Read Undead Unluck, it has Guile
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Ryuji spun around, landing a powerful kick that most people would've been sent flying by, even if they blocked it. Gasmask, however, was not most people. Never intending to rely purely on his Quirk, the chemical hero had trained his body to an incredible degree. For an out of character comparison, it might be best to compare the man's strength to Rappa's. Gasmask smirked behind his trademark mask and pushed the grasshopper hero away.
"Good technique all around. Nice balance of speed and power. Come a long way since you started," Gasmask praised.
Ryuji didn't take much pride in his work. He responded with another attack, this time a rapid flurry of punches that blurred in the air. Gasmask gracefully dodged and weaved through the assault, showcasing his agility. For such a bulky guy, he could move.
"Your speed is commendable, but don't forget to anticipate your opponent's moves. Predictability can be your downfall," he advised, his muffled voice emanating from behind the mask. Gasmask suddenly shifted his strategy, catching Ryuji off guard. A burst of chemicals enveloped the area, creating a smokescreen.
"You may consider a quirk of my caliber to be a basic harmful gas quirk," Gasmask said. "My quirk is more versatile than it seems. It's not just about fear of toxic fumes; it's about precision and control..."
With a subtle gesture from within the smog, the air around him seemed to ripple and shift, as if he held an invisible force in his grasp. Ryuji, still navigating through the dissipating smoke, felt an unusual sensation beneath his feet. Suddenly, the gravitational pull seemed to lessen, and Ryuji found himself floating slightly above the ground. His eyes widened in surprise as he struggled to maintain his balance. Every movement he made felt exaggerated now.
Gasmask seized the chance and took full advantage of the changing 'gravity'. With another measured maneuver, he launched Ryuji upward. Ryuji, now flying, experienced a brief period of weightlessness before gravity took over.
Don't tell me- his control over gas is so potent he can manipulate the air currents inside that gas cloud!?
Gasmask controlled Ryuji's fall back to Earth. Ryuji smashed into the ground below, causing a small crater and sending shockwaves across the training area.
Ryuji lay in the hole, annoyed once again. Defeated...again. He grumbled, grasping the sand beneath his hands.
"Defeat isn't something to avoid, that's just impossible. You take defeats like this and you learn from them," Gasmask lectured.
"I'm well aware of that," Ryuji sighed as he slowly got up.
"Your tone says otherwise."
"Sorry." Ryuji huffed.
Gasmask turned to the rest of the students. "That message applies to the REST of you. Some of you won't be with us next year- and I don't want you to have wasted your three years having learned nothing."
Gasmask's group was made up of 'problem children' and 'the behinders'- people easy to be manipulated. They were constantly shunned and cast aside by the more "normal" students of Shiketsu. Gasmask knew that those who had been rejected by society often had a deep desire for acceptance and belonging.
"Lesson's over. For now. Gonna try again in few hours. See if I can change things up a little," Gasmask said. The training was meant to help improve the skills of the behinders, while also working to win them and the problem kids over. Some of said problems had issues with authority which might cause some turbulence, but nothing he couldn't handle. After all, how many of his comrades had a bit of a rebellious streak in them when they first joined?
Gasmask eyed some of the kids in the crowd- the ones that showed the most promise. Those kids were Mahibi Moji, Nekomi Nabeshima, Urushi Akizuki, Kazuki Akai, Akira Venus and Daisuke Shuhai.
They were the most desirable because they had the biggest 'personalities'. A delinquent with a gang. A smug cat girl. A lover with a sweet tooth. A determinator with an 'idol'. A pretty girl with no self awareness. A serious no nonsense genius.
They were all 'cornerstones'.
The trick was figuring out how exactly to get them in. For these kinds of kids, he had to make them think they wanted to join, not that he wanted them to. Some of them were easier than others, the cat girl and sweet lover especially, but others he needed to really think about. The genius would be the most difficult, the delinquent coming in at a close second.
Honestly, he wanted to tack Moji first. With his 'reverence' amongst the problem kids, he had the respect of his lower graded peers, turning his gang into a close-knit 'family' within the larger student body. Knock over one domino, knock over the rest.
What Gasmask found most interesting, beyond the potential kinship with their quirks. was Moji's previous records. He was a highly ranked student a few semesters ago.
Then he took an internship with Endeavor.
And things went downhill.
Now, Endeavor was never called the "best" mentor. If anything, most people credited the good internship experiences to his sidekicks, people like Burnin'. People went to Endeavor's agency to see how one of the top pros operated or because they appreciated his almost ruthless efficiency. But whenever he's asked about the internship, Moji just ignores the question. Gasmask wanted the person to get the answer because whatever that answer is could be his key to recruiting the kid.
"Mr. Mahibi." Gasmask said, approaching the deliquent. Moji gave the teacher some side eye- he looked annoyed that his break was being interupted so early.
"What." Moji frowned.
"You are one of the very few 3rd years with no license...you DO understand that hurts your career, yes?" Gasmask asked.
"Your point?"
"Do you want ANYTHING after you graduate, or do you plan to squat in the kendo dorm you somehow turned around?" Gasmask asked.
Moji just didn't answer. He'd heard that question, or some variant of it, too often. He'd gotten tired of giving the same, seemingly unsatisfactory answer every time.
"You still have a future...but the more time you spend ignoring your potential, the harder it gets to achieve it. Do you think you can coast by because you worked with Endeavor?" Gasmask wasted no time hitting that 'nuclear button'.
"Hah. Last thing I want..."
Gasmask raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"
"Endeavor's a letdown. Dude yells and screams for sidekicks to do the work he can't be fathomed to. We're not being heroes- we're a glorified cleanup crew. And the media loves it." Moji said. "That shit with Stain? I bet he didn't even take care of it."
"...who do you think did then?"
"Dunno, could've ben any of them. Don't think Burnin' was there so, maybe not her."
"You're hindering yourself because you took issue with his work style."
"I'm 'hindering' myself because I don't wanna be in that shitty of a rut. I don't wanna be miserable like him."
"Forgive me...something's not adding up."
"Yeah, what?' Moji scoffed.
"You don't want to be miserable like Endeavor...so instead you're creating a new type of misery for yourself?"
"It's not misery if I like it." Moji scoffed, before walking off.
Not quite the answer I was expecting. How do I work with misery he likes? Gasmask wondered.
His misery is one of solidarity with others. Commiseration, maybe. I'll lie and say I had my own setbacks- that I was like him growing up. Gasmask thought. That'll lower his guard.
And then another plan formed in his head. The next sparring match wouldn't be against him. Boost one student's confidence while taking another down to expose them. It was decided then. The next match after the break would be Ryuji against Moji.
This will work...I'm sure of it. Getting floored by a first year may help wake him up.
Medaka and Kumagawa had been walking for maybe thirty or so minutes now. The ace of the new class was perfectly fine with that, but Kumagawa was not happy about it. Lugging those practice dummies for five minutes would've been fine, ten would still be ok but close to pushing it. But thirty?
"Are...we there...yet?" Kumagawa panted, practically having to drag one of the dummies behind him.
"Almost."
"And we couldn't have set it up twenty minutes ago because?"
"Too much chance of collateral! I want to make sure nothing is damaged!"
"Except the trees," Kumagawa huffed.
Five more minutes of walking and the two of them soon arrived at a nice little clearing in the forest. No structures to be hurt and no people to be damaged, there was nothing but Medaka, her training dummies, and a boat!
...come again?
While Kumagawa was just focusing on setting up the training dummies, intent on going back to get some relaxation in, Medaka spied a boat just parked on the beach.
"...Kumagawa, there's a boat here that shouldn't be and I'm going to go investigate," Medaka said as bluntly as possible before she walked towards it.
"Yeah, yeah, sure," Kumagawa automatically answered before he stopped and processed what he just heard. "Wait what?"
"There shouldn't be a boat out here. We came by plane, and this place IS hidden..." Medaka pointed out.
"Or, hear me out- we leave it alone." Kumagawa said. "Maybe some staff are doing some clean up."
"Would the staff have any reason not to have the standard boating necessities?" Medaka observed- she pointed to the lack of numbers and validation decal on the side.
"Maybe its just someone's personal boat? Staff use it to go fishing or something."
"Still. They'd need the serial number..." Medaka hopped on deck, making Kumagawa groan.
「i walked all the way out here for this?」
Medaka walked on the deck, looking for anything of note. GPS navigation tools and sonars. Seismic measurement and monitoring equipment, including seismometers and hydrophones. And a bunch of files in folders...
"What do we have here?" Medaka muttered, picking one of them up.
「know what? maybe it is worth it. watching star-student medaka snoop around and possibly steal from someone's ship. priceless. no one would believe me.」
Kumagawa shook his head. "Ugh...I'm slipping again." He mumbled.
「and with good reason」
「this is a situation i shouldn't be involved with」
「hope this doesn't get us kicked off the i
...
...
...
Kumagawa didn't register the pain until after he smashed into the tree.
"What was that?" Medaka called out, turning away from the file.
Before Kumagawa could react, he was then suddenly thrust to the sand...and shushed. His attacker just shushed him like he was a disobedient child. Who the hell did they think they were?!
"Kumagawa?" Medaka yelled out, walking off the deck. "Are yo-"
Medaka never finished her sentence. Something suddenly stabbed into her back, and was quickly injected into her body. In an instant, her body felt...heavy.
"Will you walk into my parlor?" A voice asked. "I hoped someone would be stupid enough to enter...but I didn't expect TWO someones..." Medaka dropped to the ground, as her attacker left her. She seemed more focused on what was going on the shore.
"Now then," Medaka's attacker huffed before she went searching for something, "Almost time for the main event."
Kumagawa looked up to see someone approaching him- his assailant was armed to the teeth in armor, which looked more advanced than any hero he'd ever seen.
「a villain...」
Kumagawa smirked. 「you picked the wrong person to attack...」With lightning speed, Kumagawa retrieved a screw and hurled it directly into the attacker's head.
「bullsye.」
The attacker's head was thrown back by the impact of the screw, even forcing them to stumble a bit. Kumagawa smirked as he saw his shot land. Now this would just be an even fig-
THUNK!
The good loser's eyes widened when he heard that heavy thud, something dropping and impacting the sand on the beach. He slowly looked down, fearing the worst, only for those fears to be confirmed. It was his screw, the tip of it having been crushed up to the head like it was a tincan. But that shouldn't be possible, right? He struck the guy's head dead on.
「impossible...it can pierce ANYTHING」Kumagawa gasped. 「how did you do that?」
His attacker stared at him, still silent. Kumagawa grit his teeth again, and threw another screw. This time, the screw sank into the villain, giving him some hope-
But that was quickly dashed. The screw suddenly shot back out, hitting Kumagawa in the chest with the flat side.
Somehow, whatever made the screw rebound gave it some extra power. When the flat head of the screw slammed into his chest, Kumagawa was not only knocked off his feet but he was also thrown into a nearby tree.
「what the hell...both times it failed to stick」Kumagawa stared up at his attacker, who was just standing there...menacingly.
Youka pulled out a voice recorder and started documenting. "Log 766-A. Target known as Crimson King has engaged with a student from Shiketsu- one Misogi Kumagawa."
While Medaka's body couldn't move, she could still hear everything perfectly. Her eyes widened hearing that name. Crimson...King? That SSS Tier villain from the states!?
「how the hell do you even know who i am?」Kumagwa asked as he got back to his feet, creating two more screws in each of his hands.
"I don't usually talk to my research subjects, but, eh, why not. I have good connections, that's all," Youka shrugged, "Forgive the social interaction there. I think my two subjects are about to fight. I will record the proceeding thrashing for posterity."
「greeeeat. figures medaka ends up discovering a mad scientist」
Is this woman related to the person who attacked Misogi during his internship with Nighteye? Medaka thought. What does she want with Crimson King?
"And. Record," Youka beamed, "You may begin."
King Crimson didn't start the fight. He continued to stand there, glaring at Kumagawa. The boy wasn't sure of what to do- run and avoid his wrath? Or try to stand proud and break through?
Kumagawa sighed.「maybe...i can do Both.」
The villain just crossed his arms, waiting for Kumagawa to act on whatever ultimately fruitless plan he'd thought up. Medaka tried to get up and go help him, but no matter how much she struggled, she just couldn't move. As if to reinforce that, a scalpel suddenly pressed against the back of her neck.
"Don't interefere. You'll mess up the results," Youka lectured.
Kumagawa started his attempt to run by smashing a screw into the ground. 「attacks don't affect him...so my screws on his body are useless.」
「but...my screws on the ground aren't.」
Kumagawa's "Leg Eating Forest" sprouted up around King Crimson, trapping him in between the screws. It gave Kumagawa ample time to run into the forest- his plan was to cut through it and back to the others. Maybe they could handle him better, or override his quirk with too much stimuli. He couldn't avoid everything!
...
Right?
The shape of King Crimson's body began to move and shift, like a chameleon changing its color. He changed into a clear substance, and he walked through the screw bars with an odd ease.
"Interesting." Youka said. "King Crimson's Quirk seems to transcend common sense..."
"What...do you mean?" Medaka asked.
Youka shot the girl a nasty look. "You're the genius. Figure it out."
"Transcend common sense...isn't exactly a common phrase."
Youka rolled her eyes again, and motioned to the ground. Papers had been scattered when Medaka was attacked. Medaka began scanning them, before she found the most important looking document.
It was a legal document, detailing the rap sheet of the villain...and a thorough detailing of his quirk.
"But that...that Quirk..."
"One of the most powerful in the world," Youka finished.
"It's like mine."
Youka paused. Before turning around.
She sighed.
"In normal circumstances, a quirk like yours would be necessary...but not in this case." Youka said.
"Necessary? For what?"
"Yes, let me explain my plan so you can thwart it."
Medaka tried to move, but Youka didn't pay her any mind. "The drug won't wear off for another few minutes- 15 minutes, at the most." She said, walking away. "But, I doubt it'll wear off before then."
"Before what?"
"Before he kills them all."
That actually terrified her. She had to get up, she had to warn them, help them! But while the desire was strong, her body just wouldn't listen to her.
Think, Medaka! Think! There has to be a way out of this! Medaka thought.
Medaka huffed. I'm afraid...I'm going to have to play the waiting game. I don't know if she knows, but...
Star and Stripe is here.
Kathleen was enjoying a good soak in the hot tub. She rarely got chances to relax, ever since she became Number One in America. And teaching was a more stressful job than she thought. Thank God Shiketsu had resources...
As the jets massaged her tired muscles, her mind started to drift into a realm of random thoughts.
Could I tank an attack from Atomix? Kathleen thought. I mean, I've tanked blows from Humungousaur at full size...and laser beams from Vilgax...therefore...
It made sense, but then again, there was a reason Atomix was one of Ben's strongest, second maybe only to Alien X.
Ehhh, maybe its not the best to compare a nuclear powerplant to a celestial god, Kathleen mused.
Kathleen sank deeper in the water. ...I've been doing this for a long time, haven't I? She thought. To think I was a rookie just a decade and a half ago...and now I'm here.
Crazy.
...
It's lonely, though. I don't know why Endeavor wants a life at the top...
Sure there were some benefits but those more aimed to the commercial side of the Pro business and, just like All Might, she never really cared too much about that. There was obviously some Star and Stripe merch, just like there was All Might merch, but she always made sure that whatever sum came her way because of any deal went to charity.
Kathleen took a deep breath. Sometimes, she wondered...where she'd be, if All Might hadn't shown up that day.
Many years ago, a young Cathleen Bate was traveling with her family on their way to the Santa Monica pier when they got caught in the middle of a villain attack. She was terrified and prayed for at least her little sister to survive- she was the genius of the family. She'd go far. However, they were all saved by a Japanese foreign exchange student.
His name was Toshinori Yagi.
He gave his usual smile and promised that no harm would befall them. At that moment, there might have been some doubt in her parents and sister. After all, it was just one man against these two villains; their Quirks weren't to be taken lightly either. One of them, the brawn of the duo, was a massive, blue skinned, six-armed monstrosity wearing a black mask, support vest, and jeans, while the brains of the duo was a slim blonde man in a red full body suit with white accent marks a white R emblazoned on his facemask.
While the mutation Quirk was hard to pin down for the brute, the more "normal" villain had quite an easy Quirk to figure out. His arms morphed into rocket launchers, complete with projectiles. But for some reason, despite the odds stacked against him, the young Cathleen felt that the villains were on the losing side.
And Kathleen was the "Deku" of her generation for sure. She became obsessed with her savior, gaining her quite the reputation. She wanted to be a cool, awesome hero...just like him. From that day on, she became inspired to become a hero just like All Might.
Back then, New Order was a basic quirk, unhoned like a basic civilian. It could only add basic properties to something. If Kathleen wished to make something warm, she'd have to touch it and say 'warm'.
Given time, those limits would change, especially with her training. Now, calling her the Deku of her generation went beyond her relationship with All Might. The two shared a beginning. Just like how Deku was trained to accept the power of One for All by clearing a beach with nothing but his own strength, the future Top American Pro had to do some community service to start he regimen, but this wasn't a task set before her by Toshinori. No, this was something she did of her own volition.
When she later recounted the story to All Might, he said "...that's really cool, actually! I might use that! Good way to give to the community AND get a work out!" And then he laughed. Kathleen liked his laugh...
Kathleen met Ben during her first year of X Bradack's Academy. Not that he attended- he graduated a bit ahead of the curve thanks to some rule bending with the Plumbers.
Since this was also still the legendary hero's early days, some of his own rogues gallery still made regular attacks. One of them was kind of mutant, created by Animo mixing various different insects into some poor homeless guy. His name was Clarence, but he broke free from Animo's control and went berserk, becoming a villain all his own. The guy was usually so low on the tier listing that he was barely even brought up, kinda like other low-levels like LeGrange and Lord Decibel. But then he discovered a new power, the ability to incorporate specific species of insect into his own biology. He focused on the more dangerous species such as scorpions, centipedes, and so on.
She met Ruby not long after. And then Gwen. Then Kevin. Then the rest of the group...
And then she was reunited with All Might.
It was a bit unfortunate that she had to meet him during the peak of the war against Salem, though. At this point, he hadn't yet ascended to the top spot on the Japanese leaderboards, but no one was really keeping track during what seemed like the end of the world.
Still, this was the first time All Might was meeting someone directly influenced by him.
It took him a while to stop crying tears of joy.
She was doing well in her own hero training by this point too, having gotten to be one of the best students at X Bradack. While she never saw battle during those final days of the war, she'd heard plenty of stories, about the end of Cinder, about the victory over Salem.
...admittedly, Star and Stripe was plagued by one stupid, stupid thought from Day One of her journey.
Did she truly deserve success?
Meeting with All Might was a fluke. Anyone could have been attacked. In some other world, All Might might have saved some other family and she would have just been another average person living their life. So why was she the one chosen?
Maybe she was just getting lucky and didn't actually deserve to be a hero. Maybe someone else out there was more deserving of the powers she had been granted.
New Order wasn't helping her much, either. Despite it's strength, a lot of people saw it as nothing but a 'broken' power.
It wasn't hard to see it that way, admittedly. The power to reality, even in small ways, could definitely be seen as overpowered.
The distance between her and her classmates was just as wide as someone would think. Like comparing Superman to the every single Robin. It felt like a million miles wide, and no one really liked it. The students on the 'weak' side weren't necessarily angry about it, but there was a palpable discomfort that stemmed from the perceived imbalance in power. They might have seen her as unapproachable, someone existing on a level of heroism that was beyond their reach.
Despite the passing of time, the accolades, and the admiration of many, she couldn't escape the gnawing feeling that maybe she didn't truly deserve the position she held. Maybe this is why she rarely took breaks- moments of solitude like this when the facade of strength crumbled.
And she felt like that girl in the car again.
The tranquility, however, was abruptly shattered by the urgent entrance of someone into the room.
The hurried steps approached, and a breathless voice pierced through the air. "M-Mrs. Star!"
Star's brow furrowed at the palpable panic in the voice. Turning her attention, she found Mogana stumbling into the room, gasping for breath. She looked bruised all over, with glasses shattered. The worst injury she had was a massive gash on the leg. The sight of her broke Star from her 'relaxed' mood.
"Mogana? What's wron-" Star began, concern lining her voice.
"D-don't worry about me!" Mogana interrupted, her tone fraught with urgency. "It's... it's everyone else!"
"Huh?" Star responded, her curiosity mixed with a growing sense of foreboding.
"A villain found us!" Mogana exclaimed.
8 minutes ago...
Kumagawa rushed through the woods, throwing out more bits of Leg Eating Forest as he ran in a zigzag path. He was aiming to outsmart this seemingly unstoppable villain- this was a dense thicket, and he hoped that the intricate network of screws and nature would throw his pursuer off.
In the distance, he could hear the faint sound of footsteps. King Crimson was relentless in pursuit, effortlessly navigating through the Leg Eating Forest. Kumagawa knew he couldn't outrun his pursuer indefinitely, nor could his legs run any faster.
Come on, come on... Kumagawa thought. This guy could kill me VERY easily. Wits are the only thing I really have here if power won't do any good...
If the villain could hear Kumagawa's thoughts, which may have been likely given his adaptability, he would've just responded that Kumagawa's wits weren't enough. If anything, he was just the start, the message. His real enemy was somewhere deeper inland.
Kumagawa looked back. This edgelord doesn't feel like some random run of the mill baddie- I can't memorize everything I've ever seen, but that's a very distinct looking costume he's wearing...where have I seen him?
That train of thought was interrupted when Kumagawa heard one of his patches of Leg Eating Forest being shattered. Whatever King just did obliterated that patch, slicing through the sharpness of the screws, letting them fall harmlessly to the ground. Another patch he just walked right through, the screws not even capable of piercing his body.
Kumagawa winced- he tried to throw another screw, but the second he produced it, the screw rusted.
How is he doing this!? Does he manipulate reality on a smaller scale!?
And that is when it clicked. He wasn't manipulating reality, even though someone could be forgiven for thinking that. It made sense, given everything he saw. But it wasn't reality that was being changed. He was. His Quirk was, in quick succession, changing to fit the situation best. A Quirk that could adapt to anything thrown at its user.
Oh god, Kumagawa realized, I know who he is.
The second he realized it-
Kumagawa felt something rush up behind him. And punch him in the back.
Through the back.
It hurt.
His eyes went wide as the attack made impact. Even if he knew who this villain was now, it was surprising that he could close that kind of a distance in a single second.
The rusted chains of prison moons.
Are shattered by the sun.
I walk a road horizons change.
The tournament's begun.
The purple piper plays his tune.
The choir softly sing.
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue...
For the court of the Crimson King.
Crimson King's fist shook off the student's body from his wrist. Kumagawa dropped to the ground. Blood leaked from his mouth, as he weakly coughed.
King said nothing as he walked past the student, leaving him to die in the woods.
「...」
「...is this how i die?」
「frightened like a child?」
「lazy and numb...」
「why have i been sleeping...」
Kumagawa felt his eyes start to close.
No matter how hard he tried to fight it, how stubbornly he tried to cling to some spark of consciousness, he couldn't stop it. The greenery around him blurred and quickly faded, the color changing to pitch black. Maybe this was the end, how he died. Fitting. All the progress he'd made over the school year and it ends up being for nothing. That was just perfect for him, wasn't it? Perhaps the biggest loss of his entire life.
And then he woke up. He blinked in confusion. How did he wake up? That villain was so precise with his aim, he should've bled out before could've found him. So why was he still alive? Not exactly a complaint, but more of a question. On top of that, why was he here? He hadn't awoken in a hospital bed or an ambulance, something that would fit given the severity of the injury. But no. He was in a classroom, the only seated student in an entire classroom.
"If these are my last thoughts of life before I actually die, why a school?" Kumagawa asked aloud.
"Who said they were your thoughts?" someone asked, a smug smirk practically audible in their voice. Kumagawa turned to face this newcomer. Or should he call them a figment of his imagination? Either way, he turned to converse with them…