Path to Pein
Chapter 5: Attack at the USJ, and the Debut of Pein
"Speaking"
"All Might speaking"
'Thinking'
Flashforward/Flashback
NeverEnderMan: Shoves MOAR in face.
Guest: Here Morey!
I'm back…after months of waiting. So yeah, hate and revile me for I deserve it. Oh, I did manage to publish a book. Non-fiction financial advice unfortunately. So if your presence on these websites is anything to go by, you wouldn't really be interested.
Petra Path, and Animal Path both approached the old factory warehouse that was on the card. They were exactly one minute early, just to make sure that they didn't miss him. They both walked in, looked around, and blending into the shadows. It was only a few second later that Giran, walked in, and looked around clear confusion.
"I could've sworn that they were…" Animal Path silently taped the man on the shoulder, causing the broker to visibly jump. "Gah, where did you come from?"
"That is irrelevant, do you have the items?" Animal Path asked.
Giran nodded, looking directly into Animal's ripple eyes. "Yes, however, I do believe I made contact with the larger gentleman. He should show himself so that I know that you aren't informants."
Petra stepped up from behind Animal. Giran looked at the larger man before smiling. "Excellent. Now, I have two burner phones, one for each of you."
"How much do we owe you?" Animal asked.
"Consider the first ones free, future replacements will cost you money of course." Well, that wasn't exactly true, as these phones were created through a group of All For One's front companies. Theoretically, so long as they remained allied to the League of Villains in some way, they could always get free replacements. But Giran wasn't going to spill the beans that early.
However, unknown to Giran, Petra and Animal were not two individuals but were one person piloting multiple bodies simultaneously. They didn't need more than one phone but were glad to have two. One could be kept on Izuku's real body while the second would be on Animal's body, the 'Leader' of his paths.
Giran spoke up. "I hope you don't mind, but I brought a plus one." Animal and Petra tensed as a black portal opened next to Giran. Out of the portal stepped a well-dressed man, made of black mist. "This here, is Kurogiri, he's acting as a representative of the group you'll be working with."
'Fitting name for black mist.' Izuku thought. 'Likely an alias for villain work.'
Animal stepped forward. "A pleasure, to meet you. I'm Animal, and my associate is Petra."
Giran and Kurogiri briefly looked at each other, before turning to the two paths. "Very well then, I am a member of the League of Villains, a new organization that plans to attack hero society at it's core."
"And by core, I assume you mean All Might right?" Petra asked Kurogiri.
The living mist nodded. "Yes, we have good intel that All Might will be teaching at UA this year, and so we plan on acquiring a teacher's plan and ambush him."
Petra grunted in acknowledgement, while Izuku used animal to speak. "All right. Well, no need to tell me any more details."
Kurogiri's eyes narrowed momentarily. "Before I go, I wish to know both of your quirks in order to plan accordingly."
Animal Path seemingly thought for a moment. 'I can't reveal my true quirk, not yet.' "My friend here is more durable than most, with an impact resistance quirk. As for me, SUMMONING!" Animal Path slammed his hand down on the ground, bringing forth a brown furred dog with wings, piercings, and matching ripple eyes. "I can summon any animal, or animal chimera, so long as I've gained the necessary DNA beforehand."
Giran looked impressed while Kurogiri looked thoughtful, well as thoughtful as a cloud could be. "How many animals have you acquired thus far?" The man of black mist asked.
"Not too many, mostly common pets, strays or wild animals. I considered raiding a local zoo, but I'm not ready to make such waves yet."
"I shall speak to my superior about getting you some more samples. Any animal in particular?"
"Just two, a Panda and a Chameleon." Kurogiri nodded.
"Understood. We will contact you two days before the attack to exchange the animal DNA. Do not worry, Giran has provided us with both numbers beforehand." A lie, but not a massive one.
With the introduction completed, Kurogiri opened up a portal and walked through it before shutting it closed. Giran looked at the two, before nodding as well, pulling out a cigarette and leaving the factory. Moments after he left, both Paths exploded in smoke, summoned to Izuku's location.
Two days before the USJ Attack
Animal Path approached the same factory as before, and pulled out his cell. He sent off a text, telling Kurogiri that he was present and waiting. It was only a moment later that a black portal opened, with Kurogiri walking out.
"Just me, Petra is occupied at the moment." Kurogiri nodded.
"Very well then Animal. Please follow me to where the specimens are." Kurogiri waved into a portal, walking back in. Animal path followed.
When they both stepped out, it took a moment for the Path to regain the connection to his original body, but it seemed that Kurogiri did not notice. When Animal looked around, he noted that there were more than just a panda and chameleon present. What was also present was a Lion, Rhinoceros, Ox, Horse and a shark of all things. The animals were dead, kept in cold storage.
"What's with the extras?"
"My superior thought it wise to provide more options to you before the attack."
"How generous." Izuku didn't like this, it felt, off. "And what exactly is the price for all these animals?"
"Nothing." Animal gave Kurogiri a stare. "Well, sensei wants to meet both of you after the attack."
Animal narrowed his eyes. 'I see, so Kurogiri picked up we weren't normal and reported it. And it's likely that this Sensei will try to force me to work for him. If I don't, then he'll destroy both of my paths. Although, that's a risk I think I can take. It is unlikely that he could trace me back to my real body.' "Very well then, I accept."
Kurogiri's mist shifted. "Glad to hear it. I shall inform Sensei of your decision."
Without anymore fanfare, Animal path waved his arm, shooting out multiple black rods at the dead animals. All of them landed, before the animals gained ripple eyes, followed by the rods vanishing and the eyes returning to normal.
"I thank you."
"Do you require transportation?"
Animal shook his head before vanishing in white smoke.
Kurogiri's eyes narrowed before a voice came on an Audio only screen. "That was certainly noteworthy."
"Are you certain, Sensei?"
"Yes, his monotone and lack of body language meant that he was at least cautious of revealing his cards. He clearly is more intelligent than the average thug. Now, I wonder what his companion is like?"
The morning of the USJ Attack.
Animal and Petra, who was now sporting green dyed hair to match Animal Path's, walked into the designated meeting spot, a shady alleyway. There were about 8 other villains in said alley that glanced at the two before going back to what they were doing. It was only a couple minutes later that Kurogiri's warp gate opened, beckoning the 10 people to enter.
When Animal and Petra reconnected to Izuku's main body, they noted the large warehouse filled with hundreds of villains. But what was of greater interest was Kurogiri, a lanky blue haired man covered with grey hands and a large birdlike creature with an exposed brain standing at the front of the group.
"Kurogiri, is this all of them?" The blue haired man spoke.
"Just a few more, Tomura Shigaraki."
Kurogiri opened up three more portals, bringing forward about twenty more individuals. He turned and nodded at the apparent leader of the group.
The hand wearing man stepped forward. "I am Tomura Shigaraki. I am the leader of the League of Villains. We are a new group, dedicated to bringing down this hero society, starting with the Enemy Boss, All Might." The various villains began to mutter among themselves.
"This right here," He gestured to the bird beaked figure, "is Nomu, a bioengineered weapon created to match All Might at his strongest."
The villains began to act excited when they heard of such a weapon, as Kurogiri stepped up to speak. "We will be attacking the Unforeseen Simulation Joint of UA or USJ in 30 minutes time. Those who are ideal in water, step forward so that I may transport you ahead of the rest." A lot of physical mutations stepped forward all relating to water.
He opened two portals. "The portal on my right is the flood zone, and the one on my left is the downpour zone, please divide yourself based on your talents." A few more went into the flood portal than the down pour, but a sizeable chuck of villains left the warehouse.
Kurogiri then closed the portals, opening a two new ones. "Those who are proficient on unstable ground step though the portal on my right for Mountains, and the portal on my left for land slide." More villains stepped through the gates, mummering to themselves. Once they had passed, a fifth gate opened. "If you can fight in hot temperatures or fire then step forward."
By the end of it all, only a fifth of the villains remained. One more portal opened. "Before I call out the USJ Zone, we need at least 30 villains to hang back here to keep the hero's occupied while Nomu fights All Might. Who will be part of the entryway force?"
It was mostly villains who were combat oriented that made up that force, Animal Path notwithstanding. Izuku made the decision to separate the two paths, to see how he handles multiple combat. It was to further his multitasking capabilities. "Those who remain, step into the gate to the City Ruin zone."
Petra path and the other villains stepped into the gate. It took longer than expected for Petra to regain his connection but when he did he looked around to see a ruined city landscape. 'At least it's on the nose.'
Elsewhere All Might was taking down a villain. He had taken a family hostage and was demanding 100 million yen and a ride out of the city. And if he didn't get it, he was going to kill the family. Of course, it was a trivial matter for All Might to finger flick some air pressure to knock out the villain. While people chanted his name, he heard the call for help.
He quickly left the crowd and entered an alleyway. "Fear not for I am here!" Before him, a woman with four arms, green hair, wearing sunglasses and piercings on her nose, cheeks, and ears stepped forward.
"Where is the danger Ma'am?"
The woman grinned. "Are you certain you should be running down your clock? After all, your charges are about to be attacked."
All Might frowned. "Who are you? How do you know about that? And what do you mean 'charges?'"
The woman's grin didn't drop a millimeter. "Who I am is irrelevant at this time. As for how do I know about your time limit? Well, that's a secret. And as for your charges, I have it on good authority that in five minutes time, the League of Villains is about to attack the USJ, looking for you. And your students are in the crossfire."
All Might grit his teeth and clenched his fists. "How do I know this isn't some trick?"
"Well, I suppose skepticism is natural, but, I do believe the League of Villains has a weapon called Nomu, designed to fight you at your strongest. And besides, are you really willing to take the risk that I'm lying?" All Might stood still, before leaving the alley in a hurry.
Once he was gone, Naraka Path vanished in a plume of white smoke.
Bakugo was bored. He had to listen to a bunch of damned extras prattle on about popularity when everybody know the strongest always made it to the top. Doesn't matter, he was the best and always would be.
"All right problem children. Get off." The grumpy Aizawa muttered to his students. They all filed out and entered into the USJ, Unforeseen Simulation Joint or as Dunce Face and Raccoon eyes called it, Universal Studios Japan. At the front waiting for them was thirteen, the space hero. Round Face began to fan girl like crazy, a bit like…Deku.
"Now, I'm glad you all could make it…Aizawa, where is All Might?" Thirteen asked.
"That man is the height of irrationality." Aizawa held up three fingers. Thirteen nodded in response.
"Well, we can do this without him. Now students, I want to stress a point, or two, or three, four five…" Bakugou was already bored, so he pretty much tuned out some explanation on safety. When were they gonna blow shit up?!
The doors billowed open and surprisingly, All Might appeared behind the class. "I'm not too late right, the villains haven't," the lights flickered, "attacked yet?"
Suddenly, a black portal opened up as people began to shuffle forward. Oh, hell yeah!
Kirishima was the first to break the silence. "Hey, you guys even got fake villains."
"All students gather together." Aizawa's cold voice muttered. "Those are real villains."
"Greetings," The voice of the man with hands spoke. "I am Tomura Shigaraki, and we are the League of Villains, here to end the reign of Japan's Number one hero. That means you All Might."
"THIRTEEN, PROTECT THE STUDENTS!" Aizawa yelled as he jumped forward attacking villains, with All Might right behind him.
"Detroit S-" "Nomu!" Before All Might's punch could land, a big figure stopped his punch. "What?!"
"Surprised? Nomu here was made to take you at your strongest. KUROGIRI!" The Mist Man made his way at the students at the front, where Bakugo attacked him.
"You damn VILLAIN!"
Unfazed, Kurogiri continued with his attack, spreading out his body. "How violent. Oh, well, disperse children and disappear!"
The last thing Bakugo saw before falling into the ruins was meeting the eyesight of ripple eyes down at the fountain. "Deku..?"
"Summoning!" Animal slammed his hands down on the floor, bringing forth a giant rhino that charged at All Might. As expected, All Might threw one punch at the animal and sent it flying in a plume. "All right then, once more, SUMMONING!"
This time Animal Path brought forth a chameleon and a dog. He jumped into the mouth of the chameleon and gave the mental order for the dog to attack before vanishing from sight.
Tomura looked around confused. "Where did he go?"
All Might hit the dog, only for another head to grow. He hit it once more only for it to multiply again. "I see, every time I strike at you, you only grow so how about this?" All Might squeezed the canine, but it split into three sperate animals instead. 'Not good, I can't fight these and the Nomu at the same time. Not only that, but my time is 15 minutes left at best.'
"Aizawa use your scarf on these mutts!" Eraserhead complied snapping the dogs' necks, all vanishing in smoke. All Might slammed his fist back at Nomu.
"CAW!"
All Might, Aizawa, Shigaraki, and the remaining villains looked up at the deformed ripple eyed bird. It dived into the fight aiming for All Might with it's beak. All Might caught said beak, only to be slammed in the side by Nomu. 'Damn it! I'm fighting against two powerful opponents and can't keep them in check.' "Aizawa, can any of your students find that lizard? I'm certain if we bring down the quirk user, the animals go with him."
Eraserhead grunted, "Jiro or Shoji. Their quirks could hear sounds where others can't." He said as he slammed two more villain heads together. "I'll go look for them when I've cleared out the rest!"
"Allow Me! Detroit CLAP!" All Might slammed his large hands together in the direction of about a dozen villains. As expected, the air pressure sent them flying and knocking them out cold.
Aizawa, seeing an opening, knocked out the rest of the fodder before going to look for his student. All Might turned at the bird and Nomu. "All right, just one on three." The bird suddenly rose before flying in a circle dropping white balls. That began to glow. "Uh oh…"
"FUCK OFF!" Bakugo screamed at he let loose an explosion at a green haired man wearing sunglasses. Petra simply stood still and absorbed the explosion and impact. "What?"
Petra grinned. "Surprised? I absorb quirk energy attacks and physical attacks. I'm one of the worst matchups you can have."
"Oh yeah?! Well, what about me?" Kirishima yelled at he slammed his hardened fist into the man's gut.
"I just said that I absorb physical attacks, or did you not get the memo?" Petra slammed his fist into Kirishima's face sending him skidding back.
"Grr, we need to bring him down." Bakugo growled out.
"Yeah, all the others went down except him." Kirishima said as he righted himself.
Bakugo looked around, seeing a chance to take him out, or at least slow him down. "Keep him occupied shitty hair. I have an idea."
"MANLY!" Kirishima yelled as he rushed Petra Path. He slammed a big punch at his face, before following it up with more strikes to the chest. Petra retaliated with another slam to Kirishima's face, who once again went skidding back.
"DIE!" Bakugou yelled as he bought the teetering building down on Petra Path. He finally fell when a large chunk of concrete brought him down to the ground, binding his body to the spot.
"Heh, guess you weren't so tough."
Petra Path, whose sunglasses had broken off with the falling building meet Bakugo's eyes, who promptly froze.
"Why, why do you have Deku's eyes?"
"Gehehe, well, that's my little secret for now. But don't worry, I know all your little secrets. Like what you told Izuku almost one year ago." It was a little odd to speak in third person, but it did the job as Bakugo began to shake in rage.
"Bakubro, don't do it. He's not worth it." Kirishima's words managed to calm Bakugo enough to calm down. It was at the moment that Petra seemingly passed out, but in truth, focus was being rediverted to Animal Path.
"We should go assist All Might."
"Are you crazy, we'd get killed!" Kirishima asked in shock.
"I, thought I saw someone familiar, I need to go check it out. Follow me or don't, I don't care." Bakugo growled as he jumped off using his explosions as propellant.
Yaoyorozu and Jiro were in a tight spot. With them being the only two in the mountain zone, they couldn't fight off that many villains without running out of options.
"You know, I guess I could die with worse people by my side." Jiro bit out as she sent another distortion wave at a villain.
"Don't talk like that, we're going to get out of this alive." Yaoyorozu said.
"Well, at least you're optimistic."
Yaoyorozu sent out another cannon ball, hitting the ground with enough force to send a few villains flying. She was beginning to run low on lipids.
"Jiro, Yaoyorozu!" Eraserhead's voice cut though as his scarf slammed two villains together.
"MR. AIZAWA!" Both yelled out. They were saved.
"Save the thanks for later. Jiro, can you come with me?"
"Yeah, but why?"
Aizawa quickly moved, bringing down six more villains. "All Might is in trouble; he's fighting against an animal user who hid themselves in a massive chameleon. Until we find him, All Might will continue to be bombarded by animal attacks."
Jiro wasted no time and followed after her teacher.
"Tell me, what's your ultimate goal here." An ice terminator asked a half-frozen villain.
"I'll talk, I'll talk! Just don't hurt me."
Off to the side, shivering a bit, Ojiro looked at Todoroki. "You know, sometimes I wonder if he's not a villain in disguise."
"Oregon Smash!" All Might yelled as he sent an ox flying through the air and into the flood zone. He turned at Nomu before continuing his assault. 'Dammit, only 5 minutes left'
"You may be powerful All Might but against Nomu and my ally, you're nothing." Shigaraki cackled with glee, he loved where this was going. He personally wanted to invite the animal user to a higher rank in the League of Villains after this performance.
Two more dogs made themselves known as they bit into All Might's legs. Nomu followed up with a punch to the chest before All Might could react.
Kurogiri suddenly appeared before Tomura Shigaraki. "Thirteen is out of commission, but, I'm sorry Tomura Shigaraki. One of the students escaped."
Shigaraki began to scratch his neck from frustration. "Kurogiri…if you weren't our way out of here, I'd turn you to dust. Guess we're on a time limit here."
All Might couldn't help the sarcastic thought. 'You're telling me.'
"Let's finish this level before it's game over." Tomura Shigaraki said. "NOMU!"
Suddenly, the large creature grabbed All Might intending to pull him apart. But, with an unexpected chill, ice covered Nomu's right half, narrowly missing All Might.
Todoroki calmly walked forward. "I'm here to help you, All Might."
"No! Get back, they'll kill you!"
"I don't think you're in any position to make demands All Might." Todoroki's cold tone could be heard for miles.
"Cute, little hero, however, NOMU!" With that command, Nomu ripped it's right arm and leg off, escaping the ice, but releasing All Might.
"WHAT?!" The ice user exclaimed in shock, watching Nomu regrow it's limbs.
"Surprise! Nomu isn't limited to only Super Speed and Strength. He also has Regeneration and Impact Resistance. I told you All Might, Nomu here was built to take you at it's best."
Kurogiri began to expand outward, intending to enclose All Might. But before he could do so, an explosion suddenly slammed into his neck. "I WAS RIGHT. YOU ARE SOLID YOU MIST FUCKER!"
"What?" That was the only thing Kurogiri could get out before being thrown back.
"ROUND 2!" Bakugo yelled as he jetted forward, slamming explosions in Kurogiri's body.
Unbeknownst to the main fighters, Aizawa, along with Jiro and Yaoyorozu silently approached the battlefield, earphone jack plugged into the ground. "I can't hear any heartbeats, but, I can hear the hissing of the lizard." She silently whispered as she pointed at a semi destroyed grassy field. "Right in the center."
Aizawa nodded as he stealthily approached the disguised animal, before his scarf wrapped around it. The invisible chameleon struggled a bit before Aizawa snapped it's neck, making it disappear and forcing Animal Path into the open.
Bakugo who was in the middle of combat with Kurogiri flew backwards, trying to gain some ground. It was at that moment that he saw the plume of smoke and a fluffy green haired induvial drop to the ground.
"Go beyond! Plus ULTRA!" All Might yelled as he threw over three hundred punches at Nomu, sending it flying. 'I'm out of time. Any moment, and my quirk is going to let up.' The number one turned to look at the ripple eyed animal user.
"I had hoped that my eyes were deceiving me, but it's clear to me. Your eyes are far too unique. Young Midoriya"
"Deku…" Bakugo growled out.
Animal Path began to speak. "You see Izuku Midoriya when you look at me. But, I'm sorry to say, he is not here." A bit of the truth. "All that is left is Pein."
"Pein? What pain?"
"What pain indeed. For years I suffered from physical pain from my peers, emotional pain from my mother, and from my former best friend. And you All Might, you delivered the most potent mental pain you could have ever done to me. Life, has only been one painful event after another. Is it not right that I exact some amount of my own pain back on life?" Animal Path spoke.
"Deku! What the hell are you saying? Why did you runaway from Auntie? Where have you been all this time, and why are you, the biggest hero nerd ever, suddenly a villain?!"
Animal Path looked at Bakugo and All Might, the latter smoking a bit before turning to Shigaraki and Kurogiri. "Kurogiri, the hero backup is here," the pair flinched, "send me a text to either phone to setup a meeting with your boss." Animal Path then vanished with a plume of white smoke.
Elsewhere, in the Ruin zone, Petra Path also vanished in white smoke. By the time the backup had gotten inside, Kurogiri, Shigaraki and Pein were long gone.
Two of Izuku's paths appeared on top of a skyscraper. It was where Izuku's real body was to get the best range. On the ground, Izuku only had a range of 40 KM, but the skyscraper was impressively high, and at this altitude, Izuku had a range of around 70 KM. Not very effective if he wanted to attack multiple points in the country, but more than effective to attack the heart.
Animal path appeared standing, while Petra Path was still lying on the ground, lower body mangled. Izuku's Naraka Path stepped forward and summoned the King of Hell. The king then grabbed Petra Path with one of its tongues, pulling the Path into its mouth. It chewed for a solid minute, before Petra Path, fully repaired, stepped out. Naraka Path then dismissed the King of Hell.
A ping went off on the phone Animal Path was carrying, who then handed the phone to Izuku's real body. He quickly read off the text from this Sensei, who wanted to meet at a warehouse in Kamino Ward. It was unlikely to be his main base, but it would be close to where this shadow master operated. Izuku sent off a confirmation, with Animal Path being present there in twelve hours. He then had the Animal Path, shape shift itself into a more boring form, ditching the green hair and freckles for a lower profile.
Time to meet the Boss.
So, yeah. Chapter 5. Maybe not as detailed as most other chapters, but I wanted to forgo deep explanations for a more battle heavy chapter. I plan on releasing a few more chapters for other stories so I don't feel as guilty.
Next time…