"...is a total slaughter out here! From just the few minutes we've been out here villains have appeared in every direction! Heroes have managed to hold the line, but everyone in the area has been ordered to evacuate!" a female reporter exclaimed into the microphone. Behind her hundreds of people ran screaming, while gunfire echoed through the camera's microphone. At the same time, an explosion went off nearby, forcing the reporter to flinch slightly while looking around afraid.
"Kimura, can you tell us how many villains there are?" the news anchor worriedly asked, watching as more people fled behind her.
"It's unclear, dozens, possibly hundreds of them are all filing into the street! All that's known is-" Kimura told him, only for a bullet to fly through the reporter's head. It covered the camera's lens in small bits of blood before the news anchor yelled out shocked. At the same time the reporter was shot, the cameraman seemed to drop the camera and begin running off. Only for the gunfire to continue, and men with masks walking into the broken camera's view.
From there, Madam President changed the channel, watching a different news station reporting on the same events, only in a different area of Musutafu. She switched to a third channel, finding this one had a reporter in a news helicopter. The aircraft hovered over the city, recording the large plumes of smoke drifting into the air. Looking closely, Madam President could even spot the flashing lights of police, firefighting, and paramedic vehicles.
"Just looking below us you can see swarms of these villains charging out everywhere! And look, the main street has been engulfed in flames! It appears that nearby heroes are trying to mount a defense but… what's that?" the male reporter said, before spotting something on the ground. The camera moved over to show what the reporter saw and landed on an apartment building with an AA gun situated on top.
The gun quickly angled itself upward as the villains operating it moved quickly.
"Get us out of here!" the reporter shouted, realizing what he was seeing. It was far too late though, as 30mm rounds started tearing apart the unarmored helicopter. The last thing the camera showed was the aircraft plummeting toward the ground. Angry, Madam President changed the channel a fourth time. This time things seemed calmer, as another female reporter stood outside what seemed to be a hospital. But calmer did not mean better. Ambulances kept coming and going as paramedics led dozens of people into the building.
All were injured in some form or fashion, and a worryingly large number of them were emergency personnel. Firefighters had bullet wounds, cops were missing limbs, and paramedics bled out on stretchers. The camera even caught the numerous civilians walking by, as one six-year-old boy was carried away, missing his left eye.
"We're standing live outside the Musutafu Pediatric Hospital, where local heroes are currently locked in a fight with over a hundred unknown villains. We don't know exactly what is happening, but the entire area is complete pandemonium! Not even an hour after the attack started, and the area has been filled with injured people. To the point hospital staff are now worried about overcrowding. It's a truly horrifying sight out here Kuze," the reporter calmly began, though every word she spoke had an anxious air behind it.
"My word. Is it even safe for you to be there Suzuki?" the news anchor Kuze asked worriedly, with the now-named reporter waiting a second as his question came through.
"I don't think it's safe anywhere. Just a few minutes before we got the cameras rolling, an explosive detonated near our news van. I'm sure that… yep, it's right over there now," Suzuki replied, while the cameramen positioned their equipment to face their vehicle. The entire van was peppered with holes, with a few being the size of a human head.
"Even now we can still hear gunfire coming from all across the city, and I can see what appears to be anti-aircraft fire coming from both UA and other parts of Musutafu-"
"Look! It's Bulwark!" a civilian suddenly called out, the cameraman shifting to record a small group of heroes running over, with civilians running in front of them. There were five heroes in total with Bulwark being the most notable of them. He was a rather large man, who carried a ballistic shield with him everywhere he went. Treated it both as a recognizable brand symbol and a genuine support item. For the rest of his costume, he just resembled an overly large riot cop with a dark blue cape. A rather boring costume all things considered, but it worked.
There was, however, one glaring problem. Bulwark and the heroes behind him were very clearly out of breath and were all running at a breakneck pace toward them.
"Everyone get inside, now!" the hero yelled just as villains began to swarm in behind them. It brought on a terrified scream from dozens of people, as Bulwark came to a quick stop and turned around. There were just so many villains, all of varying dangers and powers. As if that wasn't bad enough a civilian helicopter began to fly in close, firing an automatic grenade launcher down into the street.
Bulwark, now trying to hold his ground, held up his shield to protect himself. It dealt with the grenades effortlessly, the thick slab of metal barely being scratched by the 40mm explosives. But the helicopter wasn't the only thing there, as the swarm of villains began to fire at Bulwark as well. His armor provided some protection, holding up against the majority of bullets. But then a rather large villain with a handheld DHsK joined his comrades.
Quickly Bulwark jumped back, moving his shield to cover his body. It did so narrowly, stopping the high-caliber rounds in the nick of time. At the same time, a few of the heroes tried to start forcing the civilians inside the hospital. But few seemed to heed the warning, instead stopping to record the fight with their phones.
"Come on Bulwark! Show them who's boss!" one civilian exclaimed, a wide excited smile on their face.
"You villains are screwed now!" another added laughing somewhat, while pumping his fist in the air.
"Hit 'em with a Fortitude Slam!" a child yelled this time, happily jumping up and down as he watched the battle take place. Madam President could only groan the more she watched, angrily tapping on her desk. Bulwark for his part continued to try and fight off the villains, but he had no ranged option to defend himself. The best he had was picking up bits of rubble and throwing it at the nearest villain.
"D-damn it! Get out of here! Run!" Bulwark again yelled; desperation clear in his tone. Though only the camera managed to pick it up. None of the civilians heeded his words. The other heroes essentially gave up trying to coral them inside, and just ran to join Bulwark in holding the line. Some had ranged abilities, as one hero created odd purple orbs that exploded in a color of light when thrown. Another threw what looked to be coins that zipped around at breakneck speeds knocking out villains.
Those that lacked ranged abilities tried to use their other skills or tried to dodge the enemy's attack. One could fly around easily and darted from villain to villain narrowly avoiding gunfire. But there were just so many villains. In seconds shrieks were heard behind everyone as the cameraman turned to record. The enemy helicopter had gotten bored of attacking the heroes and switched up its target to the crowd of civilians standing by the hospital entrance.
They were blown apart in mere moments. Left as a red stain against the wall before Bulwark could react in time. The hero ran over to block the next flurry of explosives, only for a grenade to blow his arm off. Even with it gone he held up his shield defiantly, while the heroes with him were whittled down one by one.
"Run! All of you run!" Bulwark yelled, only now did the civilians obey. The news crew began to do the same, sprinting over to the hospital's entrance. At this point though Madam President angrily sighed, before turning off the TV. This wasn't supposed to happen. Why was this even happening!? Everything was supposed to go according to plan, and for a moment everything was. But then the Ninth Circle seemingly materialized out of nowhere and had all of Musutafu under siege!
It was utterly impossible to think about for Madam President. It didn't even make logical sense; how did the Ninth Circle get so many members? The last report she read said they had fifteen at max. Even then, where did they get all this equipment? They had helicopters, anti-aircraft guns, and MANPADS locking down the skies. Trucks with jerry-rigged heavy machine guns, autocannons, or automatic grenade launchers covered the streets.
And on top of all that, they had swarms of criminals going door to door killing people in their homes. All with body armor, assault rifles, and grenades. Angrily Madam President grabbed her phone and dialed up one of her aides. Somehow, she felt as if there weren't enough heroes in the city.
Midoriya ran as quickly as he could, trying to keep pace with Miller. Next to him ran Melissa as well, with a small squad of soldiers accompanying them for added protection. A few minutes after the attack started, Miller had dragged Midoriya out of the VIP lounge. It was perfectly timed too, as one helicopter with rocket pods strapped on had destroyed what remained of the area after they left.
A few minutes later they ran into a squad of soldiers that Miller commanded to follow them. At the moment, their main goal was getting to the MSF's command center to try and mobilize a proper defense. It was also to evacuate Midoriya, which the teen quietly hated. Everyone else was here putting their lives on the line, and Miller whisked him away somewhere safe. It didn't seem right to him.
But he couldn't argue against his uncle, as the group moved forward quietly.
"Kangaroo, how are we doing?" one of the soldiers asked, most likely the squad leader.
"Nothing on soliton yet," the soldier in front replied, checking his IVAS's soliton radar. Carefully the squad moved down the hall, constantly checking around corners. Civilians continued to run around them, trying to escape while they could. It only reinforced Midoriya's thoughts, especially as Koala slowly peeked around a corner. He stopped abruptly though, right as bullets streamed by and hit the adjacent wall.
"Shit, back, back!" Koala exclaimed, before briefly returning fire. Quickly the squad began backing up, as more gunfire erupted from the hallway. Eventually, Koala had given up returning fire and simply ran back over to the group. Civilians, immediately hearing the commotion somehow got into more of a panic. Hundreds of people began running away, or at least trying to. At one point Midoriya had to grab Melissa's arm, just to keep her from tripping.
It seemed like it would have been nothing, but a similar fate fell upon a dozen other civilians. All of them now lay on the floor dead, having been trampled to death by the other fleeing civilians.
"Think we can reach the exit on the third floor!" Koala asked while continuing to move backward. At the same time, the enemy had rounded the corner and quickly began to move in. The squad responded by opening fire, with Melissa covering her ears the second it happened.
"It'd be too risky! Bastards are swarming the floor!" a different soldier countered, an odd shimmering light-blue barrier forming in front of the group. It deflected every incoming round flawlessly and provided a decent amount of cover.
"Where the hell are we supposed to go then!? It's either the third floor's fire escape or forcing our way past these guys!" Koala exclaimed, before ducking back behind the light barrier, which Midoriya assumed was one of the soldier's quirks. The soldier in charge stopped to think over Koala's words for a second, before turning to face Miller.
"What are you thinking sir?" the soldier asked, with Miller looking back at him.
"My main priority is getting them out of here! Forcing our way forward is too risky, but so is going to the fire escape!" Miller replied, "What we need is a defensible position!"
"Infirmary's not too far from here! It's only got one entrance, though the hall goes two ways!" a different soldier piped up, before firing at the enemy again.
"It'll have to do!" Miller replied, with the soldier in charge now leading his men in the direction of the infirmary. Moving quickly Midoriya had to constantly duck back behind cover as more thugs arrived, seemingly from every corner. There was just no end to them, they popped out of every doorway. This was true combat, he realized. Training was never like this. It never held so much fear, so much panic. He normally had a goal, an idea, some kind of plan to fall back on.
But here all he could do was run, with the enemy seeming to always be right behind him. It was nerve-wracking, constantly hiding behind walls as bullets flew by. If that wasn't bad enough, everywhere Midoriya looked he could see bodies. Men, women, and children, all bleeding out on the ground. Some were dead, others weren't. Those still alive tried to desperately crawl away, to cling on to what little life they had.
Only for a bullet to zip through their head. All Midoriya could see was blood-stained walls. All Midoriya could do was run, with the enemy seeming to always be right behind him. Eventually, the group came to a stop outside a crowded hallway. It was filled to the brim with people. Civilians cowered behind several walls, hiding in small nearby rooms. Soldiers and surviving heroes meanwhile guarded the only entrances into the halls.
A few began setting up machine gun positions behind whatever cover they could get. Turned over vending machines or fallen bits of rubble.
"Mikumo, this way," Miller suddenly told him, leading Midoriya further down the hallway. They came to a stop outside the infirmary, which had its door cracked wide open. Looking in, Midoriya couldn't help but feel green. Dozens of people covered stretchers all along the room, groaning in pain as doctors tried to help them. The entire room smelled of nothing but antiseptics and the metallic scent of blood. And the entire time Midoriya could hear the pandemonium.
"Damn it, stay with me!" one medic cried in the corner, desperately performing chest compressions on a small child.
"Just focus on breathing ok? In and out," another medic said, tending to a woman while trying to remove bits of shrapnel lodged in her chest.
"Please, someone, help him!" a mother desperately begged, holding up her bloody and unmoving son. A doctor looked at her with pity, while slowly walking away. The child was already dead.
"Ma'am there's nothing we can do," the doctor told her, moving toward a different patient. At the same time, someone shoved past Midoriya, pushing him aside. Midoriya would have been angry, were it not for what he saw next. The guy who pushed him was a soldier, carrying a wounded hero over his shoulder.
"We've got another one! Bullet wound to the chest!" the soldier called out, turning to try and find a doctor. Instead, he was waved off, as everyone had their hands full.
"Set him aside with the others!" someone yelled, the soldier grimacing before stepping to the side. There he set the hero down, right next to a slew of others all in similar situations.
"Gorilla, we're out of bandages!" a doctor suddenly called out, earning an annoyed groan from someone else.
"Fuck… use the victims' clothes then!" someone replied, before doing just that. Tearing off part of a victim's pant leg before wrapping it around an open wound, still gushing blood.
"She's not breathing, and… there's no pulse!" a different doctor yelled, desperately moving to get the crash cart. Only for another doctor to stop him.
"Leave her, she's a lost cause and we've got a hundred other patients here!" the doctor told him, pushing him away to tend to someone else. It was horrifying to watch, yet Midoriya couldn't look away.
"There's… there's so many people," Melissa said, horror clear in her tone. Her hand covered her mouth in shock, while Midoriya quietly agreed. All this death and Miller had him hiding away. The commander for his part had pulled out his Idroid, before spotting Recovery Girl.
"[Things look bad,]" Miller commented, watching as Recovery Girl tried to stitch up a wounded soldier. He flinched lightly as the needle passed through.
"[Bad doesn't begin to describe this,]" Recovery Girl replied, "[They're aren't enough doctors in the stadium. All the ones you assigned to the stadium have their hands full, but more injured people keep flooding in.]"
"[We've got more personnel down at the barracks. With the alarms raised everyone there should be mobilizing,]" Miller told her, though Recovery Girl just sighed. Finishing up the soldier's stitches, she stepped to the side. The man she'd been tending to stood up, moving his arm lightly before grabbing a rifle he set down nearby. Normally he would have been ordered to rest, but they needed any capable hands in the field.
"[I don't think it'll be enough,]" Recovery Girl muttered, grabbing her cane to stabilize herself, "[I've been hearing some soldiers talk about the city being under attack as well. Is that true?]"
"[Seems like it. Saw plumes of smoke rising from Musutafu,]" Miller confirmed, with Recovery Girl looking at the floor downtrodden.
"[Then this is a larger attack than we think. The hospitals are going to be flooded with more people, and I doubt that even with the MSF, we'll have enough doctors,]" she told him, slowly walking away to tend to her next patient.
"[If it comes down to it, I'll call down reinforcements from out of the country,]" Miller countered, with Recovery Girl looking back at him with a slightly surprised look.
"[I'm surprised there's more of you than what's on campus,]" she replied, before continuing forward, "[I'd call that fortunate in this case.]"
Miller just left it at that from what Midoriya could see. With nothing else to say, the commander moved over to a secluded corner of the room and pulled out his Idroid. It took little time for Midoriya to guess what he was doing, as a holographic map lit up. From here Midoriya could see it displaying the battle lines of the conflict raging outside. It angered him the more he looked.
This was what he spent years training for, and instead, he was hiding while his friends got blown apart. He would not have it. But Midoriya also knew Miller wouldn't allow him to leave. So reluctantly he began walking around the infirmary and spotted Recovery Girl tending to a wounded.
"Hey, what can I do to help?" he asked, with Recovery Girl not looking away from her task. She knew his question was directed toward her though, and seemed to think over it for a second.
"Come here," Recovery Girl motioned, with Midoriya doing so quickly, "You know how to bandage a bullet wound?"
"Yeah," Midoriya replied. With the answer, Recovery Girl handed him a roll of bandages. Well, it was more an assortment of torn cloth, but you make do with what you can.
"Good, you bandage up what you can, while I remove the bullets still in him. And be quick sonny, he's lost too much blood already," Recovery Girl told him, with Midoriya nodding in response. Quietly he got to work, wrapping the cloth around the first of many open wounds.
"We need backup on Nakamichi Street!" one officer yelled into his radio, the sound of gunfire echoing in from the background. The message was quickly replaced by a different one in mere seconds.
"More villains spotted downtown at Tenkaichi Street! Send backup!" a different officer exclaimed, with glass being shattered, which Tsukauchi rationalized as most likely being someone shooting the windshield of a squad car.
"We're being overwhelmed, where's our backup!?" a third panicked officer asked, the cry echoing throughout the station.
"Park Boulevard is in flames, where the hell's the fire department!?" a fourth officer asked in fear, the sound of flames crackling and burning coming clearly.
"This is Officer Daigo, I need paramedics at the Champion District!" a fifth officer relayed, the sounds of crying following it as well.
"Villains on Pink Street-augh!" a sixth officer tried to say, only to be cut off and killed in seconds. On and on the calls went, getting ever more desperate as time went on.
"Unit Seven two is dead! Repeat Seven two is dead!"
"Damn it, where's our backup!? You said they'd be here half an hour ago!"
"Come on, we've got villains trailing us! We need help!"
"Someone, please! Send backup!"
"I've got women and children with me! Someone send help now!"
"Help us, please! Anyone!"
Tsukauchi could only grimace as more calls came in. The entire police precinct was swamped in them, as different dispatchers tried to keep everything organized. Every few seconds another call would come in, just as desperate as the last one, and nothing could be done. The police had already sent out almost every officer and SAT squad they had, just to try and hold the line. And that was barely anything to begin with. It got to the point that even the heroes were being overwhelmed.
News footage of villains executing captured heroes circulated every TV in the station. They were now having to call in cops and heroes from all across the prefecture. But they would arrive in another hour or so. By that time who knows how many people could have died.
"Detective, you ready?" Sansa asked, the cat-headed officer approaching Tsukauchi quickly. With a deep breath to calm his nerves, Tsukauchi nodded, turning to face the officer.
"Almost. Does the chief have everyone assembled?" Tsukauchi asked in turn, noticing the hidden anxiousness Sansa seemed to have. Currently, the officer has the last of the station's ballistic vests. In his hands were also two MP5s, one of which Tsukauchi suspected was his. It was all that was left of the Police's arsenal. All the other weapons had already been sent out with the SAT and Anti-Firearm squads.
What extra remained was issued out to different police officers, but they were the lucky few. Most cops only had their service revolvers with them, and barely any of them had it on hand once the attack started.
"Just whoever's left," Sansa replied, holding out the MP5 for Tsukauchi.
"It's good enough," he replied reluctantly, accepting the weapon carefully. All that was left at the station was a bunch of desk jockeys or old cops. Quickly both men began heading toward a nearby conference. That was until the building started to shake. Bits of dust fell from the rafters before everything seemed to calm down. It stayed like that for a few seconds, yet Tsukauchi knew something was wrong.
He was proven right as the building shook again, and this time a nearby wall collapsed. Tsukauchi turned to see what the cause was, only for Sansa to pull him away. It was in the nick of time, as the villains outside the wall began firing into the room. With little time Tsukauchi ducked behind a nearby desk, before peeking out to return fire. Other police officers did the same but that seemed to matter little.
Slowly more villains began to appear, swarming into the police station like an unstoppable horde. Tsukauchi could only watch as one villain blew open an officer's chest with a shotgun. Angrily Tsukauchi shot at the villain but was forced to hide behind cover mere moments later. A different villain now fired at him, chipping away at the desk he hid behind.
Quietly Tsukauchi could only wonder how this was even happening. He could recognize the color scheme the villains had, it being of the Skull and Bone Bandits. It was hard not to recognize it, their group had broken into the police station… wait Tsukauchi thought. They had broken into the police station before. Not just that, they had broken into other apartments all over the city.
Apartments that Tsukauchi now realized were being used as mortar emplacements. His eyes widened as Tsukauchi paled. The Musutafu Pediatric Hospital was currently under siege, and these villains had broken into it as well. These weren't break-ins he realized; they were scouting missions! This had been planned for weeks, how had no one in the department realized it!? He was a damn fool, Tsukauchi mentally lambasted, until a new realization struck him.
They broke into Musutafu's New Star Energy Station; it was one of their targets! He needed to tell someone, but all he could do was duck behind cover, before returning fire.
Part of Shigaraki was enjoying this, and why wouldn't he be? The school he broke into not all that long ago was now under attack again. Only this time, hundreds of NPCs were slaughtered on live television with All Might unable to save them. And it got so much better, once news crews all over the city started displaying the sheer scale of the attack. Hundreds of villains swarmed the streets doing whatever they pleased.
Families, heroes, paramedics, cops, and whoever they found were dragged out onto the street and executed live. To see all those heroes helplessly killed off like cattle, elicited a small laugh from Shigaraki. This was it, the lie that heroes would always save everyone. And here broadcasted around the world, was the heroes failing. Remember though, only part of Shigaraki was enjoying this.
Because every so often the news would cut away from the slaughter and bring on some unimportant news anchor. And every time, the news anchor would say the exact same thing.
"What is looking to be the deadliest villain attack in years," every news anchor would say. Shigaraki hated it, especially when they would cut over to show footage of UA smoking from artillery fire.
"Who do these guys think they are," Shigaraki angrily muttered, as he glared at the TV. He'd been the one to attack UA. It was the LOV that brought the school down a peg. It was he who killed a student and had All Might on the backfoot with Nomu. These skull-covered hacks were nothing more than mere copycats! The only thing original about this attack was that they'd brought guns!
They were doing nothing more than copying him!
"Seems I'll need to buy another TV remote," Kurogiri coldly said, watching as Shigaraki disintegrated the small device angrily. It was an entirely subconscious action, one that Shigaraki was only now realizing. He simply grumbled, before slouching back against the booth he sat in.
"Nothing but a bunch of hacks," Shigaraki again muttered, "A cheap remake of a perfect game. And the media is eating it up."
Give the League the same resources these Skull guys had, and Shigaraki was sure they'd do ten times more damage. But of course, they didn't have those same resources. If they did, they wouldn't be hiding away in this bar.
"People of the world, be not afraid. This is not the time for fear or doubt. This is the time for celebration! For joy!" one of the skull villains proclaimed, standing next to a group of rounded-up people. Some were normal civilians, but a few were also heroes. Actually, Shigaraki was sure he could even recognize a few low-level villains in the group.
"Kurogiri, that list of villains Giran gave me?" Shigaraki asked, before noticing a portal form next to him. The papers fell out of it quietly, shuffling a bit but managing to land as a small pile.
"Considering new applicants?" Kurogiri inquired, as Shigaraki grabbed a few documents carefully. Looking them over he compared the first few villains to the ones on the screen. It took a minute, and by the time Shigaraki found the right document a few of the villains had been killed. But it didn't entirely matter to him.
"Something like that," Shigaraki replied, looking back at the TV again, a realization now slowly beginning to form.
"For today, we bring an end to your suffering! We bring you freedom! We bring you peace! For that is Reaper's Will!" the skull villain loudly yelled, just as his buddies moved to shoot the last few people lined up. They begged and pleaded for mercy, but Shigaraki knew their fate was sealed. In these skull villains' eyes, death was mercy. But it also brought about another realization.
They were killing everyone. Be they heroes or villains, they would all die. This wasn't a grand event all villains could celebrate, because villains were those being slaughtered as well. Seems things wouldn't be all that bad for the LOV now, Shigaraki mentally remarked. If the League's reputation was in the gutter, then the Skull Guys' rep was six feet under.
Shigaraki lingered on that thought for a moment, an idea slowly beginning to form. These skull villains were killing off whoever they could find, so what if the LOV were to step in? Not for the heroes obviously, Shigaraki didn't care how many of them died. But step in for the villains? Save a few of them? Drag them out of Musutafu intact? Well, now they're in your debt. A smile slowly formed on Shigaraki's face.
"Kurogiri, open up a portal to Musutafu," Shigaraki calmly ordered, while slowly standing up from his seat. He stretched a little as the rest of his plan began to form. If he wanted to do this right, he needed more hands. Might be wise to ask Sensei about the Doctor's other Nomus, Shigaraki reasoned.
"Are you sure that's wise Tomura?" Kurogiri asked, but complying, nonetheless.
"I'm sure," Shigaraki replied, putting on his large assortment of hands and staring into the portal's abyss. Once they were all ready, Shigaraki took a deep breath and took his first step forward.
All for One was very pissed off. It was bad enough with the Tyrant all those years ago, but he at least had the brains to keep it in the Third World! So, who the fuck were these no named Skull villains to create the battle of the century!? To think the media was calling this the biggest villain attack in years, as if! All for One had done far grander operations than this! And with far more polish and flair!
Oh, he needed everything to go smoothly these next few months, because he was not about to let this new breed of upstarts steal his damn show! He was the Demon lord, the greatest villain the world had ever seen! And these misbegotten upstarts will learn that soon! This was his country to terrorize, to rule, to control!
"Are you sure-" Garaki attempted to ask, forcing All for One out of his mental tangent. This proved to be a mistake immediately, as all the fury the villain had was now directed toward the doctor.
" What!? " All for One demanded, having to hold back the litany of quirks he almost brought up. One wrong move and he would have killed his greatest asset.
"W-well my l-lord… I was asking if you were sure about this?" Garaki nervously asked, while All for One slowly recovered his composure.
"Why? Having doubts about your abilities doctor?" All for One inquired, his tone now calm once more. He could already tell what the doctor was implying, as he sensed the man working in the background.
"Y-yes," Garaki replied, earning the quiet "gaze" of All for One. The villain clasped his hands together and simply frowned.
"Have you not done this a thousand times before?" All for One inquired, Garaki seeming to stay a slight step back, bumping into his workstation.
"Yes, but that was with… well my specimens are not normally dead this long. There may be complications with how the result turns out," Garaki reasoned.
"Complications are acceptable. All I need are results," All for One told him calmly. Besides, he didn't need something on the level of their old "All Might Killer". So long as it could walk and follow basic commands it would be fine. Because if this was successful, then it would tear All Might apart.
Mt Lady could barely tell what was even going on. Explosions echoed around her, as missiles seemed to crash onto the obstacle course. Next thing she knew, she was ducking behind a picnic table for cover as villains appeared out of nowhere, and her compatriots seemed to disappear. Dozens of trucks rolled up from the southern gate, bringing in dozens of men. At the same time, the MSF began arriving in droves, with armored vehicles rolling up.
Quickly they formed a defensive line in front of the stadium's entrance, with soldiers filing out of transports. The two groups then fired at each other nonstop. Tanks blew up lightly armored trucks, large villains wielding massive rotary cannons gunned down soldiers caught in the open, and helicopters of differing types flew about providing air support. All while innocent people screamed around her.
Knowing this fight was going to get civilians killed, Mt Lady slowly peeked out of cover. Seeing she was somewhat clear; Mt Lady began to run out. Using her quirk, she quickly found herself towering over everyone before her. The moment she did, everyone seemed to focus on her. Not just the villains, but the MSF included. Which was odd, because now both sides were running away.
Why it was happening, didn't exactly matter to Mt Lady, as it meant the villains were already fleeing.
"Aw, afraid I'll step on you?" she taunted, before essentially sweeping the ground to the right with her hand. The motion knocked a lot of the villains back, from both the wind and the physical force. She did it again, this time to the left. Again, she knocked out a lot of villains and even flipped over a few of their vehicles. At that point, a few of the villains stopped running and instead started to try and shoot her.
Almost instantly Mt Lady moved to guard her face as the bullets hit her skin.
"Ow!" she cried out instinctively, before swapping away another batch of thugs. None of the rounds hurt her, but it was comparable to that of a hundred never-ending bee stings. Which got annoying incredibly fast, as Mt Lady again swept away a bunch of villains.
Just how many of them were there, Mt Lady mentally questioned. The moment she had that thought though, an explosion went off in her face. She cried out in pain as the flames sang her face, and very suddenly she felt something pressing into her face. Unknowingly the explosion had knocked her off her feet. If that wasn't bad enough, two more explosions went off near her stomach and left leg.
Mt Lady fell back quickly, as her nose practically screamed in pain. Looking down at herself, Mt Lady could see her leg was mangled and bending the wrong way. The explosion next to her stomach had effectively knocked the wind out of her. Seconds later it happened again, another set of explosions going off around her. They hit her chest, her legs, her arms, her face, and her stomach.
They hurt like hell, but the shrapnel never penetrated her skin. Didn't stop it from cracking bones though. If the villain's bullets were like a thousand never-ending bee stings, then this was getting punched in the jaw, Mt Lady decided. It then happened a third time, another set of explosions, all slamming into her and breaking something. At this point standing had become impossible, as every time Mt Lady seemed ready to get back up, the next volley of explosions would arrive.
So, Mt Lady began to shrink, realizing that remaining the same size would make her nothing more than a target. Reaching her normal size, Mt Lady began to limp over to the same picnic table she hid behind before. Narrowly she avoided a stream of bullets flying toward her, as the villains came swarming back. So did the MSF, running in to reseal the gap that had formed in their line.
Soon though, Mt Lady felt something try and grab her uninjured leg. She was about to struggle against it, before looking down and realizing it was a tree branch. There was only one person it could have belonged to, and Mt Lady was proven correct as the tree branch began dragging her away. It pulled her up to the stadium, where Kamui Woods stood by the open door, with Death Arms next to him evacuating civilians.
"Where were you guys?" she wearily asked, realizing it was becoming somewhat more difficult to breathe.
"I think the better question is what happened to you," Kamui Woods replied while forming a small wall next to them with his quirk.
"Went big, villains started hitting me with explosives," Mt Lady replied, as Death Arms looked over at her. Her words seemed to make him pale for a second, as the hero looked over his ally.
"Crap," Death Arms muttered, bringing a hand to his hair, "Don't move, we need to get you to a doc."
"I can still fight," Mt Lady tried to protest while moving to stand up. Only to fall back to the ground as her leg failed to support her.
"No, you can't," Death Arms told her, before turning toward the stadium's door, "Kamui?"
"On it," Kamui replied, using his quirk to carefully pick Mt Lady up. With her in hand the small group of heroes ran into the stadium, heading toward the nearest infirmary. All the while Mt Lady couldn't help but berate herself. It took less than a few minutes to be knocked completely out of action. Some hero she was, Mt Lady thought.
For Eri, the back of the van was cold and damp. Somehow an improvement to the concrete room she was always locked up in. But not by much. The van, like her room, still had a locked door, forced shut and only to be opened from the exterior. The steel interior had been stripped of anything she could use to try and escape. The windows were tinted so no one could see in and reinforced with thick steel plates to keep her from breaking it.
It also plunged the back of the van into complete darkness, where Eri couldn't even see her own hands. There wasn't even a chair she sat on, or a seat belt to keep her safe. But as far as Eri knew, this was normal. This was always how they transported her, every time they relocated their operation. Of course, something seemed different this time, as Eri pressed her ear against the steel wall separating her and the front of the van.
"I thought you said traffic wouldn't be an issue?" one of Eri's guards muttered, annoyance clear in his tone. At the same time, Eri felt the van come to a slow stop. It worried Eri, they weren't there yet, were they?
"It's not supposed to be. Thought everyone would be watching the Festival…" a different one muttered, somewhat confused. No doors opened, so it eased Eri's worries a little, but not by much.
"Of fucking course," the first angrily groaned, "Last time I listen to you and your damn ideas."
A few seconds after the first man said that, screams slowly began to be heard.
"The hell?" the first villain muttered confused, with Eri slowly turning pale as the screams got ever louder.
"Must be a villain attack… wait, that's a lot of smoke," the second man noted, a hint of worry now in his tone. Seconds later loud cracks began to sound out around the area, as something began hitting the van. Eri couldn't help but drop to the ground, curling into a small ball.
"Shit!" the first man exclaimed, Eri heard glass shatter.
"Drive! Drive! Dri-" the other man yelled, panicking, only for a loud crack to echo outside. It was louder than the previous ones, carrying a frightening strength with it. Neither of Eri's guards spoke after it occurred, and Eri's breathing sped up. Footsteps seemed to circle outside the van, as Eri peeked up to try and face the door.
She crawled up to the nearest corner she could find, still watching the van's door. Slowly it seemed to open, as sunlight peeked in through the crack. When it was fully open, Eri saw three people standing outside waiting for her. All had masks on with skulls painted onto them. Subconsciously Eri tried to scoot even further away, only to end up nowhere. Of course, one of the people outside seemed to see her fear.
"Oh you poor thing," a woman said, sadness and shock ever present. Her right hand moved toward her face before she pulled up the mask she wore. Showing off her face the woman tried to bring up a small comforting smile.
"It's ok, we're not going to hurt you," the woman told her, slowly holding out her hand for Eri. At the same time, the other people with her pulled up their masks as well. Both were men and looked at Eri with seeming pity. There was also a fury in their eyes, but Eri didn't feel like it was directed at her for some reason. Cautiously, Eri stood up from her spot in the van, and slowly walked over to the woman.
She didn't grab her hand though, enough people had suffered from her curse already.
"You're safe now sweetie, ok?" the woman told her, crouching down to look Eri in the eye as she hopped out of the van. At the same time the two men nearby walked away, heading over toward the front of the van.
"Sick bastards, the lot of them," one of them muttered, as Eri watched them look into the driver's window.
"Reaper's Mercy is too good for the likes of them," the other agreed, before spitting through the shattered window. Quietly though the two opened the van's side doors and started looking for something. They seemed to have found it, when one of them pulled out a small box. The man who found it carefully opened it, and looked over its contents, before closing it shut. After that, everything remained somewhat calm for a moment, as more people with skull masks seemed to appear. Each one pulled their masks up when Eri saw them and acted surprisingly friendly. It was an odd feeling. None of these people seemed to want to harm her.
A few minutes later though, an odd chopping noise began to come in. The assembled people all looked up at the sky, with Eri doing the same. She ended up spotting an odd flying machine Overhaul had her transported in once. A helicopter she remembered. For a strange reason though, everyone around Eri began to glare at the vehicle.
"...Must we go through with this?" the woman asked, stepping over to shield Eri.
"I don't like it, but it is Reaper's Will," the first man angrily muttered, watching as the helicopter slowly got closer to the ground.
"What part of this is Reaper's Will? Look at her, has she not suffered enough?" the woman angrily asked, her hand seeming to spark the closer the helicopter got.
"She has… but if Reaper demands it of us, then he has his reasons," the first man replied, grabbing the woman's hand. As he did so the sparks from the woman's hands disappeared. Nervously Eri watched as the helicopter landed, and its door slid open. Out walked an odd man with brown hair, and a wide closed mouth smile. The man with the small box, soon held it up for the Smiling man to see, before tossing it to him. The smiling man caught it effortlessly, and lightly shook the box. Seemingly satisfied the smiling man put the box in his pocket.
"Is the target safe?" the man asked, his smile never leaving as he talked.
"She is," the woman confirmed, her tone oddly sad. The smiling man clapped his hands together once she answered, before walking forward a little.
"Good, good. Now where… ah there you are," the smiling man stated, his eyes falling directly on Eri. She felt somewhat unnerved as the man looked at her. Everything screamed at her that something was wrong about this man. It felt like she was standing in front of Overhaul, after one of his experiments.
"Oh, don't be afraid, I don't bite," the smiling man told her, while crouching down to her eye level. His hands motioned toward him, telling her to come closer.
"Come here, would you?" he asked, as Eri slowly looked at the woman next to her. The woman looked like she wanted to protest, but ultimately said nothing. She stepped to the side, allowing Eri to carefully walk forward. Reaching the smiling man, Eri couldn't help but feel as if his grin had gotten wider.
"I know this must all seem very crazy, and you must have a lot of questions. All you need to know is that those bad men keeping you won't bother you anymore, ok?" the smiling man told her, bringing a little comfort. But she slowly nodded, watching as the smiling man stood up.
"Good. And don't worry, me and my colleagues here, we're nothing like them," the smiling man told her, while leading her over to the helicopter. Hopping inside, Eri found a small seat her size, resting in the back. Sitting down, the smiling man quickly buckled her in, before passing her a pair of earmuffs.
Because it was true, they were nothing like Overhaul's men. In fact, we're much worse, Night Owl said mentally, as he felt the helicopter lift off the ground.