Tomura Shigaraki
It was time to move forward with the plan! It was time for All Might to die and for the next era of society to come forward. They would pay, all of them would see the world for how it really is! Not the imitation they see before them. The truth of this shitty society!
The pale and dry-skinned man turned to the once-abandoned warehouse floor from a raised catwalk. There were nearly a hundred men on the ground ready to commence the raid on those brats in that cursed school. The plan was simple. Attack the mobs until the big boss comes to the arena. Once he hits the field, throw in their tank! His master and mentor ensured that this tank would be able to defeat All Might and any other force that came in front of it!
To the young man's right was Kurogiri and Minerva, who were standing stoically as they looked down from the catwalk. To his left was two faces he didn't want here. Joker and Luthor! Behind him was a two-way speaker which his master was able to hear and speak through. This allowed the man behind the speaker to hear the young man's grunt, even if it was slight.
"What's the matter, Shigaraki?" The man behind the speaker asked, his voice deep and menacing.
"The problem," He started, before violently turning to his left and grabbing the railing of the catwalk, causing it to begin an accelerated decay. "Is that I have a clown next to me! And Luthor!"
The bald young man turned with a smirk, "Yes?"
"What the fuck are you doing here?! You never get your hands dirty."
"And I'm still not." Lex replied, brushing his right shoulder with his left hand as if there was dust on it. "I just want to see my investments off before the event. Much like the first day of school, I at least want to watch the bus go around the corner before I go home and wait to hear how the first day went."
Shigaraki growled. He turned to the speaker. "What about Joker?"
The man behind the speaker responded calmly and promptly, "I understand your concern about him, but we should still give him a chance. He could prove himself to be instrumental. But, if he does prove to be detrimental, we can leave him behind."
This made Shigaraki smile before he turned to the jester. He was adjusting his green bowtie which overlapped a new suit of his. Plum purple with a white dress shirt and wing-tip dress shoes as well as white cotton gloves. The Joker turned over towards Shigaraki before giving him a very large, toothy grin beyond his partially torn cheeks.
"Oh, were you talking about me?" He cackled. "Don't worry, I've got my eyes on the prize! If things go how I want them to, you probably won't even see me out there."
"Good! I don't need your quirkless and pathetic attacks getting in the way of anyone else's attacks. Especially not our boss!"
"Who's to say whose attacks get in the way of whom? Hehehehe!"
"Remain calm, Shigaraki. You must maintain a strong stance ahead of your soldiers below. You are leading them now."
The man turned back to the crowd below, who were staring up at attention now. Some had pipes and bats, others were already flaring up their own quirks! It was almost time. Everyone could feel it. Time to show those so-called heroes what real threats look like.
"You're right, and I will lead us both straight to victory." He replied under his breath as he reached into his pocket and brought out a fake hand. He placed it over his own dried face, the only thing visible to the outside world on that surface being his eyes. "Let the game begin, All For One!"
Batman
The busses had arrived at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint building. Bruce, unfortunately, was a little exhausted. Although he did have Alfred send the anonymous message to the police, he didn't want to drop the Ace incident himself. He continued to investigate records of anything that seemed suspicious. He also searched for anything purchased by anyone with the Crane name even remotely attached to it but found nothing.
That meant they were both working with someone or under a different alias. It would take some time to find the right kind of clues Batman would need to find the both of them, as well as one of them slipping up at some point without covering their tracks. Batman also included the possibility that they were using one of the Gotham mob bosses' resources, since Joker had some ties with them. But nothing of note came up, just a building Penguin's men used as an underground fighting ring. It could have been investigated, but Cobblepot wasn't a fool either. He likely has his people in the fight club steering clear of Joker while he plays this cat and mouse game with Batman, since the fight club would be much easier to dismiss than killing a known and beloved hero.
After all, if people started associating the two criminals, any nosey reporter would attribute some of Joker's international crimes with Cobblepot. It would ruin him without a doubt.
So, in vain, Bruce continued to scour his resources for even a single footprint. The white van they used in last night's raid on Ace couldn't be confirmed to be used or new, so that was a dead end. The guns the henchmen that Joker hired for Ace had lacked serial numbers so they couldn't be traced back to any individual or company. Plastique wouldn't do much talking either, being a hardened mercenary and being in a state of mental shock after what Clark had done to her.
The whole situation frustrated Bruce.
However, he needed to shift his focus because the students were finally getting up and out of the vehicle. Bruce had sat in the back with Mineta, as no one really trusted him in anyone else's seat.
"But with that glare of yours, I'm sure he won't even think about looking at any of us girls!" Jirou explained, assigning the task to Batman to keep him at bay.
Mineta did as she said he would, too. He never looked away from the back of the seat in front of him. Bruce only agreed to help because he hated that side of Mineta in parallel to the girls. Even separating the fact that his perverse behavior could turn into something more illegal in the future, it was a distraction. If he got too caught up in the wiles of a woman, many would take advantage of that and seduce him right before they slashed his jugular with a blade. Pamela Ivy was a prime candidate for that kind of approach with how she got the drop on Gordon and Harvey back in Gotham.
That, or he could distract his female allies when teamed with one by making a comment or trying to make some sly action towards them. Either way, Batman couldn't understand why he was even in the hero program with those kinds of behaviors. He needed correction before even thinking about training as a hero; he needed basic discipline.
Bruce waited for everyone else to get off the bus before getting up himself. When he marched out the door, he was eyed by Aizawa. It was a glare. He knew about Ace, likely tipped off by Captain Tsuragamae. They would talk later about it, Bruce was sure of it.
Batman marched towards Clark, Diana and Izuku. Everyone was talking, having a good time and getting ready for the training. The billionaire turned back towards Aizawa who began talking to a few other heroes. The majority of the heroes would depart to steer the other hero classes towards their lessons. The billionaire turned back towards the USJ. He could feel the hair raising on the back of his neck.
Clark turned to him with an eyebrow raised. "You good?"
"It's a feeling I have, but I can't quite pick it up." Bruce shook his head and closed his eyes. He let them stay closed for a second before opening them again and turning to Clark. "It's probably nothing."
But Bruce wasn't convinced of that himself.
Aizawa got the class' attention with another individual next to him. It was Thirteen, the hero in a space suit with the ability to open her body into a black hole throw a compartment on her fingertips. It certainly would be difficult to contain someone with such a volatile quirk.
She explained the procedure, which Batman only halfway listened to because it was essentially a preview of what Aizawa had already told them about the USJ before the weekend began. There were a few sites within the facility which housed different scenarios. Some replicated natural phenomena while others simulated the destruction of structures. Nothing specific was mentioned anywhere so as to keep the scenarios a surprise "like it would be on the battlefield." But even on an impromptu scene, someone actually thinking about the situation would get some information about it to see if their abilities could even help.
Because of the construction contract between Wayne Industries and the Japan Board of Hero Education, he had access to the schematics of all U.A. owned structures. He had them downloaded to his local interface so he could access them if need be, so while he was watching Mineta, he was learning how to approach any given scenario via his Personal Heads Up Display built into his cowl, which only he could see due to the unique holographic filtering technology. If any of the teachers or other students knew about it, they would consider it cheating. But the training, while being contained, could still be dangerous depending on how they conduct the procedure. Batman wasn't going to allow himself to be a step behind what he could be in any given situation.
Once everything was said and done, they were led into the building. They were met with twin doors that opened to a long, elevated walkway which stretched forward into a few sets of stairs leading down and overlooking the center of the building containing a relatively small fountain compared to the rest of the building. The elevation of the footpath they were currently on allowed the students to see all the different simulation areas.
To the immediate left was a selection of buildings which have already toppled on each other within the named Ruins Zone. Dust was constantly circulating in the air within said simulation. On the opposite side of the walkway was the hurricane simulation area named the Downpour Zone, which was closed off to create the artificial precipitation and to cut off the strong winds within. Next to the Ruins Zone was the Landside zone, which was similar to the ruins, though it was more naturalistic than man made, but still contained buildings within the downed hillside. Next to the Downpour Zone was the Flood Zone, which was simply a replicated lake with a cruise ship being carried on top of the water. It was also assumed to be a recreational area due to the waterslide that was built on the farthest side of the water, but even that seconded to add more danger to the situation as icebergs were visible drifting down and into the water.
The fifth simulation was simply a mountainous range. The schematics stated that the Mountain Zone was more of a survivalist kind of area, meant for students to help the stranded civilian navigate down the mountain safely and through the forest. That was one zone that was contracted for reconstruction by Wayne Industries once some experimental holographic training technologies were approved. The last zone was the Conflagration Zone, another cityscape which has been set ablaze and filled with smoke. This was the only other area which, due to the conditions within, had to be closed off from the rest of the arenas.
All of these situations are something that a hero would encounter to some extent or another. It was a decent way to prepare up and coming heroes for if they ended up becoming Rescue Heroes, although it was still barebones. The only way to make it anywhere close to the same as a real unforeseen incident would be to include some form of opposing force. More often than not nowadays, the only way for something like these situations to be hugely problematic and need heroes at all would be if someone had caused the destruction.
He had reached the stairs by now, as did the rest of the class. While they were looking around at the simulation arenas in awe and preparing themselves mentally for the training before them, Batman only grimaced. His criticisms of the training brought Batman back to his original frustration.
Joker is after me specifically, and his henchman said he was planning on something soon. Batman crossed his arms, looking up at the dome roof. He traced the linings of the glass roof, which let in the natural lighting from the noon sunlight. Especially with the row of glass paneling which was open near the top, the entire scene was especially bright.
Wait, open paneling? Bruce turned to his gauntlet, opening the schematics and looking towards the roof. It should be completely encased!
"AIZAWA! IT'S A TRAP!" Batman shouted out.
The teacher turned around sharply, his attention grabbed along with the rest of the students.
"What do you-?" He started to respond, but it was already too late.
The doors behind the group slammed shut and the fountain had become obscured by a mass of what looked like black fire! Through the fire, came a pale young man with almost equally pale hair. His face was obscured by a fake hand acting as a mask, which matched the rest of the hands which latched on him throughout his body over his black trench coat and grey jeans. To his right was a woman who looked like she had the quirk of a cheetah wearing a purple leotard and a leaf skirt. That was someone Diana seemed to recognize, as from Bruce's peripheral vision he could see her grimace and grab her lasso and shield.
It was the man to the hand man's left that got Batman's attention. He was somehow paler than the first man, but had bright green hair and a smile cut into his face along with makeup over it to emphasize the smile which opened as he himself grinned. He had a purple suit over a green vest and a white dress shirt, along with a green bowtie to match the vest. In his hand was a cane, which he placed against the ground as he placed his right foot against the ground. He was standing proudly as he stood next to the man in the trench coat.
Once he locked eyes with Batman, his grin widened even further, allowing his teeth all the way back to the molars to be visible.
"That's him." Batman growled, now standing beside Aizawa who was also simply watching the scene intently. "That's the Joker."
"Don't do anything stupid." Aizawa ordered to the rest of the class, taking hold of his scarf. "Stay where you all are!"
There was a standoff, where no one said anything for a moment. There was electricity in the air, and the portal behind the three of them was still not dissipated. That meant one obvious thing, and the reason why Aizawa told everyone to hold, there were more coming.
The one in the trench coat, the leader, raised his hands before he stepped forward. Joker pulled out a megaphone, placing it in the hand man's right fist. Though, Batman noted he left his pinky off the handle of the megaphone, despite how awkward that would be to hold without it.
"Today is the start of reckoning! A new era will be borne from this very room. It will begin with you, the insignificant people he cares about. You will be the reason All Might comes to this dome! You will be the reason All Might finally dies!"
Batman mentally thanked the villain for being cliché. It allowed the billionaire to assess the situation and to figure out how to engage. They were confident enough in their power that they would announce that they would be targeting All Might. That meant it was important for him to not come to Class 1-A's rescue. Regardless of if he did or not, the students would be threatened with lethal force to cripple his morale.
Before any real strategy could be formalized, however, an explosion sounded behind the Batman and the teacher! Bakugou sailed overhead the rest of the class. He was gritting his teeth and his eyes were locked on the villain with the hand-mask!
"IF YOU'RE GOING TO FIGHT THEN C'MON ALREADY!" He demanded.
"Don't run in blind you idiot!" Batman screamed as he reached for his grapnel gun!
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT-!" Before he could finish his retaliation, another spot of fire opened in front of him! There was no time to react before he was consumed by it. Once he was consumed entirely, he was simply gone. No trace.
Bruce simply stared in the spot Bakugou disappeared from. That was only for a second before he turned his attention back to the trio ahead of them. The prediction of backup was proving itself true as what looked like a small army of men began making their way out of the same now-expanding fire the first three villains made their way out of. Bruce found it hard to hold back his rage! He had to grit his teeth to keep himself from rushing forward like Bakugou did.
Clark emerged behind Bruce along with Izuku and Diana. He placed a hand on Batman's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Bakugou is still here. He's just in the Conflagration Zone. There's also a few of those fireballs emerging in the other arenas." Clark turned to the teacher now with a nod, "He's trying to divide our forces."
"We need to get word out to the Pro Heroes." Aizawa turned to Bruce, "Please tell me you disregarded the rules of leaving behind your phone or something to contact someone."
Batman raised his gauntlet, tapping the buttons on it and activating the holographic panel only he could see. He attempted to send a distress signal to Alfred but it never went through. Even most jammer quirks weren't powerful enough to block connections to the Batcomputer! Not unless something else was scrambling the radio waves in the air. Batman turned to in the distance Joker, who gestured a thumb downwards before nodding towards the gateway in a grin.
"They're blocking my signal. The one making the gateways must also scramble the typical electronic frequencies." Batman explained, turning his attention back to Aizawa.
Suddenly, multiple of those teleporting flames began emerging around the students! Batman turned back to Clark, who was evidently flustered by the situation.
"Make sure everyone has a chance to get their bearings, Clark! If anyone get's hit before they know where they are, it will get worse." Bruce ordered.
"W-wait! I don't-." Clark stammered.
Batman growled, turning to Diana, "Diana, I need you-!"
"I have my own score to settle, Batman." Diana stated flatly, resolving herself in a way she usually didn't show. "I'm sorry, but you're all on your own until I take down Minerva."
Everything was falling apart before they could even get started! This was not going to be an easy fight, not while everyone was as mentally unprepared for this. Batman thought he could confide in Clark, but now his confidence in him was waning. He turned to Izuku, who looked more terrified than Bruce had ever seen him. They weren't ready for this kind of fight.
Izuku had fought a few no-names at Ace, but against what was maybe twenty criminals in front of him and an unknown number beyond that? This wasn't the same. Nothing could have prepared them for this so early.
Batman turned to Aizawa, finally. Although he was more focused than the rest of the students, the billionaire could tell he was stressed about his students just the same. He also knew they weren't ready for this kind of fight. Aizawa was going to shoulder as much burden as he could manage. Likely more.
The teacher didn't look away from the forces below, "Batman, I need you to back me up down here so we can spread our focus on the students when they get separated!"
"I can't do that Aizawa." Batman responded sharply.
"What?!"
"Joker is planning something. I have to make sure he doesn't have something else up his sleeve." Batman answered.
"We don't have time for your vendettas, dammit!" Aizawa finally turned to Batman, who didn't return the teacher's glare. "This is a matter of life and death!"
"I know, and if he has the same chemicals that killed Snipe somewhere in this dome, he could kill everyone here!" Bruce clenched his fists, "He needs to be dealt with."
Thirteen had finally made her presence known, adding her own two cents to the conversation. "Although I agree with Aizawa here, we can't stand to argue here. We're about to be overtaken and unless we take the charge, we will be surrounded."
The flames had finally overtaken the students. Once the flames dissipated, more than half of the class had disappeared just to reappear elsewhere within the facility. The students' battlefield had been set, and now it was time to act.
Mina Ashido
This crazy situation was going on and Lane thought it was best to argue with the teacher?! Mina could hardly stand up straight without her legs shaking and he was making enemies with the one person with the most experience fighting bad guys. She had no idea what was going on as it was.
In the distance, and through her own fearful tears, two of the first three villains to emerge from the flames went in the opposite directions. The cheetah woman dashed towards the Landslide Zone and the clown guy began dancing and skipping towards the Downpour Zone! Prince picked herself up and off the ground with her flight quirk and rushed off towards the cheetah woman. Meanwhile, Batman charged to a sharp right! He seemed to be aiming right for the side of the walkway.
Iida managed to shout towards him. "You should not stray away, Lane! We've already lost our other friends amongst the other simulation zones!"
The boy in black didn't respond, but he did look back. Even through the scowl and the gritting teeth, Mina could tell he didn't want to leave like this. He wanted to stay and fight with the remainder of the class that wasn't picked up by the scary black flames.
Against her own better judgement, and about how absolutely insane the idea was, she ran after him! Batman leapt over the railing, his cape opening up and making him look much more like a bat and a little like a flying shadow. When she reached the edge, she slammed against the stone as she watched him land on the slanted wall that led to the ground. He began sliding down the improvised ramp, managing to stay on his feet as he kicked up dust behind him. The clown man had made it to the Downpour Zone by now.
The pinkette turned back to her friends, catching both Uraraka and Iida who were the only ones looking back at her. She clicked the roof of her mouth with her tongue.
"I'm going to go help him!" She shouted to the two.
"Are you crazy? I'm sure he can handle himself, Ashido." Uraraka warned against the pinkette's decision.
"I know, but…" She turned back to the railing.
She placed her rump on the railing, flipping her legs over the side and letting them dangle over the slanted wall. It now suddenly seemed a lot steeper of a slide than she originally thought! But she made her decision already. Her thinking had already been done. Now was time to move!
She let herself drop, landing on her feet and one hand to stabilize herself! She drew from her experience using her quirk to slide around on her acid, simply adjusting for the slant. Once she started gaining speed, Mina pushed herself more upright and even forward towards the ground. Once she was close to the ground, she jumped off the wall and used the momentum from the descent to add to her speed going forward! She landed with a roll, making a dash towards the Downpour Zone.
She made it inside, now finally regretting her decision for multiple reasons. For one, she didn't think about the rain and how it would render her quirk virtually worthless. Her acid would be washed away too quickly to eat away at any concrete she placed it on. For two, she would get her hair and clothes soaked with how bad the rain within the zone would be. She didn't know how her costume would react to the water and it would probably end up chafing considering how tightly it was bound on her body.
The third reason was because she and Batman were noticed going towards the zone. While Batman was quick enough to seemingly disappear from her sight as soon as she hit the slanted wall, she was not nearly that quick. So, now she was going to be chased in this replica city!
Mina made a break for the replica city! She hoped she could lose the criminals in the haze of the rain and wind at the least.
Diana Prince
Minerva was here somehow. But, it shouldn't have been possible. Even Diana's coming to the world of Man was simply an accident!
Minerva didn't make a mistake, however. She very obviously came the Man's world with intent against Diana. But to side with those who wish to harm to do that? It was traitorous to the Amazonian ways! Why would she join with the likes of evil? Why had the curse not been lifted from her?
These would be questions to be answered after the battle. For now, she had to stop the harm Minerva planned on dishing out on Diana's friends to get to her!
The Amazonian girl crashed against the dust of the landslide! She swiped with her shield from her back to fan the sand out of her way. She managed to catch sight of Todoroki and Hagakure, who were surrounded by the men Clark had mentioned emerged around the training grounds. The men, however, were distracted by Diana, which allowed for Todoroki to send his hand to the ground!
A circle of chills was created around the scarred boy! All the men around him were encased in ice, incapacitated simultaneously. He raised from the ground and took a short breath before turning to Diana with a nod. The Amazonian girl didn't respond with kind. Instead, she launched herself towards them with her shield pulled back for a strike!
The two students began stepping back, surprised by this new assault. However, their answer for why this attack was commencing was revealed behind them! Minerva had burst through a concrete building's wall!
The claws on both of her hands were pulled back and ready to slash against the boy and the girl. But Diana had already read this attack. She intercepted the cheetah woman before she was able to get her strike to connect. The shield was already in motion to slam against her face! Minerva was forced to bring her arms up in defense.
The cursed woman was thrown back and through another building! It was enough force to send her deep into the sand within the building and enough to topple the roof on top of the woman. Diana landed on the ground between the ex-Amazonian and her friends, relieved that she was able to save them. Though, a second later she had to wince. Minerva had managed to land a slash on Diana's thigh just deep enough to cause it to bleed.
Hagakure covered where her face would be with her hands, "Oh no! Are you okay, Prince?"
"I'm fine. You two need to-!"
The sound of sharp and snide laughter could be heard through the debris of the building Minerva was sent through. That was just before the rocks erupted and the cheetah woman emerged from where they were laid. She had a smaller cut than Diana's on her forehead which barely managed to send a droplet of blood off her brow.
"Is that what they've relegated to calling you, Princess? Did you attempt to reason and explain Themyscira to them?" She cackled again, bringing the claw which struck Diana up in front of her face. She eyed the blood which was stuck on the tip. "I bet they never believed your Amazonian past even once. They consider you more a freak than I!"
"It matters not if they believe me!" Diana replied, raising her shield and her right fist into the air as she got into a lower stance. "Mother told me she was going to relieve you of your curse. Why are you still afflicted, Minerva?"
"It's not Minerva, anymore." The woman flicked her tongue out of her mouth, placing her bloodied claws on it and cleaning it of said plasma. "I prefer Cheetah, now."
Clark Kent
Things weren't going well. Aizawa took the initiative to assault the villains on the ground past the stairs. He was holding his own, but he was still surrounded. It was only a matter of time before the criminals would overtake him and move on to Thirteen and the rest of the students in 1-A. So, Clark needed to act!
But, what do I do? Clark panicked, I know I need to fight these guys, but how hard do I punch them? How hard can they punch me? Can their quirks counteract my durability?
Aizawa was finally stricken against the head. It was enough force to send him towards the ground. But he still kept moving, rolling upside-down and onto his hands before leaping up into the air and kicking off a criminal that was originally behind him! He was launched towards another man who wasn't expecting to be stricken from above. Another enemy moved from farther away, motioning his hand up to shoot a projectile which didn't come because Aizawa had identified and erased his quirk just before he was able to even kick it off!
But his erasing of that man's quirk was enough of a distraction for someone else to strike him with a spartan kick!
While this scuffle was taking place, Thirteen was busy fending off against the dark gateway's clutches! She was able to keep it at bay, but some of the criminals were ignoring Aizawa and trying to get up the steps to stop her.
Clark had to slow down the men, at least!
He launched himself into the air, yelling as he reached the peak of his jump which was extended due to his flight. He flew down in an instant! He slammed both of his fists into the staircase hard enough to send a small shockwave through the stone! The stairs below him burst forward and sent the criminals flying back down the steps. Some were sent down the slanted wall and others simple crashed against the stairs themselves.
Clark turned back to the others, "Everyone, you need to make sure Thirteen is able to focus her attention on this gateway! So, if any bad guys get close, you should do whatever we can to keep them off her."
Sero stepped forward with a nod, "Sure, but it sounds like you have other plans."
"I still don't feel comfortable hitting anyone. I mean, you saw what I just did! If I hit anyone with that there'd be no chance they'd survive." Clark tried to defend.
"Listen, Clark! We're in a serious situation right now. You need to get yourself together before someone else pays the price because you didn't act." Sero reprimanded, placing a hand on Clark's shoulder, "Just like you did with Plastique at Ace, right now you need to fight to protect some of the people here who aren't prepared for this kind of fight!"
Sero was right. Clark couldn't get stuck on the who's and why's! These people, these criminals, they were trying to kill children. It was low, about as low as a criminal can get. Clark had to compromise.
His ethics would need some introspection later.
"I might break their bones if I hit them." He turned to Sero, "But that's better than the alternative, right?"
"I can't tell you how to be a hero," Sero replied, turning around as a few criminals began dropping onto the walkway through the dark gateways. "But even All Might punches criminals!"
Clark turned around towards Aizawa, who was now bruising and bleeding in multiple places. He needed help, and Clark was the one person who could help him right now!
Clark rose from the ground, rising slowly until he was dozens of feet in the air. He took a deep breath, clenching his fists until his knuckles were white. It was time to fight.
The Kryptonian pushed himself downwards, travelling the great distance between him and his teacher within the span of three seconds, right into a group of four criminals! He landed on one that was standing in the center of the four, pushing him down by the chest so he was crashed into the ground hard enough to crater! He rose up with the man still in hand, turning to the two that were in front and was previously advancing on Aizawa. He glared them down, watching as they scrambled to their feet and exchanged glances.
"Play time is over." Clark relayed to the criminals all around him, who were now focusing their attention on their new, floating opponent. "Who's first?"
Mina Ashido
Mina couldn't shake off the approaching bad guys! They were able to keep up with her and were now gaining on her! She thought she would be able to escape them with both the slipperiness of the rain and the haze of water thrashing through the air. The only reason it wasn't much of an issue for her was because she was used to her own quirk's slippery nature. She was used to using hydroplaning as a means of travel.
But apparently it still wasn't enough to keep the men behind her at bay. It was only when she heard her name come from above that she dared to stop and turn around.
Shoji leapt into two of the men, grabbing both and throwing them towards the other three that were behind them. One of the men leapt above the two makeshift projectiles and rushed the large student. The other four weren't too far behind.
Between Mina and Shoji, Tokoyami flew down from the rooftops himself, his lightless companion cushioning his fall and making it look like a shadow gently placed him on the ground. He turned towards Mina, giving her a nod.
The pinkette finally got her chance to catch her breath. She also got a chance to look around her.
The rain made it difficult to see around the city but even Mina knew that by now she was deep into the Downpour Zone. Although, not near the center considering she was desperately turning corners trying to evade the men. Her own problems took her away from her original goal. She lost Batman during the panic and now had no way of knowing where he was.
She turned to Tokoyami in one final effort. "Did either of you two spot Lane after you were teleported here? I was coming after him."
"I haven't. I don't think Shoji had either." Tokoyami stated before returning his attention to the girl, "Why were you going after him? Whatever reason he may have of straying here on his own must be serious." Tokoyami reasoned, turning to Shoji who was only just finishing off the last two guys with a fist hitting each of the three bad guy, thanks to his quirk which gave him multiple extra appendages.
Mine shook her head, "He was distraught, and at least everyone else had someone else to rely on when they got teleported. But he didn't. I couldn't leave a friend to deal with something on their own."
By then Shoji had made his way over to the other two students. He added his own question into the conversation, "Did anyone else come with you?"
"No, I don't believe anyone did at least." Mina answered, finally standing upright and wiping the rain off her face. Even if it was redundant.
Tokoyami turned around, leaning his head forward. "Within the darkness, you decided to face this fate head on and with tenacity!"
Shoji nodded towards Mina before crossing his arms, "We'll help you find him and make sure everything is okay on his end. If something more sinister is going on he's sure to be on top of it."
"Yeah, but how are we going to find him?"
Tokoyami turned back to the group, "Shoji's quirk allows him to enhance his senses. If Batman is in a fight, Shoji will hear it if we're close enough."
Mina nodded, turning back to the city with a triumphant smile on her face. She would be able to keep to her promise to herself to help her friend in need! The three of them would just need to find him.
Tomura Shigaraki
The American boy was ripping through the men on the ground! He shoved the men hard enough to send them flying away, winding some and making others simply tumble away. The only time any of the men got close to the boy was when one managed to get behind him with a machete. He swung the blade, and when it connected, the pale-skinned villain was filled with bliss!
This bliss turned into disappointment when the blade shattered against the back of his neck!
Not even a scratch.
But this was simply against the mobs, the weaklings of the group. The way he was able to dispatch them was certainly not enlightening to the young criminal, even mobs needed to be dispatched at a controlled rate, lest the boss of the level soft lock and never appear! He turned to the man controlling the warp gates. Kurogiri was busy overlooking the other areas of the training grounds. However, at any moment's notice, he could be called on to unleash their own boss.
As he was watching every scene go on from the background, he didn't even realize he had begun to scratch his neck. But he knew the reason.
It wasn't just because of the teacher and the flying student; it was because of everything else as well. Cheetah decided that she would abandon her leader despite being told to defend! Joker also ran away, but this was preferable for Shigaraki. He wanted nothing to do with the clown. His glee in doing so was simply somewhat odd, even for the clown.
On top of that, the fodder they assembled were being dealt with swiftly on many fronts! The Flood Zone was still up but even from where Shigaraki stood, he saw that the nameless goons weren't getting far. Some areas like the Downpour arena were blocked off by domes which kept everything within hidden from his sight. Where he could see, the cannon fodder were being dealt with swiftly. The only area that his henchmen weren't present at anymore was the Landslide Zone where Cheetah was fighting the girl with the rope and tiara. But in the place of fodder was reverberations of explosions of which the villain had no clue how they were being created due to the dust blocking his view!
The whole situation was going to hell and All Might wasn't even here to be beaten by their secret weapon! Something needed to be done to draw him out.
Shigaraki looked up past the shattered stairs to the entrance of the U.S.J.. The students were up there dealing with the numerous criminals being spawned into the arena. They were successfully defending from the attacks, none budging to move away from the entrance…
Shigaraki turned back to Kurogiri, lowering his gaze, "Send the fodder to the other training grounds, not the entrance!"
"Shigaraki?"
"If they're too concerned with fighting on their own, they'll never think to call for their damn reinforcements. All Might needs to get here, and they need incentive to get help." Shigaraki's neck was now becoming raw from his scratching, "Send them everywhere except the Downpour!"
"Trying to get rid of Joker, are you?"
"Of course! He's proven himself fucking useless by leaving me here undefended." Shigaraki growled, his adrenaline reaching a peak, "Do as I command!"
"Of course."
Shigaraki turned back to the entrance, watching the gates dissipate and new clouds of the same black, fire-like gates. They motioned towards the other training arenas, ready to drop their own reinforcements into the U.S.J.! Specifically, the area in front of Shigaraki where the flying boy and the teacher were fighting had three warp gates placed. Soon, the numbers alone would defeat the two nuisances! The plan would come to fruition.
All the two villains would have to do is wait for the children to die at the hands of the pawns!
That's the end of that chapter! I know that the last event was broken into multiple parts too, but I felt like this was plenty long enough and I waited way too long to get on this chapter running so I decided to break it up again. But I am eager to really start getting into the meat of this story, too, because I have what I think is a really neat vision of this story and although it is pretty long already, I just hope that what's within is engaging enough to make that enjoyable rather than a chore. So long as I continue to write it and if I even end up finishing it.
As always, let me know what you think about this chapter or the story in a review!
Review Responses:
PasiveNox: That was one thing I wish the original manga/anime would have stuck with, making Izuku work without his quirk since near the beginning it seemed he simply didn't have control over his abilities and needed to develop himself further without it. I think this creates an interesting dynamic between all the mainline characters though.
Yamajiji: What's a superhero story without bad guys to fight, right?
Cyber-RK18: Looks like you don't have to wait any more.
AkalaimEdx: I was actually disappointed with the lack of crossovers which integrated one world with the other myself, it was the reason why I wanted to make this story because given the right opportunity, it could breed such interesting stories which could take any number of directions.
Looks like that's it for this! For anyone waiting for 'A New Day, a Fresh Start' that will be updated shortly as well. So stay tuned!