𝑫𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌

𝑳𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 | 𝟒𝟓

A fist came flying toward me, so fast I barely had time to dodge.

 I spun on my heel, letting his attack miss by inches, the air crackling with the force of his punch. My own light beams shot out from the ports in my arms, just enough to push me back, putting distance between us. I wasn't ready to take this fight head-on, but I'd be damned if I didn't make him work for it.

"You really want to do this?" I asked, breathless. "We don't have to. We can talk this out—"

He didn't even pause. His eyes hardened, and with a quick twist of his body, he launched himself at me again. He threw a kick my way, but I caught it, push him back and landing a hit on his side. 

His eyes narrowed, his expression calculating as he stood a few feet from me. I stared him down, watching as a thin stream of his own blood fell from his fingertips. His quirk. The blood whipped toward me with precision, not just a spray but solidifying into a hard, jagged shape mid-air.

I extended my arms, shooting out an array of light from my hands. The beams collided with it, but instead of shattering like I expected, it seemed to absorb my attack. His blood took the hit, then hardened even more, shooting forward with the power of a punch.

It was kind of gross to watch, gruesome even. The metallic substance writhing around in the air at alarming speeds toward me.

I barely had time to react as the sharp edge of the blood slammed into my side, knocking me off balance. My beam shot wildly to the side, barely missing him. "You don't know what you're up against." His voice was cold, almost clinical as he closed the distance between us.

I gritted my teeth, scrambling back and pulling another beam from my arm and firing it point-blank, but he was already too close. He moved again, his blood twisting like Liquid Metal, lashing at me. I jumped out of the way, escaping by a hare, but it was like this thing had a mind of its own. 

I pounced, dodging the mass of blood and going straight for him, feigning a punch but kicking at his side, then shooting him with my quirk square in the chest. He stumbled back, but recovered quick. 

He swiped at my feet, but i dodged out of the way, using my quirk to propel me higher before landing a kick to his face. He took me down with him though as he stumbled, throwing a punch to my side before his collapse. 

I fall with a low grunt, tucking my hair out of the way before getting back up. He glared daggers at me, before summoning more blood out to add to his God forsaken creation.

"Come at me." I say, challenging him. 

In hindsight, I should've been more choice with my words, cause this just seemed to rile him up further, driving him to go harder.

The cloud of blood latched onto me, hardening into a solid substance that wrapped around my limbs before I could even think of dodging. My breath hitched as I struggled, trying to break free from the constricting mass, but it was like trying to move through concrete.

He stood there, just watching me struggle, his blood shifting in his control with eerie precision.

But then—without warning—he moved again, his blood shooting forward like a blade. I tried to fire more beams to block him, but he anticipated every move. My body crashed to the floor with a sickening thud, pain lancing through my ribs. I couldn't move fast enough to stop him.

I lay there, chest heaving, unable to get back up.

Vlad stood over me, silent for a moment as I tried to gather the strength to speak. I felt exposed, vulnerable—no longer able to fight back. He didn't seem to care, though.

"Your quirk," he said, his voice still sharp. "You're wasting it. You rely too much on brute force. But your quirk isn't made for that. You don't use your beams for control, only for damage. You're letting your opponent dictate the pace of the fight."

I blinked, dazed. "Wha—"

"You think you can overpower everything with strength," he interrupted, his gaze cold but thoughtful. "But it's your agility that'll win the fight. You can fly. You can control your trajectory. Use that instead of just trying to hit me harder."

I was still trying to catch my breath, but his words were sinking in. "What're you....You really think that'll work?"

"Better than what you're doing now," he said, stepping back just slightly, the blood chains retracting into his body.

I stared up at him, my mind still racing. "So... you're saying I've been fighting wrong the whole time?"

He didn't smile, but something in his eyes flickered—maybe an understanding, maybe just irritation that I wasn't getting it faster. "You thought you could make up for lack of technique with power. You can't."

I pushed myself up slowly, the pain still sharp in my side. I met his gaze, my pride stinging a little. "I... I guess I have a lot to learn."

Vlad didn't offer an ounce of reassurance. "You'll learn quickly enough. But you still have a long way to go. I didn't bring you here to indulge your weaknesses. This is a chance for you to prove that you belong."

His words were blunt, but they held no malice. It was his way of giving me an inch without giving an inch. My brows furrow, and my mouth opened to ask what all this meant, but he beat me to it.

"I was wrong about you ," he added quietly, almost to himself, the spoke louder. "I had been so sure that you were a villain, so sure you were a spy aiming to harm UA. But I didn't have enough to go on; I was too sure of my theories. And I was wrong."

I raised an eyebrow, hope filling my systems. "So, you're willing to give me a shot?"

He let out a huff of air before continuing. "When you ran off while we were in Hosu, I was so positive that you were making your escape. But seeing you risk your life like that, it made me question what I thought I knew. And it made me realize that in actuality...I knew nothing. It was all just speculation."

Vlad's eyes flickered for a brief moment—something unreadable—but he didn't offer anything more. "Get yourself cleaning up. Proper training starts tomorrow. If you wanna get to the real part of being a hero, you better up your game. Understand?"

I nod frantically, the tension in my body leaving as the blood corroded off me and back into Vlad. Man, his quirk, although really cool, was really gross. 

But I had somewhere to go. He was offering me something he'd never given me before. Trust. And I was determined to keep it.