LET THE DEVIL IN
Chapter 0: Bloody Night
The following story is set after the Remedial Course Arc.
Musutafu, Japan, 03:00 in the morning.
The streets of the great metropolis were totally deserted. Everyone was sleeping in their homes to be well rested for the next day. Well… everyone except four individuals hiding in an alley in front of a multi-story apartment.
The aforementioned individuals consisted of Goro Fukui a tall, extremely muscular and bald man wearing a simple undershirt and dirty, frayed jeans. Beside her was Margaret Dillon(*), an American woman with long red hair and wearing green suit and trousers. Behind her was Ichiro Hayashi, a man as tall as the first, not as muscular as he was but sturdy enough to be intimidating, with bull horns sticking out of the sides of his black-haired head and wearing a vest that cowboys usually wear and tight black jeans. And finally there was Katsu Iwata another man, shorter than his companions, an actual dwarf wearing what looked like a smocking and black pants. His attire was completed with a magician-like hat, making him look out of place in the company of the three.
The group of four individuals was a gang of petty criminals from whom many families usually asked for loans, or even protection. Obviously each of these things had to be repaid, and if it did not happen... let's say that families who have had the misfortune of not paying on time have no longer seen the light of day.
And this time the unfortunate family that didn't pay was the Uraraka family.
"We gave them one more month," Goro said to his companions in an irritated tone. "We gave them an extra month to be able to find the money and pay, yet still nothing. They are late... again!" he repeated, clenching his right fist as the anger inside him over the late payment grew.
Margaret just shook her head "How much do we bet they'll ask for a little more time?" she asked almost as if it were the practice, while Katsu chuckled "Safer than when we visited the Tanaka family."
Ichiro scratched his left horn "And the Uraraka brat?" "Excuse me?" Goro asked turning to his companion. "Their daughter… what's her name… Ochaco isn't it? She lives in the dormitories of the U.A… Shouldn't we, I don't know... get rid of her? She could reveal to the authorities that we killed her parents ".
"I doubt it" Margaret replied immediately. "She knows that her parents have asked for a loan from some gang... but she doesn't know it's us" she concluded with a grin.
"Perfect then" Goro said, cracking his knuckles "Let's not touch the girl... we'll only kill her parents. Get ready guys. It's show time".
However, unaware of the four criminals, an individual on a roof of the alley had overheard their conversation and then started talking... to himself?
"Yes you heard right… these four fools want to kill an innocent family because they didn't pay their debt on time. Yeah, it pisses me off too. What do you say? Do we want to show them what happens when someone threatens innocents in front of us? " a black substance began to wrap itself around the body of the individual "Eheh ... I knew you would not refuse" said the mysterious figure, while the black substance completely enveloped his body making him increase in height. He threw himself off the roof and landed behind the four before they could exit the alley.
The sound of something landing behind the four immediately made them turn around. "What the hell… who's there?!" Goro said as Margaret began to create electric discharges from her hands, Katsu took a shotgun out of his hat and Ichiro took a position that was very reminiscent of the bulls ready to launch themselves to the attack.
No reply.
"Whoever you are, come out immediately" Goro repeated, taking a step forward "And maybe we will let you live"
No reply.
"Let me fry whoever is there, Goro," Margaret said as the electrical discharges on her hands began to increase. "So he'll learn to not poke his nose into other people's affairs."
"What interesting Quirks you have there."
The four froze as a cold shiver ran through their backs. The voice they had heard… it had nothing of natural. Nothing of human. It was as if two different voices were speaking at the same time, creating a terrifying effect.
"The woman has a Quirk that allows her to create electricity. The little guy has a Quirk that allows him to pull any kind of weapon out of his hat. The horned guy has a mutant Quirk that gives him bull horns and probably amplified strength. The bald guy and, most likely, the leader of this group has a Quirk that increases his strength and power judging by his muscles" observed the individual in the shadows "These Quirks are quite interesting... and potentially lethal… If they were in more capable hands of course".
"What did you say?!" Goro asked irritated, stepping further forward "Do you have any idea who we are? We are…" "A cheap gang" interrupted the voice "one that will also be easy enough to defeat. We have faced worse".
"We have?" Goro asked confused as the tension of the group was getting heavier "What does it mean… 'we' have? Aren't you alone?" "Oh but why do you care about who we are?" continued the voice "After all… soon you will all be too dead to be able to care about who we are."
The group couldn't even process what had just been said, that a black tentacle came out of the darkness grabbing Katsu by the neck and dragging him into the shadows. "NO! NO! GUYS HELP! HELP ME!" shouted the criminal dwarf as he fired into the darkness hoping to hit the mysterious assailant.
The other three were unable to do anything except stand still and terrified to watch their companion being dragged into the shadows. They could not see what was happening, but from the shots they understood that Katsu was continuing to shoot at the attacker... that either by some miracle he was able to dodge close-range bullets, or he had been hit and the bullets had done nothing at all.
"NO! PLEASE NO! DON'T… " *CHOMP*.
A disgusting noise interrupted Katsu's screams of terror, and increased the already great fear of his three companions. Their ears had heard well, but their brains refused to process the noise they had just heard: the sound of something being eaten.
Margaret held back a retching, while Ichiro was on the verge of fainting. Meanwhile Goro recoiled more and more, while the metallic smell of blood began to make its way between the nostrils of the three remaining criminals.
"Mmmm... criminal heads... our favorites" said the monstrous voice that at this point, for the three survivors, must have belonged to some demon "Let's see how you three taste".
A dark and very tall figure leapt out of the darkness and rushed towards Ichiro, too scared and in shock to be able to defend himself. The darkness of the alley and the night made it impossible to understand the appearance of the monster even if in such a situation it was the least of the worries. The creature opened what looked like huge jaws and then bit Ichiro's right shoulder making him scream and spill blood on the ground.
Ichiro's screams brought Margaret out of her trance of terror. "G-get away from him you bastard!" the woman cried, shooting electricity from her hands at the creature. In a moment it jumped away from Ichiro who was hit by the electricity that came from Margaret's hands. Margaret, due to her fear and adrenaline, had not been able to control the power of her electric discharges which, hitting Ichiro, killed him instantly, leaving only a charred body in her place. "N-NO! ICHIRO! " the woman screamed, realizing that she had killed her partner. "Not bad" the monster complimented "Such discharges could have been a nuisance for us... but they wouldn't have been enough to kill us" he approached Margaret "With that blow you took away a snack that looked delicious ... oh well…" Even though it was too dark, Margaret could see a sharp-toothed smile on the creature's face. "At least there is still you two."
He threw himself against Margaret who, taken aback, tried to launch yet another electric shock at the enemy who managed to dodge the blow without problems. The opponent made Margaret fall to her ground, with him on top of her and with great speed, he bit her on her left arm.
Margaret screamed, her pain and terror preventing her from concentrating and being able to use her powers. She looked straight at Goro who had been staring at it all with wide, terrified eyes. "G-GORO! PLEASE! H-HELP ME! " she cried to her boss, hoping for her last hope of salvation.
Goro remained motionless for a few seconds... and then turned and ran away from the alley. "G-GORO! N-NO! DON'T LEAVE… "she couldn't finish her sentence as her monster tore off her arm making her scream at the top of her lungs.
"Damn it... damn it" Goro kept repeating to himself as he ran away. A part of him hated himself for abandoning his partner... but what else could he do? That monster was twice his size, and most likely even stronger. What hope would he have if he tried to help Margaret? He would end up dead just like Katsu.
His thoughts were interrupted when a black tentacle coming from above him suddenly took him by the neck. He was immediately dragged through the air, until he reached a palace where the tentacle dropped him to the palace floor.
The tentacle left his neck, and then retreated into the shadows... to its rightful owner. "You can't just walk away from an argument" said the monster's voice. "It's not good manners. We feel very… very… offended ".
"What ... what did you do to Margaret ?!" Simply asked Goro as he got up. "Seriously? You criminals will have hard heads, but you are not that stupid" replied the creature in the shadows "We devoured the head of the dwarf. What do you think we did to the electric woman?" He ended with an ironic tone.
"You... lousy monster..." Goro growled "You killed Margaret!" "And you abandoned her to her fate. You're certainly no better than us" chuckled the creature.
"Thats enough! No more running away! I'll kill you with my bare hands! " Goro yelled ready to fight and avenge his comrades. "Oh. We really want to see you try" the enemy laughed as Goro, seized by rage and fury, threw himself towards the shadows from which the voice came. And from there, at great speed, the large figure of the monster came out and launched himself against Goro.
Goro, without even seeing the creature in the face, charged into his left fist all the strength his Quirk could allow, and hit his opponent straight in the chest. He expected a miracle. He expected that his strength would be enough to immediately defeat the monster or, at the very least, capable of hurting him, even a little. But none of this happened. He watched with pure terror his fist still in contact with the black body crossed by white veins of the monster who stood still doing nothing, as if instead of being hit by the fist of a man whose Quirk allowed him to increase his strength he had been stung by an annoying mosquito.
"We didn't expect anything from you," the creature said in a sarcastically disappointed tone. "But you disappointed us anyway" and with its clawed hand it grabbed Goro by the neck, lifting him up in the air so that Goro could see his face.
Goro shivered as he saw the creature's enormous white eyes staring at him and the sharp teeth of its mouth from which drool dripped. "Eyes... lungs... pancreas... so many snacks and so little time" said the monster with a wide and frightening smile on his face. He opened his huge mouth and from it came a long tongue with which he licked the face of Goro, who kicked and hit with his fists the arm of the monstrosity that was in front of him to be able to free himself in vain.
The monster pushed his tongue back into his mouth, which he flung open even more so that he could finally savor his last meal. "NO! DON'T DO IT! PLEASE!" "Time to feeeeed" the cannibal monster simply replied by dropping its jaws on Goro's head.
*CHOMP*
(*) Margaret Dillon is the version of this story of Max Dillon aka Electro in the Marvel comics
