Blue hues blend with the black of the night, each blinding array of building lights whizzes by outside the window of the train. The passenger car rocks back and forth on the tracks. With Himiko resting her head on his shoulder, it's almost soothing enough for Akatani to relax. Almost. He can't quite allow himself to enjoy the moment. Not after essentially leaving his whole life behind. Again. He can't help but wonder what Eraserhead and the pro hero's detective friend will think. Or Yoshimura. Or the friends that he made, Todoroki and Shinso. Or.. Eri. Akatani's head lulls to the side, resting atop Himiko's. He at least allows himself to brood a bit.
He thinks about where he's headed instead. Even though that's no better or worse of a thought. He's headed straight for the inferno, taking the train into Hosu with Himiko to find the League Of Villains. Since the Hero Killer's activity there increased, it seems like the most likely place to find criminals lurking about. Birds of a feather flock together and all that. As a predator, it's easier to hunt and catch prey in packs rather than individually. The odds of snagging at least one from a group is higher than chasing a single target.
Akatani just didn't expect to enter a literal inferno. The blue tint outside the train car's window shifts shades of color, from yellow to orange to red. Akatani sits up straight when other people in the car start to murmur over the light show, waking Himiko. Orange and red flares warp the city lights, growing brighter. It takes the spectators too long to realize why. A ball of flame is hurtling towards them, growing closer and burning harder.
Akatani wraps his arms around Himiko to shield her, twisting their bodies away from where the ball of fire collides with the train car. Screams fill the metal container as glass shatters and shards spray across the tiny space. Those same yells are drowned out by the shrill sound of wind being sucked in and out of the giant hole that's been made. Akatani looks up to see what made such damage.
A humanoid with green skin as pale as a dying leaf crouches down on all fours. Akatani notes that the being's brain is exposed, four eyes protruding from the organ. All they got on are gray trousers that are ripped at the calves. Akatani reaches into the back pocket of his own pants, feeling the leather of his mask. He's not sure whether what's attacking is human or something else, but his fight or flight response is telling him to fight.
"Akatani..", Himiko squirms from under the boy's weight but her indignant whines are more from a place of worry for him than uncomfortability.
The other passengers of the damaged train car let loose a round of reactive noises again upon witnessing Akatani's slight transformation. The long sleek appendages that sprout from the small of the boy's back whip side to side as he pulls on his mask. He leaves the zipper open, baring his teeth like fangs. The red of his Kakugan glows brighter than his Kagune, but he's just as bloodthirsty as ever.
The humanoid shrieks at the ghoul, a visceral sound that makes everyone cover their ears but the ghoul himself. From under Akatani, Himiko tries grabbing onto an ankle to stop him from engaging it. But he's too fast. In one rapid and fluid movement, the ghoul tackles the humanoid creature through the hole that it created. They twist and flip in a fast freefall from the monorail to the grounds below, passing rooftops and plummeting straight for the earth.
Registering the sudden change of events, Himiko is already standing up to hurry after them. "Akatani!", she calls after her boyfriend before leaping out of the cart willingly. Admittedly, she wasn't prepared to be woken from her sleep by a sudden villain attack. Now that she's gotten past her grogginess though, she's more than just grouchy. She's pissed. Nobody interrupts her beauty sleep and steals her boyfriend.
The blonde unsheathes a knife that she keeps handy, landing in a roll on one of the higher rooftops. Her body aches from the rough tumble but she catches herself and gets to her feet anyways. At the speed that the train was moving and how long it took for her to follow after Akatani, there's going to be some distance to travel before catching up with him. Though she's seen firsthand that he's more than capable of taking care of himself, she rushes to help him anyways. She has to close the distance as quickly as possible, because she cares too much about him to potentially lose him.
As for Akatani, despite his blood and flesh withdrawal, he does handle himself well as Himiko had assumed. He binds the humanoid that he's fighting by its wrists and ankles with his predatory organ before attacking its exposed brain. His fingers claw at its open organ, ripping an eyeball loose. Gore spews across the alley that they had fallen into, filling the crater they made with a puddle of blood.
The next impact in the ground comes from the humanoid alone, slammed into the cement by Akatani. It doesn't show signs of pain, just mere agitation as it tries to resist. The ghoul decides then and there that he doesn't have to hold back then. He latches onto the creature's throat, teeth sinking into its neck. Blood fills Akatani's mouth as the humanoid emits a gnarled gurgle from its damaged vocal cords.
The bitten lashes out with a desperate swipe, backhanding Akatani across the chest. The humanoid has enough enhanced strength to knock the ghoul back. Akatani coughs as the wind gets blown from him, spit and blood flying out of his open mouth. The tentacles flailing after him stop his motion midair though, sparing him a second collision. One wraps around a nearby streetlight, using it as a pulley to launch the ghoul back at its opponent.
A second swipe misses Akatani as he ducks under it, and with the humanoid's side exposed, he takes another chunk of its strange colored flesh. It blubbers from its lips as it tries to yell, bringing its other arm down. Akatani catches it by the wrist, applying pressure. Whether the humanoid is just too strong or the ghoul is lacking the nourishment to match that strength, the bones don't bend or break, much to Akatani's surprise. In that moment of shock, he's delivered another blow to the abdomen.
The ghoul bends backwards, shoulder scraping the ground, and then contorts to land on his side. Injured, his tentacles coil protectively around him like a shield. But in between those tails, a red iris peers out with an intent to get even. When he seethes through his teeth, it sounds like a hiss. Then, the ghoul is rushing the humanoid. A red limb snakes upwards and pierces a shoulder while another sweeps out the being's legs. Then Akatani jumps with his arms and legs spread, a battle cry descending on an exposed brain.
Akatani grabs onto the humanoid, fingers digging into its skin and legs locking around its waist. His teeth gnash together as they grind its brain matter, the squishy mush slopping in big bursts. Even with its neck torn out, the humanoid screeches at the top of its lungs. It staggers as it tries to remain alive, but ultimately gets devoured by its much more dominant enemy.
The ghoul feasts on the unfamiliar flesh of his victim, indifferent to the bitter flavor of its green pigmentation. The fair share of meat reminds him of what it's like to actually eat. It's more satisfying than coffee or blood clenching his thirst. It's liberating. And Akatani can't get enough. He shovels handfuls of severed tendons into his gullet, swallowing them whole without bothering to chew. Saliva drips down from his chin as he inhales the scent of exposed liver.
All that's capable of drawing the ghoul away from its first true meal in a long time is the promise of more. The screeching of a winged humanoid draws Akatani's eyes to the sky where he can see it flying overhead. This one is a pale yellow, its skin just as sickly as the previous creature Akatani put down. That doesn't stop him from launching himself at it to get a bite in though. In one pressurized push from the gathering of his tentacle appendages, he shoots through the air and crashes into it.
The two monsters role through the sky before crashing through a window and into a dining room. A few occupants scream as a vicious brawl breaks out. Akatani rips a chunk of flesh from the winged humanoid using his teeth before lifting it up into the ceiling. Furiously flapping its wings in a futile effort to escape, the creature shrieks in desperation. The ghoul shows no mercy, bringing the fellow beast back down into the floor and then swinging it into a wall. The wild side to side ends with the two falling back out the window from which they came.
Each brawler lands in the street, where more panicked bystanders flee from an intense wave of fire. Akatani reacts instinctively, not wanting to get caught up in the flames. His appendages pull him from the explosions and he lands on the other side of the road. It's from there that he can see the chaos that fills the night. More genetically engineered beings roam the city of Hosu, wreaking havoc. Heroes that Akatani recognizes from Endeavor's agency fight to hold them back as best as they can.
Akatani ascends the nearest building to get a better view of the battle, unsure of how he should interfere. The fog in his mind is only now starting to clear enough for him to think. It begins to register that the creatures he and the heroes are fighting likely belong to the League Of Villains he and Himiko are hunting. There's no other villain organizations at the moment and he knows personally from his own encounter with Stain that the hero killer works alone, so there's no other option. He watches as the creatures below attack indiscriminately. Even if it weren't his personalized mission to track and kill the League Of Villains, they're a danger to the people that he can't ignore.
Akatani leaps from his perched position, landing on a bleached white humanoid's back. Latched onto the creature like a spider or a tick, he takes a bite out of its nape. It reacts violently, pivoting its body while roaring. Unlike the prior two that the ghoul had fought, this one has an extreme muscle density to match its newfound opponent. It grabs Akatani and tosses him off. The ghoul somersaults as he flies through the air before planting his kagune into the ground to stop himself.
Ready to go on his own rampage, the ghoul uses the assault of the humanoids as an opportunity to have a feeding frenzy. Akatani momentarily turns his attention away from the white one to grab an energy booster, a small one of the creatures, tearing out its heart to chew on. Then, the ghoul returns to its original target. The two clash, the white humanoid absorbing the impact and using the force of the blow to augment its muscles. The asphalt of the road cracks and crumbles as their weight shifts against one another.
Then, an extreme air force is released from all the pent up intake. Akatani is blown back just enough for the white humanoid to follow up with a surprising quirk, a tongue web combination that snares the ghoul. Akatani struggles against the net, growling. The creature cackles. The ghoul eyes the tongue wrapping him before realizing that it's organic matter and severs it with a bite. Blood splatters across the street as the tongue is ripped apart by the ghoul's manic snapping.
The white humanoid retracts what remains, making an awful sound as it does. Akatani follows the tongue back to its owner, charging in again. A hard dropkick smashes the creature's exposed brain, pink mush spraying every which way in a mixture of blood. Its eyes ooze from the same placement, rolling out of their sockets. Grinning at his fallen prey, Akatani dives in for his reward. The brain matter squishes between his teeth and the muscle fibers ooze with blood. The satisfying meal leaves more to be desired.
But the remaining humanoids are already being dealt with. The heroes have restrained the weaker ones, all that remains a duplicate of the white creature. It likely outclasses them, but not Endeavor himself. The number two ranked hero arrives in a glowing burst of fire, his hellflame completely cauterizing the remaining creature. It's destroyed beyond repair, flesh bubbling and blistering. Not even Akatani would want to eat the burnt to a crisp being.
Endeavor stands over the defeated monster victoriously, one boot atop its corpse. He surveys the property damage and his sidekicks, eyes eventually landing on Akatani. When the two meet eachother's gaze, an immediate understanding of what's about to happen reaches them. Endeavor doesn't bother evacuating the area or warning anyone, he just instantly launches an attack. Akatani's single exposed eye widens as he watches a tsunami of fire head his way.
Though just a kid, and though Endeavor being quite a literal hot head, he supposes he can understand why the hero decided it was a good idea to attack him. For starters, he had been eating the corpse of one of the monsters terrorizing the city. Not to mention the leather ghoulish visage mask that he's wearing. It doesn't exactly give him a good look. But still, he can't believe the guy didn't even hesitate.
Akatani springs from his spot, coiling his limbs around a street post. The metal becomes super heated from the massive wave of fire that Endeavor unleashes, making him move from it to the next just as quickly. But Endeavor doesn't let up, he hurrels a line of fireballs at the scurrying boy too. The ghoul hastily scrambles alongside the wall of an apartment complex to dodge the miniature explosions and takes another leap of faith to get away.
But there's no fleeing from this fight. Endeavor is on him in an instant, flashing from one spot to the next to cut off his path. Akatani curses under his breath as the hero closes the distance. Unable to evade the incoming punch and becoming increasingly desperate, the ghoul does what any cornered animal would do. He bites. He catches the hero's burning fist in his mouth, sinking his teeth into the man's knuckles. Both Endeavor and Akatani feel an intense pain from the mixed contact.
Endeavor reels from the bite with a shout, shocked to find his hand mangled. Akatani goes from seething through a mouthful of fire to sputtering and gagging as his lips hiss. Having his mouth burnt has the ghoul spitting out blood before he closes the zipper that exposes it. Having his knuckles chomped on makes Endeavor see red, his fist reclenching despite the pain it radiates in a burst of flame.
Luckily for Akatani, and unluckily for the number two hero, it's right at this very moment that Himiko Toga finds her boyfriend. She strikes at Endeavor with her knife, catching him off guard just enough to cut his chest a bit. In that single fluid arriving motion, the blonde also grabs Akatani and roughly pulls him back. The two put some distance between themselves and the hero, landing behind a crushed car.
"Himiko?!", Akatani exclaims in as much surprise as Endeavor is to have been cut by a girl in a school uniform.
Himiko whirls on Akatani, exasperated and out of breath from having to get here, "What kind of hot mess did you get yourself into?!"
The boy watches Endeavor charge up another attack, grabbing onto Himiko and pulling her from their cover to behind another car in order to avoid the incoming move. "I don't really have an answer for that.", he replies through gritted teeth as an explosion shakes the place that they once were.
Endeavor isn't holding back. He's showing no mercy. He stomps towards them with heavy footfalls, boots burning into the pavement. "You're not getting away.", his tone is as serious as his hyper focused expression.
Himiko rebrandishes her knife, leaping up from behind the car in between her and the hero. "Wanna bet?!", she's just as angry as the number two hero and charges in headfirst.
Endeavor meets her halfway, flames igniting from the palms of his hands as he reaches for her. As the burning limbs close in, he growls under his breath, "Only if it's your life that's at stake."
If it hadn't been evident enough before, Akatani now realizes that the so-called hero isn't looking to capture them. His girlfriend's life is at stake. "NO!", he leaps over the car in his way to help but he's too far behind. He fears he isn't going to make it in time.
Fortunately enough, somebody else does. A red blur swoops in at the last second, swapping places with Himiko. Akatani recognizes the scarf before he does the jagged blade that's blocking Endeavor's attack. The hero killer, Stain, has come to their rescue. Endeavor pivots back from the sudden strike and Stain sweeps his sword out to get one final lick in that manages to knick the hero's cheek.
Akatani lands beside the hero killer, catching the tail end of his sentence. "-been looking forward to hunting YOU most of all, Endeavor.", Stain pauses when he notices the ghoul's arrival and diverts his attention just enough to acknowledge the presence, "You again?"
There are many things Akatani wants to say and do in that moment, many of them conflicting with the other. However, the main thing that's on his mind is his girlfriend's safety. So what he chooses to do is bow, "Thank you for saving her."
Stain grunts, sparing a quick glance at the blonde that he rescued. "Get her out of here. This fight is mine now.", and then he returns his attention back to the flaming hero he's about to face in combat.
"You must be the hero killer.", Endeavor is just as intently focused on his opponent. The fire encompassing his body increases in output in a threatening display of power, "Your reign of murder ends here."
Stain matches the energy with his own, bloodlust radiating from the end of his blade when he points it directly at Endeavor. His tone holds more animosity and hatred than Akatani could manage as he boldly replies, "Just try it, you fake."
Already predicting Endeavor's next move, Akatani dives for his girlfriend to shield her from the incoming blast. "Himiko!", he calls out to her as his tentacles reach to make a shield.
The raging inferno consumes the area around them and they're engulfed in hell's flames.