Guild Master here again, again.
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Gamemastersden and then .com
Two of the most powerful students in their class were squared off with a villain that looked like a sadomasochist with a serious binding fetish. His arms were bound tight around his chest with the assistance of a generous amount of leather belts and straps. The villain was borderline incoherent with his rambling about meat or some other nonsense to the boys. From his mouth, more specifically his teeth, were blades that he controlled in shape and size that both Katsuki and Todoroki were struggling to fend off.
Their powers had very heavy handed usage of fire, and being in a forest as thick as this would only make things worse than they were. Todoroki was the one fending off the attacks of the crazed villain alone as Bakugou couldn't get close enough without literally risking his neck. This situation was just a one sided defense that the boys were losing.
"Fuck! Can't we just burn him alive or blow him up?!"
"We can't! Do you want to burn everything down?!"
The argument was mostly just them going back and forth about the pros and cons of using their powers without restraint. Using ice to put out the fires would open them up for attacks while Shoto had his attention elsewhere. The range they had was much smaller than the villain's blades, and his speed was nothing to laugh at either.
Bakugou would easily be picked out of the sky before he got close enough in range to attack while Shoto's flames were less tangible than the razor sharp blades that would go right through them and cut him to pieces. They were cornered with only the giant Iceberg in front of them keeping them from getting killed.
Nobody knew what was going on as the metal that was propping the villain up above the ground suddenly shattered. It was so sudden that the villain had no time to react as he plummeted to the dirt floor in a heap. Lacking arms just made it impossible for him to catch himself from the fall. He was stunned for a few moments while the teenagers were able to collect themselves.
"..."
"..."
Neither of them knew what to say in response to their sudden turn of luck. Katsuki was even left speechless as to what had just happened. Was there some malfunction with the villain's quirk that made it suddenly brittle? It was more likely that the loud bang noise they heard off somewhere in the forest had something to do with what dropped the enemy.
They had just shaken themselves out of their stupor when several more panging noises went off from where the villain fell. Those sounds were far too similar to gunfire to be anything but. Without a word to Shoto, the blonde made a break for it to see what the hell had just happened.
"Where are you going, Bakugou?! Bakugou?!"
There must have been no more than a few seconds from when Katsuki heard the gunshots and arrived at the scene of the crime. A bloodstain with bits of flesh was the first thing that caught his eyes. Next was the trail of blood that led towards the forest. Last was the disappearing figure of something taking the now dead body with it into the darkness of the trees. He was just about to give chase when Todoroki caught up to Bakugou with the still unconscious boy on his back.
"Bakugou! What the hell is your problem?! We have to go now!"
Looking a gifted horse in the mouth was Shoto's philosophy at that moment. He ran off towards safety as Katsuki hesitated for a moment, staring off into the shadows before following right behind Todoroki. Was there somebody besides the villains here? If so, why were they apparently murdering them and sneaking off into the night? Now wasn't the time to be distracted by things besides their survival.
A Few Moments Earlier
Ochaco, Tsuyu, and Mina were faced off with the blonde bloodsucker, Himiko Toga. Their introduction to one another was initiated by Toga sneaking out of the shadows with a knife to try and bleed the girls. She knicked Uraraka in the left arm and was enamored with the blood on her blade.
"So pretty! It's too bad that it's so little."
All three girls were in a bit of a bind as the girl who jumped out of nowhere was enamored with the blood she drew from Uraraka. Trying to speak with her just made the teenager reveal her knowledge of their names and the correlating face for each one. They didn't know what this girl's deal was or how she knew who they were, though taking an educated guess led to the obvious conclusion that she was a villain from the league.
"I'm finally able to let loose, so I'm a bit thirsty. This little guy here will make it easier with just a prick, so it's up to you guys!"
The childish demeanor of the girl was unsettling enough as she spoke of draining their blood like it was her getting a quick drink from the soda fountain. There was no time to think as Toga went straight in to try and stick one of the needles into one of them. Tsuyu was quick on the draw to use her tongue to toss Uraraka out of danger. Her quirk to be based on touch was an inherent disadvantage for Ochaco against a knife wielding opponent.
"Run! We don't have to fight!"
"I-I know! Be safe, you two!"
There was little time to say anything meaningful since there was a villain intent on drinking their blood; chasing them around with an edged weapon. Tsuyu was too distracted with her conversation with Ochaco to react quickly enough to Mina's warning about leaving her tongue out like she was doing just then. Feeling a cut on her tongue alerted the frog girl of Toga's successful attempt to draw blood from her.
"I like that name; Tsutsu! I think I'll call you that, too!"
"No! Only my friends can call me that."
A syringe kept Tsuyu pinned to a nearby tree by the knot in her hair as she attempted to leap away. Mina was trying to stop Toga by using her elastic acid with little success. The girl was far more agile than she appeared to be at first glance.
"I guess that we're friends then! Yay!"
"Hold still, you!"
Toga landed right on top of Tsuyu as she was now trapped by her hair on a tree as the bloodthirsty girl was now giving her bedroom eyes. Had she not been as cute as she was, Tsuyu would have felt less inclined to accept the other girl's indecent proposition.
"You're bleeding, Tsutsu! Here, let me take care of that for you…"
Being kissed during the fight wasn't quite how Tsuyu imagined this going. Even Mina and ochaco were a bit stunned at the bold move made by the villainess. While Tsuyu had the advantage in size, she was beaten out in desperation and desire by Toga. The feeling of the blonde openly accepting her tongue and sucking on the appendage was quite the pleasant sensation. As Tsuyu almost forgot to keep her blood away from Toga, the villain of the situation forgot to absorb the frog girl's blood with how good it was to kiss someone with a prehensile tongue several meters long.
The others snapped out of their trance while watching the deep kiss and got Ochaco to react first to 'save' Tsuyu. Her training with the martial artist Gunhead gave her the knowledge of how to counter a straight knife thrust while being completely unarmed. It was a few simple but well trained movements to wrestle the knife from Toga's grip and then pin her to the ground. Mina was wrenching the syringe that was trapping Tsuyu to the tree as Ochaco checked up on her friend.
"... Ochaco-chan, you're amazing. I can tell you're like me. You have someone you love, don't you?"
Not quite the accurate way of putting it, but her eyes betrayed the intent of hiding her affection for not only Izuku, but the pink girl who was still working to free her friend from the tree. That night they made love was a memory that was making her warm up with how much affection she remembered sharing with all of them.
"I know how that feels. You wanna know more about them. It becomes something that you can't stop yourself from thinking about everyday…"
Ochaco was expecting a mad villain speech that would be a reflection of the madness inside of the girl. To see the girl's eyes revert to something that was deeply human and thoughtful threw her for a loop as Toga was not speaking rather sensibly in comparison to earlier.
"... But I know better. He told me that I need to know that I can't just pretend that what I do is enough to fill the void. I know better, but it still hurts…"
Suddenly, Ochaco felt a stabbing pain on her thigh as Toga succeeded in drawing blood from Ochaco with her specialized syringe.
"Can you help make it hurt less, Ochaco-chan?"
Behind Ochaco was the sudden arrival of the reunited groups of Izuku and Katsuki. Their groups met by coincidence on the road and decided to continue onwards together to return to the resort. It was quite the reunion as Izuku called out to the girls who were still caught off guard from Toga's sudden counterattack. Tsuyu had the sensibility to call out for the other boys, the tradeoff being that Toga was able to pull herself free out from underneath Ochaco to then disclaim that the situation was too dangerous for her now.
One face that stood out to Toga in the group of men that arrived on the scene was the injured boy being carried by one of the other boys. Mina was crying out to the green haired boy and called him Ikki while desperately touching his face to assess the damage. Toga had always possessed a fascination with the grim and macabre with her obsession with blood. That wasn't the sole reason why her eyes were glued to the injured Midoriya. She could remember a time that she saw the boy once before. His face was making Toga recall something she couldn't quite remember at the moment.
"Wait!"
Tsuyu had to cut off Ochaco from chasing after the escaping Toga. The quirk associated with the blood obsessed girl was still unknown amongst the students. Both groups spoke to one another as they checked up on their conditions. Mina was in tears to see Izuku so abused and hurt to the point of needing to be carried to reduce his discomfort. She needed to be reassured by Izuku to calm her down enough to continue on their way to safety.
They debriefed one another and found out that they were probably some of the last students out in the forest. Shoto mentioned something Katsuki said he saw to the group and turned to the blonde for a better recounting of the event. Nobody knew where he was as the boy was missing from their group. Izuku was feeling the worst of it as he couldn't figure out when his childhood friend disappeared. That question was answered with a boastful voice announcing their presence to the other teenagers.
Above the group in the trees was a villain nobody could recognize. He brandished two marbles in his hand while talking down to the teenagers while doing so. Izuku was the first to respond to his provocations and demanded that the villain drop the marble containing Katsuki. His threats were treated as one treated an undesirable side dish at a family dinner. Todoroki was the one to act immediately as the villain who had the look of a lupinesque magician began to make his exit.
The tree the villain was stood upon was immediately engulfed in solid ice that failed to reach the intended target. Midoriya was already in a delirious state of pain that was further agitated by the adult villain making their escape. The remaining survivors of the first strike team from the league were alerted to the extraction taking place in about five minutes. The issue with this announcement was the assumption that they alone had access to the radio frequency they were communicating on.
Elsewhere
Touya and another villain that was commenting on the recent announcement made over the radio were making their way to the intended extraction area for their escape. The excitement of the more naive villain set off the more experienced of the two as they traversed the forest to the announced extraction zone. Their discussion of recent events mostly consisted of Dabi just repeating himself to get the recent villain recruit known as Double to cooperate to the protocols that the league set for their most recent recruits.
The bushes next to them were inconspicuous enough for the villains to simply move past without much trouble. Dabi knew better as there was a clear presence hiding in the bushes to his left that was afraid of revealing themselves to the villain.
Time was a huge factor to consider when taking into account any sort of moves they make on their way out. One character they brought along with them was of concern for the neurotic Double.
"Shit! Shouldn't you call the Nomu back? It's designed to listen to you, ain't it?"
It was like it almost slipped his mind. That thought was something he could distract himself with from what had happened earlier that night.
"Right, my custom made monster. You're probably curious why we didn't bring him in the assault. But don't worry; it probably killed someone by now."
Aoyama had Toru and Kyoka unconscious next to him as he was eavesdropping on the two villains passing by. He didn't want things to be like this, yet here they all were fighting for their lives. Fear was a hell of a motivator when applied to the right pressure points. He and his family have been under that monster's umbrella for years and nobody had any hope to escape its grasp. If there was a way out, he hoped that it would come sooner than later.
He couldn't take it anymore. All he had to show for his efforts was the destruction and danger he brought upon everybody he cares about.
Further Away
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!"
Running for his life while lugging another person was no laughing matter as to how difficult it was to do. Awase was a boy from the class of 1-B who got dragged into the battle and now had Momo fighting to stay conscious in his arms. He took his fair share of licks in the fight, but Momo was far worse off as she had taken at least twice the amount of damage he did.
"This guy is bad news! Yaoyorozu, are you okay?! I can't keep carrying you! I need you to run!"
Momo could only apologize feebly as the spiky haired boy was losing ground against the giant Nomu with power tools and other hardware equipment sprouting from it's torso and back. In it's fingers was a familiar piece of headgear that one of the Pussycats had been wearing earlier that day. An omen of disaster for the teens if they were caught by the monster.
Awase was soaking his headband with blood and sweat as he desperately sprinted through the trees to get away from the Nomu. Curses flew out of his mouth ad nauseum as he could hear the chainsaws revving and just behind his head. He really could only see the end for himself and Momo right then and there.
"SOMEBODY, HELP US!"
A prayer that was well timed as it seemed. The mutated beast was suddenly thrown to the ground by somebody tackling it by its hips. Awase tripped over himself and went sprawling to the ground along with Momo. He apologized incessantly as he went to check on the dazed girl he hadn't meant to drop so abruptly. They got their bearings and confirmed the damage to be minor from the fall.
"... What the hell is that?"
The boy was the first to ask the largest question hanging in the air for the injured teens witnessing one of the most violent beatings they have ever seen. It was a man dressed in all black that had the monster pinned with his right knee on the monster's chest. His fists were wailing on the monster's head and was even making some progress in removing it's strange helmet. Pieces of the metal headgear went flying in different directions along with its teeth, blood, and skin.
It tried to fight back and swung one of it's chainsaws at its attacker. This attack was by far one of the worst things it could have done for itself. The chainsaw had to swing towards its own chest to get at the one who was beating it senseless. He not only dodged the Nomu's weapon, the motorized blade was caught by the limb it was mounted on and was under his immediate control. Using this control, he brought the bladed tool down onto its own chest and used his right boot to trap it there.
What operated the weapons the Nomu possessed was something more akin to an on and off switch rather than a constant feed of power it could control. This gave his attacker a few good moments of ripping into it with it's own quirk made weapon. Blood and chunks of flesh went spraying in the direction of the spinning chain. The shriek it made as it was now spitting up blood was shrill and painful to listen to.
Neither teen knew what was going on anymore. One moment they were being hunted by this overwhelming beast of destruction; now that creature they thought was too powerful was being torn apart and abused like they had almost been had that thing caught them. Momo was certain that what she should be feeling was relief for being saved, not the gut wrenching fear she had instead. Even Awase was frozen to the spot as they could only watch on in horror at the violent execution of the Nomu.
Though the chain had been stopped, the issue of having a large metal blade embedded into its chest didn't go away. This didn't stop the man in the gas mask from using the situation to his advantage still. His boot went up and stomped directly on the back of the chainsaw and snapped the teeth his boot made contact with. He was landing one heavy stomp after another on the screaming monster as it still tried to escape the clutches of death.
Another pair of chainsaws were thrusted right at the man's head. Not only were these weapons knocked out of the way; they both shattered like rigid plastic when its attacker swung his fists into them. These things were still parts of it's limbs and made it screech again in agony.
Reaching for the man with its own human right arm resulted in the Nomu's wrist caught in the left hand of the attacker. Things were just getting worse for the Nomu as now it's arm was snapped by the forearm and had it's wrist crushed under the titan grasp of the man. It thrashed even more as the flailing limb was still attached to the rest of the Nomu. At this point the Nomu didn't even go for an attack; it was just trying to grasp at the damaged limb with its other hand when the undamaged arm had its bones shattered with another swing of the masked man's fist.
There was no point in continuing the assault on the tortured Nomu. Momo could see that the creature was defeated some time ago, yet the masked man kept beating the monster senselessly. He returned to his mounting position and kept punching the monster in the head until it began to go more and more limp as the one sided beating continued. Sprays of blood were finding themselves on the mask and clothes of the mysterious figure with every bit of damage that landed on the Nomu. In the light of the moon, it was like watching a demon tear into its still living victim.
By the time the punching stopped, there was barely any skin left on the Nomu's face. The mask worn by the stranger had a voice changer that made its wearers deeper and unidentifiable. His heavy breathing was audible to the scared children looking at him as if he was something far worse than what had been chasing them earlier. Technically it was the truth, but he didn't pay them any mind as he pulled out his handgun from it's holster strapped to his thigh.
For anybody who had never seen a living thing die by a bullet, it was something that would often confuse the watcher the first time they see it happen. The forest around them did help muffle the sound a bit and prevent the sound of the gunfire from hurting the ears of the teenagers. Now that the stranger had his fun and completed his task in saving the children, he casually walked around the still breathing Nomu and stood over it's head for a moment before unloading seven rounds into its face.
Confused was an appropriate way to describe the dazed teenagers. The Nomu stopped breathing and fell limp, permanently. His smoking gun was returned to the holster while Momo and Awase were dreading their fates now. What this man had in store for them was a complete mystery. Indeed he did save them, but it didn't seem as though he was completely benevolent with the carnal beating and subsequent execution of the Nomu at gunpoint. Now his attention was on them and they couldn't summon the strength to stand up and run away.
He approached the terrified teens and stopped a few meters away from them. Seeing all the blood on him and caking his clothes made him look inhumanly scary. Imagining their blood getting on him and how he would do it was an imagination too great for them to handle. Their fear that gripped them to the point of paralysis was grasping at their throats and squeezing as the bloodied man reached behind him and pulled something out of the pack he had strapped over his shoulder and across his chest.
Thinking that they were done for, they flinched as a first aid kit with a bloodied imprint where the man touched it was tossed to the cowering teens. Although confused, it slowly came to them that this guy really did have the intention of saving them. He stood there for a few moments until the teens realized that it was meant for them to use before heading back towards the resort. Awase cautiously reached for it while keeping an eye on the man.
Opening the kit revealed several syringes of painkillers that were the quick injector types. Medical gauze, topical sanitation spray meant for open wounds, antibiotics with clean syringes; almost everything one would need to treat themselves without a hospital present. There were even instructional cards to guide them with what they would deed to use and do to treat their ailments or injuries.
Taking a proper look at the man after he gave them the first aid kit, Momo could sense that he now had none of that intense anger and cruelty during his execution of the Nomu. Just as he turned to leave, Momo called out to him out of instinct.
"W-wait… wh…"
He stopped dead in his tracks while Awase was startled that Momo would call out to that living embodiment of violence like that. She thought for a moment with her hand on her heart and clenched her fist tight before speaking her mind.
"... Thank you. For saving us…"
His head tilted to the side slightly as he took in those words. It really made him proud of how kind and well mannered Momo was. Even when faced with a violent and murderous rescuer, she gave him her thanks after the fact. She truly never changed that kind nature of hers ever since they first met all those years ago. With his left arm, he pointed in a direction through the thick growth of trees.
"Go in that direction for about seventy meters. You'll find the road just up ahead. Go right and use it to get yourselves to safety. The way should be clear."
That was all he gave them as he grabbed the ankle of the dead Nomu and dragged the carcass away into the darkness. Awase was certain that guy was going to eat it like some sort of demon lining in the forest, while Momo couldn't help but feel as though she knew him from somewhere before. That swap from being violently angry to the consideration he demonstrated for their well being felt familiar, but the memory was too far away for her to recall.
Elsewhere
The fight between villain and Pussycats came to an end with the heroes being the victors. Spinner was pinned by his arms with Mandalay kneeling on him with her right knee securing him to the ground. Magne was trapped in a coil that was Tiger himself. His soft body quirk lends him the ability to stretch and flatten his body as he wished.
"Dammit, Spinner! This is all your fault!"
"If you wish to blame anyone, blame your evil and cruel nature instead."
Mandalay was yelled at by Spinner with his beliefs being laid bare for the world to hear. Ranting about how it was Stain's will that they purge the fake heroes from the world. It made him come off as obsessive rather than intimidating like Stain was.
"Pardon me, but can you move aside for me?"
A black mist swallowed up the two heroes that were keeping their opponents trapped. Where they went was now all Kurogiri's will.
Deeper Within the Forest
The group of students who were still chasing after the magic quirk user found that their stamina was greatly lacking in comparison to the villains. They were starting to slow down and he wasn't losing any speed. Izuku got desperate to get his friend and was seeing no other way than to risk it all in a single maneuver.
His idea was to simply turn himself and two others into a human projectile to catch the enemy. There was a very vocal protest from Mina as she scolded Izuku over how his body was just about done with how much damage was done to his arm and torso.
"Mina, there's no time to argue! I have to go save him now!"
This was too much for the young lover. She could be there to support him when he was hurt, but now he was just asking to get himself killed.
"Why?! Your left arm and ribs are broken! Why can't it just be me instead of you? I can still fight!"
On his side of the argument, that risk was unacceptable. He would be dead before he would let her risk her life, and that possibility was more likely than he realized.
"No! I can't let you do that! It's too dangerous!"
"Why does it have to be you?! How can you be so blind and dumb to see you're not in any condition to be out there?!"
This went on for a few more moments of them yelling at each other for the first time since the beginning. The others were only able to stand by awkwardly while the villain was making his getaway. Then came the line that just pushed things too far in the wrong direction for Izuku.
"Stop being so selfish and just let me make my own damn decisions! Just back off!"
Sometimes saying something doesn't quite register as being the wrong thing to say until they do their damage. Mina was just stunned to see Izuku be so blind to her predicament. All the others winced when he called her selfish and just pushed her concerns off to the side. Even Izuku could see that maybe that was going too far. She looked like she was just slapped out of nowhere as tears were starting to pour freely out of those eyes he loved to stare into.
"... Fine!"
She stormed off back to the resort while fighting to keep her sobbing to a minimum as she went off on her own.
"Do whatever you want! Just don't bring me into it anymore!"
Nobody really knew what to say after that. Izuku felt guilty, but there was somebody's life at stake, so he urged the other's to stick to the plan. They got into position and were ready to launch all the boys at the villain now a good distance away.
Ochaco gave Izuku a quick brace made from her shirt and a dead branch before using her quirk to make the remaining boys weightless. Ochaco gave Izuku a quick kiss and whispered to him a request to come back alive for all of them. He knew what would happen if he didn't. There was still the matter of apologizing to Mina after they got their friends back.
On the count of three, the trio of boys were flying over the treetops and making a direct course for collision with the kidnapper. If he had turned around a second later, he would have been caught unaware by the violent tackle that sent him to the ground.
Back at the Resort Earlier That Evening
Many of the students were all understandably agitated and wanted to go back outside to help with the rescue. Vlad was stalwart and refused to let any student leave the premises while the danger outside was still at large. Somebody was at the door and it made Kirishima assume that it was just the other teacher coming back from the forest. Since Vlad couldn't be convinced, he assumed that a second opinion may help change the teacher's mind.
There was a sneaking suspicion that blew up into a full blown realization as the shadow through the glass was the wrong height and shape to be Eraser Head. By the closest of calls, a tackle by Vlad was just able to knock the bystanders out of the way of the enormous ball of fire that consumed a quarter of the room.
Everyone was in a state of panic while one student pointed at the villain that entered the room. It was the one from earlier that had set fire to the forest. Dabi was caught off guard as the hero caught the villain and pinned them to the wall with his blood being vented through the openings on the back of his hands. His quirk was a formidable ability to command his own blood as he willed it. Using it to pin Dabi was just to immobilize the villain in order to start questioning him as to their plans.
He was almost too talkative as the intentions of the league were made clear. They sought to break the delicate standards that society has deluded itself into thinking. Condemning those who worshiped the ideals of heroes and doing none of the things that should be done as heroes. To take advantage of their vulnerabilities and to end the heroes oppression.
As Dabi was telling Vlad how their small numbers were going to ruin the current society, Aizawa had come in with a kick and managed to stop Dabi from hitting the room with another explosion of fire. They both managed to bind the villain in one of Eraser Head's scarves and seated him to start questioning him for specifics. All they got was a simple warning of their demise. Without any more information on the league's plans; the next question Aizawa asked was more specific to their unexpected visitor from earlier.
"Fine, you have nothing to say about your friends. But answer me this, that guy in the gas mask…"
That got a reaction from the usually apathetic Dabi. Aizawa could pick up on the sudden stiffness of the villain's shoulders at the mention of the masked stranger.
"Who was he? You seemed to know the guy, yet he doesn't seem to be on your team for some reason. Since you aren't talking about the league, why don't we start talking about him?"
What startled the heroes and the students was when the panicked Dabi started to melt into a puddle of goo. Even their prisoner was just a disposable clone, so without much else to go on they all began to organize and seek the safety of the remaining students.
In the Forest Outside of the Resort
"Damn! You're already dead! What kind of weakling are you?!"
"Huh, guess I'm weaker than I thought."
"What?! Don't put yourself down like that, man! You're plenty strong!"
The neurotic Double had the ability to clone people and had produced a clone of Dabi to sneak into the building. These clones weren't perfect in capturing the power of the original and were fragile enough to disappear if they took enough damage. It was through his quirk that double can feel when a clone bites the dust as well, and it seemed that the clone had done just that.
Dabi requested more copies before the two of them made their way over to the agreed extraction zone for when they were called for extraction. It was more for the sake of efficiency, but truthfully it was due to Touya being afraid to run into Nakamura. His face said nothing of the turmoil that was churning in the bottom of his stomach.
Present Time
Toga cheerfully returned to the extraction zone with the success of only getting one blood extraction. Dabi and Double were already waiting nearby so they were the only three people so far to reach the exit. The conversation between Double and Toga was giving Dabi a bit of a headache as they were both a bit off their rockers for the fire user to deal with willingly.
Behind him, a loud thud marked the arrival of their last possible body to escape. It was Mr. Compress and three of their targets for assassination that landed in a large pile in front of the other villains. Thinking quickly, Dabi warned the man being pinned to the dirt as he produced a flame.
"Mister, dodge."
A geyser of incredibly hot flames shook the group a little as both Shouji and Izuku got burnt. Midoriya's only good arm was enveloped by the flames and left some very painful burns all over the limb. Shouji was even less fortunate with both his wing-like appendages getting just as badly burnt as Izuku's. Only Shoto had managed to dodge while remaining unscathed.
Things truly went insane as Double tried to get the jump on Shoto with his measuring tape, but failed to remember that sneak attacks often were liable to fail if you yelled at your target while doing so. A wave of jagged ice repelled the mentally ill villain while Midoriya was now faced with Toga. She felt rather alive now that she wasn't trying to repress emotions or her bloodlust. It felt exhilarating as she swung her knife at the beaten and bloodied Izuku.
"Hello, Izuku! I'm Toga! I'm sure we'll get along better if you were to bleed for me a little more!"
The nagging sensation she's had from the first second she laid her eyes on him returned as she tried to slice at him. This wasn't like the tingling she got when she thought of her other crushes. It was like she was doing something wrong without knowing what it was. Something about how Izuku kept making her feel like she forgot something.
Shouji managed to get Toga off of the desperate Izuku with a swing of one of his injured arms. He helped up Midoriya and noticed how the masked villain was patting down his pockets in search of something he misplaced. The teenager cheekily revealed the two marbles that the villain brandished to the teenagers earlier and assumed that these tiny things were their friends. Both Tokoyami and Bakugou seemingly were retrieved and made Dabi step up to plate to try and stop the student's escape.
This was foreseen by Compress and adding to the luck of the villains was their transportation arriving just then. About five black portals all opened up next to each of the villains and gave them their opportunity to leave the battle. Double and Toga got into them with the latter blowing Midoriya a kiss. Compress reaffirmed Dabi and told him to make his escape, and even then proved to the hesitant young man what he had done to guarantee their mission's success.
"One fundamental value in magic is when you flaunt something…"
Both the mask and tophat were removed to allow the villain to open his mouth and reveal the actual marbles that contained the two students.
"It's usually done to hide something else."
The marbles that Shouji had in his possession popped and left a massive chunk of ice in its wake. Those two first marbles were decoys that Compress made out of random debris after he caught Bakugou and Tokoyami. He was halfway in his portal with his mask and hat being secured as he bit everyone a farewell.
"With that, I bid you all a good ni-"
Compress was cut off by something that pierced his mask and his mouth. He doubled over in pain and screamed as his mouth had somehow gained two new holes through his cheeks. The two marbles dropped out of his mouth and the trio all went to dive for the marbles. It was perhaps their only chance to save them, and Shouto even managed to grab Tokoyami without fail. Shoto hadn't been so fortunate and had his target snatched out from under him by Dabi.
"How sad, Todoroki Shoto."
Dabu requested that the quirk be canceled while Compress was trying to nurse his wounds. With his face bleeding and spouting swears like a sailor, he snapped his fingers and allowed the young teenagers out of their temporary prisons. While Bakugou was giving Izuku a warning to not follow him out of concern for the boy's life; Touya was peering off to the left and could just make out the figure of who took the impossibly accurate shot at Compress.
Killing the man would have been easier for Nakamura. It would be another confirmed elimination of his remaining targets and the boy's were likely to both be safe. It wasn't his place to show the boy's such horrors so carelessly. That sort of thing can change people like them at such a young and impressionable age. Doing the next best thing and getting Compress to drop the marbles was all he could do. Now it was certain that Bakugou was going to be taken by the league. Touya looked right at him and challenged Haru to take the shot. Haru shook his head no as the young man looked slightly pained to the confirmation that this was indeed Haru. Even with a clear shot, he didn't take it.
Katsuki was the last to disappear into the portal. The boys couldn't believe it for a few moments before realization reared its ugly head. They just lost Bakugou to the League of Villains. A blood curdling scream from Izuku rang out into the night.
Just out of eyeshot was Haru sharing in Izuku's misery. He was unable to stop things from his end, but that didn't mean he was helpless in saving the teenage boy. First he needed to leave before he was further discovered by everybody besides Aoyama. Still frozen in fear of the soaking wet man covered in blood was the navel laser user. Turning around to see such a horrible looking person pull out a handgun and shoot a person through their face didn't exactly scream friendly to Aoyama.
Peering down with a tilt of his head, Haru looked straight at the terrified boy. So much of this was due to his position and who was forcing him to do all these things. In his eyes, there was business still unfinished between him and the boy. He spoke to the boy with the disguise doing it's work changing his voice while he holstered his gun.
"I know that it was you who told them."
That one sentence made his blood go cold in his veins. How was it this guy knew of his betrayal? Who he was and what he wanted from the boy were a complete mystery to the terrified teenager. Perhaps meeting his end at the hands of a blood covered murder was his retribution for his betrayal. Maybe the cold won't be as terrible in the lowest circle of hell as people make it out to be.
"I can offer you freedom. For now, think about what it is you risked today versus what you gained."
At first, Aoyama thought he was hearing things due to being so stressed and terrified of this man. He knew what the masked man told him, but to understand that this was what he wanted for years while having to deal with a man drenched in blood made all of this far less attractive than he would have liked it to be.
"I'll hear your answer the next time we meet."
Haru turned and disappeared into the night. Aoyama was rendered speechless as to who it was that could even stand up to All for One and even save him from the villain's grasp. They say that the devil deals in trades that would leave one empty beyond recognition. What that was may have been a deal waiting for him to take; right now, all he wanted to do was go home.