Kapitel 55: 24
On day three of the training, the students were looking quite haggard. The teachers were truly pushing them to their limits, though some took it more enthusiastically.
"Come on!" shouted Eijiro as he hardened himself once more to tank the next set of hits, "Don't hold back."
Izuku responded by firing a punch loaded with 30% of One for All. Eijiro gritted his teeth as the punch smashed into his chest and pushed him back, but was still standing. Izuku rushed forward, landing a series of hits and combos all over Eijiro's body, each hit aiming for a vital organ.
"Gah!" coughed Eijiro as a knee viciously slammed into his gut, followed by a left hook to the temple. Still, Eijiro managed to stand his ground, focusing on hardening even further. Then Izuku caught him by surprise by smashing the ground in front of him, causing Eijiro to lose balance. Taking advantage of that, Izuku grabbed Eijiro by the wrist and spun before hurling him to the floor.
"Had enough?" smirked Izuku.
"I can keep going!" shouted Eijiro as he quickly stood back up, reactivating his quirk and pushing it further to its limits.
Izuku was about to go again when the timer rang, signifying it was time for him to switch with somebody else. As Ojiro tagged in, Izuku went to the cliffs to begin his climb when he decided to flip open his Hero Analysis book once more.
"What else can I do with my quirk?" muttered Izuku as he began quickly drawing and writing through it. He was still trying to figure out that other form he had unintentionally done back at I-Island, but was drawing a blank. Another page was filled with Itsuka's suggestion about him inflating his limbs up like a balloon. He had a feeling that was also something he could do, but how?
Izuku took a deep breath and sighed, closing his mouth as he did so, causing his cheeks to bulge as he contemplated it.
"C'mon, move those muscles!" shouted Tiger as several students had gotten a little tired and started to stray. Of course, Tiger motivated them by suggesting having a one-on-one spar. That got the students' energy back more than ever.
"Get that blood pumping in your body! You need the oxygen and energy if you wanna live through all this!" shouted Tiger.
'Pumping?' thought Izuku as his mind quickly flashed back to when Wolfram slammed that heavy object on top of him. He remembered catching it with his knees buckling. He felt his blood rushing down before suddenly coming back up again.
'That's it!' thought Izuku as he quickly wrote down his theory, 'I think I know how to activate it again! Now for the other one….'
Izuku began to bite his lips, trying to think about it before putting his finger near his mouth, his teeth gently biting down on it as he began to think. At one point, he took a deep breath before biting down on his thumb a bit more harshly, getting down into the bone. He gently expelled the air in his mouth before realizing something. His hand was getting a little bigger! Before he could explore more of this, he felt the earth shift beneath him before he was chucked into a cave by Pixie Bob.
"I told you not to take too long just sitting and thinking," scolded Shota, "If you do it again, as punishment, you'll have to help Tokoyami with his quirk as well as spar against him."
Izuku looked into the cave before hearing Fumikage screaming as he tried to control Dark Shadow. He was tempted to go in to help his fellow student as well as get a closer look at the quirk, but decided to focus back on his own training. Plus, he needed some time to think about the ideas that he had just come up with.
"Alright, now that we've eaten our fill and the dishes are clean, it's time for…" began Pixie Bob.
"The test of courage!" finished Mina in excitement, who was joined in by other students just as excited.
Pixie Bob could only chuckle before explaining the rules and pathway, stating that Class B would be the first scarers while Class A would go in pairs every three minutes. In order to verify that the students had taken the proper course, there were names located in the middle of the route, and that they were to bring them back with them. Class B had already set up their positions.
"Revelry in darkness…," commented Fumikage.
"Those being the scarers aren't allowed to make direct contact. Show us how scary you are with your Quirks!" grinned Pixie Bob.
"The class that makes the most people wet their pants with creativity and imagination wins!" proclaimed Tiger as Pixie Bob and Ragdoll cheered behind them.
Mandalay could only keep a neutral face at their antics before feeling someone tugging on her skirt. Quickly looking down, she was surprised to see Kota standing there and not somewhere else. He was usually gone, hiding at his secret place at this time.
"Is something wrong?" asked Mandalay worriedly, kneeling down to him, "Are you hurt?"
Kota took a peek over to the other members of the Wild, Wild Pussycats. Though they were focused on the students, he could see that they would glance over at Kota, wondering if they needed to help out.
"Nothing…. I just felt like staying here tonight," muttered Kota, "If that's alright."
"Of course!" smiled Mandalay, happy her nephew was seemingly starting to open up to her, even if it was just a little.
They soon quickly drew lots to be paired up, with the pairings going as followed:
Fumikage and Mezo
Katsuki and Shoto
Kyoka and Toru
Momo and Yuga
Eijirou and Ashido
Ochako and Tsuyu
Mashirao and Minoru
Tenya and Koji
Rikido and Hanta
Izuku and Denki
"Alright, we're partners once again, wingman," grinned Denki as he gave Izuku a hi-five. To be honest, he was thankful for that. If he got scared, he might accidentally release some sparks of lightning around him. Considering Izuku's quirk was a rubber body, that meant that he wouldn't accidentally hurt his partner with his shocks.
"Aoyama...," begged Mineta in a trancelike state, "Please switch with me!"
It was easy to see what Mineta wanted to do. He could 'act' scared and attach himself to Momo's body, specifically her chest or but, and claim he was too scared to let go. Momo couldn't help but back away, slightly terrified at Mineta's state. Luckily for her, Yuga was a gentleman and saw through Mineta's plan and vehemently refused, shaking his head at what seemed to be mach speed as his face began to blur.
Mineta tried to push it when he felt a cold glare stabbing him from behind. Quickly suppressing a shiver without much luck, he slowly turned around to see Izuku's eyes locked onto his figure. Feeling discretion would be the better choice than valor, Mineta backed off on his request.
Fifteen minutes later, Ochako and Tsuyu had entered the forest, leaving the four other pairs left waiting. They could hear screams of fright in the air, though they were mainly female voices.
As the others waited, they began to smell something burning.
"What's this burnt smell?" pondered Pixie Bob.
"Black smoke!" warned Mandalay, holding onto Kota.
The others quickly turned towards the source of the smoke to see rising in the distance. Before they could do anything though, Izuku heard something move behind them all, thanks to his training with Rekai. Quickly turning around, he saw two suspicious figures standing there, with one of them carrying a big pole that was pointed at Pixie Bob.
Before Izuku could even issue a warning, a pink glow surrounded Pixie Bob, catching them all by surprise before she was suddenly dragged towards the two. Izuku stretched his arm, managing to grab Pixie Bob by her wrist. Izuku suddenly felt himself being dragged for a second before quickly stamping his feet into the ground and increasing One for All throughout his body. Denki hurriedly grabbed Izuku's stretched out arm and pulled, trying to help out.
The villain with the pole made a tsk noise before giving up the original plan in favor of striking Pixie Bob in the head. The pole clipped Pixie Bob in the head, shattering her visor and giving her a concussion, but not enough to seriously scar her head.
As Izuku pulled Pixie Bob into his arms, Mineta and a few others could only quake in fear.
"Why… I thought they made sure…. So why are villains here!?" shouted Mineta.
"How are you this evening, U.A. High School?" greeted the villain with reptilian appearance, having green scales for skin and a face shaped like a lizard, and clothing clearly inspired by Stain, "We are the Vanguard Action Squad of the League of Villains!"
"The League of Villains? Why are they here?" asked Ojiro in shock.
"It's a shame I couldn't crush that pesky little kitty," commented the other villain with thick lips, "However, at least she won't be in any condition to fight."
"Bastard!" shouted Tiger, "You dare-"
"Wait up, big sis Mag! Don't be so hasty. You too, Tiger," interrupted the lizard villain, "It all comes down on whether or not having power over life and death follows Stain's tenants or not."
"You're the ones who bought his ideology?" hissed Tenya.
The reptile villain looked over before recognizing Tenya as one of the people who halted Stain before introducing himself as Spinner, and his partner as Magne.
"I'm Spinner, the one who'll spin Stain's dreams to reality!" bragged Spinner as he pulled out his weapon, which was a lot of bladed objects wrapped in chains and belts, forming a makeshift sword.
Tiger huffed in anger as he stepped forward, "I don't care but you bastards….. Pixie Bob, the one you hit, has started worrying about getting married recently and was doing her best to find happiness as a woman. And then you had the audacity to hit her face. You can't damage a woman's face and just laugh about it!"
"What's a Hero trying to find happiness like an average person for!" shouted Spinner back as he charged forward.
"Go, everyone! Take Pixie Bob with you until she can recover! Combat must be avoided at all costs, understand!" ordered Mandalay, "Kota, go with them. You know the shortest way!"
Mandalay immediately used her quirk, Telepathy, to inform everyone that villains had invaded the camp. Ragdoll had already disappeared, running ahead to make sure the students in the forest were alright.
Izuku, who was still carrying Pixie Bob bridal style, and the others nodded, making their way back to the classroom for safety. Before they could even get far, though, a cloaked figure with a mask suddenly blocked their path.
"Hoo, looks like I got lucky. I wanted to find a scenic view, and ended up getting lost for a little before finding you lot," chuckled the figure with a dark tone.
"Mandalay!" shouted Tiger, "I'll handle these two!"
Mandalay frowned before jumping ahead, landing in front of the students. Though she was uncomfortable with Tiger fighting two villains at once, both of them had a bad feeling about this particularly cloaked man.
"Huh, the kid's got a nice hat. Trade you for this lame ass mask," said the man as he took off the mask to reveal his face.
At the sight of his face, both Mandalay and Kota froze. Standing right in front of them was a face they could never forget. A scar on the left side of his face with a fake toy eye covering the left eye that was gone. Blonde hair and a maniacal grin.
Both of their minds flashed back to a certain news report in the past.
"Water Hose. They were wonderful Heroes who's bright lives were cut short by a single cruel criminal. The suspect is still on the run, with police and Heroes trying to find him, but his whereabouts are currently unknown. The suspect's Quirk is a simple power-up type, but yet very dangerous due to his ferocious nature. If you see this face, contact the police or Heroes immediately. In addition, the suspect is thought to have sustained an injury to his left eye from his fight with the Water Hose duo…"
Along with the newscast was a photo of the man along with his name and general description of him.
Standing right in front of them was the killer of Kota's parents, Mandalay's cousins, as well as many others.
"Muscular!" hissed Mandalay
"Hm? You look familiar….. My left eye is starting to ache," hummed Muscular, looking at Mandalay "Well, let me kill you to feel better!"
Mandalay immediately charged forward, her claws aiming for Muscular's face, to which he dodged.
"Students, run now!" shouted Mandalay, to which they obeyed.
"Whoa, feisty little kitty, aren't you?" laughed Muscular as he activated his quirk, Muscle Augmentation.
Muscle fibers suddenly protruded over his skin, wrapping around his left arm before forming a bulging muscular arm. Muscular slammed a punch where Mandalay was, who just barely managed to dodge the attack. Despite seeing him create a crater with his punch, Mandalay flipped back onto her feet before charging forward once more, aiming feral swipes at his face. Muscular quickly raised his left arm, blocking the swipes.
"Owow, those scratches actually sting," mocked Muscular.
His face changed when he saw Mandalay aim a kick to his nuts. Quickly raising his leg, he kicked Mandalay's kick away. Mandalay hissed as she tried to change tactics again, only to lose her balance when she felt herself being pulled back, noticing a pink glow on her.
"Come here, little pussycat," grinned Magne, only for her concentration to be disrupted by Tiger, who slammed a punch and knocked her pole away.
"Hikiishi Kenji, villain name Magne," recited Tiger, "9 counts of armed robbery, 3 counts of murder, 29 counts of attempted murder."
"Hoo, am I that famous?" asked Magne as she blocked Tiger's uppercut, "But you shouldn't leave yourself so open.
Tiger quickly shifted his body, flattening one side of his body just in time to dodge Spinner's vertical slash. Tiger gritted his teeth as he quickly jumped back, knowing that he was in a disadvantageous situation.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Tiger quickly turned to see Mandalay helplessly trying to escape from Muscular's grip. Thanks to Magne's distraction, Muscular was able to capitalize on that and wrap his muscular hands around Mandalay, slowly crushing her ribs and arms.
"Let go of me you stupid muscle head!" gritted Mandalay as she fruitlessly tried to kick Muscular.
Muscular took a closer look at Mandalay's face for a second before smiling, as if something dawned on his face. With a grunt, Muscular slammed Mandalay into the ground, causing her to cough up blood. He then used one hand to pin Mandalay on the ground, his hand wrapped around her throat.
"Now I know why you looked familiar. You're related to the two who took my left eye, aren't you? The Water Hose duo. You kinda look like the female bitch of the group," grinned Muscular.
Mandalay weakly tried to pull Muscular's arm off, but couldn't summon enough strength to do so.
"Before I forget, I guess I should ask if you know where Bakugo and Midoriya are. They're on the capture list," mused Muscular.
"Muscular, the one named Midoriya left with the group earlier!" shouted Magne as she blocked a ferocious swipe from Tiger, "Finish her up and catch up to them! He's the one with green hair!"
"Ah, my bad, I guess I should've paid attention to the debrief," shrugged Muscular before giving a maniacal grin, "That just means more people to kill! But first, I'm going to make sure that you suffer in their place for the injury they caused. "
Muscular's grip tightened around Mandalay's throat, cutting off her airway, shaking her head as he did so. Before he could even punch Mandalay, he felt something hit the back of his head. Looking back, he noticed Kota standing there, still in a throwing position. Kota had come running back, away from the others.
"You…. Water Hose… My mom and dad...Did you torment the two of them? Before you killed them?" demanded Kota with tears in his eyes.
"Kota…..," whispered Mandalay, "Get… away."
Muscular blinked before he figured out who the kid was, "Huh? Seriously? Those losers were your parents? Well then, this must be fate! The Water Hose Heroes, they're the reason I have an artificial eye in my left socket now."
"This is all your fault! Nothing in the world is right anymore, and it's all because of crazy people like you!" shouted Kota.
Muscular looked annoyed before sighing, "Brats are always so quick to shift the blame. Don't get the wrong idea, I didn't kill them because they took out my whole eye. I just wanted to kill people-Simple as that. And those two tried to stop me. And the end result was what we all wanted to do. What's really wrong is wanting to do something that you aren't able to do, just like your papa and mama!"
Kota could only look at Muscular in fear as he began to walk towards him. However, before Muscular could take another step, he felt someone grab onto his leg. Looking down, he saw Mandalay hugging his foot, trying to stop him. While he had been monologuing, he had unintentionally let go of Mandalay in favor of killing the kid.
"Kota, run!" shouted Mandalay in desperation.
"Tch, annoying bitch. Almost forgot about you," scoffed Muscular, jerking his leg off Mandalay's grip before viciously stomping on her wrist.
Mandalay gritted her teeth in pain, barely able to form words with her throat sore. That last shout had taken everything out of her throat. Looking up, she saw Kota still standing there in fear and shock.
'Kota,' thought Mandalay, using her telepathy to contact Kota, 'Just run…. I'll be fine. I'll be right behind you after I take care of this man. So just go.'
Mandalay knew she wouldn't be able to handle Muscular. But she would be damned if she let Kota witness her final moments. She looked at Kota directly with a smile, a lie on her face that she was fine. Anything else would be worse.
Kota, still frozen, heard his aunt's voice and knew she was lying. There was no way for her to deal with Muscular, the killer of his parents. But what could he do? When he saw Mandalay smile towards him, his heart broke. He had been so cold to his only remaining family member, his aunt who tried her best to be his foster-mother, and this would be the last thing he saw of her? It filled him with regret.
He knew Tiger had his hands full. Ragdoll was nowhere to be seen, probably trying to make sure the other students in the forest were safe. Pixie Bob was out of commission. But even if they were, he doubted they would have made a difference. But for the first time in his life, he wanted a hero to appear. To save Mandalay. To bring Muscular to justice. He thought he had thrown away such a foolish notion of heroes and villains, but now, that was all he begged for.
"And now, for the final curtains for you," grinned Muscular as he raised his foot, muscle strands forming all around it, before putting it down to crush Mandalay's head.
"Mandalay!" shouted Tiger as he tried to rush forward, only to be blocked by Magne and take a slash to the side from Spinner.
"Please….. Someone…. SOMEBODY SAVE MY MOM!" cried out in Kota in desperation, closing his eyes.
Woosh….POOOOWWW
Kota slowly opened his eyes, looking up in time to see Izuku sink his right foot into Muscular's torso in a flying dragon kick, his hair spiked up while arcs of electricity streamed from his fierce eyes.
Almost in slow motion, everyone could see the foot sinking further in while Muscular's face contorted in shock. A second later, Muscular was sent flying into the forest, slamming into several thick trees and boulders before coming to a stop into a nearby cliffside.
"You…," whispered Mandalay in shock and awe at Izuku's strength as Izuku gently lifted her up.
"There's no need to worry," smiled Izuku as he walked towards Kota, "I'm here now."
Spinner had to blink, rubbing his eyes for a bit. For a second there, he could've sworn he saw All Might standing there when Izuku made that statement.
Magne gulped when she saw Izuku kick Muscular into the distance. She could see why Izuku was priority one on capture, if not kill. If given time to grow, he could be an even bigger threat.
'No, not could be. Will be,' corrected Magne as she tried to attack Izuku, only to be stopped by Spinner of all people.
"What are you doing, Spinner?" asked Magne in shock, "Did you forget he's on Shigaraki's personal list?"
"I want to see if he has what it takes to be a real hero like Stain wants," replied Spinner, "This kid…. He was there when Stain was captured, too. Stain said that the only person he'd allow to kill him is All Might, and just now, I got shivers down my spine. I almost thought I saw All Might for a second there. But first, let's get rid of this guy!"
Magne frowned, knowing just how much of a fanboy Spinner was to Stain, but she didn't think it was that much. Still, she moved towards Tiger, agreeing that they should take out Tiger.
As Spinner raised his sword, he heard the rumbling of an engine coming towards him.
"Recipiro Burst!" shouted Tenya as he spun as fast as he could while hurtling towards the sword. The kick slammed into the sword, where the chains that connect the blades broke off into pieces.
Spinner looked in shock at his blades falling to pieces, allowing Tenya the perfect opportunity to land another roundhouse kick to Spinner's face, knocking him out.
"Are you alright?" asked Izuku, tearing off his shirt into pieces to use as makeshift bandages for Mandalay's injuries.
'I'm alright now,' replied Mandalay telepathically, coughing as she did so, 'Right now, we have more things to worry about. We now know that you and Bakugo are the main targets for this villain raid. Right now we need to get back to the camp! Where are the others!?'
"On their way back to the camp," replied Izuku.
A few minutes earlier.
Izuku and the others were running back to the camp when Denki noticed something off.
"Hey, where's the kid?" asked Denki.
The others paused, quickly turning around before noticing that Kota was gone.
"Where'd he go!?" shouted Mashiro.
"Did he foolishly go back? Why would he do that!" shouted Tenya.
Izuku, however, knew exactly why Kota had gone back. To confront his parent's killer.
"I'll go back and get him," said Izuku, passing Pixie Bob's body to Rikido before quickly turning around.
"Are you crazy!? We need to get back to the classroom for safety!" cried Mineta.
"You guys go. I'll be back shortly," replied Izuku, only for Tenya to grab his wrist.
"You're going to fight, aren't you?" demanded Tenya, "Don't you remember the lecture we got back at Honsu!? Didn't you learn?"
"I did, but I can't let them fight alone," said Izuku, "I'm going, and that's it."
Tenya gritted his teeth, not wanting Izuku to get in trouble, but this really was a pinch moment.
"Go. I'll authorize the use of quirks and take the blame."
They quickly looked to see Pixie Bob awake, groaning as she held her head.
"Pixie Bob! Are you alright?" asked Izuku quickly.
"I'm fine, little kitten, thanks to you," replied Pixie Bob as she tried to stand, only to almost fall if it wasn't for Mashirao, "I need to go help out. My Quirk will definitely make a difference."
Izuku nodded as One for All coursed through his body, "I'll go first. The rest of you figure out what you want to do. Keep in mind that this is your choice. We need someone to at least report to Aizawa-sensei."
In the end, Izuku and Tenya rushed back, with Mashirao and Rikido supporting Pixie Bob. Denki and the others ran back to the classroom, hoping to get the teachers and maybe communications to the school.
Izuku smiled before his ears picked up something. Quickly turning around, he saw trees rumbling before falling down.
"Well brat, that actually hurt a bit," grinned Muscular as he stepped back into the clearing, seemingly unharmed.
Izuku narrowed his eyes. He had just kicked Muscular with One for All at 100%, and yet this man was already standing without a worry.
"That quirk of yours… it's pretty decent. Almost comparable to mine in terms of strength and speed," said Muscular as he searched through his pocket before grabbing a prosthetic eye that matched his current mood, allowing others to spill out. He placed it onto his left eye, revealing an empty eye socket.
"Now let's get serious. Playtime is over now!" shouted Muscular as muscle strands began to form all over his body, increasing his mass and size.
Izuku was already circulating One for All all around his body at 100% as he dashed forward stretching his arm back. The two titans stepped in towards each other, their arms raised before throwing a punch. Their punch crashed into each other, creating a shockwave upon impact.
Izuku gritted his teeth as he found his strength unable to overwhelm Muscular.
"Like I said, it's pretty even. That's why you'll lose," grinned Muscular.
Izuku pondered why Muscular would say that when he winced in pain, feeling his fist starting to burn. Izuku quickly jumped back, looking down at his fist to see red burn marks before looking back at Muscular.
"Neat, isn't it," grinned Muscular as he raised his fist, "Got a little bonus from the boss as a way to make sure the job gets done. Didn't think I needed it, but I'm getting to enjoy my job more! Any prolonged contact on me, and you'll feel the burn!"
'Another quirk? It has to be All for One,' growled Izuku mentally as he charged forward, using Ghost Perplexing Steps as best as he could with 100%, trying to snipe Muscular. However, when Izuku managed to get behind Muscular and stretched his arm forward, he found his wrist trapped in Muscular's grip.
With a malicious grin, Muscular tightened his grip on Izuku's stretched out wrist to make sure he didn't escape. Izuku grunted in pain as he felt his wrist start to burn before stretching out a kick to the head to make Muscular let go. Muscular caught the leg with his other hand, gripping it as well.
"Powerful, but the speed at which your limbs stretch isn't fast enough. I can easily catch these limbs, and even if you didn't stretch and tried to close in, you'd just be making it easier for me!" laughed Muscular as he enjoyed the sensation of burning Izuku's limbs. He stopped laughing when Izuku hurled his head back a little before headbutting him in the head. The impact forced Muscular to let go, not expecting such an attack nor having his hand available to block it.
Izuku quickly retracted his limbs, wincing in pain as he felt the first-degree burns on his limbs. Then Muscular jumped, smashing his fist to where Izuku was, who quickly jumped back to dodge the punch, which left a crater on the ground.
"You can't dodge forever!" shouted Muscular as he pulled his fist back from the ground, glancing over at Kota and Mandalay.
Izuku instantly knew that if he didn't do something, then Muscular would attack them. But what could he do? Thinking quickly, he remembered his theory from earlier. It looked like there was no way but to test it out now.
Taking a deep breath, Izuku slowly spread his legs open, assuming a horse stance. Then, with a grunt, he slightly bent his knee with his hands over his knee, forcing the blood flow to go down. In an instant, the bottoms of his legs distorted, expanding a bit as if pumps were located at the ankles. A second later, his legs returned to normal, but the increased blood flow circulated around his body. As soon as the blood returned to his body, his torso expanded in size a little. His skin turned pink as steam began to drift off from his skin. Mixing with the arcs of lightning from One for All, the static electricity sputtered and blazed even more brightly.
"Huh? What are you doing, imitating a steam engine?" asked Muscular in confusion, "Well if you aren't going to do anything, then I'll start killing!"
Muscular began to run towards him, confident he could dodge or catch Izuku's attack. Izuku glared at Muscular, shifting his weight and leg so his left side of his body was facing Muscular before raising his right arm up.
'Bring it! I'll-' thought Muscular, only for his thought process to be interrupted with a fist to the face.
The attack was too fast for him to react, halting his momentum. Before Muscular could do anything, an arc kick to the face knocked him down into the ground. Muscular shook his head as he quickly jumped back just as Izuku's fist descended from the air where his spine was.
"The hell? Did you get faster and stronger!?" shouted Muscular before grinning, "That's what I'm talking about!"
However, his smile didn't last long. Every time he tried to grab or punch Izuku, Izuku always dodged his blows before countering with quick smacks that he couldn't grab.
"This is bullshit! How can I have fun if you don't bleed!" shouted Muscular as his head reeled back once more from a corkscrew punch, "Fine, I'll make you take a hit!"
Muscular used his quirk, his muscle strands overflowing to the fact that some of it began to cover his face. Then, turning around, he rushed towards Mandalay and Kota. Izuku quickly rushed over, standing in front of the two.
"Get out of the way! You'll get hurt!" shouted Kota in worry, not wanting the man who saved Mandalay to get hurt because they couldn't move.
"It's going to be fine. I won't let him hurt you two anymore," replied Izuku as he cocked both arms back.
New York Smash
Both arms began to blur as lightning fast punches pounded into Muscular. The amount of force in each punch, the speed of it, and the quantity of it all halted Muscular in his path for a second before pushing him back. Muscular felt like the punches were all landing at the same time, not in succession. Not only did the punches hurt, they were forcefully stripping his excess muscle strands. Soon, he was stripped to his original body once more. That was when earth pillars began to rise up all around Muscular.
"Pixie Bob!?" shouted Mandalay and Kota in surprise, looking around before noticing Pixie Bob with her hands on the ground, with Mashirao and Rikido supporting her.
"Got the pillars like you wanted!" shouted Pixie Bob as she winced, her head still hurting from the concussion.
Izuku nodded as he quickly rushed forward, not even letting Muscular get a chance to recover. Quickly jumping over Muscular, Izuku's hand grabbed Muscular by the head, keeping his forward momentum. With a quick twist of his hands, he began to spin Muscular's body, taking his feet off the ground.
'I'll be putting your technique to use master Rekai!' thought Izuku as he began to prepare for the other sole technique Rekai had passed to him. Though the sole reason how and why he had learned this wasn't because he was a good or naughty student. It was solely because of his rubber body that Rekai found him to be the perfect test dummy showcasing it to a few students, always using Izuku as the victim. Thanks to his rubber body, he could recover from it, or just be the dummy for Rekai to improve it. But with all the attacks in this special move, Rekai labeled it as a forbidden move due to its crippling damage, with Izuku being the sole inheritor of the move for now. A move Izuku was sure Rekai would smirk and allow Izuku to do it on this person. Though he was going to modify it to suit his ability a bit more, as well as rename the technique.
Baoding Drop Combo Smash
Izuku spun in the air with Muscular's head still in his grip before smashing him into the ground. Upon smashing into the ground, Izuku didn't let up as he quickly tossed him into the air. In a split second, Izuku viciously kneed Muscular's spine, sending up higher in the air. Izuku then stretched his arm out, grabbing onto one of the pillars before pulling himself in. Right as his feet landed on the walls of the pillar, he shot himself forward, bouncing to another pillar before diving right towards Muscular from behind once more.
Izuku grabbed Muscular's left forearm, holding it back as he elbowed the joint from behind, breaking the joint. At the same breath, his right leg kicked Muscular in the chin, disorienting him again. With a flip, Izuku punched Muscular in the solar plexus, sending him down towards the ground.
Just before Muscular could crash into the ground though, Izuku already stretched himself there first, his hand already latching onto Muscular's head before spinning Muscular back into the air with a twist to the head. Izuku slammed punches, kicks, and elbow strikes at major joints, dislocating them or fracturing the area all around before finally kicking Muscular high up in the air with a vertical kick to the lower spine. Launching himself into the air, Izuku flew past Muscular before looking down at him. At this point, his skin had reverted back to its usual color, the steam having gone away.
Muscular noticed this and the fact that Izuku was panting heavily at this point before grinning, "Haha, it's finally my time, isn't it! You're breathing pretty heavily aren't ya! Seems like ya still don't have enough power to deal with me!"
It was then Muscular just noticed that he couldn't move any of his limbs at all. Cursing at this helplessness, he began focusing on a third hidden quirk he had gotten, Minor Regeneration. As long as he was conscious, he could heal minor wounds, though he wasn't sure how it dealt with broken joints and limbs.
Izuku replied back by putting his left thumb into his mouth while he stretched back his right arm as far as he could. Taking a deep breath, Izuku bit down into his thumb and expelled all the air right into it.
At that moment Izuku knew his theory had been right and he had to thank Itsuka for this idea. His left hand began to expand immensely, growing larger than his own body. With a grunt, Izuku felt the air in his bones pass through to his body, expanding his chest before passing into his outstretched right arm, increasing its size.
"You want power!? Then eat this!" shouted Izuku as he managed to turn his body as he threw his giant fist at Muscular, loaded with One for All.
For the first time in his life, Muscular felt fear seizing up his body. He had always been the predator, the big dog, preying on the weak, doing whatever he wanted to because of his Quirk. He was the strongest there was, with only a few exceptions stronger than him. However, he was confident that with his additional quirks given to him, he could take on All Might himself, who was said to be the pinnacle of power. But now, this kid was clearly showing him something that he wasn't sure he could even compete.
'He's bluffing….. He has to be bluffing!' shouted Muscular in his mind mentally, 'He blew air into his arm! It's just to make his fist look ridiculously big!'
Nonetheless, Muscular switched to his original quirk, growing muscle strands all over his body in hopes of tanking the hit. He soon found out that Izuku hadn't been bluffing at all when the enormous fist smashed into his body.
'This power…. I… I can't fight it back!' thought Muscular as he tried to push back, only to completely fail.
Izuku gritted his teeth as he pushed his fist forward before roaring with all his might, "Chiba Smash!"
Muscular was sent flying into where Kota's secret hideout was, crashing through the stone structure. Izuku has purposely aimed it there as he knew (or rather hoped) nobody was there. A quick glance told him that Muscular wasn't going to be getting up again.
Kota could only look up in awe at Izuku. Muscular was a blight who had ruined many lives, and could never be caught until now, by a person whom he kept trying to reject. Why would he save him and Mandalay, though? He wasn't an official hero, just a student, and yet he charged forward to save them. Then, Kota remembered what Mandalay had once told him.
'Kota...Your mother and father, the Water Hose Heroes. Though it's true they left you behind in this world, but they saved so many lives with their sacrifice. You'll see someday. You'll meet someone, and you'll understand why we chose to do this. Someone who will risk their life. Someone who'll be…."
"My hero," sobbed Kota as Izuku let out a victory roar.
Magne couldn't believe it. Muscular was supposed to be their muscle to deal with the heroes here, and just now, he was defeated by a kid who hadn't even finished his first year of high school!
"You're not going anyway," hissed Tiger as he tightly wrapped Magne in his arms.
"Big Sis Magne!" shouted Spinner as he dodged a kick from Tenya, "You're getting an-"
He didn't finish as he was suddenly tied up by a familiar cloth.
"Sensei!" shouted Tenya and the others in relief.
"I saw what happened," said Shota, "The others are safe. Kaminari is already calling for assistance. Now we just need to know why the villains are here."
'They're looking for Bakugo and Midoriya," communicated Mandalay telepathically to Shota, 'That's what Muscular said before Midoriya saved us.'
Shota gritted his teeth in anger at the fact his students were the target. He decided to shelve the fact that Muscular was here and that most likely Izuku knocked him out if the giant fist in the air meant something. Knowing that drastic situations called for drastic action, he made his decision.
"Mandalay! Tell everyone in the name of the Pro Hero: EraserHead, you are granted to engage in combat against the villains!"
'Got it,' replied Mandalay, holding her head, 'I got enough to do one last burst message to everyone.'
With a grunt, she passed the message to all the students of 1A and 1B, giving them permission to fight, as well as notifying them all that Katsuki and Izuku were the main targets before finally fainting from the damages she had taken from Muscular.
'Good, now we just need to get Midoriya back to the classroom. Luckily it shouldn't be too hard since he's just right here,' thought Shota as he looked up.
He blinked as he saw Izuku expelling air out of his mouth at a tremendous rate while his body began to shrink, shooting him all around in the air before he finally finished… and landed in the forest.
'I'm going to murder that problem child!' thought Shota, his eyes twitching rapidly. He began to consider what needed to be done. There were two villains here, and who knows how many more in the forest. At the same time, he had students and injured people that needed to be escorted back to the camp.
"Go, I'll handle this!" shouted Tiger, "I'm worried about Ragdoll, she hasn't responded in a while!"
Making up his mind, Shota rushed into the forest, heading towards the end pathway first. If he recalled, Katsuki should've been one of the earlier groups to enter the forest, so he should be closer to the exit now.
Izuku finally stopped expelling air out of his mouth before landing right into some bushes. Finally relieved he had stopped flying everywhere, he jumped out of the bushes, brushing off the leaves when he noticed something off. For one, the bush seemed to be taller than him. The trees seemed especially tall, too.
"Midoriya?"
Izuku turned around to see Shoji staring at him in surprise. Speaking of which, why did Shoji seem so tall all of a sudden? Before he could even contemplate this, Shoji tackled him away from a claw made of darkness.
"What was that? And why are you so big?" asked Izuku as Shoji quickly put him on his back, the webbings between his arms covering him up.
"I didn't change in size. You shrunk for some reason. Did you get hit by a villain's quirk?" replied Shoji, using one of his Dupli-Arms to form a mouth near Izuku's ear.
Izuku looked down at himself for the first time and saw he was indeed a shrimp, roughly Mineta's height, if not shorter. His mind began to race to figure out why he was so short when he remembered he had expelled a lot of air after enlarging his fist.
'A side effect maybe? But for how long?' thought Izuku, 'But first…"
Izuku noticed Shoji bleeding, and for some reason, that dark claw seemed familiar.
"In case you're wondering, yes," whispered Shoji, already knowing what Izuku was going to ask, "We were ambushed by a villain, and I tried to cover for us. However, one of my arms got cut off, and that triggered Tokoyami's quirk. Don't worry about the injury, though, the duplicate was cut off, so it's not as big of an injury as you think."
Indeed, as Izuku took a closer look, he could see Fumikage struggling to control Dark Shadow, who was starting to rampage out of control.
"Get away from me! You'll die!" shrieked out Fumikage in anguish.
"We'll need to be quiet," warned Shoji, "It's not fully sentient, but because of that, it'll attack anything that makes a noise."
Izuku nodded before he suddenly felt his body changing, elongating back to its original form. Of course, Dark Shadow instantly reacted to the noise of Izuku's body growing back to normal and attacked. Luckily, Shoji could already feel Izuku's body growing and knew by instinct that Dark Shadow would attack them, and so dodged the attack.
"Go! Don't… urg… worry about me! Find the others and save them!" shouted Fumikage before trying to reign in Dark Shadow without much success.
Shoji gently put Izuku back down, seeing as he was back to full height once more.
'I'm back to normal. So there's a time limit on how long I stay short. But just what's the relationship between it,' thought Izuku before shelving that thought away for a later time. He had more important matters to focus on right now. Mainly helping out Katsuki from being kidnapped while rescuing any other students in the forest. But at the same time, he couldn't leave Fumikage in this state. The only way to calm Dark Shadow was by exposing it to a light source, the stronger the better.
"Midoriya…. It doesn't matter what condition I'm in, but I won't leave a friend behind. You're currently a target, as is Bakugo. It's dangerous for you to be out here, but knowing you, you won't hesitate to help others. I'll distract Dark Shadow while you run to help Bakugo," said Shoji, "I'll lead him to the camp and the fire."
Izuku vehemently shook his head, "That's too dangerous. Both are too far away to get there safely with Tokoyami's quirk acting out right now!"
Both had to dodge as Dark Shadow once more tried to strike them before Shoji replied, "I know. But to save people, you have to take risks. That's what makes a Hero a Hero. Will you stay with me to help Tokoyami? Or rush to Bakugo's side? Those are the choices you have to make, and whatever you choose, I will respect it."
Izuku gritted his teeth as his mind began to race through the choices. Even though he was a target, it wasn't in him to leave others in danger just to protect himself. Not only that, but Momo, Ochako, Itsuka, and Tsuyu were in the forest still, and he refused to leave them there with villains running about in the forest. But he couldn't abandon Fumikage and Shoji like this.
'Think, think!' thought Izuku, his mind racing through about Fumikage's quirk, 'It's powerful at night and in the shadows, but too much of it makes Fumikage lose control of his quirk, Dark Shadow. It's afraid of light, so we'll need some light. Wait, light?'
"That's it!" grinned Izuku, "I've made my choice. We'll save both of them at the same time! Follow my lead!"
Shoji, slightly mystified at this, decided to put his faith in Izuku.
"Flesh...! Pieces of meat…. Flesh!" chanted a villain named Moonfish, who was in a black straightjacket that covered everything except his mouth, restraining him severely. However, it didn't matter for him as his quirk, Blade-Tooth, allowed him to enlarge and reshape his teeth into sharp blades. He utilized this quirk to not only travel around, but also attack Katsuki and Shoto, who was carrying Kosei.
Shoto immediately summoned a wall of ice, jumping back when one of the blades pierced through the wall and into the ground.
"I can't get near him, damn it!" growled Katsuki in anger and annoyance. He wanted to let out a huge explosion to deal with the villain, but Shoto's warning about the explosion hindering his own vision would possibly leave them defenseless to Moonfish's attack, especially if Katsuki didn't get him in one shot.
Katsuki clicked his teeth in frustration before he heard the sound of something slamming into the ground hard. Both he and Shoto turned towards the source of the noise in confusion, as did Moonfish, wondering what was coming towards them.
"I see ice! That should be them!" shouted the familiar voice of Izuku. Seconds later, both he and Shoji appeared out of the trees.
"Bakugo! Todoroki! One of you, give us some light, please!" shouted Shoji from one of his duplicated arms that formed a mouth, "Tokayami's quirk has gone berserk!"
Moonfish tried to turn to attack his new victims when a dark shadowy claw slammed him into the ground, breaking up all his teeth blades. Katsuki and Shoto's eyes widened when they recognized the shadowy figure as a rampant Dark Shadow, as well as seeing Fumikage trying desperately to control his quirk.
Izuku and Shoji had lured Dark Shadow over by using their respective quirks to create noise, with Izuku stretching his limb to hit random trees a bit further away from them while Shoji extended his limbs as far away from him as he could, making random noises to attract Dark Shadow.
Shoto noticed how Dark Shadow attacked the extended limb, reacting to noise instead of attacking the main body, and figured out that Dark Shadow was just rampantly attacking anything that moved or made a sound. He had been ready to deal with Dark Shadow when Katsuki stopped him. Shoto looked at Katsuki in confusion before noticing he was staring at Moonfish, who was slowly getting back up.
"Flesh…. Slabs of meat… No good! Can't allow it… Won't allow it! I'm the one that gets to slice them open! Don't steal from me!" cursed Moonfish as he viciously attacked where he assumed would be the control point of the enlarged Dark Shadow that was slowly getting even larger.
Blades of sharpened teeth penetrated through Dark Shadow's claw and head, only for it to be utterly ineffective.
"Small fry, don't get in my way!" roared Dark Shadow as its claw grabbed Moonfish, tightening its grip on Moonfish's body until his teeth broke once more. With a roar, Dark Shadow slammed Moonfish through several thick trees before tossing him into another tree, clearly knocking Moonfish out.
"More! I haven't had enough fun yet! More!" laughed Dark Shadow until it squawked in fear as Shoto and Katsuki blazed past Fumikage with explosions and fire that had been maximized for brightness.
With Dark Shadow suddenly severely weakened, Fumikage was able to regain control of his quirk.
"You and I are a terrible match-up" commented Katsuki, but inside, he was sweating a bit. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew and took pride that he, Shoto, and Izuku were considered the monster trio of 1A, if not out of the whole first years. Only a few select people could actually give them a real fight. But just now….. if it wasn't for the fact that Dark Shadow was inherently weak against light, he wasn't sure he could handle Fumikage easily. Especially since Fumikage hadn't even been in control of Dark Shadow.
Shoto glanced over at Fumikage, mentally making a decision to up his training a bit. If he had still been limited to his ice only, he wasn't sure he could've handled a rampaging Dark Shadow.
"I'm sorry," apologized Fumikage, panting as he tried to regain control of his breathing, "Thanks for saving me."
Fumikage then turned to Shoji and Izuku, "Shoji, I apologize. You too, Midoriya. I'm still too immature. Anger consumed me, and I let my Quirk take over because of it. In the depths of darkness, I was consumed with fury, spurred on by rage until I gave into Dark Shadow, lost control, and hurt Shoji in the process."
Fumikage sank deeper into his own depression until Shoji shook his head and replied, "We'll deal with that later. That's what you would've said."
Fumikage looked up in shock before slowly standing back up, shoving his feelings aside for now. They were still in danger.
"From what we know, Bakugo and I are the main targets for the villains, though the reasons are unclear," reported Izuku.
"Ain't it obvious, we're obviously the fucking threat," retorted Katsuki.
"If that was true, then Todoroki should've been on that list too," objected Izuku, "Anyways, our safest bet is to head back to camp, where our teachers and others are."
"An escort mission," nodded Fumikage, "Our mission will be to escort you and Bakugo back to safety, serving as protectors."
"We should probably cut straight across through the forest," advised Izuku, "It'll be shorter than taking the main path, and who knows what other villains are waiting on the main path. If we encounter the other students, we can take them with us."
"We don't know how many there are though," warned Fumikage, "They could ambush us in the trees."
"With Shoji's abilities, he can detect them before they get the drop on us," denied Izuku, "Plus with Todoroki's freezing, and the means to help you control Dark Shadow's power, we have a pretty formidable team. Bakugo and I can act as supporting firepower. With a group like this, even All Might would have trouble."
Of course, whether All Might would really have trouble was something else, but Izuku put it in there to show a vote of confidence.
"The hell? I can fucking take care of myself!" shouted Katsuki, noticing he was in the middle of the pack with Izuku, with Shoto and Shoji taking vanguard and Fumikage acting as the rearguard. Shoji took Kosei from Shoto, stating that even with an additional body, he wouldn't be burdened by it. Seeing no real reason to argue, Shoto let him.
"You're one of the targets. You should stay in the middle with Midoriya," ordered Shoto, looking over to Shoji.
While Katsuki argued, Izuku took a deep breath, taking a chance to relax now that had friends around and was no longer in fight mode. The moment he did though, he fell onto his knees, suddenly feeling a lot weaker.
"Midoriya!" shouted Shoto, pushing by Katsuki to see what was wrong with Izuku, "You have burns on your wrist and leg! How did you not notice?"
Shoto quickly began to produce ice before melting it into water. Then, ripping his jacket apart, he applied the wet paper cloths onto the burns.
"Oh, right," chuckled Izuku weakly, "Kinda forgot I had been fighting before I landed over here."
"Speaking of which, how did you end up there?" asked Shoji, "I was surprised to see you in the bushes, all shrunken up."
"That's a story for a later time," grunted Izuku as he managed to push himself up, "We need to get going."
Nodding in agreement, they began their journey, much to Katsuki's displeasure that he was in the middle with Izuku. Noticing that Izuku was stumbling quite a bit, Katsuki clicked his tongue before grabbing Izuku's arm, tossing it over his own shoulder to help Izuku walk.
"Don't think too much about it," grumbled Katsuki, knowing that Izuku was looking at him in surprise, "I just don't want you holding us back."
The group began to set off, quietly looking around for danger. They traversed through the woods, hoping to encounter their classmates soon when Shoji heard something close to them. Deciding to investigate, Shoji and Todoroki stepped into the main road first, looking towards the source of the noise to see Ochako subduing a girl with spiky hair buns named Himiko Toga, only to be stabbed in the thigh by the girl with a needle.
Izuku had been ready to call out when he felt something wrong. Before he could react to it though, he felt something tap his back before his world went dark. Unfortunately, due to all his injuries as well as running on fumes, he didn't have a chance to shout out a warning.
"Uraraka-san!" shouted Shoji as Himiko managed to escape from Ochako's grasp. Ochako had been ready to give chase, only for Tsuyu to stop her, stating that it was too dangerous since they had no idea what her quirk was.
"Are you alright? Who was that?" asked Shoto.
"I'm fine," waived off Ochako.
"That was one of the villains. She's crazy," shivered Tsuyu. She had a bad feeling about Himiko.
"We can talk more about it later. Let's move," motioned Shoji.
"With your help, we can escort Bakugo and Midoriya to base safely, since they're the main targets," nodded Shoto.
"Kero, if you're protecting them, then shouldn't they be standing there with you?" asked Tsuyu.
Upon hearing that question, both Shoji and Shoto quickly whirled around to see Izuku, Katsuki, and Fumikage missing from the group.
Both cursed at their negligence for having taken their eyes off the two and shocked someone could actually sneak past them and take the others.
"The ones you that you seek….," said a voice from above them, causing them all to look up to see a man standing on a tree branch, wearing a yellow trench coat, mask, and a top hat, "I took them with my magic."
The man tossed three marbles up in the air with his right hand while his left hand held a cane, showcasing the marbles, "These talents aren't someone who should be on the hero's side. We can take them to a stage where they can shine even brighter."
"Give them back!" shouted Ochako, angry that Izuku had just been stolen as well as her two classmates.
The villain identified as Mr. Compress played around with the marbles for a bit before replying with a smirk in his voice, "Give them back? What a strange thing to say. They don't belong to anyone, they're their own person, you egoist.
"Says the person stealing them just for their own use," growled Tsuyu.
Shoto fired a wave of ice at Mr. Compress, only for him to jump to another tree to dodge.
"We merely want to show them that the path they're on with its fanatical value isn't the only path they can take," explained Mr. Compress, "Kids these days are made to choose their paths based on their values.
"Deku will never follow the path to villainy, no matter what you do!" shouted Ochako.
It only then did Shoji realize that Fumikage had been taken, too. Which was a shock to them since he hadn't been a target on the list. Shoto growled as Mr. Compress remained there to even taunt them after snatching the trio, showcasing how confident he was when he could've just ran with his targets.
"Ah yes, Tokoyami was a target that I improvised on taking. Moonfish, the man with Blade-Tooth, is a cutthroat murder who's on death row and had his appeal dismissed. And yet with a violent nature that trampled this murderer quite one-sidedly, I decided he was a good target, too. Not to mention this Midoriya also took out Muscular, one of our heavy hitters in the vanguard. Quite surprising, but I suppose it's to be expected of the winner of the U.A. Sports Festival," hummed Mr. Compress.
Shoto fired an even bigger barrage of ice at Mr. Compress, hoping to trap him.
"My apologies, but tricks and running away are my only redeeming features!" called out Mr. Compress, having dodged the attack as he passed by a chunk of ice, disappearing from their line of sight for a second before reappearing, pocketing the marbles in the right pocket, "There's no way I'd fight students who are hero candidates."
Quickly pressing on his communicator, he informed the rest of the villains that the targets had been secured before hopping from tree top to tree top to flee, with Shoto and the others chasing after him.
Back in another section of the forest, Shota gritted his teeth as he dodged a chainsaw to the face. He had been chasing where Izuku roughly landed, only to be stopped by a Nomu wielding multiple lethal weapons. Shota parried the hand wielding a drill before landing a spin kick to the Nomu's head, only for it to prove ineffective. Shota's quirk was already blazing at full time, limiting the Nomu from creating multiple limbs with weapons. However, it had learned from that, and as soon as it hid behind some trees, it pulled its weapons out of its limbs so it could wield them manually.
Shota peaked over to where Yosetsu was dragging a bleeding Momo away. From what he could tell, the two had been ambushed while Momo was helping the others. He had arrived in time to distract the Nomu from chasing after Yosetsu, but he was having trouble stopping the Nomu.
'Guess I should invest in some heavy weaponry,' thought Shota to himself as he used his cloth to wrap around the hand wielding a chainsaw, forcing it into its body to cut itself. Unfortunately, its skin was too tough for it to cut through, but it at least damaged the chainsaw so it wasn't as much of a threat.
Before Shota could try to continue the attack, the Nomu suddenly turned around and began to leave.
'Why is it leaving?' thought Momo, trying to open her eyes again, 'Could it mean…. Did it accomplish its goal? That means Bakugo or Izuku, maybe both are!?'
The thought of Izuku being kidnapped pained her heart, but she pushed through those thoughts, creating the smallest but strongest transmitter she could create.
"Awase, use your quirk on him with this!" begged Momo, passing the transmitter to Yosetsu.
Yosetsu looked confused for a second before deciding to obey, quickly rushing over to the Nomu.
Shota looked over to Yosetsu and Momo, wondering what the hell they were doing, and almost shouted for Yosetsu to fall back. However, he noticed Momo had created something and theorized it had to be something useful. Like her, he figured that the Nomu must've been called back because their goals had been accomplished.
Yosetsu quickly slammed the transmitter into the Nomu's back, wielding it into its skin to a molecular level before quickly backing away. The Nomu ignored Yosetsu and continued its path back.
Shota looked over to the Nomu, then back to Yosetsu and Momo, his mind racing on what to do. With Momo hurt, he needed to escort them back to base. But if the villain's plan had been accomplished, that meant Izuku and Katsuki were in danger.
"Sensei, go!" whispered Momo, putting her hand to her head to try to stop the bleeding, "We can get back ourselves. It's not too far now."
"... Sorry," apologized Shota as he raced after the Nomu, taking caution as he hid behind the trees.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein