A/N: I'm just gonna warn you guys ahead of time, this is by far the most violent chapter in Viridescent thus far. It's not overly gory, but it is extremely violent. Be prepared!


Chapter Fifty-Three: Eternal Enemies

Momo hadn't stopped running from the moment she left that rooftop after tagging Eri with the tracker dart. She was racing to the entrance, where Katsuki had been stopped by several of the teachers (thankfully) before he could pursue the intruder.

She could already hear him screaming in a rage and pushed herself to run faster. When she reached the scene, Katsuki was roaring at Nezu, Snipe, and Power Loader while Hanta stood uncomfortably to the side.

Plenty aware of the fury and accusations he'd be throwing at the heroes, she sucked in a deep breath and yelled over him. "I got a tracker on Eri!"

All attention flew to her. Katsuki was still scowling venomously, but he shut up when she spoke.

Snipe hurried over to her and she passed him the tracking device, explaining what had happened as best she could. "When the intruder took Eri out of the dorms, Hanta got me to the roof and I managed to get a tracking dart into Eri's leg. You can find her with this!"

Snipe threw a look at the Principal, who nodded quickly. "Midnight and the others should have just returned. Get them and pursue the villain. Power Loader, you will remain here with Vlad and the rest of our staff to lock the school down. Triple-check our security cameras and first-response devices. I want to know how this villain got in here and why the system didn't trigger. Miss Yaoyorozu, you, Mr. Bakugo, and Mr. Sero are coming with me to explain exactly what happened."

"Let me go with them!" Katsuki demanded, his hands popping aggressively as he watched Snipe hurry off. "I let that bitch get away with Eri! Let me go after—"

"You have already helped to ensure that Eri will be recovered," Nezu replied calmly. "And you are an important witness who saw an unidentified intruder break through our advanced security measures. I need you here to help us fill whatever void she exploited."

The teenager exploded. "THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"

"This is not the time for rash decisions," Nezu countered calmly. He looked up at Katsuki from his place low on the ground, yet in that moment the authority he gave off towered above the students. "You are distressed, angry, and not thinking clearly. To pursue an enemy we know nothing about in your current condition is reckless at best and fatal at worst. Miss Yaoyorozu has provided us with a tracking device to locate Eri, and we'll send in a full team of heroes to recover her. The most good you can do is stay with me and help to ensure this can never happen again. If you are unable or unwilling to comply, I can send you back to the dorms with one of our staff for the rest of the day to ensure you don't try anything brash. The choice is yours."

Katsuki looked ready to incinerate the rodent, but Nezu met his gaze unflinchingly until the teenager broke off eye contact and ground out his answer through grit teeth. "Fine."

"Good," Nezu nodded, then glanced at Power Loader. "Lock the campus down. I want all of our patrol bots on alert. If they catch even a whiff of something that doesn't belong here, I want it brought in or forcibly subjugated."

"Yes, sir," Power Loader agreed as he turned and hurried off for his laboratory.

Nezu turned back to the three students. "My office, now. There's no time to waste."

/

Hisashi snarled as he managed to yank another chunk of thick lava off of his would-be victim and threw it to the ground beside them. "Come out of there!"

It was such a pain to deal with. He was heat-proof enough that the lava didn't hurt him, but his clothes were starting to burn and since he couldn't transmute the liquid rock, he had to pull it off of the villain the old-fashioned way. With no way of knowing exactly where Izuku, Eri, or the rest of his allies were, it was too risky to just blast the irritating barrier away with a Pyroclasm, or melt it into a thinner liquid with a superheated Sun Forge.

That particular conundrum gave Hellscaper enough time to rally and shore up his defenses with yet more lava. With Hisashi currently trying to dig him out of his hiding place by hand, the other villain seized the opportunity to pump out enough of the lava such that his attacker was actually pushed back by the growing mass of liquified rock.

"Son of a—" Hisashi started in annoyance, only to swear a second later when another series of comets was launched from the molten bastion. He cursed and leapt up into the air after them, flinging droplets of lava off of his body in the process. Though he managed to catch a few of the comets and throw them back into the compound, where they wouldn't do nearly as much harm, a couple more managed to evade him and impacted the buildings surrounding the Yakuza stronghold. More fires started, much to his aggravation.

Aizawa jumped back as one of the comets landed on the street in front of him, causing him to flash an annoyed look at the source. He looked up at Hisashi, who was landing on the compound wall in preparation to pursue the next barrage of missiles. "Hey!"

Hisashi glanced over his shoulder for a split second before turning back to Hellscaper. "What?"

"Is it possible for you to transmute the lava? Or at least the fires they start?"

Hellscaper launched a new barrage, forcing Hisashi to leap after them to minimize damage to their surroundings. Whilst in the air, he snapped back at Aizawa. "I don't know if you've heard, but fire and molten rock are two different things!"

Aizawa scowled at his sarcasm, but conceded the point. He'd hoped that maybe Hisashi would be able to totally negate the lava, but it seemed even the Chimera had his limits. At least he was capable of actually neutralizing most of the threat, which was so much more than any of the heroes present could do.

He turned his attention back to next building he was set to search, to ensure no civilians were hiding inside. On his way, he spotted Ryukyu's team through a window as they worked their way up the complex they were evacuating. Of all the surrounding buildings, theirs had taken the most damage from the lava bombs, and was starting to burn pretty badly. He really hoped they got through it fast.

It was a godsend that most of the civilians were out and about at work, but this was still a nightmare. He really hoped the fire department would arrive soon, as well as any heroes capable of fighting fires.

Most of all, he hoped beyond hope that Nighteye's team would subjugate Overhaul ASAP. The longer this fight went on, the more serious the situation would become. This was already so much worse than any of them had expected.

"Don't die on me, kids," he muttered under his breath.


Izuku spotted the small group of Yakuza before any of the others even turned the corner he'd just rounded, and lunged at them. They were carrying a stretcher between two of them, atop which was a man dressed in hospital robes hooked up to a portable IV and respiratory machine. The equipment was being hauled by a few more members, who shouted when they realized Izuku had caught up to them.

"Protect the old man!" One of their escort shouted, forming a barrier with four of his allies while those immediately carrying the unconscious individual hurried on.

"Where's Chisaki!?" Izuku roared, his flames blazing in response to his rage.

"Like we'd tell you!" The gangster yelled back, holding both hands up towards Izuku. They glowed, like he was about to unleash an attack, but Izuku wasn't having any of it.

He thrust both hands forward, sending Black Whip's infernal tendrils out to coil around the Yakuza defenders like a swarm of furious black mambas. Using their weight against them, he leapt up and reeled all of them towards each other, spinning in midair to build up momentum before crushing the whole lot of the gangsters with a single, devastating kick.

"20% Iron Spider Smash!"

The sweeping blow caught one Yakuza in his left side, shattering ribs as he was driven into his allies, subsequently pulverizing the whole group of five into the opposite wall from the sheer force of the attack. All of them collapsed in a heap, two of them utterly unconscious and the remaining three too concussed and burned to move.

All that within eight seconds of Izuku catching up to them.

Only now did the rest of the hero/villain team catch up to Izuku, rounding the corner just as he pursued the gangsters carrying the individual still immobile on the stretcher. Fatgum's eyes bulged as Izuku shot into the air directly above the fleeing villains. "Hey! That guy isn't—"

He was cut off as Izuku landed in front of the Yakuza, trapping them between him and the group of heroes. The gangsters hesitated and stopped, panicking, as Izuku clenched and unclenched his right fist. "Give up."

One of the Yakuza looked ready to protest, but another one was quick to respond. "Alright."

"Hey!" His ally snapped at him.

"It's not worth risking the old man's safety," his friend reasoned. "You really think we can take them all on and protect him at the same time? Boss already went ahead of us. We ain't got the firepower for this."

His comrades hesitated, but finally relented, carefully setting the stretcher and equipment down before raising their hands up.

Whew, guess the kid's still in control. Thought he was gonna hammer them for a second, there, Fatgum hid a quiet sigh of relief. He then turned to Nighteye. "Sun Eater and I will sit tight here with these guys and help keep this man stable. We'll keep the others from escaping, as well. Red Riot, you keep going with them! We can't afford to lose anymore firepower against Chisaki's group!"

Nighteye nodded and continued on past the gangsters, leading the rest of the group while Izuku turned back around and rushed off deeper into the tunnels. He too, was somewhat relieved Izuku had managed to restrain himself before putting a helpless individual at risk. The warnings of his vision still persisted, but perhaps he was regaining control over himself as time passed.

Doubtful, he reflected after a moment. Izuku was still on the warpath. At the most, he'd cooled his head enough to think rationally.

Himiko darted ahead of them in an attempt to catch up to Izuku, flashing a glance at Nighteye as she passed him. "I'm gonna see if I can help him come up with a plan."

"Be quick—there isn't much time," Nighteye told her. Sure, they'd had their own plan before everything had gone bad, but perhaps strategizing now would give Izuku enough focus to control his raging emotions.

That didn't mean he was going to be less prone to delivering righteous judgement on Chisaki for the crime of kidnapping his adopted little sister, but at least he'd be less likely to get himself killed by impulsive recklessness.

It won't be long now, he thought as he watched Himiko and Izuku mutter to one another just ahead of them.


Tomura, Spinner, and Twice charged at Ras, while Compress hung at the back. His close-combat skills were currently less-than-ideal given that he had yet to receive a replacement arm, and his Quirk didn't suit close-range battle, either.

Tomura and Twice swerved and attempted to flank the other villain, while Spinner rushed him from the front in preparation to meet the thin rapier with one of his own blades. Three against one, the odds were pretty well in favor of the League.

That is, until Ras suddenly stabbed the rapier into the ground and utterly shattered it.

Spinner yelped as he was thrown back by the surge of force, which sent Tomura and Twice sprawling. "What the fuck?!"

Ras simply smiled and darted towards Spinner, his blade raised in preparation to cut him down. He stumbled, however, when Compress pointed at him and separated his left leg below the knee from the rest of his body, trapping that part of his limb in a small, blue marble.

The villain regarded his severed limb not with the horror anyone else would, but rather surprise and some amusement. "Hm? It's really that fast, is it? Impressive!"

His limb started to regrow before their eyes, but the rest of the League had recovered already and seized the opportunity.

Twice got behind him and locked his arms up in a full nelson, giving Spinner the chance to slash open Ras' throat. Tomura was still catching up and reached for the villain's head, but Ras dropped his rapier point-down at the floor, causing another small earthquake that threw the rest of the villains off of him.

"Cut that shit out!" Tomura snapped as he pulled himself back to his feet.

"Dear me, who taught you manners?" Ras queried, though he was smirking as the taunt only enraged Tomura further.

Twice charged again to try and restrain Ras as he picked up his rapier, but the villain spotted him and leapt up with uncanny agility, grabbing the bottom of Twice's mask and yanking it off of him in the air. Twice howled and immediately collapsed, covering his face and babbling in a panic. "No! I'm gonna split! I'm gonna split, I'm gonna splitI'mgonnasplitI'mgonna—!"

"I see the rumors were true," Ras hummed, observing the mask in his hand as he lifted his rapier up in preparation to cut Twice down. "What a pitiful man."

"Asshole!" Spinner scowled, swinging his blade at Ras and slicing open his throat.

Blood bubbled out of the villain's throat and mouth as he turned his head to Spinner, redirecting the swing of that thin blade towards the gecko man. "Rude."

Spinner's katana shattered on impact and the force crushed him into the ground, stunning him. Twice was thrown headfirst to the floor, causing him to scream in pain.

Compress swore and lifted his hand to use his Quirk again, but Ras slashed his rapier through the air towards him and the blast of energy that followed lifted Compress up and hurled him against the wall behind him. "I think not."

He stabbed down at Spinner next, intending to finish him off, when Tomura managed to get back in the fight.

Realizing that he wouldn't be able to finish off Ras fast enough to save his ally, Tomura threw his right hand between Spinner and the blade, shrieking as the thin sword punched clean through the appendage. He shoved it upwards, redirecting the force up and away from Spinner, then lunged in close, forcibly dragging his impaled hand up the blade towards Ras.

Tomura's clenched his jaw tightly as he jammed his hand into the grip of the sword, snatching Ras by the wrist while the enemy villain was frozen in surprise. Even as he began to disintegrate Ras' hand and sword, his left hand rushed up and seized his foe by the face.

The sword decayed and rusted away, turning into metallic sand as its master began to break apart. Ras' lips curved up as his head decayed. "Well, how about tha…"

His mouth turned to dust and Tomura's fist closed on air and decay, snarling as he proceeded to grab the falling villain's body and disintegrate his torso next.

Spinner scrambled to his feet as Ras fell, still decaying. "Shit—Tomura, are you—"

"I'm fine," he growled, teeth still grit together in pain. His right hand was streaming blood from the wound. "It's not a big deal."

The young leader knelt down and carefully picked up Twice's mask, striding over to his panicking comrade and handing it to him. As soon as the mask was in Twice's hands, he pulled it back over his head in a hurry, breathing heavily.

"I'm whole again!" He cried, looking at his leader gratefully. "You saved me!"

"Get up, Twice," Tomura ground out, turning back to the tunnel Ras had been guarding. "Job's not finished. Compress, are you good?"

"I'm in better shape than you," he said, catching up to the rest of the League. "Maybe we should have Kurogiri warp you out—"

"No," he snapped. "I'm not leaving until Chisaki is dead or worse."

Spinner clenched his fists tightly. He was well-aware that he would probably have been killed or at least seriously injured had Tomura not chosen to intervene and save his life. "Tomura…fine, at least let me do this!"

Tomura regarded his ally as Spinner removed his eye mask, taking the strip of cloth and grasping his leader's wrist carefully. He proceeded to wrap the cloth around the wound, causing Tomura to hiss in pain.

"This should hold for a little while," Spinner told him.

"Thanks," Tomura muttered, though his appreciation was sincere. It was hard to sound grateful when there was a hole through his hand. At least the cloth would staunch the bleeding somewhat. The pain was still very real, but he could not afford to be distracted now.

They cast one more glance at Ras, who had yet to start regenerating. Compress cocked his head at the pile of decaying flesh. "Think he's dead?"

"I doubt it, but he's not going anywhere right now," Tomura scoffed. "Come on—we don't have time to watch. Chisaki is still in here somewhere."

He led his team off then, deeper into the tunnels in pursuit of their quarry.


Chisaki and his Eight Precepts made their way into a large waypoint in the tunnels, entering a room that may have been a bunker of some sort at one point. It was large and open, with a high ceiling, although not high enough to reach the world above (a brief moment to stretch for Rikiya, who had been forced to crawl through the tunnels since his bulk made him too large to stand). The next tunnel they needed to enter was on the opposite end of the room—it would bring them one step closer to their escape.

But before they started to cross it, they heard the unmistakeable sound of heavy boots rushing through the tunnels behind them. Chisaki spun around, hoping that perhaps the group escorting the old man had caught up to them, but his hopes were dashed when he spotted a fain, emerald glow steadily approaching through the tunnel.

Swearing under his breath, he ordered Shin to take Eri for a moment while he hurried to the wall of the tunnel and pressed his hand to it. At his command, the concrete shattered, then reformed until a thick mass of it was blocking up the tunnel.

"That should hold them off for a bit," he muttered, turning back to his underlings. "Hurry. We don't have much time."

In fact, they had no time.

The Yakuza had barely made it halfway across the room when the concrete barrier utterly shattered. They all spun around as emerald flames exploded from the tunnel, surging in a frenzied rage as the fragments of the blockade rained down all over the room. Hekiji hastily formed a barrier over the group to protect them from the rain of concrete, ensuring no one was struck.

Chisaki's eyes squinted as he glared at the shape forming in the center of the flames, dust, and debris.

Concrete crunched under the force of Izuku's iron soles as he stepped out of the conflagration, glaring balefully at Chisaki. Every member of the Eight Precepts felt the utter loathing he emanated as a physical force, causing several of them to briefly flinch away. Chisaki's rage was equal to Izuku's, however, and his own fury was projected right back at the teenager.

Their eyes met and the hatred between them multiplied. This encounter was not going to end peacefully—the very atmosphere had a deep sense of finality to it. This war would see much blood spilt between the two eternal enemies, and it would not cease until one had ruined the other.

Tears filled Eri's eyes and her lips parted to cry out to him for help, but Shin covered her mouth with one hand, only to flinch when Izuku snarled at the motion. The Eight Precepts tensed, preparing themselves to do battle with the young hero that had managed to damage their organization so extensively.

Black Whip's tendrils on Izuku's right arm slowly wrapped around the limb, creating a claw-like gauntlet of darkness and fire as he leaned forward, ready to launch himself at the Yakuza—

Chisaki screamed.

The Eight Precepts all whirled towards their leader, staring in shock at the massive syringe that had pierced his back and jammed itself somewhere below his heart. It started draining a huge amount of blood immediately as Himiko's foot snapped Shin's head back with a stunning amount of force, causing him to release Eri.

The Yakuza all lunged for her as she hit the ground, snatched the child, and vanished.

Chisaki staggered, almost slumping to the ground from the sudden and immense loss of blood, but his ordeal was only just beginning.

The sound of a shock wave going off was the only warning the Eight Precepts had to turn back to Izuku, who was already in their midst after propelling himself towards them with a 100% burst that shattered one of his toes. He was blind to the pain, already swinging the infernal, claw-like black gauntlet that was his right arm at his target.

None of them recovered fast enough from their attempt to stop Himiko to protect their leader.

Chisaki had only a split-second to realize Izuku was in front of him before a crushing, open-handed blow was delivered to the left side of his skull. The impact alone from the attack was enough to shatter his jaw, but the Pyroclasm that immediately followed the strike ruptured his lower mandible and almost separated it from his skull altogether.

"20% Black Panther Smaaaash!" Izuku roared, blowing Chisaki away in a blast of fire and blood. The shockwave was enough to knock back all of the Eight Precepts with the exception of Rikiya, who caught his boss mid-flight and used his weight to hold his ground and skid back.

The force of the attack rippled up and down Izuku's arm, the sensation of rending flesh and bone satisfying, yet not enough all at once. He touched the ground with one foot and launched himself backwards, towards the tunnel where Himiko had just reappeared with Eri. The rest of the group that had been following them caught up just as he returned to his starting point.

Chisaki's face was a mess. His lower jaw was ruined, with burnt pieces of bone protruding in disturbing angles through the blackened flesh. The mask covering his face was fused to his skin from the heat, and pulled on it in such a way that it caused him further agony. He gurgled incoherently, shrieking and babbling as he frantically reached up to the wound. In an instant, his body exploded, then reformed a second later.

The wound was healed, but the memory of it remained.

Izuku had drawn first blood.

Chisaki's eyes were bloodshot with rage as Rikiya hastily set his furious leader back on his feet. "Kill them!"

Galvanized into action, the Yakuza lunged at the heroes and their villainous allies, ready to slaughter the lot of them in the name of their leader. Most of them immediately pulled out syringes filled with Trigger from their pockets and injected themselves, juicing themselves for the oncoming fight.

Dabi raced to meet them with a sneer on his face and fire at his fingertips. "Turn to ashes!"

A massive blast of blue flame erupted from his hands and surged towards the Eight Precepts, though it was intercepted by a barrier created by Hekiji. As the Yakuza waited for the flames to dissipate, the core of blue in front of them suddenly changed to green, and then Izuku came roaring out of the conflagration like an enraged dragon. He slammed into the barrier with a vicious kick, but the shield held. Scowling, he pushed off and retreated to his allies, taking a mass of flames with him.

Himiko had pulled Eri away from the battle to the heroes as Izuku and Dabi engaged the Yakuza. Nighteye rushed over to them with Mirio and Eijirou behind him as she knelt in front of the shell-shocked child, seizing her shoulders. "Are you hurt?"

"N-no," Eri stammered, her eyes flying over to the battle only to wince as Dabi unleashed another bright inferno at the gangsters.

"Good," Himiko let herself sigh briefly before glancing at Nighteye. "Get her out of here."

Eri's eyes flew back to Himiko and went wide. "N-no, but Izu—!"

"He'll be fine, Eri," Himiko tried to reassure her. "You have to get out of here, ok? They're going to try and take you back, so you have to go."

"But—"

She lifted her hands and carefully, but firmly held Eri's face so the girl would look her in the eyes. "Eri, I promise I will keep him safe, ok? I'll keep him together, just trust me. You need to go, before Chisaki realizes you're gone."

She looked up at Nighteye, who nodded and turned to Mirio. "Take her to the surface and make sure she gets as far away from this place as possible. Evacuating the civilian is your top priority. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Sir," Mirio nodded with hesitating, picked Eri up, and then retreated back down the tunnel in a rush.

Eri shrieked and reached back towards the warring conflagrations of green and blue as Izuku and Dabi battled furiously against the Yakuza. "NO!"

Mirio cradled her carefully and ran for it before the Eight Precepts could realize what he was doing, murmuring to Eri in an effort to help her calm down as they fled the scene. "It'll be ok, Eri! They can handle this!"

"But Izuku is—"

"He's gonna be ok!" Mirio smiled down at Eri. "Izuku is really strong. He'll be back before you know it!"

They turned a corner, and then they were safely away from the fight.

Nighteye squinted against the bright flames, taking advantage of the temporary distraction to take stock of the situation. We're outnumbered and maybe outmatched, since they all injected themselves with what I suspect is Trigger just now. Only Chisaki has any viable ranged attacks, but that barrier will make most of our attacks useless against them. We have to find a way to bring down the core members of the Eight Precepts before we can deal with Chisaki, but do we have the firepower for that?

The inferno died down as Izuku leapt back to Dabi's side, the latter of which flicked his hand irritably. They watched as the flames dissipated, revealing the Yakuza to be unharmed, although most of them were sweating from the heat.

Dabi sneered at Hekiji, who looked calm despite the intense heat. "Fucker."

"He's gotta go first, or he'll stop any finishing attacks we try," Izuku muttered, pacing back and forth as he studied the Eight Precepts. "Himiko?"

The blonde stalked up to Izuku's other side and studied the gangsters. "If you can cover me without melting me into a puddle, I can probably take him out. It'd be nice to have someone else to distract them, though."

Dabi suddenly lifted a hand and jabbed a finger in the direction of the Yakuza. "There's your distraction."

Chisaki frowned as he heard the sound of footsteps, then realized they were coming from behind and spun around. He glowered furiously as he watched Tomura, Spinner, Twice, and Compress walk out of the tunnel they'd been planning to escape through. Now they were trapped between the heroes and the League.

Tomura scowled at the sight of the other villain leader. "You're a dead man."

Chisaki sneered back, his hands clenched into claws. Rikiya, Shin, and Toyo all turned to face the new threat with their leader, while Kendo, Yu, Soramitsu, and Deidoro focused on the heroes. In the center of it all was Hekiji, who likely would utilize his Trigger-empowered Quirk to defend all of his allies if he could.

At least, that was probably the plan, Izuku mused silently. Not that it mattered.

Dabi let another inferno loose and the battle began.

Izuku darted to the right, intending to flank the Yakuza with Himiko while Nighteye and Eijirou went left. Tomura and the League rushed their hated enemies head-on, even as Hekiji formed another barrier.

Temporarily blinded by the intense, blue fire, they missed Himiko warp inside the barrier and jam a knife into Hekiji's back.

Hekiji screamed, his barrier falling apart and exposing the Yakuza to the flames. Himiko quickly glanced at Izuku and warped back to him, though she was careful to avoid the emerald fire swirling around him. She winced, her face screwing up briefly with pain.

Though he was wounded, Hekiji managed to form another, smaller barrier, though it only protected the group of Yakuza facing the heroes, leaving Chisaki and the others to face the League without his shield.

Soramitsu and Kendo bolted at Izuku and Himiko once the shield went down. Deidoro remained by Hekiji to serve as a bodyguard, while Yu charged Nighteye and Eijirou head-on.

Dabi smirked and aimed his hand at Hekiji again with the intention to incinerate him, but as he released the flames, his head suddenly spun and he staggered, causing the inferno to rocket towards Izuku and Himiko. Fortunately, Izuku managed to intercept the flames and transmute them before they could hurt either of them, but it took away precious seconds he needed to prepare to fight the Eight Precepts.

Himiko leapt away from Soramitsu's snapping jaws, shouting in alarm as Kendo's fist crushed Izuku's ribcage and sent him flying away into the wall. The teenager gasped from the force and slumped to the ground, but he managed to retain his footing and glared at the Yakuza venomously.

Dabi's gaze whipped to Deidoro, who was staggering in place drunkenly between Dabi and Hekiji. The gangster cocked his head to one side with feigned innocence. "Why'd ya do that to yer pals, maaaaan? Coulda huuuuurt someone—hic!"

Dabi scowled dangerously and began stalking towards him. "Piece of shit drunk fuck."

Meanwhile, Eijirou activated his Hardening Quirk all over his body and engaged Yu, whose body became covered in masses of blue crystals as they collided with a heavy impact. Nighteye used the distraction to hurl one of his Hyper-Density Seals at Hekiji's immobilized form, landing a clean hit to his head and knocking him out.

"One down," he muttered as Deidoro whipped towards him in surprise.

Dabi seized his opportunity. "Burn!"

A thin, but overwhelmingly hot blast of fire erupted from his hand and immediately seared through both of the Yakuza. Deidoro let out a scream as the flames roasted him, dealing catastrophic damage to the gangster and immediately rendering him unconscious, if not dead.

The inferno faded quickly, leaving both Deidoro and Hekiji slumped on the ground and covered in severe black and white burns. The nauseating smell of cooked flesh filled the air, but Dabi paid it no mind and began to advance towards Chisaki and the rest of the Yakuza.

Izuku managed to avoid Kendo's next flurry of punches, leaping above him and wrapping Black Whip around the gangster with the intention to reel himself in for a finishing blow, only for Soramitsu to lunge forward and bite clean through the tendrils. He screeched as Himiko embedded a knife in his shoulder, causing him to scramble away from her before she could stab him again.

Kendo launched another flurry at Himiko, but Izuku seized the opportunity to jump against the wall and rocket off of it, driving a furious kick into Kendo's spine. The Yakuza was lifted off the ground and his punches went high as Himiko ducked, sending him flying away from them.

Soramitsu was already lunging as Izuku landed back on his feet and, ignoring the flames, grabbed him from behind and crunched his huge jaws into the teenager's shoulder.

An agonized scream tore its way out of Izuku's throat as Soramitsu instantly shattered his right shoulder. The emerald inferno frantically seared hotter until his flesh cooked and his eyes bulged, ready to pop from the heat, but Soramitsu only crunched harder in an effort to take Izuku with him.

The sounds of his bones snapping and popping below those terribly powerful jaws would stay with everyone who heard them.

Soramitsu's attempt at murder was cut off with a startled gurgle as Himiko jammed a knife up to the hilt into the back of his skull. He slumped over and she frantically peeled the charred, dying villain off of Izuku, who let his flames die when he realized what she was doing.

Blood poured from the wound as Izuku fell to his knees, gasping from pain as his flames disappeared. His shoulder was crushed and chunks of flesh were missing from the bite. The arm hung loosely, and looked like it was barely attached to Izuku by only a few tattered ribbons of rent flesh, bone, and cloth. Blood pulsed from the wound in bursts, echoing Izuku's already-weakening heartbeat.

Himiko swore and lifted her mask to her face, switching on the machine at her back to feed a mouthful of Chisaki's blood into her mouth.

She heard a yell and spun to see Kendo rushing at them in a frenzy. Feeling the new Quirk flowing through her system, she thrust her hands against the ground.

Overhaul came to life.

Kendo yelped in shock as the ground exploded beneath his feet. "What the fu—?!"

Concrete slammed into him with enough force to send flying to the opposite end of the room, concussing him for sure and probably breaking a few bones. Himiko wasn't nearly as proficient or creative with the Quirk as its true master was, but she was at least able to create a blunt object out of it.

She whirled back to Izuku, who looked like he was barely conscious from the massive injury. Himiko swallowed, still tasting the iron of Chisaki's blood. "Izuku, I've gotta—"

"D..do it," he slurred, eyes fluttering from shock. A thin wail left his throat that made her blood run cold.

Please work, she silently prayed as she touched his too-hot skin and activated Overhaul, feeding her intention through the borrowed Quirk.

Reset!

Izuku's entire body exploded in a spray of blood, then reformed a second later intact and healed. He let out a shuddering gasp and his whole body tensed, hyperventilating for a few seconds as his brain processed the sudden absence of a crippling injury.

"Thanks," he told her hoarsely, still shivering.

She felt a lump in her throat, but forced it down. There was still a battle to be fought.

And as they looked back to the ongoing conflict, they realized Chisaki was staring at them.

He wasn't an idiot. He knew what his Quirk looked like, and though he was still struggling to process just how in the fuck Himiko had managed to obtain it, he realized that regardless it meant she would be able to resuscitate anybody he killed, just as he could resuscitate his underlings.

A fresh surge of rage pulsed through his veins. Would these two brats never stop causing him problems? He couldn't even count on them to die properly.

Fine. He'd do it himself.

Dabi lifted a hand in preparation to blast Overhaul with Cremation, but the Yakuza leader slammed both hands into the ground and caused a significant area around him to explode. It reformed almost instantly, shaped by Chisaki's will.

A wave of earthen spikes came flying at Dabi, who dove out of the way to evade them. Another section forcibly launched the bodies of Hekiji and Deidoro towards him, uncaring of any extra damage they suffered—he'd repair them in a second.

He grabbed Deidoro first and lifted a hand to his own body, channeling Overhaul to reshape them both. When they reformed, Deidoro's body was gone, his mass transferred to Chisaki.

His body was slightly bulkier now, built more powerfully. His arms had become huge and clawed, monstrous in their appearance, and he had a second set of arms that grew out from behind his original pair. Black markings wrapped around his arms and covered the center of his face between his eyes and mask.

One of those huge hands came down and Overhauled Hekiji's ruined body, bringing him back to life with a gasp. His eyes flew open and stared up at the furious Chisaki, who glared down at him. "B-boss—"

"Get up," he snapped. "Assist the rest of the Precepts. I have other matters to attend to."

"Yes!" Hekiji scrambled to his feet and retreated to the rest of the gangsters, hastily forming a barrier to protect himself from another one of Nighteye's projectiles on the way there.

Chisaki turned to glare at Izuku and Himiko, both of whom bristled at the sight of him. "You two fucking brats have caused me more grief than I can even believe. Taking Eri from me for months, incarcerating Mimic, killing Chrono…and now this? I've had it with you two interfering with me!"

All four of his hands clenched as his eyes narrowed to slits in his rage. "I'll kill you both myself!"

He rushed at them, his primary hands dragging along the ground and activating his Quirk as he did so. Before anyone could intervene, the terrain covering practically half of the room and the wall behind the two teenagers exploded and reformed, creating a whole new area.

Spinner clambered up one of the walls and hurled one of his longest knives towards them. "Himiko, catch!"

Toya reached up towards the knife before it could fly, intent on activating his Larceny Quirk. "No ya don't!"

His hand suddenly disappeared into a marble and he screamed, clutching the bloody stump of his left arm. Compress was forced to leap back as Rikiya's massive fist crushed the spot he'd stood in a moment before, but he'd managed to do what was needed.

Himiko heard the shout and caught the blade as the stone walls cut them off from each other, leaving her and Izuku trapped with Overhaul and Soramitsu's unmoving body.

Shin scowled at the League as they regrouped, ready to face the Eight Precepts once again. Behind them, Nighteye and Eijirou were still trying to subjugate Yu, but he was juiced on Trigger and seemed to have the upper hand for the time being.

"You're wasting your time," Shin told them. "Our boss will kill them, and we'll make sure you're all dead before he returns."

Tomura's uninjured hand clenched, eager to kill the Yakuza before him. "You're awfully cocky for an endangered species on their last legs. We'll see if you keep running your mouth once you're turned to dust!"

Both criminal gangs rushed each other, bloodlust radiating off of them.


Izuku and Himiko immediately put distance between themselves and Chisaki, who had stopped beside Soramitsu's corpse. Izuku lifted his hands and fired several plasma bolts, but Chisaki simply Overhauled part of the ground around him and created a shield that absorbed the bolts with little effort.

Himiko adjusted her grip on the knife Spinner had gifted her, preparing for a long, bloody fight. "This isn't gonna be easy."

"No," Izuku agreed, lowering his voice. "How many more times can you warp?"

"I don't know," she confessed. "Since I had to travel with Eri, it's probably cut down my overall usage by half. Maybe five, six more blinks? If worst comes to worst, I can use Overhaul to reset myself, but I need to conserve its use unless I get more of his blood. I'll burn through it quickly if I use it too much."

Izuku watched the telltale sign of blood spraying in the air and knew Chisaki was Overhauling himself with Soramitsu. "Might have to. The longer we stay in here, the greater the chance he'll kill us. He's got the advantage."

"Yeah," she bit her lip. "We'll probably have to kill him to make it out of this alive. You know that, right?"

"I know," he replied. "It's life or death. We don't have a choice. Doesn't mean he'll make it any easier for us."

"Any ideas?"

"His Quirk Factor is focused in his hands," Izuku muttered. "Get rid of those and he can't use his Quirk. We also need to get aboveground. Staying trapped in here is probably a death sentence."

The shield vanished as Chisaki destroyed it, revealing himself to be even bulkier than before, with six arms now, and his mouth transformed into a grotesque, fanged beak. Evidently he was utilizing Soramitsu's massive jaws in some way.

Bloodlust filled the tense air between them as both of the young Chimera and the Yakuza glared at one another with utter loathing.

"I'll slaughter you," Chisaki snarled, then lunged at them.

They exploded into action, darting to either side of the monster and going on the assault. Izuku fired bolts of plasma at the villain, who utterly ignored the shots in favor of closing the gap between them. He was fast, but not nearly as fast as they were. Despite his transformation, he'd clearly focused changing his arms more so than the rest of his body.

Chisaki set four of his hands against the ground and prepared to destroy the area, but Izuku was ready this time and slammed one of his boots into the concrete, shattering the floor between them and rendering his Quirk much less effective. Izuku knew that Overhaul was much less useful on fractured terrain.

Chisaki scowled with annoyance as Izuku exploited one of his few weaknesses, but shrieked when Himiko suddenly reappeared out of the shadows and slashed one of his hands off at the wrist. She extracted a smaller dagger and stabbed at the side of his head, only for Chisaki to use one of his new arms to block the fatal attack. He swiped at her in the air and she quickly glanced to the side, blinking a safe distance away from the villain.

Izuku seized the distraction Himiko had provided and reactivated Black Whip, lashing Chisaki across the face with the burning tendrils. The Yakuza boss glared at him with pure hatred, rushing the teenager once again with his hands outstretched.

He lunged to meet the boss head-on, causing Chisaki's eyes to widen in surprise at the suicidal move, but Izuku's rush was just a feint. He suddenly swerved harshly to the left and slammed his fist into the ground, uplifting the ground Chisaki stood on and causing his grasping hands to pass over Izuku, who lifted a leg and delivered a ruthless kick into Chisaki's gut.

He felt bones cracking beneath the impact and Chisaki screamed in rage, but Izuku sent him rocketing into the opposite wall before he could retaliate. He quickly launched Black Whip's tendrils at his enemy, tangling Chisaki up and leaving him briefly immobilized, a fact Himiko took full advantage of.

She darted in again as Chisaki used his Quirk to destroy the tendrils containing him and slashed off another hand, then stabbed a dagger deep into the monster's stomach. Chisaki screeched as she ripped the dagger away from him and leapt back. He tried to Overhaul the ground, but Izuku stamped again and shattered the section he intended to utilize.

One of Chisaki's remaining four hands reached up to himself and Izuku's eyes widened. "Fuck—"

The villain destroyed and reformed himself in the span of a few seconds, but the brief period between those actions gave Izuku enough time to deliver a crushing blow to Chisaki's knee the moment he reassembled himself.

Chisaki shrieked again, dropping as his left leg twisted at an unnatural angle. Despite the pain, he lunged as Izuku leapt away and managed to grab the end of his foot.

Now Izuku's scream echoed through the room as the lower half of his right leg exploded in a spray of blood. He hit the ground and rolled away, but Himiko was already there and Overhauled him.

Chisaki took a moment to reset just his injured leg as the teenagers recovered. Izuku stood up shakily, his leg back to normal as Himiko helped him stand.

The Yakuza boss prepared to go on the assault once more, glowering hatefully. Roaring at one another, they all attacked again.


Ochako and Tsuyu knew they had to get out of the apartment complex soon. They were almost done checking each door, but the fires were getting worse. Despite Hisashi's best efforts outside, no small number of lava bombs had already struck the building and started multiple fires, which were quickly spreading.

Ryukyu's voice echoed in their earpieces. "Uravity, Froppy, are you two almost finished?"

"Yes, ma'am," Tsuyu replied. "Just a couple more rooms."

"Good. Once you check them, get out of the building. Head out the nearest exit. Be careful!"

"Will do," Ochako said, then ran to next the door while Tsuyu took the last one. She knocked loudly on the wood. "Hello! Is anyone in there? I'm a hero! The building is being evacuated!"

It opened up almost immediately and a panicked woman faced her. "I need help! The roof above us fell in! My child is trapped on the other side of the living room, but there's fire between us!"

Tsuyu ran over. "The other room's clear!"

"We'll help get your kid back!" Ochako told the woman, smiling at her. She moved into the room with Tsuyu, who managed to get the woman into the hallway where there was less smoke.

She immediately spotted the problem—a large section of the roof above them had fallen in, burning a clean line across the living room. The child in question was trapped on the other side, curled up on the ground as far away from the fire as he could be.

Ochako looked at Tsuyu. "I'll float over and get him, then we'll float back. Can you grab us and bring us in?"

"I will," she agreed, then glanced up at the ceiling, where they could see the inferno raging above them. "Be quick—I don't know how long that'll last before it caves more."

"Yep," Ochako said, then activated her Quirk and launched herself over the flames, holding her breath to avoid breathing in the thick, black smoke roiling close to the ceiling. She landed on the other side and briefly deactivated Zero Gravity as she ran over to the child, crouching beside them. "Hey! Are you hurt?"

"N-no," the child—a little girl—whimpered.

Ochako smiled at her reassuringly. "Don't worry. I'm gonna get you out of here, okay? Your mom is waiting—"

"Ochako!" Tsuyu shouted suddenly, and Ochako's gaze whipped up as she spotted the roof caving in. Huge pieces of the ceiling came down on them, some still burning, and she acted on reflex.

She grabbed the child, activated her Quirk, and threw her across the fire at Tsuyu as the roof came down. Ochako watched Tsuyu catch the girl before the ceiling hit her.

The weight snapped her spine like a toothpick and she shrieked in pain as she was buried under the blazing debris. Her legs ceased to function as more of the roof caved in, and Tsuyu was still screaming even as she was forced to retreat from the room with the civilian.

Fire seared at her skin through her suit and Ochako screamed, her arms scrabbling to touch the debris that burned her hands in an effort to get the terrible weight off of her. The fire licking at her flesh was cold, colder than ice, and yet she knew she was burning. Another piece fell down as she managed to get one off and she felt a broken rib punch deeply through one of her lungs.

Blood bubbled up in her mouth as she threw up, still screaming, still burning, she couldn't breathe, it was crushing her—

She was gonna die she was gonna die she wasgonnadieshewasgonnashewasgonnadie—

Something in her head snapped.

Like a bomb going off, a wave of uncontrolled gravity discharged roared out from Ochako, flinging the debris off of her body and giving her a moment to gasp for breath before the pain of her punctured lung had her wailing again. She hovered in the air as the wave destroyed the floor beneath her, leaving her floating in a sphere of nothingness.

She couldn't move, couldn't control the sphere of energy keeping the debris away from her, and with every second it persisted, agony pulsed through her head until she could feel blood flowing from her nose in copious amounts. She blacked out once for a second, then twice, and then—

And then she lost her fight to stay conscious and plummeted to the floor of the room below as the debris held above her came down to bury her once more.


A/N: Another cliffhanger. Are any of you really surprised by that?

Like I said, this is by far the most violent chapter I've written for Viridescent. This is really what the M-Rating has been for. Well, that and Katsuki's mouth, but I digress.

I know the world is currently in a really rough patch due to Coronavirus, and this degree of angst probably isn't great for a lot of you at the moment. The good news is that I'm probably going to do IzuMina Week 2020 between this chapter and the Eight Precepts Finale, so there will be some fluff in between all the violence and angst.

For those of you who are suffering from the sickness or have family and friends suffering, my condolences. I wish you the best of luck for a full recovery and I hope that this story brings you even a tiny fragment of relief (granted, this chapter probably isn't much for comfort, but you get the point).

Hang in there you guys. We'll make it through this :)

Now, onto review responses!

darksider82: Correct me if I'm wrong didn't Midoriya say he wasn't his father's son...Midoriya, I think you need to eat some humble-pie with gravy. Fantastic chapter, cannot wait for the next installment...and to modify Robyn Arryn's quote "I want to see the bad man fly", I want to see the bad man die! Damn, Mugetsu...she's so delightfully evil I love it but she done goofed. I want to see more Hisashi just losing it!

-Even heroes have their dark sides, just as villains have their lights. Izuku has tapped into his dark side in an effort to save Eri, and Hisashi is struggling to be a little bit brighter to protect his son.

Mugetsu messed up, but to be fair she wasn't counting on Hisashi being anywhere near U.A. She knows better than to stick around and fight him, though!

Joker Army: Holy goddamn! Izuku ripping through everyone is amazing. I feel like the other heroes are probably going to be shocked at his brutality and I can't wait for to see their reactions. Fight scenes are definitely your forte. Nighteye has never been wrong before but once involving Izuku in the anime. I wonder if you'll keep that up. Also I just realized what could make Izuku snap and laugh covered in blood. Someone's gonna die. I'm so damn excited. You should involve All for One finding out about this after the arc is over the utter chaos that's happening. Also can I have the discord?

-Yeah, Izuku is seriously pissed off. It's a life and death fight, so the brutality of it just reflects how severe the situation is, but yeah it's definitely not something they're prepared for right off the bat. A lot of people are going to get hurt, and some will die. Who? You'll have to wait and see!

We'll be seeing All for One again after this arc, most likely!

TheOperaticSquirrel: Madness was the perfect way to describe this chapter. I can't believe how fast everything spiraled out of control. What a way to start the raid. I feel like these next few chapters are going to show a lot of what Izuku got a glimpse of from Nighteye. I love the hero/villain team up so far. Are more heroes from UA going to show up because of the tracker? Are Katsuki and others going to follow as well? I love how ruthlessly Izuku is mowing everyone down. I love that you were able to make the cinnamon roll one of the scariest characters and have it not at all be out of character. I'm just picturing Eijirou at the back thinking to himself "How did we ever think Katsuki was the scary one?" Aw man, I really hope they get to Eri soon. I'm super pumped for the rest of this arc! (Also, as a side note, I'm reading this at the same time I'm reading canon so sometimes I get certain things mixed up. Small things like "Why hasn't Katsuki had any interaction with Momo?" and "Why doesn't the League care about Izuku?" I think I like these versions of events better.)

-Things went south very fast, and it's only gonna get a whole lot worse! More heroes from U.A will catch up to the situation in the next chapter, but this covers maybe the first fifteen minutes or so of the raid. Izuku is on the warpath to save Eri, but yeah Eijirou is probably a bit shell-shocked right now. This arc (or at least the raid) will conclude in the next chapter! I'm glad you think this version is better, but always remember where everything BNHA related came from!

StandupSitdown: I've said it before, but I wasn't too sure what to think of this story going into it considering all the canon changes to prior events and backstories you'd made, but you really made it work. I think you've really hit your stride now that Deku isn't kidnapped and Heat Viper has taken a more protective approach. (I've re-read the scene where he scares off the Yakuza from their attempt on Eri many times by now) I'm hesitant to see what happens when the League realizes Deku will never join them, but hopeful that you'll find a way to make it work. Maybe you'll even find a way for them to coexist in some capacity as long a they keep to a code of honor that Deku agrees to? Unorthodox, but it could work.

No matter what choices you make I'm looking forward to reading them as they play out. Until next time.

-Yeah, I've said it before and I'll say it again, this story is a butterfly effect fanfic. It's taken a while to gain traction, but now it's taking off on its own path separate from canon. From here on out, a lot is going to change. Look forward to it!

Will Deku never join the League? You'll have to wait and see! Since I plan on writing all three years of their High School life, there's plenty of time for things to change, but that's a long ways off!

That's all for now! As ever, please review and thanks for reading!