Reminder about no chapter next week. Finals! Gotta love them. At least mine aren't so bad this season. I still had a stressful dream about them.
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Bakugou had not yet died. Still, life in general was causing him irritation. The League's hideout was really dull and pathetic, and these damn cats kept crawling all over him. And the people in the bar were very annoying.
"So, you're the UA brat," Tyrian said, right next to Bakugou's face. This guy looked insane, and his tail was pretty close to his neck. "I like your spirit, kid. Someone who enjoys a good fight is a good person in my book."
"Get out of his face, Tyran." Dabi grumbled as he sat at the bar. "Stop saying all those dumbass things."
"But Twice told me that I had to keep our guest preoccupied."
"You mix up the words "entertain" and "annoy" a bit too much." Cass grimaced. She rolled her eyes when Tyrian hissed at her.
In comparison to the attack, there were more members present here. Bakugou knew to be cautious around them. Some of them were giving off dangerous air.
Except for a few.
Mercury was constantly shooting him dirty looks, gritting his teeth and was just in a downright bad mood. Bakugou would occasionally smirk at him, just to rub some salt in the wound. While Bakugou didn't win the fight (a first), he'd won by getting on that quirkless bastard's nerves in the end.
"Hey. Scorpion." Bakugou smirked. "How's that gray haired loser doing?"
"He's doing great~! He's all sunshine and daisies like usual!" Tyrian joked. "He might take me out for ice cream cuz he's feeling that great-"
Mercury slammed his drink down on the table. "HEY, SHUT THE HELL UP!" Mercury yelled.
"Hey, don't do that to the table! Kurogiri gets angry when we break glasses." Tyrian frowned. "Jeez, your bad mood's back...what happened?"
"I got my goddamn arm broken by that brat, and an annoying case of Tinnitus in my ears from that shitty little white alien!" Mercury yelled.
"Oh, dear!" Tyrian laughed. "Looks like someone needs a visit from the wambulance-"
"Don't fuckin' joke about this! This is a SERIOUS problem!" Mercury yelled. "That magic kid couldn't even fix my wounds properly..."
Tyrian's tail pulled away from Bakugou's neck. "Hello, 911? My acquaintance has a serious case of 'butthurt'..." Tyrian joked, before Cass frowned.
"Okay, both of you. Shut the hell up, or else I'll rip out your throats and make the kid eat them." Cass threatened. Tyrian growled.
"You're not fun anymore." Tyrian huffed, as he skittered off.
"Damn it." Bakugou huffed. "And I was finally having fun."
"Wondered when you'd be a little more vocal." Cass said, looking over at the kid. "I saw you at the Sports Fest finale. You were angry as hell, and because what, that half and half brat was tired? There's better reasons to get angry."
Cass had been particularly snippy with him recently. Bakugou knew why- she was trying to break him emotionally and spiritually. She criticized everything to emotionally break them down to the point that they are no longer who they once were; to rob them of their sense of purpose in life; to destroy their belief in themselves; to quash their ambitions and goals for the future.
Bakugou didn't respond. It'd take a lot to break his spirit. Cass sighed.
"You not saying anything says a lot, you know." Cass smirked. "You're just agreeing with me. Let me ask you something- your friends, at the summer camp...why did they save you?"
Bakugou didn't respond.
"You're not a team player, and that's obvious." Cass listed. "And your only friend...you seem to brush him off-"
"Izuku isn't my friend."
Cass paused.
"I was talking about the Crimson Riot Fanboy, but, whatever." Cass smirked. "You're not really popular with anyone- they respect you for your power, but you're a horrible person to be around for an extended period of time. You yell, you curse, you showboat and laugh- and you just have no respect for anyone around you. You refer to yourself as a "All Might fanboy," yet I fail to understand how you could possibly revere him in any manner. The Symbol of Peace served as the inspiration for a... I dare not even call it Violence, I call it 'temper tantrums'. And when someone goes after an actual fault of yours? You lash out. You just can't get over yourself and get over your pride. Are you even able to look at me and point out even one thing that's wrong with you?"
Bakugou wasn't going to let her break him.
"The fact that you're insecure makes no difference to me. I don't care why. Bakugou Katsuki is a jerk through and through. Your present path indicates that, as an adult you WILL become Endeavor. That's not fiction, that's a fact. And trust me when I say this: the world doesn't need any more angry, pitiful guys who are never content with their powers."
Bakugou glared daggers at Cass.
"Go play in traffic."
"I'd gladly throw you into traffic if we didn't need you."
"Caaaaaaaaaaaassssssss..." Toga whined, walking in. She'd been bandaged up these past few days, and was just starting to walk around again. "I need the ibuprofen. Everything hurts again..."
"Alright, alright. Gimme a second. I was picking at his insecurities again." Cass said, going behind the counter.
"You haven't destroyed his mind yet?" Mercury scoffed. "Maybe you're going soft."
"I will literally throw you into traffic too, Mercury." Cass said.
"Ooh! I know how to break someone emotionally!" Toga said, excitedly. "It happened to me!"
Cass blinked.
"...alright, kid. Give it a shot." Cass sighed. She was sort of curious to see the direction Toga would take it.
Toga walked over to Bakugou, and smiled. "Soooo, ever since I discovered I could drink alien blood, Doctor Animo and I have been trying smallll little doses~"
Cass leaned in. She was now VERY interested in how this would go.
"And it's been fine, I guess. I can't go full alien just yet, but whatever." Toga said, holding a vial of blood. "This one's my freakiest one yet..."
Toga quickly downed the blood, and activated her quirk. She grinned, as her body began to mutate. A cage appeared around her head, and her skin began to turn a slight green color. Cass's eyes widened as she realized what Toga was going for.
She couldn't wait to see the results.
Toga wheezed. "I dunno why Ben calls this one of his 'worst forms'..." She coughed. Bakugou felt a sudden wave of unease wash over him. His angry look softened into a look of confusion and...fear? No, he couldn't be scared.
Right?
Toga grinned. "Come on, Kacchan~" Toga teased, as her cage opened up. Her eyes slowly bulged out of the armor, and inhuman, insidious noises began roaring from her face. Bakugou began breathing heavily, sweating like crazy. He couldn't look away-!
"COME ON, KACCHAN!" Toga roared, repeating it like a crazed mantra. "COME ON, LOOK AT ME! LOOK! AT! ME!"
Bakugou yelled out in fear- and the scream was blood curdling.
Toga felt satisfied with that. Cass and Dabi clapped, thoroughly impressed. Bakugou was breathing heavily, almost on the verge of tears. That was one of the scariest moments of his life, and he couldn't explain why. It was just...a gross ogre alien, right?! Toga closed her cage, and walked over to Cass, Dabi and Mercury.
"...The hell was THAT!?" Mercury yelled.
"Toepick- my personal fave. I dunno, it's the horrific screaming for me~" Toga said, as she melted the alien off of her.
"Figured you'd like the 'cute' one." Dabi said. As he learned, Toga's definition of 'cute' was a spectrum.
"I'm impressed." Cass smiled, handing her the ibuprofen. "But it was a little messy. You need some more intimidation tactics."
"I know, I know- I know I went THROUGH getting mentally broken, but my brain just doesn't seem to remember it!" Toga said. "It's not healthy, but I'm still moving, so-"
Cass nodded. "Fair enough. Now, go rest up. And keep up the good work." Toga skipped away, ignoring the horrified Bakugou as she left.
Mercury laughed, drawing an odd look from Cass. "What the fuck are you looking at?"
"Nothing. I don't know why I'm feeling nostalgic, but...you're like her big sister or something." Mercury joked.
"When I was young and impressionable, I had someone there for me," Cass remarked. "Therefore, so should Toga. It's the least I can do at the moment."
"I think Cass would be a great teacher or guide or something. However, she is more cunningly utilizing her methods for evil." Dabi said." You have my admiration."
"Thank you, Dabi." Cass grinned.
"Not a problem." Dabi nodded. He gave Bakugou an amused glance.
"So, I never got to ask, what was Tennyson's successor's fighting like?" Cass queried.
"She was a pretty versatile fighter. With some kind of voice command, she was kind of copying his Master Control powers. Competent in battle regardless of the odds." Dabi said. "She's not half awful."
"Hmm." Cass gave her chin a scratch."She changed that quickly, huh? Kind of makes me wish I had joined the raid. Would've loved to knock the kid around."
"And use the ace we've been dealt?" Dabi chuckled. "No way. When push comes to shove, you've got to pull out the big guns. It was like we jumped the gate and beat up the new kids in school."
"More importantly, the kid who had One for All was able to defeat our strongest fighter. His name escapes me at the moment... Izanagi? Isamu? Isao? Mikumo?" Mercury asked.
"And another one of these kids had magic. It wasn't as good as Sunny's magic, but Compress had trouble with it." Dabi elaborated.
"What an interesting group of kids." Cass said. "Shame. If successful, this operation might spell the end for UA."
Bakugou grit his teeth at that. Just then, Shigaraki and Kurogiri walked in. Kurogiri was holding a laptop, which he set on the table. "Turn on the TV…" Shigaraki said.
Dabi looked around the bar. "We don't have one." Dabi scoffed.
"Oh, right…" Shigaraki said. Kurogiri made a portal on a cabinet against the wall, and a TV slowly dropped out of it. "NOW plug it in and turn it on. My program's almost on."
"What's got you so eager sounding?" Mercury smirked, while also watching Kurogiri set up the laptop.
"Just some juicy drama from across the nation." Shigaraki said, turning to Bakugou. "And I want EVERYONE to watch. Round up the others…"
"Should I make popcorn?" Cass asked.
"Yes! With LOTS of butter." Shigaraki said. "This is going to be a fantastic celebration. Especially with him here…"
Bakugou watched as Kurogiri logged into some sort of video chat application, and turned it around to face the others.
He didn't know why he focused on it, but…
Something about that felt off.
The Class 1-A kids were happy to have the distraction of Ship. If not for him, they'd probably be cooped up in their rooms, doing nothing and saying nothing. They'd all gathered in the lobby area, near a small restaurant built into the hotel.
"So, your dad's paying for all of this, right?" Ochako asked Shoto at some point.
"Indeed." Shoto nodded. "...although he doesn't exactly realize. Paying for…roughly 39 hotel rooms is about 995,393 yen. I'm hoping we can go into the millions if we order from the restaurant."
"Allow me to assist then." Ochako said, standing up and heading to the restaurant. "Time I had actual food!"
Everyone was happy to hold Ship. That little creature loved attention, and who could resist his cute and cuddly face?
Ojiro let Ship bat at his tail. "So, is he going to grow into a humanoid Upgrade, or-?"
Ochako swallowed some of her meal. "Hm? No. From what I read, this type of Mechamorph doesn't ever grow into that. He'll either take on more dog or lizard-like traits…or just get longer."
Ojiro tried to imagine Ship, now the size of a python, sleeping on Ochako's bed like a dog.
"...I'd still find him cute." Ojiro hummed, as Kouda picked him up.
"Hey, he wasn't too much trouble for you, right?" Ochako asked Kirishima.
"Not really. He was just really…clingy." Kirishima said.
"He can get like that." Ochako nodded.
"The most trouble he caused was when he was trying to get into other people's rooms and steal the batteries from their remotes." Kirishima said. "But we just put him in a water bottle for a few minutes until he calmed down. Other than that, he was fine."
"Thanks again," Ochako smiled.
"Hey, it was the least I could do…it kinda kept my mind off…" Kirishima sighed. "Y'know."
Ochako put her hand on Kirishima's shoulder. "Hey, Ben said he's gonna bring him home safe. We don't have anything to worry about."
Kirishima looked away. "If you say so…"
"Hey, Kouda…I was curious." Izuku said, as Kouda held Ship in his arms and cradled him like a baby.
"Hm? What's up?" Kouda asked.
"Does your quirk work on Ship?"
Kouda hummed. "I've never had a chance to try, but…" He shrugged. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt." Kouda activated his quirk, and looked down at Ship. "So, how are you doing?"
While Izuku heard the adorable 'Ship' noise, Kouda heard '01001001 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01010101 01110010 01100001 01110010 01100001 01101011 01100001'.
Kouda blinked.
"Well?" Izuku asked.
"...no." Kouda said, shaking his head.
Mina happily raced over, took Ship and sighed. "I'm more jealous of Ochako having this than the Omnitrix…he's so cute~ Does he just stay in your room?"
"Maybe one day I'll take him into the field." Ochako shrugged. "He helped Iida and Kirishima…who knows what else he can do?"
"I doubt Mr. Aizawa would allow him into the class, though." Jirou said, as Ship extended his head- he wanted her head pats. "...mostly because I don't think we could stop petting this thing."
"Understandable." Shoji said. "Mr. Aizawa does have a soft spot for cats, though. If we say he's some sort of alien cat, maybe he'll allow it."
"And I'm absolutely keeping him away from Mei. Chances are he might become HER pet after they meet." Ochako shivered.
"As you should." Iida nodded solemnly.
(She wouldn't keep that promise. You'll see in like a few chapters.)
"Hey…isn't that Mr. Aizawa on the TV?" Sero asked, pointing over at a screen. Everyone looked over, and yes, it indeed was.
He looked weird- Mr. Aizawa was notoriously always looking like he rolled out of bed and maybe had like, 3 hours of sleep. Here, he was clean shaven, wearing a suit, and had his bed head under control.
"Oh, my God...they gentrified him..." Mina muttered.
Izuku's eyes went down to the text at the bottom of the screen. His eyes widened as he read the title: "UA High Apology Press Conference".
"...I think we should pay attention, guys." Izuku said, as he grabbed a remote and turned up the volume.
Standing next to the clean shaven Aizawa were the unmistakable figures of Principal Nedzu and Vlad King. Aizawa was the one taking charge of the announcement it seemed, since he was the one who took center stage at the podium to give the address.
"I regret to announce that our unpreparedness was responsible for the harm that came to 27 of our first-year students," Aizawa began, "Though ours is an institution for heroes in training, we were nonetheless negligent in our defense against villains and we understand that this has made many of you uneasy."
Ochako felt weird, watching Aizawa doing the one thing he hated most- addressing the media. The whole gravity of the situation suddenly felt more alien than it had ever been.
"We apologize for this deeply and sincerely." Vlad said, bowing his head. "There's no excuse for what happened at the camp."
A reporter in the crowd stood up. "Question from NHA- this makes the fourth time this year that UA students have been confronted by villains. Given the injuries, what explanation have you given to their understandably concerned parents? And tell us in concrete terms what measures you've taken to prevent these sorts of incidents in the future."
They should already know UA's stance, right? Ochako thought. We went ahead with the Sports Festival. But, going this far with the questioning is...treating them like the bad guys.
"I get why Mt. Lady came in to do mock TV interviews with us." Iida frowned. "Even I'd freeze up at a question of such magnitude."
"Allow me," Nedzu spoke up, "We've increased surveillance of the surrounding areas and revamped our school's security systems entirely. As for the parents, we have explained to them that our strong stance against villainy will guarantee the safety and well-being of our students."
Murmurs from the crowd. No one felt entirely satisfied with that answer.
"Kind of a weak response." Yuga muttered. "It wouldn't instill confidence in me for my child..."
Uraraka and Izuku had to agree, but then, they were both quick to realize what this actually was. This was all part of the plan.
Half way across town, in the secret bar base of the League, the assembled members were all in the bar and listening in on the report as well.
"Pretty weird if you ask me," Shiguraki rasped, "that they're criticizing the heroes this harshly."
"The hero's crime was just doing too little, too late! They can't screw up? Pathetic! Why're people expecting them to be perfect at everything?" Shigaraki asked, before letting out a sigh. "Heroes have it rough today...don't they?"
Bakugou stared at the screen, with a blank, angry expression.
"Dabi? Untie him," Shigaraki said.
Dabi blinked and then looked at the tied up student.
"I do that, he'll go wild for sure," the pyromaniac said.
"That's fine. We need to treat him as an equal. We're scouting him, remember?"
"Besides, if the kid tries to go for one of throats...he'll learn the lesson the hard way." Cass smirked.
"Fine." Dabi sighed, turning to Twice. "You go do it."
Twice saluted. "No way!" And then he went over to do it.
"Y'know, I almost went to one of those lame hero schools..." Sunny huffed. "I dunno what all the rage was. Why do we need supervision for our powers? Feels stupid."
"Since no one else has said so yet, allow me to formally apologize for my admittedly rough measures in order to bring you here. Sincerely, I am sorry," Compress said with a tip of his hat, "We need you to understand that we are not common thugs working towards aimless chaos. It was no accident we chose you to spirit away to our little private abode. Everyone here has a story, but the commonality between those stories...is suffering. Thanks to other people, thanks to rules, thanks to heroes. It's been suffocating! You of all people should know-"
The second Twice undid the handcuffs, Bakugou leapt into action. Explosions for everyone! One second, the entire bar was fine. Next, the bar was trashed. Sunny had thrown up some shields to protect everyone, but she'd been a second too late for Shigaraki and Cass.
"God, I thought I was gonna die of old age! You asshats just kept yapping and yapping!" Bakugou insulted, "Hate people that think its better to grandstand than just getting to the DAMN point! What you shoulda said was 'We wanna cause trouble! Be our pal and help us out!' What a damn JOKE!"
"Tell me about it."
Cass suddenly seized his arm through the smoke. She hadn't moved an inch since Bakugou had blasted her. His eyes narrowed in anger.
"I hate little brats who think they can get the jump on us..." Cass said. "But I love how stupid they can be."
Shigaraki didn't move either, having simply tanked the explosion. The hand that usually covered his face had been knocked to the ground. The League's leader turned to look at it with a sigh.
"Father..." Shigaraki muttered.
Cass looked at the hand, then back at Shigaraki.
Oh, he's more fucked up than I thought. She realized.
"Mr. Eraser Head," a reporter asked back in the conference room, "You say its for the student's safety, but in the middle of it all, you yourself urged them to fight. What were your intentions there? Simply telling them to defend themselves or something more?"
Eraserhead cleared his throat. "Since we had no way of grasping the full nature of the situation, I made that decision to avoid the worst-case scenario."
"Worst case scenario?" The reporter scoffed. "How else would you describe a situation with 26 wounded and one kidnapped?"
Eraserhead stared daggers at the man. "In the worst case scenario, I could only imagine...the deaths of my students."
The man made an indifferent face. "You still endangered your students in a VERY boneheaded move, might I add."
"I'm sorry...what news organization are you with?" Eraserhead asked.
"Will Harangue of the Harangue Nation, I'm GETTING the full truth-"
"...I'm sorry," Nedzu said, "Did you say Will Harangue? As in the same Will Harangue that tried to attack Ben 10K with a specially made robot during his teenage years?"
"That was a different time, and a different era!" Will argued.
Nedzu rolled his eyes. "It became clear the gas responsible for most of the harm was a villain's quirk- one with a soporific effect. Itsuka Kendo and Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu's quick thinking was responsible for minimizing damage."
"And the OTHER incidents? Another ended with a Nomu SAWING into a boy's shoulders, and severely burning another boy- and the Nomu WAS made from Mr. Tennyson's own aliens! And you're letting HIM spruce up your security?! Disgraceful!" Will yelled.
Maybe we should screen more for these media events. Aizawa thought, feeling annoyed.
"If the Nomu was made from Tennyson's own aliens, would it not be best for an expert to create countermeasures for them? As for the students, each of them were given emotional and psychological evaluations. None seem to have suffered trauma," Nedzu explained.
"And that's meant to be a silver lining HOW exactly?" Will snarked.
"We believe the worst has been avoided, as long as the students still have their futures." Nedzu said.
"Can you say the same thing about Young Bakugou, who was abducted?" Will asked. "We've already caught PLENTY of glimpses of his violent side and attitude, clearly showing some mental instability. What if it was those qualities that made him a target? What if a skilled manipulator gets to him...and sends him down a path of evil?"
Aizawa twitched.
"Can you provide proof that the boy HAS a future?"
Vlad could mentally curse this Harangue guy.
Damn it, he's goading you, Eraser! Vlad thought to himself. He must know you hate the media. He wants you to lose your composure, don't fall for it!
Aizawa took a deep breath, and stood up. I'll have to give Tennyson my regards- this guy does get on his nerves.
"Any lapse in his behavior is my failing," Aizawa said, with his head bowed. "Still, he behaved that way at the sports festival due to his strong conviction and ideas. More than anyone, he pursues the title of top hero with everything he's got. If the villains think that's a weakness...then their thought process is indeed superficial."
"Forgive me," another reporter chimed in, "but that's hardly proof. The boy's emotions aside, I assume you have a concrete strategy to counter these villains, yes?"
"We're hardly approaching this passively." Nedzu said. "Currently, I am cooperating with the police in their ongoing investigation. Make no mistake, we will retrieve the student who was taken from us."
"And what do you say to the allegations of the lack of faculty? U.A. has an unsustainable ratio of students to faculty. Each of the three years consists of eleven 20-person courses." Will pointed out. "Meanwhile, the number of faculty shown in the school is just 13, which is clearly nowhere near enough to teach such a massive swath of students!"
"Under Tennyson's guidance-" Nedzu began.
"Oh, of course! What isn't Tennyson doing for you? Upping security, fixing the ration, it's like you rely on him or something! See, this is what I've been saying for years!" Harangue continued to ramble. Well, until two security officers appeared to drag him away.
"As...I was saying. Under Tennyson's guidance, we are looking to fix that issue. Make no mistake, not only will we make amends, we will retrieve our lost student."
That seemed to satisfy the crowd. The kids at the hotel felt better, too.
"So, Mr. Tennyson's getting more involved than we thought..." Momo frowned.
"I...had no idea about that," Ochako admitted.
Ochako had to wonder. Ben said he wanted to keep the past buried, and never make the same mistakes twice. Was Ben trying to prevent something from his past?
Did...it involve Atlas?
"Wow. I expected more from Harangue, but that was mild by his standards." A nearby voice laughed. "I figured there'd be more 'tinfoil hat' bullcrap."
"He has mellowed out a bit..." Somebody else's voice hummed. "Still very wrong, though."
Ochako whirled around and saw Alan and Rook coming up behind the others. She seemed surprised, but pleased, to see them. "Hey- I didn't know Ben had you guys 'chaperoning'."
"It feels WEIRD to be in charge of kids my age." Alan shrugged. "All I have over you is a provisional license from the Plumbers. He should be the one in charge..." He jabbed a thumb at Rook.
"Still, I do need someone young to help me out. I am more out of touch with 'youth culture' than ever in this day and age." Rook frowned.
"Uraraka, do you know these two?" Mina asked.
"Hm? Oh, right. This is Alan Albright and Rook Blonko- Alan's a sidekick towards Ben, and Rook's a personal friend of his. He helped transport my parents back home." Ochako explained.
"It is a pleasure to meet all of you." Rook bowed. So respectful!
Alan flashed a peace sign and waved. "Sup?"
"Who was that weirdo who was verbally attacking Mr. Tennyson?" Izuku asked.
"Will Harangue- used to be a big shot in Bellwood, then he lost his job after ranting about the Mr. Smoothie mascot." Rook explained. "So, he did what any guy would do- come to Japan and continue to harass Ben with his newly founded internet news channel."
"Sounds...like an interesting person." Kirishima lied.
"He's a lot, but harmless. Maybe you'll see some random memes about him." Alan shrugged.
"I'm a bit shocked you're not involved with the raid, Mr. Blonko." Ochako admitted. "Ben had high praises for you."
"Yes, well...he has enough back up with All Might and Ruby by his side." Rook said. "I would be 'fourth wheeling' with their power dynamic."
Ochako's eyes went up. "Wait, Ruby's involved in the raid!? That's dangerous!"
Mina tilted her head. "Why? She literally decapitates monsters in her spare time- why's this a big deal?"
"C-cuz, uh..." Ochako tried to think of a lie.
"She broke her leg recently!" Alan lied. "And...it probably hurts a lot!"
Everyone shared a collective look, and shrugged. Ochako would have to thank Alan later. But, still...Ben taking his pregnant wife into a dangerous territory? After scolding all the kids about their plans?
What was HE thinking?
Bakugou grinned as he heard Nedzu speak. "Hah! Good ol' UA...always sticking up for me. Get it now, League of Scumbags!?"
Pulling off a massive attack, just to catch me! They basically tipped their hand by showing how valuable I am to them. Bakugou thought. They're already trying to break me psychologically, so they won't kill me. There's...what, 11 of them? I can beat the shit outta two or three and escape! After I break free from this bitch's grasp, of course.
Cass was unamused, watching Bakugou's hand shake in her grasp. "You seem to really understand your position, don't you?" She sighed.
"Can I stab him?" Toga grinned. "Or use Toepick again~?"
"No, you idiot." Dabi huffed.
"If that's how you feel, then why not just PRETEND we won you over?" Mr. Compress asked. "Your logic is completely lost on me!"
"I'm blunt. If I'm not feeling something, then I ain't gonna lie about it!" Bakugou sneered. "And I'm not in the mood to hang around this boring dump for much longer."
"We just wasted our time then, didn't we?" Mercury sneered. "Damn it, Shigaraki..."
Shigarak was still staring at the hand on the floor. Kurogiri's eyes widened, as he raced over to help. "You mustn't! Calm yourself, Shigaraki!"
Shigaraki shot Bakugou the death glare, and Bakugou shot his back as well. He held up his hand, motioning for everyone to stay back. He reached down to pick up his hand, and reattached it to his face.
"Cassidy." Tomura huffed. "Sit him back down."
"With pleasure," Cass said, and her eyes lit up. Bakugou felt a jolt of energy course through his body before being hurled backwards against a wall. Bakugou clutched his wrist in pain- holy shit, it looked MANGLED!
"Y-you bitch...you riled me up so I'd attack you first...just so you could do that!" Bakugou cursed.
Cass smiled. "Maybe."
"I thought we might understand each other..." Shigaraki sighed. "What a shame. We all just heard about the heroes' investigation, so...we can't waste much time trying to convince you, can we?"
Shigaraki turned to the laptop. "Master..." He rasped. "Lend me your power."
Bakugou's eyebrow went up. "Master!? I thought you were the boss around here..."
"Never assume, kid." Sunny scoffed. "You know the saying. Want us to put him to sleep again, Shigs?"
"Yes. And don't call me 'Shigs' in front of the master..." Shigaraki said, as Sunny, Mr. Compress and Kurogiri approached him.
"I'm actually impressed at how unwilling he is to listen to reason." Mr. Compress hummed. "Oh, well..."
"Want me to listen? Stuff it and go to hell!" Bakugou yelled. I just wanna blast them all away, but we've got some troublesome bastards on the case- one of them knows magic, right? That'll be tricky...and that portal guy is bound to be trouble...
Bakugou grit his teeth. Thing, Katsuki! There's gotta be a way to hit 'em all quck, and get out through the door behind-
Knock knock.
Bakugou, Shigaraki and everyone else paused at the sound. Bakugou turned around, confused.
"Hello, Kamino Pizza Delivery..."
Bakugou's eyes narrowed. He knew that voice-!
SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH! All Might burst through the wall where Spinner was unfortunately resting his back against. Debris flew everywhere, hitting some of the other 'patrons', and Bakugou took the opportunity to duck down.
"W-what the!?" Tyrian yelled, shielding himself from the rubble.
"KUROGIRI!" Shigaraki yelled. "WARP US!" Kurogiri didn't move an inch- instead, he fell to the ground. Ghostfreak appeared above him, and spun around.
"Sorry- the barkeep's out of order right now." Ben rasped, as he immediately used his ghostly telekinesis to restrain Cass and Sunny. His chest opened up to unleash a mess of tendrils that restrained some of the other patrons. "KAMUI! GET THE OTHERS!"
Kamui Woods jumped in behind All Might and extended his hand. "Preemptive Binding...LACQUERED CHAIN PRISON!" His wooden armor extended, quickly ensnaring some of the others.
Dabi grunted, as he noticed the material. "Wood, huh?"
"Yeah. Lame..." Toga scoffed. "Wanna burn it down?"
"You're speaking my language, kidd-" Dabi never got a chance to finish his sentence. Two blurs- one red, one yellow- zipped past, knocking their heads together and knocking them out. Ruby and Gran Tornino zipped back over to the group.
"...you..." Cass gasped.
Ruby didn't respond.
"We've got an all star lineup today, folks!" Ben quipped. "Me! Ben 10k, hero of heroes! My wife, the red cloaked blood soaked huntswoman, Ruby Rose! All Might, the Symbol of Peace! Our young up and comer, Kamui Woods! And the never too late for an Early Bird special, it's our oldtimer Gran Torino!"
"Never let down with the quips, do you!?" Mercury cursed.
"I'm in a mood." Ben smirked.
"There's no escape for you, League of Villains!" All Might yelled. "Why? BECAUSE WE ARE HERE!"
"All Might!" Mr. Compress yelled. "Right after the press conference too! They two timed us!"
"I really hoped YOU wouldn't be tagging along..." Sunny cursed. Ben looked disappointed to see her here.
"Here I was hoping you'd be bumming under some overpass in some American city. You're seriously in leagues with these guys?!" Ben yelled.
"I'm just living my life." Sunny smirked. "Besides, not like they fawn over you and Gwen constantly!"
"Can we...save the family drama for later, maybe?" Kamui asked.
"Sorry- just...wow." Ben said, shaking his head. "We'll sort this out later. WITh your parents."
"Oh, joy…" Sunny scoffed.
"Hm...interesting," Shigaraki tilted his head to the side, "I wonder. If you're here, then tell me. Who's dealing with the directionless Nomu? We had at least a whole squad of freshly made Nomu ready and waiting. Once they're woken up, which they should be by now, they won't have anyone to command them and they'll go berser-"
"You really think we wouldn't have planned for that?" Ruby interjected, "Right about now, your little Frankensteins are getting muzzled."
Halfway across the city, a few moments before All Might and his team burst into the bar, Mt. Lady had basically stomped the building that housed the Nomu factory in half, the added crushing power was courtesy of an impromptu iron boot made from one of the spare Special Assault Team vehicles. Before the dust began to even settle, heroes and police officers charged into the factory. Strings of fabric launched inside, stringing up the monsters with ease. Best Jeanist stood off to the side, holding the monsters at bay. He did miss one, but it was quickly grabbed by the towering Mt. Lady.
"Ugh. Looking at these things up close," Mt. Lady groaned.
"As if genetic hybrids of Quirks and alien powers made by a mad scientist could be pretty," Best Jeanist quipped, "Search Team, Tiger, you're up!"
"Right!" Tiger immediately began to search the area, as the others looked through the Nomus.
Mt. Lady gagged. "Are these things really alive?"
"Yes, believe it or not." Gang Orca frowned. "Disgusting things, made from human corpses. Look for the Doctor! I'm sure he's around."
"Guess I should've gone with All Might's team if I knew I'd be holding corpses." Mt. Lady gagged again. "Ugh. Isn't it strange for a job to be this easy, Jeanist?"
"You must learn to distinguish between difficult and important, you novice." Best Jeanist stated, as he restrained some Nomu with his cloth fibers. "Riot Squad! Bring in the Iron Maidens, and do it quickly!"
Mt. Lady held one of the Nomu up, and tilted her head. Weird. These Nomus look more humanoid and normalish than usual. It's like they were just freshly made or something.
Tiger and his squad of officers were kicking down doors and checking everywhere they could. Some of the rooms were just outright empty or held nothing of true importance, just boxes full of scrap and other such materials. One room was something that would need further investigation, though. Looking down at a single office chair were a myriad of computer screens, all flashing with static.
"We'll need to take the hard-drive before we go," an officer mentioned, "Might be something on it."
The last door Tiger punched down gave way to a disturbing sight. Ragdoll was laying on what looked like a surgical table, strapped down and restrained, while clad in a hospital gown. Tiger rushed over and tore the restraints off, checking for a pulse.
"I found her!" Tiger called out, "Got a pulse but she's unconscious! It's ok Ragdoll, we're getting you out of here."
There was no response from Ragdoll. She looked up at the ceiling with blank eyes. Her gaze was dull and lifeless. Tiger's eyes expanded in alarm.
"...Tomoko?" Tiger whispered.
"Tiger? What's going on?" Orca Gang asked.
"We...we need to get a medic. Get her to a hospital!" Tiger said. He'd never seen something like this before; it was like his teammate was in a coma. Did she even hear that she was safe now? Could she hear him?
Mount Lady looked down at the Nomu and then back at the factory. "...Jeanist. I'm not sure if I like this or not."
"You mean what?" Jeanist asked.
"Well, look at all these half-baked Nomu compared to the stories about the Chainsaw Nomu. They are more like the weak Nomu from what happened with Hosu." Mt. Lady explained.
Jeanist looked down, and raised an eyebrow. Now that she mentioned it, these Nomu were tan in color. Compared to the turquoise skinned one described in the reports, this didn't add up.
Back at the bar, Gran Torino looked at the still silent Shigaraki and the other conscious villains.
"I think...if you all cooperate, this'll go over a lot smoother. For all of you," Gran Torino said, "Nowhere left to run after all. So Shigaraki. Tell me. Where's your boss?"
Shigaraki remained silent, not in defeat but in rage. He was seething right now, as his mind went back to the day he met his master. He was just some kid, crying and helpless under a bridge...somewhere, he didn't even remember the specific city or prefecture it happened in. He remembered the sharply dressed gentleman who knelt down and offered him a hand when no one else would. Everyone else just passed him by, pretended not to see him. That's what his master said as well.
"No..." Shigaraki said, "Beaten...like this? No...no, no, no, no, this isn't...this isn't how it's supposed to happen. Get out of here...and go to hell!"
Ruby was annoyed by the manchild's meltdown. Her eyes were on Cass, and Cass was looking right back at her.
"So. This is where you ended up. Always wondered where you ran off to after Salem's defeat." Ruby frowned.
"...I missed this," Cass smirked. "I missed this feeling of you, trying to act tough. Acting like you could really lead a charge like this. I missed the days where I could show up, and you knew you were screwed. Look at you now- you're so unbothered and unaffected by my presence. Am I really that low value to you now?"
"You really think things wouldn't change since then." Ruby asked, "Was I supposed to just stay afraid of you, the whole time? You can't be serious..."
"Oh no, I know that. But...I always preferred being in power. Guess we both know where I got that from, huh?" Cass scoffed.
Ben frowned. "So, I can assume you're the one who told Mr. Handface here to threaten both Izuku and Uraraka to freak them out."
"You really haven't changed since the war, have you?" All Might asked, unamused.
"Let's talk about those two, shall we?" Cass said. "The fact you're letting two rookies- one quirkless and one clueless- have powers undreamt of? Insane. Ben's fighting so hard to keep his past buried, because I know he's done things he regrets. And those regrets can harm everyone he's close to. So, dump the trauma on a new kid! She'll handle it well, and I'll bet she'll feel entitled to pick her battles against people she knows nothing about, but wants to defend YOU! Because she stupidly idolizes you!" Her attention turned to All Might. "And you! Passing it to a boy who tried to kill himself against some sludge villain because that brat over there got himself caught! Why? Because he dared to have a dream! Now he has to fight YOUR demons, all while breaking his own bones and making sure he finds a new successor before his early retirement. You both chose the LOWEST of the low. Why!?"
Cass huffed and puffed, and the trio stared at her. Lost for words.
"Cass...I never told her about those things to avoid forcing her to deal with it. Those demons are mine and mine alone. She's smarter than you think if you think she'll let the power go to her head like that," Ben countered, finally.
"So, you think you can outrun Atlas forever?" Cass said.
"Stop talking about Atlas." Ben huffed. "If I remember, that was mostly YOUR work. Not mine."
"But which one of us lost sleep over Atlas?"
Ben went silent.
"...you must think highly of yourself," Gran Torino interjected. "'Look at me. I can sleep soundly at night despite having killed an untold number of innocents.' I know who you are, Fallman. And I know what you've done. In some respects, I pity you more than I pity Tyrian. Because you still deny that you're broken because of Cinder."
"Awwww~ Someone's more concerned for you than me~" Tyrian chimed in. Ben rolled his eyes, and slammed Tyrian into the ground to shut him up.
"I kinda thought he'd be dead by now, but he's still around." Ben huffed. All Might turned to Bakugou, who was still against the wall.
"Bakugou, I think it's time we take you home," All Might said, "Must've been quite a frightful experience with them. Especially him," the symbol of peace motioned to Tyrian.
"Frightful? Ha! Right," Bakugou said, deciding not to tell All Might about that nightmare alien Toga turned into.
"Yeah. You're gonna be alright." Ben said. "Your classmates are worried sick about you, y'know."
"Course they are. I'm the only one who matters." Bakugou smirked.
"There's no where else to run," Gran Torino frowned. "Your men are captured, and your Nomu are kaput- this is the endgame, Shigaraki Tomura!"
"I..." Shigaraki hissed, "HATE YOU!"
Don't worry, Shigaraki. I'm here for you. A voice in Shigaraki's head spoke.
At that very moment, all of Shigaraki's worries went away. Two dark, murky pools of liquid appeared next to him all of a sudden, which shocked everyone there.
"W-what the hell?! I thought I knocked out the barkeep!" Ben frowned.
"That's not his quirk...!" All Might yelled, as two alien spliced Nomu shot of them.
The Nomu in question weren't as spliced as Brando was, sporting only one set of alien traits each. One Nomu was scaled and sported a blue color and white color scheme while the other seemed to sport a sickly green coloration with a viscous green liquid dripping from its maw.
Ben's eyes widened. "HIT THE DIRT!" He threw the people in his clutch at the Nomus, before hurling Cass and Sunny into the back of the bar. He quickly grabbed his group to make them intangible.
The twin Nomu that emerged from the sludge-like rifts immediately opened up with sprays of ice and acid. Kamui tossed the villains he captured into the ice Nomu, knocking it over with a thud.
"Endeavor!" All Might called out. But unfortunately, Endeavor wasn't going to be able to provide backup. Outside, more rifts had opened and more alien hybrids crawled their way out.
"The hell is THIS!? Was he expecting us?" Endeavor said, as his fist lit up. He launched a fireball at another Nomu, but simply ate it in response.
Endeavor shuddered. "Disgusting."
Inside, Bakugou's mouth filled up with the same black substance before it began flowing out in a torrent. It wasn't hurting him but it was still disturbing to see.
"What the hell?!" the explosive student yelled.
Cass's eyes twinkled. "Oh, good..." He was caught off guard. Well, since the REAL purpose of the mission was complete...
Time to dig up some bad memories. Cass jumped back up and let out a powerful burst of motion. It sent the heroes flying back, and she ran straight for Bakugou.
The sludge began to slowly surround Bakugou, but not fast enough to hinder Cass' plan.
She covered his mouth with her hand, and held him up. "You're no longer needed anymore, kid. We got the big guns ready for the real show." Cass narrowed her eyes and clenched her fist. "If you continue living the life you do, you won't end up at the top. You will only find hate, loneliness, despair, anger, ruin, and death in the long run. And with those words of wisdom, your summer camp training finally comes to an end."
Cass focused the energy in her fist into a sharp, powerful blade. Bakugou's eyes widened with fear- yes, he was finally afraid. That anger was gone. "And here's your personal reminder- I want this night to forever haunt you. This is your first loss, Katsuki Bakugou."
Bakugou thought Cass was going to kill him.
But he was wrong.
With a mad grin, Cass brought down that energy blade in a downward swing and...
SLASH!
Everyone's eyes went wide at that. The heroes were all shocked at the sudden turn of events, even some of the villains were taken by surprise. Tyrian and Mercury knew Cass well enough to not be surprised.
Bakugou's left arm, severed at the forearm, fell to the ground with a light thud.
Before he could even process that event, the sludge enveloped him fully and teleported him.
"NO!" All Might yelled, just a second too late to grab at the mass of sludge and try and pull the student free.
Ben's eye shrank in horror as he realized what had just happened. Cass kicked the forearm away, and sighed.
"I was planning on killing him, but...since she's here..." Cass looked over at Ruby. "I wanted to remind you of the good times."
Ruby stood there in shock for a few moments, her mind flashing back to that night. One quick swing of that red blade and her sister lost her arm in a similar manner….
Cass smiled. "Oh, and..."
Cass sped over again, appearing in front of Ruby. "Congrats on the baby."
She then slammed her fist.
Into her stomach.
All Might and practically every other hero there looked devastated. The Symbol of Peace was about to charge the former agent of Salem and throw her through every building in this neighborhood.
But Ruby held up her hand, and wiped away the blood she spat up. Ben was also oddly calm in the moment.
"...Well." Ruby's voice was calm. It actually caught the girl off guard. "I've got bad news for you."
Cass's eyebrow went up.
"...The baby was born a few weeks ago." Ruby's eyes lit up, and Ruby suddenly slammed Cass into a wall. All Might's eyes went wide, as all eyes turned to Ben.
"WHAT!?"
"Yeah, uh..." Ben rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry for not saying it earlier."
Ruby slammed Cass through another wall at full speed. The Nomus crowded around the group and barked and hissed at them. All Might was very agitated about everything that had just happened.
"Toshinori..." Gran Torino said. "He has to be here. This must be something he did."
"But... I didn't think he could teleport others." All Might gritted his teeth.
"Well, it looks like he's stolen some new tricks." Ben said as he changed into a different form. "But I don't think this quirk has a wide range. Look."
Ben's one claw was pointing in the direction of Toga, who was drooling that black liquid. "It's a targeted quirk! He must be close by if the League is the only one spitting it out."
All Might's eyes got much bigger as he realized. "He's at the Nomu Factory."
Back outside, it was a Nomu swarm. Endeavor had faced a few in the past, and they were mostly predictable. Here? With Animo's added DNA, the battle could go anyway. Especially since Endeavor didn't know all his aliens. Endeavor quickly incinerated three headed snake Nomu, before avoiding a giant piston punch from an armored one. A close dodge.
He was about to retaliate when something ensnared him- web and hair. He looked behind him to see a hair covered Nomu and a monkey Nomu with an unhinged look. He grunted.
"Tennyson's reject aliens." Endeavor scoffed.
Endeavor increased his heat, broke his arm out, and pumped his fist upward, releasing an intense tornado of fire that engulfed anything in its path. The Nomus around him were quickly burnt up by the flames. He frowned, as he tore the other webs off of him.
They're not regenerating. These Nomu must be weaker, only enhanced by Tennyson's aliens. Endeavor thought. Pawns to be thrown at us to distract us from the real issue.
Endeavor threw a fireball at a jellyfish Nomu. "Tsukauchi! Expand the evacuation zone!"
Tsukauchi nodded, before he grabbed his communicator on his vest. "Jeanist! I thought you said the Nomus were taken care of! Don't you have everything under control!?"
No response.
"...Jeanist?"
Let's rewind a few minutes.
"Well, look at all these half-baked Nomu compared to the stories about the Chainsaw Nomu. They are more like the weak Nomu from what happened with Hosu." Mt. Lady explained.
Jeanist looked down, and raised an eyebrow. Now that she mentioned it, these Nomu were tan in color. Compared to the turquoise skinned one described in the reports, this didn't add up.
Tiger was about ready to turn and take Ragdoll out of this nightmare factory when he heard something. They all did. Footsteps. Someone was coming. The Special Assault officers turned their weapons towards the sound on pure reflex, considering that they hadn't found anyone during their earlier sweep.
All attention went towards that figure. Gang Orca held up his hand. "Stop! Not another step!"
The footsteps stopped. The man remained in the shadows, out of sight. "Is he with the league?" Orca wondered aloud.
"Someone get a light over here..." Tiger said. His danger sense was going off right now, something felt horribly wrong. Having a man say 'it was just too good' was setting off every red alert in his mind.
"I do apologize. I would've been more direct earlier." The man's voice sounded off, like he was speaking through a filter. "But I've had my eye on Ragdoll's Quirk for quite some time. You see, it was far too useful to pass up. Ever since I was reduced to this, I haven't been able to stock up as many as before..." The man took another step forward, but Best Jeanist reacted quickly. He clenched his fist, and the man's suit quickly binded him.
"Jeanist!" Mt. Lady yelled. "What if he's a civilian?!"
"Use your head. Any hesitation could allow the enemy to turn the tables on us!" Best Jeanist said. "We mustn't allow any tri-"
THUD.
Something hit the ground in front of the man's foot. Jeanist and Mt. Lady looked down to see someone on the ground, breathing heavily and...sobbing.
"You came to rescue him, didn't you? Well, go on." The man said. "Take him."
All eyes went to who he dropped and everyone's face turned to an expression of either horror, shock, or a mix of the two. It was Bakugou, the very student that the League had captured. And now he was missing an arm. The arm he still had was clutching the stump of where his arm had been severed mere moments ago.
"What did you do to him?" Gang Orca growled.
"Me? I did nothing but move him here," the shadowy man answered earnestly.
Best Jeanist quickly grabbed the boy with his threads, and pulled him towards the group. "Oh, my god-" Best Jeanist said, eyes wide with fear. The cut was a complete amputation, which may not bleed much. He wrapped the stump in some of his fabric, and handed him over to Tiger.
"Get them both to safety. NOW." Best Jeanist said.
"Unfortunately," the man said, "you all present a bit of a problem, one that needs to be nipped in the bud as soon as possible."
...
Tiger didn't see the destruction happen. He heard it.
By the time he'd made his getaway, the dust was just settling. The entire area around the factory had been razed to the ground. Like a bomb strike had just happened.
"You see," the man continued on, not caring if anyone was even conscious to hear his words or not, "Tomura's only just learned to think for himself. The boy has potential, but there are some areas where he needs to...develop more. But now, he's able to carve his own path forward. So if possible, I'd like to keep anyone from interfering with that."
The shadowy man adjusted the cuffs on his suit, now free from Jeanist's binds, as if he was just going to his next shift at work. He stepped out of the shadows fully, revealing a man wearing a sharp and professional business suit and tie with red accents, but what stood out the most was his mask. It was jet black, covering his head, with several mechanical tubes hooked up to the back. The front of the mask had the smooth outlines of human facial features but no finer details. One would be forgiven for comparing to Darth Vader as that was certainly the aura he exuded, terrifying, mysterious.
"Well...shall we begin?" All for One asked.
I don't care how cool Bakugou was in the most recent chapter and leaks (408 and 409 for those in the future), this was not planned but it made me laugh
Before someone accuses me of "Bakugou Bashing": I want to like Bakugou. I really do. But the 'invisible development' and lack of change in character makes it hard for me to do so. I know Izuku catches a lot of weird flack for being a 'flat' protagonist but he is showing signs of physical and mental improvement with each arc, so it's easier for me to like him. Same with a majority of characters at UA. Bakugou is just one I could never get behind.
This arc he's going through in Carry On has been…a blast to write. I like making characters more understandable in the long run. Please do not think this single moment is me needlessly bashing the character.
I'm saying this because I got a weird review about how Bakugou is 'passionate, not abusive' a while back and it sticks in my mind.