Hey guys! Welcome back to another chapter of "Through the Rough"! By the time I've started this, Season 2 of Edens Zero just released a new trailer! It's gotten me a lot more motivated to get this arc done and dusted as efficiently as possible.
But at the same time, I really want to make the most of this arc. So I'll do my best to give you the best story possible here. Anyways, enjoy!
THROUGH THE ROUGH
"If they saw what happened at the harbor, then they must've been far away enough to not get involved in the fight!" Rebecca pointed out, running alongside her boyfriend down the street.
"Yeah," he agreed, "I just hope they're okay!" he affirmed.
"Weisz, too…" the Cat Leaper Quirk user added. Down at the harbor, the armored teen exchanged blows with Killer, pushing him back. He smirked however, sharpening his energy blade while licking his lips.
'This guy…' his foe uttered inwardly, 'Even if he's got Hermit's Quirk, there's no way he's this strong, right?' he inquired through his thoughts, dashing forward and readying a wing-like blade upon his right arm.
"Grandee Wing!" he exclaimed, slashing at the Master Code Quirk user, who countered with his own weapon as sparks flew between them.
"Tougher than you look, Weisz Steiner…" he commented, "But I bet I can hold out long enough for you to be just a sitting duck!" he proclaimed, "And that's all the time I—!" All of a sudden, a barrage of blue energy bursts rained down towards them, forcing the two to leap away from each other. Slice noticed from atop the beached boat, blinking in surprise.
"Arsenal!" a voice cried out, getting their attentions as they looked atop the nearby hill to see Izuku and Rebecca there, the latter having her Happy Blasters drawn.
"Tch," Killer scoffed, "Should've figured heroes would show up after that SOS…" he grumbled, "Hey!" he yelled over to Slice, "I'm gonna do my thing now," he decided, "You do whatever now that all the transports are taken care of," he advised of her.
"I don't remember you being in charge…" she retorted with narrowed eyes. Just then, there was a rumbling from within the beached vessel, which she felt as she stumbled a little. Bursting from under the deck were dozens of drones, which flew out and floated around the Master Code Quirk user.
"Your boss might have a searching Quirk, but my drones are more than capable of scouting for the one you're looking for," he affirmed confidently.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Weisz inquired, causing him to look over.
"Oh, probably shouldn't say more…" he realized with a chuckle, "I had fun, Weisz Steiner," he remarked to his foe, turning around, "Maybe we'll tussle again sometime," he inferred, heading off as his drones followed.
"Hey!" the Machina Maker Quirk user yelled, only to get ambushed by a barrage of needle-like hairs from Slice. He managed to form shields upon his arms to block them, enduring them until he no longer felt any resistance. He looked around to find both villains were gone, along with the drones. "Dammit…" he cursed, letting his armor come off as it reformed into his wristwatch-like device.
"Hey, Steiner!" Izuku called out as he leapt over with Rebecca, "Are you okay?!" he asked immediately.
"Yeah, I'm fine…" his blonde-haired classmate responded, "But that redhead destroyed all the boats in the harbor," he pointed out, "We need to get an SOS out to the mainland or something," he advised.
"Not sure how that's gonna happen…" Rebecca admitted to his surprise. She held up her phone, showing that there was no signal. "All comms are down," she noted.
"Seriously?!" Weisz exclaimed.
"Anyway, have you seen Katsuma and Mahoro around here?" Izuku asked, changing the subject, "They called the office about the attack," he pointed out.
"Those kids you were dealing with yesterday?" the Machina Maker Quirk user guessed, "If they were here, they're long gone now," he told his classmates, "Anyways, we got a lot of trouble on our hands, and not just because of those two bad guys," he pointed out seriously, "I'm gonna go after that scar-faced freak," he decided, running off, "You find that redhead and stop her!" he advised on.
"Hey, wait a sec!" Rebecca cried out, "We still need to make sure the kids are safe!" she yelled, only for Weisz to be long gone, "Ugh…" she groaned, "If they left the harbor, then where could they have gone?" she wondered aloud, looking to her boyfriend. He lowered his head in thought for a moment, recalling his conversation with Mrs. Suzumura earlier that morning. He blinked with realization.
"I think I know where!" he affirmed, dashing off in an instant, "Come on!" he beckoned.
"Hey!" his girlfriend shouted, hurrying after him as her markings glowed brightly. Meanwhile, Killer was making his run down the streets towards the town, with his drones flying after him.
"Guess I'll give Wizard and that other guy aerial support," he decided. Without warning though, a pair of his leading drones whipped around and started randomly firing onto the others. They both destroyed over a dozen of them, making their pieces scatter along the street as the Master Code Quirk user grimaced. However, he then smirked.
'Figures as much…' he muttered inwardly, seeing the drones themselves fly over to an approaching figure, being none other than Hermit, 'Only she could overcome my programming with her hacks…' he noted to himself. The Shining Star Hero widened her eyes at the sight of her foe.
"Kira…?" she uttered in disbelief.
X
Back in the shopping center area, the street and the nearby buildings were left mangled from the destruction Hoyo's puppets were causing. And he had cornered the four students fighting against him in front of the local hospital. Yuga was doing his best to blast apart the oncoming puppets to pieces. But his lasers were growing weaker with each one he destroyed. One then failed to reach its target. He buckled over, clutching his aching, growling stomach.
"I'm at my limit…" he grunted out, sounding strained as he crouched down. Minoru was still plucking sticky balls from his now bleeding head, chucking them randomly onto the puppets. But more and more were still converging onto him and his friends. The problem wasn't the puppets themselves. It was how many Hoyo was manipulating.
"Heh," he chuckled, "And now to make you my puppets…" he muttered out, readying more of his bandages. And then… "GUH!" he yelped as something invisible slammed into the right side of his face, "What the…?!" he gasped before being struck again.
"What's… going on?" Minoru grunted in question as he rubbed his hurting head. Yuga blinked in surprise, looking around to find pairs of familiar gloves and boots lying on the ground.
"Hagakure!" he exclaimed.
"She must've snuck around him!" Minoru concluded with a grin. In the meantime, Hoyo was taking a flurry of invisible punches from his transparent foe.
"You're not…" she began, landing a straight punch to his face, "gonna hurt my friends!" she declared fiercely, slamming her left fist into his face.
"Grrr…!" he growled. Some of the bandages around his arms swirled out in front of him. As Toru tried to land another invisible punch, her wrist was ensnared.
"Uh oh…" she uttered out.
"Gotcha'," Hoyo remarked with narrowed eyes, having the bandages wrap around her body as she yelped in agony.
"Hagakure, no!" Yuga and Minoru cried out.
"I'll admit, you caught me by surprise, girl…" Mummy admitted to his now captive foe, "And the fact you're apparently not wearing anything inanimate makes trying to control you a waste of time for me," he mentioned on, catching the boys' attention, "Now then…" he continued, readying another legion of puppets wrapped in his bandages. His opponents yelled with fright as they saw them converge towards him. But all of a sudden, several explosions erupted, blasting most of the puppets apart. Their eyes widened as the smoke started to settle.
"The three of you can't even handle one villain?!" Katsuki's voice questioned angrily from the cloud of dust that was clearing away, "You guys are pathetic!" he snarled at them.
"It's Bakugo!" Minoru exclaimed, sounding relieved. However, another puppet was about to slam down on him from above until…
"HAH!" Eijiro roared as he jumped in and slammed his right fist into it, knocking it away, "Red Riot is on the scene!" he called out. In the meantime, an orange disc was shot out, attaching to a nearby pole as it acted as a lightning rod. It allowed for Denki to fire off bolts of electricity from his right pointer finger to blast apart some more puppets.
"Hey!" he greeted to his classmates, "Heard you could use some help…" he remarked with a smirk.
"Merci!" Yuga thanked graciously.
"Reinforcements…" Hoyo grumbled in realization as his puppets continued their assault. Just then, he barely took notice of a bladed whip lashing toward him, enticing him to hop away as it slashed through the bandages binding Toru, making them unravel.
"Huh?" she uttered, seeing Sister land down in front of her.
"You know, kid," she began, "it's not every day you get to save a girl in her birthday suit," she remarked with a smirk.
"D-Don't make this weird, Sister!" Toru stammered in embarrassment, making the Shining Star Hero chuckle.
"You okay at least?" she inquired.
"Yeah, I think so…" the invisible girl replied in gratitude, getting onto her feet, "Thanks for the save," she said in gratitude, causing Sister to crack a grin.
"You okay?!" Momo's voice called out, catching their attentions as they saw her running over with Mina and Kyoka.
"Great timing, you guys!" Toru complimented, hurrying over to meet them as they had gone to Yuga and Minoru.
"Let's go!" the class deputy said quickly, "We'll get people to safety and provide first aid!" she instructed.
"Right!" Toru agreed while putting on her boots and gloves.
"AP Shot…" Katsuki began, placing his left hand over the palm of his right in the form of a circle to fire off several concentrated blasts onto the oncoming puppets, "Auto-Cannon!" he roared, destroying one after another that came his way. In the meantime, Eijiro hopped around and blew back some puppets with his hardened punches As he was reeling his left fist back for another punch, some bandages wrapped around his arm.
"Crap…!" he gasped. But fortunately, a blast shot from Katsuki ripped the bandage off of before it could spread along his body. "Thanks!" he called out in gratitude, seeing his friend blast away another puppet. However, he was suddenly caught by more of Hoyo's bandages, which lifted him up into the air. "Bakugo!" Eijiro cried out.
"Damn…!" Denki cursed, seeing that they were still surrounded by puppets. One was about to crash into him from above, only to Sister to swoop in and slash it away with her bladed whip.
"We might have a new problem!" she noted in concern, seeing what was happening to Katsuki.
"What the hell…?!" he grunted out as the bandages covered him completely.
"Objects wrapped in my bandages move according to my will…" Hoyo explained, "I can't affect living things, but your body's covered by much that is inanimate," he mentioned, "Your weapons, your armor, your clothes…" he listed off, "They're mine to control…" he stated. Only Katsuki's spiky ash blonde hair stuck from his now controlled form as it spun around and dove down towards his comrades.
"Uh oh…!" Eijiro yelped in realization.
"MOVE!" Sister exclaimed, jumping away with both of them as their entrapped classmate crashed into the ground. They grimaced in frustration.
"Hehehehe…" Hoyo chuckled with narrowed eyes, "Watch as your friend becomes your enemy!" he bellowed, having his army of puppets loom over the trio of heroes, who sweated nervously. How were they to deal with this now?
"Quite the show, huh?" another voice chimed in amidst a clapping. Sister glanced back in surprise, spotting Clown as he hopped down onto the street. "Of course, I'm sure the Life of Edens would have no trouble dealing with such a foe…" he remarked, "Me, on the other hand…" he continued, making his right hand fold down as a cannon came out, much to the shock of the others.
"Move!" Sister yelled just before the android fired a blast her way, only for her to jump back to dodge it.
"Holy crap!" Denki yelped out.
"So this guy's got cannons coming out of his arms?!" Eijiro exclaimed in shock.
"I don't think that's all there is to him…" Sister admitted with a grimace. She had a foreboding feeling about the foe before her, but couldn't place why…
"Errraaaahhh!" Chojuro grunted loudly as he threw out his right fist at Mashirao back at the beach. He quickly threw up his tail to block the punch, but it actually blew him back several yards before he hit the sand and tumbled along it.
"Tailman!" Shiki cried out, dashing over and catching him from behind.
"Ugh…" he groaned in agony, bleeding from his head.
"Do it now!" Tsuyu yelled. Down below, Mezo had joined the battle, forming dozens of arms from his tentacles, about to land a flurry of punches onto Chojuro.
"Octoblow!" he exclaimed, only for the villain to suddenly grasp him by his face and lift him off of the ground with just his left hand.
"You're an ugly one…" he remarked upon inspecting the Dupli-Arms Quirk user, "Bet you get bullied a lot for being so funny-looking," he added disdainfully, "You ever blame your parents for the crappy genes?" he wondered, squeezing tighter on his masked foe's head as he grunted in agony.
"Tentacole!" Shiki screamed. Thankfully, Tenya suddenly sped in, leaping up and slamming his left leg upside the wolf-headed man's head.
"Hmph!" he scoffed, letting go of Mezo.
"I've got you!" the class representative assured, grabbing his multi-armed classmate and moving him aside quickly.
"Just leave this guy to us!" Shoto called out upon arriving, swinging up his right arm to make ice surge up towards Chojuro.
"Take care of Ojiro!" Hanta advised as he ran in, firing off strands of tape from his elbows. As Shoto's ice encased the villain's feet, the tape wrapped around his upper body, binding his arms. But he seemed indifferent to being caught.
"Now!" Tenya yelled. Up above and flying thanks to Dark Shadow, Fumikage was approaching the beach with Rikido being carried in his arms. "Tokoyami, Sato! Go!" the class representative called out to them. The bird-headed teen let his friend go, allowing him to dive down towards Chojuro.
"SUGAR RUSH!" he roared as his muscles were charged with energy, ready to unleash a flurry of powerful blows onto his foe. But he was prepared.
"You think that'll hold me?!" he roared, ripping the tape and ice off of himself with just the brute strength of his arms. Rikido quickly crossed his over his face, blocking the heavy punch from Chojuro. However, it blew him back instantaneously as he flew past his classmates. He tumbled over the sand before crashing hard into the nearby rocks.
"SUGAR MAN!" Shiki screamed.
"He's down!" Tenya called out, enticing the Zero Gravity Quirk user to hurry over and get to Rikido.
"All right, enough…" Chojuro growled, catching the attentions of the students as they grimaced to see him approach, "Kids or not, I don't feel like dealing with this many heroes," he remarked with a smirk. Before the others could make a move, Shiki dashed past them.
"Granbell!" Tenya exclaimed. The wolf-headed man blinked in surprise upon hearing the name.
"Magimech Attack…" he began, rearing his right fist back as it was cloaked in a greenish light, "GRAVITY FIST!" he bellowed, swinging it out. The villain brought up his left arm to block the attack, resulting in a shockwave of air that blew about wildly.
"Heh," he chuckled, "So you're the grandson of the long lost Demon King Hero, huh?" he guessed, causing him to blink in surprise. However, he gnashed his teeth together.
"You're not gonna hurt my friends!" he proclaimed, blowing Chojuro back as he slid along the sand, coming to a stop. He chuckled, seeing both him and Homura step forward. Meanwhile, Brigandine lied in wait.
Elsewhere on the island, Mahoro was holding onto her little brother by his left wrist as they ran down the street. After seeing the destruction done to the harbor, she knew that she needed to get Katsuma and herself somewhere safe. At the end of the road ahead was a small house.
"Let's wait at home until the heroes show up!" Mahoro insisted, "If they can, that is…" she grumbled in correction. Her little brother still had hope that Izuku or someone else would arrive to find them.
"Mahoro, maybe we should've waited by the harbor…" he suggested, getting her attention.
"It's too dangerous there!" she pointed out in reply, "The best thing we can do for ourselves is to lay low until someone comes to help!" she added seriously. Katsuma didn't seem convinced. He could see the fear in his sister's eyes. They got closer to the house. "Okay, we'll wait inside and—!" Without warning, their home was suddenly enveloped in a massive explosion. The shockwave emanating from the blasts blew their sunhats off into the wind.
"O-Our house…" Katsuma stammered out as he and Mahoro fell onto their rear ends, looking at the smoky remains of their home. A figure was approaching from the dust with glowing yellow eyes. It was Nine. Behind him was Wizard. The children recognized him from the harbor, holding onto each other as they shook with fright. He scanned them.
"Ah…" he sighed in realization. With his eyes, he was able to deduce exactly which one of the children he was looking for. It was Katsuma. "You're the one…" he said, walking towards them.
"Wh-What do you want?!" Mahoro stammered out in question frantically.
"I'm here for the boy," Nine answered simply, continuing forward. Katsuma grimaced in fright. "Don't worry, I won't kill you…" the villain assured, "I just need your Quirk…" he stated.
"No! Stay back!" Mahoro screamed. She conjured up a pink Chinese guardian lion that lunged out towards Nine. He didn't flinch, letting it go through him before it faded away into mist.
"Your illusions don't scare me, girl…" he remarked uncaringly, proceeding forward, "Just give me the boy, and you won't get hurt…" he promised. His shadow loomed over the frightened children as they shut their eyes, holding each other tight. At that moment, Izuku leapt in and grabbed them both, jumping away into the trees.
"Deku!" they exclaimed simultaneously in surprise as they were heading towards the clearing. Their hero had actually come after all. And not a moment too soon… Nine stared at the freckled teen with glowing yellow eyes.
"A Quirk that gives him super strength…" he noted, proceeding into the small forest.
"Gotcha'!" Rebecca's voice yelled as she sped by, firing off bursts of blue light from her Happy Blasters onto the masked man. However, Wizard slid in front of him, spinning his spear around to block them off with ease. Grimacing, the Cat Leaper Quirk user hurried into the woods after her boyfriend and the children.
"Interesting…" Nine uttered, narrowing his glowing eyes, "Her Quirk seems to be an Ether-type…" he concluded.
"Rebecca Bluegarden…" Wizard said, getting his attention, "She may not seem like much of a threat, but she is likely one of the most dangerous people upon the island we'll have to face," he told his colleague.
"How so?" he inquired curiously. Meanwhile, Izuku had already reached the other end of it, letting go of Katsuma and Mahoro as he took a knee.
"You two okay?" he asked them out of concern, "Think you can run?" he questioned on, giving them a reassuring smile.
"Yeah…" they responded with nods.
"Good," the freckled teen said, nodding as well, "then get out of here quickly," he advised.
"'Kay…" the kids replied, with Mahoro taking Katsuma by the hand and running off with him. At that moment, Rebecca arrived.
"I think they're on his way," she told her boyfriend quickly as he stood up.
"I need you to go with them," he insisted as he turned around towards the pathway into the woods. She blinked in surprise.
"Wait, Izu—!"
"They'll need someone with them in case I can't slow this guy down," her boyfriend interjected seriously, "Once you find our classmates, have the kids stay with them," he advised, "They're probably evacuating the other islanders, too…" he mentioned. Rebecca stared back at him with shaking eyes. She didn't want to leave him to face the villain alone… But she understood that there was a more pressing matter at hand.
"I promise I'll be back," she assured, putting her hand onto his shoulder. He put his hand onto hers.
"And I'll try not to get hurt," he promised back with a grin. She smiled a little, leaning in and pecking his cheek with her lips for good luck before letting go. She then ran off after Katsuma and Mahoro. With that, Izuku put his focus onto the woods. Inside, Nine and Wizard were walking along the small dirt path.
"Stop!" the freckled teen shouted in demand, standing at the very end of the pathway as sparks crackled around his body. The villains stayed on course. "Why are you targeting those kids?!" their new opponent questioned angrily.
"Stand aside," Nine ordered simply, still walking.
"That's not gonna happen!" Izuku vehemently refused. Nine raised his right arm towards him.
"I'll have to kill you if you're in the way," he bluntly remarked, letting his fingernails glow a bright purple, "Wizard, find the children," he advised of his colleague.
"Understood," he responded, heading off to the side. With a grimace, Izuku lunged at him with his right foot at the ready. Reacting quickly, Nine raised up his left hand, creating two layered yellow energy barriers to block the kick, allowing for Wizard to get away.
'An invisible wall! Like it's made of air!' the freckled teen noted through his thoughts as wind blew about fiercely from his impact with the barrier. Nine then swung his left arm to throw his foe off to the side in a grunt, letting his layered barriers go down. He then shot off purple-colored lasers from his fingernails, which Izuku managed to dodge as they pierced through the trees and shrubbery in small explosions. He quickly took cover behind another tree. 'Lasers from his fingertips?' he questioned to himself in confusion, 'Those two Quirks don't seem like they're related…' he pointed out inwardly, glancing back to see the masked man approaching. The way he carried himself caused the One For All inheritor to sweat a little. He recognized the feeling. 'He almost reminds me of… All For One…!' he admitted through his thoughts. Quickly shaking his head to recompose himself, Izuku balled his fists. He needed to keep his foe occupied…
X
"I don't believe it…" Hermit uttered in disbelief as her eyes shook at the sight of Killer, "You're… alive…?" she questioned, quite stunned.
"You sound surprised… Inja," he responded, making her tense up, "Of course, I'm not the same high school kid who used to pull pranks with his hacking…" he mentioned.
"Ziggy told us… that you and so many others couldn't have your memories restored because of your Quirks…" the Shining Star Hero pointed out, trembling as she clenched her fists.
"And he was right," Killer confirmed, "We got bits and pieces put together, basic things like that," he told her, poking his head, "But in the end, we could never get our full memories," he noted.
"…What are you doing here, Kira?" Hermit asked as the drones she had taken control of floated beside her.
"Is it not obvious, Inja Ronri?" her foe inquired back, "I'm here to kill you…" he declared, readying his energy blade over his arm as he suddenly dashed forward. A light shrouded the Shining Star Hero as she equipped her Battle Dress.
"Aerial Move!" she exclaimed, suddenly leaping high into the air as her foe gasped with surprise. She then landed upon one of his drones, pressing her hand against it. The others fired onto her, enticing her to leap away from one to another, causing them to destroy themselves in the process.
"Tch," Killer scoffed, having a holographic screen appear over his left arm as he held it out, "Machines only work best when they have to be told what to do…" he muttered, pressing a few icons upon the screen to make the drones fly back as Hermit leapt towards them, "Now fire!" he commanded. The drones unleashed flurries of bullets towards the Shining Star Hero, but she maneuvered herself around them, landing upon the ground and sliding to a stop.
"Guns Harvest!" she exclaimed. All of a sudden, the drones were aimed for Killer. He chuckled.
"Your programming's as good as I've heard…" he remarked.
"You're here to kill me?" Hermit inquired with a glare, "I doubt that's the only reason you came to this island…" she muttered. The Dark Star chuckled again.
"We owe a favor to some friends," he noted in response, "They wanted to come here because their boss needs to take a Quirk from somebody," he mentioned to his foe's surprise.
'Take a Quirk…?!' she gasped inwardly, 'That sounds like All For One!' she realized, 'But he's in prison, isn't he?!' she presumed through her thoughts.
"I think that's enough chatting, don't you?!" Killer exclaimed as he dashed forward. Regaining her focus, Hermit had the drones release flurries of bullets towards him. However, he was analyzing their trajectory the whole time, dodging them with ease as he closed in, smiling all the while. "You're not the only with flexibility, Inja!" he roared, closing in on her, "And you've got nothing else to fight me with!" he proclaimed, drawing his energy blade and slashing her right hand off.
"AHHH!" she screamed, seeing her extremity clatter onto the streets as other pieces scattered about. She clutched the remainder of her arm in agony as she stumbled back a few steps. Her foe chuckled.
"Oh come on, why keep up the act now?" he inquired, "We both aren't human," he pointed out, "Or did Ziggy make it so that you could feel pain, too?" he wondered aloud. Hermit clenched her teeth together in frustration.
"Hey, jerkface!" a voice yelled, getting the pair's attention as they turned to see Weisz approaching fast in his Arsenal armor, enlarging his right forearm and closing his hand into a fist, "You and I got unfinished business!" he roared out angrily, closing in.
"Well, that's a pity…" Killer grumbled, tapping a few icons on his holographic screen, "But I guess I'll take my leave now and let you sort this out," he told the Shining Star Hero, who blinked in surprise. Just then, the other drones turned and started firing onto Weisz, who leapt up at them.
"Metallica… EXPLOSION!" he bellowed, punching them to pieces in an instant thanks to the jets propelling his enlarged fist forward. A few drones flew off afterwards, and the Dark Star had vanished. "Damn…" the Machina Maker Quirk user muttered as he came down, letting his armor peel away into his wristwatch-like device.
"Weisz…" Hermit uttered, getting his attention as he turned to spot her, causing him to gasp in surprise.
"Oh shit, Hermit!" he exclaimed, seeing her missing hand, "Are you alright?!" he inquired in panic.
"I'll be fine…" the android affirmed, "Grab my hand and any pieces you can find," she insisted of him, causing him to blink in confusion.
"Uh, I don't see how that's gonna help when—" He stopped himself upon realizing something. The Master Code Quirk user wasn't bleeding.
"Come on, we need to get to Witch and the others," she advised seriously, making him snap out of his stupor.
"R-Right…" he stuttered, picking up her hand from the ground, "So…" he started to say, only for Hermit to sigh.
"I promise I'll explain everything later," she vowed, "Now let's move," she ordered, hurrying off. Picking up all of her pieces on the ground, Weisz followed her. He had no idea what was going on. But he had a feeling he'd find out soon enough. Back at the shopping center, the controlled Katsuki was diving down again at the trio of Sister, Eijiro, and Denki.
"Look out!" the Hardening Quirk user yelled, enticing his friends to jump back with him before they could be struck by their controlled comrade's right fist, which shattered the concrete ground.
"That dude's controlling him…!" Denki noted in frustration, "What are we supposed to do about it?" he wondered aloud.
"You're asking me?!" Eijiro questioned back. Sister grimaced.
'If this guy's able to trap people in his bandages whether or not he can affect them,' she began to herself, looking out at the slew of puppets that Hoyo was manipulating, 'who knows how many he could have as hostages!' she inwardly realized, tightening the grip on her whip's hilt, 'Not to mention this freakshow here…' she mentioned through her thoughts, looking over at Clown, who chuckled, 'He's definitely not an ordinary guy…' she noted inwardly as she narrowed her eyes. All of a sudden, burgundy bandages started wrapping around Denki and Eijiro's legs.
"Not good!" the Electrification Quirk user exclaimed, trying to fire off another blast of lightning from his pointer finger, only for his arm to end up ensnared by the bandages. Eijiro found himself restrained as well.
"Hey!" Sister called out in fright, flipping back to evade the bandages coming towards her, slashing them back with her bladed whip, "Let them go, you bastard!" she shouted.
"Why don't we have fun instead, Imoto?" Clown suggested as he lunged over. The Heal Atomizer Quirk user's eyes widened.
"What'd you call me…?" she inquired quietly. She swung her bladed whip out at him, only for it to be countered by a red ribbon that the Dark Star wielded. He giggled, while she growled. "Who the hell are you?!" she snarled in question.
"Dammit…!" Eijiro cursed, trying to free himself with just his bare strength. But it was no use. The bandages were too strong…
"Make your choice," Hoyo implored of his foes, catching their attentions, "You can give up and willingly become my puppets…" he offered, "or I can use your friend to defeat you!" he declared fiercely as he had the controlled Katsuki prepared to launch another attack. Sister noticed.
"As if!" she shouted, enveloping herself within a golden flash of light before equipping her own Battle Dress. She readied a second bladed whip in her left hand, lashing them out wildly. "Paradise Whip Frenzy!" she exclaimed, slashing through the bandages with ease and causing the puppets to come undone, save for the controlled Katsuki.
"Ooh!" Clown exclaimed, sounding impressed.
"Ah…!" Hoyo gasped, growling in frustration, "I should've expected a pro hero to be more of a challenge than most…" he muttered out.
"Which is why I'm here to make things all the easier for you…" Clown chimed in, drawing a pair of ribbons that wrapped around the Shining Star Hero's waist.
"Hey, what the?!" she gasped out, only to wind up yanked just inches away from the Dark Star as his ball nose touched hers.
"Let's take this dance somewhere else, my dear Imoto…" he insisted, spinning her around before chucking her right through a building.
"Sister!" Eijiro cried out.
"This is so bad…" Denki admitted with a grimace, "Without her here, we're in way over our heads against this guy…" he noted as he stepped back.
"Guess those freaks are good for something after all…" Mummy realized, "Now then…" he continued, aiming his hands forward, "I think I'll let your friend finish you—!" He stopped himself upon noticing the puppet above him squirming frantically.
"Stop… screwing AROUND!" Katsuki's voice roared, managing to lift the puppet's right arm before it started to bulge. Bright lights emitted from it before it became engulfed in a massive explosion. Eijiro and Denki braced themselves from the force of the blast as fire and smoke rained about. Flaming pieces of burgundy bandages floated down towards Hoyo as he looked out and gasped. From within the smoke, the Explosion Quirk had freed himself, despite the numerous scrapes and small burns along his body. "Mummy bastard…" he muttered out, breathing heavily, "Don't underestimate me!" he shouted angrily. The villain took notice of the fact that his right grenade bracer was missing from his gloved arm.
'He sacrificed his own gear!' he realized inwardly, sounding panicked.
"Nice one, Bakugo!" Denki complimented with a thumbs-up.
"Are you okay?!" Eijiro inquired in concern.
"Tch, I'm fine…" Katsuki scoffed as a response, "Where the hell's Sister?" he questioned, noticing that the Shining Star Hero was gone.
"Another villain snatched her and took her away," the Electrification Quirk user replied, "It… kinda sounded like he knew her, too…" he mentioned to his classmate's surprise.
"Should you really be worrying about your teacher right now?!" Hoyo inquired, having his remaining puppets fly towards Katsuki. He huffed, off a blast from his palms to propel himself towards his foe, who gasped. Reacting quickly, the villain swung his arms quickly, having the puppets converge on their target. He dodged each one, incinerating them one after another with explosions.
"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" he roared. Hoyo jumped back as his opponent flew rapidly through the smoke towards him with another fierce, now having no more puppets to deal with. The Mummification Quirk user quickly drew the shortsword at his back, raising it up in an attempt to slice his foe from above. But he moved aside to evade it, planting himself onto the side of a building before blasting himself down and grabbing the villain by his face, slamming him against a nearby wall as it cracked up massively. "Got a lot of sweat stored up, ya know…" he remarked, readying the grenade pin in his left bracer, "And you get a maximum blast!" he declared as he grasped the pin, "DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!" he bellowed upon pulling it. Sparks emitted from the hole before it unleashed a massive blast that shattered the concrete wall and burned through the yard beyond it. Hoyo was left helpless as he took the brunt of its destructive power, becoming engulfed in its flames. Any remaining puppets unraveled, with cars and vending machines crashing onto the ground. As the smoke cleared, the other three students looked over to see what had happened.
"Whoa, nice one, Bakugo!" Eijiro called out, seeing that his friend had emerged victorious as Hoyo lied upon the ground unconscious.
"You kept collateral damage to a minimum, too…" Denki commented.
"There you are!" Momo's voice called out as she and Kyoka had arrived on the scene.
"You good?" the Earphone Jack Quirk user asked out of concern.
"Yeah…" Katsuki responded while holding his right arm, "that was too easy…" he muttered out in claim.
"Are the islanders okay?" Eijiro asked of the others.
"Yes, we evacuated them to the Western District," Momo answered thoroughly. Just then, a blast caught their attentions. Katsuki was flying off.
"Wait, where are you going?!" Kyoka shouted in question.
"I'll leave the rescuing to you!" Katsuki replied, propelling himself with another blast from his gloved palms, "I'm gonna go crush the other villains…" he declared firmly with anger in his eyes, "You find Sister, got it?!" he insisted of his classmates.
"Wait, Sister?" Momo said in surprise.
"Ergh…" the Shining Star Hero grunted from the abandoned building she had been flung into, getting onto her feet. Clown was sauntering towards her, smiling all the while. She tightened the grip she had on her whips. "I'll ask one more time…" she began with a glare, "Who… are you?" she questioned. The Dark Star stopped.
"Fractured ribs, a collapsed lung, even a few punctures to significant organs…" he listed off to her surprise, "You were in quite bad shape," he remembered, "Perhaps you were lucky to have me there to operate on you," he mentioned. Sister's eyes widened and shook.
"Doc… Piero?" she presumed out of disbelief. He chuckled.
"Back then, I told you it was fine to call me Shi," he noted to her, "But well, I guess I've outgrown that name," he realized, "Call me Clown," he requested, snapping his fingers. The whole world around Sister went dark instantly. She looked around, seeing nothing but blackness in sight.
"H-Hey!" she stammered, "Where the hell'd you go, you bastard?!" she inquired angrily, trembling a little.
'That can't be the doc… no way…' she tried telling herself, gripping her whips tightly, 'Ziggy himself told me that he couldn't restore his memories when he recovered him…' she noted inwardly, 'And yet…' she continued through her thoughts, thinking of the practitioner's face smiling at her. All of a sudden, she felt something come onto her left arm. She looked over to see a tentacle wrapping around it.
"Let go!" she yelled, only for her right arm to get ensnared by a tentacle as well. Her legs were next, preventing her from moving as she dropped her whips. She grunted as she tried to free herself, only to see something looming over her. Her eyes widened as she saw the menacing, dark-skinned visage of her foe, who seemed massive.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHA!" he cackled. Sister actually seemed afraid.
"D-Doc…?" she stuttered out. All of a sudden, tentacles thrust themselves into her mouth, muffling her screams.
"Welcome to the Eternal Nightmare, Imoto Aiburi," the Dark Star introduced as he stepped forward, "What you're experiencing is a torture unlike most you've ever dealt to villains before…" he pointed out, grinning sadistically as tears were starting to pour out from the Shining Star Hero's eyes, "Tell me, how does it feel to remember everything that happened that day… and have it be kept a secret for so long?" he inquired of her as her stomach bulged, "Do you enjoy that torture for yourself, too?" he wondered before small, parasitic monsters burst out from the Heal Atomizer Quirk user's stomach.
"Sister!" a voice cried out, getting Clown's attention. In reality, he was still in the building as the Shining Star Hero was restrained by his ribbons, trembling as her eyes were shut. Her foe looked back to see Kyoka, Eijiro, Denki and Momo running over. He scoffed.
'Damn…' he cursed, 'When I trap someone in Nightmare, I can only bring another person in by undoing the current one,' he noted to himself, 'I guess I'll be satisfied for now,' he decided inwardly, snapping his fingers. The ribbons around Sister came undone, retreating into the ports of the Dark Star's arms. She fell onto the ground in a heap, twitching all the while.
"Heehee…" her foe chuckled, "I'll see you again soon, Imoto…" he whispered, playfully skipping off.
"Over there!" Kyoka cried out, "I heard someone!" she noted as she and her classmates hurried into the building. They gasped to find their teacher lying on the ground.
"Sister!" Eijiro and Momo screamed. The Shining Star Hero trembled, whimpering from the nightmare she had just suffered. Back on the beach, the group fighting Chojuro wasn't faring much better…
"Errrrraahhh!" the wolf-headed man roared as he struck an incoming wave of ice with his left fist, shattering it to pieces instantly as a shockwave of wind blew about afterwards. Shoto crossed his arms over his face, bracing himself from the wind. All of a sudden, he found himself about to be struck as Chojuro lunged out at him. Thankfully, Hanta quickly shot out tape to his classmate, taking hold and yanking him away in the nick of time as their foe's fist collided with the sand in a fierce blast of dust.
"Dammit!" the red-and-white-haired teen cursed as he landed down, allowing Hanta to retract his tap back into his elbows, "He's holding us back with raw power!" he pointed out.
"Iida… any ideas?" the Tape Quirk user asked, standing alongside the class representative with Fumikage, Shoto, Homura and Shiki.
"What we should be thinking about right now is how to keep this monster occupied," the Engine Quirk user responded quickly, "And buy time for the evacuation," he added. From afar, the rest of the citizens were hurriedly running up the hill from the beach, with Tsuyu still reeling up any other kids with her tongue, while Ochaco was floating the injured Mashirao and Rikido to safety. The dust cloud blew apart as Chojuro lunged forwards.
"I'm going next!" Homura decided, steadying her blade, "Warrior Maiden Single-Sword Attack…" she began as she launched forward, thrusting her blade out at her target, "SNAKE BITE!" she exclaimed fiercely. However, the villain bashed through her, knocking her back in an instant.
"HOMURA!" Shoto screamed, running over to catch her before they tumbled over the sand together, barely managing to bring themselves to a stop together.
"You guys!" Shiki cried out, gritting his teeth in frustration as he glared over at the class' foe.
"BLACK ABYSS!" Fumikage roared, having Dark Shadow cover the upper half of his body before thrusting his hands out. The shadowy entity stretched out its claws towards their foe.
"Recipro… BURST!" Tenya exclaimed, unleashing flames from the exhausts on his legs as he kicked some nearby boulders mightily, shattering them to pieces as they flew out at Chojuro.
"Heh," he scoffed, coming to a stop and lifting up his left foot. He stomped down, causing a powerful surge to rise up and block the incoming attacks, much to the shock of the goth teen and the class representative as their eyes widened. Shiki growled again.
"Keep him busy!" he called out to Hanta as he flew up, "I've got an idea!" he yelled as he dashed into the sky.
"Wha-?! Granbell?!" the Tape Quirk exclaimed in shock.
"Not putting up much of a fight, heroes?!" Chojuro roared in question as he charged the students. Shoto stood up with Homura, igniting his right hand in fire before launching a stream of flames towards him. He quickly countered with his own fiery blast that he expelled from his very mouth, engulfing those of his opponent. Reacting as quickly as he could, the red-and-white-haired teen stepped his right foot down to form a makeshift barricade of ice to shield himself and his friends. From afar, people screamed in fright. Koji and Mezo were helping to defend them in case their comrades couldn't.
"We can't keep this up forever…" Tenya noted in frustration, hoping that all the islanders would be able to escape during their battle. The fire then subsided.
"Ha!" Chojuro laughed, "You kids aren't even close to being heroes…" he muttered as the ice wall came crashing down to reveal his four scraped-up foes. He blinked.
'Where's that Granbell kid?' he questioned inwardly, noticing that she was gone. Suddenly, a loud boom echoed overhead.
"What was that?!" Fumikage asked as he and the others whipped around and looked upwards. Tenya gasped. Coming down speedily was none other than the Satan Gravity Quirk user, whose hair had become white, both his arms were darkened with purple markings, and a pair of black horns with the same markings appeared out of his head. His clothing also changed into a sleeveless, high-collared tunic and his bandage is gone, revealing a small scar.
"Heh," Chojuro chuckled upon noticing, "Okay kid, I'll take that challenge…" he remarked, taking a ready stance. A purple aura shrouded Shiki's right fist as he clenched it tightly.
"Magimech Attack…" he started to bellow, curving herself to zoom straight towards his target, "SUPER GRAVITY FIST!" he roared, closing in and thrusting his fist out. A figure lunged in between him and Chojuro, followed by a massive burst of sand, enticing everyone else around to brace themselves.
"Did he do it?" Hanta wondered aloud, while Shoto and Homura stood back up. The latter of the two narrowed her eyes… and then gasped. The dust settled, revealing that Shiki's fist had collided with the crossed arms of Brigandine, who stood in front of a grimacing Chojuro.
"H-Hey!" he stammered out, "I don't remember asking you for help!" he shouted.
"If you had taken this attack, you would've been bested," Brigandine retorted in response to his shock, "I should know," he pointed out, "This is the grandson of the Demon King Hero after all…" he mentioned, causing Shiki to perk up in surprise.
"You… know my grandpa, too?" he inquired.
"Shiki, move!" Homura screamed as she charged in with her blade at the ready.
"Kogetsu, wait!" Tenya cried out, only for the Soul Blade Quirk user to lunge out and slash at the bulky android. However, he merely held up his arm to block her attack, much to her shock as her eyes widened.
"My Quirk is Armor," her foe stated, "I'm practically invulnerable," he mentioned, swinging his arms out to blow both her and Shiki back. They tumbled along the sand, coming to a stop. The Satan Gravity Quirk user transformed back to normal, letting out a groan as he keeled over.
"Granbell, no!" Fumikage exclaimed, going over to his side.
"Even with Overdrive on his side, that guy took it like it was nothing!" Hanta pointed out in panic.
"Damn…" Tenya cursed, "As if the other one wasn't bad enough for us…" he muttered, clenching his fists tightly. Elsewhere on the island, Witch was hurrying down the streets, equipping her Battle Dress in a flash of light.
'I can't help but feel as if this is only the beginning…' she admitted to herself, 'Just what are these villains after here?' she wondered inwardly as she ran onward.
X
"Huh… huh…" Rebecca breathed as she ran, spotting the Shimano children in the distance, "Hey!" she called out, getting their attentions as they turned to see her approach.
"You're that lady…" Mahoro noted aloud.
"Where's Mister Deku?" Katsuma asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, he's taking care of that bad guy," Rebecca assured in response, "In the meantime, I'm gonna get you two somewhere safe," she vowed, reaching over to pick them up.
"I think not," a voice chimed in, causing her to gasp in surprise. A black energy like lightning shot out and struck the ground beside the three, sending them flying from the impact. Reacting quickly, the Cat Leaper Quirk user grabbed both Katsuma and Mahoro, holding them close as she landed on her back, sliding to a stop.
"Agh…" she groaned, sitting up with them. She widened her eyes to see Wizard approaching, with an energy coursing through his staff. She clenched her teeth, grabbing one of her Happy Blasters.
"Stay back!" she yelled, firing a few shots, The Dark Star easily deflected them, opening his slit eyes.
"Rebecca Bluegarden…" he said, making the Cat Leaper Quirk user blink in surprise, "We wish no harm to you or your fellow classmates here on the island," he affirmed, "Our goal is merely to take the child," he mentioned, looking towards a frightened Katsuma. Rebecca put her arm around him as he trembled.
"And why should I believe you?" she questioned, glaring back at her foe.
"…I suppose you make a good point," he admitted, aiming his staff forward, "Be that as it may, you only have so many options," he pointed out, "Either give up the child and live…" he offered, "or die," he threatened. The Cat Leaper Quirk user grimaced. But at that moment, she noticed a figure leaping onto the scene just behind Wizard.
"Lightning Ether!" Witch exclaimed, unleashing yellow bolts of lightning that converged and struck the Dark Star, who she landed down in front of as she faced Rebecca.
"Witch…" she uttered with relief, standing up with the Shimano children in hand, "You made it…" she pointed out.
"I apologize for the delay…" the Shining Star Hero said, "Communications have apparently been brought down," she mentioned on, taking notice of the children in her student's arms, "I take it these children are being the ones targeted?" she presumed.
"Yeah, that's what that guy said…" Rebecca replied with a nod.
"Take them to the agency," Witch advised, "We'll establish it as our shelter for the citizens for the time being," she decided. Meanwhile, Wizard stepped forward.
"Kokai Majo," he said, causing the Shining Star Hero to widen her eyes. She instantly recognized his voice. She slowly turned… and found herself face-to-face with her long lost husband. "We meet at last," he confirmed. Time stopped around the Sorcery Quirk user. Memories flooded her head as she recalled the moments she spent with the person she loved… right up until their deaths.
"Yari…?" she uttered out. Rebecca blinked in surprise.
"Hey… do you know this guy, Witch?" she inquired.
"I suppose you could say that she knew me in my previous life," Wizard responded, getting her attention, "But I am that man no longer," he affirmed, making energy crackle around the tip of his staff, "My name is Wizard, the Spear of Edens," he proclaimed, jabbing his weapon into the Shining Star Hero's torso, "And my mission after this…" he continued as he zapped his foe with electricity, causing her to shriek with pain, "is to eliminate the remaining Shining Stars," he declared.
"WITCH, NO!" Rebecca screamed, while the Shimano children watched on in disbelief. The Sorcery Quirk user gritted her teeth, managing to stick her right hand out before her foe was suddenly encased in a mass of ice.
"Huh… huh…" she breathed out. Rebecca could tell that she was panicked. There was a lingering feeling that she was suppressing.
"Witch, do you want me to—?!"
"JUST GO!" the Shining Star Hero yelled with a wave of her arm, interjecting the Cat Leaper Quirk user as she flinched with surprise. She grimaced, hurrying off with the children in her arms. The ice shattered around Wizard as he stepped forward, letting his spear reverberate with energy.
"I'm sure you remember my Quirk, do you not?" he inquired of his opponent, who trembled.
"Yari, stop this…" she insisted, "I don't want to have to fight you!" she proclaimed as tears were pricking her eyes.
"You have no choice… Witch," Wizard responded, "Black Blaze!" he exclaimed, engulfing his opponent in a column of dark fire.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she shrieked in agony. From afar, Rebecca grimaced. She wanted to turn back and help… even though her teacher told her to run. Memories of being raised by the Shining Star Hero flashed through her head, all the way up to coming to U.A. to study in order to be a hero one day.
"Lady?" Mahoro said, getting her attention, "Are… you gonna go back and help her?" she inquired. The Cat Leaper Quirk user came to a stop. She had no idea what to do next. Inhaling a deep breath, she sighed.
"Will you two… head right to the agency?" she inquired of the children as she set them down onto the ground upon their feet. They both nodded. "I'll be back," she promised, turning and making her markings expand over her body, which changed. Her outfit became a blue leotard with detached sleeves, a dark trim and no footwear. Her hair turned white with a tint of a light blue color, she gained a pair of cat ears on her head, and obtained a cat tail with a ring that sported energy lines that were shaped like a heart above. She also had light blue markings across her legs and upper arms, and a pair resembling cat whiskers across her face. Opening her eyes, they burned a bright blue as bio-electricity crackled around her body. Instantaneously, she sped forward, much to the amazement of the Shimano children.
"AGH!" Witch yelped as she fell upon her side, sliding to a stop with a grimace. Wizard approached her.
"This is rather disappointing," he admitted as a lightning-like energy crackled around his staff, "I have yet to even equip my Battle Dress like yourself," he mentioned, coming to a stop as the Sorcery Quirk user staggered onto her feet, breathing heavily.
"Yari…" she uttered out, "Please…" she begged, her eyes shaking as tears welled up in them.
"…Yari Majo died that day," the Dark Star retorted, "As of now, there is only Wizard," he declared, striking her again with another blast of lightning.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" she shrieked in agony. For a moment, it seemed as if her foe was hesitant. But he continued to bombard her with the lightning, agonizing her further. He failed to take notice of the figure emerging from the shrubbery, being Rebecca as she swung her right leg out.
"Bellholy Slash!" she exclaimed, kicking him away as the lightning around Witch subsided. She looked up and widened her eyes.
"Rebecca, you—!"
"Yell at me later, please!" the Cat Leaper Quirk user insisted, interrupting her teacher as she blinked in surprise, "I could tell that you weren't up to fighting this guy…" she pointed out, "I won't ask why now," she promised, "Just let me help you stop him!" she begged, "I can't let you throw your life away!" she exclaimed.
"Rebecca…" Witch uttered.
"How noble of you, Rebecca Bluegarden," Wizard remarked, getting the pair's attention as they saw him approach, dusting himself off, "That said, I doubt you can stop me," he affirmed confidently, "Between your Quirk and mine, you're far outmatched," he proclaimed. The Cat Leaper Quirk user turned to face her foe. In an instant, she sped past him. His eyes widened in shock.
"Wanna bet?!" she challenged, kicking him fiercely in the back as sparks of blue bio-electricity crackled around her.
"GAH…!" the Dark Star gasped out before tumbling along the ground to a stop. Witch's eyes shook with amazement. She had heard about Rebecca's newly-obtained Overdrive, but never got the chance to actually witness it in action. The Cat Leaper Quirk user dashed at her foe again as he was standing back up, barely able to block her kick with his staff.
'I don't understand…!' he noted inwardly, 'Her Quirk should only give her the ability to move through time faster, shouldn't it?!' he inquired through his thoughts, enduring her barrage of kicks, 'Even if she has access to her Overdrive, she shouldn't be this strong!' he added to himself.
"Cat Frenzy!" Rebecca exclaimed, leaping up and landing a series of kicks onto the Dark Star, who gasped in pain. Standing up, the Sorcery Quirk user was amazed by such strength displayed by her student. But something didn't sit right with her upon seeing it in action. Suddenly, she took notice of a trio of drones soaring overhead, aiming their guns onto the Cat Leaper Quirk user.
"Rebecca, get away!" Witch screamed, causing her to blink in surprise before turning to notice the drones, which fired onto her. She grimaced as she was forced to jump away from Wizard, grabbing her Happy Blasters.
"Butt out!" she yelled, firing off a trio of shots, each striking their target as they exploded one after another. As their remains rained down onto the ground, the Dark Star sped off in a burst of blue light. "Hey!" the Cat Leaper Quirk user shouted, running after him.
"Rebecca, wait!" the Shining Star Hero insisted, making her stop and turn to face her, "It's likely he's retreating for now," she pointed out, "We should focus our efforts on subduing other villains aside from him," she advised, much to her student's shock.
"Yeah… but…" she tried to argue, only for her to stop upon hearing a shockwave echo from afar, "What was that?!" she exclaimed, seeing dust billow up into the air.
X
Earlier, back in the forest, Izuku was prepping his gloved right hand. He had his middle finger curled in, holding it back with his thumb. He used his left hand to hold his arm in place.
'Delaware Smash… AIR FORCE!' he inwardly exclaimed, letting the outer layer of his glove jolt forward before flicking his finger to unleash several bursts of pressurized air towards Nine. He merely threw up another set of layered yellow barriers from his left hand, blocking the attacks.
"Weaponized blasts of air…" he noted curiously, "An interesting use of your Quirk…" he pointed out, seeing Izuku continue to flick finger after finger to shoot more bursts of air at him, only for them to be rendered useless upon striking the energy shield. However, that wasn't the freckled teen's goal.
'I can't let that guy get close to Katsuma or Mahoro…' he told himself, 'I gotta keep him distracted!' he decided firmly, continuing his assault. Suddenly though, the wind rose up beneath his feet and propelled him up into the air. He noticed a yellow light coming off of his foe's he could do anything else, more lasers were shot towards him. Only one managed to strike though as repositioned his body, slicing his left cheek open as some blood flew out. He grimaced. 'This time it was a gust of wind!' he inwardly noted, 'How many powers does this maniac have?!' he wondered frantically. So far, he had seen three… He landed down and slid back along the forest ground in a wake of dirt and dust before coming to a stop. 'I don't know what else he can do…' he pointed out to himself, 'Better to attack and find out than stay in the dark!' he decided through his thoughts, raising his fists as the green sparks crackled wildly around him, while the red lines of energy appeared upon his body, glowing brightly, 'One For All: Full Cowling…' he began to echo inwardly, 'Twenty-Five Percent!' he roared. The energy wafting off from him caused leaves to blow about wildly. Through his glowing yellow eyes, Nine could see what he had done.
"His strength suddenly increased…" he noted. Izuku leapt forward, gritting his teeth.
'With all the power I can use right now…!' he began inwardly, reeling his right leg back while in midair.
"SAINT LOUIS… SMMAAASSSHHH!" he exclaimed, swinging his leg down for a fierce roundhouse kick. It struck, causing a huge explosion of dirt and dust to envelop the area as wind blew about, with leaves and branches flying off from its force. From afar, Natalie and Shimano kids noticed, glancing back towards the forest. All of them hoped the aspiring hero there had dealt with the villain. However, Izuku's iron-soled foot had ended up striking the layered energy barrier of his opponent as he stuck his left hand out. His shield held up firmly.
'Twenty percent… isn't enough?!' the freckled teen yelled to himself in shock as the wind from his kick's impact continued to blow about wildly.
"Interesting…" Nine uttered, continuing to scan his foe with his glowing eyes, "This Quirk…" he continued, reaching over as his barriers came down, allowing him to grasp Izuku by his head, "I think it's worth stealing…" he admitted. The freckled teen desperately grabbed at the white haired man's arm, trying to free himself from his grip. A green aura wafted off from his body, flowing into Nine's.
'He wants to steal it?! Is that what he said?!' he exclaimed inwardly out of shock, 'So he does have the same ability as All For One…' he realized, 'And he's going to use it on me!' he added through his thoughts, flailing his legs to try and free himself. For a moment, it seemed like his inherited Quirk would be taken. But something wasn't right. Nine narrowed his glowing eyes.
For a moment, Izuku could see his predecessors, the ones who had All For One before him. They were lined up together, including All Might. In a sudden burst of wind, Nine jumped back, letting Izuku fall onto the ground.
"I can't take it," he concluded, sounding surprised as he looked at his hands, "No, I don't have enough space for it…" he realized as he then looked back at Izuku, who was desperately trying to move as his body twitched, "Something is off…" he pointed out, "It seems like this kid might have more than one Quirk as well…" he noted curiously. On the ground, the freckled teen gritted his teeth.
'Come on, body…' he pleaded to himself, 'get up and fight!' he yelled desperately through his thoughts.
"His very existence is a miracle," Nine added, readying his left hand as he prepared an energy barrier just below the palm, "Which means… I must eliminate him," he decided. The barrier then expanded and slammed into Izuku. It blew him right out of the forest as he crashed onto the hillside in a flurry of dirt and dust.
'He… pushed me with the wall of air…?!' he exclaimed inwardly, grimacing in agony. Through the dust, he could see Nine approaching. Right now, it didn't seem like he'd be able to stop him. At least not by himself.
"Oh no, look!" a familiar voice yelled, causing the couple to widen their eyes in fright. They looked over to see Katsuma and Mahoro atop the hill they had crashed into, "Mister Deku!" the little boy cried out as he and his sister ran down to the freckled teen.
"No, get out of here!" he shouted to them as he slowly got up to his feet.
"But you—!"
"We're fine, just go!" he claimed, interrupting Mahoro, "He's after the two of you…!" he pointed out as Nine was continuing his approach, "I can't let him—!" A laser beam suddenly curved in and pierced through his back in an instant.
"MISTER DEKU!" Mahoro screamed, seeing the freckled teen fall stumble back as blood flew out of his new wound. He fell to his right knee, writhing in agony as he grabbed at the opening of his abdomen.
"Hurry… Run…!" he grunted in demand to the children, trying desperately to get back onto his feet.
"But he'll hurt you…" Katsuma pointed out pleadingly. His sister saw that the freckled teen was slow to try and get up. It didn't look like he could continue fighting Nine, who was still on his approach.
"No…" the little girl uttered in fright, "We need help!" she realized, seeing the villain raise his left hand, "PLEEEEEEASEEEEEEEEEEEE!" she begged with tears brimming from her shut eyes. All of a sudden, she began conjuring a giant illusion with a familiar mop of unkempt hair. From afar, the other students with the people they were evacuating took notice as they turned their heads.
"Huh…?" Weisz uttered, completely flabbergasted, while Hermit blinked twice.
"What is that?" Mezo asked.
"Deku…?" Ochaco said in confused surprise, standing beside Tsuyu as she was carrying the fainted Mashirao and Rikido with her tongue, as they had been lightened beforehand by her friend's Quirk, "Um…" she uttered out, seeing that it was her freckled friend… though he looked puffy and cartoony. Not to mention, giant.
"Somebody, please!" Mahoro's voice pleaded from afar, "You have to protect Deku!" she echoed loudly. And sure enough, someone answered her plea. A figure sped in towards Nine. He only caught a quick glance before caught in a massive explosion. When the smoke subsided, he looked to the grenade-like bracer over the hand that had attacked him, pressed against the barrier he had conjured.
"An exploding Quirk…" he noted curiously, seeing that it was none than Katsuki who had arrived.
"Found ya…" he remarked with a sadistic grin on his face, "damn villain!" he roared, hopping back.
"Kacchan…" Izuku uttered, relieved to see him there.
"It's the mean one…" Katsuma noted as tears were welling up in his eyes.
"Bakugo?!" Mahoro exclaimed in surprise.
"Alright kids, watch closely!" he yelled, aiming his hands back, "Here's what it takes to become the number one hero!" he exclaimed as he blasted himself forward in an instant, "This is real strength!" he added. Nine put up another set of layered barriers, only for the explosive teen to pass by him as he readied his left hand for a point-blank explosion. "Gotcha'!" he remarked loudly as sparks crackled over his palm. However, Nine whipped his right arm around, firing off lasers from his fingertips at his foe. Grimacing in realization, Katsuki quickly maneuvered himself by firing off his explosions to move out of the way of each one, with just his right cheek getting cut in the process. But he was left wide open as Nine readied another energy barrier, which unleashed a powerful burst of wind. It struck his target, sending him flying before he crashed into the ground in a fierce plume of dust.
"Kacchan!" Izuku screamed before grimacing again in pain from his wound.
"Be careful…" Izuku pleaded to his rival, getting his attention, "He has multiple Quirks at his disposal!" he pointed out, "And he can steal them!" he added. Katsuki stood up with a grunt.
"Well that sure sounds familiar…" he muttered out, "I guess I've got even more reason to take him down!" he declared while putting his hands, launching himself forward with another blast from his palms.
"I've already seen these moves!" he yelled, blasting himself out of the way of each one as he wound up right in front of Nine. He quickly conjured another yellow barrier, but the explosive teen shot off another blast from his right hand to spin himself behind his foe as he landed. The villain whipped around in an attempt to fire an air blast from his right hand, only for Katsuki to kick it away quickly, leaving him seemingly defenseless. "No way they're gonna stop me again!" he roared as he turned around, about to blast his opponent with an explosion from his left palm. But suddenly, he was hoisted up into the air by a blue, dragon-shaped entity.
"AH!" Izuku and the others gasped. The entity had come out from Nine's back, having ensnared Katsuki in its jaws. He closed his right hand into a fist, causing the dragon to dive down and slam the explosive teen against the ground. When the dust settled, it revealed the entity still pressing down against him as he struggled to try and pry himself free from its teeth.
'I think he just… broke my ribs!' he grunted out inwardly in realization.
'Stand up!' he commanded to himself, clenching his teeth tightly, 'Help him!' he shouted inwardly.
"You just won't stop barking…" Nine remarked, clenching his right fist tighter to make the dragon entity's hold on the explosive teen tighten.
"LET HIM GO!" Rebecca's voice bellowed, causing him to perk up in surprise as he turned to see her speeding over. She attempted to land a kick with her right leg, only to be stopped by a yellow energy barrier the masked man had conjured from his left hand. His eyes glowed as he narrowed them onto the girl.
'This one…' he uttered curiously, seeing the Cat Leaper Quirk user clench her teeth as she pressed harder against his shield, 'Her Quirk is the same as his…' he noted to himself as he glanced over to Izuku. He shoved Rebecca away, letting her land upon the ground upon her hands and feet like a cat. She growled.
"Rebecca…" her boyfriend grunted out, causing her to gasp in surprise as she saw him slowly rising to his feet… with blood dripping down his body.
"Izu!" his girlfriend exclaimed with fright, "Hold on, I'll—!" She didn't get the chance to finish her remarks as she was ensnared in the jaws of another dragon-shaped entity that Nine had released from his back, slamming her against the ground.
"REBECCA!" both Izuku and Katsuki screamed.
"How pitiful…" Nine muttered. All of a sudden, he noticed the dragon-shaped entity start to crack. He looked over and suddenly found himself struck by a shockwave that rang out, making him slide back slightly. He growled with frustration. The dust settled, revealing Rebecca standing with a fierce look in her eyes as a blue aura wafted about her body.
"Rebecca…" her boyfriend uttered with shock, while the Explosion Quirk user's mouth was agape.
"Her name's… Rebecca?" Katsuma said as he watched on with awe.
"You're quite stubborn, aren't you?" Nine inquired, aiming his left hand at her and firing off a barrage of laser beams from his fingertips. She sped away from them instantaneously, closing in on her foe. He looked as if he wouldn't be able to counterattack in time as she raised her right leg, ready to strike. But at that very moment, her empowered form vanished from her body.
"Huh?" she uttered out.
"No…!" Izuku gasped, seeing the masked villain conjure a barrier and strike the Cat Leaper Quirk user, sending her flying back until she crashed into the hill.
"MISS REBECCA!" Mahoro shrieked. The dust settled as the ash blonde-haired girl grimaced, tears pricking her eyes as she tried to move.
"You shouldn't have interfered," Nine said, aiming his right hand towards her.
"Shut your face!" Katsuki shouted, getting his attention as he looked to see the Explosion Quirk user aiming his left hand out at him, "And eat this!" he roared, firing off a powerful blast onto his target. He had defended himself in time with another energy barrier, but… "Do something, Deku!" Katsuki angrily yelled. All of a sudden, the freckled teen leapt into the smoke as the green sparks around his body crackled even more wildly than before. Nine could see it, widening his glowing yellow eyes.
"Ah!" he gasped, quickly raising up both of his arms.
'Detroit…' Izuku inwardly began, throwing his clenched left fist out. Nine swung down his hands. Thunderclouds suddenly started brewing overhead. 'SMAAAAAAAA—!' The attempted attack was stopped as both teen boys was struck by a massive bolt of lightning. They screamed out in agony. Meanwhile, the power lines all around the city started sparking. One after another, lights were going out in all of the buildings.
"Hey… what's happening now?!" Eijiro asked frantically from within the shopping center.
"The city's going dark…" the mayor noted from the local factory in the western district.
"A blackout?!" Mina exclaimed in surprise. Areas were losing power all over the island. Back at the clearing, Nine brought down an energy barrier he had used to shield himself from the lightning bolt.
"Now then…" he said, turning towards Mahoro and Katsuma. They held each other tightly, shaking with fright. As Nine stepped towards them, he suddenly felt a pair of hands grab each of his ankles. He glanced down to see Izuku and Katsuki hold onto him firmly.
"We'll… stop… you…!" the freckled teen grunted out, despite being in unbearable pain.
"Yeah…" his rival agreed, "this fight isn't done…!" he growled out, "So face us…!" he demanded angrily. Rebecca managed to bring herself up onto her feet, widening her eyes with horror to see the scene that laid before her.
"No, no, please…!" Katsuma begged with tears brimming his eyes.
"Bakugo…!" Mahoro gasped out. Forming another energy barrier, Nine slammed it against the two teen boys in an explosion of dirt and dust.
"Heroes can be such a nuisance…" he muttered out as they went flying a few yards before crashing into the ground.
"IZU! KACCHAN!" Rebecca screamed.
"And you're still alive…" her foe noted, causing her to widen her eyes. However, she grabbed her Happy Blasters, running over and standing defensively in front of the Shimano children, even as she grimaced. "Stand aside or I'll kill you," Nine ordered disdainfully, prepping his right hand as his fingertips glowed a bright purple. Rebecca stood firm though, gritting her teeth as she prepped her trigger fingers. But all of a sudden, the villain felt something reverberate within his body. He clutched himself, falling onto his knees. Still conscious, Izuku looked out and noticed.
'Is he… in pain?' he guessed inwardly, 'Why?' he wondered. Meanwhile, his girlfriend was trembling. She wanted to fire on him while having the best chance to do so… but her body was too weak to move.
"Nine!" Kiruka called out as she jumped into the clearing, heading to her leader's side as he was on his right knee, panting heavily, "Deep breaths," she instructed calmly as she crouched beside him.
"I need… that boy…" he said, lifting his right arm up to point towards Katsuma.
"Understood," Kiruka replied, standing up and facing the children as she manipulated her hair into several blades that she hardened and sharpened, "It would be wise not to struggle," she advised to the frightened kids as they held each other and shuddered. Rebecca grimaced, steeling herself as her foe's hair lunged for her. All of a sudden though, a figure leapt and blocked it off with an energy barrier. She gasped to see that it was Witch.
"EDENS GLITTER!" she bellowed, releasing a pillar of light that struck both the redheaded woman and Nine, sending them flying back.
"Witch…" Rebecca uttered, suddenly toppling over onto her knees as she fell forward, dropping her Happy Blasters. The Sorcery Quirk user was quick to turn around and catch her, seeing that she had just lost consciousness.
"I'm so sorry, Rebecca…" she apologized, "I promise, I'll—!" She was interjected as Kiruka's bladed hair slashed through her arms, legs, and hips, making her fall to her knees.
"I don't care if you happen to be one of the Shining Star Heroes…" she confessed as she approached, drawing claws from her gloves, "Those Dark Stars already told us about what you really are…" she pointed out, making the Sorcery Quirk user grimace.
"Lady…" Mahoro whimpered out.
"Warp Refraction!" an invisible voice suddenly exclaimed, with a bright flash of light occurring between Witch and Kiruka, blinding them both as they shut their eyes.
"Hagakure…?" Rebecca uttered weakly, managing to regain consciousness somewhat. A huge flock of birds then flew about the area, shrouding the kids and the heroes from view as they encircled the villains. Mezo ran in and picked up Katsuma and Mahoro in his arms.
"Don't worry," he reassured to them as they looked quite scared, "I'm a friend," he said.
"Let's get you out of here!" Toru said as she went over to help both Witch and Rebecca onto their feet. The latter noticed the slashes through the Shining Star Hero's body, yet she wasn't bleeding.
"Witch…?" she uttered out.
"I'll tell you everything later…" the Sorcery Quirk user promised, letting her Battle Dress disappear in a flash of light, "Right now… we need to…" she tried to say, only to start toppling over.
"Witch!" Rebecca gasped.
"I got her!" Toru affirmed with a grunt, lifting her onto her back. The Cat Leaper Quirk user's eyes shook with fright. At that moment, she felt someone grab her right arm. She looked over to see that it was Kyoka, placing the arm over her shoulders.
"We need to hurry," she advised, running off with her friend.
"Come on, quick!" Koji beckoned from afar with a wave of his left hand, running off with them.
"Now, Tsu!" Ochaco yelled as she tapped her fingertips against the fainted Katsuki and Izuku.
"Ribbit!" the Frog Quirk user croaked, wrapping her tongue around both teen boys before carrying them away quickly as they were lightened. The birds then flew off, revealing to the villains that their targets had escaped.
"Follow them…!" Nine ordered as Kiruka let her hair go back to normal, "Get that child…!" he commanded as purple cracks appeared along his face, "He's the key to our plan…" he pointed out desperately while looking towards where they had escaped to. The Slice Quirk user looked back at him.
"There's no way for them to leave the island," she noted to him, "Take a break and let your body recover," she insisted. She then pulled out a flare gun, firing a shot up into the air. From afar, Killer and Wizard took notice.
"Seems we'll be making our retreat," the former muttered.
"Nine must've overexerted himself with that attack," the latter concluded, "It's clear that these children aren't to be underestimated," he confirmed on as he gripped his staff tightly, "especially with power like Rebecca Bluegarden's…" he mentioned. Hiding in an alleyway in the shopping center was Clown, who chuckled.
"Guess we're done for the day…" he realized, skipping off.
"Agh…" Homura groaned, standing alongside an exhausted Shiki as they, Shoto, Tenya, Fumikage and Hanta seemed spent on energy. With Brigandine's defense now added to Chojuro's continuous assault, fighting back seemed fruitless. Just then, they all noticed the flare going off in the distance.
"It seems we must go," the bulky android realized. His colleague huffed.
"Well…" he uttered, glancing back at his foes, who were breathing heavily in exhaustion, "Heh," he chuckled, "Guess you get to stay alive this time," he remarked to their surprise. Shoto clenched his teeth angrily. But then they looked to see him turn around and jump away, with Brigandine following as he was propelling himself with jets from the soles of his feet.
"They're running?" Hanta said out of confusion.
"I believe it's more accurate to say they're letting us go," Fumikage corrected in response.
"They're mine!" Shoto yelled, about to pursue them. Tenya quickly grasped his left shoulder.
"No, don't," he insisted of them as they turned back to him, "For all we know, this could be a trap," he pointed out cautiously, "Besides, you can't go after him alone," he added, "The six of us couldn't even take him down together," he noted seriously.
"Yeah, but—!"
"Shoto, I think it's for the best," Homura interjected, "If this battle were prolonged, we wouldn't have won…" she admitted in frustration.
"Damn it!" Shiki cursed, dropping to his knees and punching at the sand, "If only that big guy didn't get in the way back there…!" he muttered angrily.
"We have to make sure the islanders are safe," Tenya instructed of the group, specifically the still frustrated Shoto, "That's part of our job as heroes," he added firmly. The Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user grimace… but rescinded. Chaos had enveloped the island as the stormy clouds rolled in. It was a disaster…
END
Looking back on my adaptation for Heroes: Rising and getting to do this version, I'm really excited for the story that's about to unfold here. We're essentially at the halfway point, but I'm sure you'll be looking forward to what's up next. Thanks for reading, everyone!