Guild Master here again, again.
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"Really? You think you can escape me?"
This psychopath was taking in the situation while lightly taunting these two boys. His confidence was not something to take lightly in a situation like this. The compliments that Midoriya was paid were certainly disingenuous enough to communicate that this guy was certain of his victory.
"You're Midoriya, aren't you? Gotta say that it's such a stroke of luck I ran into you first. I got a job that requires me to kill your sorry little ass first."
The cloak he had draped himself in was ripped off as his quirk began to produce raw muscle fibers out from under his skin.
"After I torture you, that is! Let's see how much you can bleed, boy!"
One solid leap from above was enough to close the distance between Izuku and the villain. The grotesquely inflated arm with muscle fibers jutting out from it swung a solid right hook that Midoriya could recognize as unblockable. There wasn't much time for him to sprint in the opposite direction while grabbing Kouta. The villain realized that the kid dodged and was about to go in for another punch as Izuku left Kouta a little distance away from the fight before launching himself at the killer.
Realizing that this kid was pretty noble was just making the villain even more excited to break him. They both went for a strike at one another while the one at a disadvantage was remembering something important he was told when faced with a situation such as this.
Months Ago
"Hmmm, good question."
It was about a month into the school year and Midoriya was sitting at Haru's van while enjoying an after school meal while doing some homework. A topic that the boy felt was important to discuss was brought up for the man to advise the teenage boy on.
"... If I had to give my honest answer; find at least two other people to help you beat the guy to death."
That was not an answer for Izuku. Taking such a specific and rather excessive measure against larger opponents was out of the realms of practicality and realism for the boy. He asked for the truth as Haru sort of chuckled at his lame attempt at humor.
"Alright, alright. Honest answer now. Here's what you do…"
What Haru said that day took the boy some time to start believing as a realistic option. It was now that case as it would likely decide the chances of survival or death for Izuku and Kouta.
Present Time
An oversized arm with tendrils of exposed muscle fibers swung and once again hit nothing. In fact, it was as though the kid disappeared after he attacked. He was then well aware of where Izuku was with a sudden amount of crippling pain shooting up his spine from between his legs. The arm used to hit Midoriya had also assisted the boy slip past the man trying to kill him. A large and bulky arm with all the strength in the world would still make it hard to see what was underneath it if it was inflated to the size of a car.
Izuku didn't stop there. His window of opportunity was small for him to then jump behind the villain and swing his leg light into the undercarriage of the killer's ballsack. What Haru told Izuku to do in a life or death situation with a larger opponent was to fight as dirty as possible. Legalities were things living people did, but dying was final and mattered little if you were six feet under.
Things like kicking the crotch, eye gouging, or using a hidden weapon were often things that bloodsport fights devolved into back when quirks were nothing more than a fantasy. People forgot what life or death meant these days since life became such a comic book. Being told such a cynical idea got Izuku to reconsider who it was that he asked for fighting advice. It was time that made Izuku reconsider the idea of using such tactics with more and more life threatening situations becoming a regular situation.
The villain was grasping at his genitals while Izuku was able to create some distance from him and the villain. That blow was enough to just piss off the villain as he got back up. What Izuku had done wrong was hold back and not use more power to at least pop one of the villain's testicles. That point was implied by Haru, though context was a bit of an overlooked aspect when he explained it to the boy.
"... I'm gonna fuck you up, you little shit!"
Now the villain was just about to lose it with his patience. This kid was in for it now as his upper body was now mostly covered by muscle fiber. Fighting did require attention to detail for a lot of factors, but advantages like weight and height was a very serious thing to consider. This killer had those aspects down in spades with the ability to just summon the weight of powerful muscles at a whim.
There was a chasm between their strength and builds that was only getting wider in the villain's favor. Izuku knelt down low with both hands on the ground in order to prepare for his next attack. Another violent charge was coming right for the boy, but his speed was faster than it was earlier and made Izuku misstime his leap. His left arm went up into a guard as he took a blow from the larger mass of his right fist. It would have felt more satisfying for the villain if he didn't just then get a handful of rocks and gravel tossed into his right eye. He began to claw at his face to try and get the small shards of stone now stuck in his one functioning eye.
Taking a blow from one of his full on punches for Izuku was like he was hit with a train. The man was moving way faster than before and was now out for blood. The arms overloading with muscles were swinging at a speed that didn't match their size and left Izuku to only be able to block the blows he couldn't dodge.
It didn't seem possible for the killer to be any angrier, but this was a whole new low for him. He was kicked in the nuts and was now trying to fish out rocks in his eyes. This was humiliating for him as a boy who was nothing but a shrimp was getting his licks in with cheap attacks. The offended eye was bright red with irritation as the villain gave up on relieving the pain and just wanted to kill the boy.
"I'm not just gonna fuck you up… I'll fucking eat your bones!"
Kouta was helpless to just watch as Izuku was being slowly worn down by the berserk monster wailing at him with his abnormal power. He was just able to avoid the worst of the punishment, but was still accumulating the smaller bits of damage to the point of being covered in bruises and sporting multiple fractures and broken bones. Izuku was warned that these tactics are only things to give oneself a moment to either buy time or get another attack in. If the one he was fighting was able to keep on marching and shrug off his normal attacks, then all he was doing was buying time.
Izuku's ribs were screaming in agony, his arms were burning hot, and his head felt like a blender had its way with his skull while he was only able to see through the eye that wasn't swollen shut. Steam was practically pouring out the villain's nostril and clenched teeth. Time was on the killers side with his enhanced stamina, speed, and power being more consistent than Midoriya's.
It was a losing battle against a human ox of a fighter. Kouta could remember the last few moments of actual positive emotions that he felt for the past few days. The time he spent with that weird man who made it easier to forget his troubles while filling a void he ignored for the longest time. This older kid was someone that guy spoke of as being someone with incredible strength, but a heart that was too eager to help others. He didn't want Izuku to sacrifice himself for his sake. Seeing the Villain wind up with a massive strike ready to crush Midoriya flat made the boy cry out in desperation.
"SOMEBODY HELP UUUS!"
The villain could feel that this strike was gonna do it for him. All of this was almost not worth the effort. It was only the sight of crushing such an annoying brat that was his consolation. Hearing the other kid scream uselessly was just extra gravy. He brought his overly inflated arm down onto the stone with a thundering slam, but felt a bit off when he didn't feel the familiar cushion of human flesh and bones being flattened. On the contrary, something was keeping his arm from touching the ground.
Underneath his arm was someone who had Midoriya in their right arm while using their left to shield themselves from the villain's arm. He had no idea who this guy was, but he could guess this wasn't a hero. No hero had this sort of thick miasma of bloodlust that this guy had. Even through his rather fancy looking gasmask, the villain could tell that this guy was looking at him like a hunk of meat to chop into.
What caught the villain off guard was suddenly having a few of his muscle fibers be grasped and feel the earth get pulled out from underneath him. After the masked man put the boy down gently, he stood and grasped at the bundles of exposed muscle and just threw the killer into the stone wall to his right. There was no time to react for the villain as he went headfirst into the rock and was buried into the wall from the shoulders up.
Haru just made it. He saw Kouta was alright after he hit the child with the tranquilizer he had in a secondary pistol. His research into everyone's medical reports confirmed for him that the options for tranq darts was a viable one. It did scare him to let Kouta collapse without catching him, but the boy seemed to only suffer just a minor scrape on his knee.
Now seeing the damage on Izuku was a bit of a different story. Though there were no critical wounds, it was no laughing matter as to how much of a beating he took to protect Kouta. For what it was worth; Haru could tell that Izuku was in much better condition than most would expect. The boy was likely trying to extend the fight in hopes of finding a window for both Kouta and himself to escape together. Going so far for somebody else without thinking was clearly not the case here. Haru felt proud that Izuku was growing as a person as well as a hero; it was just unfortunate that his opponent was the guy currently yanking his head free from a stone wall.
Being thrown like that hurts like a motherfucker. A ringing in the villain's head that refused to go away while he was feeling nauseous alerted him of a concussion he suffered from the throw. It was by the narrowest of margins he was able to cover his head with enough muscle fibers to use as a crash helmet. It didn't completely protect him, but at least he wasn't dead.
As angry as he was, the villain maintained his composure as he observed the newest player on the field gently place the beaten kid next to the other one. Those who were familiar with the act of murder had a certain air around them. A feeling that would make the average person shiver or feel their skin crawl. His own murderous intention was sizeable for how effective of a killer he knew he was. What he felt pouring out of the gas mask wearing freak was like standing in a river at the deepest part.
Such a forceful presence that he could tell was ignoring him for how little of a challenge he saw him as. There was no way he could just let this guy just walk away with his target alive. Just cause this guy wasn't a hero wasn't an excuse not to see the job through. Plus, it was an opportunity to kill another person.
"Hey!"
His provocation of the masked individual got their attention by the minimum requirements. They slightly turned their head while they knelt next to the children. Everything about this guy's demeanor was starting to piss off the villain.
"You think I'll just let you walk away?! I'll crush and torture you like I did every other hero that thought they could escape me!"
Getting nothing back to work with was kinda frustrating for the villain. His declaration of war against the masked stranger just made him start to get up and turn to take a few steps away from the unconscious children. Coming to a stop only once there was an appropriate amount of distance between himself and the children was the man brandishing his weapon. Though he wasn't an expert, the villain could see that the guy had some sort of pump action shotgun.
It was unlike any he's seen in pictures or in real life; this thing looked like it was meant to punch a hole in anything it was aimed at. To the hero killer it mattered little. He had weathered police gunfire and didn't even feel the bullets bounce off of his muscles. What good would that thing do if regular bullets couldn't penetrate his natural armor? All that these two were waiting for was for the tension to grow until it snapped like a guitar string.
Fighting a hero and fighting someone who wasn't a hero made a world difference in how to handle one's self. The villain knew that heroes were honest with the intent to best their opponents with skill and power without resorting to such dirty tactics. Villains and criminals didn't give a lick of piss as to how they won. Often they would resort to hidden weapons or lying to get an advantage, but some villains liked the theater of being in a one on one fight.
A guy brandishing a weapon was someone who was just there to kill. He could tell that the masked stranger was gonna do whatever it took to kill him with the arsenal he saw strapped to his body. Their strength wasn't anything to laugh at since they effortlessly threw him into a rock wall after tanking his slam attack without even flinching. Having that sort of strength and still using a gun made this guy very likely a contract killer.
"So, who sent you? Some poor old widow asking you to ice me for her husbands murderer? Or maybe a poor little orphaned child seeking vengeance for mommy or daddy?"
This was just part of the course. He was gonna try to gauge the emotions and reactions to see what he could use as leverage to gain an advantage. Rambling about more kills he's done in detail while mocking their efforts and loved ones was just leaving the masked stranger rather neutral. Taking a closer look would reveal that the man hadn't even moved.
"You're just a chump I could flatten at any second! So just do us all a fav-"
"You really can't shut up about this snuff fetish you got, huh?"
That single line cut off the villain with the heavily modulated and bassy voice from the mask's speakers.
"It makes me wonder. Since you started killing…"
He started taking one step after the other towards the villain.
"Are you ready to die just like them?"
A single sneer and charge with muscles covering his whole torso was the immediate response Haru got out of the crazed murderer. This was followed up with a response the villain had for Nakamura's question.
"As if!"
Taking aim at his shoulder didn't dissuade the villain from his assault. The aim was too high and was targeting one of the densest parts of his body. There was no way that he was going to suffer as much as Haru after he was done with him. Braying his finger back on the trigger unleashed a deafening shot of lead that went straight for the villain.
The force of the shot was enough to make the villain stumble back a bit. Catching himself on his back heel was all he could do from tripping over his own feet. His eyes then slowly turned to the source of growing pain and saw that the gun had somehow eviscerated the muscles in front of it. Ragged strands chewed up with burn marks from the heat of the lead that was buried into his muscles deformed the affected area on his body.
No time was given to him to process the pain as a new source of agony came in the form of his right knee being struck by the butt of the shotgun. Since Haru struck the knee from the outside, it completely blew out his inner mcl ligament and damaged his acl. The knee developed a new joint as the villain collapsed painfully onto the damaged knee.
Screaming and trying to keep himself from completely hitting the ground was a pointless task for the killer as Haru cocked his gun and took aim. He kept petaling back as he fired a shot into the villain's side and racked the shotgun again. No gun should have had enough power to penetrate his quirk. Why was it that the bullets in the past were nothing to him but this one was tearing into him like a rottweiler with steak?
Stumbling while dragging his broken leg was the best he could do to create some much needed distance to collect himself. Haru saw no need to give chase over reloading his shotgun. He did so leisurely and purposefully to make the villain hear the shells go in. A bit of psychological warfare to throw off the villain's ability to think rationally.
His knee was heating up and turning bright red. Touching the injury was like he was twisting a shiv that was stuck in the joint. If he wanted to live, he needed to get this up and running again now. Taking a few deep breaths, he used his hands and quirk to quickly reset the joint with a sickening crunch. After choking back the screaming, he wrapped the leg up completely in muscle fibers to get it functioning once again. The leg was still fucked and moving it was undescribably painful; but he can now move again uninhibited. Just as long as he could stomach the pain.
Now the villain was now worse for wear while all Haru lost was two shotgun shells. The wounds that pierced the muscles were actually a bit more serious than what was visible at first glance. First shot in the shoulder was aimed at his actual shoulder under all his muscles. It buried a few lead balls into the collarbone and even cracked the shoulder blade near the joint. Next shot was through a thinner barrier of muscle and had the shot pierce the villain's torso.
Inside the cavity was internal bleeding with several puncture wounds perforating the cavity wall. His organs weren't much better off. A pellet had hit the small intestines and the liver each. He was in some of the worst pain in his life as he was just trying to hold it together. How could so much happen in such a short amount of time?
"... I suppose this is it, eh? You're here to kill me, and only one of us is walking away, huh? Well then, I suppose I should dress appropriately…"
Going inside his pocket for what looked to be a glass eye, the eye in the killer's socket was swapped out for the one he had in his pocket.
"There, that's better. Now, where were we?"
They both knew that this was going to be it. No more talking. No more holding back. This was only going to end with one of them dead.
A few silent beats before the both of them went in for the kill. The brute had nothing but his speed and power. Lacking range made him vulnerable to that unnaturally powerful weapon of his. There was also his leg being unbearably painful to use while he was certain he had a few punctured organs. It was a bit of a hail mary for him to leap with his good leg and make himself into a massive ball of muscle to crush Haru underneath his mass.
"Die motherfucker!"
His arm slammed into his target successfully and even cracked the cliff even further. Since he hit Haru dead on, he felt that a blow that was enough to crush a building with one blow was his ticket to victory. Again, the feeling of something carrying his weight after he tried to destroy it could be felt while the dust was clouding his vision slightly. Watching the dust clear was something that felt like an eternity when only a few seconds passed.
There was no way in hell that this guy caught the bunch with one hand. It should have at least broken a bone somewhere, but Haru was standing there with his left arm up and holding the captured arm while letting his right hand hold the gun by the grip. Perhaps it just wasn't strong enough at first. More power and mass in his muscles delivered the same results, the only thing that was seemingly affected by the crushing weight was the floor underneath Nakamura's boots.
The mask staring blankly back at him taunted the villain by just tilting curiously. It was as if he had been expecting more and found it surprising this was all he could do. Now it was Haru's turn again.
He hadn't used the gun nor went for a counter like the killer had expected. Haru suddenly clamped down hard enough on the other hand to crack and break the bones. Things didn't end there since the purpose of his overly secure grip was to then trap the villain's arm as Haru did a double twist flip. His body was too heavy to keep up with the motion and made the bones in his wrist and forearm all come loose.
Excruciating wasn't even the right word for how much this hurt. While getting his bones all ripped from their joints was bad enough by itself, the bones were yanked too harshly and had torn the internal muscles in his arms. His quirk that reinforced and produced muscle had actually served to cause him further anguish.
Escape from this torture was all he could think about at this point. His left arm was up and enveloped in his muscle fibers to get Haru to let go of the dismantled limb. He couldn't close the gap as the gun Haru was holding in his right hand was flipped to allow him to grip the barrel instead of the handle. The tormentor was faster and had more reach as he jammed the butt end of the stock into the gunshot wound he placed on the villain earlier.
Reason why liver shots are so painful is due to how the liver functions as a filter and assists with metabolic functions. Such an important organ in the body being injured could risk the toxic materials that were filtered by the organ to release back into the body in large amounts. This type of internal septic shock can kill a person without any sort of immediate medical attention. Those who have experienced an injury to the liver that had warranted surgery due to a breach in the organ have been known to describe it as the worst pain a human being could experience.
The liver inside of the villain was already punctured by a lead shot from earlier and had already been giving the villain grief with nonstop discomfort. Getting rammed with the butt end of a shotgun on the same spot caused the organ to tear open a bit more. It was like his abdomen was being chainsawed open right where his liver was.
If he had the ability to audibly scream at that moment, he most certainly would have screamed himself mute. It didn't stop there for the villain. That blow Haru planted stunned the villain very effectively and gave him the chance to throw the villain by the arm he still had trapped in his grip. With one firm planting of his left foot; Nakamura swung the villain like a pickaxe and threw the villain over his shoulder. The socket came loose as Haru brought the full weight of the villain onto the back of his neck. A chain of popping and cracks were audible as the villain slammed into the rocky floor.
His feet were the last thing to touch the ground after being thrown like a ragdoll. That last blow rendered the serial killer woozy and seeing stars. Things were far from over for the abused villain. Haru wanted the villain attentive and awake immediately, so he then proceeded to use his middle finger as a shank and jammed the digit into the glass eye filling the vacant hole in his victim's skull.
Glass shattered inside of the very tender and sensitive eye socket. Soft tissue was lacerated and torn asunder while Nakamura still had his finger inside the puncture wound he created. This was too much. Any more than this was impossible for the villain to tolerate.
That was not a concern for Haru as he hooked the finger inside the eye socket he stabbed and lifted the screaming villain to look up towards his mask. It now dawned on him that this man who was doing all these horrible things to him was someone he should have started to run from at the start of this encounter. Challenging him was the worst and last mistake he would ever make.
Blood kept spurting from where Haru had the villain hanging from. There were no words as Nakamura just kept observing the fear start to grow in the man's face. People were such an annoyance to Haru as a whole. Doing things like this to people who think they are better than what they actually were was just him working out his frustration on idiots. Worthless and disgusting idiots. The idiot to suffer his end at Haru's hand was coming to realize his fear far too late.
"... How can something as petty and small like you ever think that they can do anything? Crawling around in shit is even too good for something like you."
Those words were a reflection as to how weak the muscle user was against Haru. He spent years developing his power and strength to stand at the summit of absolute domination. Had years of killing and struggling led to this? To be insulted and treated like a little inchworm plucked out of the earth by a sparrow?
Haru had his fun at this point. There were others that were running free and he needed to wrap things up here. The finger was torn free and released a stream of blood pouring out of the head wound. Grabbing and lifting the villain overhead allowed Haru to throw the villain sideways into the rocky wall of the mountain. Another earthquake that even made some of the birds take off into the night shook the forest around the mountain as well as the mountain itself.
The rubble settled and revealed a villain buried into the mountain horizontally in a hole that had an impression of his body. His quirk had only managed to keep him alive by the thinnest of chances.
He was in hell. There was molten rock burning up his insides while his limbs were certainly all broken and dislocated. His eye socket was embedded with shards of his glass eye and had a deep puncture wound torn into the back of it. By trying to move, there was a terrifying revelation for the villain stuck into the side of the mountain by force. None of his arms or legs were responding to any command he was sending them. He tried to activate his quirk. Nothing.
Off to the side was Haru picking up the shotgun he dropped in order to throw his victim into the rockface. As expected, the serial killer was panicking and scared as to why he was paralysed from the neck down. The way Haru threw him into the wall made their upper back collide first and caused a cascade of popping vertebrae as the rock was deformed by the villain's spine. The action was apparently returned as now the villain was a complete quadraplegic.
Looking into the villain's eyes revealed an emotion the man should have had when he first met Nakamura. A fear so great and intense for the one who turned him into a wall ornament without any physical will. Haru was the one to speak again as he leaned in closer to the scared villain.
"That's the problem with you lot."
The deeply distorted voice spoke to him again. He actually started to piss himself with how scared and helpless he was against them. Tears did nothing to help his odds of survival against Haru.
"All you superpowered freaks just keep going about your way like your gods or something. It makes it so pathetic to watch as people like you come crashing back down to reality. To watch you all realize that you're just another soft sack of meat, bones, and shit; just like the rest of us."
Haru then approached the man's legs casually as their owner's eyes panicked with what Haru had planned for him. Wasn't it enough that he won and left him permanently disabled for the rest of his life? Stopping in front of his knees, there was a moment where he just looked at the entrapped legs with a mannerism hinting at contemplation. That look was finally interrupted by Haru turning to the terrified villain and posing a question to him.
"How about I give you an opportunity? You look remorseful enough right now; so why don't we make a deal?"
He had an opportunity to live. A spark of hope in his heart was there that he was going to at least make it out of here with his life at least. That spark was slowly snuffed out as Haru began to raise the shotgun up and pressed the barrel against the injured knee. One thing that was for certain was that his sensation of pain wasn't dulled by much.
"Since your arms and legs are useless, how about we use them to up the ante?"
Nothing about this felt like a chance with what was being implied. He was falling back into the depths of despair as he came to the conclusion that Haru had no intentions of actually letting him live.
"You survive after I blow them all off, I walk away. Who knows? Maybe this dose of anesthesia could find its way to you…"
It was clearly false hope to expect that he would at least be relieved of some of his current physical pain. Hope that some part of him foolishly still believes it to be true as he couldn't tear his eyes away from the syringe in Haru's gloved hands. This twisted his heart far too much. Now this madman was using his own emotions against him to further his pain.
"Anyways, let's begin."
There was a deafening gunshot that was followed up by unintelligible screaming. Since the villain's physiology was far more durable than that of a normal person; The first shell failed to sever the leg completely.
"... Hm, guess that wasn't enough. Oh, well. We still have round two."
Seeing Haru rack the gun before he placed it back onto the same spot as before made the villain desperate enough to start begging. Oh, how he begged. His tears were genuine and sorrow humiliating. None of this was going to save him anymore.
Haru didn't say a word as he shot the man in the knee again and succeeded in severing the leg at the knee. People really were unaware of how they would act when faced with their end. If the villain could see himself now, he would have killed himself out of spite.
Later
Leaning Izuku gently against the tree next to the trail alongside Kouta was the best he could do for them. They were safe for now and the map Haru had revealed the other intruders busy with their encounters. He knew that he needed to leave to take care of those villains immediately. His heart still ached to see Izuku in such a sorry state.
If he only had done something different. Something that would have kept these kids out of harm's way. It made little difference now; the truth of the matter was that Izuku, someone he considers his own son, almost died from his lack of planning. All of this was starting to weigh heavily on Nakamura. In his position, there was no other option but to continue on without looking back. It was only him that could see things through enough to prevent a far worse fate for Midoriya if he were to fail.
A hand reached out to brush some hair that fell over Izuku's eyes. The glove was soaked through with the blood of the villain he butchered into pieces with his shotgun. Haru was just able to transport these boys with just a few streaks of blood on them. Perhaps his namesake that followed him really was something he couldn't fight against. Observing his hand and the crimson liquid soaking it made him pause from touching Izuku.
There was a very soft sound in the distance that was gradually getting closer. It was very subtle, but he could tell based on the speed and weight of the footsteps that it was Aizawa approaching his location. He was taking the main train to traverse the forest, so leaving Izuku and Kouta here would be a viable option for him. There still was the matter of the target's ahead of him that were squaring off against the Pussycats. Now that he had time to check his map; there was a new anomaly interacting with the tagged friendly marked as Shiretoko.
He couldn't make the call here, but after heading down the trail towards the next objective; Haru made a quick call to his surveillance. Their response to his question was not a good one. It was too late to confront the target as it disappeared altogether, but at least it seemed that Ragdoll was still alive and well from the readings they gave Haru. It was secondary to him clearing out his targets immediately.
Elsewhere
The lizard hybrid known as Spinner was facing off against Mandalay while his comrade in arms known as Magne was facing off against Tiger. This female hero was supposed to only have a telepathy quirk, and here she was fighting back against his superior physiology. His life was hell while this chick was able to live her life out of comfort for her human appearance. The strength loaned to him by his quirk felt lacking at best right now.
Tiger was struggling with Magne as she was now starting to pick up on the patterns of his fighting style. It still felt as though she had yet to reveal her quirk as the metallic item they used as a weapon was still inside it's fabric cover. His speed was easily met by the person Tiger thought to still be a man.
Mandalay was still a bit on the defensive while Spinner was pushing the advantage. His impromptu bladed weapon was assembled by him out of his admiration of Stain and the weapons he used before his inevitable death. A true martyr who only sought to better society in his eyes.
There was a moment where Mandalay was backpedaling to get some space between herself and spinner. There was still quite a lot on her mind as the villain she was facing was wielding their improvised sword made of daggers and knives binded against one another.
"Damn, you're annoying!"
In response to her underhanded comment, Spinner went for the kill and leapt with his sword primed to ax the heroine.
"You're the annoyance! Now die!"
Out of nowhere, the sword that was just about to crash down onto the hero he was about to end was smashed into bits and pieces. There was a man dressed in all black and stank of blood who was now standing between Spinner and Mandalay. His presence was a shock to both hero and villain as they grabbed Spinner by the neck and slammed him into the dirt. Feeling the earth shake as he did so was unnerving for both sides.
Spinner could barely breathe from how hard he was slammed to the dirt. Any effort to get back onto his feet was thwarted by a boot slamming into his jaw. Haru then grinded the heel of his boot into the villain's face. Spinner could feel his teeth being pushed out of their sockets with the weight of this guy's boot on his face.
Magne didn't know who the hell this was. They were clearly not an ally as they were now cracking teeth with the weight of their shoe on his face. Her reverie was cut short when the intruder took aim at her with their weapon and suddenly fired their weapon at her. She was just able to prevent the majority of the damage by using her disguised tool to block her torso. A lack of knowledge of firearms had left the masculine woman without the information that shotgun's had a small spread of multiple lead projectiles to maximize damage on a wider surface area.
There were a few lead balls that pierced her arms and shoulders from her failed attempt to prevent taking damage. It would have been obvious that this was a hero, but the biggest giveaways that this person was anything but was that he was using illegal equipment while using blalant acts of torture against villains. Him aiming his gun at Mandalay as she was about to apprehend the mysterious stranger was another big tell.
It was such a confusing situation for everyone involved. Nobody knew what to do in such a strange situation where a complete stranger was now controlling the situation between both heroes and villains. Suddenly, there was a sound in the distance that caught the attention of the masked man. He was on his way again, though a great advantage given to the heroes was the injuries this mysterious stranger inflicted upon the villains.
Elsewhere
Itsuka was a rather bright girl for her age. She had a personality that was strong but nurturing that her classmates had a tendency to gravitate towards. Her caring and mature disposition gave her the title of being the big sister of the classroom. Even people like this had their rough days as she was faced against an opponent that was polluting a large area of the forest. It was an enemy that had some sort of ability to create a deadly cloud of toxic gas over a large area.
She and Tetsutetsu were racing to clear the forest while keeping an eye out of where the thickest part of the gas was. The student drew the conclusion that perhaps that the one producing the poison was at the center of the affected area. By traveling through a large area, she had noticed the poison wasn't consistent in density.
So far it was a bit of a bust as they were weighing the possible risks for what they had planned to take on the villain. Itsuka had argued that their filters were limited on time, but unbeknownst to them was that Yaoyorozu was more well informed than they first had anticipated. She had been given blueprints of the ESD gas mask filtration system and had based the masks she made for her fellow classmates on said system. Her source was curiously a very well informed chef of a food truck that recommended the design when she asked for help on gas mask devices. The design and build of the mask was an entry in the book she carried about as well. Little did she know that the designs of such equipment were privatized and valued at several billion yen for such heavily supervised information.
Honestly, she and Tetsutetsu could stay out there for days without a worry in the world while their faces were covered by the masks. Momo hadn't communicated the information and left her classmates in the dark as to their actual safety level.
Their priority wasn't the remaining time in their protective masks; getting to the center of the deadly fog to stop the poison affecting their other schoolmates was what they were intent on doing. They were well aware that dangerous situations automatically reinforced their right to use their powers to defend themselves, but to escape now was only going to put everybody's lives at risk. Itsuka simply told Tetsutetsu her assessments and the boy immediately agreed to the plan.
In the densest part of the cloud was the poison gas user. The cloud was swirling as a vortex with him being at the center of the storm. His quirk was one that was capable of taking over large areas and clearing out any enclosed space in no time at all. Biggest issue for the user was that his own gas was toxic to even himself, so he wore a respirator with oxygen tanks for when he started to use his ability.
He could sense a few of the young students moving through his gas cloud and was certain that they figured out the function of his quirk. They were likely on their way to stop him and save their classmates. It was not something he didn't already foresee as he now was reaching for his pistol inside the school uniform he wore. Even if they could get close enough, all he had to do was to plug them with a few rounds from his gun to end it.
Mustard was an intelligent boy with a knack for strategy. His choice of name being mustard for the gas the Germans used in world war two was a hint at his affection for ruthless tactics. One thing that he lacked as an actual combatant was simply experience. Being young gave him very little time to figure out his strengths and weaknesses. Overconfidence was often the biggest downfall for young soldiers and he neglected that information far too much. He was so dependent on feeling things through his cloud that he thought his sensory ability was almost omniscient.
Something was sneaking up behind him in the gas. There was no sensory feedback for him to react to; so when a gloved hand with the stench of blood reached out from behind him, Mustard was still blissfully unaware. The smell was even blocked by his respirator. It was a bit ironic that the thing that was protecting him from his own quirk was actively working against him now.
Meanwhile, Tetsutetsu was just about to remove his mask to engage the villain when he and Itsuka suddenly started to hear muffled screaming from where they were certain the villain was. Tetsutetsu kept the mask on while still turning into steel to see what it was that made the noise. Itsuka was right behind him while they were racing to see what was going on.
Being kidnapped out of nowhere was terrifying enough as it was. Mustard couldn't even pull the trigger on his revolver as whoever was restraining him had their hand on his own with a finger being jammed behind the trigger. His screaming was all in an attempt to get his allies to come save him. A hero at this point was something he would accept.
The amount of strength this guy had was ridiculous. There was no give or break in their strength as they manhandled the young villain. Further they went into the forest while the cloud of poison followed. It wasn't long before he was suddenly thrown to the ground painfully onto his back. His gun was thrown into a tree where it shattered into its smaller parts. He looked up through his mask and saw what he thought was a monster in human form.
It was covered in some sort of red liquid. The darkness of the forest couldn't even hide that as Mustard felt it's hand wrap itself around his throat as the creature knelt right over him. Even it's hand felt sticky and gross against his skin. That sensation made him realize that this thing was likely showered in somebody's blood. A revelation that served him no good as the kidnapper reached down for the boy's mask.
What he saw was making Mustard choke up in fear just as much as the gloved hand that pinned him to the earth. This was going to be the end, but the pure evil drowning the villain was a tell that this was going to not be an easy death. The gas mask that the man wore did nothing to hide the horrific cruelty that Mustard felt by just being near this thing. Every cell in his body demanded that he get away from this man and to never stop as long as they shared a planet together.
Now the other hand was reaching for the pinned victim's mask. His fear was making it impossible for him to do anything else but cower helplessly. It wasn't the intention of the man to remove it and let the boy die under the influence of his own quirk. That would have been too easy.
Instead, the hand grabbing the actual respirator component started to squeeze and cracked the hardened material just enough for what he had planned. All Mustard could do was scream as the respirator was forcefully shoved into his unopened jaw where his lips and teeth were ripped out from the sudden intrusion. Pain he's never felt before or could even imagine was overtaking his entire body. He desperately wanted to escape and started to flail and swing at his torturer. None of these blows were helping him escape the situation.
Things didn't end there as the jagged piece of broken protective equipment was now being forced further into Mustard's throat. It was making him gag and choke as the broken part was cutting him up terribly as it went down. Staring into the mask looking down on him with begging eyes only served to deliver the final blow to his psyche. There was no light or life in that mask. It was eating up his suffering and wouldn't stop until he was dead. He could do nothing else but hope to die before this thing had its fun with him.
A Few Minutes Later
Itsuka was certain that she saw something going in the direction she was scanning. Just because the poison cloud dissipated a minute ago didn't excuse the fact that this villain could simply be setting up an ambush or return with the poison cloud again. She was diligently scanning her area while Tetsutetsu was searching in a different area.
Her searching wasn't completely fruitless, as it were. In the distance, she could just barely hear something that warranted her attention. Getting closer to the sound made it more obvious that it was a steady pounding noise slamming into something wet and squishy. Her approach was steady and stealthy as she neared a tree she could use to poke her head around. What was making the noise was in a bit of a clearing that gave her clear lines of sight at the hellish image she was now witness to for the rest of her life.
It was a man dressed in all black who was equipped with ammo belts and other such gear with a gun of sorts on his back. Beneath him was a dead body he was pounding the head with just his right fist. There was so much blood around and on the man as he just kept on with the task of slaking his bloodlust. Hiding behind the tree was all Itsuka could manage as she covered her mouth to keep from revealing herself. Her eyes were tearing up with her trying to contain herself and remain stealthy.
That must have been the villain that was making the poison clouds who was now getting his head smashed into paste postmortem. Who it was that killed him and was taking their aggression out on the body scared the poor girl to death. Nobody who was that cruel and violent would allow a witness like herself go without consequence. Every bit of her was shaking like a leaf in the wind as Itsuka hid behind her only form of cover.
For a few tense moments, her heart was racing at a million miles an hour when the punching stopped. Her spine felt a chill as the murderer tilted their head in her direction ever so slightly. Itsuka clasped her hands in prayer as she hoped that he would just go away and ignore her. Her family and friends were all she could think about as she heard the man get back up off the ground. Tears were going in earnest as she choked back her fear to the best of her abilities.
They didn't come after her or even walk in her direction. A dragging noise with heavy footsteps faded into the distance while the frightened teen waited for the sound to disappear entirely before checking her surroundings. Bringing herself to peek around the corner, the only signs that what she saw was indeed real was the pool of blood with fleshy chunks and bone shards soaking in the center. A long trail of blood went off into the shadows.
She couldn't keep herself up any longer. Both knees gave away and she wept uncontrollably at how scary that was. Whatever that thing was, it felt like it was the embodiment of cruelty and anger taking it's frustrations out on a corpse. It was something she would never forget for the rest of her life.
Elsewhere
Sprinting through the dense forest with a broken arm and ribs was not as exciting of a task as it sounded. After meeting up with Mandalay and relaying the message Aizawa had for the students, he was just doing what he can to help the others through whatever means necessary. It was far from being a smart Idea, but there were too many students still out in the forest with their conditions still unconfirmed.
He was still able to run and use his left arm, but he would be in some serious trouble if he had to take on a fight with another villain mano a mano. While Izuku was combing the forest for other UA students; there was a massive claw made of shadows that shot out from between the trees. Izuku could have easily dodged the attack had it not been for the nearly debilitating pain in his chest that caused him to hesitate.
Quite a few trees were uprooted and smashed to pieces in the path of the dark figure's hand. Rather than the grasp of death, what Izuku realized was that something else had managed to nab him out from danger. Shouji had managed to scoop up Midoriya in the knick of time as Tokoyami had continued to lash out at whatever happened to be nearby.
Apparently there was a villain that had ambushed the two boys from out of nowhere and caused Tokoyami to lose control of his shadow in the nighttime darkness. A quirk user with metal blades he can produce and manipulate at will was their culprit, though he didn't stick around after Tokoyami lost control. Shouji had been keeping a distance and was trying to help talk down the other boy while dodging attack after attack. It was then that Shouji saw Midoriya and saved him from the killing blow.
Tokoyami was in a great deal of discomfort as he was straining to contain his quirk. For years he resented how easily he lost control of his power at night. He felt like he was the shadow's puppet and not the other way around. All he was able to do was warn the others to stay away as the shadowy creature trapping it's host in it's maw kept rampaging through the trees.
What they needed in order to contain the power was light. A large and intense amount of light was something they were in short supply of in the middle of the forest. There were some of their classmates up ahead who were possibly capable of doing just that, but it was some distance till they could reach them. For now, Izuku had to decide to go on and get help or leave Shouji by himself with the berserk Tokoyami.
The trio were so focused on their own situation that they failed to notice somebody lurking in the shadows next to them. While the injured boy was deliberating his options, something came flying out of the darkness that looked to be the size of a soda can. It was Shouji who had the reaction time to see that what had been flying through the air was a flashbang missing it's firing pin and lever.
"Get down!"
Tucking in and shielding Izuku's body while removing his additional ears was all he could do before a blinding light and deafening bang went off. The light lasted for a moment before fading away. After Izuku and Shouji made sure they were okay, they found Tokoyami on his hands and knees groaning in pain as he shook his head free of the ringing noise in his ears.
"Tokoyami! Are you alright?"
There was no serious damage done to the shadow user other than the damage done to his pride. They all sighed in relief at the resolution of that little temper tantrum that Tokoyami's shadow had. A new question now hung in the air as to where that flashbang came from. Momo was nowhere to be seen and it was very unlikely to have just used her power and left without saying a word.
Whoever or whatever helped them was someone who didn't seem to be their enemy yet still acted as such. Things were getting more complicated as the night went on.