Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Vlad King's Green Bean
Chapter thirty-one: Give back the girl, villains! (Part two)
Setsuno, Hojo, and Tabe were surprised that Tamaki was staying behind to fight all of them on his own. Hojo even admitted to being a bit surprised when the others who fell down with Tamaki actually agreed, running around the ensuing fight to move forward. "Hey, we need to at least try to stop them," Hojo said, "We wouldn't be very good at buying time for Chronostasis and Mimic otherwise."
Shrugging, Tabe turned around to go after the heroes. "Fine," Tabe said, "I'll go and-ERK!"
To the surprise of Setsuno, Hojo, and especially Tabe given that an octopus tentacle was now wrapped around his neck, Tamaki used his quirk to, among other things, grow an octopus tentacle to reach forward and yank Tabe back, allowing all of the heroes to get away. "...Perhaps I didn't make it clear enough for you villains the first time I threatened you," Tamaki growled, anger furrowing his brows, "You aren't going to get away."
Tamaki released his tentacle arm from around Tabe's neck, letting the villain breathe. "T-The hell sort of quirk do you have?!" Tabe snapped, "Some mutant octopus qurik of some kind?!"
Tamaki gently shook his head in the negative. "No. It's called Manifest. It lets me manifest properties of whatever I eat while it's still in my digestive system." Holding his octopus tentacle up, Tamaki explained, "I had some takoyaki before we heroes raided your villains."
"Neat trick you got there, kid," Setsuno said, "And you seem pretty bold for a kid who comes off as being regularly the timid type."
Glaring at the villain before him, Tamaki said, "I have many reasons for taking a bold approach with you." Indeed, Setsuno did have a point; Tamaki really was typically a timid person. He even had trouble reaching out in elementary school, at least up until Mirio who was in school with him back then reached out to him. Tamaki owed a lot to his blonde friend, and the inspiration from Mirio was part of what was driving Tamaki. But it wasn't the main thing here, no. There was a more pressing point to why he was throwing his standard personality out the window, at least for the time being.
Manifesting a clam shell around his left hand, Tamaki said, "I can't afford to be timid. Not now." His visage of anger became more vivid, a snarling expression of anger. "Not when there's a little girl who is bound to be far more timid right now needing to be rescued from creeps like you sorry lot!"
The heroes ran on ahead after Tamaki volunteered to remain behind to keep three of the Eight Bullets occupied. "Hey Fat Gum," Kirishima said, notable concern in his tone, "Are you sure leaving Tamaki-senpai alone against three villains is really a wise idea?"
"Yeah, I kind of have to agree with the lil' man on this," Rock Lock spoke up.
"You guys underestimate Tamaki," Fat Gum said, "Even under all the pressure he faced, he still managed to climb all the way to being one of the top three students that all of UA has to offer. Besides." With an amused smirk on his face, Fat Gum went on, "I'm getting the feeling that Tamaki's about to let his sunshine out at last."
...
Right after he had finished scowling at Setsuno, Hojo, and Tabe, Tamaki immediately moved to trip them all up by swinging his octopus arm at their fert, swinging from his left. Hojo and Tabe were tripped up, but Setsuno managed to jump up to avoid the attack. What's more is that Setsuno used his quirk, Larceny, to steal the clam shell growth on Tamaki's other hand. "I have no idea what it was that you had planned with this clam shell, boy," Setsuno began, "But now that I took it from you with my Larceny quirk, there's no-"
*SMACK*
Setsuno was cut off when, as he was falling after jumping up to avoid a leftward swing of Tamaki's octopus arm, he got smacked in the left side by a rightward swing of said arm, knocking him back down to the floor. Setsuno even dropped the clam shell he stole from Tamaki a few moments ago, but that's not important.
Growling in annoyance, Hojo began growing crystals all over his body while getting back up as he said, "You're a tough little shit, aren't you?" After getting back onto his feet, Hojo charged at Tamaki who was manifesting something with his non-octopus tentacle arm. "Let's see you try to hurt me while I'm covered in hard crystals!" Hojo shouted, "They're hard eno-"
*STAB*
"GAAHH!"
Hojo fell back when Tamaki, having manifested a swordfish sword nose on his arm he was transforming, poked Hojo in the right thigh which wasn't protected by crystals yet, making Hojo fall back and cover his stab wound while howling in pain that was borne more out of surprise than actual pain.
After Hojo fell back, Tabe ran forward and, ripping a hole in his scarecrow-like mask to expose his mouth, swung his head in towards Tamaki's octopus tentacle arm and took a large bite out of bit, eliciting a hiss of pain from Tamaki. "My quirk is called Food, and it lets me eat whatever I can bite down on without any worries!" Tabe said, "You were a fool to manifest edible animal parts in front of me! I'll just-"
*HUWHUPAP*
Tabe was cut off when Tamaki, ending the manifesting of the octopus tentacle to he could manifest hard crab shell-like armor all over his arm that was previously manifesting the octopus tentacle, struck Tabe upside the right side of his head, sending him reeling. He even managed to break Tabe's nose a little bit and cause some minor bleeding, although the only sign of this was blood trickling down in front of Tabe's mouth since the hole was torn in the mask there.
The three members of the Eight Bullets were surprised by Tamaki here; even though they had the numerical advantage, Tamaki was still easily handling them all on his own. There was also how he looked like he had nothing but fury to show to them, and they had no idea that Tamaki had never before in his life been THIS mad with anyone or anything. Even Tamaki, despite how fury was guiding him right now, was able to retain enough sense of self to realize to his surprise how angry he was at the moment. He attributed the rage he was surprised to find he was capable of to the fact that the villains before him are part of the group that had kidnapped little Eri.
Tamaki wondered if there was anyone who would blame him for being so mad over the villains before him being employed by the ones responsible for Eri's kidnapping.
As the three Eight Bullets there tried to regroup, Tamaki called out, "Vast Hybrid Chimera: Kraken!" Suddenly, large amounts of large octopus tentacles shot out from Tamaki and began smacking everything around him, causing major damage as Setsuno, Hojo, and Tabe were smacked around multiple times. As he rampaged, Tamaki yelled out at the villains, "This is what you get! It's what you get for being compliant with the kidnapping of an innocent little girl! Your vile actions are bound to make her suffer, so now I'll give the same to you!"
Setsuno, Hojo, and Tabe were more or less helpless as Tamaki's Kraken technique, going faster and harder than Tamaki normally has it go, struck them with all of the fury of the oceans that the mythical creature it's based off of is said to come from. Even Tabe scoring a few lucky bites with his Food quirk working in over-drive was only able to do so much before Tabe was knocked unconsious; Hojo despite his crystaline growths giving him greater resilience was knocked out next, and Setsuno was only able to avoid getting knocked out by going down on his hands and knees and touching his forehead to the ground, prostrating himself before the hero-in-training who works under the BMI Hero.
...
Setsuno, an unconscious Hojo, and an unconscious Tabe were tied up with an octopus tentacle from Tamaki after he had taken off all of their masks; despite minimal injury, Tamaki was still exhausted, breathing hard to catch his breath. "...That octopus tentacle is slowing releasing a poison into you and your buddies there," Tamaki said to Setsuno, panting every few words or so, "A poison that'll keep you guys paralyzed. You'll be helpless as I hand you over to the police."
Setsuno scowled up at the hero-in-training that had beaten him and his comrades there. "...You must think you're special, don't you? The other Eight Bullets and I had been hand-picked by the late Kai Chisaki to serve as his elite guard, giving us all purpose when we had no other reason to even live." Setsuno's brows furrowed. "That traitor Rappa should have shown more respect-"
"-To a bastard who was doing unspeakable acts of torture to a little girl? What Rappa told me his ex-boss had done with Eri makes even some of what MY father did to me come off as tame."
Setsuno was cut off when he and Tamaki heard a cool voice speak up; Tamaki turned to look to his left (Setsuno also would have turned to look but he's paralyzed) and saw, to his immediate alarm, that Dabi, the leader of the League of Villains, was standing there. Accompanying Dabi were Gentle Criminal, Mustard, and Mr. Compress. Tamaki realized that he was in some really deep shit right now; he had barely just finished fighting and beating three villains and, although he was barely injured and could still fight, he was pretty worn out. Now here were four villains, all of them fresh, coming in to confront him.
Gesturing to Tamaki, Dabi said, "We got the gist of what's going on, young heroling. The guys who took over running the Shie Hassaikai after their boss Overhaul was killed had kidnapped the little girl Rappa saved when he left Overhaul's fold and joined the League of Villains. If it counts for anything, me and mine are actually wanting to help rescue the kid, and will even surrender her over to hero custody again without offering a struggle."
"It toads the wet sprocket what these guys did," Mustard scowled under his gas mask as he pointed at where the defeated three Eight Bullets sat on the floor as they were tied up with a tentacle.
Tamaki, despite hating the odds he was seeing he had, took a stance for battle. "The only course left for those three is prison. Even if they escape, they'll be caught sooner or later and handed over to the authorities."
As Tamaki confronted four members of the League of Villains, Setsuno had an alarmed look on his face. With the mass of heroes and their police allies on one hand and the League of Villains on the other, Setsuno realized that what remained of the Shie Hassaikai's side of things was caught in a pincer attack. Setsuno knew full well that Tamaki's claims that he and his fellow villains will only possibly face prison should the heroes get them was true, and Setsuno suspected that the League of Villains, if they had enough reason to fell like doing so, wouldn't hesitate to kill the Shie Hassaikai's side's members, which included Setsuno.
...But the blonde Eight Bullets member also had reason to suspect that the League of Villains will be lenient on anyone willing to play nice with them. "...If I may have a word here for a moment," Setsuno spoke up, knowing full well that he and his fellows who also wanted to live and avoid legal punishment had only one course of action available for them to take.
"...Yes?" Dabi began as he, his fellows with him, and even Tamaki all turned to face where Setsuno sat on the floor.
"If it counts for anything," Setsuno spoke up, "The whole 'kidnapping the girl back from the heroes' bit is all on Chronostasis and Mimic, who took over running our show after Overhaul went missing and was later confirmed killed. The guys and I in the Eight Bullets are only elite guards at best, who served mainly because we were given new purpose in life by Overhaul, and later Chronostasis and Mimic when they took over. I'm certain that Rappa may have told you some of this."
Dabi nodded once. "He did mention some of that bastard's rhetoric, yeah."
"We were given something to live for," Setsuno said, "That's why we served him as loyally as we did, even to the point we were willing to die for him if he gave the word. The fact we got some scratch on the side didn't hurt either. That's all the other members of the Eight Bullets and I really want, a reason to live. Also we want to avoid being thrown to the police, because I'm sure I speak for everyone in the Eight Bullets when I say that none of us wanna go to jail."
Gentle gave a chuckle of amusement. "Then it's a good thing Dabi was planning to offer anyone under the Shie Hassaikai the chance to do what Rappa had already done and jump ship from them to us. You and all of your fellows will get what all you want, provided you're willing to join the League of Villains and swear your loyalty to Dabi from this point moving forward."
"But there are some things we need to point out first," Mr. Compress began, "Mainly how we generally have a rule against cruelty of any kind against little children, and what Chronostasis and Mimic have done involving Eri counts as cruelty against little children."
Setsuno gave a knowing chuckle. "So long as Dabi orders it, the others and I who join him will comply with his word."
"Ah ha ha! Excellent!" Dabi exclaimed, giving a bark of amused laughter, "Welcome to the League of Villains!" Gesturing to Mr. Compress, Dabi said, "Compress, store these guys safely away so we can get them out of here and to a safe location so we can tend to their injuries."
"Oh no you don't!" Tamaki called out as he marched forward, trying to will up another Kraken technique, "There's no way any of you villains-"
*BONK*
Mr. Compress took out a compressed marble, threw it over Tamaki's head, and undid the compressing on it, releasing a large metal washtub that slammed right down onto Tamaki's head, knocking him out and dropping him. Gentle Criminal used his quirk to make some stretchy air to safely catch the knocked out Tamaki and gently lower him to lay down on the floor. After Gentle had safely lowered Tamaki to lay down on the floor, Dabi and Mr. Compress turned to look back at where Setsuno sat with Hojo and Tabe.
Gesturing to Setsuno, Dabi explained, "Mr. Compress here will compress you and your buddies into a marble for quick and easy transport. He'll un-compress you when we get out of here and over to our hideout."
"Oh!" Mustard exclaimed suddenly, "I just remembered something that we ought to ask about!" To Setsuno, Mustard asked, "Are there any persons under Chronostasis and Mimic who have healing quirks of any kind?"
Dabi, realizing what Mustard was on about, snapped his fingers. "Ooh, thanks for remembering that, Mustard. Spinner has been on my case about getting people with healing quirks for the League of Villains."
Setsuno looked like he was thinking about it for a moment, then after a few seconds, he said, "Oh, yeah there are two people, and only two, who do have healing quirks of some kind working under Chronostasis and Mimic! Both persons are girls in their early twenties. The first is a fat girl with sapphire blue wavy hair who typically wears a long-sleeved white shirt under an orange t-shirt, an ankle-length skirt matching the t-shirt's color, and sandals. The other is a girl about as thin as you Dabi, but is a head and a half shorter than you, and she wears a midriff exposing black sleeveless tanktop, murky tan baggy cargo pants held up with a belt, and a pair of clunky black sneakers. She has auburn hair in a straight, shoulder-length hime style cut."
"We'll have to keep an eye out for those two ladies then," Dabi said, "They'll be invaluable additions to the League of Villains." At Dabi's direction, Mr. Compress used his quirk to compress Setsuno, Hojo, and Tabe into a single marble, which he safely and securely put into a pocket on his person. Pointing at where Tamaki laid unconscious, Dabi said, "Leave him be. With the heroes also raiding this place, chances are that we won't be able to escape with any significant amount of material goods or other forms of wealth, but I'll be damned if we don't collect as many good new members for the League of Villains as we can manage before we're forced to bail."
Looking to where Tamaki laid on the ground, Mustard remarked, "Us killing anyone on the heroes' side will only make getting away harder for us because we'll have vengeful heroes on our tail. I can see why you want us to spare that one there, Dabi." The blue flame villain nodded in confirmation.
"So if we only have time to gather new members for our fold," Gentle Criminal began, "How many are we going to take?"
"Any and all who are willing to join us and swear loyalty to me," Dabi replied, "But at an absolute minimum I'll settle for just all of the remaining members of the Eight Bullets and those two healer girls that the blonde one mentioned."
Turning to look at Dabi, Gentle began, "Speaking of the remaining members of the Eight Bullets, didn't you send Felgrand to try and subdue that Katsukame fellow who Rappa advised you about?"
Dabi gave an affirmative nod. "Rappa said that Katsukame is the biggest boy out of the Eight Bullets, even back when Rappa himself was still part of their party. But I have no doubt that Felgrand can make Katsukame willing to bend knee before me."
Outside of the Shie Hassaikai hideout, Felgrand had just finished knocking out Endeavor, Bakugo, and Todoroki before turning his attention over to where Katsukame was fighting Ryukyu, Izuku, Urarakan and Nejire. Katsukame was using his quirk to siphon energy from the good guys that he was facing, tiring them out while invigorating himself while also making himself into more of a hulking figure. The hulking member of the Eight Bullets gave an amused laugh as he boasted while fighting Ryukyu and her trio of interns that she had with her.
"Ah ha ha ha!" Katsukame laughed, "Normally my quirk requires me to make physical contact with the folks whose energy I wanna drain, but the dose of Trigger that I took has removed that restri-"
"KATSUKAME!" Felgrand bellowed, cutting Katsukame off and making him as well as Ryukyu's group all turn to see Felgrand flying right for where they were all at. At a blitzing speed, Felgrand rammed into Katsukame, whacking him so hard he made him cough up some of the energy he siphoned out, with that energy going back to Ryukyu and her interns to revitalize them some.
Even though she and her interns were granted some relief as Katsukame was now occupied by another opponent, Ryukyu couldn't help but worry given that said new opponent that Katsukame faced was Felgrand. Even though she and her interns got some of their energy back, Ryukyu felt that she was in no real condition to face off against both Felgrand and Katsukame; the Dragon Hero certainly did not want any of her interns have to face such odds. Silver lining was that Felgrand wasn't focusing on her or her interns, and he was keeping Katsukame off their backs.
Felgrand, grabbing both of Katsukame's shoulders, flew up a bit before harshly throwing Katsukame to the ground, making him slam down with powerful force. Then, as Katsukame tried picking himself up, Felgrand blasted him with a Hellflame breath weapon, making the large lug cry out in an even mix of surprise and pain. When he ended his breath weapon attack, Felgrand shot straight down with the speed and force of a meteor, punching Katsukame in the gut with a dragonic fist that was cloaked in the fires of Hellflame.
As the dragon villain flew back and got some distance, Katsukame tried to use his quirk to drain Felgrand of his energy, but not only did the initial hit have no effect, it seemed that Felgrand's energy was without limit. Felgrand landed down on the ground, then used Earth Flow to cast a rolling wave of earthen material at Katsukame, breaking up asphalt and sidewalk in the process. The wave of earthen material slammed right into Katsukame, dealing another solid hit that greatly damaged the large hulking member of the Eight Bullets.
Although Katsukame did have stamina to burn, that stamina wasn't going to do him much good, given that only only did he take some damage from fighting Ryukyu and her herolings, but Felgrand took over the fight for the ladies and one boy, and he was clearly aiming to beat him down as quickly as possible. There's a rather distinct difference between losing a lot of stamina and taking a lot of damage, but one thing that they both do have in common is how if either one is sufficient enough, then the person suffering in that case will eventually be unable to continue fighting.
In Katsukame's case, he was rendered unable to continue fighting due to having taken too much damage. But he was surprised to find that he was still alive, for he was more or less fighting Dabi's monster one on one. "...You... you could have killed me..." Katsukame, laying on his back on the ground in defeat, said as he looked up to Felgrand, "...But I'm still alive."
Felgrand walked over to where Katsukame laid on the ground, gently placed his right dragonic hand on Katsukame's muscular barreled chest. "The Shie Hassaikai will be finished before the day is out, Rikiya Katsukame," Felgrand said while keeping his hand on Katsukame's person, "If not by the actions Dabi and the rest of us taken, then by what Ryukyu and the other heroes will do. After that, the heroes and police will apprehend all criminals and villains they're able to get a hold of." Felgrand took his hand off of Katsukame, took a step back.
"...That might include you," the dragon villain went on, "For Dabi told the rest of us that anyone not willing to jump ship from the Shie Hassaikai to join the League of Villains will be left behind, their fates to be determined by the pro heroes and police. I do have the option of killing you if you aren't willing to join the League of Villains and swear yourself to Dabi, but..." Felgrand trailed off, turned his head to look to where Ryukyu and her interns were still trying to catch their breath. Turning back to look at Katsukame, Felgrand went on, "...You joining Dabi will have the benefit of both keeping you alive and out of legal custody."
Katsukame tried to raise his head, but he was too sore from the beating Felgrand had given him. "...Yeah, you do have a point on how Chronostasis and Mimic's club they took over running for Overhaul after he kicked it is done for. And I'd much rather not die or be in prison. Yeah, yeah I'm gonna wanna take a cue from Rappa and join your group, provided you'll let me."
Felgrand nodded in understanding. "Yes, Dabi did say to collect you if you were willing to join us. With that settled, I'll apply a rule to you to harmlessly make you pass out so you can rest before I get you out of here and to safety." Then, Felgrand said, "Rikiya Katsukame will harmlessly pass out until six PM this evening." Then, before he could even tell what was going on, Katsukame passed out harmlessly, snoozing away as Felgrand picked him up and proceeded to turn to face where Ryukyu and her interns all stood.
"Where do you think you're taking that big guy, villain?" Nejire demanded, still clearly winded due to her energy being siphoned earlier.
"Out of here and to safety," Felgrand replied, "I have no aim to claim any lives if that's what you're worried about, Nejire-chan."
Nejire looked a bit surprised when addressed by her hero alias by the dragon villain. "...You know my alias."
"You work for a famous and highly ranked pro hero," Felgrand explained, "Even Green Bean and Uravity had made the news while working for Ryukyu. And speaking of those two." Felgrand turned his attention to where Izuku and Uraraka stood behind Ryukyu. The dragon villain focused on the two first years from UA. "The two of you are both from UA, same as your fellow Yugo Aoyama," Felgrand said to Izuku and Uraraka.
Izuku nodded in the affirmative. "...Yeah, we are in the same year of UA's hero course as Aoyama."
"You, Green Bean," Felgrand began, "What is your real name so that I may address you properly?"
The green haired boy breathed hard out of exhaustion, still feeing the drain a bit from Katsukame's earlier efforts. "...Izuku Midoriya."
Felgrand gave a humming growl of consideration. "...Yes, I see," Felgrand remarked, "Very well then. Izuku Midoriya, a question for you. Do you remember the names of your comrades who have died so far in your current school year?"
"You're... asking him if he remembers the names of fallen comrades?" Ryukyu asked, looking mildly surprised.
Nodding once, Felgrand replied, "Yes. His six comrades that were with him in UA's Class 1-A."
"Umm, about that Felgrand," Uraraka spoke up, "Izuku isn't a member of Class 1-A, he's a member of Class 1-B."
Felgrand looked at Uraraka in consideration. "...I see. That's my mistake then, for I had thought tha-"
"I actually do remember their names," Izuku spoke up, getting Felgrand to turn to look at him. Izuku, with a resigned look of heartbreak on his face, gently shook his head. "...I was never their classmate, but I do know their names. Minoru Mineta, Koji Koda, Rikido Sato, Neito Monoma, Tsuyu Asui, and Tenya Iida." Izuku let out another sigh. "...I only got to really know Tenya, but I do know that he and the others all shared the same goal, a goal that everyone alive today in 1-A, as well as me and my classmates in 1-B, all share." Izuku, as if acting defiant in the face of death itself, looked up at Felgrand, looking him right in the eye.
"To become pro heroes."
Felgrand considered Izuku for a moment, then loosed a skyward roar that, oddly enough, sounded pleased. The dragon villain looked back down at Izuku, a hint of sincere amusement in his dragonic eyes. "Izuku Midoriya," Felgrand said, "You are indeed a strong person, perhaps even stronger than Katsuki Bakugo or Shoto Todoroki, both of whom I merely knocked out and left with a similarly knocked out Endeavor."
Nejire looked surprised to hear from Felgrand that he had merely knocked out Endeavor, Bakugo, and Todoroki. "...You didn't kill them?"
"Dabi aims to personally carry out the deed on Endeavor," Felgrand explained, "And I have no reason to kill the UA students." Felgrand then took off up into the air, carrying Katsukame with him. "I shall be getting this one here to a safe, hidden location," Felgrand said to the heroes below him, then turned around and, with jet like speeds, took off, leaving Ryukyu and her interns be.
END, CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Author's notes;
This chapter sees Tamaki show just why he's part of UA's Big Three, taking down Setsuno, Hojo, and Tabe far more easily than he normally would have, but then again he was fueled by rage over Eri having been taken by the Shie Hassaikai again. However, Tamaki's knocked out by Dabi and some of his fellows who collect Setsuno, Hojo, and Tabe, effectively being able to add them to the League of Villains. Dabi reveals his overall game-plan here; get as many people on the Shie Hassaikai's side of things to willingly agree to join the League of Villains. At an absolute minimum, Dabi hopes to get the remainder of the Eight Bullets plus the two girls with healing quirks that Setsuno told him about, but he'll take anyone who is willing.
The end of things in this chapter sees Katsukame join that list as well after he is defeated by Felgrand. After safely knocking out Katsukame for transport, Felgrand then questions Ryukyu and her interns, focusing mainly on Izuku who he thought was a 1-A student, only to be corrected. But Izuku was still able to answer what Felgrand had asked of him, and his answer pleased the dragon villain, who afterwards took off with Katsukame. The shenanigans with the Shie Hassaikai raid will continue on into the next chapter, so don't turn that dial.