This was it, this is what decided whether Midoriya lived or died.
I stood facing Skitter's base, a typical villain warehouse, with people outside all staring at us. They were handling power tools and adding to the warehouse. I guess Skitter was adding to her empire.
I stood side by side with Vista and Sero. Ochaco, Tenya, and Tokoyami stood on my right, next to Sero. And Flechette, Glory Girl, and Kid Win were standing on the left. Next to Vista. We were all in hero costume. Theirs seemed woefully unarmored for this fight. But not all heroes wear armor. I'll just ignore it. I'll have to trust their ability to protect themselves.
I wasn't even sure what to do. I knew how to fight them. I just didn't know how to play this. Should we wait for them? Should we go in? With the warp villain, all The Undersiders and The Travelers could come in instantly. They definitely planned to do that already. But we can't just attack them. There are people outside and inside. So as much as I hated to say it. We needed the villains to come to us.
"Well, we're here," Sero said. "So now what? Do we go in?"
"Not unless we want to start a fight," I said.
"Don't we?" Ochaco asked.
"Not yet. There are still people around. Wait for Skitter to order them inside.
They all nodded, and we waited outside. It was probably only a minute and a half. But it felt thirty times longer.
A portal opened.
The warp villain.
The Undersiders stepped out with three beast, except for Tattletale and Skitter. along with two of The Travelers, Genesis and Ballistic. Genesis was in a Wolf-esch form, orange, and with bushy mane and three tails, their mouth was dripping with drool, and their tongue was long and pointed. The Undersiders and Travelers were dozens of feet away from us, watching with a sense of tension and anticipation.
Where were Trickster and Sundancer? And as a matter of fact, where the hell were Tattletale and Skitter? Were they in the building?
"Heroes." Grue said.
"Undersiders." I turned to The Travelers. "Travelers."
"You shot my friend." Iida said.
"That was an accident." Grue said.
"You're blaming us for you shooting me? Or attacking the heroes?" Ochaco had venom in her voice. She was reminding me of Shadow Stalker again...
"No, I never said that," Grue said. "And it doesn't matter. The deal isn't for fifteen more minutes."
"We have a different idea." Glory Girl smiled.
Grue stood still. "Oh?"
"That's right." Kid Win said. "We're not going to let you hurt Izuku."
"Midoriya." Tenya corrected.
"Midoriya." Kid Win repeated. "We're giving an option."
"You don't get to negotiate." Hellhound spat.
"Funny." Glory Girl folded her arms. "Skitter got told the same thing when she learned Shadow Stalker identity."
Regent looked up. I think he might've rolled his eyes. "So, what do you guys want?"
"We're going to get Izuk…Midoriya, and you're going to get nothing." I said.
"You're kidding, right?" Imp said.
"Dream on, girl." Sero said.
"You villains should consider yourself fortunate," Tokoyami said. "If we were less pleasant, we'd attack you without giving you a choice. But now? You have a chance to surrender before you face the ferocity of wrath."
"We're not afraid of you." Ballistic said.
"Yeah, we don't have a poor track record against you guys." Genesis said. "Why would we surrender?"
"We got a little help." Vista said, while smirking. "If I were you, I suggest you give up."
"We don't want to hurt you." Flechette said.
"What makes you think you can?" Hellhound nearly snarled.
"Last chance," I said. "Give up."
"I don't think so." Grue began to raise his hand.
"If that's what you wish, Sero?"
"On it."
Sero fired some tape out of his elbow onto Grue's arm.
And I grabbed the tape and froze it.
"What the hell!?" Grue struggled, but couldn't get free.
"What the fuck is this!?" Imp said.
Imp seems to care more than the others, a possible connection? Maybe they're banging.
"I believe Skitter said something along these lines," I let go of the frozen tape. "This was over the moment we entered the battlefield."
5 hours ago.
"You want us to kill them!?" Ochaco said.
"Not kill them, just…don't hold back." Glory Girl said.
"But you just said your full vigor will kill them!" Fumikage said. "You expect us to believe, you don't expect us to kill them?"
This argument wasn't going to end anytime soon. The students and The Wards couldn't be anymore different. We had completely different experiences. Only students that was similar to a ward was Sero, and I don't think I have to explain how our relationship was different from the other student and Wards.
Meanwhile, these guys were so different and prone to arguing it could be a reality show. It was like convincing a dog to like a cat. It wasn't going to work.
Which means we might not be able to save Izuku.
"Guys," I said. "We don't have to argue."
"We need to figure out how to deal with them." Flechette said.
"So you agree with them?" Iida asked. "Or are you just agreeing with the point just made?"
"Kinda both, I think we indeed to figure out what to do, but I don't want to kill them."
"Why are you saying that?" Kid Win asked. "You're different from them."
Sero's eyes widened. "What? What's that supposed to mean? This isn't about Mineta trying to grope Glory Girl, is it?"
"I believe it is not," Bird Guy said. "Regardless, I don't know where it is coming from, considering I agree with them."
Ochaco turned around. "Tokoyami…"
Tokoyami? Was that his name? Or that his last name?
"You must understand, allies. I dealt with enough enemies in my time, bullies and thugs who try to eliminate me because I am an animal with a quirk. I know better than possibly anyone else in this room that you don't kill unless you have to. All they are asking is for ask to be willing."
Kid Win nodded. "Guess you are like us."
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Iida asked.
"He means…" Glory Girl half groaned, half sighed. "You guys have Quirks, right? You didn't get powers from trauma, like we did."
"What?" Iida asked. "Are you saying you all have Cerebum quirks?"
"That's right."
"And…that means you got your power from trauma?" Ochaco asked.
"We all did, except for you."
"So? I don't see why the hell that matters." Sero said.
"While leaning back in the room, I nudged into something. One of Izuku's notebooks. Out of curiosity, I picked it up and read. It was on my page.
Actually, I don't think I ever read this…
"Because it means you're spoiled." Vista said. "You had easy lives, happy childhoods. You guys don't know what it's like to truly suffer. You don't have prespective. You don't know sometimes you have to get your hands dirty to keep people safe. You guys just want to hold on to your idealistic morality. No matter how little sense it makes."
"I disagree." Iida put his hand on his chin. "I believe that we just don't want to take a life away. We should be avoiding strategy that involve that. Unless it was someone truly horrendous."
"This is exactly what I'm talking about."
"Don't you think what you do with trauma matters than just having it?"
"Maybe they're right." I said.
Everyone looked at me.
"Thanks, Clock." Vista said.
"So you agree with them?" Sero said. Only confused, not judging.
"No, I agree with the stu…Class 1-A."
"What!? Why!?" They all said, although their tone was different on the last line.
"Because, if we're smart enough, we can take them down without killing them. Without even maiming them."
Ochaco breathed a sighed of relief, Iida and Sero smiled.
The Wards stared.
I can't believe I never knew this. I can't believe I looked down at him. And for what? For this?
No better way to say I'm sorry than to save him.
Glory Girl spoke, "Do you think we're smart enough?"
"We're not, but Midoriya is."
Now
"He froze the tape! I can't move!" Grue said.
Sero leaned in. "Well, I guess Midoriya's books were good, after all."
"Damn right." I said. "They can't beat us now."
"I wouldn't be so sure." Grue said. "Trickster?"
Trickster? Oh-no…
Grue was teleported and Glory Girl was in his place, with the frozen tape around her arm.
"The fuck!?" She said.
"Again!" Grue ordered.
Before I could touch him, He was teleported with Genesis, who swatted me away. I went flying, but Iida was able to catch me.
"Thanks, Iida."
"No problem, but the fight is starting. We must commence!"
Iida ran into the battlefield and drop-kicked one of Hellhound's dogs, then leaped away when one of them tried to bite him. The other dog went towards Ochaco, but she leaped over it, and floated midair, landing into the warehouse, beginning to scrawl it.
Glory Girl tried to break the frozen tape, to no avail, and worse, a dog was coming after her.
"Tokoyami! Break the tape!"
I felt weird using a fellow hero's real name on the battlefield, but these guys didn't have much in the way of secret identities.
"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami brought out Dark Shadow and had him attack the tape.
It disappeared, and the tape fell.
"'Bout time!" Glory Girl put her fist in her hand and punched the dog, causing it to bite more rapidly.
Dark Shadow went towards Genesis, but then another portal manifested, and a sun came out. Dark Shadow was jumped away to avoid it. Meanwhile, Flechette and Kid Win were firing shots at Genesis, who was avoiding the shots, and grabbed Kid Win.
I ran towards him without even thinking, but Sero stopped me.
"Clock, shall we freeze him?" Sero asked.
"We shall."
Sero shot some tape at Genesis, and at the warehouse, then he went forward like a slingshot and did it several times around Genesis's legs until it was all wrapped up.
I grabbed the tape, ripped it, and froze it around Genesis. It couldn't move. It couldn't even fall, must be really uncomfortable.
"Trickster!" It shouted, in a deep guttural voice.
Suddenly, Genesis disappeared. A rock in their place. And they jumped at Flechette and got on top of her. But then Iida jumped at them and kicked them off her. They skidded on the ground with their claws on the ground. Were they that sharp?
"We're never going to get anywhere with Trickster around!" I said. "We have to find him!"
"Look out!" Dark Shadow pulled Tokoyami away.
"Dark Shadow!" He said. "What is the meaning of this!?"
"A girl was trying to stab you!"
What? Wait…
I pulled out Midoriya's notebook. I skipped over the pages to find Imp's. I skimmed it to find the passage I was looking for.
Imp's power classification: Stranger.
Imp's power: conscience manipulation.
"It's Imp! Dark Shadow! Attack her!"
"Got it!" He said. "May I?"
"As you wish." Tokoyami said.
Wait, if Dark Shadow was sentient, how did Tokoyami control him? Did he control him against his will, in order to get the job done?
Guess he really was like us…
Dark Shadow attacked the air, and Imp flickered into existence. Bouncing on the ground as she skidded on it.
She got up, and looked around. "Ummm…hi?"
"I found Deku!" Ochaco was at the window of the warehouse, on the side of it.
"Great!" I said. "Pull him out of there!"
"You got it! Come on-crap!"
Ochaco leaned back to avoid the bullet that just came out of it.
"Uraraka!" Iida said.
There was an arm hanging out of the window, and Ochaco pulled out a clutch move and grabbed it with her foot, turning off her zero gravity at the same time and pulling Tattletale out.
"Hell yeah, Ochaco!" I said.
"Way to go, girl!" Glory Girl threw her fist into the air.
Ochaco activated her zero gravity again on her and Tattletale right before they were about to fall. Unfortunately, that meant she was busy vomiting while Tattletale aimed.
"Ochaco!" I shouted.
"I got her!" Iida got into a running position.
But Kid Win fired a pulse blast at Tattletale and sent her on her ass.
"Yes!" I said.
Then my mind came to a blank. Did I just forget something?
Wait a second…
I pulled out Midoriya's notebook. I skipped over the pages to find Imp's. I skimmed it to find the passage I was looking for.
Imp's power classification: Stranger.
Imp's power: conscience manipulation.
"Shit! Imp is gone again! Dark Shadow, where is she!?"
"Kinda busy here!" Dark Shadow said, narrowly avoiding Sundancer's sun. Tokoyami jumped away from it, only to get caught by Genesis with their paw.
I wanted to call out to Glory Girl, But she was dealing with two of the dogs now. I couldn't depend on her.
"Kid Win!" I shouted.
Kid Win aimed a shot but missed, Regent. When he aimed again, he was shot by Grue's darkness. He couldn't aim. Fuck.
Speaking of that, where was Imp? She could've stabbed one of us by now and we wouldn't even know.
Flechette shot Genesis's paw. They howled and reeled back.
"Sero! Now!"
Sero shot some tape at Tokoyami and pulled him to us.
"Thank you, friends. I am grateful."
This guy was only fifteen, right? "Don't mention it, stay away from her sun."
"Incoming!" Sero said.
Her sun was coming,
Shit.
I leaped away from the sun. I turned around to give an order but had Sundancer sun following me, moving as fast as I ran.
"Why is it coming after me!?"
"It must want to burn Midoriya's book!" Iida said. "You pulled it out. They're aware of the dangers!"
"Quick, freeze it!" Ochaco said. She was still stable, I thought she was-
Wait, that's it!
I turned on my power and touched the sun. It hurt like hell, but I was able to freeze it.
"GAH! SHIT!"
I looked at my hand, pieces of my hand and finger plates were partially melted. But they weren't melting into my skin. It wasn't all melted.
"Ok, we got Sundancer, she wont be able to make another sun, let's go after Gene-"
"Flechette!" Sero ran to her, why was she on the ground…twitching? "She's having a seizure!"
"Seizure? Regent."
"What!?" Sero looked at Regent.
"Hey man, you started the fight." Regent said.
Sero grit his teeth.
"If he does that to her for long enough…" I trailed off. I turned to Iida. "Iida!"
"Already on it!" He started running, he was far away but gaining distance. "Vista, get me close!"
"On it!"
Iida was already half-way there in three of five seconds. He must've not been at full speed. But it didn't matter, with Vista the closed the rest of the distance in a split second…only for Iida to get slapped down by a paw.
The dog was on top of him, Iida went for a kick, but another dog grabbed his leg with his teeth, and started ripping the armor apart.
"IIDA!" Ochaco cried.
"Plan B!" I said.
Sero nodded. "Right!" Sero pulled some meat out of his pocket. "Hey, doggies! Look at the meeeeeeeeaaaaaaat!"
This was our big play. Izu…Midoriya deduced that the beasts Hellhound fostered were still just dogs underneath. This was our chance to prove that theory right.
The dogs wagged their tails. Even the one fighting Glory Girl stopped.
"No," Hellhound said. "No."
"Come on, boys!" Sero said. More worried than I expected. "Don't you want some meat?"
The dogs panted.
"You want it? You want it? GO GET IT!" Sero taped the meat and slung it over to me, the dogs followed, and right when they went for it, I froze them. All of them.
"We all cheered, one of the biggest problems, out of the picture.
"Thanks!" Iida said. He kicked Regent in the face, knocking him out.
"Ok," I began. "Let's-"
"Look out!" Dark Shadow said.
What? Oh sh-
I jumped away, then to my side. Where was she? where did she go?
"Dark Shadow, where is she!?"
"Right in front of you!"
"Dammit!" Imp popped back into life. "Stop revealing where I am, birdbrain!"
"Dark shadow, commence!" Tokoyami jumped after her, she ran away but they followed.
"How the fuck can he see her!?" Grue asked.
"His brain isn't normal! If he even has one." Tattletale said. Wasn't she knocked out?
"Yeah, you aren't too bright, either!" Dark Shadow said.
Tattletale frowned. I think there was a lot of distance between her and I.
Glory Girl was fighting Genesis, but They looked stronger than the dogs. She went to tackle them but they lashed her with one of their tails and grabbed her in their jaws.
"Iida! Get me close!" I ran after her. Not that it would do me any good, by the time I got to her, her ribcage would be shattered.
Good thing, I got someone with super speed and someone with space warping on this team.
With Iida and Vista's help, I was there in a split second, but by the time I got there, Genesis was in the air.
She has wings
"Great, I can never freeze her now, I can't fly."
"You can't." Glory Girl smirked. "But I can."
I stared at her. "Promise me you won't drop me?"
"Promise."
Glory Girl grabbed me under the shoulder and flew me into the air. I never flew before, but it felt like being falling upwards, like on a swing, constantly moving, going at a hundred miles per hours.
We spotted Genesis. They lashed again with her tail, but this time Glory Girl dodged, immediately going backwards to avoid the strike.
"Fastball special!" Glory Girl threw me.
I turned on my power, but Genesis dodged by spinning, then made a beeline towards Glory Girl.
"Clock!"
Genesis tackled Glory Girl. And dragged her to the ground.
"Well, shit," I said.
I fell and fell and fell, and right when I started praying that I was dreaming. Ochaco caught me.
"Release," She said.
We fell and rolled onto the ground.
"Ochaco…" I whispered.
"Uraraka," she replied.
"Uraraka," I said. "Doesn't using your power on yourself and other people to much make you nauseous?"
"Yes. Very." She held her hand in her mouth. And turned around to vomit.
When she did, I saw Dark Shadow fighting Genesis. Genesis and Dark Shadow both grabbed each other claws Genesis bit at Dark Shadow, only for Dark Shadow to headbutt them. Genesis scratched Dark Shadow, but the claws broke on him.
Dark Shadow ripped off Genesis's arms and grabbed their head.
"Guess mine is better," Tokoyami said.
"Wha-" Genesis was cut off my Dark Shadow crushing their skull.
"Tokoyami…" Ochaco said.
"It's just a projection. I didn't kill a single human here."
"Wait, did we forget something?" Kid Win asked.
He forgot something again?
Wait a second…
I pulled out Midoriya's notebook. I skipped over the pages to find Imp's. I skimmed it to find the passage I was looking for.
Imp's power classification: Stranger.
Imp's-
"Hey!" Dark Shadow said. He went behind me and punched something.
It was Imp, who was holding her bloody nose. "God dammit! I can't even make you forget me!"
"Stay away from him, creep."
"cut that out! It's not like I was going to kill him!"
"How generous of you., I said. "Sero?"
He fired tape next to her, then brought it towards her to wrap her up.
"Well… that was something., Sero said.
"Yep, that's an accurate estimation." I responded.
"Tattletale…" Grue said. "What do we do?"
Tattletale smirked. "I have one last idea. Trickster, teleport Glory Girl!"
"WHAT!? All the heroes said.
In a split second, Glory Girl was in Imp's place.
And right when Sero fired more tape…
"Grue! Hit Dark Shadow with your power!"
"What!? Wouldn't that help us!?" I remember what Dark Shadow looked like in Grue's darkness. When it faded away, Dark Shadow was huge. They wouldn't want that, would they?
"I'm with them here, tats," Regent said. He was back up. "This doesn't seem like a smart idea."
"Trust me! DO IT!"
Grue fired darkness at Dark Shadow. Who grew in size, and started to…roar? His roar muted by the darkness.
"No…" Tokoyami said.
"uhhh…Toko?" I said. "What's going on?"
"RUN!" Tokoyami said.
Dark Shadow attacked. Sero pulled me away with tape, Iida grabbed Ochaco. Flechette went away with her grappling hook and Kid Win fired shots at Dark Shadow while flying on his hoverboard.
"What going on!?" Grue said.
"Dark Shadow is harder to control in the darkness!" Tattletale said. "It also increases his strength!"
"Oh-no…" Sero said.
"Kid Win, Get out of there!" I ordered.
"You guys need a distraction!" He said. Narrowly avoiding Dark Shadow claws.
"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami said. "Cease this! Immediately!"
Dark Shadow only roared in response.
"I have an Idea!" I remember one of Midoriya's notes on Grue in his book. I pulled it out and read it.
Grue's darkness is a substance, which means it can be blown away with enough force.
"Glory Girl, gonna need you!" I said.
Glory Girl frowned. "Kinda busy here."
"We don't have Dark Shadow to dissipate the effects of my power!"
"We don't need him!" Flechette said.
She used the grappling hook to go toward her, she empowered a knife with her power and cut the tape in half.
Well, damn.
Glory Girl flew to me. "What you need, Clock?"
"I need you to make a shockwave to dissipate the darkness."
"I don't think I'm strong enough." Glory Girl said. "Deku already shared his notes with me. But when I tried at the PRT base. It didn't work."
"Then…Iida!"
"If she can't," Iida began. "What chance do I have? I'm not that fast." Iida looked down. "but…if we combine our strength." He looked at Glory Girl.
She grinned. "Ready when you are."
"We might wanna stand back," I said to Sero.
He nodded, and we all stood back. Several dozens of feet.
Iida gave a look and then said, "RECIPRO BUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRSSSSSSSST!"
Glory Girl threw a punch, and Iida threw a kick. They clashed, and the darkness dissipated.
Dark Shadow shrunk. He said something I couldn't hear. And Dark Shadow hugged him.
We ran back. "Wow, that actually worked."
"Do it, again!"
Sero wrapped them all in tape. "Oh no, you don't!"
I ripped the tape and froze it. Leaving them in place. "Looks like you lose."
"Maybe we are having some off days," Regent said.
"We still have an ace in the hole," Grue said.
"You mean the guy I saw in the second window to the right?" Kid Win said.
What guy? Genesis?
Trickster.
"VISTA!" I nearly barked.
Vista stretched the second window of the right to make a whole, revealing Trickster. Before he could run, Sero taped him and pulled him out. Leaving him to fall several stories.
"Kid Win?" Sero said. "A little help?"
Kid Win sent out his hoverboard and it cut the tape in half, or maybe a third, and wrapped up Trickster before catching him and putting him on the ground.
"You were saying?" Glory Girl said.
"Ok, we are having an off day," Grue said.
"I thought you guys did better than this," Imp said.
Tattletale whispered something. What did she say? "KUROGIRI!"
Oh shit…
Mist appeared, all going to the same spot, eventually forming into a humanoid shape.
"Hello, heroes," Kurogiri said. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You don't have to go home, but I'll settle for halfway across the city."
We stared and stood still.
"Well, we're fucked." Sero said. Don't think I ever heard him curse like that.
"We'll never be able to beat Kurogiri in a fight," I said.
"Right you are, and with that, I bid you…" He sent out his smoke. "Fare-"
All of the sudden, he was hit by something.
It was an explosion.
"BAKUGO!" we all said.
"That's right! YOU THINK I WOULD LET HAVE ALL THE FUN!? GET OUTTA HERE!" He said. Then he pinned Kurogiri to the ground. "If you move, you die. You better hope I'm having a good day!"
He wasn't.
Tattletale sat there…Without a smile, for once. "Shigaraki, I really hate to say this, but…we could really use your help."
"TRY IT!" He said. "I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY… What the hell is that?"
Katsuki was right, we all heard something. Something like…
Buzzing.
"EVERYBODY, RUN!" I said.
But it was too late. We were in a cloud of bugs. Their screams were as clear as glass and their agony was truthful, I couldn't stop the bugs, there were too many. Though strangely, none of Midoriya's friends were screaming. Were they not attacked?
I got my answer when the bugs dissipated. They were ok, but my friends were not. They were on the ground, kneeling from the pain. Did she hold a grudge over us trying to stop her!?
The bugs crowded around the warehouse door, staying there for a bit, until…
They went away, and Skitter revealed herself.
"Hello, Wards. Class 1-A."
"Skitter." We all said.
She looked at Katsuki. "Hello…Kacchan, is it?"
Kacchan?
"Ha! Calling me that won't get me to go easy on you!" I couldn't see Katsuki's face, but from his tone, he seemed confident.
Skitter stared. "I heard you're aggressive, short-tempered, psychotic."
Where did she hear this from? Coil's spy? Is Coil their boss? No, it wouldn't make any sense He's not even a part of the team yet.
"WHAT DID THAT NERD SAY ABOUT ME!?" Katsuki shouted.
"Don't worry, He doesn't hate you."
How does she know all of this?
"But you…" she began. "You are the culmination of everything I hate about heroes. Selfish, Immature, pig-headed."
"Pot, meet kettle," Sero said. "Now sake handles."
I didn't need to see Skitter's face to know she was glaring at Sero.
"I don't care about morality or empathy. I'm too awesome for that! Maybe a loser villain needs it, but I don't! I can do anything I want, to whoever I want, whenever I want!"
"We sure he's a hero?" I said to Sero. who chuckled.
Forget about Ochaco. This guy seems a lot like Shadow Stalker.
Skitter stood there. "If that's what you think, then perish."
We couldn't fight her. We depended on Katsuki.
This was the final Showdown.
Author Notes: This chapter was so fun to write. And I wrote the majority of it in one day. Really fun!
Next one will be Skitter Vs. Bakugo! It won't be as exciting as Skitter and Deku. But it'll be hype for sure.
And for the record, the thing Tattletale whispered was, "We got no choice." Just thought I put that out.
And I'll make sure you guys get your sneak peek this time. Have to make sure my patre0n are getting their money's worth.
That's all I had to say. This is Super Ultimate Number One, sighing out. Peace!