Author's Note: The title of this chapter is actually a song by late rock icon, Meat Loaf. Specifically, it's the title track of his third Bat Out of Hell album. Truthfully, I actually used the song as a chapter title for another fanfic I did years ago, but I decided to reuse it because the song seemed like the best theme for Kaoru/Outcast.

Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia.

Episode 3 - "The Monster Is Loose"

It was about midday as David and All Might drove through Sunrise City, with All Might already dressed in full costume. Their destination was Morning Light Stadium, which was normally the hallowed playing ground for the city's prized football team, the Sunrise Slammers. Today however, the stadium was to be the meeting place for the prospective members of the Protectors. Edward had chosen the meeting location himself, and he was easily able to rent the entire stadium out for the day due to his vast wealth. As they drove to the venue, both All Might and David couldn't help but wonder why Edward had picked this particular location for the meeting.

"You know, I'm thinking this meeting is going to turn out to be one big publicity stunt," David theorized. "You don't book an entire football stadium for just a simple meet-and-greet."

All Might nodded. "You're probably right. Still, I'd like to meet these other heroes, especially since I might end up working with them."

"You're still considering the idea of joining the Protectors?"

All Might looked out at the cityscape and thought again of All For One. "You made some good points yesterday, Dave. Still, the idea of uniting the best heroes in the world to help take down the worst villains of all time is worth considering. I still haven't decided to join either way, but I can't just dismiss this offer easily."

Suddenly the futuristic car's dashboard began to beep. The central screen was displaying that a major news alert was being put out over the radio.

David looked at the display. "It's something about the Golden Skulls. Last night I set it up so we'd get news alerts any time those guys tried something."

Once David turned on the radio, the voice of a woman reporter began to speak. "This just in. Four terrorist attacks have just taken place in major cities all around the world. One in Kyoto, Japan, one in the City of Edinburgh in Scotland, one in Brisbane, Australia, and one in San Fransisco, California. Thankfully, each attack was quickly thwarted by the local heroes of each city, with most of the perpetrators also having been captured. The captured terrorists were identified as part of the organization known as the Golden Skulls, a radical group crusading for the eradication of our current society in order to…"

"Man! Those guys really are starting to get out of control," David declared as he switched off the radio. "Maybe the Protectors aren't such a bad idea after all."

The conversation ended there and the duo drove in silence towards the stadium. When they arrived, All Might and David saw numerous press vans out in the parking lot. The presence of these vehicles confirmed the duo's suspicions that the meeting was really a publicity stunt to officially announce the possible formation of the Protectors. They headed into the stadium regardless though. Press event or not, All Might still wanted to find out about the heroes he might be working with.

When the duo made it onto the field, they saw several reporters sitting in the stands. They also saw an elaborate stage with a big T.V. screen and a podium. There were also T.V. cameras set up in various places around the field.

David shook his head. "We can't deny it anymore. Mr. Helios is planning to make some sort of official announcement about the Protectors."

"Well, it's too late to turn back now," All Might pointed out.

Suddenly coming over to the duo was a fairly young man with dark skin, wearing a purple bodysuit with an iron grey bike helmet and what looked like a simple pair of orange bike sunglasses. Covering his chest was a piece of grey armor decorated with the large image of a horseshoe magnet, and he had on grey armored shoulder pads. On the right shoulder pad was a blue circle with a black letter N in the middle, and on the left pad was a red circle with a black letter S. He also wore a pair of grey fingerless gloves and grey elbow pads like the kind skateboarders used. On his legs was a similar pair of grey knee-pads with metallic grey shinguards and metal grey shoes. Around his waist was a grey belt with a large horseshoe magnet for the buckle and four grey metal spheres hanging from the sides. The hero did not walk up to the duo but hovered over on top of a grey board that looked like a skateboard without wheels.

The hero stopped in front of the duo and dismounted his board like a normal skateboarder would. "What's up? Real name's Vic Owens, but everyone out in the field calls me Mr. Magnet."

"All Might," the Japanese hero responded as he shook Mr. Magnet's hand. "That's an interesting board you have. Some sort of Helios Corporation tech?"

"Nah man, just a simple metal board I designed and created myself."

"I thought as much," David interjected, nodding. "Hi, I'm David Shield, All Might's friend. I've read about you online. You're quirk, Magnetism allows you to control magnetic fields. You use your quirk to repel the board against the earth. Low tech, but very effective."

Mr. Magnet nodded in approval. "You're a sharp one. Anyway, I've wanted to meet you guys for a while now, particularly you, All Might. I've seen you in action on the net, and I gotta say I'm impressed."

"Thanks," All Might responded. "So Mr. Magnet, are you really going to join this team the Helios Corporation is trying to put together?"

"To be honest, I'm still making up my mind. I have to admit, taking down bad guys on a global scale sounds cool and all, but I keep asking myself one thing. If I'm out there chasing villains in Italy or Spain or wherever, who'd be back home protecting New York? I mean sure, right now I've got my sidekicks handling things and they do a good job, but I don't feel right just dumping everything on them to go onto something else. It'd be like I was abandoning the people of the city I love, feel me?"

All Might's expression became serious. "I understand. I've been having similar thoughts myself."

The conversation was interrupted by the sounds of cameras flashing and reporters asking questions. The three looked towards the sound and saw that a gaggle of reporters were following after another hero entering the stadium. This hero was a tall muscular man in his forties, with a broad chin, fair skin, and short sandy brown hair that had a slight curl to it. He had on a red mask around his eyes, and a black shirt with a large gold Roman numeral ten on the front. A red cape with a large black Roman numeral ten on it hung from his back, and his arms and legs were covered in some sort of red armor.

"That's Tenth Power," Mr. Magnet identified. "I met him earlier. Not the friendliest guy in the world. In fact I think he's another reason not to join this team."

All Might shuddered slightly. "He reminds me a little of Gran Torino."

"You mean that scary teacher of yours back at U.A.?" David asked.

"If either of you is wondering, I'd say there's no doubt Tenth Power is going to join this big team," Mr. Magnet interjected. "You see the gear he's wearing on his arms and legs? It's special Helios Corp tech designed to augment his strength. Fact is the guy owes most of his career to the Helios Corporation. They pretty much became his sponsor."

"What do you mean?" All Might asked.

"Back when he started out, Tenth Power was pretty small-time. Don't get me wrong, the guy's no wimp. His quirk, Times Ten lets him make nine duplicates of himself and whatever he's wearing or holding at the time. Sure, these duplicates only last for a couple of hours and also disappear if they take a certain amount of damage, but they make him a small one-man army. Anyway, Tenth Power took down a bunch of gangs in his home city of Detroit, which caught the attention of Edward Helios.

"Helios offered to give Tenth Power top of the line gear and major support to his hero agency if he agreed to promote the company. After that, Tenth Power hit the big leagues. His career has been on the upswing ever since."

"In other words, Helios Corp pretty much owns him," David realized.

"More like a company mascot," Mr. Magnet remarked. "His face shows up in almost every Helios Corp ad."

"Guess we're about ready to start the show," a voice interrupted.

Walking up to the three was a young woman with fair skin and long hair with all seven colors of the rainbow and unique multicolored eyes. She wore a sleeveless dress with a short rainbow skirt that ended well above the knees and frilly rainbow shoulder cuffs. The main part of the dress was made of a sparkling sky-blue material, and she had on knee-high boots and elbow-high gloves made of a similar sparkling material. Over her head was a headset microphone with a thin golden frame and a small microphone in the shape of a pink star. Hanging from her waist were seven different silver wands, each with a different colored star at the end.

Flanking the young lady were two young male attendants, each one wearing a sky-blue jacket with rainbow stripes running down the sides of the sleeves. These attendants also wore sky-blue baseball caps with a rainbow on the front, thick dark glasses, and white polo shirts with black slacks and polished black shoes. Both of them also wore headset microphones similar to the one the young lady wore, and the one on her right carried a clipboard.

"Hello everyone," the rainbow-haired woman greeted, waving. "I'm Spectrum, one of the Japan's top idol heroes! But of course all of you probably already knew that."

All Might smiled and nodded. "I listen to your music sometimes. It's pretty catchy."

"Always nice to meet a fan," Spectrum responded, winking. "You must be the U.A. grad who's been making a big splash here in the states. Don't be surprised if a Shiketsu grad like me outshines you though."

"Am I to take it you plan to join this team?"

"Well sure! A team made up of the best heroes in the world? Where better for me to shine my brightest? Just think about how this will boost my image."

The attendant holding the clipboard nodded as he listened to something on his headset. "Ms. Spectrum, you're needed in makeup."

"Oops! Looks like I need to finish getting ready for my entrance," Spectrum realized. "See you on stage, boys. Ta!"

Mr. Magnet shook his head as Spectrum trotted off with her two attendants following her. "I kinda get the feeling she became a hero for the wrong reasons."

"Who were those two guys with her?" David asked.

"Probably support staff from her agency," All Might assumed. "They could even be her sidekicks."

"I've seen those guys all over the stadium since I got here," Mr. Magnet revealed. "You know, she even has her own trailer. I gotta say, the idea of working with a prima-donna like her makes me like the idea of working on this team even less."

David sighed and put his hands on his hips. "Well, I guess the only ones we're waiting on now are Sun King, Star Queen and probably Mr. Helios."

Suddenly the air became filled with the sound of a horrid shriek that caused everyone to cover their ears. The sound ended, and a figure jumped down out of the sky onto the stage, crushing the podium beneath her. Outcast's arms and legs had already morphed into more monstrous forms covered in boney armor. Her tail was currently armored as well, and its tip was now in the form of a long curved serrated blade. All cameras on the stadium were now on the hooded villain.

"I'm stealing the spotlight from you heroes," Outcast declared in the electronically distorted voice currently amplified by her mask. "You won't be showing off for the cameras like you normally do today. Today, those cameras are going to catch every moment of me ripping you to shreds!"

Before anyone could fully react, All Might leapt up and flipped through the air, landing just a few feet in front of the stage. He smiled and put his hands on his hips. "I am here! To put a stop to your ambitions, villain!"

"You damn U.A. jock," Outcast responded. "You're even dumber and more obnoxious than I remember."

All Might raised an eyebrow. "Do I know you?"

"Just call me Outcast. And I'm going to claw that damn smile of yours right off your face!"

"My! You're an angry one, aren't you? I suggest you make it easy on yourself and surrender."

"No way in hell!" Outcast responded as she leapt off the stage and advanced on the rookie hero. "You'll be the first to die, meat head!"

Though he was smiling, All Might was completely on his guard. Now that he had gotten closer, he could sense that Outcast was no ordinary villain. Something told All Might that he needed to go all out against this opponent right out of the gate and take her down as quickly as possible.

"You asked for it!" All Might told the villain as he leapt high into the air.

As he came down towards Outcast, All Might brought his hands together over his head and swung them down. "Arkansas…SMASH!"

All Might's hands clocked the top of Outcast's head, and the force of the impact caused a small crater to form beneath the villain's feet. Somehow, Outcast managed to remain standing after receiving such a nasty blow, yet seemed unconscious. All Might landed right in front of her and began to deliver a swift flurry of blows with both fists. The punches were so strong that cracks had begun to form on the boney carapace covering the villain's arms. As this barrage continued though, Outcast regained consciousness.

"Time for the finishing blow!" All Might declared as he pulled his right fist back. "Texas…"

Suddenly Outcast's tail extended and wrapped around All Might's arm. The end of the villain's tail morphed into the head of a cobra, which bit into the hero's muscular pectoral. The tail released All Might's arm and he and jumped back to put some distance between him and his opponent. As he watched the end of Outcast's tail morph back into a blade, All Might's vision suddenly doubled.

"Not smiling now, are you?" Outcast remarked.

"Toshi!" David called out as he saw All Might stagger backward. "What's wrong with him?"

"Ain't it obvious?" Mr. Magnet responded. "That villain's tail changed into a snake with real venom glands! Right now All Might has poison circulating throughout his whole body!"

"So what do we do?"

"What else?" Mr. Magnet answered as he hopped onto his board. "I'm tagging in!"

Mr. Magnet zoomed past All Might towards Outcast as he pulled one of the balls hanging from his belt. He threw the sphere at Outcast, and as the ball flew towards its target it exploded into a large net. Outcast managed to jump out of the net's path, but Mr. Magnet waved his right arm and the net followed after the villain. Before Outcast could land, the net wrapped around her and knocked her onto her side. Outcast struggled as the net tightened around her.

Mr. Magnet smirked. "Bet you didn't see that coming, huh? My nets are made from a special wire mesh I can control using my magnetism. I can make 'em tighter too. Check it out."

As Mr. Magnet squeezed his hand shut the net around Outcast's body tightened. Suddenly blade-like spikes erupted from Outcast's arms and legs, cutting the net to pieces. Outcast quickly got back to her feet and the spikes retracted as if they were never there. She then charged at the hero and extended her tail towards Mr. Magnet.

"Seriously?" Mr. Magnet asked with a cocky grin. "Using a blade to take me out is the worst choice you could've made!"

The magnetic hero attempted to deflect the tail blade with a flick of his wrist, but Outcast's tail continued right on course. The serrated blade penetrated Mr. Magnet's gut and came out through his back. Outcast withdrew her tail and Mr. Magnet fell off his board and dropped to the ground.

Dr. Garaki and Carmine had been watching the entire battle unfold via a small drone currently flying high above the stadium. The feed from the drone was playing out on a large screen inside the laboratory of their current hideout. There were also several smaller screens showing live news coverage of the bloodbath from the reporters on the scene of what was originally going to be a special announcement from the head of the Helios Corporation.

As they saw Mr. Magnet falling to the ground on the main screen, Dr. Garaki laughed with glee. "The fool! He thought he could use is magnetism to deflect Outcast's blades."

Carmine gazed at the screen with a look of utter shock. "What the freakin' hell? How'd she do all that?"

"Perhaps it's time I explained Outcast's Metamorphic Limbs quirk in more detail. One limitation of this quirk is the user can't turn her limbs into anything inorganic, such as plastic or metal. Furthermore, she can't use her limbs to mimic complex devices such as guns or any other type of sophisticated weapon you can think of. Outcast can use her appendages to make blades, but those blades are actually made of super hard bone sharper than steel."

Carmine nodded. "Okay. So a magnet wouldn't do squat against 'em. But Doc, she turned her tail into a freakin' snake!"

Dr. Garaki grinned. "While she can't use her limbs to make anything synthetic, almost everything biological is on the table. Metamorphic Limbs can't replicate anything as complex as a brain, but other organs and bones are easily possible."

"How…how's that even possible?"

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. I've been meaning to study the mechanics of the Metamorphic Limbs quirk to find out just how it works, but my other projects always keep me so busy."

Carmine shook his head. "Well, however she's able to do all this crap, looks like our girl's got these heroes on the ropes."

"Don't be so sure. It's true Outcast currently has the advantage, but we shouldn't underestimate a hero like All Might. After all, there's a reason why All For One wants him dead."

Outcast advanced on the fallen Mr. Magnet and was about to finish him off, when All Might suddenly slammed into her side with amazing speed. The villain was hurled several feet right into the wall of the stadium. Outcast emerged from the new hole broken in the wall and found All Might standing in front of Mr. Magnet, breathing heavily as he tried to smile.

"You're a tough one," All Might admitted. "But we heroes don't go down so easily!"

"More like you don't know when to quit," Outcast responded as she advanced on him. "Right now my venom is circulating throughout your body. I bet you can barely even stand right now. My advice? Give up now. That way you can still have a relatively painless death."

All Might raised his fists. "As long as there are people that need saving, a hero never gives up!"

Outcast shook her head. "Putting up the act of the gallant hero to the end, huh? Fine. I'd rather kill you with my bare hands anyway."

The two of them charged at each other, but as All Might came close he staggered. Outcast easily sidestepped the hero and managed to get behind him. The villain hit All Might with a flurry of punches to his back. All Might attempted to evade and fight back, but he found his body wouldn't listen to him.

"Time for a taste of your own medicine!" Outcast declared as she pulled back her right fist. "Texas SMASH!"

Outcast's punch struck All Might in the middle of his back and created a blast of air that hurled the hero back towards the wall on the opposite side of the stadium. The air blast even ripped seats out of the stands. All Might crashed hard into the stadium wall. The hero seemed to be unconscious and had blood dripping from the corners of his mouth.

"Now to finish you off," Outcast declared as she slowly advanced towards All Might.

"Hold it, punk!" Tenth Power called out as he stepped forward. "You may have tossed these rookies around like rag dolls, but let's see how you handle a real pro."

Outcast turned and glared at the veteran hero. "The great Tenth Power. I remember how my son of a bitch dad would always talk on and on about you whenever you made the news. You're one of the worst of them all."

"No idea what you're talking about, and I don't give a damn! I'll admit the Japanese kid gave you a pretty good thrashing, but you're about to get another beating increased to the factor of ten!"

With those words, Tenth Power's body shimmered with a silver light, and suddenly nine duplicates of the hero appeared at his side. The newly formed mob of one rushed towards the villain. Outcast rushed straight at the oncoming hoard. When she got close enough, Outcast grabbed two of the duplicates by the head with both hands and shocked them with close to a million volts. The electrocuted copies of Tenth Power shattered into particles of silver light.

Two more of the duplicates came at Outcast from the left and right in a pincer attack. The villain simply struck at each copy with a hard punch to the gut. Both copies burst into particles of light with a poof as soon as they were hit.

By this time, David had made it over to All Might's side. He knelt down and pulled off some of the rubble from the wall that was covering the hero.

"C'mon, Toshi. Stay with us, buddy," David spoke as he lifted All Might up slightly.

All Might coughed and opened his eyes. "Dave. Are you hurt?"

David smiled a little. "Seriously, man. You need to be worrying about yourself more right now."

"What's happening?"

"Right now Tenth Power is trying to take down that villain," David answered as he looked towards the battle. "And it's not going well."

Tenth Power's remaining five duplicates had surrounded Outcast while he himself hung back. As the five closed in, Outcast wiped her tail at the three behind her. The blade at the end of her tail cut through the middle of the three like butter. The slain duplicates went out of existence with a poof before their pieces even hit the ground. The remaining two copies seemed to become enraged at the deaths of their fallen brothers and charged at Outcast, only for the villain to grab them both face and electrocute them the way she did the first two.

"I don't believe it!" David declared as he and All Might watched the remaining two duplicates of Tenth Power go poof. "This villain can change the shape of her arms, legs and tail, and she clearly has super strength since she was able to rip off one of your ultimate moves. But now she's attacking with electricity? It's like she has multiple quirks!"

All Might's eyes widened with realization and terror. "It's Him! He's involved in all this somehow."

With his duplicates gone, a look of fear crossed Tenth Power's face. He quickly regained his composure though and put up his fists. Outcast responded by stretching her tail and whipping it through the air. The tail went so fast that nobody saw its blade pass through Tenth Power's forearms. A second later, Tenth Power's hands and wrists dropped off of his body.

"Maybe I should cut you into ten pieces," Outcast remarked as Tenth Power fell to the ground, screaming with a mixture of pain and horror.

Just as Outcast was about to make a move, the sound of a lively techno beat began to play over the stadium speakers. Multicolored lights began to flash around the edges of the stadium and on the stage still in the middle of the field. Suddenly Spectrum rose up out of on the floor of the stage, dancing to the beat of the music. The hero was actually standing on a special moving platform built into the stadium for special halftime events.

"Don't worry everyone!" Spectrum told the reporters in the stands, her voice echoing over the stadium's sound system via her headset. "I know this battle's taken a pretty dark turn, but your girl Spectrum is here to brighten things up!"

Outcast turned to the idol-style hero. "What the hell? Is this some sort of game to you?"

"Not at all," Spectrum responded as she kept dancing. "Part of a hero's job is to put the public at ease. What better way to do that with a little performance? By the way, this music and the light show were originally going to be used for my intro, but no biggie. A good live performer knows how to adapt when things go off script. Besides, this seems like a good tune to beat you down to."

Outcast growled. "You're really starting to piss me off."

Spectrum simply pulled the wand with the green star from her waist and twirled it in her hand. "Get ready to be dazzled!" She switched on the star-shaped light at the end of the wand and waved it across the air. "Emerald Butterfly Blitz!"

The trail of green light left by the wand turned into a swarm of glowing green butterflies. The swarm flew right at Outcast and exploded with blinding flashes as they struck her. The villain was forced to close her eyes and cross her arms in front of her face to protect herself. The armor on her forearms morphed into shield-shaped plates.

"Flashy, huh?" Spectrum remarked, winking. "My quirk, Solid Light lets me turn lights into anything I want! Different colors have different effects though. Lights closer to the red end of the spectrum become harder, while the lights closer to the violet end get softer but tend to explode when they make contact with something. The softer the light, the bigger the explosion. The green lights I'm hitting you with are a happy compromise."

The remaining butterflies flashed out of existence upon striking Outcast's exoskeleton. There were cracks in the boney armor, but they healed up instantly. With the attack over, the boney carapace on Outcast's forearms morphed back to normal. The villain lowered her arms and glared daggers at Spectrum.

"Uh-oh! Looks like we've got a red light situation!" Spectrum declared as she put back her green wand and pulled the red one from her waist. She switched it on and raised it above her head. "Crimson Bind!"

Spectrum swung the wand downward and a beam of red light shot from the star at the end. The beam changed into thick chains made of red light and wrapped themselves around Outcast. The chains bound the villain's arms tightly to her sides.

Spectrum winked as Outcast struggled against her bindings. "Sorry, but you're not going anywhere. Like I said earlier, objects I make out of red light are the hardest of them all. There's no way you can break free of…"

Outcast shattered her chains before Spectrum could finish her sentence. Glaring at Spectrum, the villain reached under her hood and pressed something on the side of her mask. Outcast let out another shriek, and the sound waves were directed at Spectrum's head with deadly accuracy. Blood spilled from Spectrum's eyes, ears, nose and the corners of her mouth and she dropped to the ground. Outcast ended her attack and turned her attention back to All Might and David.

"Now that the bit players are done, time to finish you off," Outcast declared as she advanced and morphed her right forearm into a blade. "I don't know why the Master wants your head so bad, but I don't care. Killing you is a treat all its own."

Suddenly a ball of pink light flew down from above and struck the ground right in front of the villain, scorching the grass. Outcast looked up and saw Star Queen floating in the air above All Might and David like an avenging angel.

"Stop!" Star Queen commanded. "I won't allow you to hurt anyone else!"

Shocked, Outcast backed away two steps. "Noriko? No! I…I can't…"

"Sunlight Scorcher!" Sun King's voice called out as a beam of gold light came towards Outcast's left from above.

Outcast was forced to jump back in order to avoid getting sliced up by the golden laser. She looked up and saw Sun King hovering in the air.

"Sure wasn't expecting a villain to come and crash this party," Sun King declared. "Guess this is what we get for being fashionably late, huh babe?"

Outcast's entire body quivered with anger. She raised her head to the sky and let out a horrid shriek. Everyone in the stadium, including Sun King and Star Queen, was forced to cover their ears and closed their eyes on reflex. Outcast took advantage of everyone being momentarily stunned and dashed out of one of the stadium exits on all fours like a wild dog, moving at an incredible speed.

A few moments later Sun King recovered. "Damn! She got away."

"Toshi-kun!" Star Queen called out, stealing Sun King's attention.

Star Queen landed on the ground next to All Might. She knelt down and gently touched her hand to his chest and the hero's entire body glowed with a pink light. The light faded and All Might found he was feeling almost completely better. He stood up and moved his right arm to relieve the remaining stiffness he was currently feeling.

"Are you okay?" Star Queen asked.

"I think so," All Might answered as he continued to stretch. "You should help Mr. Magnet and the others. They're in far worse shape than I am."

Star Queen nodded and rushed off to help the other fallen heroes. Meanwhile Star King landed and walked up to All Might. His face was calm, but both hands fists were clenched at his sides.

"What the hell happened here?" Sun King asked.

"Exactly what it looks like," David answered. "Some random villain showed up and attacked the place."

Sun King turned to All Might. "It looks like you know something about all this, Yagi. Care to share?"

All Might looked towards the fallen heroes lying on the field. "All I can tell you right now is there's a bigger threat out there than the Golden Skulls."

Outcast made it out to the parking lot right as several police cars arrived and came to a screeching halt. As the police officers got out of their cars and pointed their guns at the villain, Outcast searched the area and found a manhole cover near her position. She fled for the manhole right as the cops began shooting at her. Outcast was not afraid of the bullets as she knew gunfire generally did little to no damage to her, and she had no qualms about fighting the police, but at the moment she didn't want to fight at all. She couldn't bring herself to fight now that Noriko was involved.

After busting the manhole open, Outcast dove into the sewers and continued to flee. She knew the possibility of the police chasing after her in the city's sewer system was remote, but she still wanted to get away from the battle scene as quickly as possible. As Outcast fled, she thought about the battle. It had all been going so well. She had even nearly killed that buffoonish U.A. jock who was part of Kaito's circle of friends.

Outcast thought about how All Might had been the first to charge in and face her before all of the other heroes could make a move. She had no doubt that the young hero did so to try and hog all of the glory for himself. The one thing Outcast couldn't figure out in the moment was why Noriko would swoop in and protect someone like All Might. As Outcast ran in the direction of the hideout, tears came to her eyes.

The feed from the drone had been switched to one of the smaller screens and only showed empty sky as it flew back to the hideout. On the main screen now showed news coverage of the battle's aftermath. The reporters on camera were now asking two questions. Who was Outcast? Was she connected to the Golden Skulls, or was she an entirely different threat? They didn't have any answers to those questions, but witnessing the way Outcast had easily taken down four powerful heroes had clearly left them afraid.

Dr. Garaki shook his head in disappointment. "And it was all going so well too. Outcast had All Might right where she wanted him, and she let him slip through her fingers because of the arrival of those other two heroes. All For One is not going to be pleased."

Carmine lit a cigarette. "Tell me something, Doc. You a glass-half-empty kinda guy?"

"What're you babbling about?"

"Me? I like to look at the glass as being half full. Sure, our girl didn't take out this All Might kid, but she still busted up the rest of the team Ed Helios was trying to put together. The way I see it, today was still a big win."

"I admire your optimism, Don Fugo," spoke a horribly familiar voice from a speaker in the lab. The sound of the voice startled Carmine so much he took too hard of a puff on his cigarette. "You are right, of course. While this isn't quite the outcome we wanted, it is a step in the right direction. Outcast has inspired fear in the people of Sunrise City."

"Master. I take it you've seen the battle?" Dr. Garaki deduced.

"I was watching every moment," All For One's voice responded. "Outcast did miss her chance to deliver the finishing blow to All Might, but she will have another chance soon enough. Our business in Sunrise City is far from done."

Author's Note: I'd like to thank Firebolt-The Blazing Saint for helping me refine this chapter. This chapter was definitely a challenge to write, but I'd like to think it turned out really well. I'd like to take a moment now to discuss the original heroes who showed up in this chapter.

Mr. Magnet: This was the first of the three heroes in this chapter I came up with. Originally his hero name was a placeholder, but it ended up sticking pretty quickly. He basically has the same power a X-Men villain, Magneto but a bit watered down. I didn't have his character fully fleshed out until I sat down to write the chapter. On top of having the (watered down) powers of Magneto he also ended up having the ingenuity of Spider-Man. The board Mr. Magnet uses to get around is actually a small tribute to the superhero, Static.

Tenth Power: His quirk is pretty much a water down version of Twice's quirk in the main MHA series. I'm pretty pleased with the name I came up with for this guy. When I finally wrote the actual chapter, he ended up being a legitimate hero who sold out somewhere along the line.

Spectrum: Of these three heroes, this one ended up being the most difficult to write for. I wanted a hero who would create some sort of massive restraint that Outcast would break out of. Initially I thought of using a hero with an ice-based quirk, but that seemed unoriginal and I couldn't come up with a good name for that type of character. Then I thought of Green Lantern and decided to try a hero who could make solid objects out of light. It took a long time to figure out the specific details for Spectrum's quirk. She also ended up changing into a magical girl/idol-type character somewhere along the line. I ended up having to rewrite all of Spectrum's scenes at least three or four times.

Please review and let me know what you think.