Sokoneru stepped through the portal and sat down next to Fukusei, drooping against the log like a dead man. Everyone looked at him.
"So how'd it go?" Rikugo asked.
"Eh. A quick job. Shigaraki was fucking asleep, and he's not going to wake up any time soon," Sokoneru said. "Broke whatever Star Wars capsule he was sleeping in. He can't wake up without it, I guess. The doctor we were after was pissed about that. Then after Shigaraki I took care of the other High-Ends. And now I'm back."
"Oh, so they've captured the doctor now, I guess?" Fukusei asked.
"Yeah. Mic's handling him. I hate the doctor though, man. He's such a fucking wimp. I fucking hate him."
Fukusei inclined his head. "Just because he's a wimp?"
"He's-" Sokoneru sighed. "I can't explain it. You'll get it if you meet him."
"Well. Alright then."
It was at that exact moment that the world rumbled.
=0=
"Endeavour is currently on the offensive against Shigaraki!" a female voice sounded in the near-silence of the room. "He is being assisted by two of the hero students from U.A. and Gran Torino! Eraserhead is making his way to the scene with the help of Rock Lock and Manual!"
One of the leaders seated at the back of the room turned to the others. "Should we send one from 1-S?"
"Not yet," another responded. "We wait and watch for when the situation calls for it."
He turned and addressed the control center. "And how is the other selection doing?"
=0=
A shadow passed overhead.
"Hmm?" Compress looked up, taking care to steady himself against one of Gigantomachia's ludicrous spikes. "How many flying heroes are there again?"
"Not a lot," Dabi said, staring up without even bothering to balance himself. "Ryukyu is a definite, but we would have seen her at the base if she was with this group."
The sun was bright enough in their eyes that the pillar of red flame that burned down from the sky above caught them completely off guard.
=0=
"King Dragon, engage the enemy giant!"
That's what they'd said, and it felt damn cool at the time to have a call to arms like that, but for fuck's sake, this was going to be worth a lot more than his payroll.
Not that he got paid anyway, so what the hell.
"Yessir," he'd said, trying not to let the excitement show.
"Oi," he'd said, prodding at the idiot who'd gotten to be in charge. "Shoot me off."
The transport wasn't meant to salute and say "Yes, your fabulous knightness, sir," before releasing an explosion that catapulted him into the lower stratosphere, but what the hell.
King Dragon had unfolded his wings, and, with slow beats, flown steadily towards the cloud of dust the other monster was kicking up.
=0=
"Hey, hey," Dabi said, tired malevolence radiating from his face. "Why'd no one tell me about the new dragon?"
A shot of blue fire dissipated over the dragon's hide.
As tall as Machia, with huge, muscular legs, each claw tipped with hard black talons, a tail as long as his entire upper body, folded wings each carrying a single dark, pointed tip that still looked wide enough to give a few hundred people shade.
Black spines like needles that ran along its entire back, reptilian eyes, blue irises against wild yellow, and a rough head that looked like it had been borrowed from a myth.
Red scales, with a shade of orange-yellow all over the underbelly.
And teeth.
Teeth, knifeheads each the size of a chair, that crowded that mouth in which a fierce light burned, smoking at the hinges of the jaw.
"Anyone got any clue who this is?" Dabi asked dryly as he fired off another burst at the giant that flew dangerously close overhead. The dragon's shadow had fallen around Machia like the shelter of a cloud.
A cloud that could probably kill you.
"Skeptic?" Compress asked, fumbling for a marble with something good to throw.
The Liberation nut shook his head feverishly without even looking up from his laptop, typing as though it would somehow send the dragon off.
Compress looked at Spinner, and motioned towards Toga with his head.
Spinner immediately knelt beside her.
"Uh, Toga-chan, I know you're still-"
"Shut up," she snarled. Toga unfurled herself and stood, pulling the bloodsucker mask over her face. "I was already going to do it."
The dragon swooped, dived.
And crashed into them.
=0=
"Creati, update!" Tokage yelled. "A dragon's come in and taken him to the ground!"
"Ryukyu?" Yaoyorozu called back.
"Different!"
"Whoever they are, this just means we have more time," Yaoyorozu said, addressing every hero student in the vicinity as explosives continued to spill out of her, splashing into the ground. "Don't get distracted! Do everything you need to, prepare as much as you can!"
=0=
Dabi rolled to minimize the risk of injury, coming up on his feet like a boxer, hands out and simmering. Skeptic was weeping over his smashed computer, and Toga and Spinner were both standing, looking relatively unharmed between the two of them. Compress, on the other hand, for all his grace, was on the ground, hauling himself up.
And Machia was grappling with the dragon, trying to shove through, with minimal pay-off.
Dabi made to blast at the dragon, then lowered his hands, the flames dying down to a flicker.
"Toga."
She looked at him. "What?"
"Get the dragon's blood and use whatever its quirk is," he told her. "Me and Compress will cover you."
"Ah, Dabi, I don't have that much left to use. You'll have to do most of the work," Compress said.
"Yeah." Dabi's hands flared up again. "That's fine."
Toga darted out, knives in hand. The dragon noticed, and, with barely any effort, rocked Machia to the ground with a single hard shove, slamming curled talons into the giant's face.
Compress threw a marble, a piece of rubble blooming between Toga and the dragon's open mouth as red fire blasted out of those gaping jaws in an explosion that made the air judder with a sound that was almost physical.
The blazing red turned darker, to smoke, to ash, and from within the billowing clouds of black Toga emerged by the dragons huge claw, and jabbed.
The teenage killer was batted away in a single, careless motion that broke the needle and knocked her against a tree so hard that Dabi heard the crack from where he was standing.
Machia rose, and the dragon pounded him down into the dirt again with an animal ferocity rivalling the most territorial of wolves, the snarl itself glinting off those bone-white teeth like the Reaper's scythe.
Dabi lowered his hands. Again.
"Don't suppose we have any aces up our sleeves? Compress? Any card tricks you want to play?"
Machia roared.
And changed.
=0=
"Oh shit!" Kaminari yelled, as the dragon flew over their heads, crashing down into the woods beyond.
The giant that had flung the dragon emerged over the treetops with an enraged roar, the League of Villains held safely in his right hand. Now, rocky outcrops had appeared over his back, curving out and away. A mask of stone covered his eyes, and long, long claws that could shred through mountains were poised, ready to slash down.
"Stay calm!" Yaoyorozu said. "He's still heading for the right area!"
"Hey Creati!" Tokage called, urgency in her voice. "He's different from before! Be careful!"
The giant splashed down.
"He's in the trap!" Yaoyorozu said.
Everyone with a rope in their hands immediately began to pull, slowly dragging him along through the impromptu swamp. The giant began to wrestle against their combined strength with astonishing vigour, but to no avail.
"Please forgive us for outnumbering you," Shiozaki said, her hands clasped before her as vines burst forth, wrapping around the giant's neck.
"No matter how you look at it, we're the ones at a disadvantage!" Sero replied, his tape spooling out to do the same.
Combined, their efforts were enough to bring him crashing down with an enormous gloop, the League in his hand flying out to land among his spines as, with a flick of his hand, he threw them all backwards.
The giant's mouth opened.
"Hurry, everyone!" Yaoyorozu said, winding up herself. "Let's get it in!"
Accurate throws, every single one, all foiled by one thing.
"Gnats…" he growled.
That was the only warning they got before a huge, hissing blast of air escaped from his mouth, driving them all back. And then Dabi clambered up onto his shoulder, and added flames to the onslaught.
The forest burned before the villains.
"A quirk that transforms morale into physical energy," Dabi said. "Another that makes him immune to pain."
"Is your arm okay?" Toga asked.
Dabi shrugged. "I don't know."
He looked back at the scattered fires that raged on the treetops.
"And a whole bunch more," he continued. "All of these quirks to help him last on the battlefield. It's just like Ujiko told us… this guy really is our guardian."
Large blasts and little clouds of black with red glows to match accompanied spurts as the ground heaved upwards in splashes that were little more than annoyances to Machia, but huge problems for anyone of normal size.
But there were a lot of them. Even Machia would be at least the slightest bit affected.
Machia sank further.
Mt. Lady made it worse by pouncing on his back, prying his mouth open.
"Goddammit," a new voice said.
Every student there turned to look. A boy with an irritated look on his face stepped out from the trees, seemingly unbothered by the burning blue overhead. His hair stood up in spikes not dissimilar to Yosetsu Awase's distinctive hairstyle, although it didn't lean to the side. That said, there was also much less of it, in terms of length. He, too, had a fully red sweatband around his forehead. He wore a maroon coat open over a white sweatshirt, and dark blue cargo pants. The sleeves of his coat were rolled up, and black metallic bracelets of intricate design were visible. His shoes were sleek and white, with red patterns on the sides. And he was heterochromatic, just like Todoroki.
One eye wild, sparkling blue, the other wild, untamed yellow.
And when he opened his mouth to speak, he had fangs.
"Didn't expect you to knock me out, yeah? But you're a big guy, so what the hell."
He cracked his knuckles, and stared right into the eyes he couldn't see.
"But now I'm going to get you back for that, you bastard."
His hands went to the ground, solid before him, and streaks of red flame flashed from between bared teeth like the flickering tongue of a snake.
"I'm carving my name into your skin, you hear? That stupid hard head of yours."
Red fibres erupted from him, twisting and binding around him, sprouting scales and horns and spines that grew and moved across the mass he was becoming.
"I'm King Dragon, bitch," he said, before his eyes, his mouth, were consumed by the spreading red mass, and the beast formed. "And I'm going to make you remember me!"
And the dragon stood, titanic in form.
Machia growled.
"The shortest route to Master…"
And Ashido, who spurred through the flames, faltered.
The canister flew upwards, her finger slipping at the last instant.
Machia grabbed Mt. Lady, flinging her aside with hardly any effort, and the other hand batted at Ashido.
King Dragon and Kirishima both sprang to action in the same instant.
Kirishima ducked through the flames, grabbing Ashido by the hand and throwing her backwards, beyond the giant's reach.
And King Dragon slammed his entire body into Machia so hard that the giant reeled backward for a moment.
Kirishima clawed his way up, and made to throw the canister.
Toga's knife sliced through it while it was still in his hand
King Dragon's claws gripped into Machia's mouth, and prised those monstrous jaws open.
And Kirishima threw the second canister.