Chapter 12: To Make a Gambit
Before this whole Civil War exercise even started, Hitoshi looked Karasuma in the eye and said, "This is going to go to shit."
He meant that the tensions between 1-A and 1-B were too high for their fight not to get out of hand. He meant Bakugou was going to go batshit and try to explosion-murder people — this time, with a gun. He meant Monoma was going to recruit the more morally corruptible members of E-class to commit war crimes for the sake of justice for 1-B. He meant that Todoroki and Karma were going to have a super dramatic battle that would either lead to their issues being resolved or to them literally killing each other. He did not mean that villains were going to show up and try to kill a bunch of schoolchildren. Though, given their track record on school trips…maybe he should've seen it coming…
The siege started subtly. So subtle, in fact, that only one person figured it out before the first villain struck. Hitoshi stood watch with Itona and Sero, stationed as last-defense guards for 1-A's flag. One minute, Itona was monitoring dozens of camera feeds and coordinating strategy over comms, and the next, he was jumping away from his portable system like it burned him. Hitoshi assumed it actually did — maybe Karma figured out how to use his quirk to overheat it — but there wasn't any smoke, and the screens weren't cut to black. They were…frozen. Karma's quirk definitely didn't work that way. Hitoshi demanded to know what happened, and Itona turned, switching out his paintball rifle for his nerve-knife.
"It's Ritsu. She's been hacked."
"Huh? Isn't she supposed to be a neutral party? Why would 1-B target her- whoa!" Sero startled as Itona ripped the drone camera off the boy's chest, threw it to the ground, and smashed it under his boot. "Wha-?! What was that for?"
"1-B wouldn't target Ritsu. Someone else hacked her system and took over our audio and visual feeds. They didn't shut it down like they did back at the USJ. They're using it to watch us," Itona said, ripping off his Ritsu-watch and tossing it into a faraway bush. Hitoshi grimaced as he did the same with his phone, cringing as he heard the soft smack as it hit the ground. He was sending his bill for a replacement phone straight to the Prime Minister after this. "There. If they're using our trackers, this should throw them off our trail."
"Wait a minute, who is tracking you guys? What is going on? Should we be panicking?" Sero's arms flailed as he took cautious steps back, head whipping around like he expected the threat to pop out of the bushes immediately. Hitoshi hoped they did; at least they would know who they were dealing with. Maybe Sero's instincts were onto something, though, as seconds later, a bright blue flame blazed over the treetops, a pillar of smoke billowing from the direction of the old 3-E building.
"I don't recommend panicking," Hitoshi said, loading his gun with nerve-bullets. "Trust me, when you're fighting for your life, you can't afford to slip up."
"Excuse me?!" Sero wheezed, clutching his chest, sweat already beading his forehead. In any other situation, Hitoshi might've laughed, but now, all he felt was pity — pity for Sero, understandably terrified by the idea of someone trying to kill him, and pity for himself, numb to thought at this point in his young life.
"We need to get to Ritsu's hard drive. I need to reboot the system to bypass the hackers. Until we get communications up, we're a bunch of scattered, sitting ducks," Itona said. Hitoshi nodded firmly and glanced back at Sero.
"If you come with us, we'll protect you, but understand we could be walking right into the attacker's hands."
Sero worried his lower lip, arms crossed as he rubbed his tape elbows. "I'll…I'll come with you. There's strength in numbers, right?"
The END agents nodded and sprinted for the base, Itona taking lead with Hitoshi covering back in case someone snuck up from behind. How long has it been since Ritsu went down? One minute? Two? Such a short passage, yet so much opportunity for destruction and disaster. How many of his friends were in danger or hurt in that time? That blazing forest fire alone could've hurt dozens of students at once. Without communications, there was no way to know if it was critical, if someone was bleeding out from injuries or de-
No. He couldn't focus on that. Not yet. His classmates — both old and new — were skilled. They've proved themselves more than capable time and time again. If he let doubt consume him, then he was good as dead himself.
They slowed their approach to ensure their stealth as they reached the END base from behind, opposite to the wall of flames. Flickering blue light danced along the trees marking 3-E's main mountain path, a never-ending force of heat and destruction leading all the way to the 3-E building. Their old building, with its rickety wooden walls and finicky sprinkler systems; the place Hitoshi's father used to help Principal Asano host cram school in; the place Korosensei entered their lives and changed them for the better. A classroom revered and preserved for the symbolism it held to the students it touched the most — now, emblazoned into kindling.
"No…" Hitoshi's feet dragged to a stop. Even from their distance, he could feel the suffocating heat resonating from the unstoppable power. Memories of E-class, of their successes and failures, friendships and rivalries, dedication and growth, seemed to reflect in the unique color of the flame before withering into ashes and smoke.
Itona grabbed his arm, meeting Hitoshi's eyes with equal rage and heartbreak. "Later."
Later. Later, they could find the villain who did this, who destroyed their last piece of him, and make them pay. But now, they must save their friends before they faced a similar fate.
-.-.-.-
To their surprise (and great unease), the END base appeared unguarded and even untouched by any attackers. The outside of the building was much more flame resistant, protecting it from the growing forest fire for now, but even the more vulnerable interior was free of scorch marks or tampering. The villains didn't get inside the base.
That, or, that's what they wanted people to think.
They maneuvered in complete silence, communicating through hand signals and gestures. Though Sero wasn't trained to know the exact nuanced meaning of every signal, he kept up enough, following close to Hitoshi. Tense clenching of his teeth betrayed his otherwise composed and alert demeanor. Once they secured the bottom floor, they ascended to Gamma's control floor. They spread out just a bit, checking under every desk and behind every monitor. Still, not even a pencil looked out of place. Itona raised his hand, calling them to a halt. He swiped a downturned palm across his neck in a throat-cutting motion — danger area. Itona pointed down the side hallway to Takebayashi and Okuda's lab. The door was closed, but in the dimness of the base, a sliver of light shined through the bottom.
Hitoshi brought his arm from his shoulder and swept it out in front of him to the side. He pointed at Sero and Itona, held up a two, and gestured the large monitor system that held Ritsu's mainframe. He then pointed to himself and repeated the throat-cutting gesture. Itona scowled, and Hitoshi repeated the gestures with more aggression and urgency. This wasn't a matter for debate. Every second spared was precious. Itona rebooting Ritsu took top priority; it was his and Sero's job to make sure the mission was accomplished. If that meant putting himself in the line of fire to distract their attackers away from Itona and the mainframe, then so be it.
Itona relented, nodding and leading Sero toward the mainframe. Sero gave him a wavering smile and a thumbs up — ironically the signal for 'message received,' which Hitoshi doubted he meant to communicate. Hitoshi returned the gesture with a half-smile before creeping down the hallway.
Please don't be Shigaraki or Kurogiri, he prayed as he lined up next to the door, gun raised to his chest. He doubted he could fight them two-on-one and win again; the first time was a damn miracle in high heels.
He contemplated if it was possible to sneak through the door without alerting the villain. But ultimately decided it wasn't worth the risk of them escaping unseen first. He checked the handle — unlocked, despite the door being programmed to automatically lock when closed. Hitoshi slammed it open, eyes locking on a black-clad figure, and fired a nerve-bullet into their back immediately. If it turned out to be friendly fire, like Aizawa, then it would only paralyze the man temporarily. He would understand Hitoshi's need to be overly cautious…probably.
The figure squawked, peering over their shoulder to see what hit them. "Well that wasn't very nice of you," the intruder gruffed and pulled the dart out of his shoulder.
Huh. Turned out it didn't matter at all.
Fuck.
A lab stool flew for his head, and Hitoshi ducked, wincing at the echoing CRASH as it bounced off the metal door behind him. If there were any other villains in the building, they all knew where to find them.
"Well, he is doing his job, so it's not his fault," the villain said to himself in a softer voice. His dark suit was paired with a grey top mask. Hitoshi didn't recognize him, and with Ritsu's server down, she couldn't help identify him.
"Who are you? What do you want?" the brainwasher asked.
"Why would I tell you?" the villain spat, only to perk up and then say. "The name's Twice, kiddo."
Insane. That was the only explanation. Like genuinely, beyond the usual villain-level insane. The moment the strings to his mind appeared, Hitoshi snatched them, unnerved by the interaction alone. He scanned the area Twice clearly rummaged through, glass test tubes and beakers carelessly broken and files scattered everywhere.
"You're looking for something…" Hitoshi mumbled. "What did you take? Give it to me."
Twice reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small vial. Hitoshi snatched it away immediately. The side felt faintly sticky, with just the smallest residue of white specs. Someone tore the label off. "What is this?"
Hitoshi stared into Twice's empty, unmoving eyes, praying for a miracle. While his internship with Aizawa was cut short, the man encouraged Hitoshi to practice expanding the bounds of his quirk. He focused the majority of the training camp doing just that…but it was clearly going to take more than a few days of practice. Hitoshi huffed and used his capture rings to physically restrain Twice before lifting the tether on his mind. He held up the vial. "What is this? Tell me."
"I'm not going to tell you shit," Twice spat before his brows furrowed. "Why would we tell you that?"
Not even blinking, Hitoshi activated the electrocution feature on his capture rings for a few seconds. Twice screeched and gurgled, limbs twitching and spasming after it passed. His eyes narrowed.
"I'm still...not...telling you…"
Hitoshi weighed his options. He could keep trying to get the villain to talk, but as much as he put up a front, Hitoshi took no pleasure in torture. That's why END had the weapons they did; they were painless, non-lethal, and effective. Since they appeared to be non-effective with this villain, he needed to find a way to work around it.
"Who are you working with? The League?" he tried, and the villain snickered.
"Ding ding ding, we have a winner, and on the first try too!" the villain cheered before sobering up. "Granted, I'm a bit of a newbie. Bottom of the food chain, foot soldier, so to speak. Nothing too special, I swear, though I'm sure you know what I'm talking about; bet you END agents get treated the same by the government-"
"Is this the formula for our tranquilizer? Is that why it didn't work on you, because your quirk let you create some kind of antidote?" Hitoshi pressed. Twice actually doubled over laughing.
"Hell no, we already got access to that way before this. My whole team is immune to your stupid little weapons." Oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. This was so much worse than- no, this was actually the worst possible thing that could happen. "Not to insult the weapons, of course, I hear they're quite useful when they can be, well, used."
"Then what is-" Hitoshi stopped dead. His eyes landed on an emptied metal box, completely smashed open. The label on the outside was just legible: eap r-N mu-D A
eap r…eaper…Reaper? Hitoshi's head jerked back. The pieces slotted together.
Reaper-Nomu-DNA.
Fog covered his brain — a defensive blanket of security, triggered by even the slightest thought of the Reaper. Paralyzing fear (rough hands, cold chill of a blade, cut, cut, pull, stab, blood, so much blood) consumed him, and rage and bloodlust took the reins. He yanked Twice forward with the capture rings and slammed his back into the table.
"What the hell does the League want with this?"
Twice's eyes narrowed. "I think you already know."
He did. And there was no way in hell he was letting the League get what they wanted. He smashed the vial on the lab table, and it disintegrated into dust in his hand — literally.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"Wow, you're so strong!" Twice stood, somehow freed from Hitoshi's capture rings. "It's not impressive. My doubles aren't that durable anyway."
"Doubles-" The mud-like dust slipped between Hitoshi's fingers as Twice brandished an identical vial.
"Welp, my buddies and I have one more sample to collect, so I've gotta go. Toodaloo~" Twice shoved over a table, throwing an array of glass and specimen and chemicals at Hitoshi, who stumbled back, throwing his arms up to protect his eyes. Shards dug into his exposed skin, the tiniest one's stinging the most and only exasperated by the burning pain of the unknown liquids intermingling with his exposed flesh. Another smash of glass reverberated through the lab. Twice jumped out of the window. Hitoshi pulled a larger glass shard out of the side of his palm with a hiss and kicked the strewn table.
"Goddamnit!"
-.-.-.-
Shouji was accustomed to being feared.
His hometown was known for treating heteromorphs like shit. His earliest memories were tainted with whispers and pointing, parents pulling their children away from him on the playground, and classmates refusing to sit at his table. He remembered the day a little girl burst into tears the moment she saw his face. He's worn a mask ever since. It helped, if only a little — until the moon blew up and the Tentacle made his debut. Then it got so, so much worse.
Maybe that's why he connected with Tokoyami so quickly. Both heteromorphs with frightening-looking quirks and calm, quiet demeanors. Tokoyami knew what it was like to be treated as other, lesser because of his 'unnatural' appearance. He knew what it was like for people to openly fear his quirk. But while Shouji was determined to reclaim his tentacles and prove them heroic, Tokoyami jumped away from corners too shadowed.
And as the villain Moonfish sliced off one of his dupli-arms right in front of his friend, Shouji finally got a glimpse at why.
Dark Shadow loomed, a monstrous expanse of darkness to contrast the equally dangerous fire blazing in the far distance. Like a beast starved of prey, it stalked through the trees. It hunted for anyone misfortunate enough to come across its path — friend or foe. Anyone with sense would run for their lives, but Shouji remained, ducked behind a thick tree trunk. For his friend, his first in many, many years, remained ensnared at the heart of Dark Shadow's rage. An apex predator has no natural enemies. In the dark of the night, hours until sunrise, Dark Shadow reigned supreme. Tokoyami was helpless to contain it. Shouji stood no chance challenging it — he learned that the hard way, nursing his additional injury. Not even the END agent they were battling when the villain arrived stood a chance, Dark Shadow batting away the boy's tranquilizers with ease.
"You sure there's nothing we can do?" whispered the agent — Agent Blank, he believed he was called. The one who was a worse womanizer than Kaminari. He cradled his right forearm, sliced through by one of Moonfish's blades. A belt was strapped painfully tight above the wound ("Gotta cut off the artery," the agent said, eerily calm). Shouji insisted on carrying him, and despite the agent's composure, the weakness in his body won out.
"I'm not sure, Agent Blan-"
"Maehara. Call me Maehara. My blood's all over you, so I think we're far past the formalities."
"…Maehara, then. Perhaps, if we manage to find Todoroki or Bakugou. The light created by their quirks might be enough to keep Dark Shadow at bay," Shouji said. Maehara hummed.
"Maybe…I haven't seen them since before the game though. My quirk and weapons are useless, and there's no way my assassination style will work on…" The agent trailed off before gasping. "Shouji. I got an idea. Fall back to the boundary line."
"I'm not leaving-"
"You don't have to! In fact, we'll bring him with us."
"Wha-"
"HEY, BIRD BRAIN!" Maehara screamed and patted Shouji's arms with growing fervor. "Time to run, time to run."
Baffled and annoyed, but having no other choice, Shouji sprinted with all the speed his long, powerful legs would allow. He heard Dark Shadow's screech, the rusting of leaves as it slammed past trees and bushes. Maehara watched his back, letting him know how close Dark Shadow was and when to duck for cover.
"Go there! By that weird tree!"
Shouji obeyed, springing toward it. The tree was bent over like an arch, a dense bush growing behind it, creating a pitch-black cavern. Did Maehara do all this for another hiding spot? It didn't matter if Dark Shadow was already upon them!
"Hazama! I know you're in there, you're so predictable and always hide in there!" Maehara shouted at the bush. The ground shook with Dark Shadow's every step. "Look, I can't believe I'm asking you this, but- ugh, do you really think you have what it takes to join the honeypot trio?"
Nothing, except for Dark Shadow's ear-bleeding screech. The bush shifted — no, not the bush. The darkness. Shouji's sharp eyes barely made out the outline of a girl in the minimal starlight.
"You mean the honeypot quartet?"
"Yes, honeypot quartet! Now can you just-"
Dark Shadow screeched and lunged, arms outstretched to crush the students. Shouji felt a slight shove as the shadowed girl brushed past him, swaying like a palm tree as she walked.
"Fix your posture! Sway your hips, not your head!" Maehara hissed. Hazama ignored him, stopping right in front of the rearing beast.
"Hey, big boy. You're looking good," she rasped, and Dark Shadow…froze? "Stop, you're too much. You know I like them big and…scary."
Dark Shadow preened like a dog being praised, all that rage and violence abandoned as it turned its head almost shyly.
Yes. Yes, this was very scary. Scary for his ears and his innocence.
"Look, big boy, you know I'm always down for a date night. But with the mountain on fire and my phone not sending any texts and that creepy gas mask guy taking a piss on my favorite bush, the vibes, the setting is just…are throwing me off, you know? So maybe we take a raincheck? Try again another night? Maybe in a dark movie theater, with all the lights turned off…"
Maehara made a sound that resembled gagging. Shouji wasn't sure how aware Tokoyami was of his surroundings; he hoped not at all. The boy would surely never recover if he heard someone propositioning Dark Shadow.
"Want...fight…" the beast growled.
"Fight? Why would you want to fight me?" Hazama whined, raspy voice clearly trying to imitate the likes of Hagakure. Dark Shadow withered back, shrinking in size. "Please don't fight me, big boy. I really don't like it; it's such a hassle…"
Dark Shadow flinched again with a weakening caw, echoed by Tokoyami's desperate gasp. The boy grunted, forcing his body to curl inward, pulling Dark Shadow with him. The beast struggled weakly, reaching out to Hazama. Hazama brushed against him lightly.
"Don't worry, big boy. We'll see each other. You owe me a date now."
With a pained scream, Tokoyami regained control, calling Dark Shadow back. The boy collapsed to his hands and knees, chest heaving, and Shouji rushed to steady him. He couldn't carry him on his back too — neither he nor Maehara were the tiniest — so he settled for having Tokoyami prop against his side.
"Hmm. How's that for a Honeypot kill?" Hazama propped both hands against her hips, jutting out her chest. Shouji recalled seeing her in normal clothes earlier, meaning…ugh. "You're welcome, boys."
-.-.-.-
Moments after meeting Death, Monoma met the Devil.
They were both assholes.
Death was all-consuming. An overpowering, ever-burning light that suffocated his senses, ensnaring him in this fiery hell. An obnoxiously blue fiery hell.
His life never flashed before his eyes before sending him to this hellscape. It was downright insulting. Now, the last thing he saw before Death was the stupid face of that annoying zappy 1-A pest whining about shooting himself in the ass (now that part, admittedly, was highly enjoyable). Death arrived in a fury, erupting from the old 3-E building before ripping over to the eight students sitting in the 'out' zone in the courtyard. Monoma remembered feeling the initial wave of blistering heat, hot enough to scorch him down to his soul, followed by a cool chill accompanying their demise.
Then the Devil arrived.
Molten eyes of rage and vengeance, a trickle of blood dripping from eyebrow to cheekbone, gleaming teeth bared to rip out a throat. He emerged from light, and the flickering blue surrounding him dimmed and drew back. Standing above Monoma like a god to a peasant, his piercing gaze shifted beyond. In the reduced brightness, Monoma saw the other seven students followed him to hell. He mourned for them — not so much for Zappy or Sugar Boy, but the others… Kodai, expressionless face struck with confusion and terror; Tokage, clinging to Fukidashi so tight that if you tried to move her, her limbs would surely come off. At least they would have each other in the afterlife.
The Devil's jaw clenched, hungry for a victim. He didn't linger on the students though — what, were they too unworthy of his time? — and prowled a little further. Whatever he was looking for, he didn't find it, and he kicked over a flaming equipment rack with a guttural scream.
"Karma!" So that's the Devil's name, huh? How…fitting. The two END agents in the 'out' zone (taken out by 1-B, ha!), rushed their commander. "Our building, it's-"
"Gone." Karma gazed his now soulless eyes on the old wooden building engulfed in flames, the pace of incineration slower than Monoma would expect for a termite-infested ruin. "My quirk is doing what it can to protect it, but my range won't hold to get everyone here out. There's nothing we can do to save it now."
The coyote-faced agent sniffled, wet nose flaring, while the agent carrying the baseball turned his head to the side to hide the forming tears from everyone. A burning instinct encouraged Monoma to take his chance, to laugh at their tears and mock their pain. It was a shitty building! One big gust of wind probably would've sent it tipping. If he made fun of their vulnerabilities first, he could knock them down before they noticed his — noticed how utterly terrified he was. How his heart rate still wasn't recovered once he realized it still worked; when he realized how closely they cheated death.
Monoma kept silent, allowing the somber moment to pass. A small mercy in exchange for the Devil saving his life.
The coyote agent gulped, glancing back at the stunned-silent U.A. students. "Dude, if…if you hadn't been here, or reacted so quickly-"
"I know. The question is- did they know I was hiding inside and targeted me specifically? Or was this some brazen way to make a statement? Either way…it's their mistake to pay," Karma said, glaring at the building one last time before turning to the group. An air of authority fell over him with far too much ease. "We need to move. This villain might be too cowardly to face us head-on now, but we only make ourselves vulnerable if we stay put. I'm only going to say this once, so I hope it gets through your thick skulls. If any of you idiots step too far out of my range while we're still in this fire, you will die a slow, painful, incinerating death. So stay. Close. To. Me."
Oh, the numbskulls heard him loud and clear — too much so. The hero students clung to him like toddlers holding onto their parents' shirts in a crowd. Karma's eye twitched, pressing a palm into Kaminari's face to keep him from hugging the commander's torso while muttering, "Save it for Eyebags.".
Monoma, of course, wasn't an idiot like the others, and kept a reasonable distance of exactly one meter. He didn't really know or understand what Karma's quirk was, and it likely had a decent range given he protected them from inside the 3-E building. Still, after everything, Monoma wasn't taking any chances. His hand itched to reach over and copy the END commander's quirk for himself, but since he didn't know fully what it could do, and they were actively walking through fire, Monoma resisted.
Wow, that's twice in one night Monoma resisted his instincts. Kendou must be so proud…assuming she wasn't already-
"Where are we headed, Devil sir?" Monoma really tried to hide the gleeful lift in his voice, but, come on. The scariest teenager from the scariest group of teenagers was barely visible behind the wall of students clinging to him.
"Out of this fire and down the mountain. That's, of course, assuming the entire mountain isn't on fire, or that we don't come across another unpleasant pest. Communications are down, Ritsu is unresponsive, so we're really just walking blind here. Why? Are you scared?"
Monoma sputtered for a response — No, of course not! Him, scared? Of what? He was just…reasonably curious! Obviously! — but Karma beat him to it.
"Because you should be. We should all be terrified right now."
Monoma huffed, crossing his arms. "Oh, please. I'm sure you END agents have faced way worse than this."
"We have," Baseball agent said. "But Korosensei was there to protect us back then."
Monoma stopped asking questions.
They walked a very strange path for a group trying to leave a mountain; they climbed up rocks, moved in a pacing zigzag, practically combing every inch of the forest fire. Just when Monoma thought they might be approaching the fire's edge, the commander turned, dragging them all with him on his nonsensical escapade.
"I haven't seen or smelt anybodies," Coyote Face said, and the insult for his grammar was right at the tip of Monoma's tongue-
Any…bodies…
Clarity hit him like a smack in the face, followed by a gymnastics display from his stomach. He covered his mouth to force the bile back down.
"Is it stupid luck, or are our enemies just that stupid…" Karma muttered.
"H-Hey! Is- Is someone there?" a distant voice called. Tokage peeled back from Karma's bicep.
"Rin!"
They clearly wanted to sprint to the voice, but the END agents moved painfully slow. Monoma watched Baseball agent reach into his belt and pull out some gleaming metal object.
"To-Tokage? Is that you?"
They finally broke through the fire line, color and shadow returning to the world once more. Monoma gasped for the fresh air, only to hack up a lungful of smoke.
"Holy shit, how are you- you guys were in- how did you survive that?" Rin asked, fully scaled to protect against the heat.
"He saved our lives!" Kaminari declared, trying to go for another hug. Now free from the flame, the END commander side-stepped, letting the 1-A idiot leap right into a tree.
"No time for this. Keep up, Scales." Karma marched down, and like ducklings, the hero students followed. Monoma, of course, paused to huff and show his displeasure for being ordered around. If he skipped a little to make sure the others didn't get too far ahead, well, it's not like anyone could prove it.
"Well, what do ya know. You're a like rescue hero, aren't you?" Monoma said, ignoring how scratchy his voice was after coughing up a lung. "I always thought it was so unfair 1-A got both the END agents. I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to convince U.A. to let someone like you into our class. I bet that would finally knock them out of their superiority complex!"
"Hey! We don't have a superiority complex!" annoying sugar boy protested. Monoma sneered.
"Hmm. As tempting as that sounds, I'm afraid you've read me all wrong. I'll never be the hero type," said Karma. A nearby bush rustled, and the commander stepped protectively in front with his weapon drawn. A pale hand lifted a tree branch, and Yanagi peaked out, blinking widely.
"What's happening? Who set the forest on fire?"
Karma sighed, lowering his gun. "Another one. Join the crowd, Poltergeist." He reached out to help the girl over a fallen log.
Coyote agent snickered to Baseball agent. "Maybe Loud-Mouth is onto something. He's gonna save the whole mountain at this rate."
"The Devil Rescue Hero, Karma. Now that just sounds all kinds of bizarre."
-.-.-.-
Tetsutetsu was so locked in on his epic duel-to-end-all-duels with his ultimate rival and brother-in-quirks that he didn't notice the weird purple smog until it was centimeters from his face. Kirishima landed a punch across his cheek right at that moment, perfectly knocking Tetsutetsu's face away from the weird gas, and he had half a mind left to grab Kirishima's wrist and yank him with him as he stumbled back.
"YES! You're out!" Kirishima declared, a red-tipped plastic knife harmlessly poking Tetsutetsu's chest. "I knew I could-"
Tetsutetsu slammed a hand over Kirishima's mouth and pointed at the expanding purple mist. The forest was quiet — far too quiet for what was an intense war zone moments before. 1-B's strategy to counteract 1-A's sprinters was to congregate their defense forces in two areas near the boundary line, luring Midoriya and Iida into perfectly set traps while also throwing off the rest of 1-A about the real location of their flag. It was absolute chaos from the moment Midoriya broke through Shiozaki's vine blockade and onward. Their target passed, and 1-B's offensive reserve charged the line, following the river upstream just like Agent Devil suggested. The fight was so loud, Tetsutetsu could barely hear Kendou's battle orders. Now, besides him and Kirishima, no one made a sound.
The fuck?
The two hero students exchanged a glance. "This isn't one of 1-A's quirks."
"Not 1-B either. Maybe END…?"
"I don't think so. Midoriya would've warned us of something like this. Which only means…" Kirishima gasped, shark-like teeth grinding together. He took one running leap toward the mist before Tetsutetsu gripped his collar and yanked him back,
"Idiot! You can't just charge in like that! Your Hardening doesn't do shit against creepy gas mist!"
"But, that's our classmates in there! We gotta do something!"
"Yeah, well…" Tetsutetsu glanced around, a hopeless feeling crawling in his chest. He wasn't a brainless meathead, but he wasn't a brilliant strategist like Kendou — Kendou, who was likely trapped in the purple fog that did who-knows-what. His eyes caught on a slight gleam of metal — glasses. That nerdy END agent that hung around Yaoyorozu a lot peered through the bushes to the side of them, scrutinizing the fog. "Hey! Hey you! Do you know what's going on?"
The girl was deep in thought with herself, barely acknowledging the hero students as they ran up to her.
"Carbon, hydrogen, calcium…definitely concentrated CHCl3 vapor, likely perforated via a quirk that can accredit the unexpected colorization and seemingly controlled spread. Likely used for anesthetic attacks to subdue opponents in mass numbers, so it's plausible the attack specifically targeted this area. I counted nine, maybe ten students in the affected zone before the attack, so it's likely our locations were known. Need to subdue before prolonged exposure causes increased risk of toxicity. Since the chemical makeup of the quirk gas is quite simple and common, it may be possible to trigger appropriate chemical reactions to alter the production and turn it benign…"
"Uh…" Tetsutetsu liked to think he was pretty good at science (knowing chemistry and physics came in handy for his quirk), but he's pretty sure his brain melted a little bit there.
"Ah, sorry. Agent Periodic, at your service. Our enemy has a chloroform gas quirk."
"Chloroform…" Kirishima mumbled, face scrunched, while Tetsutetsu nodded, finally starting to catch on.
"And you think you can take them out, right?" said Tetsutetsu. Agent Periodic eyes grew as large as her glasses.
"Wuh-Well, I might be able to use concentrated chemicals to counteract the quirk, but, uh, I'm not like those END agents. I'm not strong enough to take him out myself…"
"Well, that's fine! You got us! We'll be, like, your personal detail!" Kirishima mock punched a fist, and Tetsutetsu nodded, fisting his hands and turning them to steal.
"Yeah, your bodyguards! That sounds badass!"
The agent rubbed her chin. "Hmm, that might work…"
Tetsutetsu scoffed. "Might? Nah, it's gonna work. We're gonna make it!"
"Hmm, then it's settled." Agent Periodic snapped her fingers. "I officially declare you my lab assistants!"
"Alright! Now we're talking!" Kirishima whooped and cheered, and it was only instinctual for Tetsutetsu to join in.
"Hell YEAAAAH!" He pumped a fist, but paused, leaving it hanging mid-air. "Wait a minute. Lab assistants?"
-.-.-.-
Uraraka used to wish she was in E-class.
Not that she's ever admitted that out loud! It was just, all throughout her (torturous) time at Kunugigaoka, it always sat in the back of her mind. The school wanted everyone to fear being in E-class; to fear the ridicule, the shame, the lack of resources, and the delinquent students. It was a guaranteed one-way ticket to academic failure, her teachers always said. Work hard now, because if you end up there, any hard work will mean nothing. So Uraraka worked and worked, spending endless hours in tutoring or the library, doing schoolwork until sunrise, and even when she felt bonedead, she kept pushing. No matter how hard she worked now, her parents worked even harder, and if she wanted to give them the good life they deserved, she couldn't give up now!
But, as test after test and assignment after assignment came back marked to the brim with red, as her teacher's called her into conferences and her classmates gossiped behind her back, Uraraka couldn't help but wish someone would just lay down the final nail and ship her coffin to E-class. It's where she deserved to be with her test scores, and everyone knew the administration rigged it to keep her in the higher courses.
"I wish my quirk was heroic enough that the school didn't care I was an idiot," a classmate told her to her face once during the middle of a lesson. They weren't allowed to leave during lessons, so Uraraka sat there in front of everyone, forced to keep her tears silent. Her classmates didn't bother being so quiet with their snickering.
At least, she reasoned, if she was in E-class, she wouldn't be so alone.
When she met Midoriya, and E-class started testing the best in the school, Uraraka became more desperate than ever to join. She even purposefully flunked assignments, hoping the dismal performance would get her transferred. But for some reason, the administration seemed more determined than ever to not transfer anyone down to E-class, no matter how bad their grades got. Then the truth came out about the end class, and for the first time, Uraraka feared being in E-class. She saw the headlines, saw her parents' frantic horror as they asked her if Kunugigaoka taught her how to kill too, and she let it completely corrupt her memories of 3-E and the kind boy who risked his grade to save her during the quirk exam maze.
There weren't enough apologies in the world for Midoriya Izuku and the sacrifices he and his classmates made. But at the very least, she could make it up to them by embracing the E-class education she once so desperately (and ignorantly) desired.
"LOOK OUT!" She smacked the back of Agent Justice's head, and the boy floated upward as a horrifying green beast crashed in from the sky, right where the boy was just standing.
"OwwuuAAHHHHH! WHAT IS THAT?!" The agent flailed mid-air, trying desperately to regain footing. Right, he had a running quirk, right? Something with his feet? Midoriya warned her about him and Agent Bend, predicting the two of them would make a bold offensive charge. He was right, of course, and Uraraka was ready to crush them.
But, then this creepy ugly green beast with an exposed (and likely useless) brain and six chainsaw protruding arms crashed into them, ruining her chance to prove her kickass combat skills she's worked since her internship to build.
"What is that thing?!" Tsunotori screeched, stumbling back into Agent Bend.
"It…It looks like the thing from the USJ," Uraraka said, pulling the still-floating Kimura back from the swiping blade.
"A Nomu," Okano answered, fear shining through her serious expression. "Crap, I left my anti-sensei weapons back at the base!"
Kimura pulled a throwing dart out of his utility belt and chucked it at the Nomu, embedding it in his neck. The beast didn't even react to swat it away, flinging a chainsaw at Okano's torso. It sliced right through the tree behind her, and the Nomu's arm pulled back, revealing the pair of legs missing the rest of the body.
"OKANO!" Kimura screeched, his flailing propelling him higher. Uraraka scrambled to release her quirk before the boy floated too far away, and instead of faceplanting as she expected, he landed with cat-like grace on his feet.
"Yeah?" The legs spoke, sprouting a torso as Okano unfolded from the most unsettling backbend Uraraka's ever seen. "Also, I don't think your nerve dart did anything."
"I really hate when you do that," Kimura said, unaware of the Nomu swinging for him next. Unlike Okano, he failed to dodge, just barely evading the serrated edge as the Nomu's arm smacked him straight into a tree. Two horns shot out, aimed at the Nomu's eyes.
"C'mon, we need to run!" Tsunotori said, sending another horn to pick up Kimura by his hood. The boy's head slumped, completely unresponsive. Uraraka nodded and grabbed Okano's wrist, pulling her like a balloon. They sprinted, retreating to the river while Tsunotori did her best to slow the pursuing Nomu with her horns as Uraraka floated and dropped as much debris on it as she could. Still, the raging beast kept pace.
Uraraka spotted Tsuyu standing at her river guard post. Kataoka was talking with her, gesturing downstream where the END representative was supposed to be guarding.
"Tsu! Run!" Uraraka screamed. When they reached the other girls, the Nomu could just be seen through the dense forest, chopping through every tree that got in his way.
Kataoka gasped, pulling out her gun, already filled with nerve-bullets. "I suspected something was wrong. I noticed a purple mist further downstream. I didn't recognize it from 1-B's quirks, but I swam over to check with Asui first. It must be the League."
Before she wasted her bullets, Okano stopped her. "It's resistant to our nerve formula."
Kataoka gritted her teeth, eyeing the fast-approaching beast. "Then we must retreat."
"No, we can't! We'll just lead it to more students and put them in danger! We have to stop it before it hurts anyone else!" Uraraka surprised herself with her objection, but she tried to look strong, gesturing to Kimura. "If we work together, I know we're strong enough to stop it."
Uraraka looked between the four other girls, desperate but determined. She worked her ass off to get better at fighting villains, and what kind of hero would she be if she turned and ran now? E-class faced a beast just like this at the USJ and won — Uraraka knew they could do it again. They had to.
Kataoka met her eyes, analyzing before smiling. "Well, you got a point. We can't let any other stupid boys get knocked around by this thing, now can we?"
The Nomu burst through the treeline — right into Uraraka's perfectly laid trap. She touched her fingers together, dropping the giant floating rock right on its ugly head. She pumped her fists victoriously.
"Let's do this! Plus Ultra!
"Plus Ultra!" Okano cheered, while Kataoka huffed and shook her head.
"I've told Isogai E-class needed a cool cheer. Typical Mr. Perfect never listens…"
-.-.-.-
Isogai should have listened to Nakamura. The class gossip-turned-intelligence expert seemed to have her fingers in everything. Her bets were always well placed and predictions eerily accurate. Only an idiot would ignore her warnings.
"You gotta watch your smooching levels, Prince Charming," Nakamura told him after what he thought was a very successful press conference. "That million-watt smile might get you out of a lot of trouble now, but keep it up, and it'll start attracting it."
Nonsense, he thought. How could a smile get him into trouble?
"Ahh, you're even dreamier in person," the girl above him fawned, a deranged obsession fixated in her gaze. She came out of nowhere, targeting him when he was alone. He tried to defend himself, but his nerve-knife did nothing but make her excited. She had a thing for knives, apparently.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Isogai said, backing up slowly. He eyed the forest around him, but it appeared he was completely alone with this girl.
"I'm Toga! Toga Himiko! And you're Agent President, aka Isogai Yuuma! I've watched all your interview clips, and I've just been dying to meet you."
She knew his name. How did she know his name? Itona and Ritsu made sure their personal information stayed off even the dark web. So how…
The girl lunged, blade in hand, and Isogai reacted a second too slow. The knife dragged across his cheek, shallow but stinging. He gasped, stumbling back to get distance, but Toga followed him, crowding his facing with lustful eyes.
"Just when I thought your face couldn't get any more beautiful — ah, you look truly stunning in red, Isogai-chan. I love it when you bleed…" Her obsession left her open, and Isogai took full advantage of it, grabbing the wrist holding the knife, and twisting it. He swiped the blade from her while pinning her arm behind her back.
"Look, I don't know what you're here for, but you don't need to do this. Just stand down now and no one needs to get hurt."
Toga giggled, peeking over her shoulder to look at him. "Such a gentleman too. But I'm afraid I can't do that. I'm here for blood. Yours isn't the goal, which is why I'm so happy we stumbled into each other. You're just so cool and charismatic and handsome and everyone loves you. I've always wished I could be just like you…"
A sharp jab pricked his thigh, like a snake bite, and he yelped. He caught a glimpse of the strange syringe coming from the device on Toga's back penetrating his uniform, a trail of red moving up the tube, leeching his blood.
"Get away from him!"
A blur of green rushed by, ripping Toga and the needle away. Midoriya stood there, chest heaving and body clearly already battered. He pinned Toga to the ground with trembling arms, yet he still looked at Isogai with such concern. A trail of blood dribbled from his lips — didn't Midoriya learn how to overcome that issue? He must be really worse for wear…
"Are you okay? She didn't hurt you, right?"
"I'm…I'm fine. Are you okay, Midoriya?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah…Nagisa and I, we got caught by this really strong villain. He hurt Hayami and almost hurt Kota. Nagisa's taking them to find the teachers, but I ran ahead because we learned that the villains are here to…"
Shrill, deranged giggles overtook Midoriya's concentration, staring down at the villain below him. A bright pink flushed Toga's cheeks, and she was practically drooling as she stared up at Midoriya.
"You…You're just as perfect as I imagined…walking right into my hands, already bleeding…I hear your blood is extra special, Midoriya Izuku."
"Huh?"
Isogai jumped forward. "Midoriya, look-"
Gleaming metal launched for him, and Isogai ducked as another knife embedded the tree where his neck had been seconds before. Toga was suddenly pounced atop Midoriya, needle syringe buried in his chest — right where the Reaper ripped through months ago. Midoriya's legs scissored Toga's neck, ripping her away from him, but not fast enough to stop the strange device on her back from leeching away at Midoriya's blood. Toga tumbled back, straightening her skirt and smiling while Isogai rushed to Midoriya's side.
"As much as I wish we could spend all night together…it seems I'm carrying precious cargo now. But I'll have both of you closer than ever, so it's like we'll never be apart, yeah?"
Midoriya gasped, struggling to stand, but the strain of the night's battles was catching up to him. Isogai barely kept him from faceplanting. Toga giggled, muttering something about how cute they both were before running off into the woods, leaving the two boys reeling.
-.-.-.-
Irina was having a terrible summer. Between the stress of Karasuma's nephew, to all the additional brats they needed to train, absolutely nothing was going right. So of course, while she's stuck playing referee for some hero kid class showdown, she gets attacked by a massive villain with a massive magnet.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" she screeched, barely avoiding her skull getting smashed in. "Watch the face! It's my money maker, you bitch!"
The villain didn't seem too sympathetic to her plight and was more interested in attacking Irina, which was yet another problem. Irina was a honeypot assassin, not a melee brawler. She wasn't equipped for this close-combat shit.
Luckily, she knew there were some particularly powerful boys nearby who were perfect for this kind of battle. She heard them bickering earlier, the explosive one surprisingly astute enough to see through 1-B's diversion plan and deduced where they were likely actually hiding their flag. The ice and fire boy followed but kept holding them up, seemingly cautious to charge into enemy territory.
Irina released her quirk, pheromones begging anyone who smelt it to come save the poor damsel in distress. Seriously, she's broken two nails dodging these annoying attacks.
"DIEEEEEEEEEE!"
Ah, finally. Her saviors arrived.
They fought fiercely (of course they did, she's not letting them be weak when defending her) with explosions of fire and ice and curses. The villain's quirk flung them around, but Irina's honeypot refused to relent, not letting her saviors back down. A barrage of paintball gunfire joined the fray, which surprised her — she didn't realize her quirk reached the boundary line. Yet when she turned around, she found Chiba obsessively firing paintballs at the villain. The 1-A girl (the one with more revealing clothes than Irina in her prime) stood there too — What did Shinsou call her? Yaomomo? — her face perturbed even as she continued to manifest more and more paintballs for Chiba.
"Oi! What are you doing here?" Irina called. Her quirk didn't work on women, even women who loved women (Irina clocked Yaomomo with that punk rock girl. She wasn't stupid, unlike that bisexual disaster that flirted with her as much as he flirted with Shinsou).
"Oh, thank goodness! A teacher! I was stationed with Chiba to supply him ammo when all of the sudden — it was like he got possessed. He ran over here and started attacking — what is going on? Is it the villain's quirk?"
"Hmm? No, it's mine."
Yaomomo gasped. "What? Why are you-"
"Please, spare me self-righteous bullshit. I needed a hero, so I honey-trapped those two idiots. Chiba just got caught in the frays of my quirk as well." Irina crossed her arms, observing the battle. There was another massive explosion, and the two boys got knocked on their asses as the villain approached Chiba and them, clearly annoyed by the rain of paintballs.
"But I was right next to Chiba, so how come your quirk had no effect on me? Ah, not that I'd expect you to need me to be your hero. You were right, Bakugou and Todoroki are really strong and capable, so using them was a safe bet…"
Irina eyed the girl. The way she crossed her arms over her chest, head ducked and shoulders slouched, pensive look scrunching up her features. A beautiful young woman turned into a pathetic self-conscious child. It was an absolute crime.
"Hardly. My quirk only works on men. If I could control someone with a quirk and a brain as amazing as yours, I'd do it in a heartbeat."
"O-Oh…thanks?"
"Did you say your quirk only works on men?" the villain said, using the giant magnet to block the gunfire. She stopped approaching, squinting at Irina closely. Irina glanced her opponent up and down, taking in her shoulder-length hair and enviously large lips paired with a muscular figure and square jaw, 5 o'clock shadow peaking through. Another beautiful woman (and villain, unfortunately) who too often allowed the hateful voices of the world to harm her.
Irina tilted her chin up and smirked. "Only men. We women are too smart to get caught in a honeypot trap like that."
The villain paused, holding her gaze for a moment. Irina must've stopped using her quirk to influence her saviors as the attacks ceased as well. Well, Chiba ran out of ammo since Yaomomo stopped producing it, though the boy still seemed frantic to find more. Odd. If he was still under her quirk, then why did Explodo and Icy-Hot stop…
"Hmm. Seems Mustard's gas mask does the trick as well," a deep, theatrical voice said from behind them. Irina tried not to show her alarm as she turned around; she was a professional assassin. How did she not hear this guy sneak up on them?
Perched up in a tree, the villain's appearance matched his tone — a dramatic top hat, gaudy yellow trench coat, and a gas mask atop of a black-and-white stage mask. He brandished two blue marbles in his fingers like he held the ultimate prize. He looked hysterically ridiculous.
"I always hate to derail an impactful moment but, as I'm sure you know from your time as an assassin, the mission always takes precedence. Thank you, Magne, for making the delivery so easy. I think it's best we go now."
"Good catch, Compress. Another time, ladies," Magne chased after the trenchcoat villain. Before she disappeared out of range, Yaomomo materialized some odd metal object from her wrist and handed it to Chiba. The boy swiftly loaded it and fired, nailing Magne's magnet. If Magne noticed, she didn't show it.
"Uh, Ms. Uh…Bitch-sensei? Where did Bakugou and Todoroki go?" Yaomomo asked. Irina hummed, glancing over to where the boys were — now, not a soul in sight. Oh. So that's why they stopped attacking.
Irina groaned and pulled at her hair. Worst. Summer. Ever.
-.-.-.-
It was irrefutable that Hitoshi's demise could only be blamed on his own dumbass choices.
He could practically hear Karasuma's voice, interrogating him after a mission gone wrong, trying to get to the root of the issue. "After Twice fled, what does mission protocol order you to do?" Return to Itona, report the incident, and determine the next course of action as a team. "And what action did you choose?" To jump out the window.
Hindsight was 20/20. Hitoshi in the moment could only think about the Reaper and how the villains had his Nomu DNA, they had the Reaper, and Hitoshi needed to get it back and destroy every last trace of that monster. Nothing else mattered. Hitoshi in the moment couldn't think ahead, and couldn't anticipate where the retreating villain might lead him.
Right to all the other retreating villains.
There was enough sense left in his to approach stealthfully, creeping silently in the shadows of the treetops, peering down from a sturdy branch. Twice joined three other villains — a top-hat magician, a big woman with a bigger metal weapon, and a lizard Stain cosplayer.
"About time you showed up," Lizard Stain muttered.
"My dudes! And Magne! Good to see you're alive and well!" Twice waved and then crossed his arms. "I take it you also retrieved your objectives."
"Of course. Grabbed an extra one while I was at it. They were practically handed to us on a silver platter; it would be foolish to skip out." The masked magician held out a hand, revealing two marbles in between his fingers.
"Nice! I, of course, got my sample, though that END-hero kid gave me hell for it. You know, the brainwashing one with purple hair? Dude actually tried to torture me a bit for information. If Shigaraki didn't hate his guts so much, I'd say we grab him too. Real villain potential with that one."
Hitoshi's teeth ground, painfully dragging and forcing him silent. He composed himself by focusing on what Twice said before that comment. Grab him too. Too.
Hitoshi adjusted the dials on his artificial vocal cords, honing on Lizard Stain's voice. "Who did you end up grabbing?"
Lizard Stain blinked, glancing around, while the Magician hummed. "Forgotten the objective already, Spinner? Bakugou Katsuki, of course, and Endeavor's boy."
Hitoshi immediately latched onto the strings, seizing the villain's mind with a death grip. He turned his mask to intimidation mode, a red glow emitting the outline of Korosensei's harshest smile.
"I didn't ask you-"
"Release them. Now." A deep, gravelly tone replaced Hitoshi's own. Twice yelped as the other two villains gasped, readying their weapons. The Magician held out the two marbles.
"Compress, what are you doing?!"
The marbles dropped, hitting the ground with a puff of blue smoke, depositing Bakugou and Todoroki's bodies. There was no time for anyone to move before the explosion ripped through the area, shaking the ground so much it knocked Hitoshi from his tree. He landed like a crouched cat ready to pounce as Bakugou jumped back, dragging Todoroki with him.
"YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!"
Spinner groaned, picking himself off the tree stub Bakugou blew him against. "Looks like your brainwasher friend followed us, Twice!"
His cover was blown, but at least he wasn't outnumbered one-to-four. He stepped out, nodding to his classmates. "They're after you, Bakugou. We need to retreat. Now."
"Wha- Huh?! I'm not running away like some coward. If they want me, then they can have my fist in their faces!"
Hitoshi rolled his eyes and plucked the string to Bakugou's mind. The boy's face dropped blank, and Hitoshi raised an eyebrow at Todoroki, begging him to try something stupid. Todoroki, wisely, kept his mouth shut and nodded.
Hitoshi glanced back at the villains, who were starting to pick themselves back up. Twice still had the Reaper's DNA. If he ran now, there was no chance of getting it back. He didn't know what the League wanted with it, but his worst fears could guess.
"Follow me," he said, throwing a smoke bomb at the ground and running toward the mountain path. He already failed his task as an END agent; he couldn't fail again tonight as a hero.
-.-.-.-
They nearly reached the path down the mountain when a wall of blue flames encircled them. Hitoshi panted, backing up to make sure he had a hand on Todoroki and Bakugou. The flame ate away at the oxygen, making it near impossible to breathe, and the trio wheezed. Todoroki counteracted with a wave of ice, but it only doused the flames for a second before another blast of flame trapped them again, even hotter than before. At this rate, the villains would cook them before they captured them.
Todoroki gritted his teeth, wiping the sweat from his brow and slamming his hand to the floor, creating a continuous stream of ice that formed an archway in the flames. Anytime the fire tried to eat it away, Todoroki summoned more.
"Get out of here! I'll hold it off!"
"Not leaving you, IcyHot!"
Todoroki pursed his lips, staring Hitoshi down but refusing to respond. Refusing to let Hitoshi force his will away from him. Hitoshi glared, gripping Todoroki's sleeve even harder. Two could play that game.
The heat wavered, Todoroki's ice erupting from his hand in the largest wave yet, completely swallowing the flames. "Ah, two idiotic heroes, hopeless to use their brains," a familiar voice mocked. "I guess I really am a rescue hero tonight. Add you three, and I believe that brings my total to seventeen."
Karma stepped out, the ice melting too fast evaporating puddles where he walked. He glanced around, a scowl marring his amused expression.
"And yet the villain behind these flames still won't show himself. How…disappointing."
Blue light flashed from a tree behind Karma. Hitoshi and Todoroki saw it at the same time, Hitoshi threw out his capture rings while Todoroki shout out another wall of ice. Neither was fast enough as a fiery blue blast smacked into the END commander, consuming him until only his silhouette was visible. Karma sighed loudly, partially stepping out from the flames so they highlighted his back like a hellfire cape.
"I stand corrected. This is disappointing too."
He pulled out a knife — a real one, one that can kill — and threw it at the source of the flames. The blade embedded in the villain's throat with a squelch and then clattered to the ground as the villain dissolved into mud.
"Twice!" Hitoshi hissed. He readied his capture weapons, but another blue light enveloped him — only this one wasn't caused by fire. An unseen force gripped his entire body, yanking him and his classmates back and throwing them at some random schoolgirl. The girl squealed, bracing her hands in front of her face right before the boys collided with her. Hitoshi groaned, realizing he was completely crushing her under his body and struggled to stand.
"Ouch — uh, sorry-"
The girl grinned, and a sharp sting against his neck, right above his vocal cords, made Hitoshi freeze. With a hysterical giggle, the girl pressed the knife a little harder, breaking more of the skin. A warm trickle slipped down his neck, and her eyes tracked it as she licked her lips.
"Don't respond to him, Toga," the fire villain said, this time walking out from the opposite side. Toga hummed, reaching up the wipe his dripping blood. She stared at it in fascination, inspecting how it coated her fingerprints.
"You got it, Dabi. No responding." She held a bloody finger to Hitoshi's lips and hushed him. He tried not to gag as the taste of his own blood tainted his mouth. Toga's grin widened.
Hitoshi took a deep breath, imagining his teacher's instructions. Focus. The villains haven't won yet. Identify the threats, Aizawa would say. There was Toga pinning him with her knife. Dabi held Todoroki, a flaming hand threatening to clutch his throat, while Twice struggled to restrain Bakugou, the boy exploding his doubles at rapid speed, yet there always seemed to be another ready to replace the last. Karma remained unrestrained but surrounded by the last three villains.
Identify your allies. You're not alone in this, Korosensei would say. Hitoshi locked eyes with Karma. The END commander was clearly running through a thousand scenarios in his head, making use of the intelligence he once seamlessly passed off as a quirk.
"You sure we can't just take them all? We got them right here," Spinner said.
Dabi scoffed. "The more we grab, the more of a liability they become. Do you really want the heroes and the END agents on our asses? Let's just take the one we came for and get out of here."
"LIKE HELL!" Bakugou roared, followed by a less-than-impressive explosion — it didn't even hurt the doubles holding him. Frigid air sent a shiver down all their spines, so cold it made their breaths visible. Dabi's flames flickered while ice started building up on Todoroki's skin. Karma shoved his hands in his pockets a bit too casually.
"It's curious, really. I can't fathom what could be so interesting about these two that you'd go through all of this trouble. I mean, surely you know how my agents get when it comes to silly sentimental things, yet you go and destroy our building, attack our mountain, our friends. END doesn't kill, but I offer you no promises after tonight."
The villains tensed, glancing at each other. It was laughably pathetic; did they really not consider that before they attacked END on their home base?
"The Nomu-Reaper DNA, they sto- augh!" Hitoshi rushed words fell silent as the knife cut deeper into his fragile flesh, even more blood pouring out. Not enough to be fatal, he didn't think…but probably not far from it.
"Careful, Toga. I believe Shigaraki wishes to end that one himself," Compress warned. Toga huffed and rolled her eyes.
"Well, he should've called dibs on someone less mouthy. The other one is way cuter anyway…" She smiled dreamily, brushing her hand against a vile on her backpack filled with red liquid.
Karma tilted his head to the side, devilish smirk curling up his face. "Let's play a game. I tell you exactly what your plan is, and you take the only offer that involves all of you leaving here with your lives. Sound fun?"
Magne scoffed. "Now why would we-"
Karma pulled his hands out of his pockets, loaded something into his gun, and fired. Magne screamed as a bullet ripped through her leg, and Hitoshi couldn't help but wince sympathetically, phantom pain pounding from his shoulder. Spinner tried to run to Magne's side, but Karma aimed the gun at him next. Real knife, real bullets — where did Karma even get them? Why did he have them with him? This was his ally, yet Hitoshi didn't feel at ease seeing him gain the upper hand.
"You came here as the newest attack dogs of the League of Villains. Hacked our system to spy on our locations and used Kurogiri's quirk to drop you accordingly. Four teachers to target, three objectives to obtain. The rest of you focused on the areas with the most students to maximize on casualties. You came for Bakugou, fooled by his crudeness in the Sports Festival and thinking he'll be an easy and powerful recruit. You came for the sample of the Nomu-Reaper DNA because your Nomus are laughably pathetic compared to Shiro's masterpiece. But that's not the only remaining sample of Shiro's work. No, there's one more — the legacy of a Nomu more powerful, more intelligent than any hero or villain."
Izuku.
Panic hitched Hitoshi's breath, eyes latching on the vile of blood. Izuku. They went after Izuku. They knew Izuku's quirk came from-
Karma laughed, grinning triumphantly. "So predictable. Do you still not understand what made Korosensei the greatest villain of all time? Because even when he laid out his every plan, his every action out, not a single person could guess his next move or anticipate the trick up his sleeve. You're nothing but little leaguers in his shadow."
Karma tilted his head more, locking eyes with Hitoshi and snapping him out of his panic. Work as a team. You're at your strongest together, Karasuma always told them. Hitoshi mirrored the head tilt as much as the knife let him, angling his head toward Bakugou. Karma smirked.
"Hmm, quite astute. And your offer?" Compress said. The END commander aimed his gun.
"Don't move."
The gun fired at the same time Compress shrunk himself down. It soared through the empty air — and headed straight for Hitoshi.
Memories of Takaoka flashed with the gunfire, but he held his ground and didn't move a centimeter. The bullet whizzed by, catching the handle of the knife and grazing Toga's hand. The transferred momentum sent the knife flying to the side as the bullet embedded a tree. Hitoshi snagged Toga's wrist, wet with fresh blood, and swung the girl around, catapulting her into Twice's doubles. He tackled Bakugou away from them, thankfully safe from any explosions as Karma continued to freeze the area out, preventing any sweating.
"Can't believe that actually worked," Hitoshi gasped, grimacing and cupping his throat, every movement tugging the split skin apart. The recovered Twice doubles approached, and Hitoshi flung out his other hand, wrapping as many doubles as he could and dialing the electroshock all the way up. More than ever, he wished he listened to Aizawa about switching to the capture scarf — it would make for a pretty good bandage right now. Bakugou, clearly annoyed by his lack of explosions, worked double time to build up a sweat as he pummeled through the remaining doubles.
Compress tried to use his quirk on Karma, but he sacrificed his gun to the quirk. As it dropped into a marble, Karma roundhouse kicked Compress in the face, cracking the bottom half of his mask off. Karma immediately punched the exposed mouth. He turned around just as Spinner attempted to attack from behind, sidestepping the attack from the hodge-podge collection of swords being held together by belts and chains.
"What, can't even afford a welder?" Karma mocked, holding up a leather belt. Spinner lifted the weapon, only for the tip of it to bend awkwardly. Karma flicked the belt like a whip, cracking it against Spinner's eye, making him howl. Another kick to the face sent the lizard sprawling.
Karma spun on the last victim of his rampage. Dabi and Todoroki wrestled with sloppy hand-to-hand as they struggled to cope with Karma's chokehold on the temperature. Karma, however, appeared to be thriving as he used the belt to lasso one of Dabi's wrists. He tugged, forcing the man off balance, stumbling away from Todoroki and into Karma's awaiting fists.
"That's for the 3-E building." A sharp knee into Dabi's gut. "That's for all the students you tried to cremate." A foot pressed against Dabi's elbow, forcing it to snap in the opposite direction. Dabi screamed. "That's for trying to snatch First over here-"
Hitoshi gave up putting pressure on his cut, flinging out his other capture ring around the arm Karma winded back for the follow-up punch.
"Karma! That's enough."
Wild eyes snapped toward him, deranged with bloodlust and vengeance. Hitoshi wasn't like Nagisa. He couldn't control Karma the way he needed the most; couldn't pinpoint the emotions that set him off into the state or how to bring him back down to earth. He couldn't talk sense into him like Korosensei used to — no one could. Ever since the day he died, Karma was teetering further and further on the edge, the stress and pressure of his position only making the cliff steeper. Only Nagisa had a firm grip on their friend anymore, but Nagisa wasn't here. Instead, it was Todoroki, someone who only made Karma want to nosedive.
A black portal opened behind Toga, and a blue humming light enveloped everyone's bodies. Hitoshi's instincts moved before his brain, capture ring releasing Twice, and anchoring it around a sturdy tree. His feet lifted off the ground, weightless flipping his stomach around.
And then that invisible force pulled.
Everyone went flying. The rings extended as far as they could go, tugging against the magnetic force. His shoulder burned, feeling like it was about to be ripped from its socket. A matching pain erupted in his other arm as the ring around Karma fully extended, catching the other boy before he tumbled into the portal. Both of his hands desperately gripped Todoroki, while Bakugou helplessly tumbled into the awaiting palm sticking out of the portal. It gripped the boy's neck with all but one finger, and Shigaraki finally showed his ugly face, peaking just his head through the portal like the coward he was.
"It's been fun, but it seems our time is up. But seeing you struggle so much…well, it wouldn't hurt to claim another prize."
Shigaraki latched out, grabbing Todoroki's ankle and pulling even more. Burning, ripping pain consumed Hitoshi's back and arms, topped with an echoing POP as his limbs were torn in separate directions. Pain shook his whole body, fingers begging to lose the rings, to end it all now. He kept his fists clenched, focusing instead of the pain of his fingernails digging into his palms.
Though his vision blurred, he could see Todoroki and Karma staring at him, could see Bakugou's horror and Shigaraki's growing glee. Karma's gaze hardened. He held his wrist to Todoroki, winding the cutting metal around his arm…and unwinding it around his own.
"What…what are you doing?" Todoroki said, voicing the thoughts Hitoshi was too pain-stricken to vocalize. Golden eyes met a mismatched blue and grey, fated twins torn apart too soon joined together for the first time since birth.
"Saving you."
But fate was cruel to them, and always would be, together or apart.
Karma turned his head back up to Hitoshi. "I'm a proper rescue hero, after all. Call me…Gambit."
The last of the wire unwinded, the magnetism ripping Karma into the portal, crashing him into Shigaraki. The pulling ceased, the blue glow fading, dropping Hitoshi and Todoroki to the ground. While Hitoshi screamed and gasped as dislocated joints crashed against rock, Todoroki screamed to stop the vanishing portal, his brother gone once again.