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-two: Give back the girl, villains! (Part three)

The group that left Tamaki behind to handle Setsuno, Hojo, and Tabe continued rushing towards their objective. "...I still can't help but worry about Tamaki-senpai," Kirishima remarked, "Even though he's cut from the same cloth as Mirio-senpai."

"Tamaki can handle himself, Red," Fat Gum assured his intern, "Part of being a true man is being able to trust those who have your back, you know."

As the group proceeded to make their way, Sir Nighteye spotted a staircase ahead of them. "Let's take that staircase to continue," Sir Nighteye said.

"Strange," Aizawa remarked, "We've encountered virtually zero obstacles. Are the Shie Hassaikai that confident in their forces that they didn't bother setting anything up?"

"I was thinking that it might be partly due to the two top dogs being occupied," Fat Gum remarked, "I'm not sure if we saw any evidence of either of their quirks having been used thus far."

The underground hero nodded in acknowledgement. "That's a sound theory, Fat Gum."

Pounding a fist into his hand, Rock Lock swore, "They're probably busy trying to corral that little girl and make off with her. Damn villain bastards, screwing with innocent little kids like that."

As the heroes of that group continued onward, a slab of wall that was clearly being manipulated proceeded to try and swipe at Aizawa, only for him to get sent tumbling to the ground when Fat Gum, accompanied by Kirishima, pushed him out of the way, thus getting the both of them thrown into another room. "Damn it!" Mimic swore as he popped out of some wall area that was being manipulated, "I had meant to trap Eraserhead instead! I'll have to regroup back with Chronostasis, hopefully this bought us some extra time."

Mimic then slunk back into the wall before Aizawa was able to get back up and glare at him with Erasure. After Aizawa was able to get back up, he looked around. "Where did Fat Gum and Kirishima go?"

"They were thrown into another area after they had pushed you out of the way from getting that fate yourself," Sir Nighteye replied, "We'll have to trust them to get through things here on their own." Aizawa scowled bitterly; despite how harsh he had been on Kirishima and the other students in his class as of late, Aizawa hoped like hell that Kirishima didn't end up getting killed here. He had already seen six students he was responsible for die this year, and was by no means in any mood to see another one having to be buried.

Aizawa wasn't sure how many more of his students dying he could take.

After picking themselves up, Kirishima and Fat Gum saw that they were in a large darkened room. "...Where are we, Fat Gum?" Kirishima asked.

The BMI Hero gently shook his head. "...I can't begin to tell you that, Red."

"I can inform you on that matter, however," a cool and calm male voice spoke up, making both Kirishima and Fat Gum turn to see a calm and collected-looking man in monk robes and wearing a bird beak-like mask standing before them about a dozen feet away. The man took a step forward, held a hand up in a gesture that gave the air of sarcastic pious humbleness. "I am Hekiji Tengai," said the man, "One of the Eight Bullets who had served Kai Chisaki before his death, and now we serve Kai's fellows in the Shie Hassaikai, Chronostasis and Mimic."

Fat Gum and Kirishima both stood before Tengai, ready to beat him into submission. "Thanks for the courtesy of giving us your name, villain," Fat Gum remarked, "Now we have a name to give to the authorities when we hand you over to them."

Suddenly, a dome-shaped barrier appeared over Tengai. "I would like to see you try to take me, heroes," Tengai said, "You'll both completely exhaust yourselves trying to break through my barrier in a bid to get to me."

"So you're a defensive type, huh?" Kirishima said, going right into Red Riot Unbreakable, "So we'll just have to break down your barrier."

"It's clear you didn't hear what I said," Tengai remarked, a hint of exasperation in his tone, "You and the fat one behind me will never be able to break through my barrier here. All I have to do is keep it up, and I'll be able to hold the both of you here, thus helping to give time for Chronostasis and Mimic to find what notes Chisaki may have left behind on making more of his tool, grab said possible notes as well as the Eri girl they had been able to take back from you heroes, and-"

"I KNEW IT! YOU BASTARDS TOOK THE KID BACK!"

Suddenly, Rappa rushed right in and proceeded to throw a flurry of bullet-fast punches into Tengai's barrier, which blocked all of said punches. Rappa then jumped back to get some distance from Tengai, who turned to face him. "...Kendo Rappa," Tengai said, a hint of contempt in his words, "You have a lot of nerve, showing up here after how you betrayed Chisaki, betrayed all of us."

"Do you not care what that bastard Chisaki had been doing with the girl?!" Rappa snapped, throwing a hand in front of him in a wild gesture going from left to right, "It went way beyond the pale! I didn't sign up to support someone who did inhumane shit like that to a small child! I was just looking for an excuse to get a good fight!"

Tengai gave an unamused hmph as he shook his head. "What we want, what we care about, what we fell about any particular situation, shouldn't matter. All that matters is that we fulfill the will of our leader."

Rappa gave an unamused hmph himself. "...Funny you mention that we only ought to care what our leader wants. As much as I'd like to beat you into a viscous red paste for being compliant in taking the girl back, Dabi said that anyone who'd be willing to jump ship from the Shie Hassaikai and swear themselves to him in the League of Villains ought to be taken along before we bail from here. So how about it?" Holding a hand out to Tengai, Rappa said, "We were partners of a sort when I was still in the Eight Bullets, so you wanna try to be partners with me again in the League of Villains?"

"You cannot be serious," Fat Gum said, getting Rappa and Tengai to turn to look at him, "You're trying to make him go from one villainous group to another?"

"Hey, it's either he joins the League of Villains," Rappa replied, "Or gets left behind for his fate to fall into the hands of you hero guys. The group that Chronostasis and Mimic now run is doomed to be disbanded before the day is out, leaving him and the others with no group to belong to, no place to call home. Dabi at least is a path away from having nothing and being thrown into jail at best."

Tengai perked up a bit at what Rappa had said. "...You think that the Shie Hassaikai will fall this day."

"Not think, know," Rappa explained, "You guys were caught in a pincer attack with the heroes and their police friends on one side, and me and the rest of the League of Villains on the other. If the heroes and their police friends win out here, you'll be taken into custody and thrown into the slammer. But joining up with Dabi will let you continue on, albeit in another group."

Over where he stood with Fat Gum, Kirishima looked nervous. Tengai being a villain was bad enough, although from the looks of it he wasn't much of a fighter and would go down quickly even to a UA hero course first year if Tengai didn't have his barrier up. But Rappa, on the other hand, had been shown at the Battle of Kamino Ward to be a serious fighter, a credible threat in battle; Rappa was even shown in the live news footage from that horrific fight being able to go toe to toe with Mirko, one of the highest ranked heroes in Japan currently (although the snafu that she was involved in a short while ago may end up biting her in the butt in the next rankings).

At an absolute minimum, Rappa seemed more interested in trying to get Tengai to agree to convert from the Shie Hassaikai's side to the League of Villains' side. Getting an idea, Kirishima suddenly spoke up. "Hey, Rappa guy," Kirishima began.

Rappa and Tengai, as well as Fat Gum out of wondering what Kirishima was up to, all turned to look at the red haired youth. "What is it, kid?" Rappa asked.

"What..." Kirishima began to ask, trying to keep himself calm, "...What is is that you want here?"

"Well originally," Rappa began, "The only thing here I'm interested in is convincing Tengai here to do what I did. But now that I had found out that those bastards Chronostasis and Mimic took the kid back, I'm gonna wanna at a minimum do something to help get her back from them."

"...And if you do help to get Eri back," Kirishima went on, "What is it that you plan to do with her?"

Gesturing to Kirishima and Fat Gum, Rappa replied, "Leave her with you hero guys again. That girl don't belong in the world that guys like Tengai and I live in, but I bet that you hero guys can do better for her. However, Imma have to ask that you guys try to keep a better eye on her this time. I might be liable to punch you guys in the face if I hear talk that you had allowed her to get kidnapped again."

Fat Gum offered Rappa an amused smirk. "Well now, you're a pretty nice guy for a villain."

"I'll just get Tengai here to agree to follow Dabi, then we'll get out of your hair," Rappa said, "But don't go thinking I'll be this friendly towards you the next time we meet. Things just so happened to align here."

Tengai gave a bemused hmph. "Although you do make some valid points about how things might wind up here today," Tengai began, "And it's rare from my point of view to see you Rappa make a valid point, the Shie Hassaikai does not give up so easily." Pointing to his barrier that he had up, Tengai went on, "If you'll notice, I cannot be touched while my barrier is active."

Rappa cracked his neck a little, pounded a fist into his hand as he smirked. "You know, I've always wanted to see how much punishment your barrier can take before someone is finally able to break it."

"...I'll make you a deal, Rappa," Tengai said, his tone making it clear his interest had been piqued, "If my barrier is somehow defeated before I am, I'll follow you to swear fidelity to your new group." Gesturing to where Kirishima and Fat Gum stood, Tengai went on, "Even if these two heroes here help you."

Looking to where Tengai stood, Fat Gum said, "...Red."

Hearing the cue, Kirishima turned to look at his pro hero mentor. "What is it, Fat Gum?"

"...You're about to get a surprise lesson on a very rare subject in pro heroics," Fat Gum went on, "About when pro heroes have to team up with a villain to help take down another threat." Rushing towards Tengai, Fat Gum shouted, "Follow my lead!"

...

"Am I really heroic? Am I really manly?"

Kirishima thought back over his life up until now, wondering why everything had led to this moment. He remembered back to his middle school days, where he tried to get some bullies to leave an underclassman alone when they were trying to make him use his quirk to turn leaves into money. One of the bullies levitated a rock and threw it at Kirishima's face, only for him to harden himself before he got hit, meaning that the cry that he gave was one of surprise rather than pain. Eventually, Mina Ashido who was a student at the same middle school as Kirishima was able to resolve everything.

The friends that Kirishima had back then told him about how Mina was going to take the exam to get into UA High School, and would be a shoe-in due to a mix of her athletic ability and her quirk. They also stated a rhetoric on how the pro heroes of the modern day are unlike the ones in the past; today's heroes cared only for the fame and glory their positions brought them. Kirishima, noting that his Hardening quirk wasn't anything special unlike flashy quirks like what Mina had, felt that he didn't have a whole lot running for him; he felt himself to be on the dull and boring side of things.

But then one day, Kirishima became inspired by the words of a pro hero he idolized, Crimson Riot. Kirishima's drive was reinvigorated, pushing him to train in order to compensate for his lack of flashiness. To further compensate for said lack, Kirishima took on the current attitude that he has to this day, an attitude about being manly. The friends that Kirishima had didn't even begin to consider trying to get into UA and instead were talking about getting into another school. But Kirishima had his eyes on the loftiest goal any middle schooler in Japan could possibly have; getting admitted into UA.

But the adoption of his new manly spirit wasn't immediate. One day when walking home from school, Kirishima spotted the girls Mina regularly hung with being confronted by a large bulky figure wearing a hooded long coat. He was merely asking the girls for directions to a hero office, but the girls were, understandably, too afraid to even utter a word. The figure apparently didn't take kindly to the girls' lack of response, so he put a hand on the building behind them, which not only scared the girls even more, it also began dausing some rather bad damage to the building.

Kirishima tried rushing in to save the girls, but his legs wouldn't listen to his brain. He realized, to his horror as well as his shame, that he was too scared to move. Mina, once again, ended up coming to the rescue by rushing in and giving the large figure false directions. The figure thanked Mina and immediately took off, apparently satisfied. After the figure was gone, Mina and her friends all broke down in tears. Later on at home, Kirishima heard a news report about a middle schooler from another middle school saving a classmate before All Might showed up to defeat the villain involved in that case.

Kirishima hated himself. He hated how he was still cowardly, how he couldn't do what needed to be done due to being frightened. He even gave up on going to UA, figuring that he didn't have what it took. He threw a book at his bookshelf in frustration, causing another book to fall from it and land on the floor, opening up to play a hologram projector of his idol, Crimson Riot, at an interview. The interview was from Kirishima's elementary school days, and he didn't understand the nuance of what was being said; he merely thought that Crimson Riot was super cool.

During the interview, Crimson was asked if he felt no fear when he rushed in to throw himself into harm's way. Surprisingly, Crimson replied that of course he felt fear, and further went on to say people who feel no fear when doing that, when putting their lives on the line, are dumb. Kirishima was surprised to hear that, to hear that the hero he respected above all others (even All Might) not only was actually capable of feeling fear but also had harsh words for people who felt no fear in situations that are life or death. Intrigued, Kirishima watched on, listened on.

Crimson said how he had failed to save many people in the past, and that it's why he is seen as reckless for always charging right into battle. He said how he saves people because he decided to be a hero, and taking that path, to him at least, means that he has to stick to it no matter the adversity that comes his way. The interview ended with Crimson saying that a 'manly spirit' is a life that is lived without regrets. Kirishima, realizing what his idol's words truly means now, felt himself reinvigorated once more, and renewed his desire to get into UA.

Kirishima redoubled his efforts to train himself, studied his ass off, and eventually made it to take the entrance exams to get into UA. To his great elation, Kirishima ended up passing, getting into UA's hero course, being told he was placed into UA's Class 1-A. On the first day of class, Kirishima showed up with his hair dyed red and spiked up, a style that Mina (who also got in and was put into 1-A as well) questioned, noting the similarities with Crimson Riot's hair. Kirishima noted it as his first step in living a life without regrets, and intended to take whatever life could throw at him while still trudging on.

His 'manly spirit' in action.

...

Kirishima snapped back to reality as he and Fat Gum reached where Tengai was covered by that barrier dome and they plus Rappa began trying to assault it in a bid to break it. They threw a flurry of punches right into the barrier, giving it all that they had, but the barrier held firm. "I see," Tengai remarked, "Not even a three man assault is enough to break my barrier." Tengai turned to look at Kirishima. "...Although this one here is hardly a man."

The red haired boy felt a sting to his pride, causing him to waver ever so slightly. However, he was propped right back up to full confidence, and said boost actually came from Rappa, the villain he and Fat Gum were teamed up with. "Hey, at least Lil' Red over there is more man than you are," Rappa scolded, "He's willing to get in up front in a scrape, he's not compliant in the kidnapping of little kids!"

It was rather rare to hear a villain speak positively about a hero, rarer still if said compliment is paid to a hero-in-training. But it was a confidence booster all the same, and Kirishima wasn't about to let it go to waste. With a roaring battlecry, Kirishima redoubled his efforts in the bid he, Fat Gum, and Rappa were making to try to break down Tengai's barrier, although it was still doing little good if any at all.

"We're gonna need a lot more power and force if we're to break this barrier," Fat Gum said. Looking at how Rappa's punches not only were bullet fast but looked to be hitting very hard, the BMI Hero got an idea. "...Hey, Rappa."

Looking over, Rappa asked, "What is it, Fatso?"

"I got an idea on how to break the barrier," Fat Gum went on, "But I need you to bear with me on it."

After throwing another round of punches into the barrier, Rappa said, "Alright, what's the game plan you got?"

"I want you to repeatedly punch me in the stomach," Fat Gum said, surprising Kirishima, Rappa, and even Tengai.

"Fat Gum, are you crazy?!" Kirishima nearly exclaimed.

The BMI Hero gave his intern an amused smirk. "...Trust me on this one, Red. It'll lead to the right end here."

Shrugging his shoulders, Rappa said, "I have no idea what it is that you got cooked up Fatso, but if you think it'll work then I'll give it the ol' college try!" Right away, Rappa proceeded to throw a flurry of bullet fast punches right into Fat Gum's large fat gut, the blows all being absorbed by the fat they flew into. Fat Gum, who covered his face with his arms out of reflex, was barely able to keep himself braced. Even his fat was feeling the sting of those punches, but the raw force energy behind all of those stinging punches, each hitting with bullet speed and cannonball force, was being stored up.

The more and more of this energy that Fat Gum stored, the more his fat was being burnt up, making him shrink down to a skinnier and skinnier form. Rappa barely noticed the shrinkage and, backing off when the shrinkage went on its own without the input from his punches, saw that Fat Gum had been reduced to a slender yet lightly muscled form, without the barest hint of excess body fat anywhere. Fat Gum, his right fist pulled back and glowing with energy, smirked in amusement as he turned to rush over to where Kirishima, his Red Riot Unbreakable having long since worn off leaving him in only regular hardness now, was still trying to break down Tengai's barrier.

"Rappa's a better guy than I had first thought," Fat Gum smirked as he charged at the barrier. Rappa who went back to pounding on the barrier as well saw it when Fat Gum punched the barrier with his glowing fist, striking with such force that it actually shattered the barrier and threw Tengai back with the force. The fat-less BMI Hero, exhausted from the effort he gave, went down to one knee as he breathed hard to catch his breath.

"Fat Gum!" Kirishima cried out, jogging over to his mentor while Rappa looked on for a moment.

Turning his attention over to Tengai, Rappa said, "So what do you think now, Tengai?"

Tengai coughed a bit as he worked to catch his breath back. "...Well first, I could use a hand to get back up." Rappa chuckled in amusement as he moved to collect Tengai. "...Heroes," Tengai spoke up, getting Fat Gum and Kirishima to turn to look at him where Rappa supported Tengai, "We're going to be wanting to look for a door that has a sign on it that looks like something a seven-year-old girl would be expected by the average person to pick out at a store. That's where Eri is being kept, it's her bedroom here. I'm not sure if she'd be there right now, but it's a start."

"You guys may wanna head to the nearby first aid supply room first, though," Rappa advised, "I'm pretty sure my punches stung you even through all of your now gone fat. Tengai here may also wanna look into nursing a few injuries here and there, so I'll help him over."

Kirishima looked on in a mild sense of disbelief. "...You really do want to help rescue Eri," Kirishima said to Rappa. Turning to look at Tengai, Kirishima went on, "And you really are gonna leave your current group and join the League of Villains."

"It helps that it'll keep me out of jail and gives me new purpose in life," Tengai replied, "Also, I did make a deal, and I intend to honor it." Letting out a tired and hurt sigh, Tengai said, "Deals, when made, ought to be honored."

Kirishima let out an amused chuckle. "...That's a pretty manly thing of you to do."

Returning Kirishima's chuckle with one of his own, Tengai replied, "And you're more of a man than I had initially given you credit for." Seeing as though there were injuries that needed at least field dressings, Rappa carrying Tengai led Fat Gum and Kirishima over to where the first aid supply room was at so that Fat Gum and Tengai could get some bandages at least.

Elsewhere, Chronostasis and Mimic who rejoined him after seperating Fat Gum and some hero kid from the rest of the heroes were making their way to an emergency exit as they attempted to flee the now doomed Shie Hassaikai hideout. Chronostasis, who was carrying Eri who was too scared to put up a struggle, was in fact able to find a journal that detailed how to make the imperfect form of the Quirk Destroying drug, which only temporarily disabled the target's quirk. It listed the ten steps to making the imperfect from of the drug, and a side note mentioned that 'steps eleven through fifteen' would take the imperfect drug and turn it into its perfected from which would permanently destroy the target's quirk.

...Unfortunately for Chronostasis and Mimic, the journal, which was hand-written by the late Kai Chisaki and filled from page to page, made a note that the only place where 'steps eleven through fifteen' were written down were in Chisaki's mind; this meant that the knowledge of making the perfected Quirk Destroying drug was taken to the grave with Chisaki, and that Chronostasis and Mimic, at best, could only produce the imperfect form of the drug which only disabled a target's quirk temporarily. But it was a start.

"Maybe," Mimic began as he and Chronostasis ran, "Maybe we can find someone to help us with experimenting around until we rediscover how to make the perfected from of the drug!"

"It's our best bet," Chronostasis replied, "We just need to avoid the-"

"Stop right there, villains!"

Chronostasis and Mimic turned their heads and saw, to their horror, that they were being pursued by a fairly large group of heroes. "Shit!" Mimic exclaimed, "The heroes were able to catch up to us! And Eraserhead's among them! I tried to separate him from the others and keep him secured, but the fat one and some kid with red hair got in the way instead! That black haired hobo-looking bastard will be a right proper pain in the ass to deal with!"

"You'll face more than just him, villains!" Sir Nighteye called out, revealing himself as the one who had called out previously.

"That's right!" a female voice called out, making everyone take pause. Eventually, everyone saw it as Toga came running in, followed by La Brava, Nagant who had her arm turned into a rifle already, and Twice. "We didn't like hearing that you jerks took little Eri from the heroes," Toga scowled, "We'll be taking her back from you if it's the last thing we do!" Seeing Eri in Chronostasis's arms, Toga said, "You hear that, Eri? We're gonna save you!"

"You villains will not be taking her!" Sir Nighteye declared, his visage an angry scowl.

Nagant rolled her eyes dryly. "It's not like we plan to take her away with us when we bail, you lapdogs of the HPSC."

La Brava nodded in agreement. "She's right! We'll let you heroes take her before we leave after getting what all we were able to nab here!"

"Like we'd let any villains get away!" Aizawa declared as he rushed at the members of the League of Villains, already having Erasure active.

However, Toga was able to put a stopper on Aizawa, mostly due to surprising him as he was admittedly more focused on Twice to keep him from multiplying. Toga did so by reaching into a pocket on her cardigan, grabbing something, then pulling it out, revealing it to be... a handful of sand, apparently... that she threw into Aizawa's face while shouting, "Pocket sand!"

"GAAHH!" Aizawa exclaimed as he fell back, sand in his eyes as he had effectively been rendered useless. With Aizawa's Erasure disabled, Twice was free to make clones of himself, which he did when the heroes tried attacking him and the girls.

"Twice, leave enough to keep the heroes here occupied since they clearly won't play nice with us even though we also want to help save the girl," Nagant said, "Then come with us while making a few more clones to help us take down those men who are fleeing again."

As Twice proceeded to make many clones of himself, Sir Nighteye yelled, "Mirio! Go after the men fleeing with Eri! Save her and defeat the villains trying to make off with her!"

"Got it, Sir!" Mirio replied, phasing into the wall to move past everything, his hero costume phasing with him as it was made from a special cloth made with his hair. Thus another fight in the Shie Hassaikai hideout broke out; the remains of the heroes' steadily dwindling party versus a horde of Twice clones, and Chronostasis and Mimic trying to flee with Eri as they were chased by Toga, La Brava, Nagant, Twice who was making a few more clones, and Mirio who was going through the walls. Eri was so close to those who wanted to save her, but Chronostasis and Mimic, in their vile evil, kept her so far from them.

But they refused to give up in trying to get Eri back. They weren't going to stop until they got Eri back safe and sound.

END, CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Author's notes;

This chapter covered the business with Kirishima, Fat Gum, Rappa, and Tengai, although here Rappa actually helps Kirishima and Fat Gum take Tengai down. Tengai then agrees to jump ship and join the League of Villains under Dabi, and signifies this by giving details that could help with recovering Eri. There's also some backstory that's covered for Kirishima, but that's besides the point. Although Tengai does honestly mean to help now that he's back on the same team as Rappa (even though it's a different team altogether), the advice he gave is moot because Chronostasis and Mimic have Eri with them as they attempt to flee their now doomed hideout.

The heroes are able to catch up to them, but then the girls of the League of Villains, who have Twice with them, show up to help take Eri back. But seeing that the heroes won't play nice with them, the girls disable Aizawa via Toga channeling her inner conspiracy nut before they leave a bunch of Twice clones to occupy the heroes' time while the girls and the real Twice go to save Eri, with Mirio rushing along through the walls to try to cut the villains off. Things will get even more heated in the next chapter, so don't change the channel.

Oh, and fair warning about the next chapter; I have a feeling that you guys may not like what Chronostasis and (especially) Mimic will do. Sure, both their side and the League of Villains are bad guys, but they have different ways. Dabi and his crew have at least something of a moral code (that varies from person to person). The same can't be said for Chronostasis and Mimic though; be ready to hate them.