Chapter 3: Wrath of the Chimera
There were more than a few times that Randy Cunningham ever wished to take back whatever he had said. And as he flew back through the air before rolling to a stop against a car. He pulled himself off of the car, feeling like he'd just been run over by a train. The taste of the pavement and some blood still coated his mouth. Spatting out what he felt was a loosened tooth didn't make him feel any better. He felt his body aching as he popped his back right into its place. Grunting in pain, he picked up his sword with a tight grip.
"That bastard hits like a truck on steroids, doesn't it bud?" Randy turned to see Izuku climbing out of a broken window, covered in flour, broken eggs, milk and a bowl with sugar and cake batter dripping from his head.
"I would've rather been thrown at the car instead of the bakery. Now I owe the bride and groom their wedding cake." Izuku smacked the eggshells off of himself. "Still, it looks like we're just getting started with this fight."
"Yep, learned anything from the walking zoo here?" Randy swung the sword over his shoulder as he readied himself for the next round.
The two heroes looked ahead at their massive opponent and the destruction that he had caused. Despite it not being the first time either of them had faced a large beast, it was the first time said beast was a walking zoo of different beasts. They steeled themselves as it walked out of the smoke growling at them before spitting out his cigar.
He had the head and face of a wolf with black dreadlocks on the back, eagle talon-like claws for hands, and a reptile's tail. He wore a damaged and torn duster coat with ripped black pants and a burnt shirt. This was Chojuro Kon aka Chimera. And he looked as mean as an alligator with a toothache being poked with a hot iron.
"You two punks just cost me my favorite coat, shirt, and my remaining cigars!" Chimera growled. "I'll have your heads for that."
"Well, in our defense you tore them up yourself with that freaky Quirk you've got." Randy smirked behind his mask.
"Please don't antagonize the large villain that's kicking our butts, Ninja." Izuku sighed.
"Can't help it. I'm a mocker by nature." Randy shrugged.
"Not that I agree with him, but doesn't your quirk can cause your clothes to be torn regardless?" Izuku asked.
"In other words, cut back on eating Bambi and all the other woodland creatures." Randy mocked, daring Chimera to come at them.
Chimera snarled at the two heroes, feeling disrespected. His body began to transform, sprouting large black wings from his arms and giant velociraptor-like talons. If there was one thing that he didn't just hate but loathed was disrespect towards him. With the mighty flap of his wings, he flew at the two heroes, baring his large new talons at them. His wild roar caused the two heroes to jump away from the talons, only managing to crush the car behind them. He turned, backhanding Izuku away from him. He felt a scarf wrapping around his other arm, turning to see Randy planting his two feet against his maw. The sting of having a pair of feet land on him subsided as Chimera made a shell on top of his face.
"Oh crap, this guy is pulling a Kars, Rabbit!" Randy gulped before Chimera punched him in the face, sending him back with Izuku.
Chimera turned his arms back to a pair of large gorilla-like arms with claws instead of hands. He chased after the two heroes, swiping at them with fury matched only by a raged animal. His enemies managed to barely dodge the attacks, though they did see that he wasn't playing. One of his punches punched through a building's corner. One of his swipes slashed open an ATM, making it spew money. With every missed attack, he grew angrier and angrier.
"Stop dodging, you bastards!" Chimera snarled like a starving wolf.
"Oh yeah, I'll do that in a sec." Randy blocked the swipes using a pair of black sais. "I bet that's what you told Little Red Riding Hood before you put on her grandmother's clothes." Randy parried the attacks, jumping over trying to find an opening to counter.
"His mutation quirk is far more versatile than anything I've ever seen!" Izuku dodged the swipes with the use of Full Cowling. "I've got an idea. Ninja, hold him still!" Izuku used Black Whip to pull himself back and out of Chimera's reach.
"Hey, you're not my shoobing boss!" Randy slashed one of Chimera's palms, cutting him.
Chimera growled in pain before punching Randy back.
Randy reeled from the pain but worked through it. He threw his scarf at one of the lamp posts, spinning around it before flinging himself at Chimera. Focusing his suit's energy, he swung his leg with an added increase of power.
"Ninja Water Kick!" Randy released a water coated ax kick, nailing Chimera square in the head. "I was going to use an air kick but I felt that you needed a bath Fido." Randy jumped back as Chimera held his head in pain.
Randy wrapped his scarf around one of Chimera's arms before skidding underneath his feet. He jumped over the large mutating villain, wrapping the scarf around his neck. Planting his legs on Chimera's back, he placed him in an improvised chokehold. Something Chimera didn't particularly like one bit. He held his scarf tightly as Chimera thrashed around while trying to pull the scarf off of him.
"Rabbit, whenever you're ready!" Randy called out, struggling to hold the large villain on his own.
Izuku had fired his Black Whip all over the street, getting as far as he could. He grunted, planting his feet on the ground. His arms ached as he stretched himself farther than he had before with his Full Cowling increasing it's power output. Narrowing his eyes, he locked on to the dreaded villain.
"Just another second." Izuku gritted his teeth.
Randy held on to Chimera as he tried to figure out what Izuku was planning.
Chimera's eyes landed on Izuku as he was ready to slingshot himself forward.
"Crap." Chimera growled.
"NOW!" Izuku released his holding, shooting himself like a bullet at Chimera. "Full Cowling 15%! Manchester Smash!" He thrusted out his right leg in the form of a kick towards Chimera.
"What the JUICE!" Randy's eyes shrunk as Izuku closed the distance between him, Chimera and himself.
Time slowed down as Izuku was inches from landing his kick at the villain. His mind started drifting back to why he had taken up this task. It was part of his processing method to overanalyze things but it also helped him find out everything that was going on around him.
"I still can't believe that I am here in an American city fighting side by side with a vigilante against a villain that's after his head and ours." Izuku's mind thought. "When I was given this assignment by Principal Nezu, I thought that it would've been something done more by an American hero. But given that vigilantes are more common here than in Japan, that wouldn't have done any good. And yet, here I am fighting side by side with him to save people. I can tell that he is a good person and a good hero. Though I've also been able to learn more about who might be behind the mask. But first, how did I end up in this shoobing mess? Oh gods above, I'm becoming native."
A few hours back…
Izuku felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest if he sat there any longer. He could feel the eyes of people zeroing in on him like a pack of vultures circling around a fresh corpse in the middle of the desert. He gulped as he loosened his collar. Sweat coursed down his back and neck as he tried to make sense as to how he was in the middle of that situation. He took in a deep breath as he thought of his situation.
He was in a coffee shop. He'd ordered a cup of tea to alleviate his nerves. He'd made sure to pick a spot where no one would bother him. Then how? How did Morgan end up right across from him with her own drink in her hand like she'd been there since the beginning?
"This is a nice spot, isn't it?" Morgan asked, getting Izuku's attention even more. "This place has the best iced coffee in all of Norrisville and has some of the best music beats when the time is right. So, how did you find it?" Morgan took a sip of her iced coffee.
"Oh, um, Randy and Howard might've mentioned this place." Izuku replied with a smile. "I-I-I didn't expect to see you here, Morgan. Oh, um, sorry, Ms. Sanchez."
Morgan giggled as Izuku flinched. She didn't know why but seeing him acting so shy and fidgety when she was well aware that he could knock out goons twice her height was so endearing. It was like seeing a wolf in sheep's clothing actually trying to act like a sheep. As she watched him try to keep a respectful demeanor, she couldn't deny the warmth and hunger she started feeling. Like a she-wolf looking down at her prey, knowing fully well that it could easily turn the tables on her, she smiled.
"No need for formalities here, Izuku. You're in the US." Morgan took a sip of her iced coffee. "The land of freedom, equality, and good old cowboy movies and lots of social political messes, you'd have a better chance at surviving swimming in the middle of a swamp with your eyes closed. So what are you doing afterwards?" She asked.
Izuku wasn't sure what to reply. He looked down at his notebook, hoping to get an idea. He'd already finished his homework and the assignments that Mr. Aizawa had given him. So he was completely free to do whatever he wanted to do. The problem was that as soon as his eyes met Morgan's, he knew he was finished.
"If you don't have anything to do, I can take you to the best places this city has." Morgan wiggled her eyebrows in a suggestive manner. "Think of it as a thanks for saving me twice. Maybe we can come up with something for the battle of the bands next week?"
"Um, that is not necessary. I don't wish to be a bother." Izuku held up his hands, only for Morgan to pull him out of the coffee shop with her.
"Come on, hero. How often does a cute girl ask you to hang out with you?" Morgan winked at Izuku.
Izuku blushed, losing all sense of fighting back. He willingly followed Morgan through the city as she gave him the tour. It was a different experience for him all together. Despite him having the lay of the land thanks to his nightly patrols and Randy and Howard giving him pointers on where to go in Norrisville, having a girl show him around was a brand new experience for him. It made his heart flutter slightly.
As Morgan showed Izuku around, Randy and Howard walked out of the Gamehole after spending some money in some dumb fun.
"So, any chances of learning who the mystery archer woman was?" Howard asked.
"Not much without a name and only a vague description." Randy sighed. "Any luck on your end?"
"Well, your description got a match on some articles around Europe." Howard pulled up his phone. "Her name is Beros, just Beros, she worked as a mercenary for hire in Europe and Asia doing hits for people that were getting too powerful Quirks."
"Quirks? Izuku mentioned that word too." Randy scratched his chin. "Must be what they call super powers back in Japan. But why would she do that?"
"Well, one of the articles spoke about this thing called The Quirk Singularity Theory, and how future generations will have Quirks so powerful that they could tear apart the world or some junk." Howard shrugged.
Randy stopped Howard on his tracks, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Howard, are you telling me that in fifty or so years, there will be kids that can pull superpowers out of nowhere?" Randy asked.
"Yeah." Howard nodded.
"Well, add that to my fears of the future. But it does tell me what McFist must've told her to get her to join." Randy pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, that's a problem for future Randy. Speaking of Quirks, I can assume that Izuku's mission isn't about the bounty. I don't see him working with someone that kills people for some theory." Randy sighed, only for Howard to almost spat out his drink.
"I'll tell you what I can't see him doing, but he's doing. He's walking around with Morgan!" Howard pointed across the street.
Randy followed Howard's finger and saw the sight before him.
"Huh, wow, kudos to Izuku. I didn't think he had it in him." Randy smirked, having to give the green haired young man credit where credit was due. "Poor guy looks like he's about to have a stroke the way Morgan is pulling him along. I almost pity the guy."
"Okay, Cunningham, we dealt with your questions. Now it is time to take care of mine." Howard finished his drink before tossing it into the recycle bin. "How did that guy manage to get his hands on a date with a total knockout like Morgan?! She barely looks at half of the top tier A-listers at school. What does he have that I don't?"
Randy mauled whether or not to tell his best friend that there was a long list of things most had that he didn't. But sticking to the Bro Code, he did the one thing that most best bros did. He lied by evading the question. With a mere shrug, Randy saw his friend huff in annoyance, seemingly satisfied with his reply.
"No matter. Let's go!" Howard charged after Izuku and Morgan as though they had just stolen a fortune from him.
"Well, this can't possibly go wrong." Randy muttered.
Despite Randy not liking stalking Izuku and Morgan in the middle of the day like a common stalker, he had to admit that it gave him time to learn more about his new friend and organize his thoughts about him. The Ninja of Norrisville would be the first to admit that at first he assumed the green haired teen was in league with McFist after he mentioned a bounty in his hero notebook. But he was glad that Izuku wasn't some two timing bounty hunter from Japan. Randy saw that Izuku was a loyal friend, and a courageous hero that had been tasked with something to prove himself. Not that he agreed with being chased after to be arrested for a law he felt didn't apply to him. But that was more Randy's view on the Japanese Hero Laws than anything else.
As Randy and Howard hid their faces behind the newspaper, Randy's eyes landed on an article about Japan's many heroes and their roles in the hero-centric society. When he had first heard of them, he was over the moon about them. But the more he dug into them the more his views clashed with them. People had these amazing powers that granted them a leg up on almost everyone and they were supposed to act like everyday normal citizens? Randy scoffed at the idea, knowing fully well that people get a taste of power plus a society that fed the egos of those with great powers could only end one way.
A lit fuse on top of a gunpowder filled keg.
"So, what do we do now? Want to grab something to eat, Izuku?" Morgan asked.
"Oh, well, I don't know. Do you have anything that you'd like to eat?" Izuku asked. "I don't know what restaurants are here." He looked around for any good restaurants that could be good for them to try out.
"Well, we can try this new ramen place nearby, but I thought you wouldn't want something that's pretty much comfort food in Japan." Morgan commented. "How about some tacos?"
Back with Randy and Howard, their own stomachs growled at the suggestion of food.
"Oh I could go for a bite too." Howard groaned. "Great stomachs think alike."
"Dude, didn't you have some nachos already?" Randy raised an eyebrow at Howard's hunger.
"Anything you'd like, Ms.-I mean M-Morgan." Izuku scratched the back of his head.
"Aw, you don't need to be a knight in shining armor all the time, Izuku." Morgan patted his head, like she'd pet she had just gotten. "I swear, I'll make a man out of you even if it kills you." She winked at him before walking to the taco shop with a sway on her hips.
Izuku's blush turned bright red at what she meant by those words. And what was worse, his eyes were glued to her hips as she swayed them side by side. A part of him felt like smacking himself for looking at her like that. But another part was telling him that he was doing something completely natural.
"I shouldn't have looked at her like that." Izuku scolded himself. "What if she caught me staring? She would've thought that I was a perv or worse."
"Well buddy, if that's the minimum, you would've been joined by every single male on this block." Randy chimed in, making Izuku jump.
"AH! Randy, Howard, how long were you standing there?" Izuku asked.
"Since you had your little moment of inner conflict." Howard held back his laugh. "Girl does something for him and he thinks it's wrong to stare. Can you believe that, Cunningham?"
Randy shook his head.
"I mean, here is one of the hottest girls in school offering what most would give their left arm for, and you feel embarrassed for looking?" Howard shook his head pinching his nose. "I pity your childhood, dude. There's got to be some way you can break that shy kid persona, or for me to switch spots with you. You can tell my preference."
Izuku felt a beat of sweat falling from the side of his head at Howard's words. He felt like he was talking to a more rounded, more useful and overly well mannered version of his classmates Denki Kaminari and Minorou Mineta. Though he felt bad at comparing the red headed young man to the class pervs back at UA, he couldn't think of a better comparison to people he knew.
"You realize that I'm not very good with girls, right?" Izuku sighed.
"We can tell, dude." Randy patted Izuku on the back.
"What are you guys doing here, anyways?" Izuku asked.
"Just walking is all." Randy shrugged. "Caught sight of you just now. You should be going back to the date before Morgan pays for the whole meal."
Izuku snapped at the idea. He ran to the taco shop, leaving a trail of dust behind him, like in one of those cartoons. He couldn't believe he forgot that he was technically with Morgan and as such he had to be the gentleman in that scenario. The idea of him screwing up with a hot girl terrified him even more than talking to a girl or being on a date. It was a catch 22 if he ever knew of one.
"You think he'll get a stroke or something, Cunningham?" Howard asked.
"Usually in cartoons those types break out of their shell and get the girl after all is said and done." Randy scratched the back of his head. "But this is real life."
"Can't help but root for the broccoli head though." Howard shrugged. "It is a clear underdog story if I ever saw one."
Not far from the spot Randy and Howard were discussing Izuku's date's fate, Chimera looked down at the street from atop a building. He took a deep inhale from his cigar as he watched everyone pass underneath him. He growled at them while chomping at his cigar. Like ants not knowing that someone much larger was about to aim a magnifying glass upon them, he pitied them.
As someone born with the most powerful mutation quirk, Chimera often scared everyone due to his brute power and appearance alone. Both of those things made him the best at what he did, and that was often tearing people apart with his hands or making sure that people did what his employers asked of them to do. Either way, he couldn't complain about his rewards and those rewards brought opportunities. With a puff of cigar smoke, he mauled over how to best get his hands on his target.
"Let see, I can get the most powerful man in the city hostage or a whole school bus, but that would not go well if Beros was anything to go by." Chimera sighed. "Maybe I could go off on scent and track them down, but I've got nothing of theirs to do so. That leaves the cliche option, have the Ninja come to me."
Chimera looked down at the street, noting all the people once more. His eyes then landed on a news van as they ate some tacos for lunch.
"Oh, the fourth estate. How convenient." Chimera stepped over the edge, falling from the building.
He crashed down on top of a car, shocking the people around it. He turned his head to look at the astounded people with a bored expression. With the glass and steel cracking and bending under his feet, he stepped down to the street. He set his eyes on a simple office worker. He took a puff of his cigar before taking it off of his mouth. He blew the smoke at the office worker's face, causing him to cough from the smoke.
"Boo," Chimera said.
All the people around him screamed in terror before Chimera picked up a motorcycle before flinging it at a nearby store. The people started running in terror at the destruction Chimera was producing. The smell of smoke and fire made them all run faster as panic spread like a fire on a dry grass field.
"That's right, you ants. Get the Ninja's attention on me." Chimera smirked, chewing on his cigar. "I ain't the one for the subtle approach or the sneaky approach. I prefer to tell my targets that the big bad wolf is coming and he's hungry." He let out a puff of smoke.
Back with Izuku and Morgan at the taco shop, she was laughing at Izuku as he sighed sadly.
"I can't believe you just ran in and started saying you'd pay whatever I was having?" Morgan laughed. "Dude, it's the 21st century, a girl can pay for her meal just fine. You're under no obligation to buy my food."
"Maybe, but that still doesn't stop from feeling like I should've stepped up." izuku sighed. "I don't go out with girls like… like this."
"You mean you don't hang out? Why not? Are you a secret troublemaker or something?" Morgan joked, only for Izuku to give her a shy and embarrassed smile. "Holy cheese, you are? Color me impressed. I knew that there was something I liked about you, Greenie." Morgan lightly punched Izuku's shoulder.
"T-Thanks, Ms-Morgan." Izuku rubbed his shoulder.
"Say, there's a music fest next week and my dance crew will be performing, will you be there?" Morgan asked.
"Um, is it like a culture festival?" Izuku asked.
"Whatever label the principal wants to put on it to pay for any damages and his car type of festival." Morgan shrugged.
Just then they heard a commotion happening outside. They heard and saw people screaming as they ran away from the chaos. They poked their heads out and got a first row viewing of the chaos unfolding before them.
"What is going on?" Izuku asked. "Is it another monster?"
"Or a crazy giant robot or something like that." Morgan suggested, earning a raised eyebrow from Izuku. "Our city is just that weird."
"I wouldn't say that it is the weirdest city in the world. But it is pretty high up there." Izuku shrugged. "We should get out of here now."
"Good idea. So what's your answer?" Morgan asked as they ran into the crowd.
"Oh, sure, yeah. I'll be there. But I might nor be very much of a singer. I know someone with a cool song if you need one." Izuku ran into the crowd, hoping to mix in to get away.
Morgan grabbed his hand, pulling him into a kiss on the cheek.
"I'll hold you to it." Morgan blushed just like Izuku was.
She didn't know what had come over her, but she wanted to give him a kiss. It was like a hunger that made her want more of him. It bordered on a crush she hadn't known she'd developed for the green haired young man. It could've easily been mistaken for a fling of some kind. But after being offered the same thing from every other boy in her school, something that was far calmer made her feel intrigued. The warmth in her cheeks was a pretty good sign that she liked the young man and was now able to give him some of that emotion.
However, their brief kiss and blush was enough for the crowd of people to separate them.
Izuku snapped out of his daze as he got brushed by several fleeing locals. He managed to slip into an alley and pull out his costume.
Back with Chimera, he was gleefully smoking his cigar as all was chaos around him.
"Where are you little ninja?" Chimera hummed.
"Smokebomb!" Randy popped out from a cloud of orange smoke. "Wow, I had no idea that the big bad wolf was in town. Are you here looking for the three little pigs?"
"Huh, that's not a new one. Time to make my employer happy." Chimera puffed his cigar.
"SMASH!"
Randy and Chimera looked up at the source of the word, though Randy already had a good idea of who it was.
Izuku landed a punch on Chimera's mouth, sending him back.
"Are you okay, Ninja?" Izuku asked.
"Doing great, Rabbit. I wasn't sure you'd show up." Randy pulled out his sword. "With him being a wolf and all."
Chimera stood back up, spitting out some blood from his snout. He noticed some of the fire had caught on his coat and shirt, annoying him. But not as much as seeing his cigar crushed did. Growling, he charged at Izuku, punching him into a store.
"Oh boy," Randy sighed.
Present…
Chimera's eyes widened at the sight of the attack coming his way. He'd hoped to save his next move as a finisher, but he didn't have a choice. He bent backwards, backheading Randy before letting out a powerful fiery breath. His attack sent a powerful shockwave that sent Randy and Izuku away from him.
"Damn, that was close." Chimera growled, panting. "That position really made my throat hurt."
Randy took this chance, running past Chimera to check up on Izuku. He helped him back to his feet, making sure that he was okay.
"That could've gone better, right Rabbit?" Randy asked.
"Yeah, I wasn't expecting him to have something like that." Izuku dusted himself. "His mutation quirk is the strongest one I've ever seen. But it looks like he isn't immune to its effects. The last attack must've hurt his throat. I got an idea."
"Let me guess, we make him go huff and puff and then we make him swallow something unpleasant?" Randy asked with Izuku nodding. "And my job will be to give him something other than a Tums tablet?"
Izuku nodded again, smiling under his mask. He had to admit that he liked to fight alongside the Ninja.
"Okay, let's get this over with." Chimera turned to the heroes.
"Our thoughts exactly." Randy drew his blade as Izuku was coated in his Full Cowling.
Chimera charged at the heroes on all fours like a rabid animal. He pounced on them, forcing them to jump out of the way.
Randy and Izuku used this chance to jump and run around Chimera. They kept moving, spinning and swinging from the lamp posts and cars to the side of buildings and mailboxes. With each step and jump they took, they moved faster and faster, gaining momentum and lots of openings.
Randy kicked Chimera's side before Izuku jumped down and punched Chimera on the stomach. They repeated the same motion, hitting different spots on the villain, making him tumble. As Chimera grew angrier and angrier, they looked at how he was getting back on his feet.
"You damn brats!" Chimera prepared another fire blast.
"NOW!" Izuku jumped in front of Chimera, grabbing hold of his jaws with his hands.
As Izuku dug his hands against Chimera's fangs, Randy pulled out their ace.
"Ninja balls, go!" Randy tossed three different balls into Chimera's mouth.
Izuku closed up the villain's mouth, letting the balls cut loose inside the villain.
Chimera's eyes went wide as he felt jolts of electricity coursing inside his stomach and body. He wanted to scream but all he could do was stand there and take it. The sensation changed to feeling bees stinging him from the inside. Managing to break free of Izuku's hands, he screamed, letting out all the bees inside his stomach. And at last, he was frozen solid.
"Hole in one, right?" Izuku asked.
"A joke, we're progressing!" Randy cheered.
Back at McFist Industries, McFist wasn't happy, as shown by how he destroyed his desk.
"WHY?!" McFist punched the desk into splinters.
"Perhaps it is time to call in on some assistance, Mr. McFist." Viceroy comforted his boss.
"And who'd be able to help us now?!" McFist snapped.
"Perhaps I can be of assistance." The Sorcerer appeared before the two villains.
"Oh, right. Completely forgot you were there." McFist sheepishly chuckled.
"You're an idiot." Sorcerer sighed in pure embarrassment.