Race to Fire Mountain: 1 (Future Hero)

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Ulfrika, for instance, was created by a team made up of researchers, writers and storyliners. It is a unique world, rich in myth and legend, and full of magic and technology. Writers are collaborative creatures, so brainstorming a mythical world through an Afrofuturist lens can be extremely fun when we get to bounce ideas around the room. Mitsuki gnashes her teeth and lunges. The slap lands solidly and the sound makes Katsuki flinch. He shrinks and tries to pull the shadows over him like a blanket (it’s not the first time, it won’t be the last). The words stop coming to his tongue. Katsuki’s heart fills the silence and pounds so loud in his ears it’s all he can hear. The words stop coming and he’s falling right into her maw. Katsuki jumps at the noise, and curls in on himself at the sight of his mom looming over him in the doorframe of his room. His heart pounds in his ears.

His mom handed him a few coins and Izuku starts reciting his favorite things about the hero as Katsuki turns the handle. He already knows Izuku’s speech by heart, but he doesn’t mind. He’d be prattling along with him if it wasn't against the rules. Katsuki makes a face at himself in the mirror. He hasn’t thought about himself in that way for a long time. Becoming the Number One Hero hasn’t been anything more than a plan to make sure no one else can hurt him for a long time. Hell, he hasn’t done much but survive the day for a long time. It doesn’t leave a lot of time for him to think about what he wants or how he feels. Nobody says a word on the drive home. The only sound is Katsuki’s quirk, he keeps it as quiet as possible even though it’s the only thing keeping him from blowing up again. He tries not to think about what’s going to happen once they drop Izuku off, once he’s alone with her. I think readers will be hugely excited to hear that tensions will escalate, new creatures and beasts will be introduced, and the reason for Legsy’s banishment from Ulfrika will finally be revealed…All alongside perilous adventure, dangerous quests, and lots and lots of action. The structure was odd. I’ve read younger demographic books like this before and in spite of being more simplistic due to the nature of the demographic, they usually are paced fairly evenly to make sure each act has a significant event to balance the story out. It will be predictable, certainly, but that's also a part of younger children learning to read and learning how a book generally 'should' be constructed. This book essentially had no middle. It was heavy on the set-up, then heavy on the resolution before hitting a wall. The exploration of the universe i.e. why I should even care about saving Ulfrika or Jarell’s burgeoning love for it, is totally missing.Hi! You must be Katsuki’s mom.” Izuku’s mom smiles. “I’m Midoriya Inko, and this is my son Izuku. These two have been inseparable for the last few hours, it’s been a real treat to see Izuku bond with someone. He usually has trouble making friends with other kids his age.” Here,” Mitsuki holds out a few more coins. “One more time so you both have one. That’s it though, you get what you get. Don’t be a brat.” Auntie Inko gives Katsuki clothes to change into, wraps a blanket around his shoulders, and makes them both soup while they watch their favorite All Might movie. When she brings them their bowls, she gives them both a kiss of the forehead. The sensation lingers on Katsuki’s scalp. When Jarell successfully completes his missions in Ulfrika, he goes home. In our world, Jarell hasn’t got magic powers. No one knows he is the Future Hero. His older brother thinks Jarell is uncool, and so do the other kids at school. He spends most of his time alone, or with his cousin Omari, and he prefers drawing to video games. But that doesn’t mean Jarell isn’t just as special in our world as he is in Ulfrika, even if people don’t realise how powerful he is. Special means something different in our world. It’s what happens when we stay true to ourselves. Here, we keep our magic in our hearts.

Katsuki slips away, and heads home. He needs some time to think about his new plan, and he can’t do that around the school. He’s going to do something, though, because he’s not running, and he’s not taking help he doesn’t deserve. He has to succeed because he wants to, not just because it’ll feel good.The piece I submitted was actually awful but Jasmine being Jasmine still gave me some really good advice and it definitely helped as I was already motivated to get better. Later down the line, Jasmine and I caught up again and she asked me to submit some more of my work. By this time I’d like to think I had gotten better and Jasmine started to let me know of some potential opportunities that might be coming up to write in the future. I was all in! His mom lets out a shaky breath. “Dammit, he was doing so well. I…I thought after he made friends with that boy, it might be confusing, but then he started actually talking—he was getting better.” Do you want to have a playdate with Izuku today? He’s going to be so excited to see your quirk.” His dad asks on the way to school the next morning. We know Ulfrika is a wide and wonderful place, so it is relatively unexplored in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps you could imagine the vast wildlife and places Jarell has yet to meet/encounter!

Of course, Ulfrika has its very own fantastical twist. Talking beasts like Were-hyenas and Painted Wolves roam the kingdom, and there are warriors like Kimisi, Jarell’s loyal friend, who assist and protect Ancients – gods and goddesses of the realm. There are ultra-high-tech gadgets everywhere, like a gauntlet that can whip up mini thunderstorms, or equipment which allows its wearer to cloudport across stretches of sand to their desired destination. But not All Might.” Katsuki peers through the window, he thinks he can make a few of the hero he wants among the others. He wants, desperately, to be praised, to feel normal. When he makes his mom proud, the agonizing void in his gut closes up. For that moment he’s earned the relief, but it doesn’t last. There’s something deeper in him, however. There’s a want in him that’s small but stronger than anything else. What is he going to do now? He’s not going to be the smartest, or the strongest. After today and the way he treated Deku, he definitely won’t be respected, just hated. He remembers getting quite a few looks of outright disgust. It’s what he deserves, Katsuki reminds himself, which is why he gets the punishments he does. He just feels overwhelmingly stupid for wanting a break from being the bad kid for once. Of course that shit doesn’t fly at U.A. Idiot. The radio buzzes with the insects in the grass on a late summer evening in july. His father sits on the porch with a book and a cup of tea while Katsuki plays. It’s play in Katsuki’s mind, at least. Izuku is the only one he’s ever met who knows this game.His tiny fist closes around the plastic hero. Katsuki glances up and sees the hand extending towards him. Izuku’s eyes are wide with concern. The energetic “Superhero” is a long awaited reunion between Metro Boomin and frequent collaborator Future, as the song serves as the first collaborative release from the two artists in five years. “Superhero” also serves as the first official collaboration between Metro and Chris Brown. It’s only the beginning of Katsuki’s new violent streak. It feels good to hit people, he understands why his mother loves to slap him. Sometimes it’s the best way to resolve your difficult feelings. Sometimes it’s the only way a bad kid will learn. Sometimes it’s the only outlet Katsuki has. It’s not in the rules, and it makes him better, it makes him more like his mom. So that must mean they want him to, because Katsuki just wants to be praised again. A lot of people in Katsuki’s life have tried to get him to talk more, but no one has phrased it quite like that before. He eyes Izuku’s All Might toy, and wonders what the kid is trying to get him to say.

The figurine is already in Katsuki’s hands. Izuku slides off the monkey bars and walks towards a lady with the same color hair as him. Katsuki follows wordlessly. Something hot wells up in his chest. It burns. Katsuki isn’t allowed to make it go away. He’s supposed to feel uncomfortable. Jarell is astonished to learn from Legsy that he is actually the fabled one who is going to rescue the realm of Ulfrika from Ikala, the evil sorcerer. Jarell journeys to Ulfrika on the first of his quests. There he encounters Kimisi, a warrior and apprentice to the goddess Ayana. Together they go in search of the first of the Iron Animals needed to complete the magical staff of Kundi. The tile is soaked in burnt orange light when he finally splashes his face and takes a look at himself in the mirror. His reflection is pissed and pathetic, like a wet kitten. He hates the way defeat looks on him, the urge to carve it out is barely resistable. He doesn’t remember how ponytail’s lecture ended. He doesn’t remember walking across the room to put distance between him and them. Katsuki is an other now, he stands out for what he really is, a pathetic loser and a terrible kid. It makes his skin crawl and his ears ring. He doesn’t remember drifting away.Jarrell is astounded when he discovers that this fantasy realm is a real place, Ulfrika, which he can enter via a magical portal in his cousin’s barbershop. He learns that he is descended from Kundi, Ulfrika’s heroic ruler, who centuries earlier defended the kingdom from devious sorcerer, Ikala. Jarrell always feels awkward. He’s not cool like his older brother or athletic like other boys in his class. He’s also not as studious as his parents would like because his head is usually in his sketchbook drawing amazing Afro-futuristic images of buildings, warriors and goddesses that pop into his head. One day, while at his cousin’s barbershop, he learns that the images aren’t from his imagination, they’re real! Now he must go on an adventure to save an “ancient- future” kingdom from an evil sorcerer. Can he be the hero they are hoping for?