Apocrypha panted ascending once more, reaching the fourth floor. He felt his mana depletion reduced as the marbles on the first floor went inert, and nodded. At that point, it was clear they were unable to break through Todoroki's ice, so he might as well recall those on the second as well.
He knew the so-called Hero was on his tail, hence why he had only slowed down now that he had reached his goal. The fourth floor, and the Summoning Circle that was spreading his power through the house. Todoroki's steps grew closer from downstairs, and only his steps. He had likely taken out the Bell Witch already. 'Useless brat.' He thought, quickly fumbling with the Summoning Circle. He needed to revert the spell if he wanted a chance to win this.
'Removing the Mana spread from the rest of the house, concentrating it only in one Nucleus. Cut off all other possible escapes of Mana from the Nucleus reducing output. Increase heat resistance by concentrating more Frost Mana…' He felt a shiver as his body grew colder, his teeth beating one against the other. Sacrificing his own body like this was risky, but Apocrypha had his orders and his pride 'and set it for live capture.' He added. The attacks were still going to hurt, but not nearly as much as they could have. Hopefully they were just going to crack every bone in the opponent's body.
The marble started to move, like an egg about to reveal the chick inside.
-x-
Todoroki broke into the room with a kick. It was a large meeting room, odd for the fourth floor until he noticed the decorations, depicting demons and skulls. Clearly, this room wasn't meant for any normal encounter between friends. 'I bet Ojiro is having a field day fighting like a Wizard in a fantasy world like this.' He thought, with a slight smile. The image helped a bit fighting through the pain. A giant spider had managed to bite his right hand while he was busy melting a group of lynxes, and he wasn't doing well. The blood vessels had popped all the way to his biceps, and it hurt like he had put the arm through a meat grinder. 'I really hope healing potions work on stuff like this or recovery is going to take a long time.'
On the floor, his last opponent was sitting in front of a circle, a single marble in the center, trembling.
"It's over. Surrender and I won't hurt you." He replied calmly.
"Well, I can't really do that." The man replied showing his hand, where a black snowflake rested. Todoroki couldn't help but find it incredibly childish. He wondered if the summoner was choosing the shape on purpose or if the Summoner Crest just shaped itself on its own. "I'm afraid we were ordered to capture you, so I must do that."
"Capture?"
"Of course. If we had to kill you, I would have focused the bites on your head or chest, not your limbs. Not to mention, the Bell Witch never aimed her knives for the kill."
Todoroki considered the new information. It did make sense, though he had to say if Reiko wasn't trying to kill him she had done a poor job a number of times. 'Maybe she had enough fine control to stop the stab wounds from being fatal even if they did hit me in the chest?' He pondered. "Why would you want me alive?"
"I assume because Lord Arkin wants you for his experiments. The Asset's problem is aiming, so I guess he figured a way around that."
"What are you talking about?"
Apocrypha laughed; a bitter, cruel laughter that made it clear he didn't find the question funny at all. "You'll see. Thank you for giving me time by the way. The ice dragon is a complex Summon."
Todoroki only had a second to dodge out of the way before the giant limb of a reptile emerged from the circle and slammed towards him. He launched his fire, but while some of the ice did melt, it wasn't nearly as much as it should have, never reaching the core of the limb that looked like a pillar. He turned back when he heard creaking noises and looked as the giant figure of a dragon made entirely of ice started to burst from the ground and rise, destroying part of the roof in the process. Apocrypha was on his side, protected from the falling debris by one of the wings acting as a shield.
"This is what you do to take a prisoner alive?!" Shoto shouted as he used his ice to stabilize his side of the room, preventing it from falling apart.
"Ah, shut up, you can take this much." The feminine man smiled coldly "Also, it's not a violation of the Summoner Crest if you die by accident."
"Well that explains that…" Todoroki launched his fire against the man, but the dragon's giant paw appeared in the way. The beast moved, leveling walls as it did, and Todoroki felt the floor itself creak under the weight of the beast. 'If we keep going, the house will fall down.' He realized.
"Last chance to give up." Apocrypha said "After this, I won't be responsible if you fight too hard and end up dying."
The ice-and-fire user grinned, channeling the best impression of the bravest man he knew he could put up. "Now that wouldn't be manly at all, would it?" He asked. Apocrypha shrugged his shoulders and the dragon launched itself forward, his hind claws opening large holes in the wooden pavement as a beast at least six meters tall at the shoulder moved against him. The ice Todoroki had created to surround himself cracked along with the stone, sending him flying through the back wall when the head of the beast impacted against him like a sledge hammer. Todoroki had a single short breath before the dragon grabbed him with one of his forelimbs and slammed him against the wooden roof of the house. The man felt a lot of stuff crack, trying to decide if the sound came from the ribs, the scapula or the sternum. He coughed out blood. Most likely, all three.
"That's it, manly man?" Apocrypha asked, the dragon pushing against him.
"No. This is."
Todoroki channeled his entire power in his left side. Before, he had always tried to keep himself from overusing it. Over the years he had overcome his hate for that part of his power, but he still favored the other. That was why he had developed the Flashfreeze Fist in the first place.
It didn't mean he hadn't stolen a few tricks from the old man. The Flashfire Fist sizzled as the entire limb of the beast melted into water that rained down on him. Todoroki stopped his fall by propelling himself. He didn't have his father's balance, but he could still keep himself floating.
"What?! But I made it to be heat resistant."
"That's not heat-immune." Todoroki replied pointing his hand to the dragon's head, "Hell Spider." The five plasma cutters shoot out at the same time, leaving behind large pieces of the dragon's head. Todoroki made the mistake to think that was enough, and paid for forgetting the fact it looked like a living being was nothing more than an illusion. The tail of the dragon came up from the floor and hit him in the gut, sending him out through the roof. The headless body of the dragon followed, Apocrypha on his back. Todoroki stopped his fall by emitting a jet of fire from his foot and looked down. He had been sent six meters in the air, raining blood from both his mouth and a later large wound on his side over what remained of the villa's roof. The dragon was quickly emerging from it, taking flight, his head and arm slowly reforming. How something made of ice could fly was something Todoroki didn't care to find out right now. The answer was magic anyway.
"Dammit." He thought bitterly "Guess I have to do that." He thought as the almost headless creature flew against him. Shoto didn't know how this whole magic deal worked, but there was the risk that if he just took out Apocrypha the dragon-shaped iceberg would come falling down on the house and crash through the lower floors, destroying the exit he had done his best to protect. Even the Hell Spider wasn't guaranteed to dissolve it completely, as proven by the destruction of the dragon's head. Not to mention, he needed to take out Apocrypha at the same time, or he was going to be captured.
Meaning the ice had to go, as much as possible, along with the wizard.
He stopped his foot's fire and let himself go, falling down against the beast's ice body. Landing was painful, but he managed to grab on the neck of the dragon safely enough. The creature immediately halted its rising and stayed there, suspended in the sky against any law of physics.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Apocrypha asked gleefully the wounded Hero, "This is my strongest summon, the Ice Dragon. A truly marvelous specimen that I have now proven is able to even defeat the so called 'Quirks'." The man looked down at him. "Now then, will you please surrender before I am forced to try and take further action?"
There was a small component of begging in his voice, Todoroki noticed, something he would have never expected from someone that looked exactly like Geten. Maybe this one was a decent person, under the pride and gloating. 'Not that I have a choice in this.' He decided.
"Try to protect yourself." Todoroki replied, "You don't want to be hit directly by this."
Before the long-haired man could ask anything, he closed his eyes and his left side flared more than it had ever before during the fight. The Prominence Burn, his father's trump card, engulfed the sky. The fire roared through the Ice Dragon. Falling down along with a screaming Apocrypha and a cloud of steam and water that had previously been the beast, Todoroki had one second to wonder if he would even survive before they both crashed on the remains of the roof below and everything went black.
-x-
Itsumi had to thank her training as a Hero for her reflexes, since she only had a split second to react to her enemy's charge. She grunted as the a metal gauntlet closed in a fist impacted the arm she had barely managed to put in the way, and swore she felt the impact all the way down to the bone. If she hadn't used One for All, she would have probably seen it break at an unnatural angle.
Kikora managed to get out of the way as well, jumping out of range of the opponent's arms briefly and pulling out two long knives or short swords. Itsumi wasn't sure when a knife stopped being that and started being a sword to be honest.
Their opponent, now that she could look at her well, was a woman clad from head to toe in purple and red garments. Her longcoat showed some signs of worn, but the red flames that formed a lining around the collar made her look intimidating. Even more intimidating was the fact she wore metallic claws on her hands, iron boots, and a mask that covered the face entirely, red flames surrounding white eyes.
The Heroine-in-training had no time to ponder further when her opponent kicked her in the gut and sent her fly back. She rolled on the ground to cushion the blow and stopped next to a box, the horse inside neighing indignantly. "Oh shut up, I was the one she just kicked." She replied, anger boiling further. The woman had already moved her attention from her to Kikora. Grave mistake. Itsumi opened her mouth and let the familiar liquid flow around her arm, coiling in the shape of her usual projectiles and firing.
Towards Lord Arkin.
The man shook his head annoyedly as he raised both hands, and the explosion was stopped by the same Shield spell Itsumi had seen Ojiro learn. The man scoffed, keeping the shield up in her direction. "Claw, the girl." He calmly said.
Instantly, the so-called Claw's head turned and she abandoned the combat, ignoring the knife that barely hit her cloak, cutting away a chunk of it, and slamming her boots to the ground. There was a flash of purple light from them and she was launched forward, jumping between the Summoner and the girl. 'Uh, propelled boots? That's new.'
The thought that touched her mind was stopped when she had to dodge an iron-gloved fist. She moved down and kicked up, her boots sending the elbow of 'Claw' upwards. She quickly regained balance and spun on her feet, punching with One for All and a battle cry of "Die!", but surprisingly 'Claw' activated her boots, kicking Itsumi to the side with a fuel-propelled kick. If she hadn't been using One for All, the impact would have broken through her arm and cracked every single rib on that side. As it was, it only rattled her arm and sent her flying.
Itsumi opened her mouth as she landed and fired an explosive dart to the face of the Villain, but the masked woman somehow saw it coming and bent backwards, the explosion missing her and flying over towards her employer. The loud boom did nothing to his barrier, but scared the horses in the boxes nearby, that started to neigh loudly.
"Ah, Claw, look out. The horses in here are expensive." The orange-haired man casually commented, patting his red tunic clean from a bit of dust.
Kikora launched a knife his way, using the moment when the shield was down, but it bounced off. "Magic Armor, missy. I'm not an idiot that would fight you two without one."
"Could have fooled me." The elf spat out pulling out another knife and rushing forward. The purple-clad Villain however didn't stay idle much longer, taking from her utility belt a handle that quickly expanded in a tube. The overall shape made it look like a sword, thanks to the handle having a proper guard. The 'sword' swung to Kikora's head, but the elf blocked it with a knife.
What she did not block was the following rush of electricity that discharged into her hands as their opponent pressed a button on the side of the weapon. Itsumi however hadn't been idle, pulling herself up and opening her mouth, her explosive liquid rotating around her arms. She then rushed forward, and started to punch. The villain had to stop electrocuting Kikora and turn to Itsumi. The elf fell on the ground, coughing, but Itsumi didn't relent.
"Dartmoor SMASH!" She shouted, her explosive left jab moving in a blur.
'Claw' didn't block, nor did she let the attack hit her. Instead, she let go the 'sword', that flew off propelled by the explosion, bent down, stepped forward and grabbed the arm, throwing Itsumi over her shoulder and on the ground. The girl grunted as her back impacted the floor and all the air in her lungs escaped at once, but used her open mouth to unleash a small explosive dart that flew out of her mouth.
This time, maybe because at the same time the 'Claw' was distracted by Kikora's knife as the elf finally rejoined the fray, maybe because the angle was so impossible, or maybe just because the woman wasn't prepared to it, the attack managed to hit Claw on the side and send her against another box with a loud grunt. At the same time, they heard what seemed to be an explosion from the distance, like something large had just fallen from the sky.
"That's four now." The noble commented suddenly, stepping inside the carriage just as Kikora launched a third knife and his Mage Armor safely blocked it. "Claw, I will be leaving with the Asset. Kill them and join me" He stopped a moment when another knife bumped on his mage armor and formed a shield to stop Itsumi's explosion "The same goes for the two still in condition to fight. Once you have completed your assignments, retreat." He added, his hand glowing under the elegant black silk gloves he was wearing. Kikora's eyes narrowed.
The elf shouted something in a language Itsumi didn't understand as she tried to rush to him, but she was hit in the side by a projectile and thrown back, wheezing for air as the rubber bullet thumped on the ground. There was a low grumble, then the so-called Claw launched herself forward from the debris. Itsumi gulped and her hand went to the pocket of her costume.
-x-
Izuku gulped as he watched his leg. The bullet the man had used had literally mangled it when after impacting it had exploded into a bunch of needles, some still stuck in, some completely out of the leg. Every step was pain, and jumping was out of the question.
'Tch. This is bad. He can resist to my Air Force without a problem.' He though. Gunslingers weren't really something Izuku had ever dealt with before. Sure, he had taken some training before the Yakuza raid, but that was meant to deal with amateurs with guns. This man was a professional.
The weird ringing in the back of his head came back once more. When it suddenly flared up, Izuku reflexively ducked, and watched as the bench he was hidden behind a moment ago was hit by a bullet.
'What…' The ringing came again and Izuku bent to the side, dodging another bullet and disappearing behind a crate. His leg was burning, the needles inside it probably moving around because of his own movements, but he didn't stop. Especially when he noticed that there was gas coming out from the bullets. Or well, a liquid was leaking out and rapidly turning into gas. The volume didn't match, as far as Izuku could see, but he wasn't about to question the magic gun. 'How weird is it that I'm not questioning the magic gun?' He wondered, before turning forward and releasing Air Force two more times. The gunman was hit once, but the second just made his cape flutter as he took cover behind the bench. 'Wait, he is getting closer? Why?'
Izuku decided that if that was the case, he was going to make the best of it and prepare ahead. He extended Blackwhip, but followed one of Izo's suggestion. If Blackwhip was made of shadow, why always flaunt it around instead of keeping it hidden? His opponent wouldn't necessary know about it.
The tendrils moved like snakes on the floor, carefully and silently. Through them he felt the benches and the floor, and then…
He pulled with a grin on his face that wouldn't have felt out of place on Bakugou's or All Might's, and heard the shout of his opponent as Blackwhip grasped his leg and forced him in the air. Izuku dared to look up, only to be immediately welcomed by a bullet that missed his head by inches when a ring made him dodge. In response, he shot his own air bullets, sending the gun fly from his opponent's hand.
"Good show kid." The gunslinger said, comically hanging upside down but not seeming particularly bothered. He looked like Izuku, although an older Izuku that had spent the last ten years under the sun and rain, looking ragged in more than one way. Izuku would have guessed he was in his forties, but most likely wasn't more than thirty. "I admit I didn't expect you to pull out another ability after the air bullet." The man continued, a grin growing on his face "Guess we are more alike than I thought."
Izuku stared at him in confusion. "Why so friendly?"
"Because you knocked All for One over there." He said pointing at the gun "I'm not getting it back so long as you have me here hanging here like a fisherman's trophy."
Izuku nodded, without letting go Blackwhip. "I'll have to knock you out."
"Oh come on. Aren't you curious? You don't meet yourself every day." The man asked. Izuku eyed him suspiciously. "What's your name?"
"I'm Izuku Midoriya." He replied, almost reflexively.
"Isaac Green, a pleasure." The man replied, a wide grin on his face "Well Izuku, let me teach myself a little lesson I learned long ago."
Izuku looked at him, puzzled by the sudden words.
"Never assume someone only has one gun." Isaac's hand moved slightly and from his coat's sleeve fell a smaller gun that he immediately grabbed and fired. Izuku had a second to register the bullet, but the weird ringing saved him once more, allowing him to jump back as the bullet hit the point where he was a moment before and exploded in a small stream of fire. The ringing didn't cease.
'Wait. Fire. Gas…'
"I suggest you cover your ears and pray the walls hold." Isaac commented with an amused grin. The room exploded.
-x-
Isaac stood up, shaking his head to make the ringing in his ears go away. He was kind of used to it by now, but there was always an unpleasant feeling in making something explode in ear range. Not that he had much of a choice there. He quickly walked to the side of the room, retrieving All for One from under a pile of debris. He looked at the dusty gun and drew back his father's weapon.
His teacher had left him his weapon, but that didn't mean he was unarmed before. The kid either assumed wrongly or just guessed. 'Still, I got scared for a second there. If there wasn't enough of doc's gas, I was a goner. The shadow trick was good.' He turned around and studied the situation. Most of the room was filled with dust and debris, but the ceiling was holding. 'Good, it wasn't that big of an explosion but still enough to send him to the hospital. Let's…'
An explosion of green lightnings emerged from a pile of debris and Isaac had a split second to react. He fired All for One, ignoring which bullet he was shooting, before the kid's punch hit him. The bullet pierced through planting itself in his opponent's flesh, but the punch broke his arm, bending it to the side and making him almost drop the weapon.
'Shit which one did I just…' He checked the gun and gritted his teeth. Muscular. "Ok kid, deep breaths. This is gonna be painful but you can pull through."
Muscular's bullets were one of the injection kind he disliked. He only kept the few he had because they worked in a pinch and as a memento of his first victory in a shoot out after inheriting All for One. They would make someone's muscle grow. It was painful.
The kid's leg, where the bullet had hit, seemed to suddenly explode. His muscles were bulging under the skin and breaking all the bones in the process. He knew by experience that unless you were a complete nutcase like muscular the pain was enough to make you wish they amputated your leg whole.
As expected, the kid fell to the ground. It wasn't just the bones breaking, it was also the muscles themselves stretching and bulging. Cramps, muscle tears… It was too much. He sighed. "Look, I'll put you to sleep so the effect wears off." He pulled out the last of the doc's bullets and fired it.
The kid reacted like a spring, his head shooting up and a single punch hitting Isaac dead in the center of his thorax, dodging completely the bullet that went breaking somewhere else in the room. Isaac didn't see where, too busy wondering if his ribs had just cracked. He was certainly in pain enough.
"Damn that hurts…" He commented shakily, rising his hands in surrender. "You really were trying to take me alive uh? Otherwise you could have probably killed me there, just aiming for the head. Or even before, if you dropped me on the ground headfirst. Instead you just broke my arm and my ribs." He coughed twice. No blood, which was good. It meant he didn't have ruptured lungs. Really more of a testament at how much the kid was pulling back his own punches, if he had to guess. "You are not going anywhere with that leg though."
"I can certainly try." Izuku replied, shakily trying to get up.
"Ah!" The man laughed, before stopping to cough once more "You have guts, I give you that. Guess I see where we are alike. But no, until Muscular's bullet stops working, you aren't going anywhere."
"It's not the first time I break my leg."
"And it's not the first time I break my arms and ribs, but you don't see me starting a shoot out right now, do you?" He replied. Of course, he could have, if his orders were to kill the kid. But he was one of the two the Boss wanted alive. And in his conditions, he wasn't going to be able to capture him. For some reason, the Crest had decided that was enough to not force him into action further. 'Either that or the kid broke something important with that punch and I'm dying so it's not bothering. Hopefully not that one.'
He watched him try to stand up only for his overgrown leg to shake violently and force him down. Spasms were a common effect of Muscular's, so he wasn't surprised. He had been hit in the arm with that and almost had to amputate it, only saved by finding a medicine woman willing to heal it. That had left quite the scar, and the rest was history. 'William got a good laugh out of that, the bastard.' He thought. William the Mourner, his right hand man, had commented how the thing that made him famous was making a wrong move in his first shoot-out as All for One's heir. He couldn't help but laugh at the memory, though he regretted it immediately. Whoever said that laughter was the best medicine had never had a broken rib.
"Why are you laughing?" Izuku asked, tears in his eyes from the pain of trying to stand up.
"Just remembering something. I don't have much more I can do apparently. My crest isn't forcing me to kill you, but it's certainly stopping me from helping. Not that I could."
Izuku looked at him in surprise "You would help?"
"Kid, think about it. Do I look like I am enjoying myself? The… Lord made me a slave in all but name, is holding a child prisoner for his rituals, and is kind of a bitch to begin with. I'd rob him blind and plant a skull in his head every day."
Izuku stopped, slumping back to the ground "What do you mean 'a kid'?"
"Right, you probably wouldn't know. The kid is the key to Arkin's whole plan, how he managed to get the magic he used to summon us to work. I don't do magic of that kind, so I don't have any detail, but the kid has some sort of power that works in synergy with Arkin's to bring in people."
-x-
The Prowler groaned as the tip of the girl's weapon hit her chest and a small explosion sent her back. She was lucky for her resilient body and the fact her costume was built to endure both fire and impacts. 'Osborn was an absolute asshole, but at least he left behind some good gear.' She thought, making sure the summoner's carriage was safe as it started to leave.
The elf was pulling out another knife, this one more of a short sword, but her eyes were locked on the young girl. Those ashen blonde hair, the foul mouth when the fight got heated, the muscular build… 'Fuck me, of all the things I could run into…'
Mitsuki couldn't claim to have a deep knowledge of the Multiverse, since her only experience with it before had been a blonde guy in a Spider-Man suit and a man in his fifties that claimed to be the Green Goblin showing up and beating the shit out of each other for a few months, before going back home leaving behind some gear and a childhood friend of her son as her world's Spider-Man. After that whole debacle, she had convinced All for One to let her retire, though he could still call her once in a while for really difficult jobs. She had gone three years without anything major happening in the Prowler's side of her life, before a stupid portal had sucked her in during a heist and dropped her in this world with a new Boss. And just because the carousel of shit her life was could never truly end, she was guessing that the girl she was fighting was either herself, an alternative version of her son, or an alternative granddaughter.
She rolled out of the way of the weapon of the girl, a long baton that was shaped like a walking stick but, silly as it sounded, was actually pretty dangerous. Apparently her Quirk were controlled explosion she could move freely from her mouth to anywhere on her body, and that included on anything she touched, as well as shooting. Essentially, that baton was constantly exploding on impact, and she could also use it as a very rudimentary explosion gun.
'Bit of a complicated setup, but she has the right idea.' She thought, blocking another incoming strike with the back of her gauntlet and turning around in time to block a slice from Kikora. She glanced at the carriage leaving quickly, the lord – disguised as a simple servant through magic, of course – leaving her behind without a second thought. 'He doesn't care, the bastard. Well then, let's see how far I can go myself.'
"You do realize you have lost already?" She asked out loud, kicking the elf in the chest before jumping out of the way of another explosion. Thankfully, her son had given her a very good understanding of how a teenager with explosion powers fights. "Lord Arkin is running with the child, meaning he will summon more of us sooner or later." She grinned. Of course Arkin wouldn't care for that to be known to the enemies. He was too arrogant to consider the idea of his pawns betraying him with the Summoner Crest still on.
"The kid?" Kikora asked as she moved in with a large slice. She quickly jumped away to dodge the Prowler's kick in response, and Mitsuki used the chance to kick the ground and activating the boots tackled Itsumi. The girl actually didn't stop attacking, bringing down her weapon. The explosion scorched Mitsuki's side before the two impacted on the wall, and she rolled out of the way. Most of the costume was still intact – she had to admit begrudgingly because of Osborn's materials – but the cape was reduced to a small piece of cloth.
"Yes, the kid." She said, standing back up "Not that it matters, but the man has a kid he uses for his magic. So long as he has him, he will summon more people like us." She grinned as the information left her mouth. If she could just find a loophole to let one of them go, she might yet give Arkin a blow. At least, those people would know what they were dealing with and come more prepared next time.
"I see…" Kikora smiled "Itsumi, are you ok?" She asked. The Prowler didn't rush forward. Her employer had said to kill them quickly, but a quick death was a matter of perspective, wasn't it? She would just stall as much as possible.
"I'm fine." The girl replied standing back up.
"Think you can run after Arkin?" Kikora asked, and Mitsuki noticed she was still keeping an eye on her, both hands holding more blades, that she had probably picked from the ground.
"On foot?"
"Nope. Take the horses." She pointed to one of the animals, and then did something Mitsuki didn't expect. She neighed. The horse responded in kind, and she nodded. "The black one, quick."
"I think you should go." Itsumi replied, "I'm a worse rider most likely."
"Itsumi, do you understand that…"
"Yes. Go." She replied. Kikora looked at her, then rushed to the horse, probably deciding it was a bad idea to stay and argue. Mitsuki felt a tingle to her hand, the Summoner's Crest message that letting her go without attempting to stop her would be considered a betrayal, and in response rushed forward. As much as she disliked Lord Arkin, she had a family to go back to, so she wasn't about to let herself die out of hate.
Itsumi, as the girl was called, put herself in the way of coruse, her explosive weapon missing the Prowler's head by inches as she activated her additional Quirk. Her own gravity was inverted, her body falling upward and forward. It was an odd sensation, like she was suddenly on the roof of a building and falling down, but she was used to it. Rotating in mid-air, she landed on her two feet and started running on the roof, rushing for Kikora.
What she didn't expect was something suddenly pulling on her leg. She turned around and saw Itsumi holding her baton with both hands, pulling what she quickly realized was a rope ensnared around her leg, shot from the tip of the baton. 'Oh for the love of… Why does she have a grappling hook in her weapon?!' Mitsuki thought, 'falling' on what was the ground to her, watching the elf run away. "You know, this has nothing to do with your powerset!" She shouted.
"You think so? I think it fits perfectly." The girl replied, pulling once more "Now die!"
Mitsuki had one second to realize what she meant before connecting the dots. Her opponent's Quirk applied to anything she was touching. And since rope and weapon were connected, she saw the incoming explosive fluid make its way like some sort of snake up the rope, rushing towards her. "I'm not letting some exploding puke take me out, sorry." She replied, quickly cutting the rope and deactivating the Gravity Recalibrating Quirk, letting herself drop to the ground.
She hadn't expected the girl to react so fast. The explosive fluid seemed to shoot away from the rope that was falling limply to the ground and towards her. Mitsuki bent backward, but she was still in midair and the fuel of the boots was running too low to propel her so far from the ground. She had no way to dodge the incoming attack, that struck her to the face. She shouted in pain as she fell to the ground, coughing, and felt cold air on her face. 'Oh give me a break…' She murmured, as she watched the girl's feet rush towards her. She rolled out of the way of an explosive punch that utterly destroyed the ground near her fist, before she turned around and aimed her gauntlet at the girl, shooting another of her concussion projectiles. The orb hit her in the chest, making the girl bend over in pain, and she jumped up to quickly finish her, bringing down her claws.
The girl looked up, and Mitsuki saw in her a few of Bakugo's traits. She wondered what she saw in her now uncovered face.
"Mom?" The girl asked. Nothing more than a question that came to mind at how weird her situation was most likely, a question she would have never asked out loud if she wasn't in a daze and with adrenaline running through her body. Mitsuki shouldn't have been surprised.
She still was, the face that uttered those words still so similar to what she had imagined her daughter would look like, so similar to the son she had. And she hesitated for a moment.
The girl didn't miss it.
-x-
Kikora's horse was rushing on the pavement of the road, following the track of Lord Arkin's carriage. The hooves' rhythmic impact on it went ignored as she continued on the road, ignoring the shouts of merchants and passerby. She didn't care. Arkin had broken the law Kikora cared for the most, and now he was going to pay.
She didn't doubt a magic user could defend himself, but she was counting on the fact that he had run away and merely defended himself rather than stay and fight with Claw's help. It meant he wasn't sure he had the skills to beat her without getting hurt.
She saw the carriage finally, ahead of them, and leaned closer to the horse's hear. "I will jump on it and fight. You follow the cart and prepare to run away."
The black horse snorted back what Kikora interpreted as an affirmative nod and she couldn't help but be happy she had learned the spell to speak with animals. It was useful in the forest, but even more useful when dealing with animals used to follow the orders of other people. Those were always ready to work, especially when she promised a reward, and if they were work animals were never terribly loyal. An horse out of many was never going to stand out.
Kikora moved, standing on her feet while on horseback, as the animal moved closer to the carriage. She prepared and, once she was sure the distance was right, jumped. A few people shouted but she managed to grab the back of the elegant vehicle, feeling the wheels move under the added weight. She started to move to the side and glanced ahead, before quickly pulling back as a Magic Missile missed her and hit a nearby house, the wall cracking from the impact.
"Give it up Arkin, the guards will notice the commotion and capture you either way!" She shouted "If you give up now the king will be magnanimous. You have already committed inexcusable sins, but if you give up we can just lock you in a cell instead of a coffin!"
"You tell me about inexcusable sins? You just left your friend to die! Or do you think Claw is going to be kind?"
Kikora gritted her teeth. She knew what Itsumi staying behind implied. There was a real risk she would die fighting an opponent that even while holding back was still superior. "If you care so much recall her!" She shouted, as the carriage continued its mad ride, analyzing the situation. Going from the side to try and enter run the risk of a Magic Missile to the face. Between the impact with the magic attack and the following impact with the pavement, that could have been as lethal as an arrow in the chest. Going under was something she might have tried on other vehicles, but at this speed even a slight bump might have killed her, not to mention what would happen if she got a pebble in her eyes.
'Only one way then.' She decided, climbing up. Arkin was still spouting his taunts, probably trying to figure out where she was, as she climbed above the carriage. The top was open, without any strange spell, and she started to crawl on top of it, distributing her weight to avoid cracking what was probably some relatively delicate wood. She could feel it creaking, and she heard something more inside, thank to her hears. Someone was crying from inside, loudly sobbing.
Her eyes filled with venom as she moved forward. 'Where are the guards?' She wondered briefly, before she saw a familiar face emerge from the front of the cart. "Shit…"
"Hello Kikora." The man said calmly.
"How are you doing this?"
"Unseen Servants are good at driving carriages." He replied before pointing his hand at her, the other holding on the border of the vehicle to keep himself steady.
Kikora rolled to the side and took the dangerous leap just as the Magic Missile flew in her way. She extended her hand and prayed the carriage door had either a handle or an open window as she fell, grasping for something on the surface of the vehicle.
Her hand closed around the frame of a small window and she kicked with both legs, her feet finding purchase on the edge of the carriage. She quickly fumbled with the handle, trying to get the door to open, when Arkin's face emerged from the side.
In a desperate attempt, she bent back, using all her strength to pull the door. If she was too strong, the whole thing would come crashing down with her on the road, and she would probably get crushed. Thankfully, the hinges held, even if they creaked painfully. The Magic Missile impacted the point where her head was, taking with itself a piece of the frame of the window as it flew off, but the door wasn't blown to bits and Kikora didn't hesitate.
The elf rushed inside the vehicle, gasping to breath.
She looked around. Arkin had piled as many bags as possible in the carriage, so much that Kikora wasn't standing on the floor, but rather in a large chest. On the side, inside a cage barely large enough to let him sit, was a child that couldn't be older than ten, with black hair and dressed with rags.
"Alright kid, we are going now." Kikora said, pulling out her last knife and starting to pick the lock. From outside she heard Arkin shout and curse at her as the carriage seemed to pick up even more speed. 'The bastard really doesn't want me to take him, uh?'
She grinned as the lock gave way and held the kid. He was light, too light for his height, and she felt her blood boil. He reminded her of how she was when Izo and his companions had busted the slave ring that held her prisoner. She was older than him, but still weak, frightened, at the mercy of anyone. She had to keep herself from gripping on him, knowing it would hurt. "Ok kid, we are leaving." She said, holding him tight as she kicked the door open. "Can you hold on tight?" She asked, and the kid grimaced.
"Please, you have to watch out. That man is dangerous." He replied, and she watched a torrent of fire destroy the open door.
"Yeah, tell me about it." She replied, looking at his face. The black hair were dirty and she could see his golden eyes shadowed by fear. "Alright kid, new plan. We need to get you out of here. Ever been on a horse?"
"No."
"Ok. No problem. Hold onto me and don't let go, can you do that?"
The kid nodded, and she smiled. "Good, you are a brave one. What's your name?"
The kid sniffled "Kai." He replied "My name is Kai Chisaki."
"Uh.. Odd name. Where are you from?" She asked to try to calm him while she hopefully came up with a plan to get out.
"I'm from the Independent Republic of Nion." The kid replied, and Kikora froze for a second.
"Wh- Nion? Why did they took you this far away?!"
"They wanted my father and his powers."
"What powers?" She asked, her heart pounding as she pieced together what she knew of Nion. What she knew of that day she had retrieved a few book for Atura and met Isaac for the first time.
"My family Quirk is Overhaul, and we also passed down the most important Quirk, that saved my people long ago." The kid was crying now, holding her tighter and tighter. "I... I'm the bearer of the Shield of Humanity, One for All. That's why they captured us and killed my dad."
Kikora groaned. "... Well fuck."
(xx)
So, Raid Part Four, the conclusion of most fights, Kai Chisaki, and a LOT of stuff.
Apocrypha was actually a very interesting fight to write, because he is technically at a disadvantage but had one final trick up his sleeve. I finally got to canonize the concept of Mana being the source of his magic, this energy coming from inside the person and thus limited to one's potential. Suffice to say, Apocrypha has a lot.
Izuku vs Isaac was a more interesting file because neither side wanted to kill, and I finally introduced one trick that Izo suggested to Izuku. It was fun, and I doubt many people expected Isaac to pull out another gun. But after all, Hisashi spits fire, his alter ego having a gun of that kind wasn't out of the question, much less his son inheriting it.
Then we have Prowler fighting Itsumi and Kikora. Now, the Prowler is hard to balance, I have to say, but thankfully her personality helps a bit. Enough that I managed to write a good fight, I hope. Itsumi pulled out the weapon I was waiting for a long time to introduce. After all, if your range of fine control is limited at what you are touching, it's pretty obvious to increase the extent of that touch as much as possible. Before someone ask, no, it doesn't extend beyond the object she is touching immediately, the rope counted since it was one and the same with the stick.
Kikora's match up is a bit more unconventional, but it works. Technically Arkin isn't the best wizard but he definitely has the advantage while the carriage is moving if Kikora doesn't get in close range, which is pretty hard to do.
Oh, and I guess One for All is in some very special hands this time around.