Toxin laid across the side of a building overlooking the outskirts of the city. It had taken him weeks to sniff out the location of the underground tournament Knuckleduster recommended. It wasn't easy: most of the criminal underworld had heard of his interrogation of the Push dealers and knew there was a more monstrous side to Toxin. As such, most low-level crooks ran away from him. Of course, some of the stronger and dumber ones tried to take him down, but that just left these wanna-be villains knocked out and Toxin on the run from Pro Heroes. This has even started to affect public opinion on the vigilante. Those who already didn't like him had more reasons to fear him, and those on the fence were pulled in by exaggerated rumors. Those who did support him were becoming more and more of a silent minority.

Not to mention school life kept trying to pull him away from his double life. Seriously, what is it with teachers giving out homework that takes an hour each to complete? Plus, there's all the extracurriculars everyone wants you to do, and they take a good chunk of your day too. Then, there's your social life, and since Bren has friends that actually want to do stuff with him, that also leaves out little room for anything else. Superheroing has to be easier as an adult, right? Bren only hoped things would get easier for him.

Ironically, it was through school that Bren found out where this fight club was. See, one afternoon, Bren overheard one of his classmates arguing with their older brother and some of his friends. They were full blown high schoolers judging by their uniforms. Their leader, the older brother, was trying to convince his sibling to win some money by "wrestling in the ring", as he put it.

In concept, it wasn't a bad plan. His younger brother was huge, especially for his age. Plus, his Quirk gave him rocky, dinosaur-like scales all around his body. Bren never caught the guy's name before now. He was always quiet, probably not helped by the fact that he always stood out due to his very prominent mutation. The younger sibling attempted to protest, but he eventually fell under the peer pressure of his brother and his friends. Toxin memorized the address one of the friends gave and eventually made his way there when he had time.

Now he was here. Just gotta find the best way to get in. Sneaking in would be better to find information, but if he got caught, he could catch some serious heat from the underground community. His already sinking reputation wouldn't be improved with that. There was the direct method of going in through the door. Of course, then everyone would know Musutafu's number one vigilante was in the house, and who knows how many wanted to either settle the score or get some kind of reward for taking him down. Still, it would legitimize Toxin as someone who knows the town.

Besides, it'd be fun to see an actual fight club. He heard of some underground wrestling circuits in New York but never got around to actually go to one. His dad would probably love something like that.

Shaking off the thought, Toxin decided the simple way was the best and leapt down to the ground. Standing right in front of the door, he hesitated. There was no way it could be this easy. It was too obvious, right? Still, Toxin opened the door and walked right into a lobby.

It was pretty clean all things considered. Its walls were white with a smattering of baby blue to pop out. The people inside gave him a brief glance before returning to what they were doing earlier, either looking at their phones or reading one of the magazines. Toxin felt he should have stood out more being in full costume. But since loads of Pro Heroes exist and any wannabe wrestler goes through these halls, it wouldn't be that big of a surprise to see someone like Toxin.

The symbiotic vigilante approached the lady at the front desk. She looked normal, however behind the carefully trained smile was someone very tired.

"Uh, I'm here to see about the…," Toxin thought over the right words. "Wrestling event?"

The woman didn't even react as she answered. "Take the hallway on the left, go until you see the door to the stairwell, and then go down."

Her tone indicated that she did this a lot, like this was routine for her. Still, she didn't look like she wanted to answer any more of his questions, so Toxin followed her orders. He found the stairwell and walked down the stairs until he found the door at the bottom. The stairwell itself was more brown compared to the lobby, and it felt older too. Pushing the door open, it led to a hallway filled with dimmed lights. Going through the door, he walked down until he saw a group of people crowding around the doorway. Toxin approached, shoving the nearest person away.

"Hey, man, no cutting!" The person exclaimed before a gasp of recognition escaped his lips. "Oh crap, it's you!"

Toxin swiveled his head to see a familiar face looking back at him. It was the roach guy from Naruhata. What was his name again? Eh, it'll come to him.

"Look, I'm not doing anything wrong here, man! I'm just here to see a show, like you are. I hope. Unless you know, you're here to actually participate. Then in that case, we have completely different goals."

"Wait, you're Bariszu. From Naruhata, right?" Toxin realized.

"Yeah! I'm surprised you even remembered me."

"Uh-huh. I recall me and Knuckleduster telling you to not into any trouble again."

Bariszu raised his hands in defense. "Hey, I did what you told me! I grabbed the first train ticket out of town, and I ended up here! Besides, I didn't have much time to pack before I left."

"And you somehow ended up in the city with not only the most amount of Pro Hero Agencies in the country but also where All Might makes his residence?" Toxin raised an eyebrow at the coincidence.

Bariszu awkwardly coughed before explaining, "Well, you did say to take the first train out."

Toxin shook his head. "Never mind, what are you doing here?"

"Hey, I'm just here to see a bunch of wrestling matches. I hear its open call for anyone to jump into the ring."

"And let me guess, these matches aren't exactly regulated, are they?"

"I mean, well…no," Bariszu sighed. "Look, man, I just got here. I'm not looking to get beat up again. So, what do you want so you can leave me alone?"

"Dude, I'm not trying to get this place shut down or beat you up," Toxin said. "I heard that some bad people are going to use this place to meet up. I want to find them and stop them. You know anything about that?"

"Well, I did hear that some up-and-coming gang leaders are planning to make some kind of appearance here. Maybe they want to use the wrestlers as spokesmen to get other people to join up, I don't know."

"What do you think is the quickest way I can meet these people?"

"Unless you want to sit on the sidelines and wait until the big event happens, I think actually signing up to fight would be the most straightforward way. Though good luck getting through this line. I've been here ten minutes and only moved a couple of meters."

Bariszu pointed at the line ahead. Toxin, however, smirked under his mask.

"Lucky for me, I have something of a workaround."

Upon finishing this quip, Toxin leapt up and stuck to the ceiling. He then crawled his way over the line and straight to the end. Bariszu could only look up in disbelief before snapping his fingers in frustration.

"Damnit, why didn't I think of that?"

Ignoring some of the protests shouted by those waiting in line, Toxin crawled all the way to the front. Hanging onto the entrance, Toxin looked down at a decently sized table with two employees sitting behind it. One of them looked up in slight confusion before replying in a monotoned voice.

"I'm sorry, sir, but everyone needs to wait in line to buy a ticket, no exemptions."

"I'm not here for a ticket. I'm here to fight, for real."

"Same rules apply. You gotta wait in line like everyone else."

Toxin fought hard to roll his eyes.

"Come on, you have to know who I am. Toxin? Biggest vigilante in recent memory? The guy who managed to hand several Pro Heroes their asses and got away scott free? That guy?"

"Oh, I know about that guy." The employee replied. "You're the third Toxin I've seen this week. Although your costume is more impressive than the others."

"Seriously?!" Toxin said in frustration. "Fine, I don't care if you think I'm the real one. I'm getting into that arena whether you sign me in or not."

This got the employee to react with some emotion as worry crossed his face. He tilted his head towards someone in shadow. Out stepped what Toxin assumed to be the bouncer or at least security. He was a big guy with a large domed head coated in some reflective metal.

"I'm only going to say this once," The guard said in a deep, rumbling voice. "You can either return back in line, or I'll have to remove you from the premises."

The strands of symbiote flared at that threat.

"I don't think you want to try that." Toxin growled.

The two stared at each other, ready for the other to make a move, before a voice rang out.

"Hey, wait! I vouch for him!"

Everyone turned to see a man in a purple overcoat walking towards them. He had grey hair and shades, despite being indoors. The man fiddled with a cigarette in his hand and had a cool, relaxed posture.

"Uh, are you sure?" The employee asks.

"Sure! I'll get him out of your hair in no time." The man saunters up like a cat on top of the world.

The employee looks at the security guard then back at the newcomer.

"Alright, just make sure he doesn't cause any trouble before the event."

The newcomer smiles as he slides right next to the wall-hanging vigilante.

"Come on, kid. Let's walk and talk." He spoke.

"Why should I? Who even are you?" Toxin asked.

"Introductions later. Now, come on!"

With that, the man already started to walk away. Finding himself with no real other option, Toxin leapt down to the floor and followed. Eventually they walked side by side.

"Now can we talk?" Toxin asked impatiently.

"Yep. Ask away." The man replied.

"Why bother helping me out like that?"

"Because it would have been a pain to get you here if you picked a fight with security."

"Oh, so you thought I couldn't handle that guy?"

"No, I would bet you would wipe the floor with him. If you did, then you'd get every pissed off security mook coming right for your neck. I ain't a fighter; trying to pry you outta that would've been suicide."

"Okay, next question. How did you know I'm the real Toxin?"

"Kid, I've got an eye for talent," The man turned his head and flashed a smile. "And you, you got that real talent. The way you move, the way you talk. You can't fake that."

"Then who are you?" Toxin asked definitively. "And what do you want from me?"

"Ah, where are my manners? I am Giran," The man introduced himself. "Agent, information broker, that sort of thing. And the reason I want you is because some clients of mine are interested in you."

Toxin's lenses were raised in suspicion. "Interested me in what way?"

Giran's sly smile grew more pronounced. "Some of my clients have taken a personal interest in you. You're making bigger waves than you think, kid, and some powerful people have taken notice. Your little scuffles with the Pro Heroes? They like that. Keeps the eyes off them while they conduct their, how do we say, "sensitive" businesses. Your little crusade on crime? Not so much. You're hurting their bottom line. Most Pros like to fight the big battles with Villains. Mostly underground heroes deal with my clients' "sensitive" business, and they aren't strong enough to put a dent in it. So, you've put my clients in a complicated situation in regards of how to deal with you."

"So, what? You're here to take me out? Kill me or try to bribe me off?" Toxin glared.

"Whoa, kid! Didn't you hear me earlier?" Giran raised his hands in mock surrender. "I ain't a fighter. You'd probably wipe me out in one punch. Plus, I've got something better than a bribe."

Giran raised his hand and stuck the cigarette in his mouth. "I'm offering a mutually beneficial deal."

Both boy and symbiote were confused but intrigued at what the agent had to say.

"We'll hear you out. What's your deal?" Toxin inquired.

"Hah! I like that. I knew you were a good one," Giran said. "See, that gang you've been tussling with? The Sparks? They've been encroaching on one of my client's territories. And he doesn't like hotshots getting all up in on his turf."

"And what's that have to do with me?"

"I got word that the leader of the Sparks themselves is coming here to eye for new recruits. Especially any of the fighters here. You enter this thing, you get close to her, and you take her out. One less rival for my client to deal with, and you take one more gang off the street. How does that sound?"

Toxin furrowed his brow. It was too good to be true. An opportunity to take down Hotwire and the rest of her gang would be great. However, he can't help but shake the feeling there's more that Giran would get out of this than Toxin. Or at least, Giran's clients.

"Hell, if you question her, you can maybe even find out whose been making that new drug out on the street. Whadda'ya call it? Push?"

Another bait on a hook for Toxin. He wheeled around to the agent and stood ready.

"You serious about this? This isn't some underhanded scheme to kill me or something?"

"Kid, I've been in this game for a long time. I know when to pick my battles. What about you?"

Toxin thought about it. He argued with his other. The symbiote wanted to get rid of Giran now. The more they can hurt the criminal underworld, the better. Bren, however, knew they needed every help they could get.

Toxin sighed then answered. "Alright, we'll help. What do you want us to do?"

Giran flashed a toothy smile. "Excellent! All you gotta do is survive the free-for-all round. After that, you fight in a series of one-on-one matches until you become the champ. Once you find that Spark leader babe, you get to have your way with her, and I'll leave as a satisfied customer."

"Is that all? How am I going to get registered to fight? You saw that line back there."

"Leave it to me. You just be in that ring when they call ya." Giran suddenly stops and fishes for something in his coat pocket. "Hold on, before you go, I need you to sign something."

He flashes a stack of papers to the vigilante who takes it. "What are these for?"

"They're documents saying that you won't sue the organizers if you get injured or whatnot."

"I thought this was an illegal fight club. Why all the legal stuff beforehand?"

"It's to make sure that the organizers can't get sued in the first place. Helps that it also contains a non-disclosure agreement to not spill a word about this to any lawyers. It's all business."

Giran also flashes a pen to which Toxin takes. He quickly signs as "Toxin" and shoves the papers and pen back into Giran's arms.

"Thanks, kid." Giran neatly tucks the items back into his coat. "Now follow the signs to the waiting area. When you hear the call, go for it. Make sure to stay limber before the big event. I'm rooting for ya!"

With that, Giran suddenly turns and heads in the opposite direction. Seeing this, Toxin turns and shouts.

"Hey, where are you going?!"

Giran waves the cigarette in his hand and answers, "Outside!"

Toxin shakes his head and follows towards the waiting area. They've got more important matters than messing with some guy's smoke break.

It didn't take long before Toxin and the rest of the contestants were called up. They split off and went to different corners of the underground area. Eventually, the doors opened up to a wide arena. It was wider than expected with it holding enough space for the fighters of different sizes. The audience sat on rows that leered over the arena. There was no ground floor seating; probably so to avoid any accidents of wrestlers or a stray Quirk hitting an audience member. Still, they cheered as the contestants all entered the arena.

Speaking of which, there was a distinct lack of an actual ring. It was just a level floor, presumably to give all the fighters an even playing field. Of course, it didn't stop some of the fighters looking for any advantages they could get with their Quirks. A booming voice poured out of the overhead speakers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the Underground Battle Royale!" The crowd's cheer somehow didn't manage to drown out the announcer. "That's right, folks, this event has everything: thrills, violence, unmatched brawls not seen anywhere else! Thirty contestants enter, and only one will make it to the next round. Are you ready to see some real fights?!"

The crowd's howl was the answer.

"That's not all that going to happen here, folks!" The announcer added. "In fact, we have a very special guest here with us tonight. You might know him as Musutafu's newest vigilante. He's fought everything from villains to heroes, and he's only been here a year. Get ready for the deadly, the spectacular, Toxin!"

A spotlight whipped over at Toxin as the crowd roared. He looked over them as they hooped and hollered.

"Huh, do we have…fans?" Bren thought. "This feels weird, man."

"That's not all we have." The symbiote replied. "Take a look out at our competition."

The duo saw the sneering faces of their opponents. Some of them were small time crooks they busted earlier. Others looked like they were hunger at taking down Toxin themselves.

"Okay, guess we got more than a few people with personal grudges against us." Bren reasoned.

"Let them come. It'll be fun to knock them all down." The symbiote slathered at the thought.

As everyone got ready to brawl, Toxin took a sweeping glance at his opponents. They were battle-hungry, flexing their fists or testing their Quirks right as the countdown started. Toxin tensed up as the royale was about to begin.

"FIGHT!"

With that call, the arena exploded into chaos. Combatants charging right for one another — clashing Quirk against Quirk. A good portion of them went straight for Toxin. However, Toxin leaped high above them. Sailing over them, he fired web globs that incapacitated a couple of the fighters. Hitting the ground, he sprang into action taking down one fighter after the next. It was like watching one of the most daring gymnastics displays they had ever seen. He bounced between one fighter to the next, never touching the ground.

"Look at this, folks! I haven't seen this display of skill and showmanship since that tournament in '24! But will it be enough to take him to victory?"

As the announcer said that, Toxin felt one of his web lines getting pulled, and him along with it. He landed in front of a wrestler who had his hands raised and covered in crystal spikes. Moving fast, Toxin landed a double kick into the opponent's gut and sprang away. Now back on his feet, Toxin could see the remaining fighters coming at him. He was able to bat them away, but soon, their numbers overwhelmed his ability to fight. He was then dogged piled on by the wrestlers, trapped under their weight.

"So, is this the part where I come out and save the day by kicking everyone's asses?" Toxin asked almost rhetorically.

Bren groaned at his symbiote's pettiness. "Yes, now stop being a jerk and help me."

"Gladly."

The pile of wrestlers shifted before exploding in a mass of tendrils and bodies. Many of the wrestlers landed relatively unharmed, as they all stood up to see their opponent. Toxin had bulked up into his more savage symbiotic form. A wide grin full of teeth and a slithering green-and-black tongue awaited them.

"Come on! Let's wrestle." Toxin goaded. Some fighters were brave enough to take his challenge, but Toxin easily tossed them aside.

"I can't believe my eyes, ladies and gentlemen! I'd thought it was only a rumor, but yes, Toxin has decided to show his true face! And it looks like he's pulling out all the stops!"

Toxin was having fun thrashing around all the wrestlers. It even grew to appreciate the crowd cheering for them. Sure, he knew being a hero is its own reward, but it felt good to finally have a crowd actually like what you were doing. Sure, it was beating up wresters weaker than them in an illegal fighting tournament, but it was still recognition.

Eventually, the number of standing fighters whittled down to just Toxin and one other. He was a bit shorter than Toxin's monstrous form and was covered in a familiar pattern of scales.

"Hey, Tox, I think it's that kid we followed over here." Bren communicated to Toxin.

"So? What do you want me to do about it?" Toxin questioned.

"Just get him in a hold or something. I want to talk to him."

"Fine."

With a roll of his eyes, Toxin sprang forward. Despite his imposing size, the kid was very unskilled in the art of fighting. Toxin dodged an easily telegraphed punch before sliding behind the kid and trapping him in a full nelson.

"Let go!" The kid struggled. But Toxin's grip was too strong.

"What are you even doing here, kid? You're out of your depth." Toxin said.

"I-I, it was my brother's idea!" The boy's voice cracked. "He and his friends wanted to make some quick bank, and they thought getting me into the ring was a good idea."

"Is that so? Tell me, do you even want to be here?"

"No! I mean, no, I really don't. I don't like fighting anybody. I'd just thought I could scare some of them away."

"You managed to last this long. You must have something going for ya."

"I think most of them were gunning for you. Please, please don't tell anyone about this," Tears started to well up in the boy's eyes. "I don't want to get anyone in trouble, I promise."

Toxin's face soften a bit before he whispered in a hurried breath. "I'll throw you out, and then you and your brother get away from here as soon as possible, got it? You got a better future than fighting here for dumb money."

"Okay," the boy nodded feverishly. "Okay."

"One last thing, how tough are ya?"

"S-sorta?"

"Okay. Sorry in advance," Toxin said. "Have to give them a show and so on."

Before the boy could ask what he meant, Toxin shifted his grip in order to lift his opponent over his head. With a leap in the air, he threw the boy down onto the ground. A wave of dust and dirt kicked up as the boy's durable body hit the ground. The boy didn't look to be in pain, but he played the part and pretended to be unconscious.

Toxin raised his arm to the sky and triumphantly shouted, "Toxin…rules!"

The crowd roared, chanting Toxin's name all the while. The symbiote lapped up the praise while the human grew to enjoy it. High up in the viewing box, various criminal leaders argued amongst themselves about whether or not to keep the vigilante in their tournament plans. Hotwire had been viewing the match intensely with conflict feelings. Of course, she was miffed that Toxin had once again butted into her plans for greater influence. On the other hand, she had been experimenting ever since their last encounter, and she was hoping to test her new tools on the symbiotic vigilante. Outside, Giran blew smoke as he looked up from his phone. He had been watching an underground livestream of the whole event. He kept thinking if Toxin kept up his winning streak, the broker would be rolling with long bands of yen pretty soon. Giran made a silent promise that Toxin would keep up his end of the bargain.

Elsewhere, in the crowd, a dark-skinned woman with white hair peaking underneath a baseball cap focused her eyes on Toxin. She thought this was going to be another run-of-the-mill underground tournament full of illegal Quirk fights. She gave a energetic smirk as she realized this was going to be a whole lot more interesting.

Hey, it's me again. Really sorry for the long wait. No real excuse beyond college this time. It's late where I'm posting this, so I'll just go through the comments.

Athrum: Thanks for the suggestions. May or may not use them. Depends how it goes.

NuclearNachos: Thanks for the kind words. Hope this doesn't become too fight heavy for your liking. I do plan on more dialogue/character driven chapters later on.

Tikaani: Thank you for the kind words. Sorry this took so long, but my upload schedule has always been long and inconsistent

SuperCrusher: Sorry for the radio silence. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Also, has anyone else been getting comments that are artists asking you to commission them? I've gotten some on my stories, and I find it odd. Nothing wrong with it, of course. Guess regular social media has become so unartist friendly that you have to go to to find people to draw for.

Also, one last thing, this was supposed to be a longer chapter, but I wanted to put something out after being gone for so long I split it up into two (this is a recurring thing for this story in particular). Hopefully, I'll be working on it sometime soon. In the meantime, hope you all like this chapter.

See ya next time.