At the third day of training, Izuku finally asked the question that was on his mind since they left the city.
"Jesse-san, not that I don't appreciate it, why did you insist on coming to this trip?" turning her head to the teen, she gave a small smile.
"Due to my role as a counselor for you all, as well as my medical knowledge, the principal said that I'd make sure you kids are physically mentally healthy; at least, that's the official reason." the other students became interested in her last phrase, and she explained. "While I am acting as the medic, I'm also another staff member that can help ensure the safety of the students."
"What do you mean? If the school wanted to maximise student protection, then why didn't they send someone like All Might?" Tenya inquired.
"Because that'd draw attention," Shouta explained. "The board of education is still paranoid after multiple run-ins with the League of Villains, so they wanted to give just enough staff to protect the students without giving away their positions. All Might going anywhere is going to be noticed, especially because we believe he's a target of the League. As a UA staff member, Cacciatore-san can act as a hero to defend students, if the pro's give her the okay to do so." when the tone was going heavy, Pixie-bob started meowing of all things.
"Allow me to change the topic; let's talk about what we have planned for tonight!" the blonde placed her paws under her chin and elaborated.
"We're doing an inter-class test of courage! Since you've all been training so hard, you get to play hard!" the excitement was building, making everyone work their hardest until dinner needed to be prepared. The food was made well once again and everyone was getting ready for the event. With class 1-B trying to scare 1-A first, everyone started to draw lots to see who paired with whom. Izuku managed to pair with Katsuki.
"I ain't scared of shit." he proclaimed. Izuku smirked.
"Are you sure? 'Cause I remember something scaring you in third grade. What was it? Oh yeah! The ma-" he didn't finish as the blonde got him in a chokehold.
"Say it! I fucking dare you to finish that goddamn sentence Deku!" their antics elicited laughs from the other students, making Katsuki let go of his rival.
"You fuckers wanna start something?!"
"This isn't cute at all…" Himiko whined as she put the mask and earpiece on. It ten-thirty, and when the clock hit eleven, they'd attack.
"I-I'll ma-make sure to a-alter it aft-after you-you get b-back." Archibald spoke on the other end of the earbud, back at base.
"Thank you Archie-chan!" the middle school girl squealed.
"N-never call m-me that ag-gain." the mage warned, receiving no more than a verbal shrug.
"Enough," Tomura interjected. "It's time to start soon. Everyone get to your positions." the vanguard started moving while Archibald moved the fifty flesh-golems he managed to create towards where they'd cause the most turmoil. The mage had no information of the present staff, so he wanted to get rid of the building they would be in at this hour based on the layout and left the puppets at the entrances to attack anyone going out. When everyone was at the proper spot, the signal was given. Mustard released his quirk and Dabi set a swathe of forest on fire. Magne and spinner struck Pixie-bob down in an instant. Over the earpiece, Tomura's laughing was heard.
"Game on!"
"PIXIE-BOB!" Izuku shouted in worry as the pussycat was under the scaled person's boot.
"Greetings, UA academy! We're the league of villain's vanguard team!" the green-skinned man announced.
"How the hell are they here?" Ojiro questioned softly. In the background, Izuku subtlety motioned to Mashirao and Katsuki to charge from the right on his mark while Tenya and he would go left. The explosive blonde 'tsk'ed, but gave a small signal he understood with everyone else; Izuku had a plan, and he'd be damned if his stubbornness caused a hostage to be killed.
"It'd be a shame if my hand slipped and crushed her pretty head, wouldn't it? Feel free to share your thoughts on the matter." the larger man(?) taunted.
"Over my dead body, you shit!" Tiger growled, almost falling for it.
"Whoa whoa Magne, hold your horses, toots. You too, Tiger; Chill out". the reptilian man intervened. "The right over life and death, is all decided by the word of stain!" the words made Izuku and Tenya's blood run cold.
"Guess you really can't kill an idea." the engine-quirk user lamented.
"I don't think I've formally introduced myself," the scaled man spoke while drawing the blade on his back. "The name's Spinner, and I'm the one who carries stain's dream!" the large sword was shown out of its cloth, revealing a mass of knives and blades held together with weld and steel cables in the rough shape of a sword.
"Tell it to someone who gives a shit!" Tiger ground out. Before he could say anything else, Izuku gave the signal and Katsuki launched himself at Spinner with Mashirao following close behind while making a low profile. A moment after, Izuku and Tenya charged Magne. Izuku was concealing his presence best he could by drawing in his chi; something he knew how but never got around to practicing. The explosive teen blew the mockery of a sword to bits with an earth-shaking blast while his tailed partner knocked Spinner as far as he could with a roundhouse kick. The Izuku smashed into Magne's bar and launched the large woman away as Tenya gingerly picked the injured hero up and retreating back to the other pro's.
"Shit, shit, shit! I spent a long time on that sword!" the Stain-fanatic swore. Mange decided it was a good idea to bring backup, and spoke the keyword.
"Auxilium." the one word had caused the waiting flesh-golems to burst from the foliage. With chitinous armor, rotting stench, and quiet footsteps, they looked like hellish knights. Izuku knew what they were and called to Mandalay.
"I know what they are! The quirk 'Reanimate' makes corpses move as the user's puppets! I don't know how many the person can control though." It was a lie, but only in the fact it wasn't the result of a quirk; it was a twisted form of necromancy. The pussycats nodded.
"Permission to act as heroes?" the green-haired teen asked, and when he was given the affirmative, he told the others where he was going.
"I'm going to check on Kouta at his spot. I'll call if there's trouble." not waiting for a response, he ran off. He heard Mandalay's telepathy send its message.
"Everyone! Multiple villains have invaded with what have been confirmed as corpses made into puppets; Everyone has free reign to act as heroes, even Jesse."
Shouta was talking with his fellow homeroom teacher and Ragdoll when he heard Mandalay's message. He ran out the door with worry on his face.
'They weren't supposed to be able to find us here! Did they plant a bug? What about a spy among the staff back at UA, or-' his thoughts were cut off as a puppet was right beside the doorway he was just passed through. It's spiked arm flew at the night hero, forcing him to dodge. The golem had struck the earth with enough force to kick up dust, but with the assistance of capture gear, the puppet was stopped. There were a few moments of struggle before it went limp, losing the magic and becoming nothing more than a cadaver once more. There was a small noise behind Eraserhead, making him turn to another golem. He backed up while calling for Blood King.
The one who answered wasn't him.
A large, furred, and clawed hand gripped the puppet's head before it was torn off the golem's shoulders with a twist and leak of blood. When the corpse fell, Eraserhead saw something he didn't expect.
"Fiara?" the werewolf looked at the night hero before answering.
"Not quite." the voice was softer and more feminine than Anima in his transformation.
"Jesse-san." he corrected himself, and soon more differences were becoming apparent. Fiara's fur was a gunmetal grey while hers was lighter like a stormcloud. Her form was also slimmer, with a more feminine profile.
"And I was hoping to soak in peace, but no, they decided now was the best night to attack." her voice was laced with irritation. She was still wet from jumping out of the hot spring, but now she didn't care. Her yellow-orange eyes almost glowed under the moonlight at the prospect of her kids in danger.
"Clear the forest of these corpse dolls, and send any students over here to regroup." Eraserhead wasn't going to stop the one who seemed to have the best chance in the forest at this hour, so he decided to make sure the rendezvous place was clear of enemies for his students.
"Your students will keep fighting, you know that." they both knew the teens enough, and she was right.
"Tell them at least. With a sneak attack, there may be injured." Jesse nodded and ran off into the woods.
Real Steel And Battle Fist were in a quirk user's fog. Yui ran to the lodge to get both Juzo and Ibara, who had passed out from the sleep gas, to a safer place. Tetsutetsu had thankfully run into Momo beforehand, and she had made gas masks for him and Juzo with spares.
"The fog get's thicker this way, so the origin must be over there," Itsuka noted.
"Let's kick the bastard's ass!" the steel-quirk user shouted before charging headfirst towards the villain he couldn't see, leaving the class president behind.
"That idiot!" she spoke to herself before chasing her classmate.
BANG!
The sound of a gunshot hitting steel rang out, making the ginger-haired hero panic before hearing the musclehead roar. She ran into the clearing to see the middle schooler responsible for the gas and Real Steel without his mask. Thinking quickly, she cleared the smoke by enlarging her hands and fanning the gas away. The youngest turned his head and aimed his gun at her, but was interrupted.
"Back the fuck off her!" the steel hero shouted before throwing a fist-sized rock at the gas-user's helmet, breaking his mask off.
"Shit!" the gas started thinning before the user succumbed to his own quirk, leaving him wide open for the UA students to knock him out.
"Thanks, Kendo-san. I owe you one" the steel-clad teen said between breaths.
"No problem, but call me by my hero-name; we are acting as heroes right now." Real Steel laughed.
"Good point. Thanks, Battle Fist. let's keep going, there are probably more villains around." the class president of 1-B nodded.
"This isn't good…" Tsukuyomi pointed out needlessly to Tentacle. In front of them was someone eating the Flesh-golem the two had finally stopped.
"M...more…I need...more...lovely flesh… more beautiful… meat…" he groaned through the mouth clamps that kept his mouth opened. When he turned to the heroes, the bound man's teeth made a crackling noise before growing out at incredible speeds. Tsukuyomi, caught off guard by the sudden attack, was pushed aside by Tentacle, who was cut rather bad as a result.
"Dark Shadow?" the bird-faced hero asked.
"Aye?" the other part of him merely responded.
"Him!" there were no other words needed. The teen's rage had boiled over, and he remembered what he was told when it happened.
'You can only suppress emotions for so long. If you want to control an emotion like wrath, you give it a target.' Jesse's words echoed in his mind.
"HELL YEAH! I'M CUTTIN' LOOSE!" Dark shadow roared as the shade attacked the vanguard member. Spear-like protrusions came from the leather-bound man, piercing through the ethereal being's body, but doing no damage. Dark Shadow launched the cannibal through trees, easily breaking bones and rendering the man unconscious. With such a large crash, a couple dozen corpse-knights made their way to the sentient quirk's position to know what happened.
"Go for it." Tsukuyomi encouraged.
"MORE FUN FOR ME!" Dark Shadow raged. There was only a single thought that made it's way in Dark Shadow's host as he controlled the monster.
'This is the first time I agree with him during black mass.'
I planned to go further, but that'd take me more time, so Cliffhanger! There were less close calls in canon, and there's going to be more to come in the next chapter. To be honest, this entire deal felt disjointed to me, even in the manga, like in Pulp Fiction. Anyway, next chapter focuses on Ochaco and Tsuyu, Jesse, And of course, the Muscular fight! If you have any questions, comments, or even ideas, tell me! I still read every single review I've gotten so far. Till next time!