Triple Axel's Fury and the Healer's Tongue
Special-Grade Hero Medical Sign tutted in annoyance. "Tch... some annoying bastard just had to butt in."
With a flap of her coat, the Trenchcoat Woman irritably clicked her tongue and twisted the hem that had been about to swallow Eunbyeol, swinging it wildly toward Triple Axel instead. The red lining lunged to devour his body.
But Triple Axel didn't dodge.
"Oho?! You gonna dress me up or what?"
He grinned leisurely and yanked the ring-strapped cord near his right elbow joint.
Viiiiing—!!
His entire right forearm transformed into an ultra-high-speed drill, spinning madly. The gale-force winds and air currents from the arm rotating hundreds of times per second pinned the red lining—about to engulf his whole body—strictly to his spinning right hand.
Flapflapflap!
"Nngh...!"
Like a flag in a typhoon, the coat billowed violently in the blast, nearly ripping free from the woman's grip.
"Why not reel it in? Looks pretty important."
Unable to withstand the wind resistance, the woman was shoved back several steps.
"A-rank heroes like me are drilled endlessly from above not to kill villains during captures, but..."
This time, Triple Axel bit the ring-strapped cord on his left arm with his teeth.
Viiiiing—!!
Pulling it with his mouth, he transformed his left arm into drill form too, setting it spinning at high speed. The deafening roar from both arms echoed through the underground mall.
"Hey, as long as they're barely breathing after I grind 'em half to paste, the paperwork's fine with that?!"
Triple Axel charged at the woman, drill arms leading the way.
"Why? 'Cause I'm Triple A! 'Cause I'm strong!"
"......"
Judging she had no chance in a head-on fight against his firepower, the woman backed away without regret.
"What a shame. I could've snagged Shooting Star's genes and Triple A's all at once."
She muttered as she flipped her trench coat inside out, red lining now facing outward, and put it back on.
"Hm? Unique taste!"
And then.
"Catch you later, hero sir."
The woman hurled herself at full speed into the thick concrete wall behind her.
Bam!
A bone-shattering crunch should have been normal.
But.
Sluuuurp—.
Like sinking into a swamp, her body—trench coat and all, flipped red-side out—slipped ghostlike into the solid concrete wall and vanished without a trace.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Kaboooom—!!
Triple Axel slammed both drills into the wall where she'd disappeared. The concrete shattered like tofu, crumbling formlessly into rubble.
But beyond the hole lay only dirt piles and rebar skeletons. No trace of the trenchcoat woman remained; she'd evaporated.
"Haa... shit, she got away. There goes my bonus."
Triple Axel dusted off his stopped drill arms irritably, tongue clicking.
As the dust settled slowly.
"Mister...!"
Eunbyeol, freed from the coat's allure, scrambled over the debris and rushed to Ohoo, slumped on the floor.
"Mister, your body's... your legs! The blood... hngh...!"
Seeing his legs grotesquely twisted with bones protruding and his right hand burst open in a bloody mess, she clamped both hands over her mouth and burst into sobs.
The thought that he'd fought alone in this hellhole in her place, ending up this broken, tore at her heart.
But.
"Doesn't hurt. Anyway."
Thanks to the hypnosis still dominating his brain, Ohoo replied flatly despite the cold sweat pouring down, voice steady as ever.
"Like it doesn't hurt! You can tell it hurts just looking!"
Of course, his nonchalance only looked like stoic endurance in Eunbyeol's eyes, squeezing her tears even harder.
And then.
Creeeak. Rattle.
The iron shutters of shops around the rotary, sealed tight, began creaking open one by one with cautious friction.
Starting with the young siblings who'd nearly been devoured by Deogi but saved by Ohoo.
The underground mall's terrified residents, who'd been holding their breath in fear, finally emerged at the sound of the A-rank hero's arrival and the ceasefire.
"Thank you for coming...!"
"Thanks for saving us, Triple Axel!"
The survivors rushed to Triple Axel en masse, tears streaming as they bowed in gratitude and praise.
A fervent cheer for the official A-rank hero, Triple Axel.
"Ah... haha, hey now, folks. No need for that."
But Triple Axel, receiving their thanks, scratched his cheek awkwardly and waved them off.
"Nah, I don't deserve it. I just showed up a minute early before things wrapped, punched a hole in the wall. That's it."
He redirected their gazes.
"The ones who really protected and saved you are that fuming cat girl up top and..."
"Master!!!! Why are your legs like that!!!!!!"
He pointed first to Miyang, stomping furiously on the surface through the freshly breached ceiling hole.
"These two. I did jack shit."
He indicated Ohoo, collapsed bloodied amid the rubble, and Eunbyeol clinging to him, sobbing.
"These three heroes saved you all."
Triple Axel's eyes turned to Ohoo.
And with that gaze, every eye in the underground mall converged on Ohoo, slumped pathetically on the floor, covered in blood and dust, legs shattered.
But to the survivors, he shone holier than any hero in gleaming costume.
Triple Axel strode over, knelt on one knee, and slung Ohoo's arm over his sturdy shoulder, hoisting him up.
"Heave-ho. You're one heavy fucker."
Grinning, he locked eyes with Ohoo and offered sincere praise.
"Thanks. For saving everyone."
"......"
Ohoo bit his lip blankly at the applause pouring his way and the warm respect in the A-rank hero's title for him.
"No license."
And gave a cynical reply.
"Not yet?"
Triple Axel shot back with conviction.
* * *
"Haa... haa..."
Supported by Triple Axel, they exited the Bupyeong Station Underground Mall entrance.
"Master!"
No sooner had they emerged than Miyang, who'd been pacing anxiously outside, bolted over like a shot.
『Master! I'm coming right now!』
『Hey! We're climbing up anyway! Don't jump down!』
Earlier, she'd nearly leaped through the ceiling hole Triple Axel had made but was stopped, so she'd raced around to the surface entrance to wait fretfully for Ohoo.
Smack!
"Ow!"
Rushing up, Miyang's eyes welled with tears as she fiercely slapped Ohoo's broad back.
"I told you not to get hurt! I begged you over and over! And you go and shatter both legs anyway?!"
She bawled, pummeling his chest with her fists.
"Do you know how worried I was?! I thought you were dead, nyang!"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. So hit lighter. I'm a patient right now."
As Ohoo soothed her, Miyang finally wiped her tears and stepped back.
"Be careful. Bones are totally misaligned. No weight on 'em—lean fully on me."
Triple Axel hooked Ohoo's arms over his shoulder instead of his dangling broken legs, practically carrying his whole body as he walked.
"I-I'll... help too..."
Eunbyeol strained to support Ohoo's opposite waist, but it was effectively just Triple Axel hefting his bulk alone.
'Even after losing fat and packing on muscle, I'm still around 100kg...'
Ohoo inwardly marveled at Triple Axel's raw strength, lifting his hefty frame without a hitch in his breathing. This was a true A-rank hero.
Thanks to it, Ohoo could relax into the support and take in the scene.
Dozens of KHC Crisis Response Center ambulances and police cars lit the plaza in chaotic red-and-blue flashes.
Dozens of residents caught in the armed group's indiscriminate shooting and Deogi's rampage groaned in agony on stretchers and in tents.
"Evac the heavy bleeders first! Tighten those tourniquets!"
"No hope here... calling it."
White-hazmat post-incident crews and field medics, drenched in sweat, dashed about, drawing lines between life and death.
And at the center, wielding only relief and healing—abilities so unique she transcended formal ranks for special-grade status—the special-grade hero Medical Sign darted through bloodied patients.
In her stark-white doctor coat costume tinged green, hands caked in gore, she knelt on one knee, emergency-treating a patient with a ruptured chest.
"Phew... this one's past the worst. Next!"
Wiping sweat from her brow and turning, Medical Sign spotted Triple Axel approaching with Ohoo leaning on him.
"Senior!!"
She handed her patients to the team and scrambled over.
Spotting Triple Axel, she furrowed her brow and unleashed a tirade.
"Are you insane, senior?! Look at that patient's legs—totally mangled, bones sticking out! How could you walk a critical case like this? You should've stayed put and called me!"
Even boisterous Triple Axel looked sheepish at her job-honed scolding, averting his eyes with a cough.
"Ahem, sorry. Was gonna call, but this guy kept insisting he was fine and could walk..."
"Fine my ass! This fracture should've shocked him unconscious!"
Medical Sign stared up at Ohoo's face in disbelief. Legs twisted unnaturally, flesh pierced by bone—yet the patient looked impassive, serene. Sweating, sure, but no screams or whimpers.
"But... this guy's weird. Legs like that, right hand smashed, and no screaming? Pain immunity ability or something?"
Unable to square it with medical logic, she tilted her head.
Then, spotting red-haired Eunbyeol—hair tied up—trailing behind with Miyang, she froze.
"......Huh?"
Her trembling finger pointed at Eunbyeol.
"Senior... th-that kid... that face! No way... S-Sara senior...!"
"Medical Sign."
Triple Axel urgently cut her off.
"Different person."
"Y-Yes...? B-But she's identical..."
"Not Sara. Sara's dead. Just a trainee swept up here by chance. Don't say useless crap."
Triple Axel subtly blocked Eunbyeol with his arm, separating her from Medical Sign.
Reading his stiff expression, she clammed up and nodded hastily.
"Ah... right, got it. Must've misseen."
Awkward air hung over the plaza corner.
Eunbyeol tilted her head, baffled by the female hero's piercing stare and reaction.
'Everyone who knew Shooting Star... reacts like that just seeing my face. From Rapidstar to that sunglass psycho earlier, now this healer.'
Ohoo silently observed, leaning on Triple Axel.
"If you're gonna nag, quit yapping and heal him already! Wanna watch his legs get amputated?"
Triple Axel bellowed to shatter the tension.
"Agh, fine, senior! Such a temper..."
Medical Sign grumbled but approached Ohoo.
"Alright, minor injuries... nope. Gimme your less-damaged right hand first. Fingers all snapped."
Ohoo indifferently extended his right hand, mangled from Acceleration recoil while slashing Deogi.
Medical Sign examined it closely, then.
"Ah—."
Her jaw unhinged impossibly wide for a human mouth, unleashing a long, thick, sticky tongue.
"......?!"
The slick, mucus-coated tongue wrapped his broken hand airtight.
"Eek! Wh-What the hell, nyang! Get off, nyang!"
Miyang bristled from behind.
Eunbyeol paled and backpedaled.
"Stay put."
Ohoo calmly raised his left hand to halt Miyang.
No pain thanks to hypnosis, but the unfamiliar woman's slimy, saliva-secreting tongue coiling tight around his hand creeped even him out.
'This is healing? Metamorph ability...?'
As Ohoo grimaced at his hand, Medical Sign—tongue extended—tried to protest innocently.
"Ueeeh, eeeh~ uwaaoo~!"
But with her tongue out wrapping his hand, it mangled into unintelligible alien gibberish.
"Haa..."
Triple Axel facepalmed at the sight, sighing deeply and volunteering as interpreter.
"Don't freak. She's a rare dual awakener—inherited both parents' powers."
Pointing at Medical Sign, he continued.
"Born to a frog beastkin mom with metamorph abilities and a healer dad with saliva-based healing. That's the result."
"Saliva... healing?"
"Yeah. That frog tongue vacuums the wound. Then secretes concentrated healing saliva inside, melting broken bones and torn flesh into jelly."
Eunbyeol gagged behind her hand.
"Reforms the cells with her saliva, hardening it back to original state. Looks gross, but no healer's faster at instant full-body repairs."
No sooner had he finished than.
"Uweeeep—."
Medical Sign slurped her tongue back in with a schlurp.
"......"
Ohoo raised his right hand.
Incredibly, the hand—grotesquely twisted and shredded just moments ago—was pristine.
'On another level from Last Moment's muscle regen... practically reconstructs the injury site.'
Ohoo clenched and unclenched his fist repeatedly, awed by Medical Sign's miraculous healing.