Chapter 7
Midoriya Izuku dreamed.
He dreams led him to a ruined, desolate land, and a familiar, rotten house atop the scorched earth. Mindlessly walking into its depths, he expected to see the owl and the rabbit again.
What he found there instead was an adorable little girl.
She was standing with her back to him, her long, blood-red locks styled into a hime-cut that extended all the way past her waist and pooled along the floor like a sheet of crimson silk. A frilly, poofy white dress gave her the regal air of a princess, juxtaposed by the squalid conditions of the decrepit house around them.
She turned around and smiled. The girl had the same pitch-black sclera as Izuku's eyes, her heterochromia pairing green and yellow pupils like a pair of jewels in her skull. He estimated that she looked around ten years old, but one never could tell in a dream like this.
"Hello again, Izuku." the pale child said. "Good morning."
"Good morning, little owl." Izuku greeted her back calmly. "Quite the makeover you had. Not sure about the red, though… I think I much preferred you when you were green."
"Green is not a creative color. Though I do have to say, I am enjoying this new form immensely." She curtsied, a green rabbit plush flopping around in her grip. "You have my gratitude, my lord host."
"You're welcome, I think." Izuku observed the rabbit toy closely. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be twitching a little. Almost as if it was screaming silently. "So… who are you and where are we?"
"Why ask questions you already know the answers to?" The little girl furrowed her brow in amusement. "Then again, you always were an inquisitive one. Did you not already give me a name that night?"
It was easy to put two and two together. All of this was happening in his head, and whether it be some sort of fever dream or something else altogether, Izuku knew exactly what the strange entity before him was talking about. The night she was referring to could only mean one thing. The night his mother perished in Endeavor's flames… and the subsequent trauma-induced awakening of his Quirk.
"You're my Quirk, Ghoul." Izuku concluded. "Or some sort of representation of it my mind created. A coping mechanism, perhaps?"
"Perhaps." she agreed, nodding.
"What's with the rabbit, then?"
Her grip tightened around the rabbit's neck, and it continued twitching sporadically.
"It's all the parts you locked away, all the weak parts of you. He is unneeded if we are to survive." The girl pouted. "Worry not. I shan't hurt him."
"I find that hard to believe." Izuku frowned. "Still, you're my Quirk? That's… interesting. I've heard rumors of this, of people who believe they can talk to their Quirks. Most of them were nutcases with their insane rambling. Didn't think it would happen to me."
"I am you, and you are me." the child smiled, showcasing her perfect, pearly-white teeth. "Meyoumeyoumeyou."
"The madness inside me?"
"I am all that you are, all that you will become." she said casually. "And with each meal, I grow stronger inside you."
"How edgy. So what, are you going to try taking over my body for yourself?" Izuku drawled.
"I am you, genius. I don't need to do that, but I will if I need to protect us."
"From what?"
"Everyone." the red child said, as if it was the most obvious thing ever. "Everyone is our enemy."
That got Izuku's attention and he decided to dig a little deeper. "How so?"
"I've been doing lots of thinking about why I, we, were born, while I was cooped up in here. It's very spacious, by the way." She sauntered around him, her crimson hair trailing behind her on the ground. "It's simple calculus. This world is finite, its resources finite. If humanity continues to expand unchecked, it will eventually cease to exist. Death by starvation. I get it now. We were born to prevent this catastrophe."
Izuku raised an eyebrow, dubious. He urged her to continue anyway.
"Have you heard of 'cannibal morphism'?" She paused before giggling. "What am I saying, of course you have. It's a phenomenon that occurs when certain organisms undergo physical and behavioral changes in response to overcrowding and limited resources in their habitat. When there are too many individuals in a confined space, competition for food and resources intensifies. Some organisms undergo morphological changes in response, becoming larger and developing specialized traits for capturing and consuming members of their own species."
Capture and consume. Izuku thought to his tail, his Bikaku, and his newly acquired tentacles, his Rinkaku.
"Devourers." Izuku said slowly. "Kinslayers."
"Predators." She whispered. "This is what we were made to be. I have heard of one other like us, who appeared in a time of great darkness. An all-consuming one."
"Heard of?" Izuku asked. "From who?"
"Who teaches a spider how to weave its web, or a caterpillar how to turn into a butterfly?" The girl shrugged. "I know not."
"This is rather sudden and quite a lot to take in." Izuku admitted, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "How can I trust you and your words?"
He was surprised when she suddenly closed in and gave him a warm hug, planting her face on his stomach before looking up at him with a mischievous grin.
"Because I love you, o brother mine." she giggled. "Meyoumeyoumeyou."
"Hmm." Izuku patted her head, which caused her to give him a bright, childish smile while she continued to rub her cheek against his midsection. "And how do I know you're not just a figment of my imagination?"
"You don't. But if that is so, I am but a mask you wear to protect yourself from the world." she laughed musically. "But which mask is real? The one that hides your face, or the one that is your face?"
For a moment her image flickered, and instead of a child hugging him it was a gargantuan black and red centipede that coiled around his body. The monstrous creature's head touched the ceiling, its long, writhing antennae brushing his face with utmost care.
Izuku blinked and it was gone, having turned back into the cute little girl who broke the hug, an impish grin on her face. She was both the girl and the centipede, the analytical part of his mind and the corruption within him made manifest.
"So if everything you said is true, that makes me a mutant in every sense of the word." Izuku mused. "An abomination."
"Nothing wrong with being a mutant, Izuku. The first predator in all of history was a mutant."
"Really?"
"Once upon a time…" The girl spread her arms out dramatically, like a bard retelling an ancient tale. "In the primordial oceans where life came to be, there were the first animals. Single-celled organisms, adorable little blobs of ooze that grazed on a mat of bacteria. They were simple creatures, content to live, eat, multiply, and die upon that warm seabed and the carbon compounds it provided as food."
Izuku listened, amused. She was a part of him, yet she came up with such a story that was pieced together from the fragments of knowledge from all the hard studying he'd done when he was still a student.
"Then one day, the fall occurred. It was not from an Angel defying God or a Titan shrugging its shoulders. Nay, some poor mutant discovered it could collect carbon compounds much faster if it stopped grazing from the bacterial mat and started taking the lumps of pre-digested carbon from those around it—its kin." The girl laughed. "It couldn't help it, it couldn't help but thrive. Just as an electric current chooses the path of least resistance, the mutant chose the most optimal method of resource gathering and survival. It became the first predator and changed everything. Now the little ooze blobs needed sensors to watch for danger, brains to integrate those sensors and think of plans of survival, swift neurons and stronger muscles to enact those plans. This was the Cambrian Explosion, the transition from simple to complex life on planet Earth."
"Cute." Izuku said. "What's the moral of the story?"
"That you are no abomination. You are part of a grand cycle since time immemorial; the cycle of predator and prey. You are nature's reaper, and the harvest is upon us. Just as the first predator found itself in an overcrowded environment, so have we. And now, it is time to feast."
She floated upwards to look Izuku in the eye, still wearing that childish smile.
"Do not feel guilt when you strike down your prey. All things must prove their right to exist. The rest will die with terror." she whispered. "Eat or be eaten. This is the truth of the world."
"How quaint." Izuku smiled. "Thank you for the reassurance, little one."
"Little one?" The girl tilted her head. "Very well. I shall continue to use this form, as you have taken a liking to it."
"Hmm. Ghoul isn't really a good name for a girl, though." Izuku said, snapping his fingers. "I know! How about… Kakuja."
" Red One? " she blinked at the meaning of the name, then showed a grin that was all teeth. "I like it."
"Good girl." Izuku patted her head, causing her to let out a delighted giggle yet again. "Now, was there anything else?"
"Not at the moment." Kakuja smirked. "Now go forth, dearest wielder. Rip and tear, until it is done."
[x]
Izuku's eyes fluttered open, the first thing he noticed being the warmth of another's embrace.
His dream about the little oracle and their mission was temporarily forgotten when he saw the girl he loved in his arms.
Himiko was hugging him in her sleep, snoring softly. Izuku watched her and recalled what happened the previous night, his cheeks heating up with a warm blush. Loving her had been quite the experience. Despite her wacky and somewhat psychotic tendencies, he'd grown fond of her.
"Mrrruuggh." Himiko mumbled, drooling a little and chewing on a lock of her blonde hair. "I can't… eat any more…"
"Hey." Izuku gently sweeped the lovely strands out of her mouth. "Don't eat your own hair."
"Uggghhh."
Untangling himself from Himiko's grip without waking her was difficult, but he somehow managed it nonetheless. Glancing at his clock, he decided it was time to prepare for breakfast, then work. He just hoped Himiko wouldn't be late on her first day.
Thankfully, she wasn't. The blonde awoke only half an hour later, yawning and strutting around like she owned the place.
"Morning…" Himiko slurred.
"Good morning." Izuku smiled. "Come on, freshen up."
Soon they were at work, tending to customers who slowly streamed in to have breakfast. Himiko was doing a surprisingly good job, following Izuku's instructions to the letter and making sure everyone got the correct orders. The only issue she faced was the latte art, which she was still getting used to.
Izuku continued to work. Another day, another dollar. His sleepy little cafe was a safe haven for students who wished to study or relax, so it wasn't before long before Camie made her appearance again, barging through the door happily and announcing her presence to all.
"Nyahallo~!" Camie exclaimed. "Midoriya-kun, guess what? I passed—hmm?"
Himiko locked eyes with Camie, both blondes tilting their heads at the same time. Camie proceeded to stride up to the counter and lean over it, Izuku turning his head away to avoid looking down her blouse.
"Ehhh? You look totes familiar." Camie pursed her beautiful lips into a pout, thinking hard. "Have we met? Midoriya-kun, who's this? Your new squeeze?"
"You betcha!" Himiko grinned, giving her a friendly little wave. "Toga Himiko, at your service!"
"Good morning, Utsushimi-san." Izuku said. "What will you be having?"
"Gimme a…" Camie squinted at the menu board. "Strawberry Sunrise Caramel Cream Frappuccino Special!"
"That's not on the menu." Izuku said flatly. "You just made that up. Besides, weren't you watching your weight?"
"Rude!" Camie stuck out her tongue playfully. "A girl's gotta have fun once in a while. I'm rewarding myself since I passed my super-hard quiz, and a super-super-super tough physical exam!"
Izuku rolled his eyes, but made the custom order for her anyway while the girls giggled and chattered on and on about… whatever it was that girls talked about. He didn't eavesdrop, instead focusing on Camie's insanely high-calorie order.
"Thank you!" Camie cheered when he handed her a pink, cream-filled abomination of a beverage. She took a sip and shivered with delight. "Mmm, it's sooooo good~!"
"Oh?" Toga smirked. "I remember making that face last night…"
"Himiko." Izuku sighed.
Thankfully Camie didn't seem to hear that last part, having been distracted by Nyako's sudden appearance. She immediately made a beeline towards the cat and began petting it, cooing all the while. Himiko rubbed shoulders against Izuku, leaning into him.
"Did you like what I did while I was wearing her face?" Himiko whispered into his ear huskily. "I'm surprised you can talk to her with a straight face, after the things you did to her."
"That was you, not her." Izuku said, unfazed. "Though I do admit, last night was… interesting."
"Hehehe~ There's more where that came from, lover boy. Just get me more blood, and I'll be whoever you want me to be." Himiko teased, running a finger along his chest when no one was looking. "How about that invisible girl you told me about? We could have plenty of fun with her body…"
"That might not be a good idea."
"Why not?" Himiko tilted her head. "I thought you said you'd like to see her again."
Izuku hummed, thinking back to the fledgling hero he met back at U.A. Ah, to watch a hero grow from rookie to pro was always a pleasure. It was the same sort of satisfaction he got from watching a seed germinate and grow into a beautiful flower, so very innocent and pure. But at the same time, there was something dark inside him that wanted her in a different way. It was a bloodthirst that could never be sated, a primal urge that he had to suppress each and every day.
Is this your doing, Kakuja? Or is this me?
"The invisible girl was fun to watch, but a part of me desired her in a different way." Izuku admitted.
"Oho!" Himiko smiled, inadvertently showcasing her pointed canines. "Do tell."
"I wanted to do things…" Izuku said slowly, relishing the thought. "To her skin."
"Bleh." Himiko's smile morphed into a pout. "I thought you were going to say something hot. Like pin her down and make her squeal—"
"I wonder if it'd stay invisible even after I peeled it off her body." Izuku wondered aloud. "Hmm. I could… Yes, now that I know my Quirk can affect other Quirks, I could… yes, yes. A dagger? No, perhaps a cloak. A cloak sounds nice. But then the skin needs to be in one piece. Does the invisibility extend to her insides?"
Izuku launched into another one of his mumble-storms and Himiko rolled her eyes. Boys and their toys.
Just as Izuku was contemplating what Quinques he could make out of the Spawn of Endeavor his burner phone buzzed with a notification, the boy blinking with surprise when he read it.
[OPEN CONTRACT]
[CHISAKI KAI AKA 'OVERHAUL']
[10,000,000 JPY]
A ten million yen bounty? Izuku let out a low whistle. Whoever this guy was, he must have really kicked the hornet's nest. The Underground rarely put out bounties that paid this much, so it peaked Izuku interest immediately. The money would help the cafe out a ton, so he accepted the job to see what he was in for. Dialing a number, he waited for the person on the other end to answer.
"Hello?" a dry voice on the other end rasped.
"Good morning, Giran." Izuku said.
"Jackie boy! If this is about the ten mil contract—"
"Send it."
"A-Ah, yes. One moment…"
He ended the call soon after, receiving a datafile from Giran sends later. His eyebrows rose higher and higher the more he read. The bounty target was neither hero nor villain, but a Yakuza head. Chisaki Kai, better known as Overhaul, was the leader of the Shie Hassaikai branch, probably the boss of those same thugs who were skulking around Musutafu City just the other day.
Izuku read on, intrigued. Apparently the hit was ordered because of Overhaul's dangerous new weapon. Somehow, the man leading a bunch of two-bit thugs managed to create a Quirk-erasing drug. Needless to say the Underground could not permit such a thing to exist, even if the drug was still in its testing stages and only lasted a few hours at most.
At its current, prototype stage the drug could temporarily erase Quirks. If given time to develop, could they turn it into a drug that could erase Quirks permanently? It was tempting, and knowing there might yet be a way to rid himself of his curse made Izuku feel conflicted.
Within him Kakuja tensed at the treasonous little thought, and he could practically feel her scowl. Izuku hummed, putting a hand on his stomach.
Well, he was just considering it. Did he really want to go back into being weak, powerless little Deku? Of course not. All options were on the table and he was simply a diner appraising the spread that lay before him.
Now that he thought about it, he needed a field-test for both Kacchan 1/4 and his new tentacles. Two birds with one stone, then. He had to act fast before anyone else sunk their teeth into his new prey.
Dialing a number, he brought the burner phone to his ear again. There was a soft click, followed by heavy breathing on the other end.
"Moonfish." Izuku began, idly watching Camie still playing with his pet cat.
"Speaking."
[x]
By the time Izuku and Moonfish got ahold of all the information they needed to ambush Overhaul night had fallen. Unfortunately Himiko caught wind of what they were doing and begged Izuku to join, the boy unable to resist her puppy-dog eyes.
The trio were now stationed atop a cliff overlooking a winding mountain road, awaiting a convoy of Yakuza vehicles. According to their info they were transporting the source of the drug to their new operating base, which gave Izuku and his friends the perfect opportunity to seize it and capture Overhaul in one fell swoop. Win-win.
"I'm so boooooorrrrrrred." Himiko complained, kicking her legs idly as she relaxed atop a nearby tree branch. "Are they here yet?"
"No." Izuku said for the umpteenth time, still looking through his binoculars. "I tell you when they are, so you can just take a nap or something."
"You mean like Moony is?" Himiko gazed down at the man's sleeping form. "I can't, I'm too excited!"
Moonfish snored, leaning against a fallen log. He looked like something out of a horror movie with that awful gimp suit he called a costume, and Izuku never really did understand why the man would wear something that bound and blinded him. Moonfish's costume came with hooks that pulled his lips back to expose his gums and teeth, the multitude of red spikes all over the black cloth only making it look all the more intimidating.
On the other hand, Himiko was still wearing that schoolgirl outfit from when Izuku first met her. There was nothing wrong with it, but the fact that her face was exposed made Izuku worry. That wouldn't do, especially since she had a civilian job now.
"Himiko." Izuku called, pulling out something from within his jacket and tossing it to her. "Here."
She caught it with her catlike reflexes, inspecting it closely. It was the same white hockey mask Izuku used during the assault on U.A as part of his alternate costume.
"Hmm?" Himiko looked puzzled. "For me?"
"It'll have to do for now. You'll need to hide your face like us." Izuku said. "Remind you to get you some proper equipment once we're done with this job."
"Fine, fine~." Toga slipped on the mask then stood atop her branch perch, cocking her head cutely. Her yellow eyes stood out against the white mask, like a pair of topaz gems in a bone-white skull. "Hoot, hoot. Look, I'm a cute little Owl!"
"That you are." Izuku smiled, then straightened when he noticed the headlights of an approaching Yakuza convoy on the road. Three black SUVs, just like his sources told him. "We've got company. Moonfish, Owl."
"Eh?! Is that my villain name now? Wait, I want a re-roll, it's not cute enough!" Himiko complained. "Ahh, dammit!"
Moonfish snapped awake in an instant, rising from his slumber and shambling forward like a zombie out of a grave. The three of them eventually took up position beside Izuku, who readied a clacker detonator in his hands.
"Remember those three teeth I knocked out of your mouth when we first met, Moonfish?" Izuku began nonchalantly.
"Uh-huh."
"I made one into a Quinque. As for the other two…" Izuku pressed down on the detonator. "I turned them into bombs. Enjoy the show."
The road before the Yakuza convoy proceeded to erupt into a field of jagged, razor sharp enamel, piercing into the first SUV and tearing its occupants into shreds. Blood splattered across the windows and painted them red before exploding outward in a crimson shower, Izuku's tooth-bomb growing out of control like a weed. Soon a massive tree of enamel with a wrecked, bloodied vehicle speared upon its branches blocked the road, forcing the convoy to come to a halt.
"Find Overhaul, I want him alive." Izuku ordered. "Dispose of the rest."
The trio thundered through the forest, Izuku and Himiko striding atop the treetops while Moonfish followed closely behind. The man surged forward while using his teeth to move, looking like a monstrous spider in the distance to the Yakuza grunts. They understandably panicked and opened fire in his general direction, but even that was a distraction when Izuku and Himiko pounced on them from above.
Blood splashed all over Himiko's white mask when she plunged her knife into a man's neck and pulled it all the way through, severing his spine and nearly lopping his head off. Her mad laughter continued as she picked another target, her flashing blades removing another man's hand before he could even fire at her.
Izuku wasn't about to let her have all the fun. Bringing his suitcase up as a shield to block a few rounds, he took a deep breath and spoke to his newly-crafted Quinque.
"Let's go, Kacchan."
The weapon unfolded in his grip, the suitcase's handle extending into a pole with a shift of gears. Coiling red flesh climbed up the shaft and pooled atop its peak, solidifying into a jet-black mass of bone and chitin. Sparks flared at one end of the weapon's massive head, creating a tiny explosion that was a promise of the chaos to come.
Kacchan 1/4, the Boom Hammer.
Izuku leapt into battle, bringing the two-handed greathammer down on a terrified Yakuza who attempted to flee. Unused to the sheer weight of his new weapon, Izuku missed the man's head and instead hit his target's shoulder, eliciting a gut-wrenching scream of agony along with a satisfying crunch when the thug's bones shattered. The second swing was much more accurate, silencing the pitiful sounds the man was making when Izuku crushed his head like a melon and spilled his brains all over the road.
The other nearby gangsters gaped, horrified. A few found their senses and began opening fire with both their Quirks and pistols, but Izuku was already leaping high into the air. The back of the hammer sparked once more, and a sudden explosion propelled it downwards in a swing so fast that it crushed a man's torso like a can in a hydraulic press and splattered his insides across the nearby wall.
Blood and teeth went flying, Izuku delighting in the carnage. Behind them Moonfish was working on the third vehicle and judging by the sounds he was making, he was having lots of fun.
"What are you useless idiots doing?! There's just three of them!" Someone howled, rallying the frightened criminals. "Kill them, before I kill you myself!"
Izuku focused on the man in question, taking note of the man's birdlike plague mask. He matched the target's description… This must be Overhaul.
His suspicions were soon confirmed when the man in question slammed his palm down on the asphalt, turning the road into a wave of deadly spikes that raced towards them. Izuku, Himiko and Moonfish dodged out of the way in acrobatic leaps, but some of the other gangsters weren't so lucky.
"Meat on sticks…" Moonfish moaned, eying the impaled thugs and drooling like a hungry dog. "I want yakiniku…"
"Damn freaks." Overhaul spat. "Who sent you?!"
None of the three answered. By now Overhaul and his lieutenants had rallied, two more men in plague-doctor masks taking up ranks beside the Yakuza boss. One was a lumbering giant of a man who looked like a mountain of muscle, while the other was a thin, hooded figure. The rest of the Yakuza grunts lay dead or dying, either mauled by Moonfish or broken by Izuku and Himiko.
It was three on three, then. Both parties moved at the same time, going in for the kill. Izuku targeted Overhaul, the world slowing down around him while he made a quick mental analysis of the situation. In a complete mismatch Himiko decided to target the giant, forcing Moonfish to go for the thin, hooded man instead.
Lightning fast tendrils of arrow-like blue hair erupted from Hood Man's head, but Moonfish was faster. His teeth blades parried and clashed against the tendrils, sending sparks flying and illuminating the dark road.
Behind him Himiko was dueling with the giant, putting up an amazing fight despite her small stature. Within seconds the giant man's muscular arms were already riddled with the blades launched from Toga's Quinque knife, though she was having trouble getting deep enough cuts with such a small weapon. She darted around him, playing cat and mouse with an opponent multiple times her size.
Izuku trusted they would be fine and focused on his own battle with Overhaul, time returning to its steady pace. Overhaul opened with a salvo of rocky spikes when his fingers grazed the cliff face, his mere touch rewriting matter at the molecular level.
How curious, Izuku thought as Overhaul followed up by flipping an entire sheet of stone at him. A Quirk that can alter matter via touch. It's probably too complicated to turn it into a Quinque, but I can try. Does it also work on organics?
The answer came a mere second later when Overhaul swept his hands across the corpse of a nearby thug. It was like watching an explosion in reverse when the dead body folded in on itself, and all of a sudden Overhaul had four arms instead of two. Izuku blinked, impressed. Did the Quirk create neural pathways to the new limbs, or make use of existing ones that piggybacked on the man's nervous system? It shouldn't have been possible, but Quirks never did make sense.
What a waste. Overhaul could have been one of the world's top healers if he went down that path, able to make more money than he could ever dream of just by using his Quirk to fix people from the inside out. Instead he chose to be a gangster, of all things.
Izuku's hammer hurtled through the air and smashed an incoming rampart of spikes into smithereens. Now that his opponent had four hands he could create twice as many constructs, countless stone tentacles with cruel, jagged tips racing towards Izuku and aiming to impale him. The boy simply flipped his hammer's head over so that the weapon's barrel was now facing forward, and swung for a—
Kaboom.
The resulting explosion tore apart Overhaul's incoming attack, the shockwave rattling Izuku's teeth when he bared them in a wide grin. So this was what it was like to be Katsuki. It was so fun! He spun the weapon above his head before bringing it downward in a powerful swing, the resulting Quinque releasing a devastating explosion and acrid, choking black smoke.
Glass shattered when Overhaul's back crashed against the SUV he was so desperate to protect. The man stumbled but got up unsteadily, all four of his palms touching the ground. A scream of fury escaped his throat and six pillars of whirling asphalt and concrete rose around both him and Izuku, racing downwards towards the boy in a screaming dive.
Izuku twisted his body, dodging the first two strikes by inches. The next two pillars were shattered with a wide swing from his greathammer but that left him open to attack and for a moment Overhaul clearly thought he'd won, his golden eyes shining with glee.
It soon turned to horror when twin tentacles of scaly emerald erupted from the small of Izuku's back, lashing outward like a pair of massive whips and cleaving Overhaul's attack apart. The cannibal chuckled darkly, experimenting with the Rinkaku and letting them sweep across the road. They carved deep grooves wherever they struck and were lightning fast, stronger than his original tail. The only downside was that they were less durable, but Izuku could work with that.
His next swing parted Overhaul's defenses like a sledgehammer breaking a wall. A single sweep from each tentacle lopped off both of Overhaul's legs at the knees and the man fell to the ground, screaming in agony. Just before he could touch himself and repair the damage, Izuku's tentacles wrapped around all four arms and snapped them like twigs, wrenching them in opposite directions.
"AHHHHH! AHHH, AHHHHHHHH—"
So annoying. Izuku was getting pretty sick of his screaming, so he picked up the man with his rinkaku and began slamming him down onto the road like a doll until he stilled and got quiet. A quick check revealed that Overhaul was still alive, just a little roughed up.
Looking back, he found that both Himiko and Moonfish had finished off their respective battles. Moonfish had cut his opponent into ribbons, leaving only a pile of torn, bloodied meat on the ground. He was drooling over it, poking at the still-twitching mass with his teeth blades.
Himiko surprised him yet again, crouched atop the corpse of her massive opponent like a vulture. Her mask was lifted slightly to expose her mouth, her lips placed squarely on a gaping wound on the dead man's neck. She stopped when she noticed Izuku looking, turning to him with a smile while blood dripped down her chin in a river of crimson.
With Overhaul incapacitated they began scavenging what they could from the bodies, taking select bits and pieces along with emptying the corpses' pockets. Izuku also secured whatever firearms they found, wondering if they'd be useful later.
The trio then turned to the SUV Overhaul was protecting earlier. Within the vehicle's trunk they found a silver luggage case sealed with a heavy combination lock, with Izuku guessing that it contained the Quirk-erasing drug. The young villain paused just as he was about to slice it open with his tentacles, his enhanced hearing having picked up something that made him stop.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
A heartbeat?
He gently guides his tentacles to the lock instead and cut it apart, opening the suitcase. What they found caused even Moonfish to stop, Himiko gasping at the contents. Within the luggage case was an unconscious little girl with silver hair, the child clearly having been forced into it against her will. Her arms and legs were wrapped with countless bandages, the poor girl struggling to breathe while red tinged her cheeks and ears. Izuku placed his palm on her forehead and found her to be burning up with a serious fever, his free hand clenching into a tight fist.
Turning about, Izuku marched over to one of the dying Yakuza thugs and proceeded to drag him to the case, shaking him roughly.
"You. What is this?" Izuku demanded, pointing at the girl. "Tell me and I won't kill you."
"E-Eri." the dying man coughed, holding a hand to his stomach to stop his insides from falling out. "Our secret weapon… source of the Quirk-erasing drug—"
The source of the drug was a person? Izuku studied the girl again, frowning. The bandages and the smell of blood underneath them implied something all too horrific. Overhaul had the power to rewrite matter and if Izuku's guess was right, the man was somehow using this girl's body to create the Quirk-erasing drug. The ethical part of him was disgusted, but the analytical part was mildly impressed. It was technically the same thing he was going, making weapons using people's Quirks. Izuku would applaud Overhaul's ingenuity if it wasn't so needlessly cruel. Using a child? Unforgivable.
"He's all yours, Moonfish." Izuku said once the man had stopped babbling and pleading, throwing him at the serial killer's feet.
Moonfish looked down and smiled. Izuku didn't bother to see him play with his food, assisting Himiko in gently extracting the girl from the luggage case.
"We're taking her with us." Izuku said, settling Eri onto his back while one tentacle held her in place. The other coiled around Overhaul's limp body like an anaconda. "Any questions?"
Moonfish raised his hand.
"Yes, Moonfish?"
"What are we having for dinner?"
"I'll cook up something quick for us since I'll be spending the rest of the night interrogating Overhaul here." Izuku shook the unconscious Yakuza boss a little. "Himiko, can you take care of Eri-chan in the meantime?"
"Sure." Himiko gave him a quick thumbs up. "Are ya gonna kill him?"
"Kill him?" Izuku smirked. "Oh no, no, no. I have something much more interesting planned for this one."
[x]
Overhaul awoke just as Izuku was done extracting the files from a USB drive he found in the Yakuza boss' coat. It'd been a delightful read, detailing all the nuances and processes of making the Quirk-erasing drug.
Izuku could hear Overhaul struggling atop the operating table, the boy slowly skulking over and inspecting him like a scientist would to a particularly interesting specimen.
"Hello there." Izuku smiled. "Chisaki Kai, right? I found your work most intriguing."
"Mmmppph." Overhaul's enraged eyes promised death, his voice muffled by the ball gag in his mouth. "Mppphhhh!"
"Don't bother struggling. Since you seem to activate your Quirk via your hands, I took the liberty of removing them for you. All four of them." Izuku said casually, wincing when Overhaul let out a frenzied but muffled scream. "Again with the screaming…"
If it weren't for the restraints Overhaul would be flailing around with his stumps like a beetle on its back, and as funny as that would have been, Izuku didn't want anything to disrupt his experiments. A controlled environment was crucial to getting good results, after all.
"Shhhhh." Izuku's tail raced outwards and rested its tip only millimeters from the man's eye. "You're probably wondering why you can't move your neck—It's because I've got your head in an industrial vise. You know what you look like? An idiot sandwich. I have to admit, I was pretty interested when I first heard of your Quirk-erasing drug. Creating it using someone else's Quirk was ingenious, and your notes were most enlightening. Y'know, I'm something of a scientist myself."
"Mmmmphh! Mpphhh!"
"Therein lies the issue. As scientists, we must have standards!" Izuku walked around the operating table, putting on a pair of latex gloves with a satisfying snap. "I can't agree with you using poor little Eri as a test subject. For me, children are off the table. Can't hurt the innocent, after all. But you, Chisaki Kai? You are far from innocent."
Izuku pulled his tail closer, its tip splitting open in a quartet of emerald petals. Within the crimson flesh something monstrous and many-legged crawled out, detaching itself from his tail with a wet squelch. It was an extension of Izuku's Quirk, the very same method he used to animate Bakugo's severed hand just the other day.
The centipede his Quirk created squirmed about vigorously when Izuku picked it up between his fingers, connected to him via an unseen, ethereal link. If it could revive dead flesh, what could it do to the living?
"I bet you experimented quite a lot on sweet little Eri-chan, didn't you?" Izuku wondered. "Cutting her limbs open again and again to extract her blood and bone marrow… oh, how painful it must have been. However, what she experienced will be nothing compared to what I'll do to you."
He grabbed Overhaul's face and wrenched it to the side, not caring about the way the man's nose broke when it was twisted against the metal. Overhaul began to scream again but Izuku's scientific curiosity drowned him out, ignoring how the man seemed to be pleading for mercy. His golden eye was darting about in panic as Izuku hummed in thought, bringing the centipede closer and closer.
"Just to be clear, this isn't torture." Izuku chuckled. "This is simply mere experimentation. Quirks are such wonderful things, aren't they?"
The centipede crawled atop Overhaul's face and the man began to shake with terror, horrified when it clicked its mandibles audibly. Izuku was rather amused to discover it was somehow semi-sentient, willing to obey his every order while still having a very rudimentary mind of its own. Did devouring Himiko's Quirk-goo grant him this new ability to create this mimicry of life, or was it Kakuja controlling it from behind the curtain?
Either way, it was adorable. Izuku gently pushed the little creature forward, urging it to do as it pleased.
"Would you like to go for the eye or the ear?" Izuku cooed. "Both lead to the brain, after all."
"MMMMMMPPPHHHHH!"
"The ear then?" Izuku smiled when the centipede approached Overhaul's left ear. "Good girl!"
What followed was a fair bit of muffled screaming from Overhaul that Izuku mostly ignored, too fixated on watching his little creation burrowing into the man's ear. Overhaul began to convulse from the pain, foaming at the mouth as the centipede went deeper and deeper, gnawing away the soft, delicate flesh that stood in its way to the brain and spinal cord.
"Ha ha ha." Izuku laughed. "The worm turns in, the worm turns out…"
Overhaul was no longer screaming, now making choked, gasping noises like a fish suffocating on land. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and Izuku relished in his agony despite his no-torture clause. If his theory was right, he could do some very fun things with this centipede aspect of his Quirk. Perhaps Overhaul's mind could even be kept intact!
"Focus on my voice if you want to survive this, Chisaki." Izuku whispered, leaning in close. "Don't you have that old man waiting for you back home? I've read about him in your files. He'll be all alone if you die here…"
Bringing up the old Yakuza boss somehow caused Overhaul to react, the man spasming uncontrollably.
"Yes, that's it! I want you to maintain consciousness for as long as possible, you can do it! Here's a simple mental exercise I like to use."
Izuku smiled, his green pupils a pair of emeralds glowing in the black abyss of his eyes.
"What's a thousand minus seven?"
[Chapter 7 End]
Thank you for reading!
Wishing you a happy (early) halloween!