The heroes stood paralyzed, shock and uncertainty weighing them down as they watched helplessly. The slime villain already had one hostage, and clearly was either not interested in a second or too stupid to realize the advantage. Then again, maybe he wasn't able to take a second hostage, his body occupied containing his first prisoner. Whatever the case, the result was the same, the heroes were useless. None of them had quirks that could match the monster before them. His body was amorphous, so physical attacks were useless. None of them had an energy attack capable of striking him without injuring either his hostage or the boy trying futily to rescue him. They had nothing, there was nothing they could do, but watch. . .
Izuku Midoriya had no idea what he was doing. His legs. . . despite Allmight's words from before telling him his dream was impossible, despite feeling absolute terror for the villain in front of him, and despite his complete lack of a real plan, his legs had moved on their own. In his head he recalled his brother warning him about thinking too much with his heart and not enough with his head sometimes. But then Jigoku would laugh, and tell him that was sometimes what being a hero was about. "Don't act without thinking bro, but never let your thoughts stop you from acting either. Sometimes you have to just go for it. Because even if you die, better to die trying, than to live in fear." Izuku knew what he was doing was likely pointless. He had no power, no plan, no hope. . . but he couldn't just walk away. No matter who, no matter what, no matter why, Izuku Midoriya would never turn away from someone who needed help.
"I'M DONE PLAYING WITH YOU!" The villain roared, raising a tendril of his body the thickness of a tree trunk and with the consistency of a bar of steel. One of the heroes screamed out to save the boy, as they all rushed forward, but it was far too late. Then. . . the heroes halted, and the villain screamed out in agony. . . as a blur of black and red slammed down into him from overhead.
A shock wave of pure force sent the heroes flying, as the pavement near the villain shattered like glass. Windows for a hundred yards in every direction exploded, as a fountain of rubble shot high into the air. A cloud of dust and ash obscured the villain and the boys, a wave of heat and a smell of sulfur enveloping the crowd of onlookers. . . as a terrifying, high pitched chuckle, was heard.
The crowd gasped, as the heroes picked themselves up, and stared, as the cloud of dust parted. There were both of the young boys, suspended above the ground by what looked for all the world like an aura of black fire. The villain was spattered across the broken pavement, giving a bubbling groan as he slowly tried to reconstitute himself. And between the two hovering teens, was a creature pulled from a child's nightmare. . .
It looked, superficially, human. Long spindly limbs, far too long for any true human, were attached to an emaciated torso. Eyes like glowing slits of red, peered out at the crowd above a nose like that of a rotting skull. While an overwide mouth, filled with shark-like fangs, gave a psychotic grin. The creature was dressed in a skintight tunic and tights made of what looked like silk, the tunic with an alternating pattern of red and black diamonds, and the tights coal black. His outfit's oversize collar was shaped like a star of crimson, each point ending in a small bell of dull golden metal streaked with black. While atop his head, was a red and black tri-horned jester's cap, that appeared to merge with the creature's skull, each of the drooping horns ending in a bell of tarnished brass. Its elongated bony fingers were covered in gloves of black velvet, while its feet were shod in curly toed slippers of ebon leather.
The creature was hunched over, its arms swinging to and fro as it gently shifted its weight from one leg to the other, the bells on its outfit jingling faintly with every movement. Its face was all grins, even as it exuded an aura of indescribable menace. The skin of its face was pale as chalk, and its pointed ears swiveled slightly as it leered at the crowd.
"You reach for the skies, you grasp at the throne, but when the devil comes calling. . ." Here it gave a blood curdling cackle, as it shouted the last line of its rhyme. "AIN'T NOBODY GOING HOME!" Here it gave a screeching laugh that sounded high enough to shatter glass, as it levitated the two boys toward the stunned and slack jawed heroes. "Here, why don't you stage hands do something useful for our headliner and his friend. While I steal the spotlight from this washed up has-been." Here the entity jerked its bony thumb over its shoulder toward the sludge villain, who had almost finished reforming.
"Who. . . what are you?!" One of the heroes managed to ask, as Izuku and Bakugo were levitated toward a nearby ambulance by the flames. The entity's smirk widened even further, as it vanished in a puff of smoke, before reappearing in a similar fashion in front of the pro who had spoken. Raising a hand, it flicked it toward them, a large rectangular card appearing between its fingers.
"My card. . ." The creature declared, its voice becoming an unsettling gravelly whisper, as it displayed the card's image. The weathered square of paper showed an image of a skeleton dressed as a royal jester, dancing a jig, and directly below that were the words: 'The Fool', in fancy cursive script. Oddly however, the card was upside down. The hero, too shocked to do anything else, simply took the card. Instantly, the evil looking jester vanished once again in a puff of oily black smoke, before reappearing a short distance away, facing the now recovered villain.
"The Hell?! Who the fuck are you supposed to be?!" The slime monster demanded, his tone uncertain. The strange jester just giggled.
"Ah of course, how rude of me! My name is Black Harlequin!" Here the jester gave a theatrical bow, before tilting his head up to stare at the sludge villain. "And I'll be your executioner this evening." He hissed. The villain simply stared, he should have found such an absurd declaration hilarious, but for some reason, he wasn't laughing. Despite being a fraction of his size, this cadaverous looking clown made his protoplasm crawl.
"You're. . . a hero?" He asked uncertainly. The clown's glowing eyes narrowed, though the smile never left his face as he straightened up.
"Depends on the crowd." He declared. "Most nights I make 'em laugh, but on a good day? . . ." Here the self proclaimed Black Harlequin raised a partly closed hand up in front of him. "I can really knock 'em dead!" Here, the unsettling clown snapped his fingers. "Dark Jest!"
The slime villain screamed in absolute agony, as his body exploded in a blast of black and red flames. Black Harlequin let out a sinister giggle, as the sludge-like form of his opponent pulled himself back together again in a roiling whirlwind of green slime.
"BASTARD!" The villain screamed, as he lashed out with a tentacle, only for the attack to go right through his target, as the image of Black Harlequin dissolved into smoke.
"So sorry, I'm afraid the response we were looking for was: tapioca pudding!" Came Harlequin's voice from behind the villain. "It looks like you will not be getting the all expenses paid vacation! But we do have some lovely consolation prizes for you!" The villain whirled around just in time to see Dark Harlequin raise his open hand again, three orbs of obsidian flame floating over it. "Dark Jest!" He screeched, as all three orbs shot deep into the villain's body. For an instant, the villain froze, giving his attacker a look of fear, as Dark Harlequin touched his thumb and middle finger together. "Hat Trick." He whispered, his voice a vindictive hiss, as he snapped his fingers. . .
The trio of orbs detonated within the villain's body, his slime-like form evaporating amid three blasts of red and black fire, so hot they actually melted the pavement beneath him into slag.
Throwing back his head, Black Harlequin let out a truly insane sounding laugh. Clutching his stomach with one hand, as he pointed at the steaming puddles of goo that were all that remained of his opponent with the other.
"Let that be a lesson folks! Never eat Mexican on an empty stomach!" He declared, as another bout of psychopathic laughter overcame him. By now, the heroes had managed to recover from their shock enough to react.
"Hold it right there! Stand down and show us your Hero license!" One of them shouted, his voice trembling slightly. Black Harlequin didn't seem to hear them, watching as the remains of his opponent began to sluggishly and haltingly pull themselves back together for the third time.
"Hmm. . . I don't usually do encores." He stated calmly, but with a distinctive tone of malice. "But you've been such a great audience, not giving you another round would be just. . . criminal." He giggled, as he raised his hand. However, just before he called out his attack, a lone voice shouted out.
"Stop!" Instantly, Black Harlequin froze, his smile faltering slightly. "He's had enough!" Turning around, he saw the unnerved looking heroes, and borderline terrified crowd, staring at the speaker. It was the young boy with the untidy mop of green hair, the one who ran to help the blond boy. His expression was intense, and his brow furrowed in disapproval. To the unspoken shock of the onlookers, Dark Harlequin responded.
"Oh come on?! The show is just starting! You can't seriously pull me away before the punchline?!" Here the nightmarish clown contorted its body strangely, so it could look under its own arm to glare at the now terrified for his life villain. "Besides. . ." Black Harlequin growled, in a voice strait out of a horror movie. "this bastard needs to learn that the circus is a family." The villain whimpered pathetically as Black Harlequin's expression became hatefully twisted in a way no human face ever could be. "so trying to murder my fellow performers, puts me in bad humor. . ." He hissed. As the villain actually started crying.
"Please! No! I promise I've learned my lesson! I swear I'll come quietly!" Black Harlequin gave a sadistic chuckle, as he somehow appeared right in front of the cowering villain with an acrobatic twirl.
"Consider yourself lucky that the finest strongman in all three rings is sticking up for you friend. . ." Harlequin's eyes became pits of fire as he concluded. "But if we ever meet onstage again. . ." Here his voice became a roar like all the demons of hell screaming at once. "I'LL EAT YOUR ROTTING SOUL!" The crowd of onlookers couldn't see Black Harlequin's face as he spoke, but as his hateful roar shook the surrounding buildings, the villain let out a scream so filled with terror even the heroes flinched, before fainting dead away. Turning around, Black Harlequin suddenly became chipper again. "Well kiddos, much as I hate to cut a performance short, I'm afraid this is where we say goodbye." He declared with a bow.
"H-hold it! You're under arrest for illegal quirk use!" One of the hero's declared. Black Harlequin just gave another unnerving smile as he snapped his fingers a final time.
"Curtain call!" He whispered, before becoming enveloped in an explosion of black smoke. For several seconds, the heroes and onlookers were rendered completely blind as they hacked and coughed. Then, as the smoke thinned out, they were shocked to discover, both Black Harlequin, and the boy with the untidy green hair, had vanished.
"Oh man mom is gonna kill us when we get back!" Jigoku cried out, his voice a mix of fear and consternation. Turning on his brother, Jigoku glared at him, his expression shifting instantly to one of open anger. "And YOU!" He shouted. "What were you thinking taking on a villain like that?! No equipment?! Only basic martial arts training?! NO BACKUP?!" Jigoku looked about ready to explode as his glare intensified. "YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED PUNCHING ABOVE YOUR WEIGHT CLASS LIKE THAT! Did you even have a plan?!"
"I'm sorry. . ." Izuku whispered. Instantly all the righteous indignation and fury fled from Jigoku. Never in his life had he heard his brother sound so. . . broken. This wasn't like Izuku, usually when he did something reckless like this he became a stammering apologetic mess afterward. For a second, Jigoku wondered if his bro was in shock, but discarded the thought almost immediately. Whatever this was, it was personal, it reminded Jigoku of how his brother would act when Bakugo bullied him for talking about being a hero. It had taken Jigoku a long time to build up his bro's confidence back to what it ought to be, he wasn't about to let him get torn down now.
"Ok bro, spill. What the hell happened?" Izuku didn't need to ask to know what Jigoku was talking about. Just like he didn't need to be told that his brother wasn't going to let him get away with brushing him off. Letting out a heavy sigh, Izuku raised his head to look at his brother with eyes that were all but dead.
"I. . . I met Allmight earlier." He explained softly. For all his efforts to remain disaffected, Jigoku couldn't help but widen his eyes a little at that.
"What? Seriously?!" He asked in stunned disbelief, before hastily clearing his throat and adopting a more laid back attitude. "So why the depressed look? I'd of thought you'd be over the moon to meet the number one hero?"
"I asked him if he thought I could become a hero. You know, without a quirk. . . he said it wasn't possible." Jigoku's expression turned to one of shocked disbelief, just before turning to look of barely restrained rage. Yet as he opened his mouth to let forth an expletive laden tirade about just what anatomically impossible places he was going to shove Allmight's opinion, a familiar catchphrase rang out.
"I AM HERE!" The cheerful bellow was accompanied by a hulking mountain of a man with blond hair wearing a white t-shirt, green pants and heavy boots. All stretched over an insanely muscled body, and baring a thousand watt smile. Izuku jumped into the air with a wild eyed expression, his already frayed nerves unable to withstand the sudden appearance. Jigoku however, just bared his teeth in an angry snarl.
"Well ain't that convenient." He hissed, his voice filled with a terrifying malice as he cracked his knuckles. "Just the asshole I wanted a piece of. I hope you're ready for a beatdown you steroid abusing sorry excuse for a-." Jigoku's rant was cut off as, in an explosion of something akin to thick steam, the Symbol of Peace vanished. In his place, stood a man who was so thin and malnourished that he almost could have been confused with a walking corpse. His long blond hair was disheveled, his electric blue eyes sunken into his head above gaunt cheeks. Skin clung to the bones of his arms and legs to reveal an almost complete absence of muscle or fat. While his clothes, clearly designed for a far more substantial frame, hung off him as if he was a badly made scarecrow. Jigoku instantly faltered. "What in the-who are. . ." Suddenly Jigoku's eyes widened as his brain connected the dots. "No way. . . Allmight?!" He asked in shock. The man sighed, and then nodded.
"And I'm guessing you're the mysterious Black Harlequin?" He asked, seemingly more amused than perturbed. Jigoku gave a nasty chuckle.
"Sorry, never heard of him. Least not till I got my lawyer present." Allmight, or at least the husk of a man who Allmight had become, just let out a laugh.
"Relax, I'm not here to take you in or anything, I just wanted to talk to young Izuku." Jigoku's expression became hateful.
"Not a chance in hell! I think you've said plenty on that front! Who the fuck do you think you are, saying my bro can't be a hero?!" He snarled. Allmight visibly winced.
"You're right." He stated, his expression becoming one of sorrow. "I had no right to speak to him like that." Here the Symbol of Peace gave a deep and apologetic bow. "Young Izuku, what I said to you earlier was disrespectful and cruel, however more than that, it was just plain wrong. Quirk or not, after seeing how you reacted to that villain earlier, I have no doubt you will make an outstanding hero. And I apologize for ever having said different." Jigoku carefully analyzed Allmight's words and tone for even the faintest hint of insincerity or deception, only lowering his guard slightly when he was sure there was none to be found. Opening his mouth to respond however, he was cut off by his brother's voice, shaking with emotion and the sounds of barely held back tears.
"Do. . . do you really mean that?" He asked, his eyes leaking uncontrollably as he took a shaky step forward. Allmight nodded as he straightened up.
"Yes my boy, I do. In fact, that is why I sought you out, because I want to help you achieve that dream." Unable to respond, Izuku fell to his knees, his body heaving with sobs of pure joy. Jigoku however, just glared at Allmight in suspicion. Truth be told he would be overjoyed to see his bro aided by his idol. However, apology or not, after what Allmight had said to his brother earlier, it was going to take some serious convincing for Jigoku to accept the offer as genuine. Still, he was at least willing to listen, as he fixed the Symbol of Peace with a suspicious expression.
"How?" He asked simply. To which Allmight just smiled.
