I must apologize for the delay in uploading, but Halloween is a larger holiday than Christmas for my family, so my life became hectic. This chapter wraps up the Raid arc, but not in the way you'd expect. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Jesse was running across the forest, jumping off branches and charging across the ground, when she heard a someone talking.
"I've captured Ragdoll, now I just need to grab the other two targets." in the underbrush, the she-wolf saw a man in a magician's suit and white mask talking over an earpiece. In his hand was a black marble, maybe a centimeter in diameter, which Jesse could feel the pussycat's aura coming from it. Still hidden, the she-wolf silently launched herself from cover straight towards the magician. She grabbed what had to be her new friend before throwing her knee into the man's lower spine hard, eliciting the bones to release an audible crack.
"Fuck!" the man swore in both shock and pain. As he hit the ground, Jesse wasted no time in running away. While her husband was a warrior, she herself acted more as a (mostly) non-lethal assassin. With Ragdoll in hand, there was no reason to fight, especially when she didn't know what his abilities were or the way they worked. As the distance increased between herself and her opponent, the marble grew in size until it was entirely replaced by Ragdoll.
"The heck just happened? One moment I was waiting for the kids, then everything went dark… the hell?!" she exclaimed, now in a bridal carry by the werewolf. The blunette squirmed until Jesse released her.
"If you could calm down for a second, I'd like to get you up to speed." even through the rumbling nature of the monster's voice, Ragdoll recognized who it belonged to.
"Jesse-san?!" a clawed finger was held over her lips as the she-wolf explained everything that happened until now.
"I gotta contact Mandalay." within a moment, the childish woman was replaced with a veteran hero as she contacted her teammates with her headset.
"Mandalay, I'm here, give me a link, and I'll get you everyone's positions."
"Ragdoll! Thank god you're okay, but I'm in a fight right now." the redhead announced over her telepathy. With that in mind, Ragdoll used her quirk and mapped out where everyone is on the touchscreen that connected to every member's visor.
"I'm going to head to my team for cover. Are you going to keep running around?" Jesse nodded with trepidation, knowing something was up.
"Izuku's at the cliff with Kouta and a villain. Go give support if you can."
Muscular was confused. It wasn't the fact that the kid Tomura wanted dead was fighting him, or that he was managing to keep up with his movement; the part that was confusing him was that the rush of combat wasn't there. Instead of the high he felt when fighting someone, he felt like his senses were going through a filter and calming him down to the point the adrenaline wasn't kicking in. he wanted to get pissed, but even the anger wasn't coming up.
'The hell is he doing to me? My skills are still there, so he can't be altering my head. Maybe he's controlling my emotions? Can't be, he could end the fight right now if that was the case.' the mass murderer's head was going a hundred miles an hour trying to figure out what was going on, and Izuku was making full use of it. With so many thoughts running through Muscular's mind, his reaction time was slowed as he was fighting on autopilot instead of focusing like he should. The teen's body was creaking under the stress of his quirk going at twenty percent, even as he reinforced himself with chi, but he was thankfully able to keep up with his opponent's insane speed. Izuku's muscles burned while his bones groaned like worn gears. Muscular overextended his punch once again, and Izuku dodged just right to step on his arm and put a kick briefly powered up to twenty-three percent right into the larger man's temple. Muscular fell to his knees, dazed out of his mind as the martial artist dropped an ax kick to the back of his head, knocking him out.
"H-how did…" Kouta murmured behind the cover of a large rock.
"As strong as he is, he's still human; one good hit in the right place is all it takes to end a fight." Izuku answered, gasping for breath from the minor adrenaline crash the fight the fight left him to deal with. Kouta came over to his hero to help any way he could. The teen turned his head to face and gave a reassuring smile. He saw movement in the forest below and braced himself for another fight. When the source of the movement started climbing the cliff face, Izuku relaxed at the sight of his aunt figure.
"Jesse! The villain mentioned that the target of the raid was Kacchan! We have to go over and tell Mandalay!" during his shouts, Jesse made it up to them.
"Worry about your injuries would you?" she groused; he was covered in small cuts and bruises. "Do you need me to get Kouta back to the lodge?"
"I actually wanted his help with the fires." Izuku noted before kneeling in front of the child in question.
"With the fires spreading through the forest, it's next to impossible to regroup or escape. We need your quirk; can you save us this time?" Kouta's eyes were watering, but he gave a solid nod. Izuku projected his chi as he patted the kid's head with the same smile he used to assure him everything was fine.
"Thanks." turning to the only adult on the cliff, the hero continued. "Help him put the fires out while I go to Mandalay and tell her. Keep him safe!" the green-haired teen shouted as he let One for All course through him as he ran down to the forest below.
Ragdoll noticed that Izuku had split up from Kouta and Jesse (whose signature appeared for only a moment), and was running in her direction, probably towards Mandalay. When he was close enough, the blunette called out.
"Midoriya-kun! You heading to Mandalay?"
"Ragdoll?" the teen burst from the bushes, and the hero could instantly tell how damaged he was. Her quirk told her that many of his muscles were hyperextended if not torn, he dislocated his left wrist and was hosting a multitude of other minor injuries that were covered in dirt, making them vulnerable to infection.
"The hell happened to you!?" she nearly shouted. Looking down at his battered form, Izuku shrugged.
"Ran into a strength enhancing villain; he's unconscious right now, but that's for later. Do you know the fastest route to your teammates, and are you going to them as well?" Ragdoll grinned at the teen's blunt questions.
"Yeah, I do, and yes I am." seeing the martial artist nod and walk towards her, she knew what he was going to ask.
"Mind if I-"
"Go for it." she cut him off. She saw the speeds he could go at during his quirk training, and he was much faster than her. The martial artist nodded again and kneeled for her to get on his back. With her instructions, the two managed to get over to the other Pussycats faster than by himself. He saw Tiger and Mandalay having trouble with the flesh golems. When Ragdoll used her quirk on the puppets, she shivered before shouting.
"Pin them! If they can't move according to command, the connection's lost!" her teammates moved accordingly, and Izuku jumped into the fray. With the knowledge to take the golems out, they started falling rapidly until only Magne and Spinner were left.
"As much as I hate to say it toots, we may hafta run." the scaled man admitted. The large woman nodded before turning on her earpiece.
"Magne here, we're outnumbered and outmatched. Warp us." after saying her words, Magne and spinner made a break for it. Izuku charged after them, but Magne pointed the south end of her massive magnet while using her quirk on him, launching the teen backwards while pushing herself forward. Tiger caught the airborne teen before turning to his newly reunited teammate.
"Ragdoll, good to see you're safe. Coordinate with Mandalay and regroup everyone." he put down Izuku and rushed to Pixie-bob to finally give first aid, to which the hero-in-training followed to help.
"Where's Kouta?" Mandalay asked.
"Jesse-san is with him dealing with the forest fires." the teen said without looking up as he held the downed pussycat's head up for Tiger to wrap in bandages. Ragdoll tapped her friend's shoulder before speaking.
"If he's with her, I'd feel bad for the villains who'd attack them. Now let's give the kittens a fighting chance." with the pussycats together, the heroes were no longer going to be in the dark.
"Tenya and Ojiro, start going down the path to your left. Asui and Uraraka need assistance. Girls, they'll be coming behind the villain you're facing. Todoroki, you and Bakugo head to the fires nearest to you and meet up with Shoji and Tokoyami, then head to the start of the trail. There's a villain on your tail, so be quick about it." with Ragdoll able to give precise locations of everyone, Mandalay was getting everyone to group up while making sure no one was facing a villain without backup. Blood King and Eraserhead were rounding up the flesh golems, as they had the best quirks and tools for the job. Izuku was dashing around the forest with medical supplies he gathered from the lodge and giving first aid to whoever needed it before moving to the next position or carrying the injured student to an adult or another group of students.
Unfortunately, the vanguard squad was also acting as a team.
"The target is south of Himiko by four hundred meters; break off and go to Compress twenty-five meters east of you. Magne, pull the Rin kid away from his group and brain him. Then make some noise so the heroes waste time on his injuries." Tomura was using Archibald's magic and remaining golems to cause as much chaos as needed until they could grab the target. When Compress got within range of Katsuki, he activated his quirk and turned the student into a marble. Now they needed to get to where Kurogiri was going to warp them, or stay put long enough for Kurogiri to find him.
Izuku was going to Tsuyu and her group to help with any injuries they had gotten from the person they came across. When he saw Ochaco and Tsuyu with Todoroki, Tenya, Mashirao, Mezo, and Fumikage, Izuku called out.
"Guys!" the group turned to see the battered teen carrying a bag with a green cross on it.
"Hey, Izuku. Mind if I get some gauze?" Tsuyu asked and was almost immediately given a roll of the substance. "Thanks."
"I heard over the telepathy that Kacchan was with you guys. Did something happen?"
"What do you mean? He's right…" Fumikage's voice trailed off as he looked behind himself to see the student in question missing.
"If you're looking for him," everyone turned their heads to see a man in a suit and wearing a white mask. "I just collected him with some magic." the man showed off a black marble. Izuku's eyes narrowed before he calmed himself.
"Call Mandalay." he whispered before yelling over to the magician.
"Don't suppose you plan on releasing him, do you Mr..."
"Mr. Compress is my stage name, and no I do not." the magician answered politely.
"If I may inquire as to why?" Izuku prodded while buying more time as he heard a soft beep from Shouto's phone signify the text was received.
"Jesse, get to Izuku south of you. One is a hostage." Izuku was inwardly relieved that help was coming, but steeled his face in order to buy enough time for her to get to them.
"Someone of his disposition has no business on the side of heroes, not when we can provide a stage he can shine much brighter upon." At Compress's words, Izuku cracked a smile.
"I hate to burst your bubble, but Kacchan is more likely to blow your leader's face in than hear your group out, not to even mention joining you; he's dead set on being a hero, and I doubt the gods could sway him, let alone Shigaraki." the magician tilted his mask to where it looked to be smiling.
"That is none of my concern. I am merely following orders. You'd have to try-" he didn't finish his monologue as Jesse once again crashed into him. The she-wolf pinned the magician by his arms as Kouta dropped off her back.
"Search everything he has. Stage magicians only flaunt things when they have something to hide." the students complied and found a half-dozen marbles on his person in several pockets. Jesse, seeing that none of them had her student's aura, pushed harder against her opponent's arms, driving him further into the dirt.
"Not in the mood for tricks! Where. is. Bakugo?" the woman's chi flooded the air with an almost murderous presence. Compress was sweating under his mask but still had enough wit to talk back.
"I don't think you'd kill me; not in cold blood, anyway. That's something villains do, not heroes."
"Wouldn't be the first time." her words chilled everyone but Izuku, who already knew. The magician knew by her, it's, tone, that there was no bluff in the monster's words. He decided to cut his losses before dying a useless death and let the compressed Katsuki fall from behind his mask, to which Mezo quickly grabbed it.
"Having someone collect me seems to be a long shot right about now, and there are two out of three targets right before me…" he seemed to bemoan to himself, but Jesse recognized the ruse. Thinking fast, the school therapist pushed the two nearest people, Mezo and Kouta, as far as she could before a black mist covered her, Mr. Compress, and Fumikage.
"I hate to do things on the fly, but improvisation is a Magician's skill!" Compress said smugly before the mist disappeared, with all three people caught inside vanishing with it.
Again I apologize for the delay, but that is the end result of the raid arc for now! I found the pro hero's reactions lacking in cannon, so I wanted to emphasise the power of a well coordinated group lead by heroes that have been acting for twelve years. Next time is the aftermath of the raid. How will the heroes react, why was Jesse a target? Leave your reviews for criticisms and ideas, and I'll be sure to read them like always. Till next time!