A little girl with hot pink hair in a bob cut ran towards the battlefield as fast as she could. Her sword sheathed into her skirt's waistband. The wind whipping at her clothes and blowing her hair back. She jumped from the road onto the mulch and hit the ground running towards the sound of the battlefield. She leaped over and rolled over obstacles in her way as necessary until she finally reached them just in time to see Nanao Nakajima fall to the ground alongside his friends. The pink hair girl ran over to him and caught him. His sword clattered to the ground.
"Nanao! Nanao! I'm here! It's okay! I'm here now! You're going to be alright!"
Nanao coughed and looked up at her. "Is that...you...Hiiragi?" He smiled weakly. "I knew you'd make it. I'm sorry but she was...just...too strong. You're...our..only hope. Bleh." He closed his eyes and went limp.
"Nanao? Nano! Nooooo!" She howled and set him down. "You will pay for this foul villain!"
The blonde pigtailed girl laughed. "AHHHAHAHAHAHAAAA! You cannot stop Junko The Globe Pulverizer! My evil plan for world domination is nearly complete! Your comrades have all fallen in battle! You are the world's only hope, Pinkie Knight! Do you dare step to me?!" She challenged.
"Your schemes end here foul villain! FOR I AM HERE!" Hiiragi Nana declared and raced up the stairs while drawing her sword and slashing at the blonde girl only for her to block it with ease and take a few steps back onto the bridge where they squared off.
"Very well, Pink Knight Of Justice! Let our final battle begin!"
They ran at each other and began clashing with their swords.
Not too far away a young boy with half-red and half-white hair dressed in a white t-shirt over blue pants walked up to the playground and looked at the two girls repeatedly smacking their foam swords together while the various 'wounded' students sat up and cheered them on. "Ooookaaay I'm going to need some context here. First off, what are those swords? Dad's always making us use wooden ones for some reason."
"So hey! You planning on getting that new volume of Commandment tonight?" Junko asked Nana while slashing with her foam sword.
"Oh man that comes out tonight?" Nana asked while parrying Junko's slash and pushing back.
"You betcha! It's gonna fly off the shelves tomorrow too so you better act fast before it's gone." Junko explained and broke the clash before pulling her sword back and attempting to stab Nana.
"No fair! We've got school tomorrow!" Nana pouted and dodged to the left to evade Junko's thrust only for the pigtailed girl to slash at her legs which Nana stopped with her sword.
"WWweeelll....there might be a solution to your problem. If you're willing to risk getting grounded, that is..."
Grounded? But I've never been grounded!"
"Good then this will be your first offense so it will be a light one." Junko joked and resumed wildly slashing with her sword while Nana did her best to block her flurry of slashes.
"...W-well, lets, lets uh, tell me your plan first and then we'll talk." Nana replied while backing away from Junko and continuing to parry her.
"The store is open late but opens up late morning. We'll be in school that whole time so you won't have a chance get it tomorrow until it restocks, right? Sooo...why not sneak out tonight?" Junko offered. "If you're quiet about it you can be gone and back again before anybody knows you're gone."
"Woah, woah, woah!" Nana took a step back. "Hold up! That's crazy! I'd be caught for sure! The moment mommy or daddy walk into my room to check on me it's over!"
"Nahhhh. Not if you're smart about it." Junko smirked. "Simply stuff the bed with rolled up sheets or pillowcases or something to make it look like you're still in bed, maybe with a fake papier-maché head sticking out from the sheets and with some clothes on. Bonus points if you use a tape recorder to add breathing and snoring effects."
"I-I don't snore! I'm a proper lady!" Nana insisted.
"Everyone does it, Nanny, it's nothing to be ashamed of. I bet even All Might snores."
"All Might doesn't sleep!" Nanao declared.
"Okay, yeah, that's fair but my point still stands."
Nana went quiet as she considered all of this. It...wasn't impossible. She was certainly smart enough to pull off a little trick like that. It didn't sound too hard to pull off. She could do it if she really tried. There was enough stuff around home to pull off the fake head and hair and she had a recorder laying around she could use for the sound. But that left one major question. "Uhm, but, uh, how will I get in and out of my house?"
"That's the easy part. Just go through your window. You can climb out of there. We've done it before haven't we? You'll have to dress warmly of course, it might be a bit chilly, but I'm sure you can handle it." Junko twirled her sword and pointed it at her "You, Hiiragi Nana, can be the one who outplays her mommy and daddy and got her Manga first! Besides, what's the harm? It's not like you're doing anything illegal right? You're just flexing your independence, what's wrong with that?"
Nanao peeked slightly when he overheard the conversation between the two girls, he knew that eavesdropping is rude but he just couldn't shake a bad feeling he was getting from the pit of his stomach.
"You know the rules, no peeking Faux Hero!" Junko ordered which caused Nanao to immediately close his eyes.
Nana tapped her sword against the railing as she considered everything Junko said. It would be tough and the timing would have to be perfect but she could do it. She could fool them. She could pull off the trick. She could pull the greatest trick any kid has ever pulled over their parents! Besides, there were Heroes everywhere even at night! Everyone knew that Endeavor and All Might never slept after all. If something happened she could just run the other way and scream for help and the Heroes would fly down and save her. What was the harm? It was just a simple trick. She would sneak out, buy the Manga and be back before anybody knew she was gone! She could slip the Manga into her bag and read it at school the next day. Their little secret. "Alright." Nana decided. "I'll do it."
"That's my girl!" Junk ocheered. "Rise, Rebel, Resist and Rage Against The Machine! Carve your own path and live life how you want to live it! That's what it means to be Plus Ultra!"
"Plus Ultra!" Nana cheered. "Besides, if something goes wrong, the Heroes will save me, right? It'll be fine. What's the harm in sneaking out just this once?"
"None at all." Junko assured her. "You're going to be fine, Nana."
"Now let's finish this thing! You still have to save the world from The World Pulverizer after all!"
"You've got it! Bring it on, Junko!"
"HAAAAIIIIII-YAAAH!" Nana cried out and slashed down with her sword only for Junko to block it. Nana raised the sword back up and tried for a diagonal downward slash only for Junko to block that as well! Nana continued to advance on her slashing and swinging wildly while Junko simply backed up down the playground bridge while deflecting her attacks until she suddenly lunged forward and struck Nana's wrist causing her to lose her sword!
"Noooo!" Nana cried dramatically as her toy sword fell to the ground. "Hold on! Time out, Junko! I lost my sword!"
"The World Pulverizer waits for no one! Those defeated corpses down there cannot save you now! I shall defeat you here and despair will rule!"
"Show no fear!" Shoto Todoroki called up to Nana and threw a toy sword back up to the bridge!
"Thank you mystery boy!" Nana squeed and caught the sword.
"Hold up, is that Zuko?" Junko questioned.
"Whoever he is, he's given me the chance I needed to win! Prepare to eat cold steel, World Pulverizer!" Nana declared and jumped in with her sword raised overhead....only for Junko to step in again and poke her in the stomach with her sword.
"Left yourself open."
"Im...possible." Nana whispered and grabbed Junko's sword while dropping her own and sliding it forward so she could hold it under her arm. "How...can this...be? Has justice...truly...lost?" She faked a few coughs and dropped to her knees. "Have I...failed...us....all?'
"Yep!" Junko picked up Nana's sword and tapped it against Nana's neck. "And now I just took your head off."
"What? Why?"
Junko raised her sword to the sky. "For The Quickening!" She declared.
A few seconds later there was a lightning flash from within the city! The kids all jumped back and Junko looked at her sword in surprise. "Oh wow did that actually work?! Am I immortal now?"
Shoto took out his phone and looked at the news update. "Oh hey The Lightning Hero Electoplant's back in town! Yeah that would explain that."
"Oh. Whatever. I still won." Junko responded and helped Nana up and they traded back their toy swords. "That was fun though right?"
"Yeah that was lots of fun! Can we play again tomorrow?" Nana asked. "I promise I'll beat you next time!"
Junko just laughed and rubbed her head. "Sure thing. We'll throw down as many times as you want. The World Pulverizer is welcoming all challengers!"
"So what kind of Pulverizer? High speed, low speed, bowl mill?" Shoto asked her.
"Demolition all the way baby! So what's your story anyway, Zuzu?" She leaned in real close to his face. "Heeey, aren't you Endeavor's son? You kinda look like him."
"Social distance rule, Junky" Shoto joked then continued. "And yeah, I get that a lot."
"Awesome! You're definitely the most interesting member of our little group." She pointed her sword at the ground and put her other hand on his shoulder. "So what do you say? Why not hang out with us for the day and take a load off to just be a kid for the day?"
It's not often you'd get a laugh from Shoto but Junko managed to achieve it. "Establishing quite the posse aren't you?"
"Regular ragtag bunch of misfits!" Nanao Nakajima
"What did I say about speaking?" Junko warned
Nanao did a zip gesture.
Shoto shrugs. "Sure. Got nothing better to do"
"Cool beans. Then let me introduce you to the group. This is Nana my Right Hand and most loyal minion."
"Who's the minion now?" Nana questioned.
"Relax you still outrank everyone else here." She pointed around the group. "Spikey hair over there is Hajime Aoyama, the puppy is Michiru Inukai, orange hair here is Yuuka Sasaki, she reads Fangoria-"
"Only for the articles!" Yuuka insisted quickly.
"Yeah that's what Hajime says." Junko joked before she continued. "And rounding out our little posse is Nanao Nakajima. He keeps us grounded."