Before heading straight to the gym, Dante veered off his normal path and ducked down a narrow street that led to the old boss' store.
The old man looked up from behind the counter, eyes narrowing at first, then softening.
"Well, well. I was wondering when you were going to show up next."
Dante gave a small wave, grabbing a small chocolate bar from the shelf. "Hey hey."
"You're lucky I'm not charging extra for fame tax," the old man grunted, ringing him up. "That match with the ice kid… whew. Had to stop drinking my coffee to watch it properly."
"I know, from what I saw it was pretty crazy." Dante said with a chuckle, dropping a few coins onto the counter.
"Hmm, that fire… have you always been able to do that?" He said with a twinkle in his eye.
Dante grabbed the chocolate bar, pausing. "Yeah, I have."
There was a moment where either spoke.
"You gonna go pro?" The old man asked finally, leaning on the counter.
"Dunno," Dante replied, eyes narrowing a bit. "I have a few internship offers."
The old man chuckled. "Spotlights a tricky thing. Make sure to be careful out there."
"Thanks," Dante muttered, "Kazuya here?"
"He's already left for the gym," the old man replied.
Dante started to walk off, "thank you, bye now!"
…
After a quick jog, Dante was at Kaijin's gym.
Dante pushed open the doors and saw Kazuya sprawled out on a bench nearby, clearly cooking off from a recent workout.
Kazuya spotted Dante first and raised a hand lazily. "Hey, superstar."
Kaijin turned with a small smile. "There you are Dante, ready to get to practice?"
Dante gave them both a look, tossed his bag near the wall and leaned against the edge of the nearest bench. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you both before we get to testing Pyroclast."
Kaijin arched a brow. "Oh?"
Kazuya sat up. "What's up?"
Dante gave a slow nod, "I have received a few internship offers from some Pro Heroes, but I've narrowed them down to three options. Mirko, Endeavour and Forgehound."
Kazuya blinked. "Mirko? As in… the rabbit hero Mirko? You HAVE to choose her, she's smoking hot!"
"Ah yes, the rabbit one." Kaijin added, crossing his arms. "She's great in close quarters. That makes sense."
Dante shrugged. "She liked the way I fought. I think it reminded her of her own style."
"And Endeavour?" Kazuya asked, whistling. "Mr. Number 2."
"I think he felt how hot my flames were," Dante said flatly. "Said he was interested in seeing the limits of my fire."
Kaijin have a slow, thoughtful nod. "And why Forgehound?"
"He's known for training durable hand to hand combat heroes." Dante said. "It's not flashy, it's more control based."
Kazuya leaned back on the bench. "What's keeping you from choosing?"
Dante rubbed the back of his head. "Mirko is my kind of style, but I'm not sure if she's gonna be a good teacher. Endeavour… he seems like a prick, but he's definitely strong. And Forgehound is just not as good as them, but he's the next best thing."
Kaijin studied him for a moment, then smirked. "I'm obviously leaning on Mirko, her combat skills are nearly as good as mine in my prime."
Dante chuckled, "Okay..."
Kazuya looked over. "Realistically, I'd say Endeavour but Mirko is hot…"
Dante nodded once. "I'll just go with my gut."
Then he took a deep breath. "Okay let's just get back to testing. I want to understand what I'm working with before I choose."
Kaijin patted Dante's back and they all walked to the back training room again.
He cracked his knuckles. "Alright, Dante. Let's pick up where we left off. Let's see if your control is better."
Dante flexed hands, feeling the heat start to build up under his skin. "Right."
Kazuya leaned back, his skin turning to gold to shield him from any stray embers. "Don't even look in my direction."
Dante smirked slightly then focused. He balled his hand into a fist, then he relaxed it. Heat started to well up along his arm, his veins glowing orange like cracks in molten rock. With a deep breath, his hand hardened and erupted into a small flame, with another small burst of fire erupting from his palm, a tight, focused flame.
Kaijin nodded approvingly. "Good, now. Questions."
He walked a slow circle around Dante.
"Alright. You're certain you're not in pain when using it?"
Dante shook his head. "Nope. Not even slightly anymore."
Kaijin hummed thoughtfully. "Alright, usually fire related quirk users aren't immune to heat, some even burning from their own quirk. Next, can you heat up your sludge even slightly?"
Dante thought for a moment, he had tried before but it just didn't work. But then he let a part of his forearm shift into a semi-liquid sludge. Concentrating hard he tried to summon flame, but only a faint wisp of smoke rose from it.
He nodded again. "It's way harder, but I think I can heat it up, no fire though."
Kaijin nodded. "Okay then. A little is more than none, one day, you should be able to produce fire from the sludge."
Kazuya whistled low. "Nice one, you can use sludge for flexibility and the fire for pure firepower."
"Seems like it," Dante agreed, flexing his fingers.
Kaijin rubbed the back of his head. "If only there was a way I could properly measure the temperature without the thermometer melting…"
Dante hummed in agreement.
"No matter, are you feeling any drawbacks?"
Dante looked at his hand. "Not at all."
Kazuya sighed in jealousy.
Dante ceased the flame, "I won't abandon the sludge, but I'll only use it when needed, since it actually has drawbacks. Though, they have lessened over the years, maybe not…"
Kaijin smiled faintly. "You sure do think like a fighter."
They trained until the sky turned fully dark, attempting to emit fire outwards, increasing the heat while lowering the size, quick on and off flicks of fire. Dante was all tired out by the end of it, but he was absolutely getting stronger and he could feel it.
…
…
The night flew by and before Dante knew it, he was trudging his way toward school, his hands buried in his pockets, his mind miles away.
The day at school passed by quickly too, boring lessons, same old announcements, chatter amongst everyone. Dante barely spoke, spending most of it sleeping, looking at the ceiling, tapping his pen against the desk in quiet thought.
His choice from the internship offers needed to be in today.
Mirko. Endeavour. Forgehound.
Every time he thought about Endeavour, he scowled. There was something about him that just irked Dante. He didn't want to spent even five minutes around that guy. Forgehound was cool, sure, but he's just not as good, and he seems more team oriented.
Mirko, though…
She did work alone. She fought alone. She answered to no one.
And that's how Dante preferred it.
He thought some more, but that's when the final bell rang. Everyone around him started to pack away, chattering about which pro hero agency they were going to choose. Dante stayed in his seat for a moment longer, thinking. Then, with a small breath through his nose, he stood up, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
Decision made.
He exited the classroom, passing groups of excited classmates and made his way down the hall toward the faculty office to submit his choice.
As he walked, little Dante's voice piped up from beside him. "I'm glad, we don't particularly like people bossing us around anyways. But if it's them, I'm sure it's fine."
Dante smirked faintly to himself.
"Exactly."
He clutched the form a little tighter in his hand.
Pro Hero Internship : Mirko.
"She's not the type to have someone working under her, she wouldn't offer an internship if she wasn't truly interested. I'm sure Endeavour and Forgehound will have others that they can train. Mirko? I doubt she sent any other offers, who am I to disappoint?" Dante smirked as he pushed open the doors.