Chapter 31: Evil Rises

Wolfheart

The next two weeks were the most physically and mentally grueling days in Marie's life. Mirko was strict in her training, she would wear the weighted clothes for four days straight, and then get one day when she didn't have to in order to give her muscles some rest time. But even then, training was hard. On the train rides to and from Mirko's patrol zone, Mirko would have Marie do exercises, like squats, holding horse stance the entire time, calf-raises, and on trips when there were fewer passengers on the female cars, Marie would do pushups, super burpees, sit-ups and shadow boxing. Sometimes Mirko would sit on Marie as she did pushups, and for sit-ups she would take off the weighted vest and hold it, forced to lift it as she did her sit-ups. Mirko always gave her a number of reps to complete during the trips, like one-hundred pushups, or two-hundred and fifty sit-ups, or giving a thousand punches when shadow boxing.

At least Mirko had Marie take the weights off to eat, and if they went an hour without facing any enemies, she'd give her five-minute breaks from the weights to stretch. If it weren't for that, Marie was sure that she'd be even more sore than she felt after two weeks of training. As it was, the breaks kept her limber, but she couldn't completely get rid of the soreness. On the plus side, she could feel the training working for her, when she was unencumbered by the heavy weights she was moving faster than before, her stamina was growing by leaps and bounds, and her strength was reaching new heights.

When the day finally came that Mirko told her she could have a break day, Marie sighed in relief, they were almost done with their patrol, and tomorrow was her diet cheat day. She planned on splurging on everything her stomach could hold. Her head was filled with ideas of asking if Sato could bake a peach cobbler pie for her when Mirko gave her a light shove. "Focus, Rookie! The day's not done yet," Mirko told her. "Yes! Right!" Marie quickly said, "Sorry, Mirko-san! I was just thinking, tomorrow's my cheat day and I was thinking about what I wanted to binge on." They were interrupted when they heard a man's voice yell, "HEAR ME FOOLS! THE AGE OF HEROES IS OVER NOW! IT'S EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF, ONLY THE STRONG WILL SURVIVE NOW!" Mirko said, "That's never a good thing, let's go!"

Marie and Mirko raced through the crowds to the source of the loud boast, people were giving the maniac a wide berth. Now that she was closer, Marie could hear a faint buzzing coming from the man, it was a similar sound she heard from Present Mic when she was in the same room as him. "Mirko-san, you hear that?" she whispered. "Yeah, he's got a Sonic Quirk this could get rough, if you need to, plug dirt in your ears," Mirko told her, "Get ready for a fight." Marie smelled her way to a tree and bent down, grabbing handfuls of dirt while Mirko walked closer to the Loudmouth.

"The Age of Heroes ain't over yet, pal," the Rabbit Hero said, "Not as long as I'm around." The Loudmouth said, "YOU'RE WRONG MIRKO! THE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS WILL BRING THIS CORRUPT SOCIETY DOWN! NO MORE WILL WE NEED TO RESTRAIN OURSELVES!" The man then unleashed a sonic attack that seemed to come from his chest. Mirko barely avoided it, but the people around were sent screaming, running away while at least four were sent flying through the air. Marie quickly filled her ears with dirt as Mirko yelled, "WOLFHEART! GET RID OF THE WEIGHTS! GET THAT GUY! I'LL SAVE THE PEOPLE!" Marie quickly tore off her weights and charged at the villain, while Mirko went to rescue the innocents sent airborne.

The Loudmouth quickly sent a sonic attack her way, Marie dodged it and kept on running at him. He barely avoided a low kick from her, and then tried to kick her. Marie avoided Loudmouth's kick and went for an uppercut. Her claws shredded through Loudmouth's shirt but only did minor cuts to him as he backed off. "DIE!" Loudmouth yelled as he unleashed another sonic blast. Marie jumped up high and managed to avoid the attack and quickly went into a front flip that turned into a full-blown axe kick. The powerful kick landed on Loudmouth's shoulder, she could hear his bones shatter as the Villain screamed in pain and shock, he seemed to be a pretty big man, maybe 6' 7" and weighing 290 pounds if Marie had to guess.

"Give it up," Marie told the Villain, "You're not fast enough to beat me." Loudmouth groaned through the pain, "Screw you. You Heroes think that you're the strongest, but you're barely keeping this country together. Only someone with the strength to do what must be done can keep us together." Marie snorted, "That's a bunch of fascist bullshit! You're not interested in saving Japan, you're just a bully that wants to hurt innocent people for fun! You sick freak!" Loudmouth laughed at this, then Marie heard him pull something out. "BITE ME!" Loudmouth yelled, turning it into a sonic attack that sent Marie flying back into a brick building.

"GAH!" Marie yelled in pain and shock, her ears were ringing and for a second, she feared her back was injured, but she managed to get up. She smelled something chemical and heard it pour down Loudmouth's throat, "This isn't good!" Loudmouth screamed, then his voice grew louder, and louder, until Marie had to hold her hands over her dirt-filled ears, and glass shattered all around! Marie quickly avoided falling glass and ran at Loudmouth. She felt more than heard the sonic attack coming at her and quickly dodged it, and a second, and third. I got to take him down fast! This'll be risky, I hope I time this right, or I might kill this dickhead!

Marie dodged two more sonic waves when she realized she was close enough. Marie leaped towards her opponent and deactivated her Quirk. Trusting in her training and instincts, Marie thrust both hands forward in a double spear-hand strike, right into Loudmouth's throat. Loudmouth immediately choked, and the sonic waves stopped. Seizing her chance, Marie slammed her palms into Loudmouth's ears, grabbed them, and pulled him down into a brutal knee that shattered his nose and knocked him out. Marie was breathing loudly as Mirko walked up to her and silently handcuffed the Villain. "You did a good job," Mirko told her. "What about the civilians?" Marie asked as she took a whiff of the air and smelled blood. "No one's dead, but we got a lot of injuries. Get that dirt out of your ears, and you'll hear the ambulances are on their way," Mirko told her. Marie dug as much dirt out as she could as Mirko got the weights. For the next hour, Marie sat back and let Mirko deal with the police and paparazzi, only answering questions when she was asked.

One officer went to the Villain and pulled out a glass tube, "This must be some new Quirk Steroid. Whatever it is, it's effective, we gotta find the distributor fast and stop production." Marie quietly nodded, and once the interviews were done, Marie and Mirko quietly headed for their train, and made it back to U.A. During the trip, she felt a lot of people's eyes were on them, more than usual, and heard their smartphones taking pictures of her too. When they reached U.A., Midnight and Joey were there waiting for them. "Marie!" they both yelled as they hugged her. "Are you alright!? We saw the videos, you were awesome! I was so worried about you, I heard there's a new steroid involved, and we couldn't reach you-" "Mom! Joey! RELAX!" Marie managed to say, "I'm fine, mostly, just got a lot of dirt in my ears is all." Midnight looked her up and down and turned her attention to Mirko.

Mirko shrugged, "She's fine, she handled herself as well as you can expect from a Rookie. She was well trained." Midnight nodded, "Thank you, for looking out for her." Mirko turned around and said, "It's my job. Wolfheart, enjoy your day off, the day after I'm going to step up your training." Marie nodded, "Looking forward to it." Mirko hopped away, and Marie slumped enough that her Mother had to hold her up. "Oh thank Jesus Christ it's over. If I had to go through one more day with those weights, I think I'd die," she sighed as her Mother helped her inside the dorms.

Thankfully, everyone in the dorms respected her space when they saw Midnight helping her. "Man, Marie-chan, was it that hard today?" Tsuyu asked. Marie nodded, "Yeah, it was. If I hadn't listened to Mirko-san and stuffed dirt in my ears, I'd probably be deaf AND blind right now. That guy could probably give Present Mic-sensei a run for his money, and when he took that steroid… Thank God I can still hear." Denki walked up and asked, "Can I get you anything?" Marie dug some dirt out of her left ear and asked, "A professional ear cleaner. It's kind of hard to hear everyone, I still got some dirt in my ears."

Midnight spoke up, "I can handle that. Kaminari-kun, help Marie to her room so she can get cleaned up. I need to get my ear cleaning tools." "Got it!" Kaminari said and helped the tired Marie up and led her back to her room. As they walked, Marie said, "Sorry if I stink. Mirko's been running me ragged." Denki smiled, "It's not your fault, and you don't smell all that bad." Marie snorted, "Got a sweat fetish, Denki?" Denki blushed, "N-NO! Just saying is all… you're not that smelly…"

They reached Marie's room and she went inside to grab her pajamas and had a glass of peach tea. The tea helped reenergize her enough she could walk on her own to the showers. She quickly got cleaned out, making sure not to get water in her ears, and Denki was waiting for her on his phone. From the sounds she heard it seemed he was watching video of her fight with Loudmouth. "You're all over the web now," he told her as she dried off her head. "What are folks saying?" she asked. "This girl is super-hot! What a badass! That was brutal! Did you see how fast she was? That kind of thing," Denki told her. "Sounds like my fan club is already starting," Marie said as she and Denki went back into her room. Marie laid down on her bed, then moved over enough for Denki to lay down next to her.

"So, are you okay?" he asked. Marie shook her head, "I don't know. Physically, I feel tired. Mentally, I'm excited. I was worried that if I couldn't use my Ultimate Technique then I couldn't win any serious fights, but I did. I beat him, even though he was juiced up on some kind of super steroid, I won. But… now that I think about it, I'm starting to get worried too." Denki nodded, "About somebody stronger getting their hands on that stuff?" Marie nodded. Denki held her hand and intertwined their fingers, "You're not alone in this. You got me, the sensei's, our classmates, we're all here, working and fighting together. As long as we stay together, we'll win." Marie grunted, and then rolled over until she was on top of her boyfriend and said, "Hug me. I want to feel safe."

The Electrical Quirk user wrapped her in a hug tightly, and Marie felt that he was stronger than before. "You've been working out." Denki smiled, "Yeah, Midoriya and Iida agreed to help me train a lot. Don't think my abs have ever been harder." Marie's hands went under his shirt and she felt up his abs, they were definitely tighter and more toned. She kissed him, and he started to kiss back, but then they were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Marie? Are you ready?" her Mother asked on the other side. "Sorry babe," Marie told Denki as she rolled off him and he got off her bed, "Maybe another time. Come in, Mom."

Midnight walked in and saw Denki, saying with a smile, "Am I interrupting something?" "N-No, just the two of us hanging out and stuff," Denki quickly said. Midnight chuckled as she sat down in the seiza position on the floor, "Alright Marie, come down here, rest your head on my thighs like before." Marie nodded and made her way to her Mother's legs by smell and laid her head down. "I'll be going," Denki said, and Midnight said, "You sure? This might be helpful for you later. Marie's ears aren't like our ears, you need to be more careful when you clean them." Denki said, "No, that's fine. I'll be waiting downstairs in the lounge if you need me." Marie and Midnight waved the boy goodbye and Midnight said, "I'm surprised you chose Kaminari-kun over Sato-kun or Iida-kun."

As Midnight started cleaning her ears, Marie responded, "Iida's nice for a friend, but he's too much of a by-the-book guy for me. I was thinking about Sato, but Kaminari said yes first." Midnight nodded, "That's not a very romantic way to think of Kaminari-kun." Marie said, "I know, but…come on, we're sixteen, and I haven't even known him for a year, it took Dad and Mom almost two years of dating before they married. Mom always told me that True Love is like a tree, it takes time to grow strong. I like Denki, he's a good boyfriend, but…I don't know if I'm in that whole 'til death do you part' stage yet." Midnight said, "I see. Mysa-san sounds like she was a very wise woman."

For five minutes, mother and daughter didn't say anything, before Marie asked, "Mom…if things had been different, do you think you and Dad would have lasted?" The Eighteen Plus Only Hero took a minute to think of her response, before she sighed, "I'm sorry, Marie, but no, I don't think Joseph-kun and I would have lasted for the long term. Maybe it was because of what happened between us, but our personalities were just too different. I've thought about that question myself over the years, especially since you and Joey came into my life. I loved your Father then, but it wasn't True Love, the kind that could weather the storms of life, it was only the heady Romance of Youth. I'm not the kind of woman that would settle down with one person, while Joseph-kun had all the loyalty of a wolf. Are you disappointed?"

Marie took a minute to think herself as Midnight finished cleaning the dirt out of her ears. When she was done cleaning, Marie said, "I'm not disappointed in you, Mom. I admit, I didn't think you and Dad were exactly soulmates, when I seriously thought about it. But…" Midnight nodded, "It still hurts. I know. But life is never as happy as we wish it was." "Yeah," Marie agreed, and the two of them headed down to the lounge area of the dorms.

Joey and Eri had fallen asleep on the couch, and the U.A. students all let them rest. Midnight lifted her adopted son up and left after giving Marie a kiss on her forehead. Marie decided on having a hasty dinner of leftovers and sat down on the couch to relax for the night, when she heard an odd sound coming form the TV. "What was that!?" she asked as the other students all gasped.

"The Hell? What's the shithead Shigaraki doing on TV!?" Bakugou cursed and tried changing the channel. "Say what!?" Marie yelled. "Do not bother changing the channel," the leader of the League of Villains said, "My allies have control over all stations for the time being and are coming to you live on all social media. To those of you who don't know, I am Shigaraki Tomura, the leader of the League of Villains. I will speak my mind, and then I will leave you all to your lives.

"I chose the name 'League of Villains' because I knew that we would be perceived as Villains, just as those who fought for freedom were called 'rebels'. Just as those who fought foreign invasions were called 'terrorists' and 'fanatics'. If fighting for true freedom makes one a Villain, it is a label I and my comrades happily accept. We have all seen the rot that has grown beneath the shining veneer of Hero Society, laziness, dependence, selfishness, and corruption are destroying our country. Those who we most depend on to protect us, do not deserve our praise. They are but strutting peacocks, showoffs, and selfish cowards who only fight for their own glory.

"And even at their job of protecting the people, they fail. Now that All Might is gone, the Heroes are too weak to keep you safe. The Police are too weak to make up for their failures. And if you dare protect yourself and your children from those that would harm you, you too will be labeled a 'Villain'. There was once a time when the People could protect themselves, not rely on others who may arrive too late to help. And yet, these Heroes who we are forced to rely on are only called this because of a piece of paper. That is all. A little. Piece. Of Paper decides who is 'Hero' and 'Villain'. Is that how weak you are, that mere paper decides your destiny? If so, then go on with your life of dependency and cower in the corner when your life is on the line. But, if you are stronger than that, then come, join us, and help us to change this society.

"Like a purifying fire, we will destroy this weak society, and build a stronger, better one in its place. That is all. Good night," Shigaraki Tomura said. Marie then heard the sound of everyone gasping and asked, "What happened!?" The TV returned to normal and Momo answered, "He destroyed the entire studio! He just waved his hands, and suddenly the entire building was dust!" "The bastard's power has grown," Bakugou growled. "This isn't good, there are going to be a lot more Villains out there now," Midoriya said shakily.

"Fuck that!" Marie yelled. "That dickhead doesn't know shit about what he's talking about, and most people know he's full of shit! Being a Hero is more than what a piece of paper says, right!?" The other students all made sounds of agreement and Bakugou even said, "Damn straight it's more than that! It's about your sweat, and blood, and beating down any Villains that try shit!" Iida chimed in, "Being a Hero is about protecting the innocent and society as a whole! That always has been, and will always be as long as we keep that in our hearts!" Everyone agreed then, and Midoriya finally spoke, "No matter what happens, we won't stop being Heroes! We'll always Go Beyond and keep on fighting for Peace! The League of Villains may get stronger, but we'll get stronger too!" All the students yelled out in agreement then, and Kirishima raised his fist, "No matter what, we'll always Go Beyond, PLUS ULTRA!"

"PLUS ULTRA! PLUS ULTRA! PLUS ULTRA!" So the Students of Class 2-A cheered, psyching themselves up for the coming challenges. Iida managed to get everyone to calm down after they yelled themselves hoarse, "Now, everyone get back to your rooms! We will need to be well rested for the days ahead of us!"