Twisted FIrestarter (Feng)

The shattering of glass sounded behind Niso as he walked away from the couple he’d left scared and under the flame’s mercy, tilting his head about slowly, stunned a little by the burst of glass he wasn’t expecting, and his eyes growing sharp through the visor of his gas mask. Heroes? Already? He… No. This was an outlier. He knew from experience even pro heroes weren’t this fast to respond. He must have just been unlucky and triggered things when they were already on the scene… already he was trying to counter this in his mind for when the st Marta’s plan began. He’d check the area, maybe create a diversion that would divert hero resources to another location first. Yeeeeah… that felt right. That felt good. He’d think it over more later but with the flames and heat waring down his brain he could easily consider that plan ‘good enough’ to say the least of it.

By the time the girl returned Niso had turned to face their point of entry, his eyes feeling like pointed daggers even through the protective shading of the gas mask’s visor, a wheezing of the filters sounding out as he took heavy, but slow, harsh breaths. His fists tightened at his sides as, even in this trial run, to his mind this girl had ruined his experiment. Ruined his fun even. No matter… it wasn’t like they could actually stop her in the long run, but that didn’t mean Niso shouldn’t still take their arrival quite seriously.

Seemed they were pretty smart too. Well, as smart as heroes could get. Putting the pieces together fairly quickly that Niso was more trouble than aid in the current situation. “Well I’d call myself an emergency service but… definitely not the ones your familiar with.” Niso moved carefully, stepping backwards. One heel at a time, the damaged floorboards creaking even under his weight, the hefty gear adding put a bit more pressure on his steps than he might have otherwise had. His eyes shifted to the right very briefly, a smirk forming under his filters that could be felt in his eyes as he turned his gaze back to Feng.

“I mean afterall if people NEED to die-“

Despite the backwards momentum Niso took a sharp hop back into a crouched position then darted forward like a coiled spring, remaining low like an animal as he burst towards Feng faster than she may have been expecting, his smirk turning into a wild grin behind his mask. The jagged sound of tearing metal coming through as his hand grasped at some loose, rusty piping of this old apartment building and tore it from it’s point on the wall, utilizing it as a makeshift weapon. “I’D CONSIDER KILLING THEM AN EMERGENCY!”

He could have spouted his usual chaos mantra but now wasn’t the time. This girl probably didn’t know who he was behind the mask yet and if he was gonna make it out of this he didn’t need anyone knowing that Niso Konto, Pinocchio, had mysteriously took up a fascination in high grade Arson. With a fierce swing that didn’t display a droplet of mercy, and a ringing sound as the hollow metal piping sweeped through the air, Niso struck sideways out against Feng. Despite his motions being wild and, presumably un-trained in their execution, there was an odd level of meticulousness to it. It came in faster than she may have expected and with a lot more force from the sound of how it cut through the air. If this man was untrained, Feng could at the very least assume he had a high level of natural instinct.

Niso wasn’t entirely up to date on the student situation. Since one of their number had toyed with his beloved painter he hadn’t needed to pay much attention to them at all. If there was one he recognized idling on the streets like that Kaz fellow he might offer them some attention, but beyond that… well, it ultimately led to a few questions in this moment. This girl was dressed like a hero but too young to be one by a long stretch. Perhaps a part of her quirk just made her look younger? Perhaps… likely not but there was a chance. More likely the UA students were being allowed on some form of patrol? He’d have to look into that. If the number of heroes was suddenly about to double he’d at least want to be in the know for tha-

A harsh pain to his side. Oh. She was quick. Seemed they were training those kids well. He was still in a low stance, but with the momentum of his initial swing he followed it with a grace VERY unbefitting to his form and attire, twirling about on the toes of his forward foot, bringing his improvised tool back around with him for a second pass at the girl’s face this time as he rose with the spin, his wild eyes locking briefly with hers-

“GAGH!”

The hero was trained. Faster. A sharp kick came to Niso’s side mid-spin ant the continued whirling of his armed hand swung narrowly above her head before the force of the kick truly registered with the rest of his body, feeling it rush through every cell like a tidal wave, the force rippling through his flesh as he soared backwards, crashing through a fire damaged wall into a spare room.

The hero moved on… but Niso was far from done. His spine bent at a weird angle? Child’s play. The muscle fibres in his back constricted around his spinal column and twisted it sharply, a sickening crack as his body snapped back into place and forcing himself to rise without the aid of his arms. He looked to the shoulder that had impacted the wall. Shattered? Not as fas as he was concerned. His internal processes did their magic, wrapping muscle around the wound and accelerating the healing process on the bone, while his muscles kept everything in place so he could keep moving. It was agonizing, but he’d learned to tune that all out a while ago.

Still, the process did delay him, and as he came out of the room he’d been kicked into, the sound of the door opening drowned out by the roar of all the flames, he spotted Feng had travelled to the floor below. He jammed the metal pipe down into his own floor, his body contorting through the slim gap in the railing of his own floow, spinning about, and swinging off that single point he’d created to come down kicking her across the face, releasing his weapon and leaving it on the floor above, tucking and rolling, his limbs contorting like a mangled tumbleweed suddenly coming undone as he splayed out in a position low to the ground, the visor of his mask now shattered revealing the left upper side of his face, a wild glint in his eye and the edge of his grin creeping far too high on his cheeks barely visible.

“Ya know watching the flames was getting boring! How about you and I have some fun instead?~” He chimed with a chuckle as he began to rise to his feet, his arms hanging limply by his sides. “Lemme guess… student huh?~ I know a girl who reeeeeeeeeeally hates you lot. I’m sure it’d be insulting to her if I let you out of here without some bruises…~ Maybe a few… cuts or gashes if I REALLY wanna make her happy.~”

You know what psychopaths are ironically really good at? Reading faces. A lack of empathy filled the soul of a creature like Niso, but seeing a look of surprise at his guess of Feng being a student told him he was correct, his wicked smile creeping unnaturally high on his cheeks, so much so it pushed past the dense filter of his mask and creeped up into the view of the shattered visor. “Oooo. Right am I?~ Well isn’t that juicy. Ya know you think they’d teach you lout how to hide the look of fear on your faces. Heck I’d imagine that’d be lesson one!~” His motions were mildly exaggerated and expressive, gesturing over his own face when mentioning the fear she displayed, Niso moving like he couldn’t say a word without some idle sway or gesture with his hands to accompany it, very much a person who struggled to stay still.

“Still though… a student brought to a burning building… I’m not up to date with your school system but something about that doesn’t seem right…~” Niso, ever a bit of a wild card, started to step closer, the burning floorboards creaking with each step, idle flames licking at the edges of his stolen uniform. Expressing some of his typically under-utilized intelligence, he began to muse. “Either this is a dire emergency for you lot or… you’re doing something illegal… OR!” He chimed again, clapping his hands briefly with excitement. “Internships! That must be it! I heard they only let you tag along though… so that means to me… that a rule breaking hero brought you here…lemme know when I have it. HellHound? ZombieKing? I heard that woman with the diamond skin is a bit of a wild card… maybe… Red horn?” He’d idly muse, carefully watching how she reacted all the while as he closed towards her at a casual pace.

Regardless of how she reacted, she still took action and Niso did in turn, but this time he was far more prepared. His body flowed like a leaf on wind almost… if that leaf was made of flesh and contorting bones. The palm strike he went for earned a chuckle, one of his arms snapping and popping as it took in Feng’s own, wrapping around it like a trap, and even with the odd contortion Niso’s fingers still held strength, clutching around her elbow to keep her in place as he reared in towards her with a wild grin.

“GOOD THING I LIKE TO ORDER OFF MENU!~”

Pushing forward he slammed a fist right into her face with merciless force. It was nothing ‘special’. No super strength, he didn’t even feel like he trained his muscles or the like, but the way his fist swung ‘through’ her, almost like he had absolutely no sense of restraint, helped his punch… well, pack some punch~

“Ya know I’ve neeeever faced one of you lot before! Student or pro! Not for long at least… the rest of the hero lot who tried me all ended up quitting in the next few weeks!” He chuckled through his teeth. “Come on! Show me a bit of fun won’t you?!~”

OOOoo the satisfying sound of bone clashing against bone through the miniscule cushion of a fleshy layer between them. Niso tended to prefer improvised weapons, maybe a katana if he was feeling extra nerdy that day and managed to find someone in the yakuza who owned one he could use against them, but sometimes nothing beat the straight up satisfaction of the force of a punch travelling back up along your arm. That was just the good shit at times like this. Of course the UA student wasn’t down and out, good. He never liked the fun times to be over before they even began!~ He released her from his arm, the fleshy sack of shattered bone slowly reforming, soft cracks and snaps as bone was held back in place by internal muscle fibres wrapping around them, and the healing process accelerated by his own control over his body. “Oooo getting feisty are we? My darling Painter was right, you lot really are just in it for the fun of it huh?~” He’d tease with a widening grin, the corners of it striking far too high on his cheeks to be in any way natural.

Something seemed to change in her features, but with a fluid motion swaying side to side he prepared to move. Had something actually changed? He wasn’t sure, but his attempts to pull his arm away entirely were halted as she caught his wrist, his own eyes briefly widening in surprise before he was pulled into a kick to his torso. Pain radiated through his body, especially his still healing limb as he was kicked oh so easily through a burning wall, groaning as he fell into his back in the rubble, flames continuing to lick at the edges of his costume.

“Well… that smarts..~” he whined out, wheezing a little through a punctured lung, and gasping sharply as his muscles ripped the rib out of his left air sac and quickly tried to repair the wound, coughing a bit of blood into his mask, easily ruining the filters and dragging it off his face as he rose up, a shoulder popping back into place. He gave off the impression of someone both inhumanely frail, yet impossibly durable at the same time. “But… good to see your taking me seriously…~” He looked to the mask now in his hand, realizing his face was exposed and chuckling a little under his breath. “Right right… I need a new mask don’t I…?”

The edges of his jawline started to sprout layers of skin, slowly stretching over his face like a thin membrane, thin enough to breathe through but taking a dense black color that made it hard to see the fine details of his face anymore… but the skin was fresh. Fetal like. Even with Niso’s quirk accelerating the process the cells began to boil in the heat of the fires around them, the black goo constantly regenerating as it dripped off his face, the eerie white smile and eyes that normally formed on his flesh mask now dripping and wavering in the heat, slopping down his face in a demented expression of glee.

“That’s better… Is this where I give my grand villain speech?!~” He offered, spreading his arms. “I’m kind of done with the whole ‘pinocchio’ shtick… you can just call me Niso…~”

The grin beneath his mask grew as he name dropped the title of Japan’s fifth most wanted criminal, lowering his stance before bursting forward with a manic chuckle through the thin layer of boiling flesh now coating and dripping from his face. As he closed the distance in a burst of a rush, he dragged a bit of shattered, nail laden wood from where he’d smashed through the wall, aiming to bring it down on Feng in an over head swing!

The cartoon image of a face covering his own continuing to drool down his face like wet paint down a canvas, Niso’s expression was now permanently plastered on the mask in a form of glee. His assault didn’t show signs of stopping anytime soon either, as the nailed board she’d managed to dodge slammed into the floor, the nail firmly fixing it in place much to Niso’s delight. The momentum of his thrown arm flowed along the rest of his body, and with his weapon stuck in the ground he used it to pivot his whole body, flipping over his own shoulder like a raging tumble weed, a sly leg coming down over the rest of his torso and slamming down across Feng’s face, a delighted chuckle coming from Niso whether his attack succeeded or resulted in a miss.

He wasn’t so eager to be on the defensive all of a sudden. “Oh wooow I’ve never heard that one before! Good thing I ditched the whole alias game!” he chimed out with another gleeful tone, rushing forward after Feng as she likely began to backpedal on the defensive, swinging the board he’d ripped free of the floor left and right, over and over, with a lack of grace but an odd flow to his motions like the crashing of wild waves against a cliff, swing after swing as he forced Feng back, only to suddenly dip inbetween his own attacks, a splash of black melting flesh flicking towards her face from the sudden motion as he reared up a leg to kick her squarely in the torso. “How about YOU legs!?~ Walk much!?~”

Not the most witty of lines, but given her own that was partly the point. Having rushed her down with a wild offensive Niso had hopefully managed to at least back her up towards one of the more ruined parts of the building, the harsh kick to her torso aiming to send her tumbling backwards into some burning furniture, chuckling all the while as he watched her either stumble from his kick, or likely dodge backwards over it of her own accord! “See here’s the thing though, real boy or not you know I’m the one who set this up now… and I have plans in the works I’d rather you goodie two shoes not getting an idea of.~” Niso approached her a little more slowly, swinging the wooden plank from side to side as if winding up for his next offensive, definitely not eager to let her leave this place all too easily.

Niso’s malicious yet fake grin that slowly dripped down the features of his fleshy mask seemed to grow ever grander, raising his wooden weapon up over his head as Feng stumbled back over the rubble. “Ya know I honestly expected you heroes in training to be a lot… more impressive, honestly… then again, if this is what the next generation of heroes are like, I suddenly have a lot less to worry abo-“

A sharp pain in his gut and Niso’s frail, lightweight frame was sent hurtling back along the room through the path of wild swipes he’d made while rushing towards the girl before him. His body crashed harshly into a kitchen counter of the home he was burning down, the pain in his gut sudden paling in comparison to the pain in his torso.

“Nnnngh.. that smarts…” He shifted uncomfortably but the pain seemed to heighten enough to bring a hiss of agony, soon followed by an unnerving giggle as he chuckled through the pain. Laughter was the best medicine in his case, his body reacting to such pain with an oddly ticklish response, even if in reality his brain was still screaming at him under the surface. He looked down to his torso, the piping inder the sink having collapsed from the impact, and a jagged metal piece of outdated piping now rammed through his chest where his heart should be.

“Well well well… maybe I… should have worried…!” He hissed loudly again, but continued to laugh as he grasped the counter top behind him and wrenched himself up to his feet again, a slick, gooey sound coming as his flesh clung to the metal pulling from his back, catching a few more muscle fibres on the way out, and leaving Niso with a gooey mess of a hole in his torso, fabric slowly drenched red around it but… bleeding far less than anyone should. Heck, he was standing up. That shouldn’t be possible to begin with. “Or not…!~”

Niso wasn’t dumb enough to keep his heart where it SHOULD be afterall, and so a gaping hole where everyone else kept theres wasn’t exactly a bother to him. Very slowly red lines of muscle were latching between eachother, veins reforming at the center of the gaping hole and slowly healing outward, strands of flesh trying to reconnect to one another as he stumbled forward, his mask melting enough to reveal his real eyes again, a wild look behind them.

“Ready to give up and die yet…?~”

Niso burst forward after a beat of silence following his question. He put himself as close to Feng as possible, his chest seething with pain all the while. Rather than aiming for her, he slammed down his impromptu weapon into the ground beneath her feat, the weakened, burned wood cracking and collapsing, trying to make her fall into the flames below!

Niso felt alive… so long planning and plotting… but here, in a fight, he could let loose, go wild with his desires. He didn’t have to worry in the slightest about the grand plan for just a few sweet moments.