I think I owe you all an explanation as to why I haven't been updating recently. TL;DR, I'm tired. Fed up even. The excitement of putting my ideas into words to share with you all has lost it's edge and I'm really struggling to keep this up. Yet at the same time, I don't want to leave you guys hanging without a proper explanation. So here goes, one more chapter for your sake. I'll make sure this one's nice and long.
Also, college is a bitch when it comes to time management. But, at last, I managed to make a little bit of time for writing. So here you go, the (hopefully) long awaited update for the sequel.
"D-Damn it..." Uttered Mustard, as he struggled to escape the ice he was encased in, "Get up Moonfish! Our boss will not tolerate failure! If we don't carry through with this mission, we're dead!"
His compatriot, also unable to move, remained unconscious, not budging an inch.
"Damn you braindead vegetable!" Mustard cursed.
While the trapped villain argued, a third figure entered the room. His body, completely concealed underneath full military body armor, and his face covered by a mask. The man in a gas mask turned around, noticing him.
"Who goes there!?" He asked, unable to see him, as the ice limited his turning radius.
"An ally, all you have to know." Said a mechanical, distorted, almost child-like voice.
While struggling, the young neo-villain managed to catch a quick glimpse at him would-be savior, only for said man to jump away in terror.
"D̴̛͙o̵̻̊ń̸̜'̸̘͘t̸̟̔ ̶͗͜l̷͓͘ǫ̷̛ō̷̮k̵̹̽ ̷͙̅ă̸̬ṭ̵̈́ ̵͈͑ṁ̸̫e̷̬͗!̷̱̽!̵͖̔" He yelled out, almost in pain, "I'm incomplete! I'm feel so... incomplete... it hurts..."
"Oh dear, even with it's full body covered, still he can't stand human contact. What a shame." Said another voice coming from what seemed to be an intercom, "Don't fret, we are still here to help. But be wary, my associate here is... well... unsociable to say the least, but you will live as long as you don't make eye contact. Now then, * #& #, free our guests, will you?"
Mustard didn't quite catch his name as the intercom jammed when mentioning it, whether intentional or not. All that he knew was that he was either 1. Another one of the doctor's personal Nomus, 2. Another experiment gone wrong or 3. extremely introverted. Either way, it seemed like it wanted to help.
"Alright, I'm not looking anymore." he said, turning away, "Now get me out of here."
Suddenly, he felt a stabbing pain, as what felt like a needle was jammed into his neck.
"With pleasure..." The cloaked thing responded with malice.
A pitch black substance was injected, as it's contents ran through the villain's veins, decorating his neck with lines of black. Slowly, he felt himself getting stronger. Slowly, he felt himself getting bigger. Slowly, he felt himself less and less.
"Alright everybody! That was an amazing bout! But now, we advance into the secondary brackets! And, going underway are two competitors that have dazed, amazed and have been all the craze in this festival, Eri vs Shindo!" Announced Jiro.
"But still, do you truly believe Eri stands a chance here? From what we've seen, Shindo's quirk is not only powerful, it's impossible to identify!" Added Mirio, "What do you think, Shigaraki?"
"I'm confident Eri will figure something out." Replied Shigaraki, "She's one of my top students, after all."
"Playing favorites are we?" Asked Mirio.
"No, I'm just saying that cause she made it this far." replied Shigaraki, "I would have said the same to any of my students if they made it this far."
"That is a very shallow way of looking at things Shigaraki." Said Mirio.
"Well, what else should I judge them by? Notes? Booksmarts never make it far Mirio-san, and I've seen Yaoyorozu enough to know that."
Back in the lobby, the mentioned pro hero sneezed.
"Well let's see if your theory proves you right, as the match is going underway! in 3...2...1... Begin!"
As Eri eyes Shindo down, his blue and red hair, giving a shadow of menace, glaring at Eri, the girl breathed in, walking up to him casually.
"So it's finally come to this Eri." Said Shindo, as he looked around at the crowd. They were terrified, scared of what might happen to Eri if she crossed him, "Honestly, I didn't imagine you would last this long. I never imaged I would last this long. Yet here we are, making it, one with relative ease, while the other one desperately crawling, and relying on constant luck and miracles."
Eri remained silent.
"You know, it's funny. For as much as the quirkless got off easy, there are still plenty of people that are picked on for having intimidating, weird or gross quirks. Its like there's a group out there who's sole purpose is to pick on those that no one will care about, and now that the quirkless are off their target list, they go for those whom they think they can attack and get away with."
She kept on approaching.
"You have no idea how this feels. To be the primary target, to be the outcast." He continued.
No words from the recipient. Suddenly, the ground itself started to shift, as two massive fist emerged, ready to grind the girl into dust.
"And you have no idea what it's like, when those people get put in their place." He said, as the two massive fists flew at her.
She swiftly dodged one of the arms, while the other flew in, seemingly crushing her. Just then, as the arm was lifted, Shindo found her standing just two inched away from the fist. A vein popped in his head, as several swords flew her way. Once again, she started to dodged, but this time with great difficulty.
"Come on Eri, hold on..." Kota uttered, biting his nails.
"That kid's quirk is insane!" Uttered Shima, "I'm so jealous!"
"What the hell is it anyways? He can summon giant swords, waves of lava, reverse time. What kind of cheat codes does that kid have? And why hide it until now to use?" Asked Shenn.
"I dunno." Replied Satsuki, "But look at Eri. She's not only calm, but that look on her face. It that... sadness? Concern? Pity? What's with her?"
Just then, Kota recalled what Eri said before the fight. She figured out what his quirk was.
"Just what are you planning on, Eri?"
As Eri seemed out of breath, while Shindo hasn't even broken a sweat, he let out a sigh.
"You know, I liked you a lot more when you actually talked." He said, "You lack of dialogue kind of creeps me out."
Just then, a sword flew an inch short of Eri's neck, this was followed by several other swords surrounding her, supposedly pinning her.
"There. If you don't want to die, then give up." Said Shindo.
"Oh come on! Stop resorting to such cowardly tactics!" Yelled the crowd, "You... you villain!"
Just then, the rest of the crowd followed up, booing him from all sides.
"Oh great, now they're doing it out of jealousy. People these days have no manner whatsoev-"
"Then stop acting already Shindo." Said Eri.
"W-what?" Shindo uttered out.
"I said..." Eri continued, as she took as step forward, the swords, phasing right through her like they were never there, "Stop acting..."
The crowd gasped at Eri's actions.
"An intangibility quirk?" Some of the spectators mumbled.
"I think you're misunderstanding. I'm not acting! I'm not!" Shindo exclaimed, as a massive meteor came flying towards the stadium, "I made sure the swords wouldn't kill you when I saw you walking forward, but if you take one step closer, I'll do it! I'll actually hurt you!"
"Stop hiding them." Said Eri suddenly.
"What?"
"Your wireless speakers, stop using your quirk to hide them." She said, kicking five feet to the left of the boy, knocking over a set of speakers that seemed to have appeared out of thin air."
"What the..." Shindo uttered, "How did you find those out!?"
"That's your quirk Shindo." Eri explained, "Illusion projection, where you can created hyper-realistic 3-D imagery from your eyes, whose pupils act like camera projectors. You even put on magnifying contact lenses, to enlarge the size of your illusions. These speakers were here since the start, but you used your illusions to cloak it, making them invisible."
"H-How did you find out?" Asked Shindo.
"Well first of all, I found it weird that despite all the dust that gathered throughout your last fight, you didn't even blink once. Also, during the last two events, there were too many people. If even one person get too close and makes contact with your illusions, your secret will be out and no one will be afraid of them." Explained Eri, "But most importantly, that explains how you cheated on your entrance exam. Quirk enhancers and other contraband can never make it past the front gate and plagiarizing gets you expelled immediately, yet you were caught after. But with an illusion quirk, you can easily cheat by, let me just take a guess, making illusions of destroyed robots to artificially increase your score?"
Shindo let out a gulp. The audience picked up, as soon, he could hear others calling him a fraud.
"Why did you do it?" Asked Eri, "Why are you going this far, despite knowing that your reputation is long ruined?"
"Shut up!" Shindo suddenly yelled out, charging at her, "You know nothing about me! Nothing!"
Despite his sudden outburst, Eri dodged his sluggish attacks quite easily. His telegraphed punches and lunges show his lack of actually fighting.
"Talk to me Shindo!" Eri yelled out, "What happened to you!?"
"I said..." Shindo yelled back, grabbing Eri by the neck and slamming her into the ground, "You... know... nothing!"
It was never enough for them...
"Class, I am disappointed in all of you." said Shindo's old teacher, 4 years ago, "The class average of this mock exam barely passes 60. The only one in the whole class whose notes haven't changed is Shindo's"
I studied hard as a child...
"A 40-0 game?! Incredible! Our team utterly decimated the opposing force! Way to go Shindo!" Cheered his old coach.
And worked even harder, so hard that I sacrificed even my youth. But...
"I bet he just used that quirk again! I bet he never even kicked a ball or opened a textbook in his life!" Some of his classmates scorned.
There was always jealousy...
"Your quirk is the a pest Shindo! The ultimate form of annoyance! No power, no bite, all bark, yet still it gets you this far! You cheater!"
There was always doubt...
"Is that really your real face, Shindo? I bet you just make yourself pretty with your quirk."
No one was ever sure if my skills were real or just smokes and mirrors...
"Shindo? Meet me at the office after school." His teacher said to him one day.
Entering the teacher's office, he was met with cold, scolding eyes, glaring right at him. Confused, he looked down at the desk, where two exam sheets stood. His eyes widened, as both exam sheets looked the exact same.
"Ichiguro, our transfer student has been sitting next to you since last month. His notes are excellent, even better than yours. I get how that can brew jealousy, but that's not a good reason to copy her sheet." said the teachers.
"W-what do you mean!?" Uttered Shindo, "I didn't copy anyone! How do you it wasn't her that copied me?"
"Because Ichiguro is quirkless. But you, on the other, have always been a suspicious individual. The staff has noticed that the whole school harbors a strong dislike over you. So we asked some of the most honest and trustworthy kids around, and they all said the exact same thing." Explained the teacher, as he lifted his shirt to reveal a screen on his chest, displaying recorded videos from his point of view.
"Shindo? You mean the quiet kid? Yeah, he's skilled and all, but most people says that he uses his quirk to cheat." said one of the students.
"He's a cheater! I tell you! I walked past his illusions one day and found him playing on a gameboy instead of listening to the teacher, there's no way someone like that could have such high grades!" Said another.
"I don't personally know the guy but come on, illusion quirk? Unsociable? Something is definitely up with him!" Said another.
As more and more testimonies piled on, Shindo could do nothing but protest. But he had no evidence. There was no way he could have convinced them that he doesn't cheat or use his quirk at all outside of party tricks. How could he? He always heads directly home after school to study and is eating on the roof during breaks. No one knows him well enough to know he isn't that kind of guy. And with that many voices against him, what was there he could do?
"I'm sorry Shindo, but with this many voices of protests, and this undeniable proof of plagiarism, we are gonna have to invalidate all of your previous notes." Said the teacher.
With those words, all of my hard work was reduced to nothing...
Shindo stomped out of the office, crying. While running towards his locker, however, he overheard Ichiguro, laughing with a gaggle of classmates.
"I'm telling you, that kid is the easiest to copy off. Not only does he sit in the very back of the classroom, but he doesn't even notice people until you literally tap him!" Laughed Ichiguro.
"And with my noise projection quirk, the teacher was too distracted to look towards Shindo!" Laughed one of her goons.
"Yeah! Either we make it till the end of the year with A's or that cheating son of a bitch gets expelled! Win-win!" Ichiguro laughed.
While everyone who wronged me benefited from it...
Gritting his teeth, Shindo ran in in a fit of rage, punching Ichiguro across the face.
"So it was you!" He yelled, attracting a crowd.
"Everyone! Shindo's snapped!" one of the students yelled out.
Soon, a fight broke out, with Shindo brutally beating up Ichiguro, until the teachers ran in, putting an end to the mess.
People avoided me after that incident. My reputation was shattered. Everyone saw me as some sort of delinquent. And after 2 weeks of suspension, I was forced to go to school in quirk nullifying cuffs, like a villain...
"And would anyone tell me what the square root of the inverse function of Ln(X) is equal in this instance?" Asked the teacher.
No one raised their hands expect Shindo. But this time, the teacher avoided him, instead flat out giving away the answer.
Not even the teachers trusted me anymore...
"Hey, isn't that Shindo?" Asked one of the classmates.
"Yeah, I heard that he beat up Ichiguro because he got caught cheating off her." Replied another.
And I lost all motivation to work hard... I never did again. With that, my grades dropped, which the students used as evidence on the teacher that I was cheating. With that evidence out, I was expelled from that school.
"Hey there new kid, what's your name?" Asked one of his classmates from his new school.
"Don't talk to him! I heard he was kicked out of his old school of beating up a girl! One he cheated off for an entire year!"
But my bad rep carried over to my new school as well...
"82? No way you got that fair and square Shindo!" Yelled one of his classmates, who got 3 points lower, "There foul play involved, isn't there!?"
"You know what?" Shindo replied, turning around with a grin of malice, "Yes, yes there is."
And then, I had finally given up on defending myself.
"But that doesn't matter, you know why? because I got away with it! And I will keep getting away with it! I'll rise to the top of this class riding on foul play!" Shindo exclaimed.
And I never felt so good in my life.
The face of his classmate twisted in anger.
"You're just a fraud! A charlatan! You'll never make it past middle school! You conman!"
"If I'm a conman, then I'll be the best conman there is, one that will make it past university with pure scamming and cheats." Shindo laughed back.
"People like you only end up as one thing! A villain!"
"A villain?" Shindo smiled.
And that's when it hit me...
"Then I'll enter U.A and become a hero! The greatest hero there is! Then we will see who's laughing!" Claimed Shindo.
"I'd like to see you try!"
I will become a hero, one that cheated and scammed his way to the top. They accused me of being a faker, then I'll be the faker than will step over all of them. Then we will see who's gonna call me out...
"There is no such thing as real skill in me!" Shindo yelled out, as the center of the stadium turned into a massive whirlpool, "Cheating is the only way I can keep up with the crowd in this spiteful world!"
Just then, he felt a kick to his sides, and recoiled in pain, as Eri got up.
"But you tried to truly win at the obstacle race..." Eri muttered, "You kept your team alive in the cavalry battle..."
"If I had options to sabotage others, I would have done it!" Shindo yelled back, lunging at her once more, only this time, the fist she blocked was an illusion, as Shindo's real fist punched her in the nose, making blood gush out, "There is no way I could have made it this far otherwise..."
Droplets of tears streamed down Eri's face, as she grabbed Shindo's wrist. Shindo tried to tear away, but she had an iron grip on him.
"You had such potential Shindo, I can feel it deep down." Said Eri, "You just never had anyone that supported you, did you?"
"What are you blabbering about?" Shindo yelled back, kneeing her in the stomach, making her let go, "Like I said, you know nothing about me!"
"And I never will if you keep pushing me away!" Eri yelled back.
Shindo stood there, shocked.
"You never gave me a chance, you keep on saying that you're not here to make friends, and yet I feel so much power behind your punches, see so much determination in you in the previous events. You want to succeed with your powers, don't you? You want to have a win that feels earned, don't you!?" She asked back.
"Shut up..." Shindo muttered, "I don't need your sympathy! No one gives a fuck about me anyways!"
"But I do!" Eri yelled back, "I believe you can succeed! I believe you can make it far with your own power! I just don't believe you can do it alone!"
"And that's why I know I won't make it unless I cheat!" Shindo yelled back, pulling back his fist for what could be his strongest punch yet, "I have no one! I am alone! There's no one there that will help me make it that far other than me and my dirty tricks!"
"You never will if you keep pushing me away..." Replied Eri, walking up to him, "If you have no one, then I'll help you! I will be your friend!"
The sound of Shindo's fist connecting resonated throughout the stadium. Everyone was in awe, as Eri took the punch, which dug deeply into her face. As she slowly fell on her back however, she caught herself, punching Shindo in the face as retaliation.
"Is that the best you've got!?" Eri yelled out.
Shindo, on the other hand, brushed her hand aside, kicking her in the stomach and sending her back a few feet.
"Far from it!" Shindo retorted.
As Eri dashed in, Shindo's body began to split, as a horde of hundreds of him charged at Eri.
"It's only an illusion, Eri, don't fall for it!" She muttered to herself, as she charged through the horde at the real Shindo. Or at least that's what she thought, until the actual real Shindo turned out to be one of the ones that was charging her, hitting her with a flying lariat and slamming her to the ground.
Quickly rolling out of the way to avoid a stomp, Eri dashed in on the real Shindo, elbowing him in the chin, before grabbing his arm and attempting to throw him over her shoulder. But before she could, cockroaches leaked out of every orifice of Shindo's body all over Eri. Despite knowing it was an illusion, Eri, as well as most Japanese folk's common fear of cockroaches got the better of them, as she jerked her hand away from Shindo at near light speed, screaming.
But the cockroaches on her multiplied, as Shindo tried to use her fears to make her faint. But Eri subverted this by closing her eyes, still shuddering, as she delivered a drop kick on Shindo, causing him to fall over. Opening her eyes however, she realized that the stadium around her has changed to an underground labyrinth. While she could still hear the crowd outside, she knew she couldn't just blindly run around, as she would be risking stepping out of bounds.
Just then, a fist emerged from one of the walls, punching her in the stomach. Swing back, her fist went through the wall but hit nothing. Instead, before it could even make contact with anything, the wall she swung at transformed into a red switch, which her swing flipped.
Confused, she suddenly felt two arms grab her from behind. Shindo's no doubt. But before she can retaliate, the arms turned her around, facing a bullet train that can charging at her. Her reflexes got the better of her as she shut her eyes and braced for impact, which was emulated by Shindo dropping her and punching her in the guts.
"Hahaha..." She laughed weakly, "See? Your quirk is amazingly powerful when used correctly."
"I... I suppose you're r-right." Shindo reluctantly agreed, "But what will you do now?"
She felt a kick hit her in the sides.
"Even if you know it's all an illusion..." said Shindo, as she found herself in a dark hallway, one that was spinning and waving like it was made of jello, "Your eyes still register it."
looking around, Eri begun to feel dizzy, as the room was making her so disorientated, she couldn't even take a step forward without stumbling.
"You can't even stand up straight, so how do you think you can beat me?" Asked Shindo.
"Shhhh... Don't talk" Said Eri.
"And why is that?" Shindo exclaimed, lunging at her again.
Suddenly, Eri reached to her sides, grabbing Shindo's arm.
"Because I can tell where you are from your voice." Said Eri, throwing him over the shoulder.
As the illusion dispersed, she pinned Shindo down in an armlock, 5 seconds before the time limit was reached.
"I... I concede." Shindo muttered.
"And it finally ends! But good god was that a close one!" Exclaimed Jiro.
"Yeah no kidding! Eri looks like she would go down in just a few more hits!" Mirio added.
"I taught her well." Said Shigaraki, smugly.
As the two sides shook hands, Shindo remained silent, not even bothering to look at Eri.
"Shindo... are you... okay?" Asked Eri.
"All of U.A knows what my quirk truly is now. There's no way they'll spare me after I humiliated so many of them." Said Shindo, "Eri, I appreciate your sentiment, but I'm beyond help." As Shindo got out of the ring, he already saw a handful of U.A students, including Urusaiyo, whom he beat last round, ready get their revenge.
"Looks like U.A was never meant for me... Guess it was about time I resigned from this school... Oh well, it's nothing new to me..." Thought Shindo.
"Oi! You fraud! We have a few words we'd like to exchange with you!" Yelled one of the bulkier students.
"Yeah! You will pay for humiliating me!" Exclaimed Urusaiyo, "This time, I'll bury you with my secret technique passed down from 20 generations! Super Flash Bomb!"
"That's it?" Asked one of the other students.
"They don't all have long names." Replied Urusaiyo.
"Ladies, ladies, I just lost my match, cut me some slack!" Shindo retorted.
"Well me and a few of my friends think a loser should come out with a little more than a few bruises and a bleeding nose." Said one of the students, cracking his fists.
"Woah there, aren't we in school grounds here still? Violence between students shouldn't be tolerated." Said Shindo, trying to get out using the rules.
"Well you don't belong here anymore Shindo! And we'll make sure you never set foot into this school again!" Replied his assailant.
Just then, Shindo let out a hysterical laugh.
""Anymore"? "Anymore!?" You idiots! I never belonged here to begin with! I cheated in the exams remember? It's only thanks to a handful of teachers that I made it to Gen Ed in the first place! Do what you want with me, but even so, I'll remember that, for a small bit, you guys believed I actually belonged here for all this time until now." Shindo replied.
"Why you..."
Before Shindo's fist could connect however, it was stopped head in it's tracks by Kota.
"But he does indeed belong here." He said.
"What the hell are you guys doing here!?" Asked Urusaiyo.
"Isn't it obvious." Added Satsuki, walking in as well, "defending our friend."
She was then followed by Ririko, then Yoze, then Takane, then most of Class 1-A, standing by him.
"Why?" Asked Shindo, "Why are you doing this?"
Just then, Kota turned around to face him.
"We hate a lot of people. The dishonest, the fraud, the toxic fandoms. But if above all else, there's nothing we can't stand more than people shitting on other's hard work." Said Kota.
With that, tears streamed down Shindo's eyes, as he hugged Kota, trembling.
"This isn't fair... why only now? Where were the guys like you when everything I worked for fell apart?" He cried.
"It's alright now, Shindo." Kota replied, "We are here for you."
While this happened, Eri stood there, watching contently as Shindo finally earned respect in U.A. Walking off however, she bumped into someone she was told to avoid after all this time.
"Najime? What are you doing here?"
"Come with me Eri." Said Najime, "We need to talk.
To Be Continued...
Character Chart
CLASS 1-A STUDENTS
Seat 1: Netsu Hatohato (Male) - Quirk: Combustion
Seat 2: Shenn Shimatsu (Male) - Quirk: Paralyzing Touch
Seat 3: Yoze Matsumoto (Male) - Quirk: Solid Smoke
Seat 4: Takuto Tashitori (Male) - Quirk: Wings
Seat 5: Mayuko Kirimiku (Female) - Quirk: Flaming Hair
Seat 6: Shima Hirame (Female) - Quirk: Diva Beam
Seat 7: Kota Izumi (Male) - Quirk: Water Creation
Seat 8: Kumo Sakazuko (Male) - Quirk: Web
Seat 9: Ririko Tsukishima (Female) - Quirk: Metal Claws
Seat 10: Satsuki Asui (Female) - Quirk: Frog
Seat 11: Reiki Kumare (Male) - Quirk: Binging Balls
Seat 12: Samaru Sukizawa (Male) - Quirk: Tongue Cannon
Seat 13: Eri (Female) - Quirk: Rewind
Seat 14: Mito Izuyama (Male) - Quirk: Slippery
Seat 15: Mikai Ushigi (Male) - Quirk: Doll Maker
Seat 16: Nikimura Akami (Female) - Quirk: Reverse
Seat 17: Tsuchiko Hamato (Female) - Quirk: Flattening
Seat 18: Yamai Yuyumi (Female) - Quirk: Turbine
Seat 19: Takane Minegishi (Female) - Quirk: N/A
Seat 20: Najime Arinaka (Male) - Quirk: Garden
Class 1-B
Giovannio Cabacciana (Male) - Quirk: Sparkling Wind
Shinubi Kinoiichi (Female) - Quirk: Kyuubi
Urusaiyo Kisama (Male) - Quirk: ?
Other Classes
Class 1-C: Shindo Kiritoshi (Male) - Quirk: Illusion Projection
Pro Heroes
Katsuki Bakugo (Deku) - Quirk: N/A - Ranking: #1
Shoto Todoroki (Frost Burn) - Quirk: Half Cold Half Hot - Ranking: #2
Fumikage Tokoyami (Tsukuyomi) - Quirk: Dark Shadow - Ranking: #5
Momo Yaoyorozu (Creati) - Quirk: Creation - Ranking: #10
...
Villains Inc.
CEO (1/1 revealed)
Mightless (Izuku Midoriya) - Quirk: Explosion
Original Members (4/4)
Himiko Toga - Quirk: Shapeshifter
Twice - Quirk: Double
Magne - Quirk: Magnetism
Mr Compress - Quirk: Compression
Cadre Leaders (2/5)
Beros (1st Branch: Bodyguard Division Leader) - Quirk: ?
Froshki (4th Branch: Weapons Management Division Leader) - Quirk: Inventory
Cadre Division
"Gorgon" May Dussa (1st Branch: Bodyguard Division Cadre) - Quirk: Gorgon
"Minotaur" Bovir (1st Branch: Bodyguard Division Cadre) - Quirk: Minotaur
"Cyclops" Atlas (1st Branch: Bodyguard Division Cadre) - Quirk: Cyclops
"Chimera Liones (1st Branch: Bodyguard Division Cadre) - Quirk: Chimera