The Okami Hero: Amaterasu
Arc 5: Eight Serpents
Chapter 9: Fall of Overhaul
[Tuesday19thApril 2281]
[Shie Hassaikai Compound, Corusantu]
Izumi and Eri were waiting nervously in the bathroom for the Heroes to arrive. Izumi had been forced to hang up the phone after she'd run out of things to inform the Police Chief, so now all she could do was wait for her chance. The knowledge that an entire army of Police and Heroes would soon arrive was a huge relief, and the fact that All-Might and Hawks were leading them only made it better! Victory was assured with them around! But the Shie Hassaikai were crafty and would no doubt use her and Eri as bargaining chips or hostages, so Izumi would need to be ready to fight.
Of course, despite having to wait to be rescued, Izumi still wanted to do something special before she left… something to make the Shie Hassaikai rue the day they'd hurt Eri! Izumi had rethought her intentions on going after Orochi though… as much as it hurt to leave the Snake Demon alive, Izumi didn't think she could risk taking on the Demon General without at least the same Brush Gods her previous life had (she was missing three of them) AND a full Astral Resurrection. Izumi was also weakened from Overhaul's daily torture, her own amputation of her foot, and the heavy use of Rejuvenation to heal her after both those ordeals, so fighting Orochi under all those restrictions and disadvantages would likely just get her killed, especially if she had to split her attention to protect Eri. Orochi would have to be ignored for now… it was better to live and fight another day than to risk everything on a miniscule chance of victory.
A short time later, when a huge tremor shook the compound, Izumi knew the time had come.
"The Heroes are here! We'll be safe now, Eri!" Izumi grinned.
Eri giggled excitedly; "You were right! Free! We'll get to be free!"
"That's right! But before that, we'll need to be ready to fight the bad guys! I've got a plan; do you want to help?" Izumi asked, a secretive smile on her face.
Eri nodded quickly; "I want to help, 'Zumi! What should I do?"
Izumi grinned; Eri was so cute and eager! "I don't want to give away that I've got my quirk, so quickly run out there and throw a sheet over the camera. Then we can leave without them finding out."
"Okay!" Eri chirped, immediately running from the bathroom and into the bedroom. She grabbed the sheet of the bed and with a little hop, threw the sheet up and over the camera hanging from the ceiling. "It's done, 'Zumi!" Eri called.
Izumi peeked her head out and saw Eri's handiwork before opening the bathroom door and walking out. "Excellent work, my little sidekick! I'm probably going to be fighting soon, so I want you to carry Ishiko around for me, so I can focus fully on fighting." Izumi said, gently picking up her Poncle Friend and depositing her in Eri's small hands.
"Ishiko is small, but she's smart! If she tells you to do something, then please listen to her. She'll help keep you safe while I'm fighting, and you'll help keep her safe too, okay?"
Eri looked down at Ishiko, who grinned up at her from her palms. The little girl's eyes were shining reverently; "I'll protect her and do what she says!" the child promised.
"Me too. I'll make sure to keep Eri safe and out of danger, so you can focus on kicking Yakuza and Demon Butt!" Ishiko grinned, waving her tiny katana around.
Izumi smiled happily; "Great! Now, I'm still really low on energy, so we need to arm and refuel ourselves so we can fight better! We're going to the kitchens!"
During the last two days, Izumi had paid special attention to the positions of cameras while she was being escorted around the compound. Overhaul had mentioned the gang weren't super wealthy, and so she doubted there was security cameras covering every nook and cranny. Most were limited to important areas like the lab or Eri's room, but there wasn't one in the kitchen any more (an unintended bonus to Izumi's little Demon scare) or in any of the corridors between the kitchen and Eri's room, so Izumi and Eri could sneak there undetected.
"So we're gonna get food to make you strong again. But how are we gonna get out? The door is locked." Eri asked.
Izumi answered by smiling and walking over to the door. She very carefully drew straight black lines around the lock and door handle with her ink, then with a snap of her fingers, she activated Power Slash in each line and effortlessly cut the door around the lock and handle, allowing Izumi to simply nudge it open, leaving the locked part still attached to the door frame. Eri gasped and clapped in amazement, while Izumi quickly checked to ensure the coast was clear, then held the door open for Eri with a show bow.
"After you, Milady!" she grinned. Eri giggled and scurried over to Izumi's side and took her hand. Even though it had sharp and scary claws now, Eri thought Izumi's hand was as warm and comforting as ever.
The girls carefully made their way to the kitchen, managing to avoid running into any Yakuza on the way… most of the thugs were likely on the upper levels, fighting the Heroes. They did encounter a few Demons though, namely some Red and Green Imps, but Izumi effortlessly dispatched them with a single Power Slash, catching them unaware. That reduced Orochi's army from 87 to 82! Once in the kitchen, Izumi quickly scarfed down some of the leftover apple pie to recover some energy, then handed the rest to Eri while she armed herself with a kitchen knife and a meat tenderiser. Eri ate her fill of the pie and abandoned the rest, knowing she could make another one in the future now that Izumi had taught her. With food reenergising them (though not as much as Doi Nazo's Holy Bone Bites) and weapons to save Izumi some use of her power, the two snuck back the way they came.
As the girls were returning, they turned a corner and almost bumped into Hekiji Tengai, who was running from a lower part of the base to the upper parts, likely intent on helping his fellows hold off the Heroes. Izumi and Tengai froze as they locked eyes, while Eri put on a brave face and held the scalpel out in front of her.
The girls and the Yakuza Monk stared at each other for a few seconds, neither saying a word. Tengai saw Izumi's Demi-God Form and the various weapons she'd gathered from the kitchen, as well as the (slightly bloody) Cursed Restraint hanging from her makeshift belt, but none of them seemed to bother him. He just focused on Izumi's face for a moment.
The odd stare off was interrupted by Tengai's phone ringing, and the man answered it quickly and put it on speaker phone.
"Damn it Tengai, where are you! We need all the Bullets to get to the upper levels before All-Might finishes wrecking the grunts! What's holding you!?" shouted an unfamiliar voice. It must have been one of the Bullets Izumi hadn't met.
Tengai, still looking Izumi in the eye, spoke into the phone; "Apologies Hojo. I was delayed by some Demons. I'm on my way." he said, then hung up the phone.
Izumi and Eri looked at him with confusion, while Tengai put his hands together in prayer and bowed; "Godspeed to you, Okami Amaterasu." he said, then turned on his heel and kept running, acting as if he'd never seen them.
Izumi and Eri watched him go, while Ishiko hummed; "What an odd fellow."
The Wolf Girl nodded. She wondered if it was guilt that made Tengai cover for them, or if perhaps he wasn't as bad a person as the rest of the Yakuza. Either way it didn't matter; Tengai would likely be caught and punished for his crimes like all the other Yakuza… still, Izumi offered a silent prayer that the Police and Heroes would at least be a little gentler with him. Then the girls continued on their way.
That was when they had their second encounter with the Yakuza since escaping.
As she turned the corner, Izumi grinned like a Cheshire Cat; they'd arrived just in time to see Chronostasis arrive at the door to Eri's room, which Izumi had closed it to make it look like it was still locked. Unless one looked closely at the lock to see the lines from the cuts, one wouldn't be able to tell on sight that it was broken. Silently, Izumi lifted Eri onto her back, then crept up behind the man just as he discovered the door was now broken.
"What the hell!?" Chrono gasped as the door swung open to reveal a broken lock and an empty room. Izumi got as close as physically possible and took a deep breath.
"Mind your language!" Izumi roared in his ear.
Chrono screamed in shock and spun around, tumbling back a step as he did so. Izumi capitalised on this by punching him in the face with her clawed fist and sweeping his legs out from under him with her Divine Retribution. These two blows had the combined effect of knocking Chronostasis back so much that he actually flipped through the air and landed face down on the ground, his mask and hood flying off from the impact.
The man groaned as Izumi slammed her clawed foot onto his back. She took the opportunity to get a good look at his uncovered face. His features were sharp and his grey eyes were thin and narrow. His hair was silvery white and arranged into arrow shaped strands.
"Hmm, so that's what you look like. Sorry Chronostasis, but this is the end. I'll be taking Eri with me when I leave, but thank you for the hospitality." Izumi said mockingly, resisting the urge to dig her toe claws in and then grind her foot deep into his flesh.
"H-How!? How did you get out of the restraint!?" Chrono demanded, wincing with every word.
"Painfully." Izumi growled, "But you don't need to worry about it. You'll get to experience these restraints too, once you're in jail." she said, tapping the black restraint that hung from the makeshift belt at her waist.
Chrono grit his teeth in fury as he went still. For a moment, Izumi thought he was giving up, but then one of his arrow-like strands of hair suddenly went rigid and extended upward, aiming to stab Izumi. The girl stepped of Chrono's back and blocked the attack with her mirror. The hair was as sharp as a blade, but thankfully it couldn't get through Izumi's Divine Retribution, allowing her to immediately grab the extended hair and yank it hard, making Chrono cry out.
"My mirror's iron is tougher than most blades. You'll need to do better." Izumi growled, "Still, I'll admit to being shocked. Hair Blades aren't what I'd associate with a name like Chronostasis… but then again, these arrows do look kind of like clock hands. I'd wager they have a time-related effect if they cut you, right? A shame I won't find out."
"Kai will get you for this… you and Eri will both suffer worse than ever before for what you've done!" Chrono yelled.
Izumi narrowed her eyes; "What we've done? What about what YOU'VE done. I'm going to repay you Yakuza Scum for what you did to Eri and I! I'll think I'll start with knocking you out and stripping your clothes."
"W-What!?" Chrono cried.
"Night Night, Chronostasis." Izumi chimed, then swung the wooden meat tenderiser into his head. It was a good hard strike that knocked him right out… though it did also break the little wooden mallet. Once Chronostasis was unconscious, Izumi took a few seconds to shave his head as best she could with the kitchen knife… it was horribly ugly and patchy, but at least he wouldn't be able to use his quirk if he woke up before he was captured.
Eri found his new look very funny "He looks silly! Why do you want to take his clothes though?" she asked, watching her saviour pulling off the downed man's coat.
"I want the key to this restraint; it could be useful. Plus I can tie him up with his own clothes." Izumi grinned.
She quickly stripped Chronostasis to his boxers and searched his pockets. He had a knife and a pistol, which would be highly useful and slid comfortably into her makeshift belt, as well as the key to the restraint. Izumi smiled triumphantly as she used the key to open the restraint band and handed it to Eri and the key to Ishiko. "Hold on to that; I have a plan!" she said. Then she gagged Chrono with his own socks and bound his arms and legs together with the sleeves of his rain coat, before dumping him in the wardrobe in Eri's room.
"This is going better than I could have hoped." Izumi smiled, "Now we need to go to the lab."
Eri paled a little; "W-Why do we have to go there?"
"I have a nasty surprise for Overhaul." Izumi said. However, even as she answered, she could see how scared Eri looked, "If you're afraid, then we don't have to go. I won't leave you alone or force you to go back there no matter what."
"N-No… it's okay. I want to help with your plans!" Eri said bravely.
"Good girl! Now, this is what I want you to do..." Izumi said, then stooped to whisper the plan in Eri's ear. When she was done, Eri's eyes were sparkling with both amazement and amusement.
"I'll do it! We'll make the bad man pay!" Eri declared.
"Indeed we will! It's the job of Heroes to punish Villains! Now let's go, my little sidekick!" Izumi said, before leading Eri to the labs. Overhaul was sure to show up there, if he hadn't already, and that would be the moment Izumi and Eri got their ultimate revenge against the man.
By the sounds echoing through the base, it sounded like the Heroes and Police were making short work of the Yakuza on the floors above. Izumi wasn't sure exactly how many floors there were, but she thought there was at least three or four in total. It wouldn't take long for them to clear the place out with All-Might and Hawks leading them, especially if Hawks was in charge of culling the Demons. Izumi wondered how All-Might came to be in the team sent to rescue them; she doubted he was called in from elsewhere for a job like this.
As Izumi was thinking this, she managed to get to the Lab along with Eri, though not without slaying another group of Demons entirely made up of Green Imps, and reducing the Demon Horde down to 77. There were no cameras in the halls leading to the lab either, but unlike the kitchen, there definitely were some in the lab itself, so Izumi had Eri wait outside while she went in and quickly crushed them with her mirror. Once the camera was destroyed, Izumi called Eri into the room.
"We're in luck! Overhaul hasn't shown up yet. He probably got slowed down by the fighting. We'll go with Plan A, Eri!" Izumi told the child.
Eri nodded and made a cute little salute, before running and opening an unlocked cabinet in the corner of the room. The little girl carefully slid into it, pushing aside the unused machines contained within so she had enough room to stand comfortably inside, then gave Izumi a thumbs up. Izumi closed the cabinet doors, leaving just the slightest crack so Eri could see what was happening outside, but couldn't be seen by anyone looking at the cabinet. Once Eri was hidden away, Izumi walked over to the two chairs that she and Eri had been strapped into over the last few days, and with a growl, she shredded her claws through the wood, padding and faux leather of Eri's chair, quickly reducing the thing to nothing but glorified Firewood. It would never be used to hurt Eri again.
Next, Izumi ripped the restraints off her own chair and spun it around so it faced the open door, before lounging in it with her legs crossed and her hands behind her head. Now she just had to wait for Overhaul.
She wasn't waiting long.
Five minutes after the girls arrived in the lab, Overhaul came running in, mildly out of breath and with angry red blotches on the exposed parts of his arms and face that made it look as if he'd had some kind of allergic reaction. The man walked in and locked eyes on Izumi, his golden eyes narrowing furiously as they met her clear emerald ones.
"You." he spat.
"Me." Izumi smirked. With Overhaul's quirk, Izumi wasn't 100% confident she could beat him in a straight fight, so instead she wanted to rely on mind games and underhanded tactics to win. When sparring with Katsuki, Izumi always managed to do a little better against him when he was angered (though not much, considering Katsuki was always angry in some regard), but Overhaul seemed like someone who acted rashly when he lost his composure.
So that was what Izumi was aiming for. All she needed was some help from the Hanagami Monkeys to feed her lies to tell; no one was better at infuriating people than those three.
"I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of redecorating a little. Two of the same chair was messing up your Feng Shui." Izumi said flippantly, a playful smirk on her face.
Overhaul's right eye twitched and he raised his hand to scratch at another angry red mark; "It will be replaced later. You will pay for it, along with Eri. Where is she anyway? And where is Chrono? How did you get out of your restraints?" he demanded.
"Chrono was kind enough to let me go, after I removed a few bits." Izumi lied, playing with the kitchen knife she'd stolen, "On a side note, the sheets in Eri's room are a bit bloody now."
"You tortured him!?" Overhaul screamed.
Izumi laughed coldly; "What can I say? I learned from the best." she replied, pointing the knife at Overhaul. "Sadly, I don't think you'll be able to do much with the samples I took from him. You took so long to show up here, that I had to send both Chrono and Eri away."
"What!?" Overhaul roared, completely enraged now; "What do you mean you sent them away!?"
"You're a fool, Chisaki." Izumi grinned, "You knew I had the power to take quirks, and knew I had multiple different powers, but all you cared about was my healing. You had Nemoto in the room to force me to tell you all about them, but you didn't. It's thanks to that that I was able to smuggle my phone into my room and call the police a short while ago. You didn't know about that either, or that my Poncle friend Ishiko was here the whole time." Izumi grinned wider while Overhaul looked like he was about to bust a blood vessel. "One of my borrowed quirks lets me transport people short distances. I sent Chronostasis and Eri up to the surface; they're in the hands of the police now."
"You little brat!" Overhaul roared, rushing forward with his hands outstretched. His quirk activated and destroyed the gloves he was wearing as he swung the open palms at Izumi. Izumi flipped backward off the chair, using her strong legs to spring her back and leaving Overhaul to touch the now unoccupied chair, destroying it.
Izumi landed easily behind the now ruined chair and grinned manically; "You'll never see them again!" she taunted, sticking out her tongue.
"I'm going to tear you apart!" Overhaul bellowed, running at Izumi again.
Izumi ran forward, then used her small size to duck and slide between Overhaul's legs, barely evading his hands, which instead made contact with the floor. The tiled floor suddenly transformed into spikes and shot up beneath Izumi, knocking her off balance but thankfully not piercing her thanks to her quickly summoning her Mirror back between herself and the spikes. Overhaul tried to use her moment of instability to turn and grab her directly, but Izumi jumped and span in the air, smacking him hard with her tail and dazing him for a second. She went to grab his leg, but Overhaul moved just in time to ensure Izumi only managed to sink her claws into the right leg of his pants, ripping away all the fabric below the knee. Tossing the pants leg away, Izumi pushed her attack, keeping flow and swiping at Overhaul's legs with her claws, while Overhaul dived over her and touched the ground as he landed.
Stone spikes shot out and managed to graze Izumi's side before she could block with her mirror, spilling her blood in the process. However, at the same instant, Izumi had stretched her leg back and scratched Overhaul's left leg with her clawed feet, drawing blood from him too. The two backed off a step, panting lightly and watching the other carefully while discreetly checking their own wounds. Izumi allowed herself to use a tiny bit of Rejuvenation to close the wound, but not heal it all the way, while Overhaul put his hand against his cut leg and destroyed and reassembled his leg, completely healing the wound.
Izumi chuckled wryly; "Seriously? We both draw first blood at the same time, then heal it a second later? My chances of winning are pretty slim if I can't risk even a single touch. If I was as evil as you, I could kill you instantly with a Power Slash. Being the better person is a disadvantage when fighting Villains."
Overhaul nodded grimly; "That's the first smart thing you've said all day. You can surrender now and take your deserved punishment, or you can fight and prolong your suffering… I may have lost Eri, but it won't be difficult to kidnap some other brat to use as leverage to keep you obedient. My plans will be delayed, not prevented."
Izumi smirked; "You sure about that? You don't seem to have noticed..." she tapped her forehead with one claw; "My forehead look a little different from before, right?"
Overhaul frowned beneath his mask, focusing Izumi's head. Her forehead was pale and glistening slightly with sweat, but there was no sign of Rewind's signature horn. "You returned Rewind to Eri…!?"
"Not quite." Izumi lied, "I actually gave it to Chrono. That way, even if you get him back, you'll need to torture your own friend to achieve your goals. Sorry Chisaki, but I'm no use to you now, so I can't risk surrendering."
Overhaul released a primal scream of rage and ran at Izumi again. Izumi smirked and activated Storage to fling her current stored object into Overhaul's face. Overhaul easily caught it, before suddenly freezing it as he realised what it was…
"What the fu-!?" Overhaul began to scream, flinging the appendage away from him in disgust and shock. In that instant, Izumi ran forward and grabbed one of his wrists, then grabbed the other just as Overhaul recovered and swung it at her. Overhaul struggled viciously, but he couldn't pull free from Izumi's Demi-God strength, which made her roughly as strong as the average MMA fighter.
"Got you." Izumi smirked.
"You little bitch! You cut off your own foot!?" Overhaul spat.
Izumi shrugged, still holding each of Overhaul's wrists tightly, "I needed to get the Quirk Suppressor off some how."
"You lied… you didn't force Chrono to release you!" the man said, struggling harder in his rage.
"Yup, sorry about that. I hate lying, but there was too much at stake to let my hang ups limit my options." Izumi said, bowing her head a bit. She actually did feel a little bad about lying, but that was more her strict morals over any real guilt towards Overhaul.
"So what now!?" Overhaul demanded; "You can't let go of my wrists without being destroyed, and you can't fight me while holding them! We're in a stalemate!"
Izumi smiled coyly; "Oh really?" she said, her Wolf Tail wagging happily behind her, "I don't need my hands to use my techniques, they just make it easier for me to control and direct them. Now let's see here… I could Power Slash your limbs off, but that would be too cruel even for you. I could use a Cherry Bomb and blow you to kingdom come, but again, that's a little too much, plus it might collapse this place on my head. Tying you up with Green Sprout would be pointless since you could just break free by overhauling my plants. Inferno would crisp you up nicely, but I don't have any fire to control… Hmm… Perhaps I should just go ahead and use Power Slash… if I aim carefully, I can just catch you with the edge of the slash, so the cuts aren't deep. What do you think?" she asked, smirking at Overhaul.
Overhaul's eyes narrowed; "I think that if I wasn't wearing this mask, I'd spit in your face!"
"Spit in my face? What an interesting idea! Don't mind if I borrow it, do you?" Izumi grinned, a dangerous gleam in her eye.
Overhaul glared hatefully at her; "Don't you dare!"
Izumi smiled infuriatingly and began clearing her throat, gathering up everything in her throat and mouth and pooling it in her cheeks, ready to be spat at Overhaul. The Yakuza Boss, already disgusted with simple skin contact with other humans, began to panic and shake his head in disgust, almost vomiting into his own mask as he saw Izumi's cheeks bulge with fluid. Then, with Overhaul cringing and desperately trying to pull away, Izumi spat the contents of her mouth directly into Overhaul's eyes.
It was not saliva or phlegm, however, but pitch black ink.
"What the hell!?" Overhaul cried, flailing blindly, "Are you a Squid now too!?"
Izumi giggled, then suddenly shouted "Now!"
Overhaul flinched and suddenly, there was a bang behind him as a door out of sight opened, then before he could do anything or tell what was coming towards him, he felt something click tightly around his ankle. The hands holding him suddenly pushed him away and he stumbled back. Quickly, he rubbed the ink from his eyes and looked up to see Izumi smirking down at him, with a panting and triumphantly smiling Eri beside her.
"What!?" Overhaul demanded, "You lied about her too!" then he noticed Eri had her horn back, "And her quirk! Has anything you've told me today been true!"
Izumi giggled and gave Eri a high five; "We played you from the beginning!" she said, pointing at Overhaul's right leg; the one with the pants torn off below the knee. Overhaul looked and his eyes widened; a very familiar black band was wrapped around it.
"The Quirk Suppressor!" Overhaul gasped.
"Yup! Eri played her role perfectly!" Izumi smiled, patting the little girl's head. Eri beamed proudly, remembering what Izumi had told her…
[A short time ago]
"I have a nasty surprise for Overhaul." Izumi said. However, even as she answered, she could see how scared Eri looked, "If you're afraid, then we don't have to go. I won't leave you alone or force you to go back there no matter what."
"N-No… it's okay. I want to help with your plans!" Eri said bravely.
"Good girl! Now, this is what I want you to do..." Izumi said, then stooped to whisper the plan in Eri's ear.
"Now that we've got the key from Chrono, I'm going to get that band around Overhaul's leg to make him quirkless. Then he won't be able to hurt us again. We'll go to the lab, and if he isn't there yet then you can hide in one of those cabinets; that'll be Plan A. If he is already there, then you wait in the hall; that's Plan B. I'll keep Overhaul distracted and make an opening for you, so when I shout "Now!" you run up to him and snap that quirk suppressor around his leg. He'll be completely helpless then, and we can use him as a hostage. We'll be able to escape no problem and meet up with the Heroes!" Izumi explained, "He'll have lost, and it'll be because of you! You'll be the one to beat him, Eri!"
When she was done, Eri's eyes were sparkling with both amazement and amusement.
"I'll do it! We'll make the bad man pay!" Eri declared.
[The Present]
Overhaul gaped as Izumi giddily explained the plan that took him down, as well as the plan that had allowed her to escape in the first place. "You smuggled your phone out with a Poncle, placed it in a box of tampons to hide it, then lied to steal and smuggle a scalpel to cut off your own leg and free yourself of the Quirk Suppressor… what the hell kind of willpower do you have!?"
"Quite a lot. I want to be a Hero that saves everyone with a smile, and that means I'll need to be ready to smile through any and all suffering I face! Your torture helped me prepare for it. Chrono wasn't expecting me to have my powers and to have already escaped, so it was easy to ambush him… and no, I didn't torture him at all, though I did give him an awful hair cut." Izumi said, carefully going over to her severed foot and storing it again before Eri took notice. "Once we got the key for the Quirk Suppressor from him, it was easy to form this plan; lure you here and create an opening for Eri to put the band on you. You never suspected she was right here, and never expected her to defy you so openly, so you let your guard down. All I had to do was rip your pants to expose enough skin for the band in an area that Eri could reach, then occupy your hands. Blinding you wasn't originally intended, but you gave me the suggestion and it proved helpful. If you had still been able to see, you might have kicked at Eri when you saw her coming."
Overhaul paled, all fight going out of him. He didn't carry any weapons, relying on his quirk to fight, which he no longer had. With her deadly wolf-like characteristics, Izumi was stronger and faster than him, as evidenced by her walking up to him and effortlessly wrapping his wrists and ankles together with the remnants of the leather straps from the chairs (no use wasting ink on Green Sprout to bind him when perfectly good leather was available). He was completely helpless against her.
Overhaul closed his eyes with a wince. "How!? How did you plan all this!? You should have been completely under my control! The experiments should have kept you docile, like they did Eri! What kind of person are you!?" he demanded, desperation flooding his voice.
Izumi shrugged; "A clever one I suppose. Mom always said I was as smart as I was stubborn. Truth be told, I'm not a great fighter; I prefer to fight smartly and catch my opponents with tricks and tactics. I don't have it in me to really put my all into a fight, because I hate the idea of hurting people..." her eyes suddenly flashed red, "But you… you did something so heinous that I almost forgot that. I hate you so much for what you did to Eri, that I actually wanted to kill you."
Overhaul flinched and tried to crawl backward as Izumi took a step towards him. "What are you doing!?" he growled, trying to sound brave. He was completely helpless and at Izumi's mercy… the mercy of someone he'd kidnapped, repeatedly threatened, ordered to be struck AND tortured… the mercy of a girl that openly admitted she wanted to kill him, and had the claws to do it. A girl who had already become a Demon once. Primal fear began to grip his heart and shake his composure.
"Forty Two. Do you know why that number is significant?" Izumi asked ominously, taking another step towards the captive man. Even Eri looked mildly scared of what Izumi might do.
"I don't!" Overhaul yelled; "Stay back!"
Izumi ignored him and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him so the tip of his mask was less than an inch from her face. "Forty Two is the number of scars you left on Eri's body."
Overhaul broke out into a cold sweat; "I-I…!"
"I thought it would be appropriate to do the same… to pay you back for what you did to her. But you did more than just cut her… you took her flesh and tried to use it as a weapon that would ruin countless lives, all while calling her a cursed child. You, Kai Chisaki, are no Villain or Yakuza… you're a Demon, just like Roku-Ju. It would serve you right if I were to carve out a pound of flesh for every scar you left on Eri's skin..." Izumi raised a single claw and pressed it gently against Overhaul's cheek, just hard enough for him to feel the sharpness without actually being cut.
The two stood like that for several seconds, Overhaul beginning to hyperventilate and the blotches on his skin growing larger and larger the longer Izumi touched him. Eri looked fearfully at Izumi, particularly her eyes. When Overhaul looked at her, his eyes were icy and yellow but Izumi had always been warm and green, making Eri think of the trees painted on her bedroom walls. But now? Now those green eyes were burning like flames, flickering between green and red.
"I-Izumi?" Eri whimpered. The last time Izumi had gotten red eyes, she'd been really sick afterwards. Eri didn't want her saviour to get sick again!
Izumi took a deep breath and released it slowly, before dropping Overhaul on his ass. "It's okay, Eri. I want to be a Hero, like All-Might, so I wouldn't do anything so cruel, even if he deserves it. I just wanted to scare him a little… to make him feel some of what he made you feel."
"You brat…!" Overhaul gasped, getting his breathing back under control, "You'll pay for this. One way or another, you'll pay!"
"Oh please, if you start monologuing, I'm actually going to scream. You've tortured me enough thank you very much! However, just because I'm not cruel enough to torture you back doesn't mean I'm going to let you get off so easily..." Izumi said, smirking down at the man. She turned to Eri; "Sweetheart, how about we play a game? One we won't be able to play normally."
"A game?" Eri asked, tilting her head.
"Yup! A real fun one to pass the time with while we wait for the Heroes to find us…" Izumi grinned and used her Power Slash to slice apart an IV Stand (it may have been metal, but it was also thin and hollow, so the Power Slash just barely sliced it in half). She took two pieces of the metal pole and weighed them carefully in her hands before handing the lighter piece to Eri. "You'll need this."
Eri looked at the short length of metal curiously, while Overhaul's eyes widened in fear. "How do we play?" Eri asked.
"Like this!" Izumi declared, smiling brilliantly as she took the other metal pole and smashed it into a computer monitor. The monitor shattered and fell off its stand, landing on the hard floor in a pile of broken glass and plastic.
"No! What are you doing!?" Overhaul yelled.
"Teaching Eri this new game! It's called "Smash Overhaul's Lab!" whoever breaks the most of his stuff wins!" Izumi laughed.
Eri's face lit up in understanding and she giggled as she swung her pole as hard as she could into a tray, sending surgical equipment and Petri Dishes crashing to the ground. She looked up at Izumi, who looked at the destruction appraisingly, then gave her a thumbs up; "That's ten points! Go nuts!" Izumi said, smashing another computer.
Eri began to laugh happily as she went crazy, destroying everything in reach with the pole. Overhaul screamed and shouted, demanding they stop while Izumi and Eri just kept giggling and breaking things, having a great time.
For Overhaul, this was a torture of another kind as he was forced to watch as all he had accomplished came literally crashing down around his ears. For Eri, this was a somewhat destructive form of therapy; this place was where she was hurt over and over, but now she was destroying it and feeling the grip this awful place had on her slip away. For Izumi, this was catharsis; pure and simple… a good way to relieve the stress of the last few days while getting some payback on Chisaki.
Izumi and Eri took particular pleasure in destroying the samples left over in the Lab. They poured the blood into the drain in the middle of the room, then Izumi used some matches (intended for lighting a Bunsen Burner) to produce flames she could manipulate with Inferno, before using those flames to incinerate the flesh samples. Ishiko watched all this while riding atop Eri's head, straddling her horn and shouting encouragements to the girl and advice on where to strike things to do the most damage.
By the time just about everything in the room had been dented beyond recognition or reduced entirely to pieces, Izumi and Eri were both panting, their cheeks rosy and aching from smiling so much. Eri didn't think she'd ever laughed or smiled so much! Then again, before meeting Izumi, she didn't think she'd laughed or smiled at all. Overhaul just sat there with his head down, unwilling to look at the ruins of his work.
"Well, I can't say for sure, but I think you win Eri." Izumi panted, catching her breath. She used her tail and the end of her pole to lazily sweep the glass and sharp objects away, so Eri wouldn't hurt her feet on them.
"We broke everything… he can't hurt anyone with it any more!" Eri cheered.
"Well almost everything. This is still intact… whatever it is." Izumi said, noticing a small grey case in a secret compartment of the wall that she'd busted open. Overhaul looked up just in time to see Izumi pick it up and open it, revealing a small glass vial filled with some kind of red liquid.
"No! Don't touch that! Leave it alone!" Overhaul suddenly demanded.
Izumi raised an eyebrow; "Why should I? This seems pretty important to you. Let's see; a red liquid in a vial, inside your labs… oh I get it, this is the prototype for your Quirk Destroyer Drug, right?"
Overhaul briefly averted his eyes, which was all Izumi needed to see; "I'm right, aren't I? Well then, I should definitely destroy this!" Izumi declared, pulling the vial out of the case and raising it high in the air, ready to throw it into the ground.
"Wait! Don't!" Overhaul begged, lunging forward only to fall due to his bound limbs.
Izumi paused; "Why should I? You tortured Eri and I to get this stuff! You took our flesh and blood, refining it into this drug! Why shouldn't I destroy it!"
Overhaul grit his teeth and swallowed his pride. That drug was the culmination of all his work, all his sacrifices… he couldn't let it be destroyed. "I'll give you anything you want, just don't destroy it."
Izumi scoffed; "Oh yeah? Like what? What do you have that you can give us? Can you take back Eri's pain? Can you take back her suffering and loneliness? There's nothing you can give us, and destroying this is what you deserve!" she raised her arm again.
"Wait!" Overhaul cried, "I can't do any of that but I can give you something good… you want to be a Hero, right? Well then I can give you my power! My Quirk; Overhaul!"
Izumi froze while Eri gasped and Ishiko almost fell off Eri's horn in shock. The three girls exchanged shocked looks, then turned back to Overhaul; "Are you serious!?" Izumi demanded.
"You know my goal, I was always going to give up my quirk eventually! I hate my power as much as all the others, so I'll let you take it. Swear you won't destroy that vial, and I'll give it to you." Overhaul bargained.
Izumi narrowed her eyes, scanning Overhaul's face for any sign of a lie. She couldn't spot a single sign… her instincts were screaming that Overhaul was telling the truth! He was seriously willing to give up his quirk for the drug! It shouldn't have been that surprising, Overhaul had wanted to get rid of all quirks, so it made sense that he wouldn't feel too attached to his own… but it was still pretty shocking.
"You'll give me your quirk, if I promise not to destroy this?" Izumi asked, as if she hadn't believed her ears.
"Yes. Swear that you won't destroy that drug, and I'll give you my quirk. Swear it on your life and your dream!" Overhaul demanded.
Izumi thought for a second. Truthfully, she didn't want Overhaul's quirk… sure it was amazingly powerful, but she didn't really need it and she was a bit uncomfortable with wielding the same quirk that had hurt her and Eri so many times… but it wasn't like the quirk itself was evil; there was no such thing as an evil quirk after all, and at least if Izumi had it, there was no chance of Overhaul ever using it to hurt people again, and she could reuse the Quirk Suppressor Band on another tough opponent instead of keeping it on Overhaul.
"Alright." Izumi said, making her mind up; "In exchange for you giving me your quirk, I swear on my life and my dream that I won't destroy this drug. You have my word." she promised.
Overhaul sighed with relief; "Good. Come on and take your prize then; you've taken everything else from me already." he said with a voice full of bitterness. If he was expecting pity, he was barking up the wrong tree! He'd get none from either Izumi or Eri!
Without a word, Izumi walked over to the captive Yakuza boss and roughly put her hand on his head, then activated her still nameless quirk. Like with Eri, Chisaki's quirk was practically forced out of him by its owner, rushing to take its new place within Izumi. To Izumi, the experience of gaining Overhaul felt a lot like having it used on her; her entire body stung like it was being pulled apart at the seams and then put back together with Overhaul squeezed in. Izumi had no desire to use the quirk for herself, and promptly forced it down into her Stomach Container where it would sit harmlessly until she could unload it on someone else.
Panting gently, Izumi backed off and took a seat on the ground. "Huh… that was an experience." she said wryly. Her body was aching all over and exhaustion was beginning to take its toll.
"Great Mother, you're body can't take much more. You've used Demi-God Form since getting the suppressor off, and you've now used Rejuvenation, Power Slash and Inferno, as well as your Divine Retribution too. You didn't have much energy left today regardless, the power we gave you was largely used up healing your leg, and the pie you ate only staved off the inevitable. Your body will give out soon. You're basically staying conscious through adrenaline and sheer willpower." Yomigami said.
The Wolf Girl grimaced, but did her best not to let on that anything was wrong. "Well, a promise is a promise." Izumi said, doing her best to keep her eyes open. "Eri, we've got our payback, now we need to take Chisaki to the Police so they can punish him properly. Let's get going to meet up with the Heroes." she said, clumsily getting to her feet and going to grab Chisaki, who appeared highly relieved that his drug was safe.
"Okay." Eri chirped, happily following along.
"Good girl. Here, you hold this. I need both hands to make sure this guy behaves." Izumi said, handing the drug vial to Eri, then hauling Overhaul to his feet.
Eri took the vial and looked at it closely; the crimson colour was rather striking in the dull light of the lab, and some sort of swirls could be seen going back and forth within the liquid. It was pretty, like a precious red stone… but it wasn't anything good at all. This drug was the product of all Eri's pain… Eri had been sliced up and broken apart so many times and for what? This meagre vial? There was less inside the vial than the Bad Man had taken in a single cut! Eri felt angry as she held the vial… she'd been hurt so much… Izumi had been hurt so much… and for such a little thing?
"This is something bad." Eri said, staring down at the vial.
Izumi nodded, not really paying attention as she tried to figure out how to get Chisaki to walk by himself without letting him run off… perhaps a leash made from straps? Ishiko hopped off Eri's horn to go help Izumi, suggesting she use Greensprout to make vines. Izumi refused, whispering about her low power levels.
While the older girls were preoccupied, Eri moved to stand in front of Chisaki and looked up at the man, meeting his eyes willingly for the first time in her life.
"You hurt me." she said weakly. She was still afraid, but that fear was slowly fading. "You hurt Izumi."
Chisaki looked away; "What's your point?" he scowled.
Eri saw red. She was a five year old girl, and yet she'd known suffering that most people didn't experience in their entire lives. That suffering, and the terror that came with it had changed her; making her act in ways that no normal little girl would. Izumi had helped reverse some of that by treating her the way one should treat a little girl like Eri; with love and kindness. Thanks to her, Eri could now act a little like the child she was… by throwing a proper tantrum.
"You are a horrible bad bad man!" she screamed at him, stamping her little feet, "Now Izumi's got you and you're going to get punished!"
Chisaki sneered beneath his mask; "Tsk, a brat to the end. Children are such a waste… Always filthy and making messes, then crying when they don't get their way."
"Oh yeah?" Eri yelled, "Well how's this for a mess!" she cried, smashing the vial of red liquid into the floor right at Chisaki's feet.
"NO!" the man screamed, diving for the floor to try and salvage the drug. It was pointless though; the drug seeped into the gaps between the tiles and then ran down the drain in the middle of the room, where the rest of the blood Izumi and Eri had spilled ended up. Chisaki was forced to watch with tears in his eyes as his life's work literally went down the drain. His last hope… all he'd worked for…
All gone.
"YOU EVIL BRAT!" Chisaki cried, looking up to Eri and lunging forward.
Izumi grabbed him quickly, but not before Eri screamed in fear and anger and then slapped Chisaki as hard as a five year old could.
"Watch it, Chisaki! I'll still hurt you to protect Eri!" Izumi warned.
"SHE DESTROYED IT! YOU SWORE!" Chisaki roared.
"I did. I swore I wouldn't destroy it, and I kept that promise. I didn't swear I'd protect it, though I admit, I didn't expect Eri to break it..." Izumi looked up at the little girl, who was panting furiously and slowly calming down. "Are you feeling better now, Eri?"
The white haired girl nodded shakily; "S-Sorry..."
Izumi smiled; "It's no bother. I'm sure I threw a fair few tantrums when I was your age too. You have more reason to than most kids. Just remember that in future, you can't break things when you get upset, unless they belong to Villains."
"Geez, Eri's more of a rebel than you Izumi! And you call yourself a teenager!" Ishiko joked, making Izumi and Eri giggle.
Chisaki glared hatefully at the girls; "Filthy creatures! I tell you now, Amaterasu, that Eri will be the death of you! You took all her pain, but she deserved it! She's an evil, cursed creature with an evil quirk! Why take the suffering for such a monster!?"
"The only monster here is you." Izumi frowned as she knelt in front of the bound man, reaching up to pull his mask off. Beneath it, he was completely normal looking; nothing unusual at all. She wondered why he bothered to wear it… "You're asking how I could take Eri's pain? That's a stupid question. You have it backwards; how could I not? Eri was an innocent child being hurt by villains, and I had the power to save her. It's no more complicated than that."
Chisaki snarled at her; "That's the exact foolishness I sought to cure! Hero Syndrome, a Disease caused by quirks! I thought your case was a chronic one, but it's really terminal! That Heroic foolishness will lead to your demise! One day, you'll find someone you can't save without losing your life, and then that will be the end of you! It may even be another undeserving brat like Eri!"
Eri looked down in shame, but Izumi just snorted; "Undeserving? I've never met someone who deserved help more than her. And besides, if I die to save someone's life…" Izumi smiled; "Then that will be a good death. If I die to save another, then I die happy. If I suffer torture to prevent another from suffering the same, then I'll do it with a smile!"
Izumi smiled wider, hugging Eri with one arm while keeping Chisaki secure with the other. "To be honest, Chisaki… I'd save you too, and I'd smile just the same."
"A good answer, Young Midoriya!"
Izumi, Eri, Ishiko and Chisaki looked up at the booming voice. Standing in the doorway, in all his splendour, was All-Might himself. The Number One Hero took a step into the room and put his fists on his hips in his signature pose; "Fear not! It will be alright! And why? Because I am here!"
Izumi beamed up at the man, while Eri looked at him with confusion. "All-Might! It's really you! I've always wanted to meet you… I'm almost out of time… please… protect… Eri..."
With the appearance of All-Might, Izumi was able to finally let her guard down completely and relax. As the tension bled from her body, the willpower keeping her going faded away and Izumi's body returned to its completely human form. As the exhaustion from the days events truly hit her, Izumi finally succumbed to unconsciousness, confident that All-Might would make everything okay.
Next Chapter: Eri's Resolve
To be Released: July 8th 2021
And that is pretty much the defeat of Overhaul! I know it wasn't really much of a fight, but the more I thought about it, the more I figured Izumi wouldn't even bother risking an encounter with him without a sure-fire plan to win, so we ended up going this route.
There is also the fact that I hate Overhaul and I wanted to completely and utterly humiliate him. He's been beaten and captured by the girls he tortured, had his germophobia freaked out by Izumi's leg and ink spit trick, put in his own restraint, had his lab trashed, all his samples destroyed, his quirk taken, and his prized work destroyed in a childish tantrum. It's only a drop in the bucket for what a child abusing scumbag like him deserves but… well, Izumi isn't a monster like him and can't give him what he deserves without being one.
Oh, and Chronostasis goes down like a bitch too. And Tengai is maybe not a trash person?
One important thing to note: remember that Izumi placed the Overhaul Quirk in her Stomach Container, meaning she CANNOT use it. Not without giving it to someone and taking it back. She's afraid of the trauma using it would cause herself or Eri, after they suffered under it. She will NOT be keeping it.
I hope you enjoyed! Please Comment and Review; it really encourages me!