Chapter Text
It’s a normal day in Hosu, and Childe falls out of a portal onto a busy street.
Straight onto his ass.
Which, like, ow. He ignores it and gets to his feet, looking around - a crowd of people is gathering, whispering, small Kamera-like things flashing as they take photos.
They’re looking at him.
Everyone is looking at him.
All those eyes - all the Kameras - it reminds him of Fontaine. Nothing he does matters, it won’t change the ending, he’s still going to be locked up - caged - trapped - he needs to get out -
Childe vanishes under the mask, Foul Legacy roars in fear and rage, and the crowd screams and scatters.
It starts searching for a challenger. Anyone to beat up, take down, knock around - a good fight will settle it, make it feel better.
It displays its strength meaningfully - snarling at children before they are snatched up and carried away, tanking bullets shot at it by uniformed guards, lifting a vehicle high above its head before smashing it down on the ground. It explodes, which is not what it expected, but it flashes away before any shrapnel can touch it.
And then it senses him. A challenger.
The challenger approaches leisurely, directing several other, smaller, colorful not-challengers to evacuate any remaining civilians.
“Endeavor!” A uniformed man cries. “We have a situation here!”
“I can see that,” the costumed man grumbles. He’s wreathed in flame, originating from… his beard? His costume has multiple parts that glow like lava. Foul Legacy can’t wait to fight him.
“What is it?” Endeavor asks the man next to him. “A new kind of nomu? I thought we got rid of them all.”
“Reports say it was a man - fell through a portal, then transformed into that. We don’t know anything else, unfortunately. Bullets do nothing. It’s been tossing cars around, but hasn’t hurt anyone - yet.”
“Great,” Endeavor sighs. “I can’t wait to retire.”
Foul Legacy, floating high above, turns to fully face the challenger.
“It spotted me. You might want to back up.”
With that, Endeavor blasts off from the ground in a burst of flame, launching like a rocket towards Foul Legacy. Foul Legacy, in imitation of Endeavor, wraps its fists in silky smooth hydro and crackling electro and meets him blow for blow. It lets Endeavor push it back towards the ground until its feet hit the concrete street.
It’s just like a spar with the Traveler - what’s the point in going all out at the beginning? It’s no fun to win so easily. It has the elemental advantage - hydro beats pyro. Electro isn’t half bad against pyro either, even though what its opponent is using doesn’t exactly seem like pyro - just where has the Abyssal portal led him?
Endeavor seems to tire of trading fruitless punches and steps back to throw spears of fire.
Oh, is this the game they’re playing now? Foul Legacy will take part. It summons a quick wave of hydro and the spear vaporizes on contact. In response, it summons a small collection of hydro daggers, gives them a quick electro-charge, and launches them at Endeavor with a wave of its hand.
The Flame Hero dodges expertly, bouncing off the side of a building with a short jet of fire from his feet to boost his speed. He tries a different strategy, launching a wall of flame at Foul Legacy, who weathers it like a champ, barely even singed.
Foul Legacy tires of these childish games, wishing to up the stakes somewhat. It picks up another of the nearby strange vehicles and uses it as a shield to block Endeavor’s blasts. Slowly, it marches forward, even as Endeavor ups the temperature and the car starts to melt in the heat. Foul Legacy starts to feel the warmth. It is quite uncomfortable.
The car explodes, but this time Foul Legacy was expecting it. It flash-steps away in a burst of electro, and watches as Endeavor fires up with a yell, incinerating any scraps that dare to get close.
“Let’s finish this! Flashfire Fist!” Endeavor calls out.
Foul Legacy does not know what that means, and frankly does not care. When Endeavor’s flame heats up to frankly searing temperatures, however, it starts to care a little bit more.
It tries to block Endeavor’s “Jet Burn!” with another wave of hydro, but it evaporates on contact. It manages to escape the blast (barely) but the temperature is only getting hotter and hotter.
That’s when Foul Legacy summons the whale.
A solid hydro visage of the All-Devouring Narwhal breaches the surface of the wrecked and ruined city street, shadowing overturned cars. The rain it releases puts out several lingering fires.
For a split second, it twists in the air, single horn aglow, before it collapses on a stunned Endeavor.
When the hydro dissipates, the man lies unconscious, fires put out.
For a moment, Foul Legacy had felt the heat of his flames - but now he is nothing but embers. A worthy challenger, but not enough to take it down, especially when it holds the elemental advantage.
A pity. For a split second, it had almost felt entertained.
And then something clocks him upside the head, and everything goes dark.
“See, that wasn’t so hard,” Mirko, the Rabbit Hero, says, ready to launch another kick if it proves necessary. To Endeavor, who’s slowly getting up, she snarks, “Not sure why it took you so long to deal with.”
“He wouldn’t let me get close,” Endeavor grumbles. He walks through the broken bits of cement to her side. “You just managed to surprise him.”
“Lucky me,” Mirko says with a grin, nudging Foul Legacy with her foot. “Any idea what’s up with this guy?”
“Didn’t they brief you on your way over?” Endeavor frowns.
“Hit me with the TL;DR,” Mirko asks. She nudges Foul Legacy again, harder.
The creature groans, curls up into a ball, and with a flash of hydro-electro, reverts back into a suffering redhead - still unconscious. Residual electro sparks crackle faintly around him, the smell of ozone and petrichor lingering in the air.
“Well, that’s interesting,” Mirko remarks. “Did you know about this?”
“You would too if you listened to anything anyone told you,” Endeavor says. He pulls a pair of quirk-canceling cuffs off his belt and slaps them on the unconscious Childe. “You can get the relevant information from the police. I’m sure there’s still an officer or two hanging around. On the topic of police - he’s clearly too strong for a regular police station… interview. I’ll handle the reports if you escort him to U.A.”
“You’ve got yourself a deal,” Mirko says with a thumbs-up. She throws Childe over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “C’mon, red, you’re coming with me. We’re going back to school.”