Hiro’s Hero Triumphs PT.20: Triumphs of New: Hero VS Rip-Off

"No, but seriously, are you trying to be a Miku Rip-Off? It would be quite a bad one if I'm being honest, but A for effort?"

The Rip-Off and I were staring each other down, having a heated debate on whether she was a rip-off of a popular Vocaloid just shortly after she had absolutely annihilated a squad in under 5 minutes.

"Only Master would be able to accomplish something like this," Anna said, nodding to herself.

"Hey now, don't go agreeing with the narration, that's breaking the fourth wall."

"Are you two done insulting me!?"

Oh yeah, I guess I am meant to be doing something about this. I frowned at the scene in front of me, looking at the squad members who were either knocked unconscious or put out of commission. None of them died though, much to my surprise.

"I wouldn't say I was trying to insult you, it's just you really do look like her, minus the hair."

"You heroes are all the same: nutjobs," she muttered, her eyes focusing in on the two of us. "Mrs. S Grade over here is going to be a problem, but I have no clue what you're capable of Mr. Hero, so I left you two for last."

"Oh, Anna won't be fighting, if that's alright with you," I said, looking over at Anna.

"Master?" She frowned, tilting her head.

"I already told you what you need to do, so do that no matter what, got it?" She nodded, and I gave her a thumbs up in response. "Alright Miku Rip-Off, it's just me and you figh-!"

She teleported in front of me, her fist nailing into my face as I was knocked into the-

Yeah, like that would happen.

"Seriously? Can't even let me finish my own damn sentence."

I appeared to her right, watching her miss. She teleported again, landing on her feet as she frowned.

"You, are you a teleporter as well?"

"We can go with that, yeah."

She scowled, glancing around. "I wasn't expecting that. This could actually be really troublesome…"

"Oh no you don't!"

I grabbed her waist right as she was about to teleport, suddenly finding myself at least 50 feet into the air.

"Wha-! How the hell!"

I grinned as she looked down at me. "I'm not letting go no matter what!"

"Ugh, fine then! If you really want to get your ass kicked, be my fucking guest!"

We teleported again, this time with me slamming into the ground as she fell on top of me, causing my grip to loosen.

Ah, wasn't expecting that.

She teleported away, landing on nearby ground. She glared at me as I got up, groaning.

"Did you really have to slam me into the ground like that?"

She ignored my question, taking a deep breath. "We're quite a bit aways from the squad and Mrs. S Grade. You wanted a One on One, well you're getting one. Just try not to die too easily, alright?"

I chuckled, getting a good look at my surroundings. She was right, we really were far away, in a completely different area by the looks of it. Fallen buildings were scattered amidst the sand, and a nearby oil well, a different one I had saw earlier, was emitting vast amounts of steam from my right. To my left were half-sunken buildings, crumbling apart. And in front of me was, of course, the target.

"Can I just ask you one question Miku Rip-Off?"

She growled when she heard the nickname I gave her, but answered nonetheless. "Sure, what?"

"What's your Model number?"

Her expression shifted to one of shock, as her battle position faltered at my words. Her eyes whirred in and out wildly before focusing in on me again.

"I'm Model number 38118121520205."

I let out a small smile. So, it seems my hunch really was correct. "Alright, let's get-!"

I was suddenly faced a leg about to slam into my head, rendering me unconscious in one-

I should probably stop with the double takes.

"STARTED!"

I appeared right next to her, landing a punch right in her face that sent her off balance.

She teleported, back on her feet a little bit away, her eyes wide. "What the? I actually got hit?"

I grinned, before sweating bullets as I held my hand. "Ow, what the hell!? I guess it's been a little too long since I've punched someone that hard, but seriously, the hell are you made of!?"

She barely had a scratch on her from my well-aimed blow, but she still seemed shaken up. "I guess that Hero title isn't a joke, despite not having that."

"Seriously, what's up with people," I appeared in front of her, about to elbow her in the stomach, "being so damn CRYPTIC!?"

She teleported underneath my punch, about to break my arm in a similar way she did to the other guy, but I was already doing my next move, kneeing her in the face.

"Guh!" She stumbled backwards, glaring at me. "I don't know if it's just luck, but it's starting to get annoying."

I dodged to my right as I felt a kick whoosh past my head, and I grabbed the leg, gritting my teeth as I used all my strength to swing her downward towards the ground, only to find myself empty-handed halfway through.

Damnit, wasn't fast enough that time. I leapt out of the way, landing on all fours as I watched her slam her heel into the ground, causing sand to block our vision.

That means…!

I grinned as I appeared behind her, tapping her on the shoulder. She literally jumped away from me, landing a couple feet away as her eyes whirred into focus.

"How the hell did you know I was there!?"

I shrugged. "Who knows? But if you're gonna get serious, you might wanna hurry it on up. I do have school tomorrow."

She glared at me, her gaze piercing through me. "I hate to admit it, but you're better than what I thought. Fine then, let's do this!"

She rushed towards me, much to my surprise, and I sidestepped out of the way, frowning as she teleported, her leg about to slam into my face. I ducked down, feeling the wind whoosh above me, only to be met with an attack I wasn't able to dodge.

I got sent skidding across the wasteland, sliding to a stop as I clutched my right side, her kick finally landing her mark as I heard a loud crack.

How did she even do that? I wasn't able to react in time since it was so fast. I winced as I got back up, scowling. I most definitely can't take much more of those.

"Huh, was sure that would take you out. You're tougher than you look," she said, frowning.

"Compared to you Rip-Off, Mars hits way harder," I said, shivering just thinking about the blows I received from him.

"Is that so?"

"Is that so."

We rushed each other, I throwing a punch from above while she did so below, which she promptly teleported, slamming her heel into my shoulder, which I caught with my bare hands, my knees buckling under the force.

Could it really be true? If so…

"I'm not letting go this time!" I said, right before she vanished, having teleported to an undisclosed location.

Well, to you guys anyway. I knew where she went.

I appeared a little behind her, inside one of the many sunken buildings that lay around us.

"Damnit, where did he go this time? Not that it should matter, no way he'll find me that quickly."

"I have to agree, no way he would find you that quickly."

She jumped up again, this time visibly alarmed as she pointed her finger at me. "Yo-you! How!?"

"Yo. Oh, were we talking about me? I thought we were talking about someone else, my bad."

She immediately teleported outside, high up in the air, and I scowled. Well that's a pain in the ass. But…

"Despite how scary it is, I still have to bring you back!"

"HOW THE FUCK!?"

And holding onto her leg was none other than I, Hiro. I clutched on tightly as we started to descend. "How about stop running away to the damn air and fight me on the ground like a real woman!?"

Otherwise I might die due to falling, and I'd rather not have that on my tombstone: Dumbass falls to his death while fighting Miku Rip-Off, 2004-2019.

I found myself slammed down the ground, and I coughed as I accidently inhaled the sandy mix that covered this wasteland.

"C-could you be any rougher? Ugh, that hurt," I said, getting back to my feet, watching the Miku Rip-Off glare at me.

"Who the hell are you!?"

Ah, guess I never did introduce myself.

"I'm Hiro the Hero, the 100th at that; no epithet to speak of at the moment. Nice to meet you."

"Can I ask you something Hiro?"

"Uh, sure? Go ahead I guess."

"Why exactly do you wish to bring me back? Is it because of the mission, is that it?"

"Oh, about that, I haven't gotten a chance to read over the mission details."

"What the, then why the hell are you even bothering!?" She yelled out, and I watched her tremble slightly before she shook her head. "Whatever, it doesn't matter."

She bit down on the rest of her lollipop, crunching it in her mouth before spitting out the stick. "Who the hell was I kidding. Just remember the mission, that's all that matters."

I tensed up, watching her demeanor change. I guess she's really serious now.

"Ah."

I appeared to my left, right as a fist was about to slam into my chest, only for her to spin around to try to hit me with her slender leg, which I cut short by nailing her in the stomach with my knee.

She teleported again, this time coming from above as she tried to strike me in the head, which I narrowly avoided by sidestepping backwards, only for her to get me in the back by a flying kick.

I stumbled forwards, my back screaming out in pain as I rolled out of the way, watching her miss once again.

I think I've finally got her figured out though, meaning…

I whirled around behind me, my fist hitting her in the chest right as she teleported, causing her to skid backwards, coughing as her yellow eyes whirred in and out of focus.

"H-how, are y-you d-doing that?" She asked, her eyes finally regaining focus as they whirred in on me.

I let out a small smile. "You made 1 mistake, which was your downfall."

"What?"

I threw some sand I had grabbed earlier while I was skidding across the wasteland into her face, temporarily blinding her.

"You have 2 key weaknesses Miku Rip Off! Number 1, is that you can only teleport where you can see!"

I kicked her in her side, wincing as I felt my leg throb. Damn, seriously, what is she made out of? I watched her leap backwards, getting the sand out of her eyes before teleporting away.

"Really? This is starting to get old now."

We were once more in a sunken building, this time on the outside. She glared at me before tackling me, as we both slid down the side together, wrestling over each other before she pushed off the side, causing us to land back into the sandy surface.

"Since you can only teleport where you can see, if I limit your sight, the number of places where you can appear become much shorter."

I kicked the sandy concoction up into the air blocking both of our visions. Meaning…

"And Number 2, is that you can only teleport every 3 seconds!"

I grabbed her leg which was just about to hit me and pulled her down, slamming her into the ground.

"And the only reason I was able to figure all that out," I started, looking down at her, "was because you made the mistake of leaving me for last!"

But, even if I know all this, it's still not enough to do substantial damage to her. I'm just not strong enough. Plus, there's other things she can do as well.

"And while I don't know this for certain, but I'm positive that not only can you change your position when you teleport, but you can also control which direction your velocity goes, effectively changing where the force goes into each strike."

And if that really was the case, I was fucked. If she managed to get enough speed she would eventually be able to overpower me, regardless of how fast my reaction speed was.

She coughed; no, that wasn't it. She was laughing.

Laughter started to fill the air as she slowly stood up, looking over me with curious eyes. "You really do have me all figured out. I really should've beaten you first, but Mrs. S Grade was there, so I didn't wanna risk it."

She managed to contain her laughter, and an expression I knew all too well appeared on her face, if only briefly.

"Well, I'm out. No way am I facing you now."

And then she was gone, already a mile away from this place.

I almost lost my composure. I can't believe she ran away. Not that I didn't expect it, but she totally would've beaten me with some effort.

"Now Anna!"

And then I was up into the air, Anna flying at top speed towards the Miku Rip-Off, carrying me by the armpits.

"Master did well, even if Master failed the objective."

"Hey, how the hell was I meant to know she was going to run!? Just don't lose track of her, got it!?"

She nodded, and in a couple seconds we caught up to her.

"Wha-! Mrs. S Grade!? Damnit, I don't need this now! Just give up you persistent bastards! Don't you know that when a lady ghosts you it means she doesn't wanna deal with you!?"

"Jokes on you Rip-Off, I don't talk to girls enough to have one ghost me!"

She glanced behind, scowling at the two of us. "What a pain in the ass!" She teleported upwards, probably to try to get a better vantage point.

"Alright Anna, on the count of three, I need you to throw me behind you, got it!?"

"Rodger Dodger Master Hiro!"

"One, two threeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

She spun around, using her speed to launch me backwards, right into the Rip-Off.

"OOF!"

I slammed into her, grabbing onto her tight as we teleported forwards, the force from my previous hit now launching us upward.

"Got yah now! Stop being ridiculous and come back already yah dingus!"

"FUCK OFF! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ANYWAY!?"

Before I could respond, I was suddenly left about 200 ft in the air, grasping her oversized jacket.

Ah, I fucked up. How could I forget, she can decide what teleports with her.

"SHIT!!!"

And I found myself falling, falling down towards the wasteland with no way to safely land.

Yeah, that tombstone I joked about earlier is looking pretty accurate right now.

"I have retrieved a fallen Master."

I felt myself get scooped up into Anna's arms just as I was about to hit the ground, and Anna slowed to a stop, putting me back on the ground.

"Ugh, I hate aerial combat." I groaned as I stretched my aching limbs, wincing in pain. "Damnit, did we really lose her?"

Anna's eyes whirred into focus, and her hair swished back and forth as she shook her head. "No, Anna has her heat signature saved, so Anna can find her whenever."

"Alright, great, lets-!"

Ah, that isn't good.

I collapsed to my knees, much to my surprise. I knew I was tired, but I couldn't be that tired, right? I started to cough, finding it hard to breathe all of sudden.

"Finally found you kid!"

Through my hazy vision I could see Roberto limping alongside his partner Beatrice, and his voice started to grow distant.

"Damnit kid hold on! Ugh, I knew…"

"It's… fault, we should've…"

I felt myself get lifted up, probably by Anna, and I groaned, coughing some more.

"Master will be alright, Master is in no danger of dying, yet."

What the hell is that meant to mean…?

And the last thing I saw before blacking out was the jacket I was clutching onto, with a single name embroidered onto it…

------------------------

Damnit, is he gone?

I was in one of the many half-sunken buildings around, trying to catch my breath after the fights I had just went through.

I can't believe it took me losing my jacket to finally shake him. I can only hope he fell to his death, but Mrs. S Grade probably saved him.

I clutched my knees, thinking back to the strange boy. "So that's a Hero huh? I've heard the rumors, but he really was strange. He managed to figure out how my ability worked with only one fight." He wasn't particularly strong, but the fact he managed to figure me out so easily scared me; no, it terrified me, put simply beyond belief. Not even my partner was able to figure it out so quickly.

"Well, looks like you managed to shake them off."

I tensed up at the man's voice, and I felt myself get dragged from the collar, the chain now visible. "Wh-why are you here?"

"I just had to check up on our newest plaything, make sure she didn't break during that last fight of hers." I got yanked towards the man, putting me off balance as he slammed his heel into my face. "After all, the only one who can break you is us, you filthy disgusting Model."

I gasped, groaning out in pain before getting kicked back, and I clutched my stomach as I started to cough.

This really does suck…

"The only good thing about that last fight of yours is that you finally got rid of that silly TRTF jacket you coveted oh so dearly. Maybe this means you've finally accepted us?"

"I already told you, I hate the TRTF. Why else would I join you guys?"

I felt myself get yanked again, and I moaned out in pain as the man grabbed my hair. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you?"

"I-I would never, you know that, not after what I did."

"Fair point. You pass for now."

I got thrown back down, and I groaned as I hit the concrete floor. Fuck, this really does hurt.

"Tomorrow, lead that squad into a trap to prove your loyalty. Do that, and maybe you won't need this collar anymore."

"Y-yes sir…"

I felt the man's presence vanish, and I watched the sun set behind me from an open window as I once more clutched my knees, leaning against the wall.

"I really do miss that jacket of yours," I murmured, shivering to myself. "But I guess I don't have any right to say that, since this what you wanted."

I closed my eyes, starting to fall asleep in the cold wasteland's night.

"Isn't that right, Blake…?"