaned from the slip up, grunting against the wet stone while the crack of lightning cascaded through the sky, decorating Sero's silhouette landing on the rooftop with ease. His eyes turned to spot the Pro Hero's approach, yet something else caught his eye flashing in the distance - a golden ball of light speeding through the rain.

"We could do this the easy way, or the hard way," warned Sero, still with tape held on Seek. "The easy way would be to let me hogtie you."

"Always a jokester," commented Seek. "I'd prefer to see how you'd enjoy the hard way."

Suddenly he grabbed hold of his cloak and Sero's tape, running towards the glass windows that overhung the art gallery below. The glass shattered and showered into the building, taking Sero along for the ride. By reflex, Sero shot tape towards the beams above to halt his descent, violently whipping him in the air, along with his hold still on Seek below. The sudden jolt stopped Seek from crashing into the now drenched marble floor, however, the tape's pliability snapped. His body fell with a loud thud among the broken glass and rain, winding him.

Sero swung languidly from the fall, feeling the strain of that sudden whiplash course through his arms from both his weight and Seek's. He breathed through the pain turning towards the ground to find Seek nowhere in sight. His eyes scanned through the HUD of his helmet, noticing the faint heat signature disappear into the gallery until a flash of light crossed his path, following after the culprit.

"Sero, what's your status?" asked Kaminari through his earpiece.

"Hanging around," replied Sero while he successfully freed himself from his tape. "I'm still on his tail, but it's going to get a little complicated."