The six members of Checkmate stood alone in a large open room. It resembled an arena, having a diameter of roughly 30 meters. They had been put here by Doctor and were awaiting their opponent in this test he had for them.

The five main members of the group had plenty of combat experience, so they had no issue fighting whatever Doctor had prepared for them. The problem laid with their sixth member. Pawn. Her entire role in this mission was to act as a communicator to Genjiro. She was a non-combatant. Normally, she wouldn't be participating in such a fight. But Doctor had insisted that all of them take part in this test. In his words, there was no telling when a fight would break out in reality so they wouldn't always have the luxury of non-combatant members being safe.

Outside of the room, Shigaraki and the League of Villains watched through a window. They too were curious to see just how skilled the top operatives of Paradise were.

Doctor held down a button and spoke into a microphone, his voice echoing through an audio system in the room. "Once this test starts, I can't guarantee you'll live through it. If you want to back out, this is your last chance."

"We didn't come here to do our mission half-heartedly." King replied. "Let's just get this over with."

"Very well. Don't say I didn't warn you."

A couple seconds later, the door on the far end of the room opened up. The other side was pitch black, making it impossible to see what was coming. But the sound of footsteps coming their way was heard. Slowly, a figure began to show itself as it walked into the room.

The creature before was clearly a Nomu, for no human could possibly look so deformed. It walked on all fours like an animal. While its head had the exposed brain that seemed common for Nomu, the rest of its body seemed to be covered by armor-like skin. Coming out from its rear was a long bony tail that was about ten feet long.

"Well that's certainly freaky." Knight commented.

Doctor spoke once again through the audio system. "This is a prototype for my new High-End Nomus. Say hello to Salamander."

"So all we need to do is defeat it, correct?" King asked. "I hope you don't hold it against us if your little experiment ends up dead."

Doctor let out a hearty laugh in response. "Hohohoho, go ahead and try. If you can, that is."

Salamander let out a low growl as it stared down its six opponents. Checkmate quickly got into formation as they got ready to fight. A tense silence hung in the air as everyone waited for the first move to be made.

Finally, Salamander started the fight as it began charging towards Checkmate. It was able to move surprisingly quickly for a creature with armor for skin.

King wasted no time in issuing out orders. "Rook."

The large teen gaave a silent nod. Out of nowhere, a wall of light appeared directly in front of Salamander, causing the Nomu to slam directly into it. Before it could attempt to go around it, three more walls appeared around it, boxing it in with little room to move.

As Salamander tried to find a way to escape, Knight and Queen rushed forward and jumped into the air. Knight transformed his arm into a shotgun and fired multiple rounds at Salamander's tough armor. Just as he expected, the bullets didn't even make a dent. So he changed targets and began firing at the exposed brain on Salamander's head. Acting instinctively, Salamander moved its tail to block the projectiles.

Knight showed a small smirk upon seeing this. 'Way to show us where your weak point is, idiot.'

While Knight was keeping Salamander's defenses occupied, Queen flanked it from the other side. She sent her toxic syringe shooting straight for the brain. She wasn't sure how well her poison would work on something like the Nomu, but if they were originally human then there couldn't be that much of a difference.

As the syringe closed in on Salamander, the Nomu let out a loud screech before swinging its tail in a circular motion. The walls of light created through Rook's Quirk shattered and both Queen and Knight were blown away from the shockwave.

Seeing their formation broken, King let an entertained smirk show. "Well now, this is starting to get interesting."

Queen and Knight both landed on their feet, skidding along the ground slightly. Queen attempted to attack again with her toxic syringe, but as it approached Salamander, the Nomu's mouth began to crackle with flames.

King's eyes widened when he noticed the flames. "Queen, pull back!"

Queen noticed a second too late as Salamander turned its head towards her and unleashed a stream of fire from its mouth. Queen quickly leaped to the side while retracting her syringe, but the flames managed to scorch it briefly before she escaped. "Ahhh!"

Knight attempted to make use of the Nomu's brief distraction as he rushed at it. He transformed his arm from a gun into a blade as the distance between them closed. Salamander noticed his approach and attacked with its tail, but Knight slid under the tail swipe and lunged at the Nomu.

"You're mine!"

"Knight, behind you!"

The warning from Bishop came just in time as Knight turned his head back and saw the tip of the tail coming for him. Acting quickly, Knight turned his left arm into a shield. He defended himself from being pierced by the sharp tip of the tail, but he was knocked away from the Nomu.

"Damnit." the youngest of the six muttered. "We can't even land a scratch on it."

King observed the Nomu carefully. He had not expected this to be an easy fight, but the creature was certainly giving them a run for their money. 'So far we've seen three Quirks from it. The armor body it has, its strong tail, and fire breathing. It likely has a regenerative Quirk too like most of the Nomu that have been seen until now. We should be cautious for any other surprise Quirks it may have too.'

But then, something occurred that even King could not have anticipated.

"Fight… me…"

The six teens couldn't believe their ears. They wondered if they had imagined the hoarse voice just now. But the sound of words came from Salamander once again.

"Fight… me…"

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Knight gasped. "I thought these things were mindless beasts. How is it talking?"

'Could this be what he meant by High-End? A more intelligent version of the previous Nomu?' King wondered. 'It managed to get out of the trap we set for it rather easily. If this thing can think and strategize, then this could end up being much harder than we anticipated.'

"Fight me…" Salamander spoke again. "Attack… all at once…"

Against an opponent like this, King knew they couldn't afford to hold back any longer. "Bishop! Sword!"

Knowing exactly what King meant, Bishop put his hand into his robe and pulled out a sword with a red handle that resembled a cross. He kept two on his person at all times. Bishop tossed the sword he brought out and tossed it to King. As he gripped his hand around the handle tightly, King took off running towards Salamander.

As King approached it, Salamander prepared to meet him head on. However, just as it was about to attack its tail, its entire body suddenly got extremely heavy. The gravity around the room grew in intensity, making all except King unable to move. With its tail useless due to the gravity, Salamander opened its mouth and breathed fire once again. King reacted quickly and leaped into the air. He was now above Salamander and was coming down to pierce the Nomu's brain.

'This is the end.'

That was what King thought, but as he fell towards the Nomu, the creature's body began to cover itself with flames. The leader of Checkmate widened his eyes in shock. He had thought that Salamander's fire Quirk was simply fire breathing, but it seemed that was just a ploy to make enemies let their guard down so it could engulf its body in flames at a critical moment like this.

Normally, King would have no way to escape falling onto the blazing Nomu below him. But as he fell, a wall of light appeared below him, keeping him from falling any further. King found himself grateful that Rook could use his Quirk anywhere within his sight so long as he didn't move. It was typically a Quirk used for defense or to trap enemies, but it had other rare uses. Such as acting as a floating stepping stone to keep one from falling onto a monster covered in flames.

Salamander glanced around the room, noticing everyone besides King was struggling to stand like it was. "Gravity… you… increased it… All affected… except you…"

'It's observant too. Just my luck.'

"If others… affected by gravity… too, then… can't dodge…" Salamander muttered. It aimed its head at Rook, Bishop, and Pawn and breathed out a stream of flames at them.

Knowing he had to act quickly, King leaped off the platform Rook made and turned off his Quirk. The second the gravity lifted, the three teens in the line of fire moved out of the way. Even though she was a non-combatant, Pawn had undergone the same intense training every Paradise operative did. After all, if she needed to be protected all the time, then she was only a liability on missions. She dodged the flames with impressive reaction timing.

No longer affected by the gravity, Salamander immediately began moving. It closed in on the three teens and attacked with its tail. Rook, Bishop, and Pawn each dodged in different directions. Salamander set its sights on Pawn and thrusted its tail at her once again.

Pawn nimbly managed to dodge time after time again, desperately doing all she could to avoid getting hit. As she dodged yet again, by leaping to the side, her body seemed to hit some invisible force that stopped her short. Caught off guard, Pawn found herself with no way to get out of the way in time as the pointy tip of Salamander's tail came at her.

Leaving her with no way to avoid the hole the tail made in her chest as it pierced her body like tissue paper.

Pawn let out a few weak gasps as blood poured from her body, before she went limp. Salamander flicked its tail, throwing the girl off of it. "One… down… Five… left…"

Checkmate stood on edge. They had now lost a member. But they couldn't bother to mourn. They were pros. Getting angry in the middle of a fight over an ally's death was how amateurs got killed.

They needed a way past Salamander's tight defenses. Between its armor, tail, and ability to light itself on fire, Salamander had few weaknesses. But there was one way for them to win this. And King knew just what it was.

"Knight! Attack from a distance! Keep its tail occupied!"

"No problem!" Knight said with a grin as he changed one of his arms into a gun and began firing continuously at Salamander's brain. The Nomu instinctively shielded its one weak point with its tail, bullets ricocheting off of the bony limb.

King and Bishop glanced at each other and shared a silent nod. King called out to the only living female member of their team. "Queen! Get its attention!"

"Understood!" Queen once again attacked with her toxic syringe while King began running at Salamander with his sword.

Salamander reacted quickly as it lit itself on fire once again to keep Queen at bay, while breathing fire at King to keep him away.

"Rook!"

Not needing another word, Rook used his Quirk to make a series of walls to act as stepping platforms for King to get over the flames. None of them had managed to get close to hitting Salamander's brain. But their job wasn't to kill it in the first place.

They simply needed to keep its focus off of the one who would kill it.

Pulling out his second sword, Bishop hurled the weapon directly at the Nomu. Having no more ways to protect itself, Salamander was helpless to notice the blade, let alone stop it as its sharp edge pierced its brain.

In that instant, Salamander let out a pained shriek as flames burst from its body with greater intensity than ever before. It flailed around helplessly for a few brief seconds before the flames slowly extinguished themselves and the Nomu fell onto the floor motionless.

Those watching the fight couldn't help but be impressed by the showing. Even Dabi let out an impressed whistle as he saw Salamander fall.

"They're not half bad." Compress noted. "Even though they did outnumber it six to one, that was a powerful Nomu."

"They still lost a member though." Utocha pointed out. "I hope they don't hold it against us."

"I don't think we have to worry about that." Dabi said with a smirk. "You should pay better attention, Utocha."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You'll see."

With the battle over, Doctor spoke through the audio system once again. "It seems you aren't all talk after all."

Knight showed a cocky smirk. "Heh, told you so."

"Indeed. Now then… Let's talk business."


After leaving the testing arena, Checkmate was brought back to the same place they had first arrived at when they and the League were warped. Both groups were now standing together as Doctor once again lurked in the shadows.

"I must admit, I am not happy to have lost my precious Salamander." Doctor spoke. "But I am the one who set up the test so I suppose it wouldn't be right for me to hold a grudge at this point."

"Indeed. And we too lost a member." King said. "I suppose we can call it even with that."

"Hmph. I would hardly call it the same." Doctor told them. "After all… you let that girl die."

King let a smirk show. "How observant of you."

"Wait what?" Spinner questioned. "I'm confused."

"That teammate of theirs seemed to run into some kind of wall as she was dodging the Nomu's tail." Dabi explained. "It was only for a brief second, but a wall of light could be seen. The same Quirk that one of these guys has."

"Guilty as charged." King admitted.

"Getting your own ally killed. That's a rather cold move." Shigaraki said.

"I'm typically not one to willingly sacrifice allies. But this was a special exception." King explained.

"That girl was a non-combatant. Her Quirk simply acted as a way to communicate with the leader of Paradise." Doctor said. "In other words, there was something you didn't want your leader to hear."

King clapped his hands in a slow manner. "You truly are insightful. I'm glad I don't have to go to the trouble of explaining to you." he told him. "Put simply, I want to make a deal of my own. Just between us."

"Interesting. And what is the nature of this deal?"

"Similar to what the boss man wanted. A partnership between Paradise and the League of Villains." King explained. "Except, this will be a partnership with me at the head of Paradise."

Several eyes narrowed upon hearing this. Doctor however remained calm and composed. "You mean to say you plan to overthrow Genjiro Mastsuhari and take over Paradise yourself? That's a rather ambitious plan for someone so young."

"I'll take that as a compliment." King said. "The boss gave me a place where I could let loose, but frankly he doesn't really see us soldiers as anything more than disposable pawns for his goals. He was even planning to send some of his own people to become lab rats in your Nomu experiments. I can't really place my trust in someone like that."

"Hmm… The way you're speaking implies that you don't plan to let me use any of Paradise's soldiers once you take over."

"Naturally. Human beings are a resource, and loyalty is a hard quality to find in them these days. I prefer to avoid losing those that are loyal to me if I can avoid it." King explained. "Of course, I don't plan to offer nothing in compensation for this partnership. I can see the League is lacking in manpower these days. I'm sure you could use a few hundred trained soldiers to assist you with your actions. I only ask that you not consider them disposable."

"The actions of the League are not my concern at the moment." Doctor said. "If you have nothing to offer me, then we are done here."

"Now, now, I said I wouldn't allow you to use my allies as guinea pigs. I never said I wouldn't offer you anyone to use."

"Hmm? And just who will you be providing?"

King's smirk widened as he looked at Doctor. "How about a girl with a Quirk that can create explosions at will?"

"... You have my attention."


Genjiro Mastsuhari sat in his office at Paradise's underground base. It had been almost two days since Checkmate had set off to search for the League. Locating them likely wouldn't be easy, but they were the top team of Paradise operatives. If anyone could pull this off, they could.

Suddenly, a knock was heard at the door to the room. Emiri spoke from the other side. "Mr. Mastsuhari, Checkmate has returned. It seems they succeeded in their mission."

"Excellent. Send them in."

With that, the door opened and Checkmate walked inside. With them were three newcomers. The first two were Spinner and Utocha of the League of Villains. The third was a large black Nomu.

"I see I was right in sending you for this mission, King." Genjiro said with a pleased smile. "I notice Pawn is not with you."

"Apologies. She was killed in action." King told him. "While we succeeded in passing the test that the creator of the Nomu set up, she did not survive it."

Genjiro was silent for a few seconds before he let out a small sigh. "I see. That is unfortunate. But sacrifices must be made for the greater good." he said. "Now then, may I ask who you have with you?"

"The Nomu's creator was kind enough to entrust us with a Nomu as a symbol of our partnership." King told him. "It's tuned to follow my orders. We weren't able to get it to follow you since you were not present at the time."

"I see…"

King then gestured to Spinner and Utocha. "As for these two, they are members of the League of Villains as you may recognize. To help with our partnership, they agreed to assist us with the upcoming mission regarding Fujino Hatsu."

"Excellent work King. You've exceeded my expectations." Genjiro complimented. "Now then, Ms. Kiroki, if you would."

Without warning, Emiri touched the backs of both Spinner and Utocha with a malevolent grin. Before they could even react, the minds of the two League members went blank.

"All done, Mr. Mastsuhari." the woman told him.

[Emiri Kiroki. Quirk: Memory Wipe. She can wipe the memory of any person she touches. They forget everything about their past, but innate skills such as combat, speech, and Quirk usage are left untouched.]

"Ugh… what happened? Where am I?" Spinner asked.

"My head…" Utocha groaned.

"Gentlemen, are you alright?" Genjiro asked in a kind and caring tone.

"Who are you… Wait, come to think of it, who am I?" Spinner questioned.

"You don't remember?" Genjiro asked. "You are both members of the wondrous organization known as Paradise."

"Paradise?"

"Yes. We aim to help people with our unique talents." Genjiro explained.

"Wait… I think I remember doing something like that." Utocha said. "Yes… I was trying to help reform society."

"Precisely. I am relieved to see you still have some recollection of who you were." Genjiro told them. "Checkmate, if you would be so kind as to show them to their quarters? Perhaps some rest will help them recall more."

"You got it, boss man." King said as he turned to the door. "Let's get going."

The five members of Checkmate walked out of the room with Spinner, Utocha, and the Nomu silently following them. They walked down one of the hallways in the maze-like facility.

Once they were a fair distance from the room, King let out a chuckle. "That was excellent acting there. You two should consider a job in theater."

"... You think he bought it?" Utocha asked.

"Without a doubt." King confirmed. "He shouldn't be aware of our upcoming coup attempt, and he's never known of anyone being unable to prevent his secretary's Quirk."

"I honestly wasn't sure if those pills the doc gave us would work." Spinner said. "Leave it to him to come up with a drug that prevents the mind from being affected by any outside interference."

"He seems rather cautious. I suppose he wanted to avoid being mind controlled." Utocha said.

"Regardless, all we need to do now is wait." King said. "Once the mission to capture Fujino Hatsu begins, that's when we'll make our move and make the boss's ambitions crumble right on top of him. And then I will be the supreme commander of Paradise."

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter readers. Don't think surprises are done yet cause there's plenty of twists and turns to come this arc. Until next time.