It has taken a bit longer for me to complete this chapter, which I do apologize for as it's still just an average chapter size. I also apologize because there was a bit of information in this chapter that seems like it was brought up out of the blue only because I really didn't plan very much in detail for these chapters. I will be starting school again so I will complete the rest of these on my phone, which may take longer and be formatted a bit differently because of that.
That's enough news for now.
The creature lunged at Jiro and Izuku, laughing has it closed the distance between them. The green-haired kid, who had previously donned a face of horror, now moved in front of Jiro with his hand pointing towards the monster. He made a flicking motion, charging up All for One, letting it release and hitting the monster and making its body fly out of the tent. His finger turned a different color and began to swell. It hurts, but I'd rather hurt myself a little and help us all live than have that thing hurt any of us.
It slammed against the tent, which surprisingly stayed up, only tearing a little bit near the entrance. The creature attempted to stand, only to be shot by another one of Hellboy's bullets. Blood stretched over the tent walls as the creature turned to its aggressor.
"This is between you and me, remember?" Red remarked, pouncing at the creature. It tried swiping at him, but was blocked by the Right Fist of Doom. He overpowered the swipe, pushing the elongated and boney hand to the monster's back. He continued to fall, slamming his right fist into the creature's head. The former clown fell into the set of benches behind it, breaking them all the way to the ground. Hellboy didn't wait to blast the creature in the head. The dome of the monster exploded, making the rest of the body go limp.
Hellboy sighed in relief, turning to his friends who were still traumatized. He was about to speak when the creature punched him straight in the back, sending him further into the tent. He tumbled until he stopped front of Jiro and Izuku. Hellboy jerked up, watching as the creature's head came back within seconds as it rose, the bone and the brains coming back together with the tendons and tissue wrapping itself around the bones. Finally, the skin came back around his head, the monster grinning at Hellboy and the students next to him.
"THAT WASN'T TOO NICE! NOW IT'S MY TURN TO HURT ONE OF YOU!" The cackle from the clown sent a shiver down his spine. It turned to Mina who was trying to quickly get down the benches. It raised its arm.
"NO!" Hellboy went in a full sprint, but it wasn't fast enough. It ran its hand down to cut her. Time slowed for Hellboy as the creature closed in, the claws already saturated in his blood and its own and about to add Mina's to the mixture. She was in the air, the force from the cut sending her upwards. Hellboy kept running, not towards the monster anymore, but towards Mina. He pounced, catching her during her descent.
They both landed, her blood now running down his arms as he held her.
Izuku screamed, "YOU BASTARD!" as pushed both his middle and ring finger with his thumbs. The force was exponential, hitting the monster with enough power to knock him and the tent away. It flew to the wall, cratering and lying on the wall for three seconds due to the force still hitting it. Izuku's fingers were now broken, leaving his pinkie finger and his thumb remaining on his left hand. He looked to his brother, whom Jiro was now running towards. He didn't run, however, as he was distracted by a voice coming from above.
"You there, I'm above you." Izuku looked up, seeing a fish-man. His eyes were black, his nose only a pair of nostrils. His lips were shapeless, with skin that looked shiney. He had gills and fins along his neck, wearing a black bodysuit that seemed to have some sort of symbol on the chest. He was tied upside down from the tightrope above them. "I can help you, but I need down from here. Cut the rope if you can."
Izuku connected the dots, He must be the hero the police sent down here! A bullet raced across the tightrope, snapping the wire as Hellboy carried a bleeding Mina to the fish-man.
Hellboy's voice was monotone as he spoke, "How do I kill it?"
The fish-man responded by holding three bullets that seemed to contain a liquid. "Bullets, but with what the religious would called 'Holy Water' within them. It is a demon, so these are the quickest and most mobile solutions." He laid the injured girl on the floor, Jiro keeping her back off the ground.
Hellboy yanked the bullets from the fish-man's hand, looking down at Mina who spoke softly, "R-Red?" she could hardly get the last part out.
He turned his back to her, responding gruffly, "I'm ending this piece of shit, then we're getting you to Recovery Girl." He took out his gun, throwing the other bullets on the floor. He loaded the bullets into his gun, bringing the barrel to the handle again. He ran towards the monster, who was just finally getting up.
It lashed out at him, but he grabbed the limb with his Right Fist of Doom, getting angrier as he glared at the monster. He ripped off the creature's arm, throwing it to the side. The creature snapped at him. Hellboy shot its jaw clean off, the monster screeching and recoiling. Blood gushed out of his now steaming face, drenching the already red devil with blood. He punched it in the top of the face with his right hand, sending the head to the left side. He shot it in the chest, bursting a hole in its gut, more blood and steam leaving the creature that now refused to regenerate.
The student stepped on its foot, snapping it in two. More howling, "KILL ME, ANUNG UN RAMA! SEND ME TO MY DEMISE! LIKE YOU WERE MEANT TO-"
He shot it right in the cranium, the body going completely limp this time. He turned as it began to glow with the blood that spilled from him. The remains turning to embers and dissipating into the sewer. He got to the group, which the fish-man was using a small bit of medical tools he had. Hellboy crouched, trying to look at Mina's cuts, but he couldn't. This is my fault. If I had dealt with this myself, nothing would have happened.
The fish-man sighed, throwing the tools away and looking at Hellboy. "We must get her to some medical treatment."
He went to pick her up, but the hero stopped him by pointing to his belt which had a walkie-talkie, "I have already called my agency. They should be here in a short amount of time. Hopefully, it is enough time."
Hellboy examined the hero, thinking back to Izuku's journal. He couldn't recognize him. "So, which agency are you from?"
The fish-man answered immediately, "The Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. I am Abraham Sapien, and was called to deal with this threat believing it was aquatic."
Hellboy shook his head, "I thought the B.P.R.D. was on standby."
Abraham nodded, "We are not an official hero agency, meaning I have not been realized as a hero. But, all the same, the agency does have operations within the city and further."
The walkie-talkie buzzed, a voice of a man with an accent came through, "Abe, we're above your position now! We will make an opening to get you and the others you mentioned out of there. Do you copy, over?"
Abraham pulled his communications device and pressed the button, "I read you, I will send the injured up first. Over and out."
They all got out and were sent to a hospital immediately, riding in either police cruisers or the ambulance. When they got there, Mina was rushed to an emergency room as the others followed suit. Their parents were all called, which was expected from them all. What wasn't expected was when Abe and another older man came into the room. The old man was balding with small patches of thick facial hair on either side of his upper lip and chin covered in the hair. His outfit consisted of a raincoat with a sweater vest and dress shirt with khakis. He also carried a small satchel with him, which hung over his right shoulder. Abe waved his hand in Hellboy's direction, showing the older man the red devil in the chair of the waiting room with the other students.
"This was who the creature referred to as Anung Un Rama, Professor Bruttenholm." Abe explained to the old man.
He waved the agent off, "Thank you Abraham, I will take it from here."
The fish-man walked away, turning the corner to leave the room. The professor went to shake Hellboy's left hand, "Hello there, I've been looking for you, lad."
He shook the hand, looking at the professor and raising his eyebrow. "Looking for me? Why's that?"
He smiled, taking a seat in front of him, "Well, as you know well enough at this point, the amount of paranormal activity has been resoundingly active as of late. A sudden exponential rise compared to the gradualistic behavior it took around nine years ago."
Hellboy looked to the ground, now uncomfortable with how things were going. "I guess you know everything then, eh?"
Izuku gave a look of concern to the professor, who caught the look. Jiro, who was out of the loop, tried absorbing everything she could. The professor responded, "Yes, and in fact we have been on the case since before your appearance, working behind the scenes and trying not to spur a panic. In doing so, we have discovered things even you don't know, I would wager."
Hellboy looked at the old man, who was still giving a soft smile. The student frowned, tilting his head upwards, "And what exactly would that be?"
Bruttenholm waved Hellboy off, "Right now you have bigger issues, yes? You are on the bench now about if you will be expelled from UA Hero Academy."
Jiro and Izuku both jerked forward, "What!?" Jiro continued, "If anything, I should be the one getting expelled! I put him up to this in the first place." Hellboy looked to Jiro, whom he only knew for a very short time, saying that she was willing to take the fall for him.
The professor nodded, "Hellboy has accrued a reputation over the short time at the high school, yes? They would most likely not believe a single student. An entire agency, however, would be taken seriously. Especially an organization that didn't have any ties with the UA Hero Academy." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a badge, which Izuku recognized from the symbol on Abraham's chest. It was a grey and black symbol with an image of a hand holding a sword with a triangle underneath it. "We at the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense offer you a place in our ranks. You can still train as a hero, as we too will be joining ranks of the Hero Academy agencies. However, because of our governmental status, you will be given exceptions to the laws about using quirks on a whim."
Hellboy took the badge with his left hand, rubbing the symbol with his thumb. "How does this fix my situation though? I wasn't exactly an agent when I went into the sewers." He then nudged to his classmates, "They aren't agents either."
The professor opened the satchel, showing him documents from a folder. Hellboy read them as the doctor spoke, "If you accept and join this agency, these papers explain everything. As of the third day of your school year, our agency would have reached out to you, giving you the opportunity to fight paranormal entities as a government official. And the other papers are of tonight's events, showing how the students were lured by the demon within the tunnels. We also state within the document that in the case of any student being injured we would compensate for any bills that arise. Which we will."
Looking through the papers, it showed exact signatures of the students and a full document showing the briefing of the mission. It explained how Hellboy and Abe were agents tasked with eliminating a demon that terrorized and kidnapped three students and bring them back to the surface alive.
The professor continued, "This way, neither you or the students can be put to blame for using quirks and the like."
Hellboy closed the folder, handing them to the professor. The red devil sighed as he looked Bruttenholm in the eyes, "Do you know if she's gonna be alright?"
The nodding professor relieved the young red devil. But he sighed, seeing no other way out of the situation. "Alright, professor. As of a few days ago, I was an agent of the B.P.R.D."
He smiled as Hellboy looked him in the eyes, Jiro and Izuku both looking at their classmate. The professor stood, "Then, you can keep the badge as your own. Expect to be debriefed some time in the future! I will explain this awful incident to your parents and let them in to check on you all." He walked out of the waiting room.
Izuku looked to his brother, who was only rubbing the symbol in his hand. His face was still, confidence that seemed to radiate off him was now gone, he was lost in his mind of thoughts. Jiro noticed this too, thinking back to her own words and then to Mina, who was the one suffering throughout all of this.
After a couple of minutes, the parents of the students came in. Jiro's parents weren't too surprising, her father had long, wavy hair that came down to his shoulders. He was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a white T shirt with a food stain on it. His eyes were red, due to the amount of tears in his eyes.
Jiro's mother had dark, short hair that was in a mess relatively on the right side of her face. She also had her daughter's ears, as they fell down having aux plugs at the ends of them. She was wearing a worn red long sleeve shirt and a pair of black, baggy sweats. She made sure her daughter was okay before turning to Hellboy. She approached him, calmer than he had expected, she did have a tear in her eye though, "Thank you for helping our daughter. We had no idea that a demon of all things would have grabbed her while she was out."
The father, who was bawling again, began to walk towards him too. Except he was still holding Jiro for what seemed like dear life, "There's no way we could ever repay you! She's the entire world to us!"
Hellboy shook his head, not saying a word as he walked towards his own mother. Izuku was already in front of her at this point, getting an even bigger sob than Jiro's father gave for his daughter. She was wearing a simple grey sweatshirt with blue sleeping pants, she even still had her slippers on. She reached to hug them both the best she could, not able to put her arms all the way around Hellboy's size. Once everything had calmed down and the Midoriya family took a seat, Inko began to ask her questions.
He eventually got the story straight as him and Izuku were on their way to the friend's house when the monster snagged Izuku and dived into the sewers. Hellboy chased after him after calling it in to the B.P.R.D., eventually meeting with the other agent before finding the demon's lair. The other students began to fight back, which got Mina hurt in the process and Izuku using his quirk. Abe and Hellboy went into action, taking down the demon after a couple minutes of using the 'holy bullets.' Abe called for help and got the students out. This story almost sickened him, I'm not the hero this story makes me out to be. I didn't refuse my friends, I got them hurt and I am not a hero.
His mother believed the story though, rising from her seat and ready to be on her way home. Once they got home, it was almost midnight. Inko rushed straight to bed, mumbling something about not getting enough sleep for work. The brothers got into their room, neither being able to sleep. Izuku saw his brother, who was sitting on his workout bench just staring at the floor.
He looked to the ground too, trying to find the words to say, "You know, it's not your fault."
"Don't give me that crap. You know damn well it is." Hellboy kept staring, going over the single moment that dragged on in his mind. The monster hurting his friend, someone who cared so much and only wanted to help her classmate be rid of a bully.
Izuku raised his voice a bit, "Not true! We saw what that thing was on Jiro's phone. We saw the skinwalkers earlier this week and how dangerous they were!" the older brother leaned off the railing of the bed, "We knew the risks and we took them, just like any hero would. We are in a school for heroes, right?"
Hellboy finally looked up, frowning, "Heroes don't deal with demons and monsters! They deal with villains, other people."
"They also help others, no matter the risk. If someone is in danger we help them as best we can! It doesn't matter if it's dangerous, we know it's dangerous. That's why we take the risk, so others don't have to!" His brothers words rang in the devil's ears. He didn't have much of a response. There was a long pause, the silence filling the room.
"I thought back at the school that it would be fun. That we would just be a team of monster hunters. That everything would go fine, like the manga I used to read." Hellboy explained, not able to say anything else.
Izuku smiled a bit, relaxing, "You know, you're usually so headstrong and capable that I actually forget you're only ten years old."
Red laughed a bit, "Guess I've gotten pretty good at that act, huh?" He stood, crawling onto the bottom bunk. "You're right, of course. I can't say it still won't bother me."
Izuku leaned back, "Of course it bothers you, you're still a hero at heart after all."
The brothers had a bit of trouble sleeping that night, nightmares and memories flooding their minds. After all the craziness of the week, Izuku was worn out. Reflecting on the past six days, Izuku turned towards the wall and closed his eyes. I sincerely hope we can relax tomorrow at least.