This is bad.
No, that's not right.
This is a nightmare.
Blue flames light up the forest like a bonfire, and poisonous gas makes it hard to focus. I was paired with Bakugou for the night walk through the woods, but after we found an unconscious student in our path and Pussycat Mandalay's telepathic message was transmitted, things took a drastic turn for the worse.
"Is this gas also the villains' doing?" I heave, sweating from the gas and carrying the student from 1-B on my back. "I'm still worried about the others, but there's not much we can do." Bakugou isn't faring much better. He's covering his mouth to prevent inhaling more of the toxic air. That makes me the voice of reason. "Let's back off of the goal point and head to the facility. We'll leave things here at the midway point to Ragdoll." Ragdoll being another of the four Pussycats.
Through his teeth and covered mouth, Bakugou complains, "Don't order me around." I don't bother responding because in front of us appears a dark figure on his knees with his back turned to us. Bakugou's irritation is instantly replaced with alertness. "Wh-who was supposed to be ahead of us?" This is the first time I've ever heard him stutter. If someone like him is worried, then things are really, really bad. The dark figure mutters incoherent words. I grit out that Tokoyami and Shouji were the group before us. The figure rises to his feet and turns around. His arms are bound in a straitjacket. He has no face. Cloth, leather, and spikes hide all facial features except his mouth, which is forcefully kept open by bite blocks. Bakugou drops his hand from his mouth. Vicious excitement fills his eyes and voice. "Like hell I'm not engaging this sick fuck!"
The reason why this figure's, this villain's, mouth is like that is revealed quickly. Long, jagged swords erupt from his mouth like a volcano, piercing every branch and leaf in the vicinity. I scramble to get back, while Bakugou stays put. Just then, a second message from Mandalay rings in my head: Members of Class A and B, I hereby authorize you all for combat! I generate a barrier of ice from the onslaught of metal coming our way. A third message echoes, one that chills me to my core. The students named 'Kacchan!' and Selene! Whoever 'Kacchan' is, as much as possible, avoid combat! Refrain from solo movements! Got it 'Kacchan!' And someone go protect Selene!
Kacchan is Midoriya's nickname for Bakugou. And Selene … oh my God, Selene! She's confined to bed, battling the effects of the near-drowning from yesterday. She can't use her quirk to fend for herself! And she was left all by herself for the night walk. I have to keep Bakugou safe and get to her in time. "This is not a time to be reckless," I warn Bakugou. "Didn't you hear? They're targeting you."
But he's not having it. That maniacal look in his eyes only widens. "Kacchan, Kacchan, shut the fuck up! Get out of my head!" he shouts. "That little shit Deku must've done something. First they say to fight, then they say don't fight. Goddamn it! FUCK IT! I DON'T CARE!" He dashes forward, explosion ready in his palm. He nearly gets impaled by another blade that pierces my barrier. I rush to create another ice barricade.
Between breaths, I pant out, "This guy knows how to make good use of his surroundings and his quirk." There's no point to argue with Bakugou.
"Looks to me like a gangly weakass who needs his teeth kicked in!" Bakugou jeers.
The villain uses his mouth blades to rise meters above the ground, above the barricade. My instincts kick in. I analyze the villain for weaknesses. This guy's definitely fought his share of battles. And then some. I speak to Bakugou again. "If you go exploding stuff here, you might start a fire that could surround and kill us all, you know that, right?" He groans that he knows. If we try to retreat, there's the gas. Put it simply, we're caught in a bind.
And the villain knows this, too. He doesn't give us any opportunity. Every time his blades lash out, I have to summon another blockade, which only pushes us back and enables him forward. Combined with the fact that my arms are occupied holding someone unconscious, I'm reduced to my legs, and my legs carry far less precision than my arms.
"We can't get any closer, damn it! The only choice is to shoot a bigass fireball at that bastard!" Bakugou screeches. I tell him that he cannot, but her persists. "If the trees catch on fire, just fucking cover them with ice!" Ice fractals are beginning to crystallize on my face.
"Explosions will limit our visibility!" I say just as I create another wall of ice. "What do we do if your attack fails to take him out completely? He has more room and more options than we do!" And I'm losing strength to keep this up. My own quirk is beginning to attack my own body.
I'm still plotting a way to escape the villain when all of a sudden, Shouji and Midoriya appear behind us. Both of them look like a wreck, especially Midoriya. "Bakugou! Todoroki! One of you, please! MAKE SOME LIGHT!" But neither of us get the chance to. Because a behemoth of darkness and shadows charges from the forest, crushing my barriers and the villain beneath its talons. It's Tokoyami's Dark Shadow gone berserk. Bakugou and I just stare in shock, utterly speechless. After a moment, I call out their names, dumbfounded. Shouji urges the same request again: create light.
We watch Dark Shadow go on a rampage. Only one of my ice walls remains intact. Midoriya and Shouji try to evade it. "He's attacking indiscriminately," I point out. "I'll make some flames-"
Bakugou interrupts me. "Wait, dumbass." The villain rises to his feet, muttering those same unintelligible words. But Dark Shadow rams him into the cliff nearby before tossing him into heaven. Dark Shadow throws him with so much force, sturdy trees are cut from their bases in one blow. I swear, tendrils of smoke rise from their stumps. Dark Shadow swings the villain in an arc before dropping him where he was picked up. "Look," Bakugou grins. The villain is unable to attack anymore. He's knocked out. With silent, mutual agreement, we dash toward Tokoyami with the brightest explosions and flames we can create. Dark Shadow is subdued.
Tokoyami falls to his knees, but Bakugou keeps his palm open, prepared for another explosion, just in case. "You and I have some unfortunate chemistry," he comments. But Tokoyami simply thanks him. Midoriya and Shouji fuss over Tokoyami. I learn that Tokoyami's quirk became too powerful in the dark, and when Shouji lost one of his replicated arms to the mouth-blade villain, he succumbed to his anger. But we have bigger priorities. Midoriya tells him that the League of Villains is here to target Bakugou and Selene-chan.
That's right. Amongst all this stress, I almost forgot about her. She's defenseless!
We strategize.
"I think we'd be safest in the facility with the two Pros, Blood King and Aizawa-sensei," Midoriya reasons.
Tokoyami responds with understanding. "I see. So our mission from here on out is to escort Bakugou."
"However, if we go through the clearing, that's where the Pussycats are currently fighting. If we follow the path back, the villains will definitely spot us. We can't afford another setback. We should cut straight through with the shortest route."
I pipe in now. "We don't know how many of them there are. Even still, there's the possibility that they could suddenly ambush us."
"But Shouji has the ability to detect enemies!" Midoriya defends. "And Todoroki's got his freezing. What's more, if Tokoyami's all right, we still have a method of controlling the unrivaled power of Dark Shadow. With this lineup, quite frankly, not even All Might would scare us!"
It hasn't escaped my notice that Bakugou looks so utterly lost. His gaze switches between speaker, too confused to protest. Midoriya, Shouji, Tokoyami, and I form a square around Bakugou. I adjust my grip on the unconscious student still clinging to my back. Finally, Bakugou's voice erupts. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS, YOU PRICKS?!"
"You, just walk in the middle," I order him, calmly.
"LIKE HELL YOU'RE PROTECTING ME, YOU SHITHEADS!"
None of us bother responding to that. We simply charge through the forest. When we step into a clearing, I spot a yellow girl with messy buns run away. This girl was attacking Uraraka and Asui. She was another villain. Midoriya tells them to join us and escort Bakugou to the facility. But Asui questions why he isn't with us. That doesn't make any sense. He was with us the entire time. All of us look toward the center, where he is. No. Where he should have been. Because he has vanished. Under unexplainable circumstances, he's gone. Terror strikes deep. We're doomed.
We're all still recovering from the shock when a new, unfamiliar voice sounds. "If you're talking about him, I just used my magic to take him." All of simultaneously turn to the owner of the voice. It's a guy with a feathered hat, bright trenchcoat, gloves, boots, cane, and a full face mask. A third villain, standing on a tree branch. He tosses three vivid blue orbs up and down in his palm. "Someone like that has no business being on the side of heroes, not when we have a stage where he can shine even brighter."
Midoriya screams, "GIVE HIM BACK!"
I feel the same sentiment. Fury burns like fuel inside me.
But the marble villain continues spouting bullshit. "'Give him back!' That's a strange choice of words. Bakugou doesn't belong to anyone. He is his own person, you damn egoist!" Midoriya shouts the same demand again, and I tell him to move aside, just as I summon ice to splinter the tree the villain is using for support. But the villain leaps away. "All we're doing is telling these people who have rigid values that that's not the only way to look at things. We simply wanted to make that point," he continues. "All of you kids, your values have been chosen for you."
Shouji exclaims that Tokoyami is missing, too. The two of them … without a single sound, swooped up from behind us? What kind of quirk does he have? Fear rises within me, but I convert it into unfiltered rage. I have to. "Did you come all the way over here just to give us that spiel? You're making light of us, aren't you?"
The marble villain toys with those damn orbs. "Well, I was originally an entertainer, after all. It's a bad habit." I don't give a damn! "Nabbing Tokoyami was an improvisation. Moonfish … that sword-toothed fellow … A guy like that, sentenced to death, rejected appeals. He's a natural-born cutthroat murderer. The violent nature it takes to trample down on someone like that so unilaterally … I have judged that he'll be useful, too!"
"YOU BASTARD! YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE THEM!" Midoriya howls.
I pass the unconscious student onto Uraraka and generate a Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall that spans kilometers in length and height. All aimed at the villain. Damage control be damned!
"My apologies," the villain taunts, unaffectedly soaring through the air. "All I do is deceive and run away. But that's what I am good for! Like I'd really want to fight with some hero cadets, right?" Screw you and your apologies! I want to incinerate him. But what he says next makes me pause. Through a portable, miniature radio, he announces, "First strike team! The target has been successfully collected! I'm sorry to cut your fun short, but this concludes our mission! As planned, you have five minutes to rendezvous at the 'collection point.'"
Midoriya shrieks a desperate no. I, on the other hand, feel defeated. "'Concludes our mission,' you say …" This means they got to Selene as well. My Selene … she's been kidnapped. The girl I love … she's been stolen. Months back, she had disappeared. I had thought the League was involved then and feared the vilest of things had happened to her. Those nightmares return with a vengeance. But a surge of determination and wrath soar through me, overpowering those nightmares. I was helpless then. But I'm not now.
I create the most impressive Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall of my life. Longer than the one at the recommendations entrance exam. Greater than the one at the Sports Festival. Bigger than the one during the practical exam. Larger than the spire I made to alert Pro-Heroes. And significantly more colossal than the one I created just moments ago. "LIKE HELL I'D LET YOU! THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE GETTING AWAY!" I roar with enough wrath to send Satan packing.
The marble freak sprints across the treetops at the speed of lightning. But all of us chase after him, trying to close in the distance. Me, more so than the others. It's not working, though.
Midoriya is trying to salvage hope. "We can't … give up! No! …" His broken arms and bruises are taking their toll on him. "I've got to catch up to him … and take them back!" A plan emerges in his mind. With a newfound conviction in his demeanor, he orders Uraraka to make us float and Asui to launch us at the villain with all her strength. Shouji will guide our trajectory. We're doubtful. He's so battered, he will pass out any minute. I tell him as much, but he denies it. "Right now, I don't know what pain is. I can still move. HURRY!"
None of us complain. Shouji holds Midoriya by the waist and grabs my wrist with his other arm. Uraraka makes us float, and Asui throws us in the direction of the villain. We're going so fast, the three of us can't help but scream. Still, we're closing the distance miraculously.
Eventually, we crash into him and land. The three of us brace for the fall and press all our weight onto marble freak , leaving him to receive a direct faceplant from the ground. Three more villains are already there. The yellow girl who escaped. A guy with a full bodysuit. And another guy with a patchwork scar face. None of us have the time to react when the marble villain evades our grip, and the patchwork launches a blanket of brilliant blue flames at us. Midoriya, Shouji, and I have to separate. Both of them get severely burnt, and I barely manage to dodge them from scarring my scarred face. That costs us direly.
The bodysuit villain circles behind me. "Your faces were on Shigaraki's kill list! Both Mr. Beat-Up over there and you! You both weren't on the list!"
"SHIT!" I narrow escape being strangled. Just in time I manage to create a semi-ring of ice, throwing bodysuit villain into the air. Midoriya and Shouji are occupied with yellow girl.
I hear the marble freak speak to patchwork face. "Ow. To think they came flying after me. What marvelous thoughts take flight!" Oh, I'll show you flight when I burn your feet off! You'll be flying for the rest of your life!
"Bakugou? Selene?" patchwork face asks with his palm extended. Marble freak shuffles his pockets.
Bodysuit douche climbs over the semi-ring, and I busy myself with blocking him again.
But Shouji's voice rings out. "BOTH OF YOU, RUN!" He addresses marble freak now. "Your actions just now have made it clear. I don't know what your quirk is, but those things you were flaunting at us earlier … In your right pocket, these are Tokoyami, Bakugou, and Hanada, aren't they, entertainer?" He holds out his hand, carrying three marbles.
Given the pretentious marble freak's clapping, Shouji has hit the mark. I trap bodysuit douche up to his waist and charge toward them. I'm getting my classmates back. I am saving my best friend. Adrenaline and wrath push me forward. I've never run this fast before. Almost there! But I almost lose my footing when a massive purple-black void blocks my path. Midoriya and Shouji, who were also sprinting, falter.
"It's been five minutes since the signal. Time to go, Dabi," marble freak says. Bodysuit douche and yellow girl escape into separate voids. Only patchwork face - Dabi - and marble freak remain behind, and they're standing behind us with a void ready for them, too. We whip around to face them.
"But, our objective …" Dabi says.
Marble freak removes the face mask. "Ah, that was … They just seemed so happy chasing after me, I wanted to give them a present. It's a bad habit, you see. One of the fundamentals of magic is that you flaunt things, only when you have other things to hide." He opens his mouth to reveal three blue orbs on his tongue. The orbs which actually contain Bakugou, Tokoyami, and Selene. I'm horrified. At the same time, the marbles in Shouji's hand pop, revealing shards of my ice. Marble freak fixes his mask back. "During your freezing attack, I prepared some dummies, and I put them in my right pocket. And then you happily ran after me when you noticed me putting them in there."
I'm frozen in place. My hands tremble. I can't lose them. I can't lose her. Both villains step through the void, bidding goodbye. I try to force myself to move. I can't.
But like God has chosen to give us a chance, Aoyama's stomach light shoots a ray through the void, making marble freak - no, marble bastard - choke out the orbs. My body finally moves. The three of us bolt toward the void, toward the marbles. Midorya's body finally seizes up, and he falls to the ground. That leaves only me and Shouji.
Shouji manages to snag one marble. I'm just about to grab the other two when Dabi snatches them right beneath me. "How sad," he taunts, spinning the orbs between his fingers. "Todoroki Shouto." He smiles sadistically as I glare in resentment. Midoriya gets to his feet and rushes toward them. "Confirmed. Release it," Dabi orders marble bastard.
With a snap of his fingers, my classmates erupt out of their compressed states. Tokoyami is safe, but I cannot be glad.
Dabi has hands around Bakugou's neck, and marble bastard carries my inert Selene in his arms.
"KACCHAN!" Midoriya hollers.
"Stay back, Deku," Bakugou commands, his tone utterly serious, defying the fright in his eyes.
Midoriya falls onto his stomach, and I fall to my knees. He howls a scream of utter anguish. I think I do, too. Tears leak from his eyes. I think mine do, too.
I wrap my arms around myself and choke on my tears.
You're gone.
I failed to protect you.
You were there, right there, within my grasp … and I couldn't catch you.
My heart feels like it's ripping itself apart.
The nightmares of torture return, each one more gruesome than the last.
I can't fight them anymore.
Selene … sweetheart … I'm so sorry.
Note: I have copied some dialogue from one of the English-translated versions of the manga. The links to the chapters are here:
.online/manga/boku-no-hero-academia-chapter-75/
.online/manga/boku-no-hero-academia-chapter-78/
.online/manga/boku-no-hero-academia-chapter-79/
.online/manga/boku-no-hero-academia-chapter-80/
.online/manga/boku-no-hero-academia-chapter-81/
.online/manga/boku-no-hero-academia-chapter-82/