Chapter 29: Evil Plans and Work Studies
Pyromaniac
Pyromaniac was waiting outside a warehouse in some port in Yokohama, smoking his third cigarette of the night and waiting for this contact. After failing to get the girl, Shigaraki had been furious, practically screaming that now it would be harder than ever to fulfill their plans quickly. Pyromaniac took in all in stride, he knew that a crew like The League of Villains needed all the manpower they could get, so he wasn't afraid of being disintegrated by him. However, ever since then they had been laying low, focusing on robbing and killing rival gangs, especially the drug dealing ones; taking their cash and product. They were especially on the lookout for Quirk Enhancers. Pyromaniac didn't use those himself; he had seen what kinds of freaky mutations could result from overuse of them; but he also knew how effective they were if used right.
He was working with the one girl in the League, Toga Himiko. She was alright, a little small and young for his tastes, but she was supposed to be good in a fight. Little Marie had taken her out with one kick to the guts. Apparently, she had even broken two of her ribs. Toga was angry about that, for the last week he heard her muttering about how she wanted to skin that wolf-girl alive and wear her pelt. Right now, she was leaning against the wall a good way away from him examining her knives, she didn't want to get second-hand smoke inhalation. Pyromaniac finished his cigarette and snuffed it out before walking over to Toga. "So, you really think this will work? The idea of some little girl getting rid of Quirks is a little far-fetched to me," he told her.
"Oh trust me," Toga said, "She's the real deal. Izuku-chan saved Eri-chan from a…Yakuza gang, the Shie Hassaikai, their leader, a germophobic bastard named Chisaki Kai used her to make Quirk erasing bullets. Me and Twice saw them use it on this one Hero, Lemillion. It worked perfectly. We got the rest of their bullets, and Chisaki's notes on how he did it. We need more if our plans are to succeed, Eri-chan is the key to realizing all our dreams." Toga twirled around like a ballerina as she explained all this, her knife never leaving her hand. "But now that those Heroes have her, they aren't letting her out of their sight. We got word that she was leaving U.A. Campus and thought she would be easy pickings. But those students ruined everything. So now, we might have to raid U.A. to get her, meaning we'll need all the power we can get."
Pyromaniac nodded, "What about that one dominatrix chick, Midnight? Ain't she gonna be there? We aren't gonna get far if she uses her knockout gas." Toga shrugged with her creepy 'I'm just a cute Japanese student' smile and said, "I'm sure Shigaraki will think of something." They were interrupted by the sound of a whistle going off. That was the signal. Pyromaniac and Toga quickly spotted the freighter they were waiting for. Toga pulled out a pair of binoculars from a bag she was carrying and looked. "Their dingy is on the way here. Get ready," Toga told him. Pyromaniac focused, getting mentally ready to use his fire if he had to as he stood next to Toga.
The small boat pulled into the docks and two people got out, one looked like a man and the other was a tall woman, at least six feet tall with a long ponytail down her back. Both were dressed in dark coats, pants, and boots. The man and woman walked closer and Pyromaniac saw them more clearly. The man and woman both had blue skin, as they got closer, he saw they had similar facial features and matching red eyes, possibly siblings. The tall woman looked like she was in charge as she walked up to them and pulled out a green vial from her coat. "Which one of you is in charge?" she asked in English. "That'd be her," Pyromaniac answered in the same language, and then told Toga in Japanese, "You're in charge as far as she's concerned. Act the part, Onee-sama."
Toga got a serious look on her face and said, "How do I know that this is real?" Pyromaniac repeated the question in English and the woman said, "Because I made this. I call it 'Alpha Red'. You take it orally, and your Quirk is boosted for the next eight hours, or you empty your bladder; whichever comes first." Pyromaniac repeated this in Japanese to Toga and Toga said, "Prove it." Pyromaniac repeated her words in English and the woman sighed. "My brother and I both have the same Quirk, Ice Maker. We can't make much however, or for long," the woman said. She lifted her hand and made a handful of ice, but then dropped it. She appeared to be sweating and breathing heavily from this.
Pyromaniac translated what she said to Toga and the woman continued, "My Alpha Red increases your Quirk's power by 2000%. As long as you only take one vial then you won't suffer any side effects." The woman then proved her point by opening the vial of Alpha Red and drank it down herself. Every vein in her body stood out for an entire minute, before they returned to normal, though her eyes were now bloodshot. The woman brought her hands together and formed a sphere of ice that kept on getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger until it was almost ten feet tall!
"Wow," Toga said in English. "What do you think?" she asked Pyromaniac. "Could be a trick…but my gut says it's real. She's clearly sweating too, she's a thinker, not a fighter. But if someone who knows what they're doing had it…" he just smiled, wondering what he would be like with his powers so enhanced. Toga nodded and walked over to the warehouse while Pyromaniac kept his eye on their contacts. "So," he asked in English, "If things work out here, you want to get something?" The woman snorted as she eyes him, "I've read up on you, Pyromaniac. You're the kind of guy that justifies the invention of the taser." Pyromaniac smiled and nodded, "That's not exactly a no." The blue-skinned woman laughed, "I'm not exactly like most women."
He wasn't surprised she knew who he was; his face was all over the news after he killed Wolfheart, Hero Killers in America were surprisingly rare, especially ones that managed to get out. The woman said, "I'm Maeve." Pyromaniac nodded, and Toga came back with a briefcase full of cash. "You can check it yourself; $500,000 United States Dollars, as agreed," Toga said as she gave Maeve he briefcase. She handed the briefcase to her brother, who checked it. "This is my brother, Connor. He's a man of few words," she explained. After twenty seconds, Connor looked up and nodded at Maeve. "I suggest that we go separate ways for now, lay low. You're not our only customers," she explained. "Alright," Pyromaniac agreed, and watched as the Quirk drug dealers got back on their boat and left.
"Let's go," Toga said, then pulled out a burner phone, "We got it." At once, a large black portal opened up in front of them, and they walked in.
Electroshock
Denki landed hard on the ground and let out a gasp of pain as the air was driven out of him, before Marie took his right arm and squeezed his elbow between her powerful thighs. He quickly hit the ground with his free hand, "I give! I give!" Marie let him go and then helped pull him up. "You're getting better," his blind girlfriend told him, "Getting in more blows, not making it too obvious what you are doing. BUT! Your reaction time still sucks." Denki nodded, "You're telling me."
The two of them were practicing in one of the empty grass fields that dotted U.A., sparring in hand to hand combat. Marie told him that she was willing to teach him the basics of fighting, but that the best teacher was experience. So, here they were after an hour of sparring, both drenched in sweat, he more than she. Both were wearing the basic school gym uniform, but he was wearing the shirt, while Marie had hers off, only her sports bra preserving her modesty. He'd be lying if he said that the sight of her body covered in sweat wasn't distracting.
Marie stopped to roll her shoulders and cracked her neck, "Think you can keep going, or are you done for today?" Denki took a second to breathe, he hadn't had such an intense workout before; Marie overwhelmed him with better speed, technique, and sheer physical power. However, he wasn't going to give up, he was the man in this relationship, he had to show it. Denki assumed a stance she had showed him, knees slightly bent, dominant side forward, hands up to protect the face, while his elbows were down to protect his ribs. He defiantly said in English, "Come on!"
The Electric Hero in training barely moved back in time to avoid Marie's kick to his head, and tried to grab her leg, but it was already down before he could grab it. Marie's other leg was aimed at his stomach, and Denki barely blocked it in time, letting out a short kiai to tighten his core muscles. Denki quickly ducked under a haymaker punch and answered by moving forward and throwing a jab-cross combo. Marie blocked both his punches and deflected a kick to her stomach and grabbed his ankle. Denki realized what was coming, and before his back hit the ground, he hit it with his arms like Marie had shown him.
He quickly made a decision and kicked with his free leg to Marie's left knee. Marie stumbled in shock and let his other leg go, allowing him to roll back up and seize the chance to get her. He tried to tackle her to the ground, but Marie sidestepped him easily. "Nice try," she told him, then got on top of him before he could flip over, grabbing one of his arms and twisting it behind his back, and putting one of her knees to his kidney, incapacitating him, "But that was such a big move that you'd need more surprise for it to work. I tried it on Mirko, that's why I lost to her."
Marie then wrapped an arm around Denki's neck and rolled over, getting him in a neck lock and then wrapping her legs around his, making it impossible to move. "This is called the 'Rear Naked Choke'," Marie explained as she tightened her grip on him, enough to let him know how screwed he was. This is one way to choke someone out, very quickly. But, if someone like me tried it on a guy like you in real life, you could easily use your Quirk to zap them off, knocking them out instead." Denki managed to grunt, "Is that so?" He then realized that a lot of Marie's body was covering a lot of his body, it would be child's play to shock her now.
She squeezed him tighter then, and for a second, he thought he would black out before she let him go. "That said, you need to use your Quirk quickly, or else your opponent could incapacitate you first," she said. She then sighed and sat down next to him, "Yeah, I'm done now. Teaching and sparring at the same time are exhausting." She got up and started patting the ground to look for her gym uniform shirt. Denki saw it and said, "Marie, I got your shirt here." He picked it up and held it out to her, and she grabbed it. It was times like this that reminded him that Marie was handicapped in many ways.
"Thanks Denki," she said before taking her shirt and putting it back on. She grabbed onto his hand and pulled him into a kiss. Denki was flabbergasted but managed to keep from looking like an idiot when Marie said, "Lead on, I can't remember the way back to the dorms from here." Denki nodded, "Right," and walked hand in hand with Marie back to the dorms, lightly blushing the whole time. This is so awesome! I don't think any other girls would be this forward… I feel like a stud! "So, Denki, you don't seem too put out that your girlfriend's bald," Marie said suddenly, "You got a bald woman fetish?" Denki just laughed, "No way, but, well, you can't help that you needed to have your hair shaved. And it's starting to grow back."
He lifted up and patted Marie's head, feeling the fuzz that was already growing in. "What do you think I should do with it? Grow it out as long as it used to be, or maybe keep it shorter?" she asked as they kept walking. Denki thought about it, "I'm not really sure. I mean, long hair for a girl with your close-range Quirk isn't practical, someone could grab it and use it against you. But then again, you survived before with long hair, and Mirko's hair's pretty long too, but she made it work out. It's kind of like capes almost; some people say they're impractical, others make them practical, and others don't even bother with them. It's really your choice, I'm not much of a stylist when it comes to hair, see?" Denki leaned his head closer to Marie to let her pat his head like he had to her.
Marie ruffled up his messy blonde hair all over, feeling it and seeming to picture it as she felt it. "You've got some spiky hair, boy," Marie chuckled. "It's my Quirk, all this electricity in me makes it almost impossible for me to comb it down, and if I use gel then it could set it on fire, or break it," Denki explained to her. "I get that," Marie explained, "having heightened senses can suck sometimes, bad things smell worse, and loud sounds are a nightmare. Plus, you can sometimes hear things you wish you hadn't." Denki asked, "Like what?" Marie bluntly, and quietly said, "Like what your parents are like in the bedroom." "Oh God! UGH!" Denki quickly said, blushing furiously. He could feel Marie's hand heat up too, he could tell from her body language that she was really embarrassed, "Yeah." They reached the dorms just then and Marie gave Denki a kiss on the cheek before heading to her room, and Denki headed to his.
After taking a shower and getting dressed in plain white t-shirt and black sweatpants, he headed to the kitchen. In the living room of the dorm he saw Sato and Todoroki were making something, Uraraka and Mina were looking through a magazine together, while Midoriya and Kirishima were playing a fighting videogame. Denki grabbed an apple from the counter and started eating it, when someone slammed the dorm's main door wide open. "So tell me, Rookies," Mirko's voice commanded, "Where's Wolfheart at?" "M-M-Mirko!" everyone yelled in amazement at having the Number Four Hero there. "Come on, I don't have a lot of time to talk to her, where is she?" Mirko demanded again. "Sh-she's in her room, we just got done sparring, and we were cleaning up," Denki said. Mirko walked over to him and said, "So take me to her room then."
Denki quickly stood up, "Yes Ma'am!" and led the way to Marie's room. "What do you want with Marie?" he asked as they walked. "I'm thinking about taking her on as a work study student," the Rabbit Hero said. Denki saw that she had a piece of paper and a stamp with her, and also how short Mirko was as well, he was easily a head taller than her, not counting her rabbit ears. They reached Marie's room and Mirko knocked on the door. "Coming!" Marie said and opened the door.
She stopped when she took a quick smell, "M-Mirko!? Come in! Come in!" Marie was so surprised she was speaking English and only got her point across through gestures. "CanIgetyouanythingIgotsweetteaunsweetteapeachteaall of it is cold I hope you don't mind but…" Marie stopped flailing and said, "You didn't understand any of that, did you?" Denki and Mirko shook their heads and Mirko said in Japanese, "Not a word." Marie took a breath and made the same offer of tea in Japanese, and more slowly and clearly. Mirko accepted a glass of unsweetened tea while Denki had sweet tea. Mirko sat on Marie's bed as she drank her tea, "Alright then. I'll just cut to the chase; I want you, Wolfheart, to become my work study. I'll be staying around here for a little while, say a month.
"You've got some potential, Rookie. So, I'm gonna polish you until you shine. But I'm not gonna go easy on you, pressure is what makes diamonds, and I'm gonna put you through the worst training of your life," Mirko told Marie. Denki swallowed as he heard her talk, thinking about Marie's already intense training regimen, and wondered what could possible be harder. Marie swallowed too and said, "When do we start?" Mirko stamped the paper she had and then pulled out a pen. Denki helped Marie find the line to sign on, and just then Midnight burst into the room! The Eighteen Plus Only Heroine saw what had happened and sighed, "I was afraid you'd do this."
"I can handle this, Mom. I'm being more cautious now; I'm not going to make the same stupid mistakes I made that got me in the Hospital again. Mirko and I have similar Quirks, we're both have animal traits and need to fight close-range. If anyone can help me improve on what I've got, it's her," Marie told her. Midnight nodded, "This is your choice. It's clear you've thought about this, so I won't interfere. All I'll say is, you should take the lessons Mirko teaches with you with a grain of salt." Midnight turned to the Rabbit Hero, who stood up, crossed her arms and smirked back at the taller woman. "If anything happens to my daughter, Rumi, I'll never forgive you," was all Midnight said before she left the room. Mirko's smirk actually dropped as she took the paper and stamp from Marie, "I'll come pick you up tomorrow."