AN: I'm pretty sure its apparent, but Kimiko is going to be a central character from now on, since being the only teammate of the MC they're planned to become best friends.
Chapter 22:
"Now, yesterday, my reaction may have been a bit exaggerated." started Corrosive the next day, after both of us arrived "Whenever I'm very angry, I tend to think of quite extreme actions that are definitely not ones that should be taken."
"Yeah, I remember last time..." chimed in Fumiko, but she was quickly stopped.
"We don't talk about that time. So whenever rage clouds my vision, I make unreasonable plans and declarations, like how I did it yesterday, so please forget whatever I spouted at that time.
We still need to take action however, we can't let this yakuza continue working, now that they lost Eri they are going to be unpredictable, and while my base is safe it may not survive a full-on assault, so neutralizing them should be our priority. For this though, I had to get in contact with the hero agency who was already in on the case, and that turned out to be Sir Nighteye. The guy is a giant prick, acting serious and mighty all the time. I think his ego is just filled because All Might took him on as a sidekick. Back to the main point, however: He agreed to let us in on the operation, not because he actually likes me, no, just because I had a lot of new information. A hero task force is being built now to storm their headquarters, since he has information on its possible location.
This is a prime opportunity for the two of you to get some experience, so you're coming with me when it happens."
"What about the girl, Eri?" asked Kimiko.
"She's scared and probably traumatized. She barely accepts me and Fumiko, I don't think introducing any more people to her at this time would be beneficial. Though, I feel super smart for getting Fumiko into those psychology courses." After we changed into our hero outfits, we moved into the basement training room.
"My mind is full of ideas on how to create combination moves for the two of you, since as a duo, you don't just work at the same place at the same time, you work with each other, combining your abilities into singular skills, using the strength of each other to increase your combined power. Through working together, you can cover both of your individual weaknesses.
Let's look at Doppo first: Whenever you have to go a long distance, you always create a giant form, which is fine but its also noticeable. Also, unless you completely lose all cohesion, you can't compress yourself into a small form that could be more hidden while still retaining an acceptable speed.
My first idea is on how to have a reliable transportation method that works for both of you. First, Kimiko creates a crow, then Doppo turns into the smallest puddle possible, which is then drunk by the crow. Since he is resistant to acids, he can wait in the stomach until the crow arrives at the destination, where Kimiko can desummon it. If its successful, you two have a reliable transportation method for your whole team, which could also serve as a perfect ambush from above, being extremely unexpected.
My second idea is focused on Kimiko. No matter how good you are with martial arts, or even if you learn about poisons like Fumiko, there are villains with overwhelming strength quirks against which you can't do anything but run. Now, losing your partner can be a tremendous blow, and the idea is supposed to make it possible for you to take part in a fight like this.
Here, Doppo turns into a puddle, and then he can climb onto you, covering your entire body, leaving your face uncovered so you can still breathe. It may sound disgusting, but the void is extremely powerful, it can be hardened, it can be regrown, you can't ask for any more than this in an armor." For others, both of the suggestions were probably disgusting, who would swallow the void, or let it cover their entire body? The second one actually sounded kind of like Venom, its been a while since I've been reminded of my first life.
"Just because I've been speaking about combinations, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't further yourselves individually. Not at all! If you're better individually, then you can be even better together! Doppo, if you can achieve a small enough form, then you'll be able to travel alone better, and all sorts of other things!
Now, Kimiko, I also got a couple ideas for you. You said you can modify the crows you create. How much? Can you create a gigantic one with feathers made harder than steel? And the transformation, can you transform into one of the modified bodies? Or perhaps transform only partially. Both of your quirks are great, absolutely phenomenal, and you can't stop until you managed to push them beyond Plus Ultra.
But first, increasing your duo moves, so come on, let's try the armor test, since you may need it during the raid we're going to do on the compound."
After that, we began training. First, I tried to do it on a mannequin, so I wouldn't accidentally squeeze the life out of Kimiko, or worse. Those beliefs weren't unfounded, since it took a little time to find the right way to encompass the body of the giant doll. After I destroyed a couple of them, I managed to get the hang of it, and the first test with Kimiko wasn't a failure filled with death and gore, so I considered it an enormous success.
"See, it isn't that hard! Now, combat practice, Fumiko, you're needed!" was what Corrosive said, and that little bit of satisfaction that I felt was immediately destroyed, after Fumiko came and destroyed us with her martial arts. Staying on someone properly was the hardest thing ever, being flexible enough that she could move properly, being tight enough that wasn't an extra inconvenience, but also being solid enough that I can properly defend her. It was exhausting, and most of the afternoon was spent with that, after which we worked a bit on the other idea, 'stealth transportation' but I wasn't able to keep myself compressed, and after the tenth crow which blew up from the inside, Corrosive decided that it was enough for one day and dismissed us.
The next day, we met in the basement again, and he looked to be in an awfully good mood.
"Yesterday you managed to get down the basics for the armor, but today comes the important part!
This idea originally came to my mind, when I thought about how bad it is that one of my sidekicks can't fight next to me in battle, and the void-armor was the solution to this."
"You mean?" I asked weakly. I didn't like where this was going.
"Yep! Today you'll have to do the armor in my mist, to learn how to harden and regenerate fast in battle! However, in order to do that you need to cover her entire body and basically become a second skin, so her face needs to be covered as well. Thankfully yesterday I managed to get the newest micro-breather." he threw it at Fumiko. "You should be fine now!" And with that, I already began to feel the weak but rapidly increasing burning sensation on my skin. I didn't waste time, and transitioned into an armor.
The next couple of hours were filled with cursing and shouting, mostly from Kimiko and me trying to defend myself, since I was admittedly a rather poor armor, with Corrosive's mist managing to get through me several times, burning Kimiko who only had a fragile human - mortal - body.
Wednesday, I went out of the dorm but before I was able to take two steps, Fumiko came.
"Finally! I've been waiting for you for at least five minutes. Come on, you're needed at the agency." and with that, she teleported me. There, I met Corrosive and Kimiko, both of them were in their usual clothes.
Corrosive had his spinach green jacket with a grass-green shirt, along with mud green pants which had two pockets on both sides. Overall, it looked nothing like a normal hero costume, but he wasn't a normal hero.
Kimiko on the other hand, like me, was still in her school uniform. She had the shirt that I recognized from the provisional license exam, it was the light blue, collared Ketsubetsu one. She had her skirt and tights the same as in her hero costume.
"Doppo! You finally arrived! Now that you're here, I'll tell you why I needed you to come here this early instead of training in the afternoon like we normally do.
Today you are here so soon because in five minutes there will be a meeting about the yakuza investigation in the Nighteye agency building, and every hero involved can bring their sidekicks, which means that you two will come as well. Of course, you'll need to be in your hero clothes for that." After we changed, and once again no winner was decided, Corrosive asked if we were ready to go, with a joke sprinkled in for good measure:
"Both of you are good? Outfits are washed, you went to the toilet, had a good breakfast and everything?" His jokes were extremely hit or miss. It was a miss this time, as evidenced by the fact that we laughed as much as two drowning elephants. "Tough crowd. Let's go then. Fumiko, if you would." Fumiko then teleported us instantly, then left just as fast. We were near the building, and it only took five minutes until we've arrived.
Going in was like going to a comic con in my previous life. A lot of heroes were there in colorful outfits, they looked terribly impractical. Long capes, bright colors that just caught the eye. They didn't even look at us, didn't let our arrival interrupt their talking.
There were a couple people I recognized, the Big Three was there for example, along with three of my classmates, Ochaco, Tsuyu, and Kirishima. The pro heroes who actually mattered were Aizawa, Fat Gum, and Ryukyu, I didn't care about the rest, since they wore costumes so they must have been normal heroes, yet I never saw their faces which meant that they weren't that accomplished. If they were in a Corrosive situation, then their outfit would have been in the same style, but they sported the colorful costumes that were the norm for heroes.
Nighteye himself also came forward, and didn't waste much time to start his speech:
"Thank you all for coming, and for being part of the investigation at all. Thanks to the information we received the case has moved forward substantially, and because of this we organized this conference to share everything we know about the Shie Hassaikai." Everyone was seated next to a large table, Corrosive was sitting five places from the right of Nighteye, I was next to him on the right while Kimiko was there on the left.
"Please start, Bubble Girl." told her Nighteye.
"We at Nighteye agency have been conducting an investigation researching the Shie Hassaikai, prompted by a failed robbery by the Reservoir Dogs, a group of villain thieves. The police thought it was an accident, but we disagreed since there were several inconsistencies." The word was taken by Centipeder, Nighteye's second sidekick.
"I, Centipeder, was the one leading this investigation. During the research, I've found that in the past year, Shie Hassaikai has had increased contact with other groups and similar shady businesses, the most concerning one being the League of Villains. I was unable to be present during their meeting, but the place was found and it was confirmed that it turned violent." an extremely old midget hero then talked in. I didn't know who he was, but I'm sure that he was here because of his wisdom and experience, not because of his practical skills, unless he had a quirk that did the work for him.
"Because the League was involved, Sir Nighteye reached out to me and Tsukauchi. He is not here now."
"Please continue." Sir Nighteye always made sure that the conversation got quickly back to track.
"Right, we posted a request on the HN..." tried to continue Bubble Girl, but she was cut off by Centipeder.
"Skip that part!"
"Oh okay!" she looked into her notes to find the next part, and while she was quiet, Ochaco used the opportunity to ask about the HN, which Nejire helpfully supplied her about. Basically the HN was a network for heroes, sharing information about villains and their general specializations so they could be requested for specific tasks that would benefit from their quirks. This caught the eye of a hero wearing a yellow-black outfit, who commented about "What a couple of brats from UA are doing here". He dared to call me a brat. The nerve of him. I was sure that I could have beaten him, he wasn't a big shot hero and my quirk was strong. Worst case scenario, I lost control and killed him, but I would have won nonetheless. I wasn't the only one who took offense at his sarcasm however, since Fat Gum began to defend his sidekicks loudly.
"These two have super important information!" he told us, while trying to show us with hand gestures his two students. "Anyway, I think I'm meeting a lot of you for the first time, I'm Fat Gum." Sir Nighteye apparently decided that he had enough of this shit, and just continued the presentation himself.
"We suspect that the main source of income of Shie Hassaikai lies in illegal drug dealing. Help was requested from heroes who are knowledgeable in such matters."
"That's right, when I was younger I crushed them like they were made from sand!" started speaking again Fat Gum. Didn't he realize how rude it was, just speaking over people? "But yesterday, a new one was shot in Tamakiji, one that stopped him from using his quirk. It was only temporary, thankfully, but its still a huge problem, since it damaged his quirk directly, not disabled it like how I think Eraser does it. As I said before, it healed on its own though. Thanks to Kirishima's quirk we managed to recover the second bullet, which is still in one piece.
After analyzing it, we discovered that there were human cells and blood in it." Nighteye again took back command.
"Thank you Fat Gum, about this part there is someone who has more information. Corrosive, please."
"Right away, Nighteye.
Two days ago, on Sunday I was patrolling with two of my students who are doing their hero work studies at me, when we ran into a small girl. She had a dirty pale cloth on her, along with bandages on her limbs. She was shaking when we touched her, and I immediately assumed that she was a victim of child abuse. It would have been bad enough, but then a man came, claiming he was her caretaker, but he was none other than Chisaki Kai, the leader of the Shie Hassaikai. I couldn't let her go back with him, so I passed her onto my sidekick who's been working with me for years, and she teleported away with her quirk. After she was safely away, I engaged the villain, though he was able to escape.
The girl was fearful and distrustful, thinking that we were only going to use her as well. From her words I determined that her blood was used because of her quirk, which could be used to make things disappear. I have strong suspicions that its something more complicated, but she is against any kind of experimentation, and I judged it better not to push. She still hasn't warmed up to us, but she seems to accept the presence of my and my sidekick. I have not introduced her to anyone else, fearing that if she was spotted a raid from the group would be upon my base, since she is the key to their plan." Nighteye started speaking after he was finished.
"Up until now, the Shie Hassaikai was only looked on as a distributor in the drug market, but it appears that they have a much more important role, much higher in the chain than we previously thought, the recent increase in drugs can easily be attributed to them, the quirk-destroying bullet being every criminal's dream. Now that they lost the source, they may become more dangerous, because of this we have to move fast and arrest them before that can happen.
This is why we assembled everyone here, to check all the locations that are connected to the Shie Hassaikai." Aizawa butted into the conversation.
"Nighteye, correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't you use your quirk to just see our futures and know when we'll find it?"
"I cannot do that.
My foresight requires a 24 hour interval between activations. After I activate it, for one hour I can view a person's life as a film, only seeing their actions and surroundings."
"That could get us a lot of information though." he didn't stop, and he was right. Nighteye had a great quirk, why wasn't he using it? "Why can't you do it?" my exact thoughts were voiced by Aizawa.
"What if in the person's near future, death awaits?
My quirk should only be used after we have drawn out the plan, to fine-tune the details. It shouldn't be used haphazardly in a situation with so many variables."
"But death is information too! Couldn't we make a plan to avoid it?!" came from yellow-black guy, the one who complained about us earlier.
"It isn't the same as fortune-telling. I have no evidence that it can be avoided at all."
"Fine, use it on me then!" spoke up the same hero again "I'll show you I can avoid it!" Even though he didn't appear to be someone successful and strong, he at least had guts. That was something respectable, a show of bravery. Stain was talking about things like this in the video about him, talked about how our society was infected with fake heroes.
Ah yes, the Stain video. I believe I forgot about that. After the camp, I tried and searched for it online, and after a bit of time I managed to find it: It was a video about Stain's past, then there was a speech said by Stain 'himself'. Except, it wasn't Stain. Not the real him anyways. It was the small things that you recognized after meeting someone so unforgettable. If you only saw pictures of Stain that video would surely fool you, but not me. It must have been All for One with a transformation or illusion quirk, I'm sure he has plenty of those. Back to the main point however, I was sure that even Stain would have agreed that such bravery, facing one's death head-on, was a truly heroic act.
"No!" Sir Nighteye apparently didn't think like that, as shown by his little outburst, after which it took a couple of seconds of silence for him to judge the situation acceptable again:
"Thank you all for your help. We are finished for today." It was done, and we went back to the headquarters, where we expressed our sentiments about the meeting.
"That was it? I thought we were going to do something." said Kimiko, with whom I shared the sentiment. There was nothing there that Corrosive hadn't already told us, and nothing else that couldn't have been said in an email or something.
"I never did like Nighteye. What a prick, not using his quirk." grumbled Corrosive. "Really, he's afraid of a little death? Pathetic, that's what it is. its the only useful thing about him and he doesn't do it. Anyone who's smart enough can be a brain, if he isn't willing to put 100% into it, he isn't worthy of being a hero. First years are the ones who reject their quirks, thinking they could reach their dreams without them, not pro heroes with sidekicks of their own."
"And there was that idiot grumbling about UA kids. What was his quirk again? Oh yeah, we don't know since he's so unimportant that nobody ever talks about him." I said that last sentence, to contribute to the conversation. It appeared that it was still true that in complaining did people truly unite.
"If there was at least a definite location, but noooo, no sir. We don't know where they are, and we are happy to waste your time. And don't even talk about everyone just commenting and speaking without being given the word, I thought their organizational skills were better than that." Corrosive was still complaining about it. "Anyways, since we obviously can't concentrate on proper team tactics in such frustration, we're going to do some individual training today, and if a couple mannequins are destroyed then it was already time to replace them."
I started trying to lower my control to 80% in order to gain more fluidity. It was hard, because it was like letting the sea on the shore. You had to stop it at the right time, or it would not work properly. It was like that too, for me, decreasing my control, and if it was too much I would rebuild my body then try again in five minutes. Kimiko was trying to create different crows, crows with feathers that were sharper and more durable. The abominations that came out would have made even hardened scientists who specialized in animal experimentation let the contents of their stomachs. The crows she created were deformed, and were constantly cut by their own feathers. It was also extremely inconsistent, some feathers being better than knives while some being so weak that they would turn to ash if you touched them. Overall, it showed why quirk users with summoning rarely experimented with 'living' creatures.
A couple days later, we got the message, with the date of the operation. It was in the middle of the night, so I just looked at it and went back to sleep, but I'm pretty sure the others met up to ask each other about it. Next day, when I went out the door of the dorm, I already expected Fumiko to touch my shoulder and teleport me away instantaneously.
"I trust you both got the message." was the first thing Corrosive said when I arrived, because for some reason Kimiko was always there before me. We just nodded.
"Today is the day of the raid, and since you're my students you're part of it too. I don't think I need to say, but its official hero business, so you need to be in your hero outfits." He was already in his, so only me and Kimiko had to change clothes. It was like a competition, which one of us could do it faster. We couldn't agree who won in the end, and Corrosive said that he didn't have a proper method to judge so he wouldn't. "Usually I would take my senior sidekick and not you, but you two need experience and someone needs to supervise Eri." The aforementioned senior sidekick, Fumiko was already there, though she wasn't in her hero clothes. She teleported us like she usually did, and we met up with all of the other heroes.
A couple seconds after we've arrived, Sir Nighteye started his speech:
„We have confirmed that the Shie Hassaikai are currently in their main compound, preparing for an attack on Corrosive's base for Eri. It is unknown whether they actually know the location or are just preparing. This information was confirmed by the large shipments of explosives that we recorded. A warrant was also acquired from the police, with whom we cooperated on this case." we then exited the building, and met the police squad members just outside the compound.
„We compiled a list of their quirks to the best of our knowledge, please memorize it." said the highest ranking officer, who wore a suit and a red piece of cloth tied around his biceps. After everyone read it, he continued „If you see even a hint of suspicious behaviour or resistance, don't hesitate to deal with it. These gangsters have survived up until now, and it must be for good reason. Don't let your guard down, and carry out your respective tasks.
The operation starts at 8:30 AM!" We were literally next to the compound, and the guy wanted to use the bell to try and inform the villains that they can either surrender or be met with force. Corrosive was clutching his head at the stupidity, he would have created a giant surprise attack. Really, the heroes were so stupidly organized, like all of them just standing out there. A good area of effect quirk could have taken a lot of them all out in one blow, like a firestorm quirk or something. Maybe a lighting quirk that could channel it through other people. The possibilities were endless. Just as Corrosive feared, the villains weren't about to sit and wait, and before the police commander could ring the electronic bell, a giant muscle villain tore through the gate.
He was big and reminded me strongly of the villain I fought back in the summer camp. Instead of blond hair however, his head was covered by a crow mask, which reminded me of some of those mexican style ones, like he was a big luchadore champion or something.
"its so rude all of you coming here so early. I'm barely awake." He swung his fist at the dragon hero, Ryukyu who transformed into a giant ugly dragon-like something. It had the general form of a dragon, but it retained the human skin tone, plus the clothes, plus the hair plus all sorts of human things that don't have a place on a proper dragon.
"We allow them to slow us down." she said as she was holding the villain's fist in place "Ryukyu agency will take care of him." She said she'll do it, so everyone else started running inside the compound. Fat Gum was leading the charge, along with Sir Nighteye. There were a ton of goons, but the police and the low level heroes were left behind to deal with them, since they did not pose a serious threat, but because they didn't attack the heroes couldn't just beat them up.
We were running through the halls, but suddenly we were attacked from behind. Some thugs came out of a hidden entrance and thought they could take us on. The Nighteye sidekicks easily dispatched them. It would have taken a lot of time for us to find that hidden entrance, so we were thankful for their stupidity.
Down there was a dead-end, but it was clear that it was just a ruse, since those goons didn't just appear from thin air. Mirio went through the wall, and confirmed that indeed it was but a facade, and Fat Gum quickly broke through it, so the raid could continue.
Suddenly, the hallway itself began to move. It was like it was made from rubber, moving in a wave pattern. It was extremely disorienting for everyone on the ground, and even if Corrosive could have just flown, along with Kimiko, that plan was made impossible by the walls contorting and stopping us from progressing.
"This isn't Chisaki's quirk, its Irinaka's!" Irinaka's quirk was Mimicry, being able to merge with and take control of anything up to the size of a fridge.
"Its too big!" shouted the hero with a black and yellow outfit. I should really learn his name, just for conveniences' sake. "Shouldn't he be only able to control a fridge at most?!"
"Not if he gets a big enough boost." answered Fat Gum. The effects of the quirk strengthening drug, Trigger were extreme, being able to increase the strength of someone's quirk this much. Eraser wasn't much help either, since he was useless unless he could see the main body. Learned it from experience.
Mirio spoke up then.
"It doesn't matter what they're doing, as long as we know the direction, I can get there! They know it too, that's why they're stalling! I'm going on ahead!"He ran through the wall, and only seconds after he left the ground opened beneath us.
We fell into a giant room, we're three villains were waiting for us.
The first was a bald man with a white and tight face mask, he looked like a bodybuilder who didn't go extremely far, he was like a more bulky Agent 47. He wore a black long sleeved shirt with light gray pants.
The second guy had a sack on his head, with a tie around his neck. The only things visible were his two eyeballs, which fit perfectly into the two holes that were cut into it. He was the shortest among them and the skinniest as well, with a navy blue shirt, and storm blue pants.
The third guy had long blond hair and a black face mask in the shape of a beak, like a plague doctor mask. He was in a hunched position, carrying a sword with one hand. He wore all black clothes, with a red tie.
"Look what we've got here boys, government authorities think they can just come in here and do whatever they want! Let's show them how we do these kinds of things!" was said by sack-face. Fat Gum was already cracking his knuckles, but knowing his mentor Tamaki interjected.
"Save the strength of the pros for the leader. I will take care of this." Looks like he was able to rise above his anxiety.
"That's an awfully confident thing to say, hero." taunted the blond one. From the file, I remembered that he was Setsuno, who had a version of telekinesis: He could teleport objects he sees into his hands. For this reason, the police weren't allowed to use their guns against him. His quirk was however erased by Aizawa, who got a gun pointed at him by white-mask. (It was so frustrating, being in the back, separated from the villains by other heroes.) Before he was able to shoot the bullet, (which was likely one of those quirk-destroying ones), Tamaki created three giant tentacles and captured all of the villains in front of us.
"It won't do any good for all of us to fight against them! its their plan, and we're playing right into their hands! Your quirks will be more useful later, now go! I'll take care of them!" Fat Gum looked at him, and seeing his decided to trust him.
"Let's go then, everyone!" Through the door that was now open, we left the room. We believed in Tamaki, he was part of UA's Big Three, and we were certain that he would be able to take care of himself. Well, not everyone.
"Is it really okay to leave him alone like that?!" asked the hero with a black-yellow outfit.
"He's the strongest UA student I've ever met." answered Fat Gum with conviction overflowing from his words "The only thing holding him back were his emotions, his need to be absolutely perfect. He became one of the Big Three like that, and if he says with those limitations that he can take care of three little villains, you better believe he can!"
We were running through the hallways which for now looked unaffected by Irinaka. It wasn't twisting, and Aizawa said that he is still probably controlling the upper level. He was wrong, since a hand came out from the right side, which tried to push him into an opening in the left which wasn't there before. Instead of being swallowed by the concrete however, he was saved by Fat Gum, who pushed him out and instead took his place himself.
"Eraser, erase this guy for me!" he said, before we lost sight of him. Only after he left did we notice that Kirishima was gone too, having jumped at the same time with the same intent.
"We can't stop, those two can take care of themselves. Go!" Eraser didn't waste any time, and the chase went on. We ran for a couple minutes, and once again the hallways started to twist and turn, like in a fever dream. Instead of just moving together, they were coming closer with the intent of crushing us.
"Rock Lock!" shouted Nighteye, and that's when I learned the name of the yellow-black hero.
"Right!" he said, and then he put his hand on the wall. "That's my quirk, Lockdown." he stopped the movement of the walls. It was a strong quirk in the right circumstances. Could he use it on people though? If not, then its very bad, but if yes then its actually useful against melee using opponents. He couldn't stop all of the walls at once either, he had to touch different parts of it and activate it each time. "Come on, this way the walls won't move anymore." however the sound of rumbling was still audible in the air. Looking behind me, I saw that it was coming from the areas unaffected by his quirk. Scratch that, it wasn't just 'coming', it was rocketing towards us. This was a job for me, I broke down my arm, and filled the space behind us with uncontrolled void. I just kept pumping it, and the walls stopped. Stopped for a little, then they once again came, and breaking through Rock's quirk walls emerged between us, separating the heroes. I was in a newly created room with Corrosive and Kimiko. In spite of everything else that was going on, my mind stopped, and realized that I still didn't know Kimiko's hero name.
"Everyone, you okay?" we heard Rock's voice through the walls, showing that they weren't very thick. After checking and seeing that both of them were okay, I morphed my hand into a giant fist and broke through the wall.
In the other room, there were two Rock Locks. One was on the ground with an injury in their side, the other squatting next to it (with his heels in the sky).
"A fake suddenly appeared and attacked me!" He said. Now, the problem with fakes was that you couldn't be sure if it was the fake itself telling you the story. There it was the evidence, within the wound of the one on the ground: It was a bloody, gory, knife wound. Most heroes didn't use knives or guns, mostly relying on punching others. Rock Lock was one such hero, so it was apparent that the one still conscious was nothing but a fake. We had the advantage however, the villain still thinking that he was the one with the lead in the situation.
"Thank god you're still alive, let me help you up." said Corrosive, and he took the shoulder of 'Rock' in his hand. Immediately, he screamed, as the skin melted off and Himiko Toga became visible. She moved to stab Corrosive, but dodged backwards, avoiding her knife slash.
"You again, with the acid." she hissed. Since one day during training Corrosive told me about the raid on the villains, I knew who she was. She jumped away, and the wall came down, much thicker than the previous one.
"Kimiko, get Rock. We don't need him dying on us." Before Kimiko could properly check him however, Irinaka's quirk went ballistic, solid rock pillars coming out of the walls. The only positive was that they broke through the wall separating us from the rest of the team, so we at least reformed the full squad. However, there was a hole in the ceiling now, and the scream of Irinaka was coming from it. Corrosive didn't need any more incentives, he flew up to the ceiling, and at the end of the tunnel he reached Irinaka. He tore through the rubble, and grabbed Irinaka by his head. His acid intensified, and the screaming intensified too. However it wasn't the craze-filled rage that came before, it was a scream of pain as the acid attacked his skin, and most importantly, his head. He flew down to the ground like an angel descending from heaven, carrying Irinaka's corpse. It looked better than Stain, though the head was horrendous. He announced his newest achievement to us:
"Gentleman, the maze problem is solved." Sir Nighteye looked at him disapprovingly, but we had better things to do than argue about murder, so he let it go.
"We have almost reached our goal, we shall not stop now! Onward, heroes!" From being in the back he transitioned into being on the front, leading is to Chisaki, the final villain.
The police were left behind, since the League of Villains were spotted in the chaos before, plus they had to make sure Rock Lock wasn't killed on his own.
Finally, we reached another wall in the entrance. Sounds of fighting could be heard from the other side, and we didn't hesitate in breaking it down. On the other side, an interesting picture greeted us, a slightly injured Lemillion fighting with Chisaki along with his right-hand man who wore a white robe. Just as we entered, Chisaki was blown away by a punch coming from Mirio, who had wisps of green energy around himself. After that simply amazing punch, he coughed out a bit of blood.
"Mirio!" Nighteye quickly went to help him, while Corrosive began walking towards Chisaki, who had his quirk erased by Aizawa.
"Chrono!" he shouted, obviously not happy with his disadvantageous position. His partner, who until now appeared unconscious, suddenly shot a tape-like strand of hair from his head, injuring both Corrosive and Aizawa, who were then stopped due to his quirk, Chronostasis. It was like a better version of Rock's quirk, being able to stop even people from moving either for one minute or for one hour, based on which strand of hair he used when cutting them.
As they stopped, it only took seconds for Aizawa to close his eyes, and Chisaki regained use of his quirk. Kimiko grabbed Aizawa, while I grabbed Corrosive, since Chisaki immediately used his quirk to turn the floor into a pit filled with spikes. We didn't want them to be pierced straight through.
One of his followers, the one with a black cloak, a hat and a black plague doctor mask, that one flew straight to him. I couldn't properly hear what he was saying, but Chisaki put his hands on his body, then a blinding light filled the clearing he was in. After it dissipated we saw a new Overhaul, one without injuries and with four muscular arms. The size of his fur collar increased, looking like a lion's mane. He looked kind of plant-like where his arms grew out.
His underling hid somewhere, while me and Kimiko were still holding Aizawa and Corrosive.
"You were a real nuisance, Lemillion. And that second quirk? Don't even let me get started about that." he said as he began running forward towards Nighteye and Mirio. However, I wasn't about to let that filthy villain do anything more.
I jumped in front of them, my skin fell off and I once again took on a void form. I took on a humanoid form, though it was much bigger and muscular than my usual one. It was modeled based on that villain I fought in the forest, during the training camp, except I increased the number of arms so we would be equal.
"Ha? You stand in front of me, little hero?" he taunted, and I shrieked back at him. It wasn't a void-powered one, just the sound I generated in this form.
- POV switch -
Doppo was doing fine with Overhaul, observed Kimiko. She was next to Nighteye who was holding Mirio with one hand and Corrosive with the other, while she herself held Aizawa.
Chisaki just got pushed back, and he put both of his arms on the ground. That was the last thing Kimiko saw before the earth opened beneath her to swallow her. She hit the ground along with Aizawa, and both of them were instantly cut by the tape-like hair of Chronostasis.
Back on the ground, Corrosive regained control over his limbs.
"Nighteye! Help Aizawa and my student, I'm needed up here." which was true, since even though Doppo was holding back Overhaul, he wasn't gaining any ground. Whenever he tried to cut him, he would just heal himself.
"Right!" he jumped down, along with Mirio to help Aizawa and Kimiko.
He landed straight on top of Chronostasis, who didn't expect support to come for the heroes so soon. Before he could stop Nighteye as he did with Aizawa and Kimiko, Nighteye used a rather crude method of takedown: Namely, stepping on his opponent's head. wasn't much of a fight, more like an instant knockout.
Back on the surface, Corrosive joined the battle. He began increasing his acid's potency while Chisaki kept retreating. Sooner or later this cat and mouse game would have to end, either by him leaving like last time, or him getting close enough to hit him properly with a strong burst.
"Doppo! Minefield!" He gave the command, since after him Doppo was the next one on the list of people who could survive in the mist without major injuries. He could also restrain people, especially when he didn't need to do it without injuries.
Overhaul wasn't about to let himself be killed however. He created spikes, pillars, everything to keep Corrosive at a distance, since going close would have been a literal suicide, even with his upgraded body.
Once again, Doppo charged at Chisaki, but instead of getting locked in a contest of power once again, as soon as Chisaki touched Doppo he lost cohesion, and the black liquid fell forward. Not for long, as it almost immediately solidified, and Chisaki was trapped. He tried to fight it, to break then rebuild the void, but he couldn't. It was cutting through him, getting inside and locking him in place.
While he was struggling, Corrosive ran forward. He grabbed his head from both sides with his two arms, and he intensified his mist so fast and to such a strong level, that Chisaki had no time to react, even though he had no way of reacting either, all four of his arms bound by void.
The spikes were getting destroyed, the concrete that made up the building started to melt away. Burns began appearing on Corrosive's own skin as well, though it did not affect him nearly as much as his surroundings. After ten seconds of the world around him being destroyed, he let go of Chisaki's head, his monstrous body falling to the ground, since Doppo stopped holding it three seconds ago.
As the two unblinking holes in the skull of Chisaki looked up at the ceiling, Corrosive relished in the feeling of accomplishment.
AN: This is the longest chapter I've ever written. It tops the Provisional Hero License Exam by 2k words, which was the previous record holder.
After letting out all the creative juices I had for the PJO story, I'm now back at this one, so the next update should come sooner than this one. (No promises though.) The PJO story is now in the same vein as 'A Broken World', on the shelf until I finish this one.
A detail that I just couldn't fit anywhere in the chapter, was that the mafia's plan was to lure the heroes into their base, separate them, then capture Kimiko, since she looked like the weakest from Corrosive's agency, but because she worked there she knew Eri's location. Overhaul overestimated himself however, and was killed by Corrosive.
