King
The Strongest Rescuer
Toshinori Yagi was running on fumes as he faced off against All-for-one, he glared at his arch-nemesis as he struggled to stand up amongst the rubble around them; off in the distance he could hear the propellers of a helicopter, no doubt a news helicopter. This was it, the world finally got a view of what he really looked like under that muscled facade of his; Yagi reached up with his emaciated hand to grasp at the wound on his stomach as he finally stood up, all the while AFO calmly approached him and halted at several yards away.
"Well old friend." The ancient villain began to say with a gleeful tone of malice, "It's about time I finally take back what's mine." he finished saying while he returned his arm back to normal from using a quirk combined attack. "And the world will watch as their symbol of peace dies by my hands, and then no one will stand in my way." AFO stated with an evil laugh afterwards.
Yagi narrowed his eyes at AFO as he clenched other hand into a fist, "I disagree! For as long as there are heroes out there, Peace and Justice will prevail!" he yelled back vehemently.
AFO began walking towards Yagi once more, "You put too much trust in society Yagi, all it takes is your death and society will crumble." He argued back menacingly while his cheeks under his breathing mask lifted from him smiling in glee.
Yagi desperately tried to find a little more inkling of his remaining power to stop AFO, but all it felt like was a dwindling embers of a once giant flame; the embers were being harshly put out against the immense wind of his wounds and imparting his quirk unto young Midoriya, it wasn't long until AFO was a mere few feet away when the situation finally felt grim to Yagi.
Just as AFO was about to take a step further, the pile of rubble off to the side began to shift and move until a large slab was jettisoned up into the air and landed just behind AFO; Said villain's attention was now focused on who was crawling out of the rubble, the slab of concrete would have hit him if not for his ability to dodge it in time.
From out of the rubble crawled King with an unconscious Himiko Toga under his arm, and once he was finally able to stand on his feet, he gently laid the girl down with his back facing AFO; The Villain himself was curious how King managed to insert himself within the rescue squad, and end up saving the young girl of all people. Last he checked, AFO's sources had checked that King wouldn't be part of the raid.
"...just in time…" AFO one heard King say as he crossed his arms and turned around to face him with an unwavering face, the three scars that went down across his eye only emphasized King's stoney facade of a heroic face. What King really said was 'Got the girl out just in time before the ceiling collapsed', however AFO was't using his echo-location quirk to aid him to see; AFO was using his mental infrared vision quirk, and ability that had its limitations on how well it could see past certain objects, chief of which was concrete, thus allowing King to crawl out of the rubble unnoticed till now.
As King stared down from atop the rubble with his arms crossed, AFO swore he felt the air tense between them as they faced each other.
Bump bump bump bump bump bump
AFO tilted his head in curiosity, of all the heroes to confront him, King was the one he had reservations about in facing off against; Very little data has been gained on how the man fought, and many villain's put down by King swore up and down that the man knew a wide range of martial arts and had the ability to throw a man through a brick building and out the other end. Many lay claim the man could pinpoint how to take down any villain in any given situation, and would always come out as the victor with nary a scratch on him.
"...give up…" AFO heard from King, making him chuckle with mirth as he began reinforcing his body up with quirks, surely the man jested in him to simply give up; regardless if King was as all powerful as some conspiracy theorists believed, King was still a human through and through as much as him and any other person on Earth.
AFO lifted up his arm that was now an amalgamation of metal, jets, bulging muscles, and various other quirks that the Villain stockpiled together for his first attack against King. AFO laughed evilly as he clenched his stockpiled fist, "There's no giving up here, King." he responded back, in belief that King was telling him to give him.
However, what King had really said was, "Maybe I should just give up, how can I contend against that guy?' , but King's voice was spoken out in a murmur due to him being in a nerve wrecking mess; Here he was, facing against Toshinori Yagi's Arch-Nemesis, a situation that escalated from a simple matter of him being in the wrong place at the wrong time again.
An Hour ago
Kamino Ward
In the area of what would soon to be the battleground between All Might and AFO, the area was a bustling square of stores and arcades; In one such arcade building, King could be seen with his hoodie on and the hood over his head. The man had a face mask to further disguise himself amongst the populace as he spent his time off playing a few arcade games and achieving a few highscores, however his situation would soon change when the sounds of police sirens could be heard and explosions going off.
King glanced up from the game screen of the arcade game he was playing, and looked out towards the entrance/exit of the arcade building; Outside the man witnessed cop cars going one way, while the civilians were making haste to make their way in the opposite direction. 'Take a break in Kamino Ward, I heard they have a new VR arcade set up over there.' Sir Nighteye's suggestion echoed in King's mind. The man was now used to being put in the line of fire with his quirk being utilized by Sir Nighteye, King just wished Sasaki was more up front by now; suffice to say though, the man wasn't lying, there was an arcade with a new VR arcade.
'The least the guy could do is clue me in any possible way.' King frustratingly thought to himself as he made his way to the exit of the building while taking his hood off first before removing his mask off to breath easier. However, just as he came across a doorway leading to the basement, a teenage school girl came rushing out through the door, and bumped into King. If there was a given fact King could be thankful for, it's his sturdy tall body; sitting at the height of 187 centimeters, or 6 feet and 1 and a half inches for the imperial system that America still hasn't resolved to do away with and convert to the metric system, King could say he towers over most civilians given the demographic populace of the country.
King's height matters aside, he barely budged an inch when the school girl bumped into him, and was now on her rear end on the floor while rubbing her forehead with a wince expressed on her face. King stopped to turn and looked down at the school girl with a worried face, "Hey, you alright? Is your face alright?...no, looks fine to me…" King said as he stared down with his arms crossed and his head tilted sideways a bit to get a good look at the school girl's face.
-Himiko Toga's POV-
What was supposed to be an easy escape through the underground escape tunnels from the bar, turned Himiko's escape into a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions; Everyone went their own way to keep the heat off each other separately, but somehow the heroes managed figure out the escape routes prior to their raid on the headquarters of the League of villains. There was no other explanation, and Himiko wasn't sure how to escape King of all heroes. When she had exited out the basement door, she had practically offered herself up to be sent to prison when she ran into King; A fact she realized when she sat on her rear in a daze from bumping into King so hastily, and in her daze all she heard was, 'Hey…face…me…" was what she heard as she rubbed her sore forehead.
When Himiko looked up and her vision finally came into focus, her eyes dilated in fear when she looked up to see King with his arms crossed; As if to emphasize his menacing demeanor further, his head was tilted as if to embolden Himiko to try her luck against him. 'Even his face looks imposing!' Himiko panicked in her mind.
Normal POV
'Crap!' King thought mentally, all the while keeping up a stern facade on his face, 'did I hurt her or something?' he mentally questioned himself as he uncrossed his arms and released a sigh of exhaustion, earning an 'eep' from Himiko as she scooted back and pressed herself up against the nearby wall.
King bent his knee to crouch and hold his hand out, "Here, let me help you up." he offered the girl, all the while explosions could be heard off in the distance coming closer; While most occupants of the arcade had exited by now, all that was left were King and Himiko. Both of them momentarily glanced to the exit/entrance of the building with different thoughts running through their minds.
'Crap! Okay, calm down Kenshiro, just help the girl up and get her and you out of this place. Whatever is going on out there, it's coming closer!' King panicked in his mind, all the while seemingly keeping a stoney expression of zero worry across his face. All around the two, the building shook and creaked from the explosions going on outside, electronic wires in the ceiling ended up being snapped apart from falling metal beams that were supposed to hold the ceiling and upper floor from caving in on the lower floor. All around the two, sparks of electricity around the two went off from snapped wires, and concrete walls began to crack and fall.
'This isn't good, how do I escape from King and from whatever fight is going on out there!?' Himiko thought to herself, before glancing at King and noticed his attention wasn't on her for the moment. She smirked to herself as she thought she had an opening, and quickly pulled out a knife from her pocket. 'Just keep your focus off me for the next second, you stupid hero!' Himiko thought to herself as she began to get up and approach King with her knife in her hand, primed to swing and stab her knife into King's neck.
BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP
'That's the King's engine! He knew! I won't be able to stop in time!' Himiko mentally screamed at herself.
Just as Himiko swung her knife at King's neck once she was within range to stab the hero, Himiko was caught off-guard when King suddenly turned and swatted her arm with the knife in hand out of the way; The Knife was knocked out of her hand as King grabbed Himiko by the arm that she swung with, and lifted her up by the shoulder. 'What! How!?' Himiko questioned as King pulled her with him towards the exit.
BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP
"Come on, miss, we gotta leave." King simply said in response to Himiko's panicked face as the ceiling of the building began to shake and crumble more from the ongoing fight going on outside the building, concrete and rebar began to fall around them as King tugged Himiko with him to the exit and escape the collapsing building.
Himiko could only look up in befuddlement as King pulled her with him through the collapsing building, 'Why, why is he saving me? Doesn't he know I'm part of the League of Villains?" Himiko thought to herself as she was being tugged along by King towards the exit, however the Hero had to halt and release Himiko in order for him to place his palm flat against her body to halt her from walking and further. King held up his other palm to block the debris that flew up after a support beam fell where he and Himiko were just about to cross.
"...w..w..What?" Himiko stuttered out as she backed away from King and the collapsing exit, "How'd you know that'd happen!?" she asked the hero.
King however didn't answer and turned around to grab her once again and tug her with him towards the back exit, "Why are you doing this! Why are you saving me!?" Himiko yelled through the explosions that were closer now. "Don't you know I'm part of the League of Villains?" Himiko hollered out through the increasing volume of the explosions from outside.
As King pulled the girl with him towards the back exit, all he managed to hear through the loud explosions were, '...you…saving…me…villains.." King glanced over his shoulder as he led Himiko with him towards the back exit, internally King thought Himiko was saying 'Thank you for saving me from the villains', he smiled back at her to lift her spirits up. He couldn't in good conscience let both of them worry, he was already worrying about their situation more than enough.
"I'm a Hero Kid, it's what heroes do." King told supportively as he led her with him to the back, however could only look up with an awestruck face while King faced forward while running with Himiko in tow. Himiko's eyes began to mist up as she looked at King's broad back, 'That's why he's called King! He's the King of Heroes, he saves anyone and everyone, it doesn't matter if you are evil!' " Himiko mentally reasoned with herself with an extreme jump in logic, "He's out to be the true hero of heroes!" she continued to think to herself with an awestruck face, while King continued to pull her with him towards the back exit that was almost within reach.
Just as the two were about to finally reach the back exit, King abruptly pushed Himiko to the side as the ceiling above the exit collapsed. As concrete dust began to settle from the collapse of the ceiling, Himiko coughed while sitting on her rear end once more and swiped her hand back and forth in front of her face to rid the air in front of her of any more debris dust. Himiko's eyes were squinted momentarily until they snapped open and picked herself up off the floor. "King!" she yelled out as she rushed over, only to halt as the hero's palm was thrusted out of the debris dust.
King could be heard coughing within the cloud of debris dust, until finally Himiko could see a clearer view of King as he walked out unharmed while brushing his shoulders off of debris. The Hero finished clearing his lungs of dust and looked directly at Himiko, "You alright kid?" he asked Himiko, earning a simple nod from the girl. Both of their attention was then brought to the collapsing ceiling as it began to buckle down from the stress of the ongoing battle outside, King rushed towards Himiko to grab her by the hand this time and lead her towards the employee's back room.
As King led Himiko with him through the employee back rooms, the building around them continued to cave in behind them "Where are we going! All the exits are blocked off!" Himiko yelled through the chaotic explosions and crashes from outside, but King wordlessly kept pushing forward with nary a break nor sweat on his defining face. 'King really faces fear head on!' Himiko thought to herself with a growing admiration for her first hero idol.
King on the other hand was panicking, 'crap crap crap! What the hell am I gonna do now!' King screamed at himself as he led Himiko towards the employee break room.
Once the two made their way into the employee break room, the hallway behind them had its ceiling collapse followed by a loud explosion. Himiko could only watch as King led her toward the back wall where there was an elevator meant for personal use, "In here." King calmly said as he led her into the open elevator, and as they entered it, the employee break room soon collapsed followed by the elevator having its cable wires that held it up to snap. Himiko could only blush as King pulled her in close while grabbing onto a bar above him with his other hand, "Hold tight kid!" King yelled out in a panicked voice, but all Himiko heard from the inflection was to hold tight as the elevator fell momentarily; the descent wasn't far, as something stopped the elevator from going into full free fall.
Below the elevator, a beam fell that allowed it to momentarily halt in its descent; the collapsing building however only continued to put stress on the elevator and push it further down. Metal grinded and creaked as the elevator was slowly pushed the base floor, with some concrete flooring and walls coincidentally falling into place atop the elevator; none of the debris fell on top of the escape hatch, which would allow King to later escape through with an fainted Himiko Toga under his arm. Along his way to climb out of the collapsed building and debris, King would be able to find and use a hydraulic spring mechanism left over from an old arcade game; said mechanism would allow King to press it up against the concrete debris covering the hole he'd be climbing out of with Himiko under his arm, and activate it to launch the slab of concrete out of his way.
Back to the Present
As King stared down at AFO with his arms crossed atop the debris he climbed out from, Toshnori Yagi from the side could only panic and worry as his former Hero Agency Supporter faced off against AFO. 'Was this your doing Sasaki? Pitting King's luck against AFO?' Yagi mentally questioned.
BUMPBUMP BUMPBUMP
AFO halted as the sound of King's engine picked up in tempo, the old villain released a chuckle of amusement. "So that's your answer? The fabled King's engine, a sign that you're about to commence fighting!" AFO said with mild excitement as he began reinforcing his body with more quirk, "I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to pitting myself against you King." The Villain remarked with a candid attitude.
King finally uncrossed his arms and held them aloft at his side, "...kneel…" AFO heard from King's lips, causing him to laugh uproariously, "And here I thought you didn't have a sense of humor!" AFO applauded King, who had an unreadable expression. What King meant to say was to himself out of ear shot, "Maybe if I kneel and beg this guy to just let Yagi live, he'll accept my humility!"
Internally, King was screaming his mind out, but on the outside, he had a calm demeanor that soon became a look of determination. "Cease now, or feel the wrath of my 'Ultimate Purgatory Hellfire Burst Wave Motion Cannon', one of many techniques I have used to dispatch the villains I faced." King warned AFO, internally however, King was trying, desperately to bluff his way out; Many villains have surrendered many a time to his bluffs, his current bluff however caused AFO to be excited and intrigued as he Face down King.
AFO held out his bulked up arms in a welcoming manner, "No, King, I don't think I shall, this is a battle between you and me that I have spent countless hours, days, weeks on how to defeat the one and only King!" the Villain shouted back with an excited tone.
BUMPBUMPBUMPBUMPBUMPBUMPBUMPBUMPBUMP
The increase in tempo of King's engine only further solidified AFO's desire to fight King, "You can't deny it neither King, you too have been aching for this match between us!" AFO spouted out with unbridled excitement, his arms began to shrink and condense the bulk of his quirks into a more streamlined form of fists and arms. AFO pointed out at King with vapor leaving his appendage, "Forget All Might! Forget One For All!"
BUMPBUMPBUMPBUMP
AFO could only see King's body seemingly shake, the villain held his arms back out into a welcoming gesture again, "Yes, yes, YES! This is what all my centuries of living have led to, I see it now!" AFO yelled with enthusiasm, "It wasn't to take back my brother's quirk, it wasn't to rule Japan, it wasn't ot rule the world, it wasn't even to use Temura to get back at All Might!" AFO yelled newfound purpose to his life.
As King began to clench his fists, AFO took that as King preparing himself to fight against him. AFO placed his hands against his chest, "No! All this time, it was to test my years of accumulating quirks against you! You King! You are the one to finally give me actual insight of why I have lived for so long! I was only lying to myself for all those other petty reasons!" The villain yelled out with a crescendo of bitter excitement.
AFO swung his arms out, "Come King, bring forthwith your mightiest attack! I thank you for finally giving me sight of my true meaning in life!"
AFO could only watch and wait as King thrust his arms out towards him while squinting his eyes shut, with one intake of breath from king, the Hero yelled out, "Ultimate Purgatory Hellfire Burst Wave Motion Cannon!" King yelled out, the hero fully expected to be caught as nothing but a fraud after his bluff was seen.
However, from AFO's point of view, he could only look on in curiosity as the ground beneath them began to heave up from king and towards AFO, the concrete ground exploded as something was heading the villain's way that started out from King's position. 'An invisible power of some sort?' AFO thought to himself as he folded his arms over his body to block whatever invisible force was gonna hit him. What AFO did not expect however, was a gas explosion to blow up beneath him and burn him to a crisp while being blasted away from the eruption of gas and fire. The ancient Villain reinforced his body with every quirk he had that negated physical trauma type of damage, what AFO did not prepare his body for was any heated related resistances.
As AFO was lying several dozen yards away, his body burnt to a crisp but still managing to cling to life, from King's position, the man could only blink in confusion; King looked down and turned his palms facing up then down, unsure what had just happened. What had actually happened, was a broken gas pipeline that was lit aflame from wire sparks that fell atop an already compromised pipeline.
King glanced over to Yagi, and the two shared a look of befuddlement; Toshinori Yagi was the first to laugh, while King could only laugh in miner hysterics as choppers were soon heard arriving along with police sirens from vehicles in the distance. King's mood was soon soured when in the distance, chants broke out that cheered his name.
King! King! King King! King! King!
King winced and smiled apologetically at Yagi, "Any chance I can retire?" he asked.
Toshinori Yagi could only laugh at King's misfortune, "Oh come now, someone needs to carry the torch for me, now that the truth about me is out." He encouraged his former employee of his hero agency.
King simply sagged his shoulders and despaired with a regretful smile, "Heh…I guess I really am the Hero with greatness forced upon him." He joked.
Author's note; enjoy this one shot I wanted to crosspost and share over here.