13.07.2021

Lemme skip the introductions today, because I'm really excited to show you today's chapter!

But we can't skip the comments of course!:

Bucio - Man, I always like to read your comments and see what ideas you can come up with for what might happen next! As for the Arc's name, I think that after this chapter you'll have a good idea whose demise we will be witnessing. As for my version being different than cannon - lemme tell you that some of this stuff is going to be turned entirely upside down, while some of it will be left mostly untouched. What I'm gonna change you'll just have to see for yourself in the next few chapters! Also, I would imagine that Kendo is pretty pissed at the Villains for interrupting her special moment, so Mustard should probably watch himself! xD And just for the record, thanks for the kind words man, it helps a lot!

Reviewmonkey4u - In my opinion he would make something over the top which would make others stop and think something akin to 'how did he get these guts strung up on that tree like that?' instead of something actually terrifying.

ddsurvivor - Thanks for your input even though the beggining of this story is really a piece of shit and I acknowledge that! You left the comment under the thirteenth chapter, but I hope you made it to the end! Or the most recent chapter!

And with that out of the way, action!:

Students were running around like ants, carrying the wounded into one of their sleeping buildings, tending to them, bringing medical supplies or preparing themselves to go back into the forest that they've just escaped minutes ago.

"I really, really hate to do this…", Mandalay murmured under her breath as she sat down to rest up quickly.

"I don't like this either, but Midoriya has a point you know?", her green-haired companion stated as she sat down next to her. "Besides, we've been working with them for a week now, you know that most of them can take care of themselves when needed"

"I know I know… But it still doesn't feel right to put them in danger like that", with a defeated sigh Mandalay stood back up. "Let's at least help them with the injured"

With that, the two women headed for their impromptu field hospital. But when they were halfway there (living on a prayer) Mandalay suddenly stopped, her eyes going wide.

"What's wrong?", Ragdoll asked curiously.

"Kota, where's Kota?!", her friend shouted in panic and the green-haired Pro immediately started scanning the surrounding area for the teen.

"I got him!", she exclaimed. "He's hiding at the edge of the forest in that hideout of his and I don't see any Villains around him, so he should be safe", the woman explained and put a hand on her friend's shoulder in reassurance. "He's going to be alright"

"I need to go get him", Mandalay stated and was about to head out, but she stopped as soon as she turned around, spotting an all too familiar mop of green hair standing in front of her.

"You're needed back here to coordinate with the field team and protect the students", Midoriya said as he approached the Pros. "Let me go and I'll be back with Kota in no time", he bowed lightly with the offer, making Mandalay even more conflicted.

"But, you're just a student… I can't tell you to just put yourself in danger for a private matter…", the woman tried to argue, though was more and more tempted to just agree.

"Well, when it's all over, just say that you didn't allow me to go, but I ignored your decision and went anyway", he smiled and added. "Wouldn't be the first time I disobeyed a Pro's command"

"Fine, go. Bring Kota back safely", she finally broke and smiled sadly at the boy.

"Momo, toss me a radio!", he shouted immediately and after catching the device turned back to Mandalay. "Be back in a flash!", he said as he saluted and then almost vanished into the forest with the speed he displayed.

It was supposed to be just a quick run. Get Kota and get out. He was eavesdropping on the two Pros, so he knew that there weren't any Villains in the vicinity and even if they appeared when he was on the way, Ragdoll would've informed him about them.

"Stay behind me!", Midoriya shouted to the boy as he got ready for what will probably be his hardest fight ever.

If Ragdoll kept constant surveillance over the entire forest, why didn't she tell him that there was a Villain here?!

"Hey, I remember you!", the hulking Villain bellowed as he pointed behind the hero-in-training. "You are a brat of this Water Pose duo right?!"

"It's Water Hose!", Kota shouted back.

"Don't listen to him, he's just trying to provoke you", Midoriya whispered loud enough for the boy to hear.

"Hose Pose, what's the difference?! They were weak so I didn't bother remembering their names!", the maniac mocked once again before turning to the older teen. "You look strong. What's your name?"

"Izuku Midoriya"

"Midoriya?! Really?! This day keeps getting better and better! First I get to kill the brat of Father Hose and now it turns out that I'll catch one of Stain's targets!", the Villain yelled with an excited grin on his face.

"Stain is here?! And I'm his target? No, I'm just one of his targets, but who are the others?", though calm on the outside, Midoriya was shaking in his boots on the inside, panic and fear filling him up to the brim. "That's Muscular, right?", he directed the quiet question to the boy behind him.

"Yeah…", Kota mumbled out.

"I'm gonna have to do this quickly. Let's hope Mandalay is listening", he steeled himself, his hand slowly reaching for the radio in his pocket. "Here goes nothing. Mandalay, Muscular is he-!", that was all that he managed to say before a powerful blow to the side sent him flying back, the radio slipping from his grasp and shattering upon hitting the ground.

"What, were you trying to call for help? Are you that weak that you need someone to come and save you?! I must've misjudged you, for all that tough exterior you are nothing but a pathetic loser! After I'm through with you, I'll go and see if any of your friends are more entertaining than you!", Muscular shouted at the top of his lungs, striking fear into Kota who instinctively took a few steps back.

"What was that about my friends?", a calm voice caught the Villains attention. He looked to where he just punt the little hero towards and was surprised to see him standing there like nothing happened. "Nana, turn off the pain receptors. I know you can do this", he felt a sudden rush of adrenaline as his fight or flight instincts kicked in. "Fear and anger are powerful motivators afterall", he murmured before vanishing.

Muscular was staring dumbly at where his opponent just was but he suddenly felt his head snap backwards as pain started radiating from his jaw. The next moment he felt something cold dig into his solar plexus, being driven further into his amassed muscles as he slowly gained speed and soon found himself on the other side of the rocky cliff.

The Villain looked up in disbelief to see Midoriya standing in front of him, his leg still outstretched from the previous kick and a furious expression on his young face.

"Let's dance, fucker"

"Be back in a flash!", the green-haired boy yelled with a confident smile before promptly vanishing right in front of their eyes.

"They'll be alright. Let's get the injured to safety", Ragdoll patted her friend and teammate on the shoulder before heading towards the field hospital.

"I hope you're right…", Mandalay whispered out with a tired sigh and then followed the other woman to treat the injured whilst they were relatively safe.

The girls that inhaled too much of the unknown gas were still unconscious and completely unresponsive, but their status was stable and their lives weren't in any danger at the moment. Once they were transported to a real medical facility, the professionals would surely find a way to neutralize the gas in their bodies.

That's why the two heroines and a few of their trainees have taken to treating any visible damage on the other students such as cuts, scrapes and the likes.

Suddenly Mandalay's radio came to life with a short static before she heard Midoriya shout out a few words that she didn't catch in time but one of them was almost certainly her name. She had a very bad feeling about the rest of his message, especially since the connection was severed as abruptly as it was established with the only sound being heard in the room being static.

"W-Who is Muscular?", one of the girl said towards Mandalay and the Pro's head immediately whipped in the direction of one Kyoka Jiro, a student with enhanced hearing.

"W-What?", the woman numbly stuttered out, dread overcoming her entire being.

"Midoriya said something about 'Muscular being here'... At least that's what I understood from the message", the rocker girl explained as slight worry started creeping up her spine after she noticed the state of the Pro Heroine. "Is-Is that bad?"

"Muscular", Ragdoll interjected, "is one of the most dangerous Villains in Japan. He is wanted for many, many homicides and even more cases of illegal Quirk usage, robberies, you name it, he probably has at least one charge of it", for once the Heroine wasn't smiling. The entire Pussycats energy seemingly leaving her body. "And because of me giving him a false sense of security, Midoriya has to face him alone…", tears started swelling in her eyes.

"He'll be fine", the conscious students as well as the Heroines looked at the person talking. It was, to their great surprise, Koda. "Midoriya worked hard to get to where he is right now, harder than any of us ever even thought about. He must've sacrificed many things just to be here with us and I doubt that he'll just let some random Villain take that away from him. Not without giving it all he's got", the unexpectedly fiery speech from the most shy student of 1-A eased the nerves of everyone, as they thought back to their Class Rep.

"Koda's right guys!"

"We gotta trust in our man in charge!"

"It's Midoriya we are talking about!"

Shouts of agreement sounded out in the room and even though Mandalay still saw them shake with fear and uncertainty, their eyes were full of hope and their smiles bright despite the situation they've found themselves in.

"You better come back alive dammit", the Heroine thought to herself. "Your friends are waiting for you"

"Maybe running would've been a better idea?", Nana suggested as her host ducked under a surely devastating and lightning fast jab that only narrowly missed its intended target.

"There's no way I could've outrunned him while carrying Kota", Midoriya countered as he kicked off of Muscular's exposed leg, putting distance between them.

"You sting like a bee!", the maniac yelled and licked his lips menacingly.

"Weirdo", the duo thought simultaneously, before Midoriya had to dodge to the left to avoid yet another jab aimed at his chest.

The two combatants were at it for a few minutes already and neither have sustained any damage yet, despite the smaller man consistently landing hits on the giant brute.

"The amount of muscle on this guy is starting to tick me off…", Midoriya thought to himself as he did a backflip to avoid a leg sweep.

"His Quirk basically gives him the ability to create and manipulate them at will, so…", Nana explained with a mental shrug.

"Doesn't mean that it can't irk me", the student countered and slid between Muscular's legs when the brute was preparing a heavy overhead strike.

Using the position, Midoriya drove his shin in Muscular's calf, hoping to at least stagger the hulking Villain, but to no avail. The giant did twitch, but only just and wasted no time in retaliating with a blind swipe as he turned around.

"This is getting ridiculous… I'm almost at my maximum already and still can't even put a dent in him!", the situation was indeed looking worse by the minute. "Not to mention that whilst I'm being held down here everyone else is out there fighting their own battles…"

The boy knew how capable his classmates were, he spent almost an entire year with them already and had no doubt that they could handle themselves in a fight. But this wasn't a fight. Not one like they used to do in Foundational Hero Studies. This was an ambush, where the enemy had all the advantages you could think of and they were almost blind due to the chaos of it all.

The only thing they had were numbers, but those alone wouldn't be alone to solve the problem. They would need to be led by someone experienced who can tell them what to do.

Midoriya's musings were interrupted as Muscular rushed at him again with his left fist cocked back and a maniacal grin on his face.

"I'm done running"

The green-haired student took a bit of a different stance this time, not preparing to dodge, but to counter.

As soon as Muscular came close enough, Midoriya rushed towards the fist that wast flying towards him and then, in yet another impressive show of agility, slapped both of his hands of top of it, using them as leverage to hoist himself out of the way of the punch and then transitioned into a handstand, which in turn allowed him to drive both of his feet into Muscular's wide open face.

As soon as the attack connected, Midoriya lost his balance due to the Villain stumbling back in both surprise and pain, which gave the student a chance to continue the assault.

"Your muscles are tough, but can the same be said about your joints?!"

Muscular massaged his hurting, and probably broken, nose with one of his hands, which obscured most of his vision. This meant that he couldn't even see Midoriya coming until the moment he felt a kick being delivered to his right ankle and then another one to the side of his left knee. The double strike forced Muscular to kneel down as the student delivered a series of kicks to any opening he could spot.

"Now to finish this and get to the others. I'll make your head spin three hundred and sixty degrees bitch!"

Midoriya intended to knock the Villain out by putting everything he had into a punch to the head, but something went wrong. Terribly wrong.

Muscular's right arm suddenly shot out in the student's direction, not giving him enough time to react as the giant fist grabbed him by his left arm and then tightened, putting insane pressure on the boy's bones.

"Great! This is great! I'm so glad I came here! No one has managed to give me a fight like that in quite a while! I would've loved to kill you right now if it wasn't against Stain's orders!", the Villain started his cliche rambling, tightening his fist more and more the longer he spoke. "Maybe if I get him Todoroki then he will let me keep you?! Then I could kill you as many times as I wanted! That's even better!", light cracking sounds, as if someone was merely popping their back, emanated from Midoriya's left arm, the vice-like grip slowly whittling down his bone structure.

But then, something unexpected happened. A torrent of water hit Muscular square in the face, stopping his monologue and making him look towards the third person present.

"S-Step away f-from h-him!", Kota shouted with a look of scared determination and utter horror mixed on his face as tears gathered in his eyes.

"Right! Stain didn't say anything about you, so I can kill you right now!"

Muscular was about to do just that, but he failed to notice something. The surprise attack wasn't meant to hurt him, but act as a distraction.

"As if I would let you!", Midoriya shouted and managed to swing his foot into Muscular's liver, which made the giant stumble once more and release his captive in the process. "Nana, activate the Stim"

"W-Wait, but what abou-"

"I don't care! Either you do it the intended way or I'll do it the crude way myself!", the commanding tone of his thought left no room for any objections or any more stalling as Muscular was back on his feet already and looking as furiously excited as ever.

"Give me a sec"

And with that she vanished from his mental plane as Midoriya already dodged an incoming attack.

"You may be fast, but I only need to hit you once!", Muscular yelled as he tried to overwhelm his opponent with a barrage of strikes.

"Then how about we level the playing field?"

"I got it!"

One moment, Midoriya was standing on the mountainside, everything covered in various shades of grey and black with only the blue forest fire giving any light. And then, as if someone flipped a switch, he was bombarded with a whole cacophony of colors. Everything went from dull to vibrant in an instant.

His perception increased more and more as every second started stretching into minutes! The Nanite Stim, his last resort, was a small vial containing a swarm of self-replicating nanites connected right into his heart. And as soon as Nana activated them, they got to work.

These nanites were probably one of the most advanced technologies in the world, having the ability to create copies of themselves and merge with live tissue, acting almost like normal human cells.

But there was a price to pay. The nanites are hell-bent on expanding their swarm using any material available, which in this scenario was Midoriya's own body.

Still, as the green-haired boy felt his veins bulge with power, his heart hammering in his chest like a jackhammer and his muscles spasm as the nanites spread throughout his bloodstream, he knew. This was going to be his last fight. And he would sure as hell make it count.

The world around him came to a halt as Midoriya took a look around him. The horrified bravery on Kota's face, the crazy bloodlust on Muscular's, whose fist stopped a few inches away from nailing Midoriya in the stomach, and most of all, the wild blue flames that spread throughout the forest uncontrollably.

The boy sighed sadly to himself as he felt time start to flow once again. As if a giant machine was slowly coming back to life after years of disuse, the gears creaking and voicing their protests, but obeying the commands anyways.

Muscular's fist started inching closer and closer to its intended target, when time suddenly snapped back to its usual pace.

"Ha! How's that?!", the Villain bellowed as his hit connected and raised a huge amount of dust in the process. "You were pretty weak for all that bark!"

"And why is that?", he heard someone, or rather something say. It sounded… unhuman like. Ghostly and otherworldly. But most importantly, the sound came from multiple directions at once!

"Oh, you can't beat me in a straight fight, so you resort to trickery! Disappointing!", Muscular quickly spun around as his eyes caught a glimpse of movement in his peripheral vision. "Come on! Quit hiding already! Or I'm going to just kill the kid! Scratch that, I'm going to kill the kid anyway!", and these words would prove to be a major mistake. One of the last in Muscular's infamous career.

A dark streak suddenly filled the Villain's vision and then vanished as soon as it appeared. It confused Muscular for a moment before he felt his nose break with a viciously sounding crack. He raised one of his arms towards his face to try and understand what had happened, but almost as soon as his arm started moving, the same silhouette appeared at his side before vanishing. A split second later, Muscular felt something tear and noticed that some of his muscles had been torn off of his arm. He tried using his Quirk to stitch them back up, but to no avail, because as soon as they were back in place, the damn streak appeared and tore them back out.

"W-What the fuck's going on?!", the now ever-so-slightly scared Muscular shouted into the silence.

"I told you, didn't I?", the weird shape appeared before Kota who was too busy staring at the scene in front of him to even feel fear. "I'm not going to let you lay a hand on Kota or any of my friends!", the black shape suddenly gained color and revealed itself to be Izuku Midoriya.

Though, there were some major changes. The normally toxic green eyes now had hints of orange in them, as lightning seemed to surround him like a wild storm. His uncovered arms gave the other two men present a chance to stare at Midoriya's now orange-ish veins, spreading slowly towards his hands.

Kota, being the one closer to Midoriya and also not currently in major pain, also noticed something else. The student in front of him was twitching all over the place. He saw his fist clench and unclench every second as he tapped his right foot rapidly.

Midoriya vanished as abruptly as he appeared and only a black shape stayed in his place, before it followed suit like a shadow. Muscular desperately tried to put up any sort of a guard, but whenever he protected his face, he received attacks to the body. And whenever he tried to protect his already slightly cracked ribs from any more punishment, his jaw was bombarded with jabs and hooks.

The unending onslaught of attacks forced the Villain back, but there was only so much he could back up before his back met the cold stone of a mountain.

The impact made him drop his guard for a split second, but it was more than enough for Midoriya, who used all of his energy to deliver a strong kick to the Villain's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and making him collapse onto the ground.

With the battle won, Midoriya appeared once again, this time towering menacingly over Muscular before turning around and heading towards Kota.

"Let's get back. The others must be worried", he said softly with a gentle smile.

But the smile vanished as Midoriya took a few steps, a frown replacing it as Muscular started grunting. The green-haired student turned around and saw his opponent back on his feet, staring daggers at him.

"I'm not done with you! I'll kill you! And then I'll kill that brat behind you! And then all of your friends!", the Villain ranted on and on as he regained his strength and charged Midoriya once again, or should I say one last time? You see, Muscular made a few mistakes tonight - pissing off the wrong guy, taunting the wrong guy and most importantly underestimating the wrong guy. But the mistake of standing up was going to be his final.

"You should've stayed on the ground…", Midoriya said coldly as he got into a runners position and then promptly vanished.

Muscular's charge was halted in place, and the Villain himself was sent flying back into the wall, as one heel dug back into his solar plexus and the other one broke about half of his ribs.

"I'm… not… done!", the wheezing and coughing Villain yelled with whatever strength he had left.

"Yes you are", someone said as a shadow fell on top of Muscular and stabbed him in the heart with a long katana.

The new arrival then cleaned and sheathed his weapon before turning around, revealing himself to be-

"Stain…", Midoriya mumbled out loud as he stared down his next opponent.

"Hello, Hero", the Hero Killer said as he licked his lips.

Okay, put down the pitchforks and lemme explain!

Thank you. Now, I was forced to do this cliffhanger, because the chapter has reached a 4k word count and this was the best place to make a cut, so it was either do a 4k with a cliffhanger and post today or stretch it into I don't know 6k? 7? It's hard to tell when I would have a chance to make a good cut, so here we are.

Also, I have a good tittle for the next chapter in mind!

Now I'm going to run before any of you reach for the torches again! Have a wonderful day and I'll see you later!