Magnus: Well, time to tackle the USJ arc... expect a twist!
Disclaier: Do I really need to keep adding warnings about the story being dark?
Cursed Blood
Chapter 11
A sinister intrusion.
It was into a rather plain office that Mitsuki Bakugo and her son Katsuki walked, quite a bit earlier than needed. The two were clad in the best formal clothes they could find in their closets, the mother well aware of the impact presentation might make on the inauspicious day. The rest of their lives could very well be at stake here, and they needed every advantage they could scrounge up if they wanted even a hope of walking free.
Too bad only one of the two truly meant their repentance.
"Mrs. Bakugo, on behalf of UA Academy, allow me to present the demands and conditions for your son to avoid criminal charges," immediately spoke a tall, sharp-featured man with stylish hair as the two entered. Words dropped from his tongue like that of the consummate charmer, his easygoing demeanor disarming. His identification card read 'Sakamoto.' "Mind you, these are only on behalf of the school."
Next to the obviously long retained lawyer, who stood behind the single desk that was present, an imposing woman exuding an air of a thousand victories stepped forward, taking the man's left side. Her violet locks were crowned in an austere bun except for two bangs that framed her stern face and the power suit she wore was impeccable. Her identification card reading 'Kamishiro' was clipped to her chest.
"On behalf of the Asui Family, it is my duty and honor to ensure my clients be assured their lives will no longer be placed in jeopardy at the hands of a poorly raised brat with delusions of grandeur," the woman proclaimed, staring dispassionately at the Bakugos.
Katsuki shifted where he stood, glaring at the bitch that dared to badmouth him. He wondered why his mother wasn't unleashing her usual temper on these extras already.
On the opposite side of Sakamoto stood another woman; this one wearing glasses, a tan blazer with a white skirt, and a clearly angry visage.
"On behalf of the Iida Family, I will guarantee that no evil here goes unpunished," the second woman declared, taking a seat along with the other attorneys. 'Hange' was stamped on her identification card.
Mitsuki swallowed hard, already sweating buckets under such blistering glares. Everything from this point on depended on her son sticking to the plan… and whatever mercy could be found at the hands of the intimidating lawyers the Asui and Iida Families had delivered them to.
The ride to the USJ…
The remaining students of class 1-A, plus zombies, were currently bundled on a bus on their way to being tested on the most important role of being a hero—saving lives. Many were excited at such a prospect, others were nervous, others still were… distracted.
"And… this is powder for your nose…" Momo explained as she pointed to an open compartment in the ridiculously large makeup case sitting next to her. With an angelic laugh, Lily clapped in delight from the mature girl's lap.
"It's incredible!" the little zombie cried, a smile so pure it blinded half the students stretching across her face. "It's prettier than the professional sets Lily saw backstage!"
With the bus designed so that its seats were against the windows, the need to have students cramped into pairs had been eliminated. Momo was thankful Izuku's observational skills had allowed him to notice this fact before anyone had wasted time choosing partners, though it hadn't stopped Iida from trying. Her being able to more easily spoil Lily was a nice perk too.
"Man, is it still weird to anyone that we're sharing our education with two zombies now?" Kirishima asked no one in particular. "I can't decide if Midoriya's more manly for having them around or not."
The redhead's words may have seemed questioning, but his ruby eyes were undeniably sad. It was obvious the teen wished they could give the little girl final rest. In his opinion, of the two zombies she unequivocally deserved a proper send off to the afterlife.
"It's wrong," Ojiro grumbled, hearing Kirishima's words and deciding to throw in his own two yen. The tailed-boy's frown spoke of pure animosity and rejection.
Perturbed, the spiky redhead leaned away from his classmate.
"Dude, what's your problem?" Kirishima asked. Ojiro merely crossed his arms in judgment.
"True heroes do their own work," the tailed-boy stated, nodding to himself. "They don't stoop to using others."
Unable to keep himself from eavesdropping, Tokoyami clenched his fist as he reigned in his anger. A lecture was the least of what he wanted to give his peer; Ojiro hadn't only just insulted his friend, but he'd also offended the raven-headed boy himself.
Dark Shadow, the eldritch entity that lived inside of him thanks to his Quirk, was much the same to him as Tae and Lily were to Izuku. He'd long ago come to terms with and befriended the sentient creature in order to become a hero, it standing as his strength, and it was beyond rude for someone to openly denounce that kind of partnership as something foul out of turn.
"Don't," Izuku's soft warning was accompanied by a warm hand resting on Tokoyami's shoulder. "It's not worth it."
Turning, the raven-headed teen saw his friend looking back at him with an earnest smile and clear eyes. Beside the green-haired teen, Asui—Tsu—sat nose-deep in a notebook that looked exactly like the one in his own hands.
"Of course," Tokoyami replied just as softly, re-opening his notebook. "I do indeed possess something much worthier of occupying my time with."
Looking down, the raven-haired teen, and even Dark Shadow after a minute, once again became absorbed in the pages of his notebook. Curiosity had led him into asking Tsuyu what had her so engrossed when they'd first set off for the testing site, and surprise had greeted him when he'd been informed it was a Quirk Analysis authored by their mutual green-haired friend.
It had made immediate sense to him that Izuku would pay that kind of attention to his princess… admitted or not… but then his friend had given him one as well. Opening the innocent looking book had revealed page after page of incredibly accurate and extensive details about his own Quirk! Further examination had shown that there were sections dedicated to everything from gear that could theoretically boost his performance to tactics that would give him an edge in battle.
One particular entry postulated the idea of Dark Shadow forming a sort of armor around his body. That one caught both of their attentions.
In the rear of the bus, Mina and Toru sat together, quietly talking amongst themselves. The pink-skinned girl was just shy of fuming; every time she tried to have a little fun or lighten up the mood a little something came along and sabotaged her. With her last hope for a proper romance to gossip about failing to bear fruit, for the moment, she felt it was high time she pranked someone.
And she knew just the target.
"Min-chan, maybe we should lay low for today," Toru pleaded, dressed in her hero costume like everyone else, that is to say, gloves and a pair of boots. "Besides, there's no ammunition to use. They're all clean."
The pink-haired girl considered her friend's words, finding her other classmates extremely boring today. Why couldn't everyone act more like Kiri used to, and provide her never-ending entertainment?
"Yeah… maybe you're right…" Mina conceded, before noticing Toru's words were a little too accurate. "They really do look clean… too clean…"
Back at the front of the bus, Izuku and Tsuyu were decked in their repaired suits, which looked better than new. But what had caught the pinkette's attention wasn't the sudden increased quality of her classmates' costumes, or the addition of strange looking guns on the verdanette's person… no, what drew her eye was that Tae and Lily appeared exceptionally hygienic. And seeing undead so spiffed was unnatural… wasn't it?
Mina quietly admitted to herself that perhaps Lily had been allowed to use a shower, but that didn't account for the appearance of the less mentally present Tae now, did it?
"I can't believe she finished your weapons in only four days, kero," Tsuyu admitted, expressing her surprise at the artillery before her when she could finally break away from her notebook. Izuku nodded in agreement, pulling out and examining one of his new pieces from its shoulder holster.
Hatsume had been able to complete three models ahead of time; a blocky pistol, a sturdy-looking SMG, and a menacing pump action shotgun. The simplest had been for Izuku, who hadn't wanted to deal with unwieldy weaponry so early in his career. Lily had been given the SMG; her small size perfect for agile movements and rapid-fire attacks. That left Tae with the shotgun, a decision the green-haired teen was still a little unsure of.
"I'm just as surprised!" Izuku agreed, happy to finally see some of his imagined gadgets come to life. These would be the tools that would become fundamental in his future as a pro. "They're just prototypes though. I need to do some testing firs—"
"Hey Midoriya!" Mina's shout overrode whatever the green-haired teen was going to say. The pinkette's overly giddy expression didn't sit well with the resident necromancer… or frog-girl.
In perfect sync, Izuku and Tsuyu turned to look at Mina, earning both an even more pronounced grin.
"You know… I've been noticing that Tae-chan's always looking clean and healthy…" the pinkette began, attempting to draw her target in. The confused stares from the green duo let her know she'd made an easy catch. "Is it difficult for you to wash her during bath time?"
Izuku sputtered, nearly dropping his new pistol. Holstering the gun, the green-haired boy felt almost every pair of eyes on the bus land on him. Even Tsuyu's… especially Tsuyu's…
"I… I do the best I can," Izuku fumbled, trying to avoid explicit details, "My mother helps the most though, to make sure she feels clean."
The green-haired teen was sure that most of his classmates didn't buy his hasty explanation, but at the very least it appeared nobody seemed to want to press the issue.
"So… you've seen her—them—naked…" Mineta was that nobody apparently, quickly jumping to the worst conclusions. "You've been with both of them… naked… in the bathroom!"
At this point, Mina and Toru had accomplished their mission, and were covertly covering their mouths and stomachs in a vain attempt to contain their uncontrollable giggling. Others weren't so delighted, and had turned green at the implications.
"Oi! Stop that you perv!" Jiro almost shouted. The punk rock girl could admit to herself that she'd been curious about the topic at one point, but digging into it in public was in extremely bad taste.
Mineta, unable to contain himself any longer, jumped up onto his seat, still not even standing eye level with the green-haired teen.
"This is so unfair Midoriya!" the pervy midget shouted, flailing his arms for added effect. "We can't even land a kiss on a girl, and yet you can just grab these two by the pu—"
BANG!
Quick as lightning, Izuku drew his pistol, took aim, and fired, shooting the midget right in the chin. The piece of tech worked exactly as intended, releasing a realistic sound effect for maximized intimidation factor but including almost no recoil.
The bus was deafening in its silence. The members of 1-A that had been observing the spectacle were beyond speechless; their vice-president had just shot a classmate! Heroes-in-training they might've been, but none had any idea of how to react to the situation. On one hand it was a no-brainer that shooting someone probably wasn't the right answer, on the other hand… Mineta…
"HMMFFF!"
Mineta had recoiled from the impact of the shot, which had struck with almost the equivalent force of a strong sucker punch, but it was the quickly expanding foam that had caused him to attempt to cry for help. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you felt about the midget, the bubbling concoction quickly covered his mouth before solidifying a moment later. If the diminutive pervert wanted to speak again he'd need outside assistance… or make peace with ripping off his lips.
"Gaaaha…" Tae groaned, snapping the busload of students from their shock.
"You're right, Hatsume really did make them exactly as requested," Izuku replied, clicking the safety switch on his pistol, keen to prevent a misfire of his weapon. In a move that obviously still needed work, the green-haired teen flicked the gun into a spin around his index finger before holstering it. "Maybe I should let her make all our gear? It'd be a great partnership."
Tsuyu's resultant croaking closely resembled a rebuke, and coupled with her poking of Izuku's cheek in clear disapproval sent many of their classmates into fits of humor.
Meanwhile, at the front of the bus, Aizawa chose to ignore the shenanigans of his students for the moment, unable to shake the suspicion that something wasn't right.
'It doesn't bode well that we still have no idea who did it,' Aizawa thought, mulling over the morning's incident once again. 'Or, more importantly, what purpose it served.'
Earlier in the day, before he'd even had a chance to roll out of bed, the gruff pro hero had been informed by a call from UA secretaries that the school's perimeter had been breached at some point during the night. The feat itself was less impressive than the fact that the gaping hole left in the defensive wall had been made without any indicative noise. If it hadn't been for the original alarms sounding from the barriers first being initiated, the break in might never have been discovered until an arriving student had noticed it.
As it was, after a hasty search of the grounds and the school from top to bottom, nothing had been turned up. That alone put the entire staff even more on their guard. In more than one heroes' opinion, finding no clues at all was more suspicious and worrisome than if they'd uncovered traces of someone.
'We should've postponed this…' Aizawa reflected, 'I don't like this…'
Unfortunately, it wasn't like he could turn the bus around now.
Ten minutes later, Entrance of the USJ…
Entering through the reinforced doors of the massive domed facility, Aizawa and his nineteen students, plus two zombies, were greeted by a truly breathtaking sight. From the massive walkway they stood on that dropped away via stairs, a multitude of catastrophes could be seen.
In the distance an artificial lake glistened, a six-tiered spiral flume releasing water near a small yacht that appeared shipwrecked. Across from the lake rose a miniature mountain range; deep crevices clear to see even from this distance. Next door to the mountains rested a huge crumbling mound of earth where half-submerged structures bespoke of a devastating landslide. Opposing glass domes, one decorated in flames while the other in storm clouds, squatted to the group's right and next to the lake. Lastly, a small-scale city taken right out of a post-apocalyptic movie stood to their left.
Connecting all of these zones was a beautiful plaza with a fountain that was a perfect place to use as a hub and rest area. All told it was a perfect place for training any Quirk imaginable.
"Everyone! I've been waiting for you!" Greeted a seemingly living space suit. "Welcome!"
Before the students of 1-A could think quickly enough to recognize the famous hero, a certain nerd blurted out the knowledge.
"It's the Space Hero Thirteen!" Izuku gushed, introducing the beloved figure. "As a rescue hero, they've saved tons of people from all kinds of disasters!"
The green-haired teen's sharing of information was well received by both his fellow students and the advising hero, who always appreciated being recognized. Aizawa, standing to the side, glanced around in thought. Something wasn't right… again…
"Thirteen, where's All Might?" the gruff teacher asked, moving closer to his co-worker. If something had happened, he didn't want to worry his students when finding out. "He was supposed to meet us here."
To class 1-A, what followed their homeroom teacher's enquiry was a hushed conversation in a secret language spoken alongside a game of charades, Thirteen mysteriously holding up three fingers while whispering. Wondering if he should be worried, the resident necromancer looked around with a frown.
The green-haired teen was unable to discern what the two pro heroes were discussing, but if Aizawa-sensei's body language was anything to go by then it wouldn't hurt to be on high alert. Beside him, Tae slipped into a tenser stance, not helping Izuku's nerves one bit. Lily, in contrast, merely grabbed onto his pants leg nervously.
"I see… he was just delayed," Aizawa's grousing suddenly garnered the attention of his students. "Well, it can't be helped. Let's get started."
A quick bow from the space-themed hero and class 1-A was handed over to their rescue instructor.
"Now then, Thirteen began, "Who can tell me the best way to tell a combat Quirk from a support Quirk?"
After tricking the class with that opening question, since they revealed it was how a Quirk was used that decided its classification from a professional hero-ing standpoint, the rescue hero launched into their speech. Attentive so as to not be thrown off again, the students ended up being exceedingly receptive to the lecture.
They learned, if they hadn't already considered the fact, that Quirks could be either tremendously beneficial or extremely detrimental to society based on users' concern for the safety of those around them. Izuku personally loved the part where Thirteen reiterated that Quirks that were considered dangerous or dark shouldn't be judged villainous out of turn unless they were used with the intention to kill.
With a flourish, the rescue hero ended their discourse and bowed, earning cheers from 1-A. As a whole the group felt further energized to learn rescue procedures.
And then the electricity flickered… and died.
Aizawa was the first to feel it, an overwhelming presence oozing malice, coming from the center of the plaza down below. He was too slow to stop Izuku, however, who walked over to the stairs to look out toward the fountain. The pro hero had no way of knowing his problem child had his own sensitivity to such anomaly.
Unaware of his teacher's alarm, the green-haired teen's blood was making his veins tingle all over, and not in a good way. Tae's low growl and Lily's soft whimpers only amplified his growing fears.
"Sensei. Tell me this is a drill…" Izuku whispered, pinched voice denoting the anxiety he was feeling at the moment. Now standing beside him, Aizawa shook his head.
"I can't…" the gruff teacher denied. The man's mind raced faster and faster, vainly attempting to conceive of the best way to keep his students safe from a threat he couldn't even see yet. "Everyone! Gather together and don't move!"
As Aizawa bellowed his orders, a massive hole in reality twisted into existence down in the plaza. In a split second, the shadowy tear ripped open, exploding outward to cover the entire fountain area in a massive dark cloud of mist. From the writhing darkness, figures began to emerge, too many to count. From their distance facial expressions were hard to denote, but the common demeanor they carried made it clear they weren't friendly at all.
Izuku, analytical mind whirring into gear, noticed immediately that a large portion of the mist-walking invaders were mutants, or at least held dominant mutant genes that colored their physical traits. Even with such little information to go on, the green-haired teen felt his stomach drop at the sight. It was a sad reality, but the Quirk Hierarchy the world lived by didn't take kindly to those who appeared less than human, growing more discriminatory the more bizarre the appearance.
He might've sounded like a hypocrite, but in that moment, Izuku knew beyond a doubt these were villains.
"Whoa! This is just like the entrance exam!" Kirishima exclaimed, stepping closer to the edge of the stairway. "Did our scenarios begin already?"
"Stay back!" Izuku barked, throwing an arm out to bock the crimson-haired teen. "We need to obey Aizawa-sensei!"
Below the two pro heroes and heroes-in-training, the expanding dark mist paused before receding into a humanoid shape… if humans had black fire with yellow eyes for heads. The mist-man looked up, gazing intently at the observers above. Unsure if it would work, Izuku put his entire focus into his hearing.
"…teen and Eraserhead…" the green-haired teen managed to hear, "…schedule said… Might would… today…"
The words were disconcerting, but Aizawa's response was even worse.
"Damn, so these are the bastards behind the infiltration…"
'Infiltration? Where? UA?' Izuku's mind shuddered to think what they were going to do if these were villains powerful enough to break into one of Japan's premiere hero academies and get away with it.
Aizawa clenched his fists and grit his teeth in frustration. This was a disaster. There were enough scumbags down there to give him problems even if he had Thirteen's help, and as it was he couldn't allow the rescue hero to leave his students unattended. That meant he'd be doing this solo. Instantly accepting the reality of the situation, the normally gruff pro hero pulled up his goggles, covering his eyes completely.
So be it.
Izuku didn't know what to do, but he knew there was no way he or his classmates were ready for this. A life and death situation was so far above a combat drill it wasn't funny… and even from this distance the green-haired teen could feel the bloodlust rolling off so many of the villains.
Some signal, unseen and unheard, must've sounded because as one the mob of invaders advanced, Izuku seeing only three hold back by the fountain. Of the three, even with the dark mist-man present, it was a lanky man with silver hair that projected the most maleficence, even more so than the massive man-beast with its brain exposed. This probably had to do with the fact that the silver-haired man was covered head to toe in dismembered hands.
Izuku hoped those were just props to intimidate them… because it was working.
"Sensei, those three in the back are probably the leaders," the green-haired teen informed, unable to leave such information to chance even though a pro hero such as Eraserhead no doubt already noticed such a thing.
"I know," Aizawa said curtly, bending his knees slightly in preparation of launching himself forward.
Izuku, seeing his teacher preparing to preemptively strike their enemies, couldn't hold back what was haunting his thoughts.
"Sensei… they're organized…" the green-haired teen whispered, pressing through his bone-shaking terror. "That means they probably have a plan…"
Of course the villains had a plan. Going so far as to infiltrate such a prestigious school as UA, and then to dare attack students on top of that? Normal villains wouldn't be brave enough to even consider such a thing unless there was a solid strategy planned.
"I know," Aizawa repeated, this time turning halfway to consider his problem child. "Stay with your classmates. Keep them together."
Without giving any further orders, Aizawa hurled himself forward, bounding down the stairs in an effort to prevent the mob of villains from getting any closer to his students. Without waiting for any further orders, Izuku headed back to his classmates, walking into a group of students who were beginning to panic as the weight of their current crisis settled on their shoulders.
"Sensei, shouldn't the facility's alarms be sounding?" Momo asked Thirteen as Izuku melded into the ranks of 1-A. "What's happened to the sensors?"
The space-themed hero was concentrating on a device on their wrist, pressing buttons over and over again with no response.
"They should be responding…" Thirteen said, seemingly confused as to why their tech wasn't working properly.
Todoroki stepped forward, face as emotionless as it'd ever been. The dual-haired teen was by this time recognized by many in 1-A as their strongest member; those same students felt the heterochromatic's Quirk was a nice reassurance to have around.
"The more important question…" Todoroki paused, making sure everyone was paying attention, "Is did they only appear here… or all around campus?"
The idea that this was a widespread incursion boggled the minds of many. No one had been gutsy enough to launch a full-scale war against UA since the early days of the hero profession, when the academy had first been established.
"Unfortunately, all we know right now is that they've attacked here, a place isolated from the main campus," Todoroki continued, glaring disdainfully at the mob of villains. "And what's worse, they chose a time when a class was meant to be present. This was planned, it must be."
Izuku, seeing the hush that followed the grim assertion as his only window to speak, stepped up next to the heterochromatic.
"We need to evacuate. Now," the green-haired teen declared. "With Thirteen in the lead, we should be able to make it."
If he'd had the time, Izuku would've appreciated the expressions many of his classmates were giving him. In these moments of stress and danger, almost all eyes looked to him with hints of the faith that comes from understanding someone's stepped up to take charge; someone's working to get through the adversity. But he didn't have the time, because he'd stepped up, and was working.
"If the villains are inhibiting the sensors, communications might be jammed as well," Izuku continued, turning to the classmate who could check this for him. "Kaminari, see if your headset can reach outside. If it can, call for help."
Utterly flabbergasted, the electric blond stared at the green-haired teen even as he raised a hand to the device on his ear.
"How did you…" Kaminari stopped himself, recognizing they were all in too dire a situation to waste time asking questions right now. In seconds, the teen had checked every channel his gadget could scan. He shook his head in disbelief. "It's all jammed."
"But… Aizawa-sensei…" Momo trailed off, quick to begin worrying about their homeroom teacher. As if calling his name was a magnet, 1-A turned as a whole to watch the combat that had just started down below.
Breaking from their pack, three villains had rushed forward to form an interception against the gruff teacher. Each of the thugs were mutated in some way that allowed different body parts to act as long-distance weapons, most likely why they'd gone ahead. The trio took aim… then looked at each other confused as their Quirks failed them and nothing happened. In the blink of an eye, Aizawa was on them, immediately wrapping the largest one with his special scarf. Twisting, the pro hero swung his captive into his compatriots, knocking all three of their head together and rendering them unconscious.
Witnessing their homeroom teacher able to hold his own, the students of 1-A felt less opposed toward the idea of evacuating. Making the most of the time they had, the teens turned and made their way toward the entrance of the massive facility. With each step, Izuku grew more despondent; the hero nerd in him knew that for all his strengths, Eraserhead was not a hero meant to combat villains en masse for long…
'Seven minutes to reach the bus, three to get it moving, say five to clear the premises…' Izuku's mind continued to work in overdrive even as he and his class escaped. 'And that's assuming whatever's jamming us can't reach farther than the USJ…'
The green-haired teen quickly came to the conclusion that no matter what they did, Aizawa wouldn't have enough time. Even in a best-case scenario, the pro hero would be overcome by sheer numbers before help could arrive… meaning that for him to survive the gruff teacher needed assistance now. Putting all of his brainpower into formulating a plan that allowed for entirely green students to actually help a pro, Izuku was unprepared when…
Their situation went from bad to worse.
"I'm afraid I can't allow you all to just leave," came a voice that Izuku recognized as the mist-man's from down by the fountain.
Reality warped once more and where before there'd been a clear path to the exit now writhed a dark violet portal of fog. The green-haired teen watched as the mist-man stepped from the blackness he'd created, his mind instantly cataloguing the villain's Quirk as a teleportation type. That explained how the invaders had gotten inside the USJ so easily.
"A pleasure to meet all of you," the mist-man said, grandly bowing to the group, "May we introduce ourselves? You see, we are known as the League of Villains."
The villain's smugness bled through any faux gentlemanliness he'd been attempting to convey. The space hero and the students were trapped; with the mob behind them and a warp-user in front, they'd been left without any options for an escape route.
"I know it may seem a bit presumptuous of us, but we've invited ourselves here, to this place, this garden of heroes, this renowned academy known as UA for one purpose…" the mist-man continued, acting as if he were a ringleader presenting a stage show with how he waved his arms about.
Izuku took notice of two things as the villain spoke. The first was that he loved to monologue and was something of a showboat. The second and more important detail was that for barely a second he thought he'd seen some sort of neck brace hidden in the shadowy mist… almost like some sort of heavy-duty respirator.
"We've come to find the Number One Hero," the mist-man revealed. "We've come to ensure All Might takes his last breath this day."
Not a single student was able to withhold a gasp at that declaration.
Izuku knew such a plan was normally ludicrous to even consider, All Might never lost, but just the same he knew that this only put him and his classmates in even greater danger. Villains, especially organized groups like this one, never played fair, and the green-haired teen could already imagine dozens of scenarios that might have a feasible chance at success against the Symbol of Peace. These nightmares included the villains recruiting someone with a hypersensitive Quirk capable of countering the Number One Hero's indomitable strength to the students being held hostage in order to force All Might into a protracted fight surrounded by lethally toxic fumes.
"Now… I believe All Might was to be present for these exercises," the villain's tone was thick with the conceit of a victorious foe, "Was there perhaps a change in the day's schedule?"
The mist-man began to expand before any answer could be given, losing his humanoid shape to become a malevolent wall of darkness. Then, the wall began to move toward them.
"It honestly doesn't matter I suppose…" the villain added, not noticing Thirteen slowly repositioning themselves. "My job here is the same. Nothing's changed."
Izuku knew he needed to help; leaving things to chance was the worst option. Calmly, the green-haired teen moved Lily behind him while discretely signaling Tae to inch sideways so she'd be able to react better. The plan would be haphazard, but simple.
If things went as he theorized, Thirteen was about to attempt to use his Quirk, Black Hole, on the villain. The villain would of course try to evade, but if he could get himself in just the right placement, he'd be able to use his new pistol to aim for that single piece of gear he'd seen in the mist.
Izuku had no guarantee if his expanding foam bullets would work on someone whose natural state of being was so ethereal, but the flash and bang of his attack might distract the villain long enough for Thirteen to finish the job. If that failed, however, Tae would still be able to take a pot shot with her shotgun, the force of the firearm alone likely to ensure the success of the maneuver.
The green-haired teen palmed his weapon, slowly popping off the small leather strap that kept it from falling out by accident, just as the space-themed hero pointed their index finger at the villain. Izuku calmed his heart as much as he could; he needed to boost his meager ability as much as possible.
There it was! Thirteen stepped forward, popping open a finger valve on their glove. Izuku inched sideways, slowly drawing his pistol. He took aim—
"Don't underestimate us you scum!"
"Like hell we're going to just stand here! We're heroes too!"
And his plan went to shit as Ojiro, closely followed by Kirishima, leapt into the air toward the villain. The two shouted war cries as they engaged the mist-man in CQC… or tried to anyway. Both teens passed through the villain without so much as tickling him, only succeeding in getting in the way of the pro hero trying to save their lives.
Izuku cursed, the villain was going to be more prepared for any attacks now… the fight had just become even more difficult. Tae's low groan and dark glare directed at the tailed martial artist mirrored the roiling emotions running through the green-haired teen.
"Of course…" the mist-man said with distain, "Even as only students, you're all still fine golden eggs."
The villain's acidic yellow eyes moved through the black mist until they could glare at the two interloping students. Ojiro and Kirishima froze, the bloodlust directed at them too much to handle as inexperienced as they were.
"You two! Get out of the way!" Thirteen screamed, their voice modulator straining due to the pro hero's distress.
It was too little, too late.
"Disperse and despair!" The villain commanded, his dark mist appearing to draw inward. "While you suffer a most torturous death!"
The mist-man… exploded.
It was akin to a pressure valve bursting really. Rolling waves of darkness enveloped the entire class in a rushing wave, blinding them all for a few precious moments. Izuku could still hear though; he heard Tsuyu's croak of fear so clearly it hurt. Instinctively he reached for her, only to be tackled to the side.
Shaking a near concussion from his head, the green-haired teen opened his eyes, realizing it was Iida who had pulled him, and Uraraka it appeared, out of the villain's range. Frantically looking back, Izuku felt his heart stop. His most important people were still inside a now swirling dome of impenetrable shadowy mist.
"TSU-CHAN! LILY-CHAN! TAE-CHAN!" Izuku screamed in horror, scrambling to reach the dome. He had to save them. He couldn't let them die!
A strong hand snatched one of the green-haired teen's flailing arms out of the air, reeling him back with a sharp jerk.
"Midoriya! Calm down!" It was Iida, again. The bespectacled teen shook Izuku, trying to reach the vice-president through his anguish. "Now's not the time to lose focus over your zombies!"
Before Iida could suggest the thrashing green-haired teen use his control over the zombie girls to keep their classmates safe within the dark prison that held them, which may or may not have worked given the circumstances, the dome… dispersed. All that was left was Thirteen and a near feral Tae, growling.
"GGRRRRR…" The zombie snarled in the direction of the villain, who was slowly reforming. For one who never spoke, it was clear to see the attempt at separating her from Izuku had upset the undead girl.
Thirteen hesitantly patted themselves down, checking to see if everything was still attached; they'd only managed to evade the mass warping thanks to the zombie's quick action. As the wave of dark mist had approached, she'd grabbed their arm then used her free hand as an anchor… by punching through the ground. The pro hero made a mental note to demand additional safeguards regarding the undead Midoriya used; based on the strength he'd just seen, their bite would be more than deadly.
"Tsu-chan…" Izuku whispered in a broken voice. His thousand-yard stare locked on the space the frog-girl had occupied not a second ago. "Lily-chan…"
The green-haired teen was drowning in guilt and self-hatred; he'd failed. Again. He'd failed to uphold his promise to the cute little girl who'd suffered so much. He'd failed to protect the girl that had been meaning more and more to him every day. His mind was overclocking, twisting the fate of the two girls into mental horrors of unknown battlefields… or just straight up death. The villain's Quirk was largely unknown; its capabilities could've been endless for all he knew.
"Midoriya!" Iida called again, anxiously looking from his vice president to the zombie he controlled. Each passing second the undead girl appeared to be slipping into a more berserker-like state. "Please, get ahold of yourself!"
"Izuku-kun!" Ochaco cried, trying and failing to break the teen from his trance.
Tae was now hunched over, fists clenching and unclenching. Iida and Ochaco weren't sure which to be more wary of at that moment, the zombie or the villain.
"GHA!"
Izuku's head snapped up so hard at the ferocious grunt from the undead girl his blood was forced to heal minute hairline fractures along his atlanto-axis joint.
"Still… alive…?" The words, he didn't know how he knew, but the green-haired teen's gut sang that they were true. There was hope!
Izuku needed a plan… he needed to act. Lily and Tsuyu might've still been living now, but there was no way to tell for how long that would hold true. There was just one, major problem. His body wouldn't move; fear and hopelessness had left him paralyzed.
'I'm powerless by myself, what can I do?' Izuku thought, watching wide-eyed as the villain finished reforming. He'd been right, it turned out, the mist-man was wearing an apparatus around his neck. It was literally the only piece of him that was… solid…
Neurons fired, thoughts raced even faster, and Izuku felt, deep inside of himself, something shift.
'He wants to kill them, my dear ones…' His fear caught fire and burned to ash, and in its place rose an insatiable… anger.
HATE
'He needs to be neutralized…' Izuku could feel his thoughts being molded by this newborn wrath.
KILL
'My body needs to MOVE!' Izuku's will drank from the fount of his rage, beginning to subconsciously tap into his blood. It felt as if it was boiling.
OBEY
And then he could stand.
Outwardly, the green-haired teen appeared calm and collected, which slightly eased the worry his two classmates had been feeling. But they were behind him. For Thirteen and the villain, who were positioned to see his front, they saw a silhouetted form, the lenses of a pair of sunglasses giving the figure two round, glowing red eyes.
Both adults assumed that it was a trick of the lighting, affected by the power-outage caused by the invaders. They were wrong.
Behind his sunglasses, Izuku's eyes burned red.
"Iida, you're the fastest," the green-haired teen's words, while true, felt… wrong. "I need you to get out, get to campus, and get help."
Iida blinked, unprepared for such a cowardly plan, or for him to be the one to have to carry it out.
"Midoriya," the bespectacled teen protested, "Even if I wanted to—"
"We're going to give you an opening," Izuku cut him off, "And you're going to get out, get to campus, and get help."
It wasn't conversation. It wasn't a request. It was an order. And it would be followed.
"Listen to your vice-president," Thirteen weighed in, agreeing with the plan, "He knows your Quirk is the only hope to save your classmates."
Actually, Izuku just wanted to be rid of the one who could, would, and already had physically stopped him already. He was going to neutralize the villain, and nobody was getting in his way. But he wasn't going to voice that of course.
"Tae!" Izuku didn't bother lowering his voice, the mist-man had already been observing him. The zombie-girl tensed, completely prepared for any order. "Run to the gate and open it for Iida!"
There was no hesitation or delay in carrying out the command, much to the surprise of the villain. The girl darted toward the entrance immediately, no sign of concern toward facing his Quirk or for her own safety.
"I won't let you!" The mist-man shouted while throwing his arms out, the limbs extending into shadowy-claws… only to feel a sudden, undeniable pull ripping him away.
"You have no choice!" Thirteen yelled as they used Black Hole to absorb the villain's mist and pull him away. Seeing his chance, Iida shot off after the zombie.
Tae reached the gates mere seconds later, Iida catching up to her just as she plunged her crowbar between the metal barriers. In a short amount of time that would've otherwise been concerning, the undead girl had pried the two halves of the gate open, her strength more than a match for the hydraulics system. Holding the metal slabs apart, the tall boy dashed through.
Her task complete, Tae pulled her crowbar back, allowing the gate to slam shut. No villains could be allowed an opportunity to chase Iida down.
"No!" The mist-man howled in obvious distress as he watched the tall boy escape. "Damn you!"
The villain turned to glare at the pro hero, his acidic eyes now truly cold.
"So you believe your powerful Quirk can save you do you? Well…" Distracting Thirteen with his words, the mist-man subtly opened a portal behind the pro hero.
Which was exactly what Izuku had been waiting for.
His analytical mind had run this exact scenario earlier, which was why he'd already been in motion heading toward Thirteen the moment Iida took off running. Launching himself airborne, the green-haired teen dropkicked the space-themed hero out of the way the instant before the ambush portal could finish turning them into a victim of their own Quirk.
Thirteen's HUD flashed and blinked in alarm, their suit's sensors disintegrated. A sharp pain shot along their back before a much more blunt form of aggression threw them out of the way. Straining against throbbing aches and shooting agony, the pro hero managed to shift enough after crashing to the ground to see it had been their green-haired student who's assaulted them.
Then they noticed the portal that had formed behind where they'd been standing, and realization sparked that they'd just been saved from causing their own demise. How shameful!
Izuku couldn't complete his risky maneuver without a price however. Black Hole's gravitational pull, directed through the portal, caught his right foot halfway through his follow through. Before either Quirk was disengaged, the force of nature devoured his shoe… and then his whole foot.
Still in motion, and doing his best to ignore the mind-numbing pain, the green-haired teen willed with all his might for his body to take aim and fire at the villain's neck brace. Thankfully, his body obeyed. Two consecutive shots rang out, successfully slamming into the respirator.
BANG! BANG!
The mist-man yelped, rearing back as the unexpected feel of actual pain caused him to flinch.
Izuku slammed to the ground hard, back first. Pushing the agony of his injuries aside one more time, he took a few precious seconds to re-aim before firing twice more.
BANG! BANG!
In a move more instinctual than skill, the villain used his mist to warp the bullets away before contact. But it was already too late.
"Wha… What in the hell is this?!" The once suave voice rose as alarm turned to horror, the two landed shots beginning to work their magic. The bullets expanded, their foam swallowing more and more of the respirator. Terrified, the mist-man moved to portal away—
When Tae came crashing into him with her crowbar, swinging at the neck brace like she was trying out for the major leagues. The bar of wrought metal smashed into the device with all the power undead muscles could muster, nearly shattering the apparatus. Collapsing to the ground, the mist-man choked on cries of pain and panic.
Victory won, Izuku forced himself upright, hobbling to stand over his fallen foe. But he didn't think to celebrate.
This was far from over. He still had to find his dear friends and make sure they got out of this alive. Then, he was going to put an end to these villains.
Oh no…
This… this was just the beginning.
Magnus: Thank you all for your support. I never dreamed this story would be so successful, and it's thanks to all of you for reading it. As for giving a schedule, I try to keep the chapters coming weekly, but my beta reader has a life to attend to. So… can't promise a time frame but, please, be patient.