Jackson and Mark stood in the infamous waiting room. They stood at the door to their future in nervous silence, waiting for their fate to play out.

 

“Are you ready for this?” Mark grabbed Jackson’s hand and squeezed it tightly.

 

“Ready as I'll ever be,” Jackson replied, squeezing Mark’s hand back.

 

“ Jackson, I just want you to know that no matter what the outcome is, we’ll still be together, we're still going to be the best team out there, I'll still be proud of us--especially you,” Mark spoke sincerely,  eyes never wavering from Jackson's.

 

Jackson nodded wordlessly, a nervous smile on his lips. Then the doors opened, green light blinking on. The two boys wordlessly walked through the doors, hand in hand, onto the stage.

 

Mark and Jackson reached the inner circle at the same moment as Jaebum and Jinyoung. They gazed across to each other with guarded looks. Jinyoung having his normal icy stare and Jaebum’s angry glare. The two teams walked to the center and bowed to each other, before turning around and walking back to the edge. They waited patiently for the bell and stage transformation.

 

“ WELCOME EVERYONE TO THE FINAL BATTLE OF THE HERO ALLIANCE SCHOLARSHIP TOURNAMENT! YOUR FINALISTS ON THE NORTH END ARE IM JAEBUM AND PARK JINYOUNG. ON THE SOUTH END IS MARK TUAN AND JACKSON WANG! BOTH OF THESES TEAMS HAVE MADE RECORD BREAKING RUNS IN THE COMPETITION! LET’S SEE HOW THIS PLAYS OUT! AND NOW FOR THE STAGE!”  

 

The announcer made his speech, signaling the di roll. Above either side of the stage, hologram randomizers rolled through the list of stages. The hologram on the north end rolled until a stop on the City Stage. Everyone waited in suspense silence as the other hologram slowed, landing finally onto-

 

“OH AND LOOK AT THAT! IT SEEMS LIKE BOTH SIDES OF THE STAGES HAVE LANDED ON CITYSCAPE! INTERESTING INDEED!”

 

Mark tensed at the reveal, looking over to Jackson to gauge the boy’s reaction. Jackson remained collected, thousands of outcomes immediately running through his head.

 

‘City provides cover.’

 

‘Lots of things in the way.’

 

‘Easy sneak attacks.’

 

‘Limited sight distance.’

 

‘Rough terrain to fall on.’

 

‘Ow, I really hate concrete.’

 

The the bell rang and all hell broke loose.

 

“Go Mark! You know what to do!” Jackson shouted immediately sprinting for Jaebum.

 

Jaebum, however, didn’t let Jackson get close. The sleeves of Jaebum’s jacket immediately erupted into flames. He whipped his arms in Jackson’s direction, sending a wall of fire towards the blonde. Jackson leaped to the side, crashing behind the corner of a building before the flames could hit him.  Jackson poked his head out from the wall seconds later. Flames still rolled on the ground and off the concrete wall like magma.

Jackson turned towards Jaebum and shouted, “That all you got Jaeburnt!?”

 

Jackson laughed  and darted back behind the building as Jaebum sent another wave of fire towards him. This time decimating the corner where Jackson had stood, taunting the other. Jackson, as according to his plan, wasted no time in finding a way around Jaebum. He was glad that the whole setup was a cityscape for once. The grid patterned street corners would really limit the berth of Jaebum’s attacks.  Jackson ran around the drab looking building, almost coming to a full circle. Then he quickly sprinted to another building across from the first.  He checked the doors, finding that they opened. However, Jaebum heard him and turned around, finding Jackson with his hands on the handles to the doors.  

 

“Hey, hot head! Ready to fight?” Jackson teased the boy and slipped inside the building.

 

He searched around the interior and found that it was furnished like a restaurant. Grabbing a couple chairs, Jackson braced them under the door before tossing a table into the mix just before Jaebum reached the door.

 

Jackson stood behind the blockade and raised a finger towards Jaebum, “Ha!”

 

Jaebum boiled at the mimicking. The Volcanic quirk swung both of his arms towards the doors in a pushing motion. Fire and magma sprung from his palms and arms, bursting the doors, melting glass and metal, burning wood.

 

“Oops,” Jackson shrunk back from the door.

 

“You little punk,” Jaebum growled as he stepped through the still burning doorway, “You think some chairs are going to stop me?”

 

“Nope,” Jackson answered almost reverently, “But this might help.”

 

Jaebum gave him a confused look, before suddenly an alarm broke through the building. Soon enough, sprinklers accompanied the shrill sound and the entire room was doused with water.  However, Jackson’s plan only seemed to succeed in annoying Jaebum. The brunet clenched his jaw and brought a hand up to wipe his wet hair from his forehead.

 

“You are so going to burn for that, Wang.”

 

------

“Go Mark! You know what to do!”

 

Mark sprung into action at Jackson’s words.  He jumped back to the southern side of the field, trying to engage Jinyoung into a battle with him. Jinyoung watched with a guarded expression, keeping his partner in his peripheral vision. However, Jackson had started luring Jaebum off into unknown territory.

 

“Jaebum, you prick! Don’t let them separate us!” Jinyoung shouted to his partner but  was ignored.

 

Jinyoung cursed under his breath as Jackson pulled Jaebum out of sight. He frowned and looked up at Mark, “Alright then, let’s get this over with.”

 

“Gladly,” Mark replied with a smirk, shifting into  a fighting stance, fists held up and ready.

 

Jinyoung mimicked the position and rolled his shoulders. Suddenly, the temperature around the black haired boy started dropping and frost formed on the platform underneath him.

 

“Let’s dance, Tuan!’ Jinyoung snarled before running forward, ice forming around his fists.

 

Mark ran towards Jinyoung, meeting the boy in the middle. Jinyoung threw the first punch, but Mark ducked underneath it and countered with a kick. Jinyoung jumped back, pivoting on one foot to maneuver himself around Mark’s back. However, Mark followed him, but Jinyoung didn’t let it phase him. Instead the raven haired boy pushed his palm towards Mark, shooting a sharp icicle towards Mark. Mark rolled to the side and behind a building to avoid the attack. Jinyoung followed, throwing more ice at the redhead.  Mark eventually found that he couldn’t dodge them all. A single icicle nicked him off the shoulder.

 

“Damn,” Mark cursed as Jinyoung closed in.

 

“Are you going to run like your partner?” Jinyoung scoffed, the icy air around him covering the wall of the building and the ground with ice.

 

“No,” Mark challenged, “I had something else in mind.”

 

Suddenly, a bright light encircled Mark. Fire ripped from the spot and Jinyoung jumped back in shock. Then, breaking from the light and flying straight up, a phoenix emerged from the flames, causing a shockwave of fire to blow past Jinyoung’s ice field. Mark, now using Chanyeol’s phoenix morph, flew over the building and around to Jinyoung. Jinyoung ducked behind another building, sending a line of icicles blindly into the air.  Mark swooped down across from Jinyoung, landing in his own form.

 

“Cheap trick!” Jinyoung shouted angrily at the boy, “Just try and block this!”

 

Jinyoung pushed his palm out at Mark, sending a wave of ice across the ground that quickly quadrupled in size, forming large peaks of ice. Mark crossed his arms in front of his chest and jumped over the spikes, fire propelling from his feet and bright, fiery-orange wings forming over his arms. He grabbed onto the ledge of a window, hoisting himself up. Mark swung his elbow at the glass, wincing at the it broke and cut through his sleeve. Mark pushed his body through the cracked glass and rolled onto the floor inside the building. He sprinted through the floor to find the stairs or an elevator, knowing that Jinyoung would be on him soon. He made it to the elevator, but stopped short. Ice was quickly creeping out from underneath the doors. So, Mark turned and made his way to the stairs, however, before he could make it a large boom shook the building. Mark panicked at held onto the closest object, the frame of a window. Th ebuilding quit shaking and he looked out the window to see smoke rising from the north end of the field and a fiery building fall, setting off a domino effect on.

 

“Jackson!” Mark couldn’t help but cry in shock.

 

The elevator dinged opened and Mark prepared himself for the incoming fight.

 

--------

 

“You are so going to burn for that, Wang.”

 

Jackson laughed guiltily before turning around and running away.

 

“WANG! GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT!” Jaebum hollered after him, unleashing whip after whip of fire.

 

“Not until you calm down,MR.!” Jackson shuted back, as he tipped chairs and tables ovr behind him.

 

He found his way into the kitchen of the restaurant and hid behind a counter. Jaebum followed shortly after, arms ablaze. the smoke from his arms set off the alarm again and the sprinklers kicked in, however this time they couldn’t squelch Jaebum’s fire.  Jaebum just seemed to get more angry and his flames grew bigger.

 

“Come on out Jackson,” Jaebum spoke slowly as he walked through the kitchen, “Come on out and play.”

 

Jackson waited until Jaebum had strayed far enough away from the door before grabbing the closest thing to him:

 

‘A knife? Naw, I can’t kill him,’ Jackson stared at the knife in question.

 

“There you are!” Jaebum shouted and raised a fist.

 

“No time to think!”  Jackson shouted and lobbed the knife at Jaebum before jumping over the counter and making a break for the exit.

 

Jackson booked it out of the building, leaping through the hole in the wall  where the door used to be, and out into the street.  He quickly looked over his shoulder to see if Jaebum followed. When he didn’t Jackson freaked out a little.

 

‘Holy crap, I didn’t kill him did i?’

 

Suddenly, a large fireball burst from the restaurant roof, setting the whole building aflame. Then, another followed, this on sending debri and magma across the entire street, hitting a much larger building and letting out a large “BOOM.” The ground shook with the explosion. The taller building was struck down by the fire and sent toppling over onto the next. Jackson’s eyes widened at destruction and briefly wondered how people could be watching this happen.

 

“I think Jaebum just jumped up in the scales,” Jackson committed to no one in particular, “I should probably run.”

 

Jackson nodded to himself before sprinting to the southern end of the field, not stopping to even wonder if Jaebum had made it out of the chaos. When he made it to the middle platform, he stopped to catch his breath. He turned to look at the northern field. Nearly half of the buildings had been decimated and JAebum was nowhere to be seen. He turned to the southern time just in time to see Mark and Jinyoung break out into the main street, battling it out.

 

“MARK!” Jackson shouted, “I think we need a new plan!”

 

Mark turned slightly from his battle with Jinyoung to see Jackson standing in front of the wreckage. However, his attention was immediately diverted by Jinyoung. Jackson watched helplessly as his partner grappled with Jinyoung. He had no place in a battle of power quirks.

 

‘Why did I even join this battle?’ Jackson asked himself, rubbing his temples, ‘Nevermind, new battle plan…’

 

Jackson watched as Mark threw a rather powerful punch at Jinyoung, flames bursting off the boy’s shield of ice. Jinyoung was pushed back a few feet. The atmosphere was tense as both boys halted to catch their breath. Mark’s chest puffed as he raised a hand to wipe blood from his lip.  Jiyoung eyed him from afar, body tense and ready to attack. The, a loud boom broke their sares and an object followed by a trail of fire blast past them, colliding into the side of a building behind Jinyoung. Mark’s eyes widened when he saw what the object really was.

 

“JACKSON!” Mark lurched towards his partner, millions of thoughts and worries clouding his head, but a blast of ice stopped him in his tracks.

 

“You’re not going anywhere! I’m not done with you yet,” Jinyoung panted.

 

Mark glared at Jinyoung, glancing over his shoulder where he could see Jackson, still on fire. Mark could hear Jaebum behind him, slowly advancing. But Mark was livid, and an angry Mark is a dangerous Mark.

 

With quick and small movements, Mark swiftly turned around, sending a wave of water (copied from that Suho kid in his defense class) crashing over Jaebum and sending the boy far, far, away. He turned back around quickly, holding up a hand right before Jinyoung could react. The raven haired boy tried to counter with his quirk, but nothing came.

 

“What the hell?” Jinyoung cursed and pushed his palm at Mark again and again, no ice sprouting from his hand.

 

“You’re done,” Mark growled.

 

Mark pushed his fist towards Jinyoung, then jerked it to the side. Jinyoung’s body followed the movement and flew off the side of the stage. Canon fire rang and signaled the end of the battle, but Mark paid no attention to the noise. He rushed towards Jackson, running the fastest he had ever run in his life.

 

“Jackson, no, no. Jackson,” Mark chanted the boy’s name as he fell at the side of the rubble surrounding his partner.

 

Mark brushed away the debris from Jackson’s body and turned the boy over. Mark cupped Jackson’s face in his hands, gently wiping the boy’s hair from his forehead.

 

“, Jackson. Please don’t be dead,” Mark cursed as he checked over Jackson’s body.

Jackson’s shirt nearly burnt off. Shreds of it were hanging off his neck and left shoulder. It looked like the brunt of the blow his his right side. Angry red burns marred the skin of his right side and arm. Luckily, it seemed to only touch his torso. However, he had multiple cuts and blemishes from crashing into the stage set. He was bleeding through his burns and cut. Mark used Suho’s quirk on a smaller level, summoning water to his palm to wash over Jackson’s burnt side. He could hear the medical team somewhere behind him, but too afraid to look back. Then, Jackson’s head moved. The blonde boy blinked wearily, groaning when he completely opened his eyes.

 

“Jackson!” Mark ducked closer to the boy’s face in surprise.

 

“Did we win?” Jackson coughed, eyes unfocused.

 

“What?” Mark blinked, not processing what the boy asked.

 

“Did we win?” Jackson asked again, this time with a wide smile and eyes trained on Mark.

 

“Wha-are you? I don't-” Mark stuttered to respond, “You could be freaking dying right now and you ask if we won!?”

 

“Uh...yeah?” Jackson replied as he tried to sit up.

 

By this time the medical team had found them and we setting up a stretcher for the boy, not that Mark was paying attention.

 

“You-” Mark couldn’t finish his sentence as he had practically tackled Jackson and littered the boy’s face with kisses.

 

“Ah! Mark, my-OW!” Jackson winced (although he quite enjoyed Mark’s affections).

 

“Crap sorry,” Mark apologized and jumped off of Jackson.

 

The medical team interrupted the boys, then. They asked Mark to wait underneath the stadium while they took care of Jackson. Mark really didn’t want to leave the other, but he complied, knowing it would be for the best. The medical team hoisted Jackson onto the stretcher and allowed him one last remark t Mark before they rolled him to the Medic rom. Mark was escorted by another team member to the Medic room a little later and checked over for any serious injuries. He was quickly dismissed with only a few bandages and an ice pack for his jaw and left to roam free until the congratulatory service later that afternoon.

 

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

 

Jackson felt very groggy when he woke up. He tried to open his eyes, but a harsh light kept him from doing so. He groaned in confusion and pain as he closed his eyes again, trying to lift an arm and cover his face.

 

“You probably shouldn't move that arm,” a voice, that that he instantly recognized as Mark,  spoke.

 

Jackson turned his head to the side of the voice and opened his eyes slightly, “Mark?”

 

“Hey,” Mark smiled and leaned closer to Jackson, placing his hand on the boy's cheek and it gently with his thumb.

 

Jackson gave the redhead a small smile, lifting his good arm and making a grabby hand towards Mark. Mark chuckled and leaned closer to Jackson. When Mark got close enough, Jackson grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into a one-armed hug. Mark nuzzled his face into Jackson’s neck. Jackson held onto the other boy for a long time. He was glad that the fights were over. Here Mark was, with him and uninjured--well, mostly uninjured. Mark had only came out of the fight with a couple scraps and a purple bruise blossoming on his left jaw. Jackson held Mark close, reveling in the feeling of his boyfriend so close and safe in his arms...arm. Mark turned his head at some point and kissed Jackson cheek. The redhead leaned back slightly and tapped his forehead against Jackson’s.

 

“You feeling ok?” Mark whispered.

 

“My arm’s stiff and I can’t really feel my back, but honestly I think I’m floating right now,” Jackson whispered back, giggling slightly at the end of his sentence.

 

“That’s probably because you’re on painkillers right now…” Mark cringed, maybe he should find a medical assistant.

 

“Am I?” Jackson asked, bumping their foreheads, “Do I still kisses if I’m on drugs?”

 

“Oh my god, Jackson,” Mark sighed and sat back, running his hand across his face, “Yes. I will give you a kiss.”

 

Mark leaned down and pecked Jackson on the lips once. Jackson closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss, chasing Mark's lips when they separated. Mark scooted closer and kissed Jackson again. The boys pressed their lips together in a desperate kiss, communicating all of their worries and relief. Their kiss soon became more passionate, but not rushed or violent. The boys languidly brushed their lips together, noses brushing occasionally. The kiss was rather simple, yet deeper than either boy could he imagined. It showcased their love and compatibility for each other with raw emotion and desperate need for each other.

 

“So we did win, right?” Jackson asked with a greasy smile once they separated.

 

“Yes, Jackson. We won,” Mark sighed and ran his hand through Jackson’s hair.

 

“Did I lose an arm?”

 

“No Jackson.”

 

“ Good...hey Mark?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Do you still love me--OW! Mark-stop Don’t hit me-”

 

“Then stop asking stupid questions like that,” Mark huffed in reply.

 

Jackson gave Mark a knowing look before patting the mattress beside him, beckoning Mark to join him.

 

“Is there enough room?” Mark gave the cot as wary glance.

 

“ Yes, just get up here so I can go back to sleep,” Jackson chuckled lightly.

 

Mark gave the blonde one more conceded look before complying and draping himself next to join Jackson on the medical cot, “This is surprisingly comfortable.”

 

“Now it's even better,” Jackson commented while rolling onto his good side and snuggling up to Mark.

 

Mark gently wrapped an arm around Jackson's shoulders,  letting his boyfriend rest his head on Mark's arm. Mark massaged gently at Jackson’s neck, lulling the boy to sleep.

 

“Mark,” Jackson's groggy voice drifted up from Mark's shoulder.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I think I'm in love with you,” Jackson whispered innocently.

 

Mark smiled and squeezed Jackson lightly, " I love you too, Jackson.”

 

-------

 

Jackson took a deep breath as he stood behind the last door he would ever walk through in the competition. He closed his eyes and exhaled. He’d been through alot in the past few months. He’d made it through his last year of school. Made a new friend-turned boyfriend, won an elite competition and nearly had his arm seared off for it all. He didn’t mind though. Now that it was all over, he was ready to take the next step on his journey.

 

“You’re looking much better.”

 

Jackson opened his eyes to see Mark standing beside him. The redhead had cleaned himself up, much like Jackson had moments ago. The Healer Quirk nurse had done wonders on Mark’s jaw. The deep purple color had faded and his natural, pale complexion was back, but the real wonders were in what she did to Jackson. His arm was still wrapped up and his back still ached with every move he made, but the burns were mostly healed and replaced with fresh, new-pink skin. At least he could move it now.

 

“I feel much better.” Jackson bumped shoulders with Mark.

 

“Your arm ok?” Mark asked, eying Jackson's now sleeveless shirt.

 

“Yup, keeping it wrapped just in case,” Jackson shook said arm for emphasis.

 

Mark laughed quietly at the actin. He threw an arm around Jackson’s good side and pulled him closer, “This is it then. When  those doors open we will officially be stuck together for the rest of our lives.”

 

Jackson chuckled at Mark’s word choice, “Are you proposing to me Mr.Tuan?”

 

“Hypothetically,” Mark joked after pretending to think about Jackson’s question.

 

“Well then, I would have to hypothetically accept,” Jackson continued, knocking his head against Mark’s.

 

“Let’s graduate college first, though,” Mark teased,helping Jackson up and wrapping an arm around Jackson’s good side, “So, let’s go get our trophy.”

 

Mark pulled Jackson through the double doors with a hop in his step. Jackson couldn’t have been more excited, except for one thought.

‘I already have my trophy and he’s standing right next to me…’