'It will be difficult, but such is the way through the Path of Most Resistance.'
'It's annoying, that's what it is.' Izumi swung her wooden sword one last time to check its balance. The weapon was a special one, unlike the training sword she was also carrying if she needed to use Bad Bye. It was a gift from Itsuka, so Izumi had promised to never use Bad Bye while wielding it.
After all, there were better skills to use with it. Satisfied, she put it back on her right flank and at a signal walked out, onto the stage. The cheering of the crowd covered most of the Announcer speech, but she heard words such as 'the unifier of UA', and got the gist of it.
She smirked. 'Let's hope this is a good match.' She thought. As she stepped out, she found herself slipper a bit. Looking down, the ground was covered in a layer of snow. 'Oh, that's not good.' She realized grimly, even as the crowd continued to cheer. Snow meant a difficult time running. She used her training sword to see how deep it would go, and it stopped after about five centimeters. At least the layer was not that deep. Further around, however, were various taller mounds of snow, some taller than she was, and she wondered if they were covering something or if it was entirely snow down to the core.
She then stared ahead. Her opponent was completely clad in winter clothes, confidently standing on the ice. The name displayed on the screen was 'Geten'. The Ice Master. Yup, home terrain advantage.
She took a deep breath, and then the fight begun.
The opponent immediately slammed his hand on the ground, and the snow started to coalesce into ice, surrounding both of his arms. That left a patch of ground free of snow around him, but it also gave him two ice gauntlets. In response, Izumi pulled out her gun. It was a pistol that she only used with rubber bullets or BB pellets – of course the former, in this case.
"Twenty-Second President of the Yuuei Student Council, a user of I Fall Down, the ability to improve kinetic vision." She declared, knowing her opponent moving toward her was seeing her eyes shine a bright gold for a moment, before they just styed that color." She rushed forward, knowing she lacked abilities at long range. When she was close enough, she continued.
"Plus, Tenth President of the Yuuei Student Council, a user of Triple Rifle, the ability to shoot three times with a single bullet." She added. Really, Triple Rifle was the most useful Deal to save bullets. She shot, and the moment the bullet left the gun, it split into three. The weakness of Triple Rifle was that the other two bullets would always fly thirty degrees to the left and right of the original, meaning that aiming them at long range was impossible.
However, at mid to short range, and with her kinetic vision amplified by I Fall Down, Izumi's aim was vastly improved while in motion. Each of the three rubber bullets slammed against Geten's body, two hitting the ice and on getting blocked by his body. Yup, body armor underneath. The ice cracked though, proving it wasn't as solid as Geten wanted her to believe.
Geten's right ice fist came down like a hammer, but Izumi could see it coming almost in slow motion, I Fall Down coming in clutch and allowing her to dodge an otherwise impossible to avoid strike. The second incoming fist hit her, but she made sure it hit the flank where her two swords were still sheeted, and didn't miss the chance to fire another spur of three bullets while jumping, getting thrown back but hitting Geten's shoulder and arm. The first and second bullet made him flinch, though the third hit the ice. She saw it before impacting a snow mound, once again thanks to I Fall Down, and found out said mounds were empty.
She made to stand up but Geten gritted and raised his hand. The snow immediately melted, forming a bubble of water around her. Izumi had the presence to breath in, but now she was stuck underwater. 'So it's not just ice? Dammit.' She watched him charge closer, and thought quickly.
Then sighed. She really didn't like it when she just lucked out, it made the victory feel cheap.
"Blubl blblub blublblulb…" She shouted, having to give up her air due to Overzealous Databook.
'Plus, Eighth President of the Yuuei Student Council, user of Innocent Pistol, the ability to use a gun underwater.' She had shouted, adding mentally, 'I can't believe how often this of all things comes in handy.'
She aimed at Geten and shot. The bullets flew out. Normally, even if you were to shoot a gun underwater, the bullet would fly out but then fall a short time away. Innocent Pistol however prevented that, her three shots splitting into nine and flying out toward the unprepared Geten. The man managed to block most but one hit him straight in the face, and he lost his concentration for a moment. Like Izumi hoped, that made the water bubble collapse. She came out, panting onto the snow and shivering a bit, completely soaked. "That was uncool." She declared, standing back up and putting the gun away, pulling out the training sword instead. If of all her shots only three had hit, this wasn't the fight for her gun. She grimaced. That meant switching her Deals around and the first victim would be I Fall Down.
She charged forward, deciding to not use a new Deal for a bit. I Fall Down still worked, allowing her to dodge the incoming fist and answer with an upward trust at Geten's shoulder, the man flinching in pain at the impact of the wooden tip. She turned around, using the sword more like a club and trying to hit the opponent's face, but the man moved back and his right fist came in. The attack was impossible to dodge, and Izumi took a quick decision.
"Plus, Fourteenth President of the Yuuei Student Council, user of Bad Bye, the ability to transfer damage to the blade of one's sword." She shouted quickly, and the fist impacted against her, the wooden sword snapping in half like a twig. Normally, Izumi could have used that moment of surprise to it, but activating Bad Bye meant I Fall Down was gone, her kinetic vision returning to normal. The sudden switch left Izumi dizzy for long enough that Geten took the chance to fall back and change weapons. He put his hand on the snow and the ice coalesced into his gauntlets, making them turn into two large swords of ice. The remaining ice vanished under his clothes, and Izumi wondered what he was doing with it.
Then Geten attacked again, one sword in each hand. Two swords style was rare to face, but not unheard of. It was a legitimate fighting style dating back to Musashi Miyamoto, but what gave Izumi her experience was the fact she fought mostly delinquents, the kind of people that were exactly simple enough to decide that two swords meant double damage.
She pulled out her wooden sword and grimaced, realizing that using Bad Bye to protect herself meant that now any damage she received would transfer to this one.
She grimaced. She needed a better lie.
"Plus, Twenty-third President of the Yuuei Student Council, User of Lie Up, the ability to lie about everything." She muttered, before crossing blade with her opponent, while feeling Triple Rifle vanish. She stopped one blade, while the other impacted with her side, the impact itself however moving to her sword. Thankfully, the ice wasn't strong enough to snap the wood, but she still saw the weapon get chipped.
And then she felt the cold, and stepped back. Ice was growing on the side where the sword had hit. For a moment she wondered how, then realized. She was still soaked by the water, and also by her sweat. And Geten was freezing that.
She grimaced.
"Plus, Sixteenth President of the Student Council, user of Oboe, the ability to intimidate anyone." She said, while covering up her mouth. Her eyes flared bright red and she charged forward, noticing her opponent now take a step back. Oboe was a weak Deal that would quickly stop working on a specific enemy. How long it lasted depended on how much stronger her opponent was, and Geten? He was definitely stronger than her.
So she just needed to not be her. She needed to become the scariest swordsman Geten could face.
"Plus, Twenty-Sixth President of the Student Council, user of Masked Sample, the ability to become someone else." She said.
She was surrounded by a shadow for a moment.
And then she turned into Revenant, her body shifting as she transformed in the pale teen, her clothes reshaping into Revenant's body armor, her sword taking the form of Blight Killer. She knew the gun was changing too, transforming into a copy of Samurai Edge. As she spoke, she used the voice of Revenant, her eyes still shining red marking the only difference between the two. "Now we can fight." She said.
After defeating the God of Thunder, Revenant had certainly gained enough intimidation to scare almost anyone. She doubted it would work on some of the more bloodthirsty fighters, like the Battlemaster, but against Geten, who had clearly been affected even when she was using Oboe as herself?
The prospect of fighting Revenant must have been scary, and Oboe was amplifying that, making it terrifying, enough to hide the truth: that she was lying.
Lie Up was the ability to lie about anything, and it would overwrite Overzealous Databook. In this case, she had lied through her teeth, turning the actual description of Masked Sample, the ability to take someone's appearance, and described it as becoming someone fully.
It was a bluff. She didn't have Revenant's speed, strength, stamina. Even her sword only looked like Blight-Killer, but was still made of wood.
She needed to step it up further.
"Plus," She grinned, using Oboe to its full, "Fifteenth President of the Yuuei Student Council, User of Brocken Phenomenon, the ability to turn into an angel."
Lie Up vanished, but it only did so after she had spoken. After she had lied.
Brocken Phenomenon was the ability to appear like an angel to one person. By itself, this ability was almost worthless, especially when she had to announce it was only the appearance to that one person that changed.
It wasn't when you were already the most terrifying swordsman she knew. It wasn't when the person you were fighting was already terrified due to Oboe.
It wasn't when that same person saw Revenant turn into a two meters tall angel with six wings, the heads of a bull and a lion sprouting from the side of his human face, that turned into pure porcelain, only shining red eyes remaining, wielding a flaming Blight-Killer, because 'Angel' didn't just mean a normal person with wings and a halo but any form of angel she could think of.
It would have been just scary normally, but amplified by Oboe it was enough to leave someone completely unable to react.
The flaming sword swung down, and Geten didn't even have the presence of mind to try and block. To him, a flaming sword was coming down like a falling comet, and he had no way to block it.
In reality, a wooden sword with a metal core, only disguised as Blight-Killer, slammed in his face, crashing his nose, breaking his cheekbones, shattering his front teeth, brought down with all the strength Izumi could muster. Geten slammed into the ground, and before he could register that he was still alive, Izumi was on him.
She was a delinquent, which meant she had no problem kicking a downed opponent. Or in her case, keep hitting him until he went fully unconscious. She panted, looking at the bloody mess on the ground, and then heard the call of the referee.
"We have a winner!"
Izumi grinned, raising the bloody wooden sword up as the crowd cheered.
'Is that enough?' She asked.
'You passed the round without using Tutoria and Different Talent.' One for All said, 'You have taken another step on the Path of Most Resistance.'
Her grin grew larger.
-x-
Mariah wasn't thrilled to be woken up late at night, mostly because it could mean they were under attack. Instead, as it turned out, the reason was that Ironblood was back. Since that wasn't followed with a request for help, she had to assume she was still on the League's side.
As she entered the elevator to go down to the lower floors, she found herself wondering what could be going on. Just to be safe, she used on herself a charm protection spell. All for One already protected her from that kind of power, but better safe than sorry.
She walked into the meeting room, finding Jiro also there. The space traveler waved at her, inviting her to sit down next to her. Besides them, the other people present in the room where Shoto, Power Suit, Bakugo, Zuzu-9-Delta and of course Ironblood. The Itsuka was drinking a tea calmly, eyes closed and a relaxes expression on her face.
"What is it?" Mariah asked.
"The Ironblood is back." Power Suit explained, and she has news. Itsuka – Kendrick, that is – has infiltrated the True League for All."
"We really need to find them a better name." Jiro commented.
"We could call her the False League for All, if you prefer." Bakugo said in deep sarcasm, "I'm sure that will make a difference."
"However you call them, the point remains the same." Ironblood replied, "Our dear Kendrick decided to infiltrate them."
"But why?"
Power Suit answered first, "Because she knew it was our only choice. We need to know how many enemies we are dealing with. Ten, twenty, a hundred? Who are they, what can they do? We were discussing the same thing just when Ironblood came back."
"And as I told them, there was no need to try and find someone else. Dear Kendrick already took care of it." She took another sip of tea and closed an eye for a moment, "By the way, you should write down that they have a version of Setsuna Tokage, she just greeted Kendrick for joining the right side. Considering she introduced herself as the Lizard Witch, I think we can safely assume there will also be an Itsuka Kendo and a Pony Tsunotori, but I'd consider it a 'maybe' still." She said, and Shoto quickly noted it down.
"Why do they believe her so easily?" Jiro asked, "I know Kendrick has reasons to dislike All for One, but…"
"It's because I charmed her into hating you, of course." Ironblood smiled, "That's what Kendrick requested."
Mariah and Jiro both stared at her in shock, before jumping up on their feet.
"You did what?!"
Ironblood took a sip of tea, and then started to talk.
-x-
Ironblood was having a simple tea, that day. Fixed with just a little amount of blood, the beverage was of her taste, even if certainly not the highest quality. To think she had been dragged away from her home, and now was to be hidden even further.
She looked around. The room was a somber location, decorated with only the barest essentials. She had been allowed one of her coffins, filled with earth imported from her native town – or the version of her native town in this unfamiliar world – so she could rest in it, replacing her bed. Aside from that, Itsuka Quanteng was finding the League as uncouth as usual.
A knocking at the door made her sigh. She was still dressed, thankfully, so she just put down her tea, or what was left of it, and walked to the door. There stood Itsuka Kendrick, another version of herself.
Her skin was less smooth and had a darker color – understandable, given she wasn't undead – and her eyes weren't red, but a beautiful teal color. She appeared somewhat younger, but what was younger for an immortal? Ironblood had no problem in saying she was still more beautiful.
"What is it, dear?" Ironblood asked, "Did I make a mistake in my charming power? If you have residual feelings, I can make sure to remove them." She smiled coyly, "Unless you don't want me to. I wouldn't be opposed…"
"It's not that." Kendrick replied, unfazed. "Your charming effect is gone, but I need to ask you something. May I come in?"
"Certainly." Ironblood replied, allowing the woman inside the room. She offered her chair and sat on the coffin. If Kendrick was shocked or even surprised by it, she knew better than to comment on it. "What can I do for you?"
"I was wondering. You mentioned that your charming effect heightens emotions, correct?"
"Indeed. Love, hate, jealousy, anger…"
"I read about vampires. Am I correct in supposing you are a gothic Vampire?"
"I'm afraid the distinction is pointless to me, but my universe was named Gothicverse by Isaac, so I suppose that."
"It's true that you can see through the eyes of someone you charmed?"
"I would also have to take some of your blood." She clarified immediately, "To bond the subject to me. Why? Are you thinking of something?"
"I want you to make me hate the League, hate All for One even more, and love you more than both." Kendrick replied, and for once, Ironblood was speechless.
After a few moments, she finally regained control, "Mh. And why is that?"
"I want to infiltrate the True League for All, but if I do it as I am, I might be found out. I hate All for One, but not enough to betray the League and try to genocide a whole Multiverse."
"I see. With my power I can make you hate the League enough to genuinely 'betray' it, and hate All for One enough you might see the True League for All as a valid ally." She considered it, "I suppose the 'love me' part is to ensure you will have someone you are loyal to. If you love me more than you hate All for One or the League, I will come first in your list of priorities."
"That's… That's correct." Kendrick sighed, "I wish there was a better way, but I just can't think of one."
"Not infiltrating them would be one." Ironblood replied, "We don't need you to do it."
"I'm not stupid, Iron… Itsuka." She replied, and the use of her first name was another surprise to Ironblood, "I know we need information. We are on the backfoot. And they aren't going to let just anyone infiltrate them. If everyone is so zealous within their group, I need to be able to pass their tests."
Ironblood looked in the eyes of the woman. God, she was what, twenty-five? How was she so dedicated that she would let a Vampire take her blood and charm her? "Very well."
"You agree?"
"On two conditions. First, I will not make you hate all the League. I will limit it to the founders. It's more believable that way, since you can just blame them for not trying to find your home, or something similar."
Kendrick nodded, "And the second?"
"Tell me about you. I want to know what drives you to such lengths."
Kendrick slowly nodded, "Is that all?"
"I'm sure it's a lot. Speak then."
-x-
"And that is what happened." Ironblood concluded, "You should all thank her. Frankly, Itsuka is a brave woman."
No one spoke for a few moments, before Jiro groaned. "She is. She is. She is also a fool for putting herself in that much danger, but I can't refute her point, which is what makes this so aggravating. How did you hide the bite?"
"The bite?" Shoto asked.
"A vampire's bite mark doesn't vanish." Ironblood explained, "The sign of my fangs will stay on Kendrick until the day I die. That's why I left. I entered Reiko Yanagi's shadow, after biting her, and then attacked the people on the other side, Kendrick included. Of course, she knew to fight back, but it didn't change the fact that now she is just one of many with a bite mark." She grimaced, "I hoped to take out a few, but alas, they were strong enough to hold me back. That robot of theirs in particular is a nuisance, so I turned into mist and escaped. After that, I just made it back here."
Everyone considered the situation, then Mariah spoke, taking a deep breath to calm herself now. She might have disagreed with Kendrick's decision, but she wasn't in the position to drag her back, much as she wanted to. "Keep us informed on what she finds and hears."
"Of course. By the way, I also should advice you of something. The contact goes both way. If she wants to, Itsuka can see what I'm seeing. Don't plan anything with me around. We took a gamble, but if by any chance her hatred for you grows more powerful than her love for me, she might sell something to the other League." She paused a moment, closing her right eye, "Ah, there is Tsunotori. Indeed, write that down too, Shoto."
Shoto obeyed, and grimaced, "We will need more people, but we can talk about that later…"
"After I've left." Ironblood stood back up, "I believe you have one of those… 'phon' things I hear about. Provide me one and I will keep you informed about any discovery I make." And with that, she stepped into the shadow and vanished.
Bakugo spoke, for the first time in a while, "Can we trust her?"
"I think so." Mariah replied, "Ironblood is powerful, but she knows the League is her best bet in this conflict. Hopefully. That said, we don't have a better option."
"Glad to hear that." Bakugo responded, "Well, I'm off to the labs."
"What are you going to do?"
"Build some stuff. I want more than just some C4 next time we face those bastards." He pointed at a piece of paper, where the one picture of the robot were, "Also, definitely gonna try to build some EMPs. If they have more robots, I want to knock them out."
"I'm coming with you." Power Suit added, "I can try to make some Anti-Quirk bombs. Hard to say if they will work, since sometimes they do and sometimes don't in the Multiverse, but we can try at least."
"You have Anti-Quirk bombs? How?"
"Artificial reproduction of the specific frequency Eraserhead's eyes use to block someone's Quirk." Power Suit flatly replied.
"… Well, I'm interested." Bakugo replied, "Show me."
Mariah watched them leave, and looked at Shoto, "What will you do?"
"Sleep, for now." Shoto yawned, and he did seem tired. "After that… Probably come back here and see what Ironblood will have for us come the morning. We probably will take a couple days before we can even start drafting a plan, and in the meanwhile more people will die."
"I'm sorry for burdening you with this."
"… Yeah, I'm sorry too." Shoto replied, and when she looked at him, puzzled, he slipped a notebook toward her, the same one she had passed to him, "I asked Zuzu-9-Delta about this one, since the name sounded familiar. I'm sorry if I got information you might have wanted kept for yourself."
"No, no. It's…" She looked at the name, "It's fine."
"You know she is probably the one that killed Takeyama, right?"
"I do." Mariah shivered, "I do."
A name she thought was buried forever, someone that should've been unable to return.
Yu Bakugo, wielder of One for All. Her childhood friend, and her worst enemy.
She was with the True League for All.
-x-
My name is Izuku Midoriya, but I'm better known as Pied Piper.
Becoming a Vigilante… It was kind of an accident. A store gets robbed, and no one is there to help. Was I supposed to let it go? And then, I saw other people that needed my help. I saw other people that deserved it.
I did my best. I saved many. I couldn't save a little girl. I almost died. I was chased by Heroes.
I made a friend, for the first time in years.
I'm Izuku Midoriya, a Quirkless Vigilante.
I'm Pied Piper, and maybe, one day, I will be something more.
Maybe, one day, I will be able to save a suffering child.
Piper looked around the room as he walked in. He wasn't sneaking in, right? Arkin – Lord Arkin, he was to call him – had ordered him to follow the orders of Izmird- the Wizard. If the elf had ordered Piper to go check on Kai to make sure he was healthy and recuperating, the fact Izuku had to break into the room he was kept caged in wasn't a betrayal, right? Lord Arkin was asleep, as he usually was during the day to recuperate from his night studies, and no matter what, Ripper, the samurai, refused to let Piper pass. In that condition, and with his intentions purely to give food and water to the child…
Well, hopefully this didn't count. Otherwise, from what he had been told, the mark on his hand, a pipe for whatever reason, would have probably stopped him using pain. Also, he had made sure the door could be locked again, so no harm done.
Piper took a deep breath. This was stupid. He was trying to distract himself from the elephant in the room.
There was a child caged in front of him, trembling and in pain.
Pied Piper, the Vigilante, would have grabbed him and ran, even if it was dangerous. The image of a girl with grey hair, red eyes, and a horn flashed in front of his face. Crystals flashed right after. A phantom pain followed as he touched his chest.
Piper, the slave of a man that for some reason looked like Rikiya Yotsubashi, Detnerat's owner he had seen on a few papers, couldn't do it. Gun had told him before that someone he called 'Lizard', but that called himself Spinner, had tried to do just that. The mark had killed him through pain within twenty meters.
He wondered if Gun had considered doing the same. Frankly, Piper was still considering it. The only thing that stopped him was the though of his mother and Reo. He knew… He knew he already put himself in danger, but that was in his world. That was in a place where, at the very least, he wouldn't just be… gone. Something would come out eventually, clothes or body parts or- He stopped his mind and focused on the child, black hair dirty and golden eyes filled with fear.
To think that was what Overhaul looked like as a child. A dark speck in Piper's mind wondered if he was supposed to find this a good balance to what he was probably doing to Eri. The rest of Pied Piper mind knew that was stupid. This was Kai Chisaki, a child that had done nothing and was suffering for it. A child suffering for something they could do nothing about.
He prepared to give him food and water, but the child refused to step forward. "Hey." Piper said. He was dressed in his Vigilante costume, because Arkin wanted them ready to fight at all times, meaning that he was wearing his metal face mask and even the single red contact lens. He was keeping it clean, but it still stung a bit. He would have to ask Izmird- the Elf if he could give him permission to take it off. "Uhm, don't be scared." He realized immediately that wouldn't work, "I-I really don't like what they are doing to you, but I-I don't know how…"
The kid muttered something, and Piper shifted uncomfortably. "What?"
"Go away." The child replied, a bit louder.
Piper felt his heart clench. To think a child could sound so afraid, or look at him with such anger… "I'm… I just want to help. Kai…"
"Go away." The child repeated, "I'm not talking to you. Or to Gun. Or to all the others. Deku and Itsumi will come save me. Kikora too. They will come save me and then will beat you all up, like last time. No, better than last time."
'Deku?' Piper wondered. Was there an Izuku that called himself that? Gun was named Isaac Green, and the other two that had arrived that day and the day before, after Piper, went by Izuku, or by Paladin and Superior given the names of the respective worlds. 'Probably doesn't mean the same thing for them.' He decided. For him, 'Deku' meant only bad memories.
"I'm sure they will." He replied. He hoped so, frankly. He would have to fight, but if they were really Heroes, they would defeat him. He left the food and water close enough the child could take them from his jail, and with a heavy heart closed the door behind.
"What were you doing?"
He turned around to see Gun, leaning against the wall. The other Izuku – or Isaac, he was called – looked at him with piercing green eyes, the scar on his forehead a bit more visible than it usually was when the man kept his hair down. He was toying with his gun, making the cylinder roll and then snapping it back into place, before snapping it back out and making it roll once more.
"I'm… I was just checking on K- the Asset." He replied, cursing internally for having to use the word Asset for a person.
"Mh… the wizard's orders?"
"Y-Yes. He wants to make sure the A- the child is healthy."
"I see." Isaac kept rolling the cylinder, then it snapped in place one final times and the gun went back to its holster. "Don't get caught into the wizard's schemes, kid. If you misstep, he will be more than happy to leave you to rot."
"Schemes? But… we can't really do anything, right? Lord Arkin's spell…"
Gun seemed about to say something, then bit his tongue. "I have my ideas about this spell, but I can't really share them. Do your thing, Piper." And with that, he stood up on his own legs, "Do you have to do anything else for the wizard?"
"He said to go back to him once I was done here."
"Immediately?"
"He didn't say."
"Then take a stroll with me. I'm going down at the garden to see how the others are doing." He replied, and started to walk. Piper considered the offer, but ultimately he realized Gun was right. No one had told him he was supposed to go back immediately, and it wasn't like he could run away either.
They followed the stairs down the spire. The tower was about two hundred meters tall, dwarfing the tallest medieval towers of the real world. They were also made of marble, white and gray seemingly a single piece sculpted in a shape that vaguely resembled a tree. Whoever had built those had wanted them to last. Each of the tower's many floors was about fifty meters large in radius, some a corridor with closed rooms on both sides, others large rooms that had served once as common spaces. Frankly, Piper felt this was excessive. Going up and down the spire's forty-something floors would have exhausted anyone. The builders must have had some reason to build them like this, but he couldn't think of one.
Going down at least was easy. Since he had been on the thirty-first floor, it didn't take that long, following Gun in silence, for them to reach the twenty-first floor. From there, one of the common floors, they could step out on a balcony and enter a sort of magic elevator. An iron chain that was spotless despite the time it had to have spent in the elements lowered them down. The 'elevator' didn't stop midway, only allowing someone using it to reach the top or the bottom, and couldn't be called down from below if it was raised up. At least that much Piper could understand. That way, if the enemy reached the tower, they couldn't just use it to climb up, unless someone purposefully lowered it for them from the inside. Even then, the iron cabin could only host four or five people, not nearly enough for something like an army of invaders. Not to mention they would be sitting once the contraption reached the top of its ride.
"You are in way over your head." Gun suddenly said.
"I can fight." He replied, not sure what else to say. He knew what Gun really meant – he was not prepared to be in a position like the one he was facing.
"It's true, but not at the level you are going to face here. You won't last. Maybe that's better though. Less time for Lord Arkin to force you to do something you don't want to do."
Izuku nodded, "I'm sorry for the Beast."
"Sagawa got punished and she isn't dead. Lord Arkin even gave us potions for it. I suppose it's the best we could hope for." Gun grimaced, "To think someone would try to eat another human in front of everyone…"
Piper paled. Two days before, the day after he had first arrived, the Beast, a woman called Himokomori Tora with bat wings and arms and tiger ears and tail, and Sagawa, a man able to transform in a sort of werewolf, had crossed path. Sagawa had immediately tried to eat her, only stopped by Gun and Apocrypha's constructs after he had already worked his way through the left wing bite by bite. After that, Arkin had imposed on Sagawa a rule for him to never try such a stunt again, and used magic to regrow the lost wing, but it hadn't stopped Piper from seeing a woman almost getting eaten alive. He had tried to help, but Izmird had stopped him, guessing that a teen would be cut to pieces by the man, even if unintentionally.
Izuku really hoped to never see that again, and had puked profusely at the sight. Even now, he still felt sick at the thought. "It's sickening." He replied, as the elevator finally touched the ground. They walked out, staring at the garden. It was eerily well kept, not a leaf out of place.
Except for the ground in the center, where a tall man with green hair and a broad sword was sparring with a woman armed with large metallic gauntlets complete with claws. Prowler – or Claw, as Mitsuki Bakugo was called – dodged left and right, avoiding the man's slashes.
For his part, Paladin, another Izuku Midoriya, dodged, weaved and blocked each attack the Prowler brought forward, only slightly fazed by the blows. They kept at it for a while, before he finally stopped and turned toward Isaac and Izuku. "Midoriya, Green." He said, before wincing, his arm twitching in a telling way, "Sorry, Gun and Piper, that was it."
"Paladin." Gun replied, "You training?"
"I need to do something to get my situation off my mind. You have been here for weeks, but I arrived yesterday."
"And Piper two days ago." Gun countered.
"Piper has something to take care of, since Izmird," he winced again, "The wizard uses him as an assistant. I don't. Just because Lord Arkin gave me the job of 'guarding the city', doesn't mean I actually have anything to do, since the Demons already patrol according to his orders. It's like Superior and Prowler's charge to guard the garden or Apocrypha and Mustard's charge to make sure the forest is safe. No one could make it there without the Demons noticing first." He sighed, "That, and since he let Sagawa" another grimace, another twitch of the arm, "Since he let Mutt loose through the city I'm not entirely sure of what to do. The man isn't exactly the most… talkative of people."
"Unless you want to talk about cuts of meat." The Prowler replied, looking around, "Have you seen Superior?"
"He was climbing the tower, last I saw him." Gun replied, before Paladin could, "While talking to himself."
"Freaky." The Prowler shook her head, "I hope he is ok. He is similar to mine, but he also feels… different."
Piper nodded. Superior, the newest arrival, had been a surprise for sure, but he had almost cried seeing himself as a Hero, weird as it might have been. "I hope he will take it well."
"About as good as we all can take it." Paladin replied, frowning, "We will have all the time in the world to deal with this, either way."
Piper nodded, looking out, toward the city below and the plains and forests beyond. He was stuck in a strange world, with strange people, some of which were version of himself. He took orders from some, was slowly starting to consider 'friends' others, was scared of the majority…
And had no idea of what to do.
He just hoped Izmird had a plan. The wizard, at least, didn't seem bothered by the situation. Almost like he wished for it. Or like he knew something he coveted was coming.
-x-
The rest of the Tournament went by remarkably fast, Deku decided. Izumi had come back, exhausted but victorious, and the trio had celebrated her victory, for long enough they had actually missed the following match. Not that it took long, considering Arsenal, the Kaina Tsutsumi Izuku had met a few days before, had defeated Emperor Yotsuura, her opponent, in a single shot, a single bullet straight through the leg that left him unable to use his power, that was based on kicks. The man had to give up.
The first upset in Zuzu's predictions of which opponents were to watch out for was when Chojuro Kon, the Chimera they had been training with, Zombie's friend, took out Rokuro Nomura. The man was a speedster, but apparently Chojuro was on another level.
Which made sense, considering he had One for All, and was good at using it. Izuku couldn't judge if he was at the level of All Might, but at the very least he was strong enough to win against an opponent Zuzu had marked as dangerous.
Koichi, the man Izuku had defeated the round before, took out a version of Kendo without many problems, and the Bakugo and Uraraka of the Arenaverse offered a match that reminded Deku of the Sports Festival, though of course at a higher level. The winner, once again, was Kacchan.
The Battlemaster's fight was against Hikage Shinomori. Deku felt incredibly guilty that he couldn't tell the man about it beforehand, but Shinomori had done his best, Danger Sense letting him dodge more than a blow. However, ultimately, he had given up. When an outraged Battlemaster had asked why, his response had been, as caught by Revenant when he read his lips, 'You are just too strong for me to defeat'. Deku wondered what the man thought, but the Battlemaster for his part had just huffed and walked off stage.
Finally, the fire giant they had seen during the Qualifiers, Yu Takeyama, had stepped on the field against a version of Gang Orca, surrounded by fire. To his credit, Gang Orca had tried his best, but Izuku knew his greatest weakness was dehydration. The moment a fight so one sided was organized, the man had lost. And so, the tournament closed for the day with the fire giant's victory.
And, as they turned off the television and left the changing room, Izuku felt his nerves creep on him. Because the next day, it would be his turn to fight.
(XX)
So, guests:
Revenant from Locked in Digital by Rogue Druid
Power Suit from Rejected Stones by FullParagon
Pied Piper from Pied Piper by blackholeca
Sagawa from Sheep go to Heaven by Dramatic_Spoon
The Prowler based on Amazing Fantasy by The Infamous Man
I love writing Izumi's fights. I've had the list of her powers ready since the moment she was introduced and revealing them step by step along the way is pretty fun. Sometimes they are pretty useless like Can't be Cat Ear, and sometimes they are incredibly situational like Innocent Pistol, but nonetheless it's entertaining to bring them to the field.
And of course, she still has two aces up her sleeve.
Meanwhile, I finally got into the Kendrick-Ironblood plan, which seems to be working, but also has its downsides, as I'm sure some of you have picked up on. We will see if this bet will work.
Finally, our first look into Piper's situation, and the reveal of a few new guests to the Spire. Paladin we have met already, but Superior... well, we will have to see. I'm sure someone has an idea. Piper himself is trying to confront the fact that right now he is in way over his head and has no real means to help a child. Again.
Hopefully, that changes eventually.