Chapter 5: Summer Field Trip (Part 2)
On the next floor was an auditorium. It was guarded by two guards with guns, and the checkered dress-clad Izuku knocked both of them out with a roundhouse kick. Hitoshi picked up the guns, and Ituna helped Hawks up the stairs.
The Outcasts entered an auditorium. Rows of seats curved around a stage. On the stage was another man holding a gun, probably another assassin. As soon as the man noticed the group, he fired his gun in their direction. They scattered and ducked behind the rows of seats. The man tried taunting the group. "He is making this too easy," Hitoshi mumbled under his breath. "Hey, gunslinger, what makes both a good marksman and a good joke?" he shouted.
"Wha-" The man fell silent as Hitoshi activated his quirk.
"Timing," the purple-haired boy shouted as he rose from behind his seat and shot into the rafters. The structure holding up the lights collapsed on top of the assassin, trapping him for the time being. The sudden jolt knocked the assassin out of the brainwashing, and he began pounding his fist on the floor. He couldn't reach his gun.
"If you had him under your control, you didn't need to drop the lights on him." Izuku thought that was overkill.
"We couldn't just leave him like that. My quirk has its limitations, and he could have woken up while we were restringing him or while we tried to take his gun. I didn't want to risk it."
"We should try improving that aspect of your quirk. Make it unbreakable until you release it." Izuku was ecstatic about the prospect of helping his friend with his quirk. "By the way, I see you're taking Miss Jelavich's advice seriously."
"We should get a move on," Ituna called from the exit. The two nodded, and they rushed up the next set of stairs.
-x-x-x-x-x-
"What in the world was that!" Hitoshi yelled.
"I think that was what he learned from Jelavich's mentor," Hawks added. He had recovered from the smog but was left with a massive headache.
"Well, that just happened. Care to explain Izuku?" Ituna deadpanned.
Izuku strolled off the helicopter pad. The unconscious Takaoka was left on the pad with foam spewing from his mouth. Izuku twirled the taser around his hands. "Ha ha! He thought he could out plan my plans!" A malicious grin stretched across his freckled face. "Oh, and the students weren't actually poisoned. They had symptoms of food poisoning, not the poison that goes along with this antidote." He chuckled and put a hand on Hitoshi's shoulder. "I just wanted to put the monster in his place. Happy birthday, Hawks!"
Hawks smiled and let out a few tears. "Thank you so much! It's not my birthday, though." The pro hero wept with joy. His tormentor was beaten to a pulp.
"Would you mind explaining how that clapping thing works?" Ituna asked.
"Sure, Jelavich's mentor didn't tell me how it works besides the required conditions, but I have some ideas on the theory behind it. The conditions are: 1, you need to have two weapons; 2, your opponent needs to be an expert fighter; 3, your opponent needs to know what it means to face death. When all the conditions are met, you must drop your first weapon. While all of your opponent's attention is focused on the suspended weapon, you need to move as quickly and loudly as possible. The move will stun your opponent for a couple of seconds. I can think of a dozen ways of reworking this tactic for different uses. And the frequencies…" Izuku fell into a mess of muttering.
The rest of the group deadpanned.