Huang stared down Tenbi, that devilish shadow like it was nothing, like it was mortal. He knew it was; if he could make it bleed he could kill it, as they saying goes. "
Hmph." No point in trying to fight it, though. He looked down to the girl and gave her a nod before heading of down the street.
"
Uhm, no." The actor seemed to tense up a bit as Chloe helped him stand. "
I... think I might have twisted my ankle." It was a bit hard to tell if he was faking it or not, but that was the job of the actors in the first place. The heroes would have to remain cognizant of his injuries until the very end! If she let him, The man would take Chloe's shoulder for support as he limped along.
It couldn't have been ten seconds after that a blaring siren sounded all around them. "Participants." It was the same announcer that had started them off in the first place. There was a slight fluster to his voice. It seemed things might not have been running as smoothly as planned.
"
All participants and actors are instructed to return to your designated checkpoints as soon as possible. Students: bring any actors with you for the final tally of points. The event is now finished! Congratulations to U.A. and Fenghuang for their stellar performances!" Then silence. Good thing they were all on their way back already!
The sight that laid before them as they retraced their steps was stunningly different. Within minutes it seemed that the inferno had started to sputter. Even the blue sky above started to show through the heavy clouds of smoke that had once choked the arena. Many of the fragile wooden buildings they had passed and even entered now laid in smoldering timbers as if they had been made to collapse. The cobbled streets on which they walked were smothered by black soot, giving an odd crunch to each of their steps. The smell of cinders still choked the air still, making it just the slightest bit harder to breathe. Not a soul was to be seen. There were a few actors wondering about towards some direction towards the west, though the man they had managed to save earlier stuck by their side.
Huang was about to depart towards his own tent before an odd sight struck him. Both of his teammates were there as well. Only Lan was standing, her outfit torn and tattered along her arms and legs, her hair frayed and burned. She looked like she had gone through hell. A bruised and battered Fan was in one of the beds, being treated by a dutiful Haruto. There was another as well, an odd figure, whom little did he know had spoken with Chikako only a few minutes before.
The figure, of course, was the first to notice, turning his mask towards the group, and Lan was soon to follow. As soon as she made eye contact with Huang, her expression turned livid.
"
HUANG!" Tearing herself away from Fan's bed, she stomped towards the boy. She unleashed a scathing stream of Chinese towards him, but none of the UA kids would be able to understand what she was saying, but her words were soon followed by a hearty slap to Huang's face! Right behind her was the figure from before, of course a new sight to Chloe.
"
Ah, U.A." The figure switched the hand with which it held its mask as it shifted into a warm smile. "
Congratulations on your performance. Call me 'Facade'." He started to guide the students back towards the triage tent. "
Oh... Reginald, was it?" The figure directed its question towards the last rescued actor. Who looked a bit confused.
"
It's Robert, actually!... I'll just take a seat over there?" He pointed towards some of the medics who were treating the relatively minor injuries of some of the other actors, to which the figure would nod, and after which he would depart from the U.A. kids without a word.
"
Go ahead and drop the captures, will you? They're puppets, don't worry about harming them, hm?" With a snap of his fingers, the rioters in Tenbi's grasp would start to melt into undefined clumps of clay, as if they had been nothing but sculptures in the first place.
"
So, good show, first! It was quite neck and neck until your friend, Huang, abandoned his team. Were it not for Mr. Shimizu, Ms. Fan would be in a much more precarious situation because of that." Facade put a finger to his lip, one of the mask's eye shifting into a wink. "
Tis not my liberty to tell the true scores as of now, buuuut... some commentary!" The mask shifted back to its warm smile as he dropped his hand back to his side.
Facade snapped his fingers once again, the clay that had once been the rioters slithering back to him, forming a couple of chairs, so that the girls may sit if they wished, and a small table in front of them. He seemed to produce a couple of bottles of water for the both of them and placed them on the table, though neither of them had noticed where he got them from.
"
Chloe, excellent performance all around. Decisiveness in situations such as this? Disasters are more dangerous than human hands. I've no doubt you'll go far." Facade clasped his hands together, the mask turning towards Chikako next.
"Good job to you, too. Be sure to keep that quirk of yours on a tighter leash in the future. It's strong. Useful, but its independence my prove... problematic."