Recap

I near the intersection of the alleyway. Four paths to take Two across from each other lead to dead ends, while the other two lead onto the streets.

I hurriedly walk out of the alley. Through these months, many things have happened in Allyways, most being me meeting strong people. This causes me to avoid them when I can. 

"It appears that I’m safe for today."

*Thud*

I hear a crash behind me. My body wants to run since most of my encounters like this come with me meeting strong people. But my mind turns around. To be able to sneak up on me means he's proficient at sneaking around. He might just find me again

"For murderers like you, safety isn’t an option. Why? Because I am here. "

Said a burly man, in a green overcoat and wearing brass knuckles.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

*Azure Pov*

‘Not again.’

I look at the man, more than twice my size. His hunched back and old-looking appearance would make most underestimate him.

But to me, that's all irrelevant. My nemours experiences in alleyways revealed a man nearing the end of his prime.Scars attributed to his experience. Knees clenched, ready to switch stances in an instant.

Aged and rough but stern knuckle dusters sat comfortably on his hands. The small indents are barely noticeable, and the slightly bent metal indicates how long they’ve been in his service.

His eyes hold something unrecognizable. Usually, it's fear, anger, or something simple like that.But with him, it's something else. Maybe a mix of both?

Regardless, according to my experience, people who mysteriously appear are strong, ridiculously so. Normally people in my situation would converse to stall for time and think up a plan.

*3rd Pov*

A blue stream of fire flew across the limited space. It's speed wasn’t anything to scoff at, considering that a normal man wouldn't have been able to react.

Even though Knucklduster wasn’t a normal man, his size was too big for this alleyway. The flames gradually spread out the farther they flew. Before they even appeared in front of him, they covered nearly ⅔’s of the alley. 

He couldn’t dodge it since, although he never slacked on his daily training that would allow for a quirkless person like him to beat up to the uprising monsters that keep appearing in this day and age, he still wasn't able to change the fundamental nature of his body. Big, and Burly.

But his body wasn't his only weapon. He grabbed the trash can conveniently to his right and threw it forward. The trashcan held on for a brief moment against the torrent of flames.

 But as if there was never an object obstructing their path, the flames incinerated their way through the metal and appeared once again.

But the human they were chasing wasn't in their path. Azure had not been continually supplying the flames with more, and so, after finding nothing else to burn on, they vanished, leaving sizzling metal on the floor, and scorch marks as proof of their existence.

Knucklduster, who dogged them, was holding onto a pipe that was attached to the building, he had found it the moment that the trash blocked the flames.

*Knucklduster Pov*

I jump down from the pipe and land with a thud. The psychopath who was alert in front of me showed no visible reaction. But his eyes told a different truth.

Although they told a story of naiveness and ignorance, the wariness and solemn atmosphere were a contrast.

"Why am I meeting more and more psychopathic murderers? I know the crime rate in Naruhata's gone up, but is it really warranted for the whole mental hospital to flock here."

*Whosh*

The breeze of the wind ended the silence. ‘So he’s not one who yells their intentions or tells their entire plan.’

*Flap*

The fluttering of my cape blinded me for a moment, only enough time so that my eyes were distracted for merely half a second. 

And yet a vibration could be felt through the cement ground. One glance and there's a short criminal charging towards me with his fist balled up.

‘Dodge the fist then’

The second blink, and he was nearing the distance from us. He seemed to put  force onto his legs. I prepared for a quick reaction.

On the third blink, I expected wind to be blowing in my face. Instead, I felt something  scorching hot near my face. 

A palm. A cream-colored palm, the palm would seem like a normal one if it wasn’t for the small size, although that could be solved with the answer's quirks.

There were many quirks in this society. Whether it's growing ears across your face or changing someone's finger size.

So the small hand and overall size could be summed up to that. But no. The more obvious and dangerous abnormality didn’t have anything to do with the hand size. It was the faint blue glow that covered the palm.

In this society where quirks are everything, the quirkless are an outlier. Something that's a representation of the pathetic past without quirks and a stain on mankind's history. 

They are discriminated against, beaten, and treated as trash. Getting menial jobs such as a waitress, and being a part-time worker was considered to be rare among them. 

Whether a quirk was useful or not wasn't the problem when getting a position in this age. It was your quirk. Or the nature of your quirk. 

If there was a debate between a quirkless child and an adult with a quirk on who was going to be saved first, the child would be second and they would need to pray on weather they would be saved at all.

Learning skills, achieving a decent income. At least an affordable amount, and succeeding in their career. These were the ultimate goals a quirkless person could aspire to achieve.

In a world where heroes, people with supernatural powers compared to the quirkless, were revered and respected, they couldn’t hope to even dream of such a life.

Trying to make a difference in such a society is hard. To combat crime, you need to be a hero and defeat villains. Achieving this as a quirkless? 

50% of the population would laugh you off and say you’ve had 1 too many drinks. 20% would curse you for even dreaming of such a life.  10% would give a hollow compliment or encouragement  before disappearing while secretly cursing you and call you crazy behind your back. 

Only 20%. Only the ⅕ would stare, with their mind shattered. They would be confused on how a quirkless could even dream of such a thing. In shock of how your dream defies their preconceived notions on how far a quirkless could dream. Aghast at how arrogant you are. 

In this small percentage, a mere 20%. There are those who go against the rules of society. Who defy the laws set in place and fight justice with or without other on their side. 

They continue to put their lives on the line. To prevent the evil from from infecting the righteous, They patch up the tiny cracks that the heroes were too busy to notice.

And so throughout Knucklduster’s carer, an instinct has always kept him alive whenever he’s in mortal danger. However, after a certain point, when his hunting field changed from dangerous villains to street level chimp this instinct stopped appearing. 

The instinct was dull and numb from such a long period of inactivity. Even when it did appear most would ignore it, or not notice. 

Now however only blaring alarms rang throughout his head. Goosebumps appeared on his arms that seemed to say, "You’re going to die,". His natural actions, his instincts that used to be tested each and every day, that laid dormant until now activated.

The hand that although it seemed like it could burn through The strongest of metals approached. These dangerous hands neared a human face. The scent of burned skin and charred meat could be smelled.

The hand’s image reflected through Knuckledusters eyes. He was going to die! In a moment, despite his old and aged body. With flawless movement, he dodged, the hand and even counter attacked.

Grabbing the wrist, Knuckleduster pulled the smaller and weaker person  in front of him. Azure, who got dragged along with him, stared as his hand was held captive.