This Thing A Quiet Madness Made

Chapter 23

Unknown's hand flew up in a split second, stretching under Bakugo's arm as her fingers quickly met the dark green metal of his gauntlet. The moment her fingertip made contact, a deafening crack pierced the air as the weapon shattered, bursting into hundreds of tiny shards. She saw his eyes widen in shock, momentarily drawing his attention away from her, and wasted no time in flicking her eyes to the side, quickly bringing another chunk of ice underfoot. Once again with a solid platform beneath her, she zipped to the right, rapidly putting distance between herself and the still-stunned Bakugo. She still had Todoroki to deal with, however, as he sent another blazing stream of fire to block her path. She didn't stop this time, rather she wove through the flames with practiced speed, her eyes glued on the hole in the enormous patch of ice that led down into the arena below.

Todoroki grit his teeth as a wave of ice burst from his right foot, instantly sealing the gap just as she began closing in on it. However, his eyes widened as she made no effort to stop or slow down, instead she sharply tilted the platform beneath her, dropping it forward at a right angle as she kicked off from its surface, plunging headlong towards the ice. She rapidly fell towards the minefield of jagged, frozen crystals with no reservations, and just before the first sharp point could pierce her skin, her arms shot up to cross in front of her eyes as the entire mass of ice shattered, countless shards bursting and gleaming brilliantly as they caught the sunlight.

Unknown plummeted through the air, landing with a heavy clamor on the twisted pile of metal below as tiny frozen shards rained down around her. Her eyes quickly found Horus, who was occupied with a few heroes not far away. He glanced at her, and she motioned up towards the hole in the ceiling.

"Time to go. She's had long enough to get out," she stated quietly as she reached Dabi across the arena, also engaged with a number of pro-heroes. She ducked to avoid a rush of blue fire bursting from his palm.

"So soon?" he mused, dodging a streak of purple light before leaping back in sync with her. A pair of footsteps joined theirs as Horus landed at their side a split second later.

"Your turn," she stated, glancing at the redhead expectantly.

"I don't need you to tell me," he scoffed.

Through the gap in the ceiling, the sky began to darken as heavy gray clouds formed rapidly overhead. The clear blue sky gave way to thick stormclouds at an alarming rate, drawing the attention of the civilians, students, and teachers all around them.

The three leapt away as the ground beneath them suddenly split open and a scattering of pro-heroes rushed at them. They countered each attack with imposing accuracy, flares of blue arching out wildly alongside unseen forces that slammed into those who got too close. The sky overhead began to crackle as the first drops of rain escaped from the heavy clouds, rapidly building before it soon grew into a relentless downpour. Rain fell into the stadium uninhibited through the massive hole in the ceiling, instantly drenching all those below with its frigid spit.

Unknown glanced at a pair of teachers rushing at her, motionlessly sending them flying backward with a loud crack, before her eyes landed on the large pile of rubble from the collapsed section of roof. Three flat pieces of gnarled steel separated themselves from the mound before darting out in different directions. One of them zipped directly to her, passing quickly through the air as she leapt onto it, lifting her up and out of reach. As she crossed under the gaping hole and into the heavy rainfall, she glanced up momentarily to pressurize the air above her, causing the rain to bounce off and stream to the ground in a mock halo overhead. Distant shouts from below were drowned out by the steady, thundering beat of the storm as she rose up through the ceiling.