Chapter 18: The Siege of Hero Cor Part 4

An explosion of flame successfully breaks through the wall of sand conjured by the minor villain.

Patting the flames out on his arm, the villain takes off with the last remaining members of his gang who are still conscious.

"Can you stand"?

The small-eyed woman in the expensive dark gray suit with a matching skirt flinches like the words have slapped her across the face.

Quivering, she looks up to the face of the man she has seen on television.

The hero whose quirk is suitably named Hellflame stands above her with his hand held out.

"I-I think so," meeting his massive hand with hers she is surprised to be pulled abruptly to her feet.

"Then I need you to follow this road. Head for the elementary school that's about ten blocks that way", Endeavor explains as he points in the direction of said school.

"The police have quarantined off a safe zone for civilians. They'll be medical personnel who can make sure you're alright".

"W-w-what, you're not coming with me," the woman wails as Endeavor lets go of her hand and turns off to continue walking.

Much to her dismay, Japan's number two hero doesn't even bother to reply.

Ten minutes ago, Izuku Midoriya's call had come across the emergency broadcast system for all heroes in Kyoto to hear.

In response, Endeavor had immediately abandoned his original plan of letting All Might manage Hero Cor's defense.

Endeavor had, of course, known that the students would be taking the tour of Hero Cor today. It had been the reason he'd volunteered to patrol, in hopes he wouldn't have to deal with the children.

He'd never been good with kids.

When he heard the voice of Izuku Midoriya asking for help, Endeavor couldn't help but picture the face of his own son.

Then there was the fact that Izuku Midoriya seemed to have gathered intel that the villains were after a Kaito Aizawa.

Donned in his navy-blue bodysuit, white gauntlets, and flames emitted from his quirk that engulfed his boots, formed pauldrons on his shoulders, an X across his chest, the mask that encircled his eyes and makes up facial hair. Endeavor walks with his crimson hair gleaming in the early evening sun.

"Put your faith in me, Kaito Aizawa and Izuku Midoriya. On my honor, you will be saved".

*Ten Minutes Ago*

"Detroit Smash," All Might roars as he slams his fist into the translucent barrier conjured by the villain just in time before it would slam against her.

Jumping back, All Might runs short on breath from the continuous fight between him and the villainess with her molting feathers and dark eyes.

"I have to admit All Might. Your stamina is quite impressive", she compliments as she clenches her fists and readies her next attack, "but like most men, it appears you'll disappoint me."

"And you're full of surprises," All Might responds in shock when he barely jumps away as she slams into the ground with her own punch.

"Oh, don't act like you didn't see this coming old man," extending her palm, All Might cringes as her skin rips apart and creates two extra fingers on her right hand.

"Oblivion take you," an eye split opens on her palm before conjuring a black orb that launches at All Might.

Making direct contact with All Might's stomach, the number one hero does all he can not to roar in pain as the orb pushes him across the ground despite his pressed in heel.

"It's as if punched me with my own strength," the number one hero thinks.

All his life, he's wondered how it felt for an ordinary person to be hit by a car. The way this orb hit him, All Might felt as if he now knew the answer to how that felt.

Seemingly evaporating just as quickly as it appeared, the orb vanishes, and All Might collapses to his knees. Spitting up blood, the number one hero realizes how much this fight was taking out of him.

His impeccable uniform, now torn and his body covered in cuts, the number one hero looks murderous as he meets the eyes of the villainess.

"How is it possible you have more than one quirk"?

Leaning against a turned over lunch table, Kaito looks at his purple ankle and wonders how much longer Calvin will need.

During the fight, Calvin had covertly grown small insect-like legs and moved Kaito far enough away his chance of being noticed was severely lessened. Afterward, though, he told Kaito that they couldn't worry about a broken ankle right now, Calvin would try to do something.

Kaito had a reasonably good idea what his companion was going to do, so he just went ahead and let Calvin get to work.

Meanwhile, he was trying to spot any form of water he could drink and trying to stay out of the sight of the villainess.

"How is it possible you have more than one quirk" Kaito hears All Might ask.

Looking over his shoulder and the table, Kaito shudders at the sight of his newly christened godfather looking so battered.

"This isn't possible. He is the number one hero. He is this world's goddamn Superman. But even Superman was killed at least once", Kaito's traitorous mind brings up.

Whatever Calvin is doing, he needs to do it quickly.

Kaito needs to get in the game and try to help All Might. Even if all he could do was distract, it would be better than nothing.

Laughing maniacally with her head leaned back, the villainess responds, "Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to see this look on your face"?

"Fine, if you won't tell me willingly," All Might clenches his muscles, and Kaito can't help but be curious at the steam that seems to emit from All Might's body, "I'll force you to tell me."

With her seven-fingered hand, the villainess stops All Might's charge easily by grabbing his fist.

"You cannot defeat me," the villainess roars as her bloodshot eyes widen, showing the dark veins in them, and her hair rips around from her own dark steam that emits from her body.

"I have ravaged empires and slew the heroes of old," squeezing All Might's fist, she smirks as he cringes in pain and outright smiles as she breaks his hand.

"Stop it," Kaito grumbles as he clenches his fist and feels an anxious energy rise in him.

"I have been given power far beyond your meager comprehension," with a flick of her wrist, All Might roars as his wrist snaps.

"Leave him alone"!

Turning away from All Might, the villainess is shocked to see the prey they had all come for, standing not thirty feet from her and All Might.

"I found you," crazed eyes lock onto Kaito Aizawa as she sends a telepathic message to Muscular of what she is seeing.

If her senses are correct, which they always are, the villain wanting to prove himself will be here soon.

But her senses can't detect everything, and sometimes the mistress of darkness gets distracted.

The moment she had looked away, All Might's eyes widened as the once impossibly strong hand, capable of breaking his own, weakened considerably. But that's when he understood.

For the duration of the fight, he had suspicions of who she was, but this proved it.

In All for One's chambers, All Might had found a tapestry that depicted All for One's history and his founding of his greatest lieutenants villains who were titans among fleas and the legacy of their master's will.

Upon that tapestry, the lieutenants were symbolized by animals, and it was clear All Might was now in the presence of the raven. All for One's chief of lieutenants and rumored to have been his lover.

Now still held by her strength that amounts to just slightly stronger than the average person, All Might understands how she could stand up to him.

"You're an illusionist," All Might chuckles despite the pain.

Eyes widening and body tightening in fear, the villainess turns to All Might just as his non-broken left fist smashes into the villainess's face.

She soars through the air but extends black wings of smoke that allow her to land gently as she cradles her face with her hands.

Only by summoning a barrier at the last second had she escaped the attack without a broken jaw.

"It appears that was a rather costly distraction that may just grow to have been worth it in the end," her voice is steady as she tries to hide her building rage. For despite knowing their goal was at last within her grasp and despite having broken the right hand and wrist of the number one hero, it was All Might who now had the advantage.

He didn't even bother announcing his attack as he lunged forward with his left first ready to strike but with the elegance of a dancer against him, he never could've hoped to hit her.

Though her illusion made her appear stronger than him, she still had her strengths and knew how to exploit her enemies' weaknesses. With a cruel finger, she grew her nail to the size of a butcher knife before slamming its point into the rib cage of the number one hero.

Grunting in pain, he jerks his hands to pull out the nail and grab onto the villainous. With a simple flick of her finger, the nail breaks, and she jumps back before he can catch her.

"So close now," she says with a wicked smile as she closes her eyes to focus more on the pounding Muscular who is charging and close enough that she can hear his distant rampage.

"Soon, Kaito Aizawa will be dead, and if you're lucky enough, you may survive long enough to see our exit."

With the nail now out, All might grips his side with his left hand and snarls.

"I will crush your skull between my fingers before I let you touch him"!

"Ooh, how violent! Wouldn't that constitute a break of the hero oath number one hero"?

"Shut up," All Might roars as he picks up a chunk of broken concrete and chucks it at the villainous.

"You will have to do-" she taunts as she dodges the concrete only to be slammed in the face by All Might's gargantuan but broken fist.

When she'd dodged the concrete, she'd done so she'd still be in a position to defend herself if he chose to come at her with his unbroken left fist. But she underestimated the lengths he was willing to go to.

Now with a broken jaw and an impossibly loud ringing in her ears, the villainous was on the group underneath the full weight of the nearly six-hundred-pound hero.

"It appears your wings have been clipped mighty raven," All Might taunted despite his flinching at the amount of pain that punch brought him.

"Young Kaito, where are you," All Might asked, looking up from the villain with a small smile knowing the immediate threat against Kaito was gone. At least that's what he thought.

When he looked at Kaito, he did so with terror in his eyes as the charging behemoth bounded through the halls. Each bound a tremor blasts, and the walls themselves crumble as they cannot contain his full muscular form.

"Kaito run," All Might roars as he goes to jump away from the villainous, only to be grabbed by little claws that grow from her skin as she looks at him with wicked eyes.

"Say goodbye All Might. We have won".

At All Might's order, Kaito turned from the fight he believed was over to see the form of red muscle charging at him as if he was a kid who'd carelessly wandered onto the tracks.

It takes him but half a second to realize that this train is coming to kill him, and despite his injuries, he rolls as fast as he can out of the way.

"Calvin, I need you now," Kaito roars as Muscular crashes past and over the injured boy.

Slamming his heels into the ground to stop his momentum, Muscular decreases his muscles' size to make it easier to pivot to face Kaito.

"So, you're the little shit I've got to kill," in his own way, Muscular greets Kaito with a wicked grin.

Though he has killed many before, this is the first one that brings chills of excitement up his back and arms in a way he's never felt before, and the villain realizes that he was right to sign up with his group. If only for this one moment of joy.

"Kaito," All might roars in terror as he tries in vain to pull from the raven who has become one with the concrete itself and holds him in place despite her broken jaw.

"Goodbye, Kaito Aizawa! I'll make sure to tell your dear old dad that it was all his fault you died", Muscular taunts as he jumps over to grind Kaito into paste.

Calvin pops out of Kaito in time to see the behemoth lunging towards them and quickly grows blades to cut some of the muscle fiber to maybe make the villain back off for just a moment.

"Leave him alone," a male voice is heard, and Kaito turns just in time to see Water Hose before each of them open their hands and blast water to send Muscular hurdling towards and crashing into a column.

"W-Water Hose," Kaito cries out with tears in his eyes.

"Kaito, you need to move," Calvin declares, and Kaito realizes that most of the pain in his ankle is gone.

"Oh! Right", and the boy does just that as he jumps to his feet and runs for Water Hose to put the professionals between the villain and him.

Having some knowledge of how his quirk works, the wife Water Hose douses Kaito with some water as he passes them.

"Don't go too far! There are other villains here other than these two", the wife orders before turning to see Muscular slowly getting up.

"Let's not give him the chance to charge," the husband advises.

"Right," the wife concurs before both blast him with water again, but this time in a more continuous fashion.

"No. This isn't how it's supposed to end", Muscular groans in pain as he looks at the blood showing through his ripped white tank top and the gash caused by the water pressure. Being blasted with another round of water, he raises his arm and expands the muscle to act as a shield.

"Why is it heroes are allowed to serve violence as long as it's for the greater good? Why is it they wouldn't permit me to fight because I failed a damn psychological evaluation", Muscular thinks as he forces his muscles to grow more and more and more.

"It's not fair," the villain roars as his muscles grow beyond any size before, and he kicks off the column. Breaking it in the process and causing some of the cafeteria's upper floors to collapse on where All Might and the raven are.

"You fool," she thinks as she wonders if he genuinely should've ever been offered to one of them.

Charging with his full strength and speed, Muscular blasts like a bullet ready to kill his target despite all opposition.

And despite them increasing their pressure to maximum yield, Water Hose both realize that they're lucky to have caught him off guard.

With only one way out, the wife stops her blast before turning to Kaito, looking him right in the eyes with a strained smile, and ordering only, "Run," before blasting him dead center.

"What's she doing? Why would she hit me with her quirk" Kaito's mind races as he stares back with wide eyes.

Calvin's mind doesn't need to race. For the alien looks down at the water as he begins absorbing it and uses it to grow the same tentacles grown on the colony to carry Kaito for safety. With the water still hitting them in mid-air, Calvin uses the tentacles to grab the walls and climbs up to the first balcony he sees.

Calvin goes fast, so Kaito won't have to see this, but he isn't fast enough.

For like the train to the child, Water Hose is tackled hard. Muscular throws the husband to the wall and squishes him beneath hundreds of pounds of muscle, killing him instantly. The wife is grabbed from behind before being slammed down to the ground, where her head contacts pieces of broken concrete, and her head rests at a most unnatural angle.

Unbeknownst to Calvin or the now free and charging All Might, Kaito had seen it all.

If only Kaito hadn't revealed himself and let the villains know where he was.

If only All Might had been able to realize sooner that the raven had an illusion quirk.

If only things were different.

But today, things wouldn't be different, and on July 24th, Silver Age 132, Kaito would turn thirteen, and the heroes Water Hose would face a tragic end in defense of his life.

Disclaimer: I do not own the original characters, storyline, or themes of My Hero Academia, Superman/DC, or Life (2017).