My Hero Academia – Under Pressure – Season 3 – Episode 9 – Mythical
Mythical stood before his opponent unflinchingly. His gold and silver suit gleamed uniquely in the light of the setting sun. His face was blank as he gazed at his foe. He knew what was about to happen, what needed to happen, but he also had another goal here that needed to be accomplished alongside freeing the island.
The Dominator meanwhile laughed loudly at the being before him. Here was the No.1 Pro-Hero in Japan, the peak of Pro-Hero Society in many ways. This was it. This was the final obstacle on his path to true domination, to truly making an empire.
As the impending battle loomed, the members of The Deck emerged from the cloud cover that helped seal their victory with the other Pro-Heroes. But unlike what they said before, they didn't intervene. Mindblast and Momentum gave looks to the others to ensure that they didn't enter the fray no matter what.
The battle with Mythical was to be his alone. The outcome of the fight would determine who won the bet.
"Most would be scared if they were in my position," admitted The Dominator with a confident smile. "So few in Japan, if not the world, can take you on, Mythical. And yet, here I stand, unafraid. What does that tell you?"
Mythical grunted, "That you're an arrogant fool."
"I am arrogant, aren't I? It's in my very name I suppose. I live to dominate. But it's more than that here, the broken wills of the people of this island fuel me. Add that to my self-confidence and my strength has never been higher! Even you won't stop me today."
"If you really believe that, then come."
A brief silence filled the area. One that was necessary as things were about to get very loud.
Breaking the silence with a shout, The Dominator charged at his foe. Mythical extended out both of his hands. One forward, and one into the air directly above him. Two bursts of light shot out from the hands, the top hand had a blue beam shoot into the sky, the forward-facing hand had a yellow blast that headed right for The Dominator.
The beam of light transformed into a massive lion. It roared and collided with The Dominator. The villain grabbed onto the massive paws of the beasts and a tug of war began.
"A lion, how basic!" called out The Dominator, "Humanity showed long ago that they're meant…to be dominated!"
With another roar he pushed back against the lion, and soon lifted it off the ground and threw it into the air. The construct shattered as it went farther away from its summoner.
"Surely you have better beasts than that?"
Mythical did another grunt, but this time he didn't say anything. Rather, he just held up a hand and swept it in front of him. When he did, a grey light emerged this time.
Unlike before, it wasn't one entity that grew from this light, it was a trio of beings. They were winged entities, but ones with slightly humanoid forms. They gave a loud screech upon being fully born.
The villain nodded in glee at this, "Harpies! Much better! Let us see how powerful your claws are!"
All three harpies screeched at his challenge and rushed toward him.
With determination they attacked The Dominator on all sides. Though his strength and endurance were formidable, he knew that the numbers game was his sole weakness. He almost lost two fights taking the island because of the numbers game.
But he would not be put down this time. Not by them, and not by him.
The harpies claws were razor sharp, and they sliced through his outfit and through the first layer of skin. It was only because of the heightened level of his Quirk that they didn't do more.
"I've already had enough of you!"
He waited for one of the harpies to strike, and when they did, he dodged. As their claw went right by him he grabbed it and then swung the winged creature around. The Dominator used her as a weapon and made her hit the harpy sisters. With that, they shattered.
Mythical hadn't moved from his spot, he didn't even react to the defeat of his summons.
The Dominator was amused by this, "Nothing to say?"
The Pro-Hero shook his head lightly, "No."
Without another word he extended his hand once again, and an orange light emerged. It soon grew into an impressive sized fox with nine tales.
"Yes! Bring me a beast from our legends! I'll crush it and become a legend myself!"
The Dominator bounded forward and punched the nine-tailed fox right in its head. But the creature shook it off with ease and spun around to whack the villain with its tails.
Though he hit the ground hard, he bounced right back up and continued the fight.
In the lair of The Dealer, he gazed mischievously at the Ace of Diamonds.
"Mythical. The No.1 Pro-Hero in Japan. Quirk: Legendary Summons. Talk about specific, right? According to his best-selling book, he learned he could do those summons by reading the myths of various cultures. As he grew up, the summons he did could do became more elaborate, more powerful. Until eventually he was as praised as the beasts he summons. They are his power, and his power is theirs. …wait, did I really just say all that? What am I? An encyclopedia?"
He shivered in disgust in his chair before he focused back on the card. He pulled it closer to him, and then reached across the table to grab the Jack of Clubs. The Dealer put the cards next to one another and admired them in a way only he could.
"I know what you're thinking, an ace beats a jack every day of the week, right? Well, in most cases, sure."
With a wave of his hand he swopped up the other cards he had on the table and shuffled them playfully. Only the two cards remained on the table.
"But as in all things, there are exceptions to the rule. In some card games, the ace is a one, making it the lowest card in the deck. Plus, if you have a pair of jacks, you can beat an ace. Or, perhaps the jack card is a trump card, making it the most powerful card in the deck. But I will say this, while The Dominator is a worthy jack, Mythical is a worthy ace."
Back in the battle, The Dominator continued to clash with the nine-tailed fox. Each side refused to give an inch to the other, and that made the fight more intense. The pier area they were on was getting wrecked more than the previous fights had done to it.
But while that would dissuade most, it wasn't worrying The Dominator at all. Instead, he smiled at the thrill of the fight and continued to pounce on the fox.
The two went back and forth for some time. Then, when the fox spun around for another tail attack, The Dominator seized his moment. Just like before with the harpy, he grabbed onto it. This time via one of its tails and then spun it around wildly. Eventually, he launched it into the air where it collided with a nearby building, leveling it completely.
The damage was enough to shatter the fox from reality.
Now 3-0 against the Pro-Hero's summons, the villain rushed right to the man himself and threw hands.
"It's your turn, no more beasts!" he yelled as tried to punch the Pro-Hero.
Tried was the keyword here. Because while he was finally up close and personal with his opponent, Mythical had no issues dodging all of his attacks.
In fact, Mythical made it look easy as he weaved back and forth threw the attacks and only occasionally needed to block them outright.
"You're skilled, I'll admit that," Mythical noted while he dodged.
The Dominator took no solace in this and kept up the barrage. Not unlike his foe, Mythical waited for an opportune moment and the decked the villain square in the job. He flew backward and hit a nearby crop of outstretched rock.
"The difference between you and me, Dominator, is that while I have physical strength, I don't need to use it. I don't rely on it like you do yours. You're powerful, but you're very much one-dimensional. You punch, you kick, you endure, and you use that to break wills. My will has never broken because I've never lost in my Pro-Hero career."
"That just means that there's a first time for everything!" said The Dominator as he rose back to his feet.
Mythical nodded, "That is true, I doubt I'll be undefeated forever. But until then, I have no reason to fear you. Especially since…"
A noise caught his ear and he turned. The Dominator did the same.
In the distance, a helicopter approached. One might have assumed it was a military copter here to either help Mythical or start helping the people of the island, but it wasn't.
Rather, it was a news helicopter. One that swung around to the nearby edge of the island and opened its side doors so a team of camera men could point their lenses at the action.
After getting the initial snapshots, one of the camera turned to a reporter that was also in the copter, "This is Lelani Yasmine for Japan Worldwide! We're here above the Shozu District where an intense battle between Pro-Heroes and a mysterious group of villains has been going on for hours. We were alerted that Mythical was on site and we'll do our best to show the fight between him and the villains leader. The behemoth known as The Dominator."
The cameraman went back to filming the fight, which at present was just The Dominator and Mythical staring at the copter.
But soon, the villain laughed with glee at the development.
That took Mythical aback just a bit, "I hope for your sake you're not considering attacking that helicopter."
"Attack it?" asked back the villain, his own disgust now evident on his face. "On the contrary! I WANT them to be there. They'll film our struggle, and when I defeat you, Japan as a whole will have their wills broken! My strength will increase by such bounds that no one in the world wills top me!"
"Only if you beat me…which you haven't yet."
Mythical did a vertical movement with his hand, and a green light grew to a mighty size. This time, the legendary beast was a two-legged crocodile. It was taller than the nine-tailed fox, and had arms that were much more usable than its real-life counterpart.
The Dominator motioned the beast forward, "Come on! I will take you down, then take down whatever else your master throws at me! But do forgive me if I don't…walk like an Egyptian…"
With a cackle and a pounce forward, the battle began. Like the previous bouts, it was a back-and-forth endeavor. Both sides landed hits on the other. Both were knocked down, and then got back up again. Those who watched nearby, whether they were the villains, the people on the copter, or those watching from home, were all entranced by it all.
At one junction, The Dominator pushed back the crocodile and pointed at its master, "You think I'm basic just because I use my strength as I do? Then watch as I take a page out of your Pro-Hero book!"
The crocodile grumbled loudly and then stomped toward the villain. It even raised its foot to stomp him out of existence.
"Special Move: Domination Punch!"
His right arm and fist bulked up a bit and collided right with the crocodile's foot just as it was about to reach him.
The clash was a stalemate for a bit, then the croc flew into the air and shattered before it hit the ground, giving The Dominator the win.
Mythical was undeterred by this and summoned his next entity, a giant grey bird from a period of history long since gone. This Thunderbird grabbed The Dominator with its claws and flew into the air with him.
Back in the layer of The Dealer, the master of cards pictured the fight in his mind. His head bobbed to and fro, back and forth as he imagined what was likely happening in the district so far away from where he was.
"Every Pro-Hero, and villain for that matter, has a path that takes them to the top of where they are. It's an inevitable part of what we do."
He paused his mental musings and went back to his deck so he could play with it.
"What's that? What about my origin? That's for another time, but it is quite a story. You should know already that it wasn't a simple path. Collecting my Deck was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. And yet, I persisted."
With a flick of his wrist, with a sound effect from his lips to match, the cards instantly spread out across the table, showing their suits and colors in all their glory. The Dealer laughed in joy at his ability.
"The point here is that nothing comes easy, it has to be earned. Especially for those like the No.1 Pro-Hero."
The Dominator fought free of the Thunderbirds grip and then climbed slowly onto the back of the beast. It tried to throw him off, but he wasn't about to let that happen.
"So how did Mythical get to the top? Rather easily. The phrase, 'some people got it, some people don't' comes to mind here."
On the Thunderbird, The Dominator slowly made his way to the head of the beast and wrapped his body around its neck. Mythical watched with curiosity from the ground.
"Just look at him! He's stoic, he's got a shiny outfit, and his Quirk is really flashy! People latch onto that kind of thing in our culture. Once he started saving people and being on camera, people loved him. His ascension was assured."
With a tight squeeze, Dominator turned the Thunderbird downward and they careened right to the ground.
"Now, one could argue he had a Quirk that could take on most threats with ease, which is a fair argument. But those only go so far when it comes to the top of the Pro-Hero rankings. Eventually, you're going to face tough opponents."
The two crashed into the ground at high-speed, the dust cloud that kicked up was enormous and covered their fragment of the island.
As the dust cloud cleared, The Dominator stood just a few feet from Mythical, no worse for wear. In fact, he did a deep inhale and then clenched his muscles, which grew in size at the stimulation. In response, Mythical motioned for him to bring it.
"And Mythical did. With almost laughable ease."
Mythical and The Dominator again engaged in a fist fight. This time for the cameras to see. Like before, Mythical dodged or blocked much of the attacks. But this time, The Dominator played dirty. He faked a punch and hit the ground so hard it shook them both. Yet the villain recovered first and landed a blow on Mythical's chest.
The No.1 Hero skidded backward a bit, but no real damage was evident.
That didn't matter to his foe, however, as that just gave him more self-confidence, which grew his power even more. With a sneer he rushed at the Pro-Hero, who rushed right back at him and their fists clashed.
"This one time, in Kyoto, a group of villains took down a small band of prominent Pro-Heroes. The heroes weren't the strongest around, but they were good in a team. The villains caught them off guard and defeated them. When word went around that some villains were sneak attacking Pro-Heroes, many were called into action."
Mythical used a break in the action to make another summon. This time though, it was a small band of pink pixies.
The Domiantor laughed at the summon, at first at least. Because when they swarmed him and started to pick and claw at his suit and skin, he got very annoyed. Especially when he realized that this was all a distraction so Mythical could deliver a physical blow of his own.
Angered by the tactic, the villain grabbed a nearby rock and used it to swat the pixies out of existence so he could focus on his real prize.
"A lot of Pro-Heroes got hurt by that group. Their Quirks perfectly synced with one another so they could take on most threats. But not Mythical. Not at all…"
The battle raged on, and a pattern soon emerged from it. Mythical summoned some creatures of legend, The Dominator clashed with them and would eventually beat them, usually leading to either another summon, or a hand-to-hand tussle.
Each scrap between the two grew more and more intense, which caused serious damage to the nearby area.
"When Mythical finally found the villains, they did their best moves on him right out the gate. You know what he did?"
Though The Dominator was able to overcome the summons, his ability to damage Mythical at all was being questioned with every tussle. He landed hits on him, but they didn't appear to hurt him. Even when he sent some of his constructs back at him, the damage dealt was minimal at best.
"He used just one summon, and they were beaten. One summon! The fight was over in less than a minute. That's talent right there."
Wave after wave of summons came at The Dominator, and each time he defeated them. With each victory, his confidence grew, as did his anger.
"Coward!" he roared at his foe. "I've proven your summons mean nothing to me! Fight me for real or not at all!"
Mythical closed his eyes and chuckled at the challenge.
"That capture got a lot of headlines, and villains like myself learned a very valuable lesson that day…"
"You dare laugh at me?"
"Yes, because you're amusing," Mythical answered with a small smile. "I've been fighting you this whole time. Could I have ended it quickly? Perhaps, but I didn't. I needed to know something, and I needed to prove something."
"And what would that be?" spat The Dominator.
"That no matter what you villains do, no matter how strong you are, or how strong you can become, I will beat you. Because I am Mythical. And lest you think I never took you seriously. You need only look at the sky above."
He pointed upward, and everyone who was in range to see it did the same.
In the sky, which was much darker as the sun was nearing full set, a streak of blue repeatedly arose from one part of the sky and raced to the other. Then it appeared where it started and began again. Its speed was impressive as it continually streaked across.
"What is that?"
"Don't you remember the start of our fight? I shot two summons out. The lion was just the beginning. That second one? Is the end. That summon was my dragon, which has been circling the planet since our battle started…"
Sure enough, in the space just above the planet, the dragon circled around and around, gaining strength and speed with every pass.
"…so congrats Dominator, you get to see my best attack. My ultimate special move…Dragon Rush."
Mythical held out his hand upward and the blue light streaked across the sky until it was right above them. The light then barreled downward.
The nearby helicopter pulled back and got a better angle at the light, which viewers soon saw was indeed his famous dragon summon. The same one he used to ride in on during the Sports Festival. It blasted right to where The Dominator stood. The villain roared in defiance and planted his feet to show he would not be moved.
But he was wrong.
The dragon collided with the ground with such intensity that a shockwave sent everyone, including Mythical, backward.
The dust cloud from before was nothing compared to this one. It was as though a bomb had gone off.
The helicopter spun around in the air and had to fight to get control back. As soon as it did, the people inside raced to capture the fallout.
Time slipped by until the cloud cover dispersed. In a crater deep into the ground, The Dominator was down. Broken, bloodied, beaten.
Just outside the crater was Mythical. He was on one knee thanks to the shockwave sending him flying, but he got up easily. He went to the edge of the hole he created and looked with disappointment at his villainous rival.
"What was the lesson we learned that day? Mythical is on another level."
The people in the helicopter were stunned by this development. But the reporter was able to get her composure back quickly and tapped one of the cameramen to focus on her.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the battle is over!" she reported. "After a prolonged confrontation, Mythical used his famous dragon summon to defeat The Dominator! The island will no doubt be free as soon as…"
She continued to report the events of the day, but on the ground, Mythical paid the copter no mind. Rather, he kept his look on The Dominator, then turned it to the other members of The Deck. With their cloud cover still intact, they slowly went into it and vanished from sight.
Momentum was the last to depart, and Mythical waited for that moment to speak, "Stop."
She hesitated in that moment, uncertain as to what he would do. But she was a curious one, so Momentum put on a smile and gestured to him politely, "Yes?"
"Tell your boss I'm one of many who know about The Deck. Tell him I will find him, and your group, and I will take you all down."
At first, Momentum didn't react. After all, The Deck had just been threatened by the No.1 Pro-Hero in the land. That wasn't something to take lightly. Yet, that's exactly what she did. She laughed loudly as though he was the funniest man alive.
Her laugh subsided and she slowly went into the fog, "We know you know, and we'll be waiting for you to try to stop us..."
Once she was encapsulated by the fog, it soon vanished. None of The Deck were there anymore. The job was done. Or at least, the battle was done. There was still much to be completed, though, including one thing that Mythical wanted to do now.
His desire was granted when the helicopter landed and the reporter came out with her camera crew, "Mythical, sir! Can we interview you about what just happened?"
"Of course," he said with a kind smile.
"Were you close-by when everything started?"
"Sadly, no, else I would've come to aid my hero brethren sooner. I was quite a ways away when I heard of the attack. So I settled the matter I was in and raced over as soon as I could. I'm grateful I arrived just in time."
"Indeed. The Dominator was captured, but what of the other villains?"
Mythical turned to the spot where they once were, "They escaped, I doubt even with my summons I would've gotten them all. The group was clearly waiting to see if their boss could beat me. When he couldn't they ran, as all villains do when faced with true heroism."
The reporter held onto every word he said, but knew she had to keep going, "Will you seek them out?"
"Of course! They present a danger, and even without The Dominator they took down a group of well-trained and capable Pro-Heroes. I will consult with the government and local officials and likely start a task force to take them down, as well as any others who might try to do the same thing."
"What will you do now, Mythical?"
"I will check on the other Pro-Heroes," he said with a motion to the rest of the island, "and show the people it's time to live their lives again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be off. There is much to be done."
The cameramen made sure to get their shots of Mythical as he went into the nearby town to deal with the fallout of the event.
Not long after the battle finished, military copters landed in the Shoza District to take away The Dominator. He needed to be locked away so that he couldn't attack again. His escape wouldn't happen again, not on their watch.
As Mythical went through the nearest town, he went to each Pro-Hero and tended to them as best he could. Many of them were just unconscious. But others, like Star Child, were seriously hurt during their fight with The Deck.
Mythical didn't like displaying emotions, but even he couldn't help but feel bad for the Pro-Heroes that fought so hard here, only to come up short. The Deck was truly a worthy opponent, and needed to be handled. Else, there would be more incidents like this one.
While he made headway through the town, some of the local people came out to greet him and thank him. He soaked up their praise for a bit before he asked for their help getting the Pro-Heroes out to the pier area so that they could be tended to by the personnel that were arriving.
They happily heeded his call to action, and went to work.
Night soon fell on the island, and the work to repair the damage done by The Dominator and The Deck continued. Ships and aircraft brought in people and supplies to help with the immediate damage.
Makeshift homes were made for those whose houses were damaged or destroyed in the fights. Medical personnel were able to stabilize all the Pro-Heroes. Those who weren't seriously injured joined in with the various crews to lend a hand with everything. The others who did need medical treatment were flown out quickly.
It was non-stop movement, but that's what it need to be. An island had nearly been taken over by villains. Something of this nature hadn't happened in a while. It was a major news event.
And as more people from news stations, papers, and online publications came to the island, Mythical was there to talk with them all.
After all, he was the hero of the day, and that made him newsworthy, most newsworthy.
The word of what happened spread all over Japan, and the world at large. Only the most isolated of people, including a certain set of students from an academy, didn't know about what occurred. But it was all anyone could talk about.
Far away, in the lair of The Dealer, the card master sat not in his chair, but stared at a nearby mirror. He gazed at himself, and his attire, and smiled happily at what he saw.
A knock came at the door, but The Dealer didn't move from his spot, "Enter."
A familiar attendant joined him in the room, a clipboard in his hand, "Sir, I've just heard back from our forces and—"
"The Dominator lost; I know. I've known for a while."
"I see."
"How are our members?"
"Mostly unscathed. They injured many Pro-Heroes in the battle they had, but per your orders, no fatalities."
"Excellent. The last thing we need is a heroic martyr to give the people a reason to find us. Anonymity is our strength. They'll think they know more about us now. They know nothing."
"Yes sir."
With a chuckle, The Dealer moved from the mirror and went back to his desk, "Anything else?"
The attendant checked his clipboard, "Yes, Ms. Momentum said that Mythical swore to come after The Deck and take us down."
"Ha! Just a No.1 Pro-Hero would say, and should say. Hmm… Tell the members who just came back to enjoy the night off, and tomorrow off barring any new contracts. They deserve it. But tell them I'll come to them in turn to ask their own accounts about the day."
"As you wish."
"That'll be all. Oh, please prepare for the contingency we mapped out. We'll have to do that soon. Dismissed."
The attendant bowed and left the room, leaving The Dealer alone once again.
As he looked down at his desk, the two cards from before, the Ace of Diamonds and the Jack of Clubs were still there. With another laugh, the Dealer flipped the jack downward.
"Like I told you, before the end of the day, all would be done. And it was, and it was revealing. What was revealed? The Dominator came close, but he wasn't up to snuff. I won the bet, and now I have a nice and powerful new Jack of Clubs to bring into my ranks. Once he's healed, of course. Poor guy."
With hands like a puppet master, he raised the card and got it to dance in the air before him. Eventually he stopped playing and put the remaining cards with his deck.
"If nothing else, though, this was a great test. With more attention on us than every before I'll be relying on my Deck to handle greater threats. We'll need more precision, more stealth, more power when appropriate."
He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and already formulated plans on what he would do next.
"I can easily picture what the news is saying right now. That despite 'the best efforts' of villains, the Pro-Heroes came out on top once again. How naïve can they be? It's because of people like them that I got my idea to play things in the shadows. Away from the cameras, away from the light."
With glee he arose once more and again went to the mirror. He played with his outfit a bit to make sure it was as perfect as it could be.
"But eventually, I'll make my way into the spotlight. When? I can't say, not yet. But I will, and oh the fun I shall have as my Deck continues to show how a REAL group of villains makes a power play. Don't worry, I haven't changed my tune. I'm not going to destroy the world, or try to rule it. There's no fun in that. I'll do what I do best, screw with them in numerous ways."
Still facing the mirror, he reached out his left arm toward his deck of cards. The deck shuffled before him, then the top card soared into his hand, and he held it up to the mirror so he could see it.
It was a Joker.
"After all, the Jokers have the most fun!"
*credits*
