I had 400 days of peace until the recent chapter, THANKS horikoshi, now Bakudeku stans won't shut up
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Ever since day one of UA, Ochako wanted Bakugou to get humbled at some point. A boy as boisterous and talented as him needed a good 'step down' in terms of personality. He was prideful, powerful and promising as a future hero- but his hunger for victory overtook everything great about him.
When Deku punched that hole in the ceiling, Ochako hoped it would make him shut up for a bit- but it just made him angrier. He seemed more intent on calling out Izuku after that, ready to beat him up at a moment's notice. The sports festival and the exams fueled that even more- hell, he even struck Deku out of annoyance. That wasn't teamwork.
After Izuku (finally) grew a spine and started to ignore Bakugou for his own health's sake, Ochako hoped this would humble him finally.
But she was wrong.
Getting beat up by Mercury would kick start Bakugou's 'getting humbled' arc.
And she hated how it started here.
Seeing Bakugou all beat up, bloodied and being dragged away to an uncertain fate was horrifying when he was the number one target by Shigaraki's pals. She didn't take joy in this at all- if anything, it just showed how easy she had it with Animo.
"Just my luck." Mercury grumbled, throwing Bakugou on the ground.
"What the hell are you doing with Bakugou!?" Ochako yelled, hands over the Omnitrix.
"So, you're the new order." Mercury said, ignoring her questions. "Cute. Did Ben pet you on the head and think you were special like all of his other pals? Did he give you an Omnitrix because you could punch a bad guy really hard?"
Ochako didn't dignify his taunts with a response. Her eyes were focused on Bakugou.
"I know a small part of you is glad to see him beat up." Mercury said. "I dunno how you put up with his bullshit on a daily basis- must be exhausting."
Tsu put a finger to her chin. "You're probably no better. That broken arm is probably from Bakugou blowing you up a whole lot."
Mercury sneered. "Observant little shit, aren't you?"
Tsu shrugged. "I guess."
Mercury was getting annoyed with these two and their lack of anger. "Come on! I just insulted you two, and I get nothing?"
"Well, we don't have paper skin or glass bones, so…" Tsu shrugged again. "Eh."
"Besides, all you have is your tough talk." Ochako smirked. "I could turn into any alien right now, and I could still beat the crap out of you."
"I can go another round." Mercury frowned.
"...if you say so." Ochako activated the watch, and slapped down the faceplate. Her body shrunk down, with globs of white 'armor' surrounding her body. It quickly spread up her face and down her legs, before various other features popped up- headphones, small 'orbs' on her hands, a uniform, and a wide mouth for yelling.
"Let's see you go 10 rounds." Echo Echo said, before she split up into a group of ten clones. Tsu watched the pint sized army rush into battle. Their first move was to quickly dogpile Mercury, grabbing onto his arms and legs. Two clones split from one of the other's backs, and grabbed onto Bakugou.
"...Round Face?" Bakugou mumbled, as the clones picked him up.
"Make that 'Round Faces'." The clone responded, as they handed him over to Tsu.
Tsu examined his body. "Wow- this dude did a number on you."
"Shut up." Bakugou grumbled. Even when quiet, it felt like Bakugou was yelling.
Mercury struggled to get the clones off of him. There were too many- trying to throw one off felt like trying to move a boulder off his back. Shaking them off was a hard task, too. Ochako was soaking this up.
"Don't say 'I'm only losing because of Bakugou'!" One clone taunted.
"That'll fuel his ego and make him forget ALL about those injuries." Another one said.
"Why do you even need Mr. Personality?" A third clone piped in.
"Because…this kid would be…great on our side." Mercury muttered.
The clones stopped their mockery. Wait, were they serious?
"You're…kidding." Another clone said.
"The kid's fascinating, especially because of his strength and apparent mental instability. When his pride is hurt, he exhibits the characteristics of a true sociopath. That's come in handy lately…" Mercury said.
"Bakugou…is not a villain." Ochako said firmly.
"Oh, come on. Nobody's out here with him. He clearly doesn't like your class. He beats up that green haired loser that All Might likes- they had to put a damn muzzle on him during the Sports fest!" Mercury pointed out.
"That's because he's just really, REALLY determined to show us all up!" Ochako frowned.
"Then tell me- are you here to save him because you're his friend? Or because he's in danger?" Mercury scoffed.
Ochako didn't answer.
"Yeah. That's what I thought. I knew a guy as prideful and arrogant as he was." Mercury said. "Thought he was a hero, but when you took away all that luck and skill, you were left with a villain. When push came to shove, the bastard brought down the whole city with him. Ask Ben- I love to see him get mad about it."
"Bakugou…is not a villain." Ochako repeated.
"But if you had to choose the obvious…it'd be him, right?" Mercury smirked.
The clones disappeared. Mercury looked up to see one lone Echo Echo staring me down. The other clone was covering Tsu's ears, while Tsu was covering Bakugou's ears.
"Why's this necessary?" Tsu asked.
"You'll see why." The other clone said.
"...I know what's going to happen next." Mercury moaned, covering his ear with his one undamaged arm. Ochako breathed deeply before unleashing a ferocious sonic scream that blasted Mercury backwards. He slammed through a tree and collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
Tsu blinked as the clone took its hands off her ears. "Oh."
Bakugou smirked. "Nice."
Ochako reverted back to normal, and walked back to the two. "He's a jerk."
"You're just lucky he didn't kick your soccer ball looking head around." Bakugou frowned. "I weakened him for you, damn it."
"Whatever," Ochako said, rolling her eyes. "You've got a huge target on your back right now. We need to get you to safety- you're injured enough to get picked off easily."
"For once, I'm in agreement," Bakugou winced. "You extras probably got the easy stuff."
"There's a blood sucking psychopath shapeshifter with Heatblast DNA running around." Ochako frowned.
"...eh, I still got the tough stuff."
Ochako and Tsu were about to pick up Bakugou, when he put up his hand. "I'm not the one you should worry about right now." Bakugou motioned over to Kosei. Ochako gasped.
"I didn't even notice him there!" Ochako said.
"Yeah, he just sort of blended into the background. He's knocked out, and I'm not. So, he takes priority." Bakugou said.
"I got him." Tsu said, wrapping him in her tongue. Ochako tapped him on the back, and removed his weight. She then turned to Bakugou, and helped him up by reducing some of his weight.
"This should make walking easier." Ochako said. "Just don't go exploding something. You'll launch yourself into orbit."
"Got it," Bakugou grimaced.
"Okay, so…a majority of the villains have been knocked out. Let's…just not go back the way we came." Ochako said.
"Fair enough," Tsu said.
"Just get me back in one piece and I won't complain." Bakugou said.
"It came from over there! Come on!" A voice yelled. Ochako and Tsu looked over to see Tetsutetsu and Kendo, emerging from the woods. Kendo looked over to see the duo carrying Bakugou.
"There he is!" Tetsu grinned. "Damn, didn't expect to see you two here. Where'd that noise come from?"
"That's...complicated." Ochako said. "Where did you guys come from?"
"We took care of the gas guy." Kendo explained. "He had a gun, so if you heard gunshots...that's why. What happened to Bakugou and Kosei?"
"Got beat up by some old guy." Tsu said.
"Where's the old guy?" Kendo asked. Tsu pointed to the broken tree behind her. Tetsu made a face.
Tetsu whistled. "Shit. Bakugou did a number on him."
Bakugou grunted. "That was her, actually..."
"What?" Tetsu asked.
"What?" Ochako said.
"Like she said...complicated." Bakugou said quietly. Some more rustling from the forest caught their attention- the class 1-A and B alliance jumped out of the woods.
"Uraraka!" Izuku yelled. Ochako's eyes widened- this was the worst state she'd ever seen Deku in. "Are you okay?"
"Am I okay!? Look at you!" Ochako yelled. "You're banged up more than I am."
"He ran out here to protect Bakugou." Shoji explained. "He found us along the way."
"We thought he'd be back here." Todoroki said. "Looks like we were wrong."
Ochako, Tsu, Kendo and Tetsu shared a weird look. "Huh? We're guarding Bakugou."
"Then where is he?" Setsuna said.
"What are you guys talking about? He's right behind-" Ochako turned around, but was shocked to see Bakugou was gone. Her eyes widened, and she began to look around frantically.
"W-what the hell!?" Tetsu said. "He was just here!"
"We saw him!" Kendo said. "Did he-"
"No, he couldn't have run!" Ochako said. "It's kinda hard to run with reduced gravity!"
"Nevermind that." Shoji said, looking around. "Where's Kurorio and Tokoyami?"
The alliance looked around. "They were...right behind us, right?" Izuku muttered.
"Yeah- I heard them right before we got here." Todoroki said.
"Then something's up." Kendo frowned. "We have to be under attack!"
Ochako looked over and gasped. "Even the old guy's gone!" Ochako pointed at the tree- Mercury had joined the growing list of 'missing people'.
The group got close together, looking in all directions. Three kids (and Mercury) suddenly disappeared into thin air. What happened to them? In a crisis like this, none of the students thought they'd gotten careless.
"Looking for him?"
The new voice made the group jump. They looked up, to see a new villain in the treetops. He stood on a branch, tossing up a few marbles in his hand.
"I'll be taking him." Mr. Compress grinned, "With my magic."
"Who's this clown!?" Tetsutetsu yelled.
"Call me a collector." Mr. Compress said, holding the marbles between his fingers. "Your friend is not a resource that belongs on the heroes' side. We're going to take him to a nice place, where he can really shine..."
Izuku suddenly got angry. "G-give him back!"
Mr. Compress tilted his head. "Give him back? That's an odd thing to say."
"Doesn't matter! Give him back!" Tetsutestu said, hardening his body. Mr. Compress smirked behind his mask.
"You truly can't grasp the situation, can you, children? I don't just have young Bakugou in the palm of my hand..." Mr. Compress said.
The realization suddenly dawned on Kendo. "...He has Tokoyami and Kurorio. He was tailing us!"
"Indeed." Mr. Compress tipped his hat. "I've been right behind you the entire time...I eliminated the biggest 'threats' first, and your backup plan. Never plan aloud, children. It ruins the magic."
"That's impossible- I would've heard him behind us!" Shoji frowned.
"Shame. But, I never reveal my tricks." Mr. Compress said. "The others never saw it coming."
Ochako's blood turned cold. "O-others?"
"Yes- I was tailing one of my fellow villains, because I knew he'd 'ad-lib'." Mr. Compress said. "So, when that bespectacled engine legged teen challenged him to a duel, I saw an opportunity to snatch away the others."
"The others..." Izuku muttered. "...you didn't."
Mr. Compress flipped his hand around, revealing more marbles. "This could be a bluff, though. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't..." He could feel the hate radiating off of them.
"YOU CAN'T HAVE THEM, YOU JERK!" Izuku yelled. Ochako had never heard Izuku so angry before.
"Midoriya, calm down!" Shoji said.
Todoroki had enough of this man. He slammed his foot down on the ground, and ice shot off the ground. A giant ice wall smashed into the tree that Mr. Compress was standing on. The group expected him to move away, but to their shock...he didn't.
"That crazy son of a bitch!" Tetsutetsu cursed. "He just stood there and took it!"
"Did I?"
The group spun to see Mr. Compress, tauntingly waving at them. "I'm an entertainer at heart...and misdirection is my game."
Mr. Compress leapt into the forest, and pressed his finger to his ear. "Vanguard Action Squad! The target has been successfully captured!" He announced triumphantly. "Short though it was, our mission has come to an end! Meet at the evacuation point!"
Mr. Compress disappeared into the forest, leaving the group in disbelief and confusion.
"T-they're done!?" Setsuna asked.
"N-no way..." Izuku said, lost for any other words. Ochako clenched her fist in anger.
I'll admit it…I'm not friends with Bakugou, and I don't know if I'll ever be at this point. But I'm not saving him just because he's in danger…it's because… Ochako felt a surge of energy fill her body- a second wind, maybe. It's because he needs saving! And that's it!
Ochako suddenly started to run into the woods. "Come on!" Ochako yelled. "We need to chase that guy down!"
The group didn't give it a second thought. The growing alliance ran into the woods, following Ochako's path.
"I've never seen her so fired up." Shoji said. "Even at the Sports Fest, she was tame."
Izuku gave a small smirk. "Believe me…you haven't seen anything yet."
Being barricaded in a small, isolated house with a bunch of villains lurking around outside was plenty nerve wracking. Having his teacher in the room wasn't enough of a comfort. Monoma needed some of his peers in this room with him.
But no, Class 1-B was out there, probably getting cold feet over the attack. Because...
Because...
Because, and Monoma hated to admit this, Class 1-A had better crisis response. And he was stuck with the 'idiots'. Mineta was pacing around the room and 'shadowboxing', Satou was trying to play mediator, and Kaminari and Mina were arguing with Vlad at the door, trying to force their way out.
"They're after our friends!" Kaminari argued, struggling to move Vlad's arm out of the way. "Please, just let us out there!"
"Absolutely not!" Vlad said. "Everyone should be making their way back here, not fighting out there."
"But, given that there's a lot of villains out there...wouldn't any extra help on our side be GOOD?" Mina pointed out.
"Aizawa told us to fight! LET US FIGHT!" Kaminari yelled.
"It was only for self defense. Don't be a vigilante over THIS, kid." Vlad said.
"C-come on, guys." Satou said, trying to calm Kaminari and Mina down. "Vlad's right. We're safer here."
"But everyone else ISN'T!" Kaminari said, whipping his shoulder away from Satou's grasp. "The fact no one else has shown up here is telling enough!"
"Just try and stay calm, man. We don't know what's-" Satou said.
"I CAN'T STAY CALM!" Kaminari yelled. "I'm not gonna end up being the dude who sat back and waited as his classmates fucking DIED!"
Monoma shook after hearing the use of 'died'. That was a scary possibility. Not everyone in Class 1-B was blessed with an incredibly offensive quirk. If they were to engage in combat with an actual villain...
He shook his head. No, try and stay calm...just swagger on and push down that pain.
"Are you seriously trying to get yourself killed?" Monoma scoffed. "So what, it's ANOTHER villain attack! Those are like a dime a dozen for your class."
"The hell did you just say!?" Kaminari said, ready to throw himself at Monoma.
"The fact they've actually taken interest in one of your friend's is shocking! All that one did is bark and yipe when he got first prize!" Monoma snidely remarked. "You didn't see any of Class 1-B doing that when THEY won or lost!"
"Monoma! That's enough." Vlad snapped. Monoma rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. I'm sure Class 1-B is doing fine. They're probably following directions and making their way back right now…" Monoma said.
But the fact no one from his class showed up made his stomach churn.
"Come on, Mr. King. PLEASE!" Mina begged. "I can't stand the thought of my friends being in danger!"
"Even if you were out there, you'd be at great risk. One of those villains nearly incinerated Eraserhead! I don't know if I could live with myself if I let that happen to you." Vlad said. "Not again…"
The 'not again' made Mina back off.
"I…I hate to say it, but…I'm kinda with the other two on this one." Mineta said. Kaminari and Mina looked shocked. "Mr. King, you need to let us go out there."
"Woah, Mineta! Finally grew some real balls, huh?" Kaminari joked.
"No! I'm sick of this treatment! I can't STAND being second fiddle anymore!" Mineta said, clenching his fist. Monoma was shocked by this. Mineta was one of the most notorious students at UA, and this was not a good comment. He raised an eyebrow, ready to hear what the shortstack had to say.
"I've spent my whole time at UA running away and piggybacking off of others!" I never done any of my own work! I piggybacked off of Tsu and Izuku's work at the USJ! In the Sports Festival, I piggybacked off Momo's back! In the exams, I piggybacked off Shoji's plan, after I ran away! I've been nothing but a hindrance...but I want to fix that." Mineta smirked. "I'm done with running as of tonight! Those monsters are out there causing harm to my pals, and I owe them an apology for putting up with me. And I'll do it by saving them!"
Monoma frowned. Martyr. He thought.
"I'm saying 'sayonara' to my pathetic self!" Mineta yelled. (Mina swore that line sounded familiar.) "And I'm ready to take on anything or anyone that even looks at Class 1-A funny!"
"Woah, I've never seen Mineta so serious." Satou said. "...how do we know you aren't doing this to score with a chick?"
"For once…the chicks will come later." Mineta said.
Monoma made another face. No way being cooped up in this room changed his personality that much. It's been 30 minutes!
Kaminari smirked. "Damn, dude. Okay."
"...yeah, still not letting you out." Vlad said.
Mineta pulled out one of his grapes from his hair. "I will glue you to this wall if you don't let us through."
Kaminari picked up Mineta and pulled him away. "Oooookay, maybe you're a LITTLE too fired up."
Monoma sighed. "This is what I meant by 'combat crazy'."
"I'LL GLUE YOU TO THE WALL TOO, PRETTY BOY!" Mineta cursed.
"Pretty boy?" Monoma asked.
"Eh, you're like a decent 6." Kaminari shrugged.
"What." Mineta asked, deadpanned.
"What!?" Monoma asked, insulted.
"What?" Kaminari asked, confused. "It's true! You're a decent 6- minus 3 for your personality, and minus 1 for your resting bitch face. Mina and I debated on this for a while."
"And you just CASUALLY do this!?" Satou asked.
Mina shrugged. "Yeah. Don't worry. You're an 8 because you got great baking skills. Anyone would be attracted to that."
Satou blinked. "...oh. Huh."
"And me?" Mineta asked.
"Not applicable." The duo said simultaneously.
"B-but my cool speech!" Mineta whined. "That has to redeem something!"
"Didn't you just say 'the chicks could wait'?" Kaminari frowned.
Mineta was about to respond when the door outside opened.
"Oh, good." Kaminari said, setting down Mineta. "Maybe that's Aizawa or another group of students..."
"Maybe we can convince Mr. Aizawa to let us out and help!" Mina said, but Vlad felt like something was off. He turned around carefully, and focused on the outline through the tinted glass.
"Mr. King?" Monoma asked. "What's wrong?"
Vlad didn't reply. The outline looked nothing like-
"GET DOWN!" Vlad yelled, diving to shield Kaminari and Mina. The door exploded off the hinges thanks to a roaring blue blaze of fire. Monoma ducked for cover, using one of the desks to shield him from the flames.
No, wait...Aizawa beat this guy already! Monoma thought. Didn't he just dissolve into mud or something!?
Dabi stepped through the door way, and looked around the room. He smirked, before he charged up another powerful bonfire. Monoma felt the sweltering heat hit him like a truck.
A blue flame denotes complete combustion, whereas a yellow flame denotes incomplete combustion. Monoma remembered from one of his science classes. His eyes darted over to the ashes that were once the door. He turned the door frame into nothing in seconds. All hero headquarters use a specific type of door that have a super high fire resistance rating. This guy has to be on par with Endeavor if his flames are that hot!
Dabi was about to throw another fireball, but Vlad suddenly smashed Dabi into a wall. Blood gushed from his gauntlet, and restrained him with his hardened blood.
"Woah," Kaminari said. "I never knew Vlad could do that."
"Our teacher's quirk is top notch. Maybe you could learn something, finally." Monoma said, snark overpowering his fear.
Sekijiro Kan! Quirk: Blood Control. Blood Control allows the user to manipulate their own blood after it has left their body. Once the blood is out in the open air, the user can freely control its flow and movements, as well as harden it to immobilize foes. The user is also unaffected by levels of blood loss that would normally be fatal! However, if he loses focus, then he also loses that amount of blood! A pretty dangerous quirk to use!
"You've got some nerve launching this reckless attack here." Vlad King scolded Dabi. "Don't get cocky!"
"Why not get cocky?" Dabi smirked. He wasn't trying to get free. He was just smiling unnervingly. "I came here for someone...and looks like they're not here. Shame- thought they would've been smart and fled here."
"Who are you talking about?" Vlad demanded. "Do you mean Bakugou?"
"Let's go with that." Dabi smirked. "But no matter- you're playing into our hands."
"The hell does that mean?" Vlad tightened the restraints around Dabi's body.
"Well...for starters, you've got UA, Japan's premiere hero training academy that spits out top level pros every year, and All Might, the symbol of Peace, on your side." Dabi began. "Two of the most trusted foundations of our hero based society. But one mess after another is shaking that trust. Don't you think that loss of faith will spread like wildfire through society?"
The words struck the class like lightning.
"And personally...what I think will be the start of the fall is this mission. The abduction of our target...and the death of these five rookies." Dabi grinned evilly. And with that, the chaos started.
Chainsaws burst through one of the walls, clawing through it and destroying it. The students screamed in horror, as Vlad quickly threw Dabi aside. "EVACUATE! NOW!" Vlad yelled, and no one argued with him. The group of students bolted out the door, opting to go out the back exit.
"What the hell IS that thing!?" Mineta yelled, getting a glimpse of the Nomu. It was the same Nomu from the woods, still damaged and rabid. Despite its injuries, it was shaking off all the previous pain. "AND WHY DOES IT HAVE ALIEN PARTS!?"
"Not another one of those damn things-!" Vlad hissed, as Dabi snickered. Vlad knew the damage these things could do. He'd only seen the tail end of the battle with All Might and the Nomu- and he'd seen firsthand the damage it could do, even without a quirk at its disposal.
The alien parts were probably an effort to circumvent Eraserhead's quirk, and a smart one- he had to wonder where they got the materials for the aliens.
"This guy's handy." Dabi said, a snarky smirk painted across his stitched up face. "He obeys my commands, and only listens to my voice- even if I'm not really here."
Vlad's eyes widened. Dabi's smile got wider. Another damn clone!
"Hey, Brando- take care of those damn kids." Dabi said, and the beast howled in agreement. It quickly slammed through another wall, in hot pursuit of their blood. Vlad angrily formed a blade of blood- The sanguine blade slashed Dabi's neck, and the clone started to dissolve. Shame- Vlad wanted to watch him gasp for air for even trying to incinerate the kids.
"Damn," Dabi rasped as he started to fade. "Looks like I'm down…hope my pet can do some serious damage."
Vlad bolted for the door. The kid were just about to open the back door to the outside cafeteria when the Nomu busted through the wall next to them. Had anyone been an inch closer, it probably would've smashed them against the wall, into a red paste. Vlad launched his blood forward, and wrapped it around the Nomu's thin Stinkfly wings.
"GOOOO!" Vlad yelled, as the kid's kicked the door down. They spilled out into the yard, as Vlad forcefully ripped the wings from its back. The Nomu let out a horrible roar, as it slammed around the hallway in pain.
Insects can't mend their wings since they acquire them during their final molt and must rely only on behavioral processes for damage compensation. Vlad thought. So, even with that regeneration quirk, I'm betting they can't heal their wings.
The Nomu wrecked its way out of the doorway, and out into the field. The creature roared, as the kids stared in horror.
"I think your teacher just made it angrier." Kaminari said, backing away.
Monoma nervously gulped. "M-maybe he did."
Mina growled. "That thing's not gonna be easy to approach. A majority of us are close range fighters, and can't get in close without getting absolutely obliterated by that walking nightmare."
"I wish I was a mid-range fighter…" Kaminari said. "I'd love to shock this guy from a distance."
"It's not a good idea to even do that." Satou said. "Who knows what other quirks this one has?"
Monoma grit his teeth. He was the biggest sitting duck out of everyone here. His quirk required the other quirks to function- but having all close range quirks, one mutant quirk and another situation quirk that required specific tech to use…he was screwed.
Vlad King was, for right now, their only line of offense.