13/06/2023

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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 78 - Fuel to the Fire

Nishita looked around curiously. There were more people here than she thought there would be but she guessed that was the power of BS_Hater from the forum. She had no idea who he was - she thought he was a he - but she was impressed that so many people had gathered. BS_Hater had taken her post about the villain lover and had challenged the forum to do something about it. The account was old, but didn't post that much. She'd been vaguely aware it existed, 'cos it had been on the forum the whole time she was there but… he definitely wasn't one of the regulars. She'd asked about him but none of the regulars knew much about the person behind the account.

That's why she'd come. She wanted to know who this BS_Hater was, and what he meant when he said that he wanted to 'do something' about the villain lover.

A couple of people had asked who she was. They didn't want to know what her real name was, rather they wanted to know who she was online. She'd told them an account name. Not her real one. While that would get her instant recognition, Nishita wasn't sure she wanted that, so it was better to use the name of a new account that seemed to share most of her opinions. She'd have loved the recognition. She knew if she said her real account name all the people gathered here would defer to her, but she wanted to find out what was happening more. If she revealed herself, then she'd be the leader and this was BS_Hater's show.

Speaking of whom… Nishita reached up and smoothed her hoodie before adjusting the scarf she was going to use to conceal her face. Where was he?

-ted-

Most of the time, Bokusen had very little faith in humanity. If he'd have gotten his way, most of humanity wouldn't exist because they weren't worthy. But he didn't get his way, and so had to deal with the world that was.

Sometimes though, just sometimes, something happened that gave him hope. Not a lot of hope, because he'd learned that as soon as the thing was over, people went back to normal but there was always the possibility that a few more of them would become decent, would become worthy and… if change happened a few people at a time, it would be far too slow to save the world but it was something. The more people who were worthy the more people who might be able to come up with something to make humans worthwhile. Or the more people there would be who could help get rid of the worthless.

Right now, he was looking at a small gathering. The people gathered here were all different and about the only sameness about them was that they'd worn black. There was a mix of genders and ages and every now and then there was a happy exclamation as two of them recognised each other. These were people from the online forums. Bokusen didn't often post there. He used them for information. Most of the people there loved to complain. Very few would do anything about it. There were always excuses. Oh I don't live there. I don't have time. I can't afford to travel there. I've got something else on. It wasn't that bad. There were a myriad of excuses. A few were real. Most were just convenience. That's why he was kind of happy that so many had gathered. It was only about ten, but that would be enough.

"Hello everyone," Bokusen called out, bringing attention to him. He didn't want to do that, but he knew if he didn't take control of the situation, the group would just mill around for a bit, chat, maybe go for coffee. Rant about how bad the villain lover was and then go home. He wanted something more.

After everyone turned to him, he spoke again. "You are all here because you want to do something about the villain lover," he announced and was pleased with the way they nodded. "I want you to think about this," he told them. "Are you willing to do anything? If you aren't, leave now please, because we don't need pretenders. If you are in, then we'll get moving shortly."

He watched the group critically. A couple of them shuffled doubtfully at his announcement. Inwardly Bokusen gritted his teeth and shook his head. There were always a few morons but outwardly, he nodded calmly. "It's okay," he reassured them, even though he wanted to rant that they were weak. "You can participate another time," he said confidently.

That seemed to be the words they needed to hear and three of the group shook their heads. One even said she was sorry before they walked away.

By Stain, he hated weaklings but at least they wouldn't hold the others back. As Bokusen waited for them to be out of earshot, he examined those who remained. There were eight people here now. They were all dressed in black, and one appeared to sensibly have a full hoody and a scarf around his, no her neck. She knew what she was doing. The others were a bit more open but they all appeared determined. A couple of them were big, and he hoped they were strong. Bokusen knew better than to equate size with strength. The others… well it didn't matter how strong you were, if you were prepared to do what was necessary.

"We are going to do what is necessary to show that villain he has no support, and any supporters he does have-" Bokusen shook his head. "Should really reconsider their life choices."

His announcement was met with a couple of chuckles. That was good. That told him these people really were here for the right reasons. They knew what they'd come to do. He didn't need deluded pretenders. "Let's go," he said, waving one hand.

"You know where?" came the question.

It had cost him a little to use an information broker, but the broker had told him it wasn't a large job so the price was reasonable. "I do," Bokusen informed the group. There was no point in elaborating. If they wanted to know they could make their own inquiries. "But we have to be quick," he added.

The villain lover had been expelled from UA and had managed to find someone to take over her lease. She was packing up to leave so they either got her now… or… well, they'd have to travel to Mei and Bokusen knew that the further people had to go, the less likely they were to do something. But today that wasn't an issue. For now, all they had to do was act.

-ted-

Ochaco stood back and heaved a deep breath of satisfaction. She was finally finished packing and the boxes were gathered near the door, ready for transportation. The first couple of days after being expelled from UA had been the hardest. She hadn't known what to do and then there had been the revelation of what Izuku had done!

She still couldn't quite get her head around it but knew it was true and Ochaco was thankful that he'd denied her plea to help. He'd been right. She had to think about what she wanted to do and while, when she was angry and hurt, it was awfully tempting to lash out, it wasn't the path she wanted. Ochaco knew it was only a word but she knew she didn't want to be a villain of the type Izuku appeared to be headed towards. At the same time though, she also knew she wasn't going to just meekly go about her life now. She wanted to do something to make the world better.

But for the moment, she had no idea what that something could be. So she'd focused on finding someone to take over the lease of her little apartment. She was breaking the lease to move back to Mie but because she'd found someone to take over the lease the penalty was minimal. Landlords understood that situations changed, and honestly, she thought her landlord didn't care, so long as the apartment wasn't vacant for long.

Once she'd found someone, she'd packed up for the mover. There were more boxes than she thought. Despite her efforts not to acquire stuff, she had. At least it wasn't that much stuff. Just a few extra boxes but it made a difference. Tonight, she'd camp here, and then tomorrow the mover would come and she'd be back in Mei. And then…

Ochaco reached up to wipe a tear from her eye. And then she had no idea what she was going to do. Obviously, she'd help her parents but she still wanted to go to High School so she'd probably have to pick out one and… She shook her head. Then she'd have to deal with the questions. Though maybe there wouldn't be that many. What had happened was pretty public after all but… There'd always be some people who were convinced there were other details that were not public. And there were going to be people who called her a villain lover.

Morons.

In some ways it was good that she'd been expelled. It hurt. It really hurt. And it really hurt that Izuku had been right. The system wasn't designed to help people. It was designed to maintain itself. Now that she was out, she could see that clearly and it just made her all the more determined to change it. Not the way Izuku was doing it. But something. Maybe she could help him in some way too because Ochaco could see that there was going to have to be a number of things going on to make society change.

It was a huge thing and… She shook her head. It was too much for one person to think about. Instead, she turned her mind to what she'd like to eat tonight. Because her kitchen was packed, this was one of the few times that she was going to indulge in take away and there were a lot of choices.

Izuku's favourite was katsudon and if he was here, Ochaco had no doubt that she'd be eating that, except he wasn't here. So what did she want? Ochaco ran her tongue over the roof of her mouth, tasting food she didn't have. A burger would be nice or maybe noodles… Ramen? Or beef bowl! Yes, that was good!

And cheap.

Her family might not be paying rent anymore but… Ochaco turned to the door. It was getting late so she could get an early dinner and then set up for the night.

She reached out to open the door just as it exploded inwards. While Class 1B hadn't focused on honing their combat skills, not in the way 1A had, she knew enough. Her instincts kicked in and Ochaco leapt backwards. The only problem was, there wasn't a lot of area to back up into and… her apartment didn't have an entrance hallway. It was the cheapest she could find, and so the door opened into the main room.

Thankfully the boxes confined some area which meant that the people charging in had to go single file, which means she had to attack them while they were still partially confined. She jumped forward, and punched the leading person under their chin. It was more an open handed push upwards. She'd learned it during her work-experience at the Gunhead agency. It pushed the invader backwards and off balance, which was all the better for her, since it meant he fell backwards into those following behind.

Unfortunately their momentum quickly overwhelmed her push and the guy was pushed forward to fall as the others trampled over him. Ochaco didn't think. She lunged forward, pressing her hand to one of the invaders and activating her quirk. He zipped up into the ceiling, shouting but before Ochaco could touch someone else there was a 'pft!' sound and she felt something sting her neck.

Immediately the world spun and Ochaco felt a stab of belated fear as she staggered. There was a kaleidoscope of colour in her vision and she didn't feel herself fall to the floor.

"That's enough of that, villain lover," one of the invaders said. She couldn't tell who was speaking. All the invaders were dressed in black and her eyesight was being weird. There were lots of colours but she was also hot. This wasn't right.

"What..?" It was really hard to speak. Ochaco tried to scream but she couldn't control her body. She hated this. She couldn't move. She couldn't fight… Fear threatened to overwhelm her. "Not!" She managed to say. She wasn't a villain lover.

Ochaco forced herself to ignore the pretty colours and tried to focus on the one who had spoken. "Not?" the voice mocked.

"Not a villain lover," she managed to say.

Whatever they'd hit her with was potent but already the colours were fading. It was temporary.

"Grab her," the voice commanded. Unfortunately, he was probably the one who'd hit her with the drug and knew its effects. Two of the bigger black clad people grabbed her arms and hauled her upright. "You are a villain lover. If you weren't, the instant your villain friend was exposed, you'd have gone to the nearest hero to tell them everything. Or you'd have volunteered to bring him in."

Ochaco dragged in air. She could still feel a sting in her throat but she thought she could move her legs, even if she wasn't sure she could stand up. She lashed out and felt a moment of joy when she hit the guy.

"Oof!"

Her foot connected and she tried to wrench her arms free.

"That's enough of that," someone else said and before she could do anything someone punched her. Her head snapped to the side. They hadn't held back.

One of the invader's gasped. It sounded surprised. "Are you sure we should do this?" That was a woman's voice. For a moment, Ochaco felt a moment of hope before it was quickly dashed.

"She's a villain lover," came the response. "She deserves this."

Another blow snapped her head in the other direction.

"Her villain friend needs this warning," the original speaker said and Ochaco saw him step forward, raising one hand, before she felt the hit to the top of her head. "If he takes the quirks of heroes, then we will take his friends."

Ochaco felt cold. Absolutely cold. She'd felt fear before but this was different. This was more personal. And she began to struggle in earnest. She had to get away. She opened her mouth to scream but before she could make a sound, a wad of fabric was thrust into it. Ochaco tried kicking again since she couldn't move her arms but the person was faster, dodging out of the way and somehow, quickly ducking around behind her. She felt a cloth tie around her head, holding the gag in place.

And then she comprehended their words. Izuku had taken quirks and they were attacking… Did that mean they'd attack Hitoshi or Mei? No! Izuku would be… He'd be even more angry than he had been when she was expelled. He was going to be- She had no idea how angry he'd be except very.

She tried to fight back but the two holding her were far stronger than her and before she could think of anything else, the invaders began hitting her in earnest. At first, she felt the individual blows as the pain radiated from each of them but then they blurred together and all she felt was pain.

Then, she didn't know how long had passed but the world was going dark around her, all Ochaco could think was that Izuku was going to be pissed… and that if this was her time to go, then she wanted something to remain. Something so that she could help him change the world, because it had to change. She knew that. Some would call it the end of society but Ochaco knew it would be a rebirth. She wanted to help the way Izuku had helped her so much. If she couldn't be here, then her quirk should be with him to help change things.

And that was the final thought Ochaco had.

-ted-

This is not going to make a certain person happy, is it? But said person is kind of preoccupied with his own mission... But you know what I say? Consequences, consequences, consequences :D

My discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all!

-ted-

Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!