Hunter Amongst Villains Draft - Return of U-Know-Who

Hey, how's it going. You like the new chapter of From Beyond The World Tree? Practicing writing One Punch DxD: Neo with Ahsoei to sharpen my writing skills and killing the evil thing known as writer's block is paying off, also by the way, check out One Punch DxD: Neo on Fanfiction.net. Do it. We worked a lot on it. I honestly like that one because I get the opportunity to exercise original ideas as DxD is the grounds of much creative freedom that I am actually comfortable with, especially with the elements of One Punch Man included.

As for now, I am working on Hunter Amongst Villains Chapter. It is a slow work in progress but it is definitely being worked on. Hopefully I would post it in two weeks, one week if we're lucky. Anyways, here is your daily dose of content. 

If you keep reading, you will see the return of our fan favourite hehehe.

“...” Ghin stared at the empty dishes before him. His left eye twitched at the sight of satisfied students, the mere sight irking him to no end.

“Too many dishes. Way too many.” Ghin uttered completely displeased.

Strolling up besides Ghin, Mirio’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of the mountain of plates and bowls.

“...can I make them wash the dishes?” Ghin asked Mirio as he glared at Izuku, seeing the green-haired fanboy burp and patting his stomach in satisfaction.

“I’d say so. You did make their food for them.”

The first time Mirio had tasted Ghin’s food, he’d thought it had come from some kind of restaurant.

“Alright. Now how to make them wash the dishes…” Ghin’s gaze licked over the potential victims that shall do his bidding.

Glancing over the room full of people, Mirio cupped his chin in thought. He had noticed Garou was missing again.

“Maybe bring Garou in?”

“No, I want to make them fear me. Now let me think,” Ghin tapped his chin. Then an idea dawned upon him.

“Freeloaders!” Ghin shouted, his voice filling the room.

As Ghin’s voice reached everyone in the room, they all turned to the diminutive silver-haired disciple.

“I am truly, and utterly livid. I had to clean the dishes the last time I fed you all, and it was annoying. This time… one of you will do dish duty. And I am now wondering how to make you turn against each out for my dark amusement…” Ghin said without shame.

Everyone in the room stiffened as they heard Ghin’s declaration. Slowly, they all began to look around the room, seeing who might be chosen, or how.

“Why don’t you hire a maid?”

Kaminari broke the sudden silence as he raised his hand in questioning.

“The odds of me bestowing you slave duty has increased by fifty percent,” Ghin threatened.

The electric Quirk user’s hand immediately dropped as his grin fell straight off his face. Seeing the mountain of plates and bowls, the usually snarky student remained silent.

“Alright, I have an idea. Everyone. Vote who gets slave duty. It can be anyone, be it teacher or whatever. But pick someone. If there's a draw, thou shall duel for freedom. No exceptions.” Ghin’s lips curled into a evil grin, yet still looked cute on his ten-year-old face.

“...Anyone?”

Izuku raised one eyebrow as he shared a thought with most of his class.

“If you pick me, I will end you all. You know what I mean.” Ghin threatened before they get any ideas.

As 1-A all glanced at each other, a small grin crept across their faces. Nodding in collective agreement, Izuku spoke up for his class.

“We pick… Garou.”

“Eh?” Ghin blinked upon hearing their pick.

“...redo.” Ghin ordered, waving their pick off.

Bakugou frowned, glaring at the young boy.

“You said anyone.”

“Aniki has more authority than me. I said redo for your sake,” Ghin reminded.

Sighing heavily, the class of 1-A all thought of their next choice. Although, 1-B unanimously confirmed theirs.

“We pick Monoma!” Kendo raised her hand amongst the class.

Class 1-A perked their ears at the name, every student concurrently craning their necks towards Monoma with unnatural harmony.

Hearing her words, Monoma turned to her with his mouth agape.

“...Wha-”

“Oh ho ho ho, I almost forgot. Definitely him.” Bakugou grinned upon remembering the countless times Monoma came to pick on them and their failures. Momoma was the perfect substitute for Garou, no, a better one.

One by one, the rest of 1-A all smirked at the distraught Monoma. They all began muttering their agreement with the choice of the Class President of 1-B.

“No objections?” Ghin asked the others.

The Third Years furrowed their own brows in thought. None of them could particularly think of anyone they’d want to ‘throw under the bus’. With Garou not being a valid choice, even Mirio and Tamaki were stuck for choices.

“I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

“Yeah. I agree.”

Slowly, the seniors all began nodding their agreement. It was either one of them or the First Year. They began to voice their acknowledgement.

“Alright. You. Start collecting the dishes and begin slave work. Now. Or you will face the Death Star.” Ghin’s lights behind him formed wings of crimson as he glared at the distraught Monoma.

1-A all grinned as they watched Monoma hang his head in despondency and resignation. Even his own class of 1-B smirked at seeing this karmic retribution.

“Be sure to do a good job!”

Kendo clapped her hand on his shoulder, smiling widely at him. He had brought this upon himself to be truthful.

“........”

Monoma had no response as he slowly rose from his seated position.

“Start collecting dishes. If any of them are broken, I will break your bones.” Ghin threatened as he pointed at the dishes.

Monoma began shuffling around the room, collecting plate after plate, dish after dish. On his face was a very obvious grimace. It wasn’t long before his arms were full with yet another mountain of various dishes, plates and bowls. He began to stagger over towards the kitchen, his arms trembling from the weight.

“Don’t. Stumble.” Ghin threatened as he glared at the slave.

The 1-B student now had somewhat of a fearful look on his face. His grip on the pile of dishes he was carrying increased. Everyone in the room watched him with a mix of amusement and pity. Monoma glanced over at Ghin, barely managing to speak from the strain.

“Auuuggh… Where… do I… put these?”

“Sink. Now.”

The classes watched as Monoma disappeared into the kitchen, each wishing him luck in his work.

“So. Who wants to watch over him? Make sure he won’t slack off?” Ghin asked the class.

Raising her hand, Kendo seemed to shoot up from the ground. She rushed over to the silver-haired boy, grinning as she did so.

“I’ll keep an eye on him. He definitely won’t be slacking off on my watch.”

“Thank you!” Ghin smiled.

“Now I get to watch Aniki beat the newbies up later!”

“”””What?””””

A few voices all intoned at once. The idea that Garou would be directly facing someone was not an exciting thought. Not at all.

“Break their bones, Aniki!” Ghin cheered as the classes watched in horror as Garou, in his monster form, started beating up their teachers along with the other Pro Heroes. Snipe was on the ground with his butt raised in the air, Vlad, on his knees, clutching his stomach, and Aizawa entangled in his own bandages.

Endeavour clutched his side as he faced off against Garou. Momentarily glancing over at his fellow Heroes, all downed, Endeavour clenched his other fist in preparation.

Off to one side sat Midnight and Ryukyu. Watching Garou so effectively dismantle the four Heroes, Midnight sighed with a sense of relief.

“I’m kind of glad we got our beatings out of the way.”

“…what’s the point of this?” Izuku asked the cheering Ghin.

“This is conditioning! Beating the Essence of Combat into their brains! I underwent it too!” Ghin smiled.

“But haven’t they already been ‘conditioned’ today?”

The memory of Endeavour flying out of the sky upon their second arrival was still fresh in Izuku’s mind. It just seemed so… unreal.

“It takes time for their bodies to learn. Besides, he specifically requested more.” Ghin replied.

“...He asked for more?”

Shouto couldn’t tear his eyes away as his father ‘sparred’ with Garou. A mix of emotion swirled around inside him.

“The man wanted to get stronger. Surprisingly. Quite a shocker when I heard him ask for more. Usually they want to ask for less.” Ghin shrugged.

Ryukyu couldn’t suppress a slight chuckle at the whole situation.

“The Number One Hero, trained by Garou the Hero Hunter. Who would have imagined this?”

“He originally planned to send him to the hospital forever,” Ghin retorted.

The memory of Endeavour’s brutal ‘test’ with Garou was something no one could easily forget. Each of the bystanders now looked on at the battle with grim expressions.

*Bam*

“AAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhh~”

Then Garou smacked Endeavour with another uppercut, sending him flying high in an arc over he dojo. Again.

The Flame Hero disappeared over the dojo as he fell out of sight. Now there was no one capable enough of standing against Garou. The other three Heroes were all still on the ground.

“Urrrgghhh… Are we… done yet?”

Snipe glanced up at his ‘student’, a pained look under his mask.

“No. You have five minutes before the beatings resume.” Garou replied.

Hearing this, all three of the beaten Heroes collapsed onto the ground. Vlad King, Eraserhead and Snipe all lay on their backs, panting and groaning heavily.

“Only five minutes? That’s a little… cruel.”

Izuku could only watch as the three teachers lay on the ground, clearly exhausted from their sparring.

“He gave me two minutes when I was conditioned! They’re wimps!” Ghin chimed.

Shouto was still staring off in the direction that his father flew off. Kaminari sighed with a heavy sense of relief.

“You know, I was worried for a second. When you said the Garou was going to ‘beat the newbies’, I assumed it would be us.”

“He refused to beat you all up even though I begged.” Ghin pouted.

“He did? Why?”

Glancing over at Ghin, Uraraka furrowed her brow. The rest of the class was equally confused.

“You’re not his students. None of you wanted to be strong.” Ghin replied.

“Bullshit. We don’t need to be his students to try to become strong.”

Frowning, Bakugou couldn’t tear his eyes away from the three easily defeated Heroes and a triumphant Garou stood above them.

“He trained a Quirkless boy to be stronger than Class 1-A. You all don’t know how to use everything you got. Your school doesn’t know how to teach you how to be strong without Quirks.”

Frowning, Iida pushed his glasses back up on his head.

“UA doesn’t just train you to be strong. It teaches you the attitude required for a Hero.”

“It won’t help you beat Garou though. Or monsters.” Ghin pointed out.

With Ghin’s comments, 1-A had been put on the defensive. They felt like it was their obligation to verbally defend their school at the very least.

“Besides, I said your school fails on training the Quirkless to be strong. Your school does not know the definition of strength. The definition of a hero that gives everything they got.” Ghin smiled triumphantly.

“There was a time when there was no Garou. And no monsters.”

Iida could barely remember the world before Garou’s reveal. It really wasn’t even that long ago, but everything had been changed so much since then.

“Screw that time! It sucks!” Ghin shouted with happiness.

“I think what Iida is trying to say, is that the bar for ‘strength’ was lower before Garou. And we all know how high his standards are.”

Attempting to clarify his friend’s position to the young boy, Izuku could only try to put it in words that he might acknowledge.

“That’s why it sucks!” Ghin repeated again.

Seeing the stubborn nature of the boy bubble to the surface, everyone remained silent. They had no desire to earn the ire of Garou’s apprentice by just arguing with him. And it was clear he wouldn’t be changing his opinion on this topic in the slightest.

“Alright, break time’s over.” Garou said as he walked over to the teachers, casually taking a stroll towards his victims.

Almost groaning collectively in resignation, Vlad King, Snipe and Eraserhead began to push themselves to their feet. To them, their bodies felt like they were made from lead as they struggled to rise.

Coming from the dojo was the injured Endeavour, dragging his battered form back to the battlefield.

“Oh, just in time.” Then Garou appeared before Endeavour in a blur and uppercutted him again, sending him flying back over the dojo.

Seeing Endeavour disappear once again, most of the spectators on the sidelines could barely hold back their smirks and grins. Even if they did feel a little bit of sympathy towards the Number One Hero.

“...What will that teach him?”

Midnight followed the falling form of Endeavour with her eyes, losing sight of him as he disappeared once again.

“...truthfully, I find hitting him fun. Much more fun launching him over the dojo.” Garou admitted before turning his eyes towards the other three.

They were all hunched over, exhausted but still in their combat stances. From Eraserhead and Vlad King’s faces, it was clear to see they were tired.

One minute later, they were reduced to corpses lying on the ground.

“””Uuuuurrrggggggghhhhh…”””

All three of the teachers groaned at the same time, even more battered and bruised than last time.

“I think you all require further beatings.” Garou muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

“...please… no more…”

Snipe could barely even raise his head to beg in the direction of Garou. He was just speaking into the air.

“....hmm… fine. We good for today. Tell me, what have you learned so far?” Garou asked.

“Haaahh.. that… you’re a pretty cruel teacher…”

Aizawa was sure that he would probably get fired for implementing any of Garou’s ‘methods’ in the classroom. The parents alone would be enough.

“I am harsh, indeed. But it is necessary. Also, you and your class will all walk back home. To train your stamina.” Garou nodded.

“What?! Come on!”

Sero rose from his seated position alongside a few other members of 1-A, his shock and outrage reflected by the rest of the class. Even Bakugou didn’t want to walk that whole distance.

“Ahahaha, no I'm kidding… just you three though.” Garou corrected himself

One by one, the students all fell back to the ground, glaring at Garou. A resigned groan was all that came from the three teachers, the only indication they had heard him.

“Don't worry. Survive the conditioning for the week and we will get to the less painful lessons… though you will all still walk here on foot. No exceptions.” Garou informed.

“You’ll get used to it after a while.”

Despite Mirio’s attempt to comfort the teachers and the Heroes present, it didn’t exactly help. ‘A while’ of that arduous trek would murder them.

“Now, you are free to leave. Unless you want more conditioning,” Garou offered.

In response, Vlad King, Snipe and Eraserhead all rolled onto their stomachs and began to drag themselves away from Garou, desperate to escape any more ‘conditioning’. Seeing the three Pro Heroes drag themselves away in such a manner… It weirded out the students, to say the least.

“...Mirio-sempai, did you also act like that when you were ‘conditioned’?” Izuku asked out of morbid curiosity.

“...” Mirio turned his head away, almost as if afraid to answer.

However, the grimace on his face was more than enough information for Izuku. Even Tamaki and, to a lesser extent, Hado, all made their own pained expressions.

“It was… arduous.”

Tamaki’s words seemed to be underselling the severity of the training quite considerably. Both Hado and Mirio nodded in agreement.

“But it worked didn’t it?”

Seeing the expressions of her two friends, Hado smiled widely, attempting to brighten the atmosphere even slightly.

“...I just wished he didn't torment us for the heck of it along the way…” Mirio sighed remembering the unnecessary cruelty. Even Garou admitted he did it for fun a little.

“That’s Garou for you. He seems to have his own… unique sense of humour.”

The voice of Ryukyu added from beside Midnight. Luckily, she hadn’t been the target of too many of Garou’s ‘jokes’. Unlike Endeavour and the three prone Heroes before her.

“Unique… that’s one word for it…”
Tamaki turned his head away, muttering to himself. He barely suppressed a shiver at the memory of some of Garou’s ‘funnier’ jokes.

“Well, we did sometimes manage to get him back. Sometimes.”

The times when they had actually managed to crack a joke at Garou’s expense were few and far between. Usually, it meant more gruelling training as punishment. It involves plushies and Garou merch and a raging Garou.

Glancing around, Izuku took in the atmosphere of the area. Seeing all of the classes chatting amongst themselves, as well as the teachers there… It felt kind of like a school trip. A dangerous, intimidating school trip, but one nevertheless. The green-haired boy knew that he’d never fully get used to all of… this. Turning to Ghin, Izuku frowned slightly.

“...Why did Garou even accept anyone other than you?”

“...to bring a message of his own.” Ghin replied, frowning slightly as well.

Stiffening slightly, Izuku turned so his entire body was now facing the young disciple of Garou’s

“...And that message is?”

“...we want to change everyone’s view of Quirks. To make them see as nothing more than a tool. Not… as something special everyone thought they are. To redefine the meaning of a real Hero in general.” Ghin replied.

Turning away from Ghin, Izuku glanced over at the still-crawling forms of Vlad King, Snipe and Eraserhead. With the increasing number of monsters that were appearing, this kind of training was necessary. His encounter with the crystal monster had stuck with him, reinforcing the need for such measures.

The sudden change in the conversation had rendered everyone else silent, listening in to the suddenly serious discussion. Each person began drifting off on their own train of thought. How becoming a Hero would be much harder in the years to come. How more and more people would need this training, and so on.

The fact was, Garou’d arrival had changed everything. And now they all needed him to aid the world’s coping with the sudden changes. Even the public’s opinion on Garou had begun to shift slightly.

“Is that why he is ‘undercover’ as a Hero? To redefine what a ‘Hero’ is?”

Now that he thought about it, Izuku still didn’t know why Garou was even being a Hero. Even though they had both been interning at the same place, he’d never thought to ask.

“No. Aunty won't let him use his Monster Costume anymore… she doesn't like how it scares the public. Even though it is cool,” Ghin frowned, evidently a fan of Garou’s dark side.

“...Oh.”

Whatever Izuku had been expecting was totally smashed by Ghin’s words. For Garou to be forced into a Hero costume by Ghin’s aunt…

“Then did he choose his Hero name or outfit?”

“Nope! I designed it! And gave him the name!” Ghin proudly declared.

“Really? It does suit him.”

Nodding her approval, Ryukyu could see how the name would fit. And the costume was equally as fitting.

“Yes! I just wished I was there when Aniki found the Hero Costume…” Ghin frowned a little. He really wanted to see Garou’s reaction.

Mirio, Hado and Tamaki all shared a huge grin as they all recalled ‘Bang’s’ reaction.

“...He shouted so loud, the building was still reverberating for about an hour afterwards.”

Mirio had been in the room with Garou. He was surprised his eardrums hadn’t burst.

“Ohhh! Anything else?” Ghin asked expectantly.

“Well… he was kind of like this…”

Holding up two fists in the air, Mirio frowned as he shook them. His voice had grown noticeably lower as he mimicked Garou’s reaction.

“SSSHHHRRRRIIIIIMMMMPPP!!!”

“Ohhh!” Ghin raised his two arms into the air in response, mimicking Mirio’s pose with a wide smile.

So that was what that shaking was. Izuku had wondered what had caused that for quite a while, but eventually dismissed it as someone misusing their Quirk. Who would have guessed it was Garou?

Lowering both his arms, Mirio shook his head in regret whilst still grinning.

“I just wish I had a video of it. It would have been pretty funny.”

“I would buy it from you for a billion yen if I could.” Ghin commented.

The group all shared a laugh, even if it was at the expense of Garou. The grim, serious conversation had been quickly replaced by a far more lighthearted one.

As large, grey clouds hovered over the city of Hosu, the atmosphere was mixed within the city. Only a week or two ago was the large riot, headed by the Quirk Liberation Army. That one event had put the entire city on edge, and it was pretty obvious. Businessmen rushed to their appointments, not wanting to risk being caught in the middle of another ‘demonstration’. Students and children all grouped together, laughing but still a tinge anxious.

Slowly, the skies began to open up as rain fell to the earth. It started slow at first, like someone opening a faucet. But it wasn’t long before the light shower had become a full-on downpour. The relentless hammering of rain on the rooftops created a tremendous amount of noise. Even the rain impacting with the road and the manhole covers made a large amount of noise.

As the sidewalks were full of running students and umbrella-wielding businessmen, no one noticed as one particular manhole cover began to shake and shudder. The vibrations and the shaking only increased as time went on. Before long, the cover was rocking from side to side as if something was pushing from the other side.

With a tremendous amount of effort, the manhole cover finally flew from the ground, into the air. The entrance to the sewers below were now open. As the manhole lid impacted the ground with a heavy ‘thud’, it actually drew the attention of a few passersby who looked at the lid with confusion.

Then, from the gaping manhole, came a large, slimy appendage. A few civilians had even noticed the strange creature emerging from the sewer. As one woman began to dial the police in worry, the slimy thing fully revealed itself.

It’s smooth, slimy skin seemed to almost glisten in the rain. It looked like a hideous misshapen mass of tentacles and limbs, sliding across the ground with ease. It was easily about 8, 9 feet tall. In place of arms and legs, the monster seemed to have long, tentacle-esque appendages, each one ending in a open, gaping maw lined to the brim with rows upon rows of serrated teeth. The pale white flesh of the monster, combined with it’s other physical characteristics made it truly horrific to behold.

Each and every civilian froze completely still at the sight of the monster. It slithered along the road, leaving a bubbling, sizzling trail of slime behind it. As it continued to move, more and more onlookers pulled out their phones as they began to move away. Walking turned to running as panic took hold of the public.

The noise of the rain was momentarily drowned out by something much louder. A mix between something bubbling, and the sound of rock crumbling deafened anyone still around. As the cacophony grew louder and louder, one part of the sidewalk began to cave it on itself. The cement broke away in great chunks, falling inwards.

Suddenly, a shape burst from the crumbling sidewalk. It was another monster, only this one was identical to the worm beast that had just emerged. If you put the two side-by-side, there were no notable differences. A strange rumbling came from the ‘throat’ of one of the monsters, only for the other worm creature to rumble in response.

As the ‘communication’ between the two creatures stopped, more and more places began to cave it on themselves. And from these holes, burst even more worm monsters. Before long, the street was filled with dozens upon dozens of hideous worm-like monsters. Then, they began to move.

They all began to slither as one, moving in the same direction at seemingly the same speed. As one worm clambered over a parked car, the alarm went off, sending the worms into a sudden frenzy. From multiple locations at once, the worms began vomiting a stream of clear liquid at the honking car. As the car was immersed in the fluid, it only took a few seconds before the vehicle was turned into a pile of dissolved slag, the road around it caving in under the acidic properties of the vomit.

Seemingly satisfied with the destruction of the car, the worms continued their march. As they turned into another street, they were met with a sidewalk full of people. It took a moment before the civilians even registered what had suddenly appeared before them. As the civilians all began to scream and run in sheer terror, some were not lucky to escape. They were seized by the surprisingly strong appendages of the worm monsters, their flesh beginning to sizzle from the acidic coating of slime on the skin of the monster.

A few worm monsters dragged their ‘meals’ along with them, chewing them as they did so. The sound of screaming and bones crunching now easily drowned out the noise of the rain.

Meanwhile…

In a corner of a city, the League of Villains went about their usual routine. Tomura had ordered for the checks and ‘patrols’ to increase, ever since the escape of their monster. Dabi and Mr.Compress were acting as guards, ensuring no one would get too close to their hideout. They stood hidden, glaring out the windows near the entrance at the rainy street before them.

The streets were mainly abandoned. No one would want to get caught out in this fierce of a rainstorm. Dabi turned away, seeing nothing of particular interest. Mr.Compress however, continued to stare out the window. He swore he could hear something over the rain. And it was growing louder.

“...Can you hear that?”

Dabi turned to his fellow villain, a unconcerned look on his face. He turned one ear to the window and shrugged.

“I don’t hear anything. You sure it isn’t the rain?”

“I know what I heard. Do not doubt me.”

As both Dabi and Mr.Compress continued to listen, the noise came again, much clearer this time. It sounded like… screaming.

Mr. Compress glanced over at Dabi, his mask hiding his worry and concern. His tone was quick and terse.

“...We don’t have any Villains outside do we?”

Shaking his head in response, Dabi could hear the noise too. Frowning, he could hear… something else.

“Not as far as I know. Everyone should be inside.”

Without hesitation, both of the Villains turned away from the window to inform Tomura. Something was coming. They couldn’t be sure, but it could very well be the Hero-Hunter himself. As Mr.Compress quickly glanced back at the window, he caught sight of a large, white shape approaching the building.

Rushing over to the window, the two Villains could now clearly see what was causing the screaming. A veritable horde of the worm-esque creatures, like the one that escaped, were slithering directly towards the building. There had to be at least thirty of them.

The sound of loud gunfire drowned out the rain momentarily, as both Dabi and Mr.Compress could see a small squadron of police in the street opening fire with their handguns. The bullets embedded themselves in the skin of the worm monsters, but didn’t seem to make any actual flesh wounds.

Hissing in response, the worms fired several streams of viscous liquid over at the police, engulfing them. Without a second passing, the police had begun screaming, falling over to the ground. The monsters then resumed their approach to the base of the League of Villains.

Now fully recognising the threat, both Dabi and Mr.Compress span away from the window and began sprinting deeper into the base. They had to find Tomura and Kurogiri.

As they ran further and further, they could hear a mighty crash behind them, following by numerous hissing and squirming noises. Not even sparing a glance backwards, both the Villains continued running like their lives depended on it.

As they approached a large, rusted metal door in front of them, Mr.Compress slammed it open and continued running. There was no point in even closing the door. They’d just dissolve their way through it. And judging by the sounds of bubbling and sizzling behind them, the monsters were only getting closer.

“TOMURAAAA!!!” Mr. Compress shouted calling for help.

“The hell are you shouting fo-”

Out of a nearby doorway came Magne, along with Twice, Spinner and Toga. All three of them could see Dabi and Mr.Compress sprinting full speed down the hallway. As they cast their eyes down the hallway, their eyes widened. A huge numbers of pale, slimy worm-monsters were dissolving their way down the corridor, not stopping for anything. Without a moment's hesitation, all three of them began running alongside their fellow Villains.

“We need the Noumus! Where is Tomura?!” Mr. Compress shouted to the others.

As they continued running along, Toga cast her eyes back at the approaching horde of monsters. Turning back to Mr.Compress, she could feel worry began to build up.

“We last saw him with the ‘doctor’. He said he was doing some ‘testing’.”

Hearing Toga’s words, Mr.Compress, along with Dabi, Twice, Magne and Toga all turned down  another corridor off to one side. As they continued sprinting, they could faintly hear the distant noise of voices. They couldn’t run forever. The monsters were closing in on them.

None of them bore the power needed to defend themselves. They have great Quirks, but none of them were durable enough to withstand the poison. And none of them wanted to take the risk of fighting the monsters invading the base.

As the group of Villains neared yet another door, they could clearly hear the voice of Shigaraki behind it, along with Kurogiri. Without a moment’s hesitation, all five of them unceremoniously burst into the room, panting heavily.

“Tomura! We got trouble!” Mr. Compress shouted without wasting even a second.

Slowly, Shigaraki’s head turned to face the group of Villains, his eyes half-lidded. He did not appear to be too pleased at the interruption.

“What? Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“Monsters! The worms! They're here! A small army of the worms are invading!” Mr. Compress shouted immediately.

Tomura’s eyes immediately widened, as his unamused expression was quickly replaced by one of worry and fear. Turning to Kurogiri, he cast his eyes around the room.

“Prepare to evacuate all valuable resources. We cannot lose the ‘Source.’”

*Ssssssssssssssss*

However, the wall next to them melted down, as two of the monstrous worms crawled their way through the hole as they screeched at the ‘sight’ of Tomura. The amount of hostility emanating from the worms was more of an indication that they were here for the League of Villains.

“Dabi, burn them!”

Immediately, the scarred Villain waved his hand through the air, sending a burst of blue flame towards the two worms. They were both engulfed in the blast, but the hissing could still be heard. It seemed to be coming from every other direction as well. If they didn’t move fast, they’d be surrounded.

As the blue flames began to die down, the assembled group of Villains all watched the space where the worms had been before. As the fire died down completely, all of the Villains took a step backwards. The two worms still remained, looking scorched and blackened, but still alive. And very, very angry.

With an angry hiss, one of the two injured worms heaved, vomiting a stream of caustic fluid towards the group of villains. Before it could reach them however, Kurogiri held out one hand, forming a large swirling portal. The stream of liquid continued shooting towards the villains, disappearing into the portal. The exit portal was aimed at a distant corner of the room to avoid potential splashback.

“Kurogiri, take us elsewhere! To the Noumu Storage area!” Shigaraki ordered, gritting his teeth. This was bad. The villains were not armed to take down monsters on their own, nor were they capable enough to stand up against them despite being the ones distributing the monster cells ironically.

“Hai, Shigaraki Tomura.”

Nodding quickly, Kurogiri began to shift and change, creating a large black gateway. Without hesitating, the League of Villains rushed through the portal, becoming engulfed by the swirling blackness.

The hissing and screeching soon disappeared as all of the Villains were spat out unceremoniously at the Noumu Storage Area. As the black gateway began to close down behind them, a pale appendage reached through towards Tomura. With a tearing sound, the portal closed entirely. The tentacled appendage flew towards the villains, now severed before the fangy maw clamped mere millimeters away from Tomura’s throat. As it went limp, it fell to the ground with a meaty thud. The ground began to slowly dissolve underneath the severed limb.

The seven Villains watched as the limb twitched for a moment, before finally dying. Hurriedly glancing around, Tomura noticed the stationary Noumus, all waiting for deployment inside their glass cages.

“All Noumus! Prepare for Combat! I don't care how, but wake up and protect us!” Tomura ordered the Noumus in storage.

One by one, the Noumus all shook themselves to life. As they did so, the villains could hear the approaching sound of bubbling and hissing. The Noumus were still only just starting to move, when the sound of a nearby wall collapsing caused all seven Villains to turn.

Deep within Tartarus lied the worse of villains housed and chained within the most secure cages that can contain even the most dangerous and destructive of them all. The rooms were silent, the only sound being the almost inaudible whirring of the cameras keeping the villains under heavy watch. Within one of the secure rooms, a Noumu, no, the first Noumu ever encountered by Heroes at that fateful day when it fought All Might, stirred from his inactivity.

“Grrr…. R-raoo-” It groaned, it twitched, it struggled against the straightjacket constricting it. The buckles of it’s mighty straightjacket groaned as the Noumu fought against it.

“R-r… I… my n-name…” The monster began speaking as if it was starting to awaken, folds of his brain at the front between his eyes slowly parting like eyelids.

“...I am… Boros…” The monster said, its guttural voice disappearing, replaced by a clear, masculine tone that emulates refined intelligence the moment his third eye finally awakened.

“And I have returned.” Boros, reawakened, gave a ferocious grin as he took in his surroundings.

Meanwhile…

Within the camera room, the guard assigned to monitor the cameras took notice of the shift in the cell containing the first Noumu. He widened his eyes when he heard the Noumu speaking for the first time through the microphones embedded into the walls. Even more so when the Noumu immediately broke out of his straightjacket.

Glaring at the monitor with shock, the guard immediately reached for the radio attached to his hip. Pulling it up to his face, he spoke quickly, with a hint of worry in his voice.

“Noumu-01 is active. Repeat, Noumu-01 is active.”

Glowing veins of iridescent magenta started spreading through his dark skin, as the Noumu immediately punched the durable door of titanium alloy… the door melting the moment his fist made contact before stomping out of the room.

The camera shook from the force of the punch as the guard stared at the camera feed with wide eyes. He could already hear alarms beginning to blare. Pressing down the button on his radio, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the feed.

“...Noumu-01 has broken containment. We need restrainment teams now.”

Back to Boros….

He marched through the halls, seeing many more humans behind glass panes, each and every one of them wrapped in white cloth restricting them. Some were tied to a table, completely trapping them still.

“I seem to be in a prison…” Boros muttered as he looked around.

“What the- Hey, can you let us out?”

Seeing the strange, three-eyed thing that they could only assume was a ‘villain’, every other villain behind their own glass panes began to call out to him.

Boros ignored them as he extended his senses. He had no eye for weaklings as he scoured the compound. His steps heavy and loud, he marched deeper and deeper into the halls, heading into the most dangerous section of Tartarus. Where All For One was stored.

As he turned down a nearby hallway, he was met with what looked like a barricade. Behind the barricade was a large number of armed figures. The armour and weapons these guards were carrying was far beyond anything any regular SAT member would possess. Their armour was sleek, yet robust and their weapons seemed to radiate danger. Several of them were also very obviously mutant Quirk users, standing a few feet above their fellow elites.

“I have no time for worms.” Boros said as he vanished, before reappearing upside down as he stood atop the ceiling with a ferocious grin. Before he launched himself down towards them like a cannon.

The group of elites had barely even noticed that the Noumu had disappeared, before they could feel a tremendous gust of wind coming from above. Quickly, they all turned to face upwards, weapons and Quirks at the ready. A blur of movement shooting towards them only gave them scant seconds to open fire with Quirks and weapons. From the eyes of one operative, came two beams of sparkling purple energy which twisted in the air to follow the blur of motion. Another operative, one that wasn’t wearing a helmet, whipped their head towards the blur. Their hair seemed to grow at a tremendous speed, moving towards the Noumu that descended upon them.

“Out of my way!” The Noumu roared as he barreled through the Quirks and rammed through them like a bulldozer with an explosive landing.

*AHHHHH*

Simultaneous cries resounded as the guards flew like ragdolls in all directions, away from the Noumu at the center.

One giant operative, easily standing 9 feet tall, lashed out with a swinging punch towards the Noumu. Now that the Noumu was in the midst of them, they could no longer fire their weapons without fear of potential friendly fire.

The Noumu stood still, the operative’s fist cracking against its armored hide as the bones broke underneath his skin. The Noumu grinned, as if he felt nothing from his attack.

“Auuurrrrggghhh!”

The giant mutant Quirk user stepped backwards, clutching his shattered fist with his other hand. The rest of the elite guards turned to fully face the Noumu, Quirks and fists at the ready. Then, they all released their Quirks at the Noumu. Beams of energy, strange floating spheres, clawed hands, everything was sent towards the escaped Noumu.

Yet, with a mighty swing of the Noumu’s fist, he fired a powerful backlash of air pressure knocking back all of his assailants away from him.

Each of the operatives were sent flying back, a few impacting nearby walls with bone-shattering crunches. Most of the elite guards had now slumped to the ground, either dead or incredibly injured. That one swing was enough to eliminate all of the elite guards.

The Noumu marched deeper towards the compound, tearing through metal walls lowering from the ceiling barricading his path one by one the contemptible ease as he walked more in-depth into the facility.

”I remember you…” Boros muttered. He remembered that man’s life signature. The man who tampered with his body. And he was laying just before this heavily fortified wall of metal. Without wasting another second, Boros placed his large palm on the wall, and melted the alloy down to liquid metal, allowing light to illuminate the dark room. Revealing the trapped All For One, hanging by a thin thread to life.

All For One ’looked’ at the monstrosity behind the glass pane. Using his Quirks to analyze the being standing before him in place of his sight.

“...a Noumu? And how did you even get here?”

All For One could tell that it was the same Noumu Tomura had taken to kill All Might judging by the weight and sound of its footsteps. But something seemed… different, about it.

”Do not label me as your puppet, vermin.” The Noumu spoke in perfect Japanese.

All For One ’stared’ at the Noumu with a mask of apathy, hiding his bewilderment at the sign of high, uncanny intelligence.

“...You’re not just a Noumu, are you?”

If he had eyes, he would have narrowed them.

”Have you already forgotten? How could you not remember the times you tampered with my body?” The Noumu asked as if it was insulted.

All For One’s mouth twisted downwards in a frown. Attempting to recall all of the times he may have ‘tampered’ with someone’s body. Then, as he was combing through his memories, one particular corpse came to mind. The source of the Noumus. The thing that had allowed for their creation.

“...You’re that corpse?”

”You have the gall to defile my remains. I've never suffered such dishonor. If you weren't the same race as him, I would've disposed of your species right in my vengeful crusade this instant.”

“Impossible… how? We were certain of your death.”

For once, All For One had been taken completely by shock. He’d never expected the body of that creature to actually retain it’s consciousness.

”...yet I live. It would seem, even death cannot take me to the afterlife.” The Noumu grunted as it stomped closer to the glass pane.

”Regardless of your transgressions against me, tell me what I desire, and you might live.” The Noumu threatened the greatest villain of all time as if he could end his life like a bug.

Tension filled the air as All For One thought in silence. The thing before him could pose a perfect opportunity.

“...I still cannot leave this prison. There is one out there who would simply throw me back here. I cannot take you to your body, but if you ‘deal’ with this threat, I could.”

”I care not for your services. I care only about the location. Your life means nothing to me.” The creature replied.

”Where did you keep my body?”

All For One gritted his teeth as he attempted to think. It seemed like no amount of offers or deals would be enough to convince this thing to help.

“...The body would be kept with my successor. Your cells were vital to our plans, the lynchpin to our cause. But I do not know his current location.” the villain confessed, biding his time with truth lest he suffers.

”...explain.” The creature demanded as it punched through the glass, firing shards of glass towards his body, each shard slicing into his skin.

Grunting in pain, All For One gritted his teeth further. He could feel the Noumu getting closer, and there was no way he could try to trick it.

“As I stated earlier- nnn, your impossible biology is a valuable source of information. One that Tomura would never risk its loss no matter the circumstance. It would be the one thing he would bring to every hideout.”

”How did you acquire my body? I was fighting a glorious battle to the death atop my ship.” The Noumu demanded as he stomped closer until he stared face to face with All For One, his third eye glaring at the eyeless face of All Might’s arch nemesis.

“...After our warper, Kurogiri had taken a sample of a Quirk enhancing drug, he became… unstable. Your body was revealed, lying before us along with those ‘cells’.”

It seemed so long ago to All For One. If only Kurogiri had never taken that serum, perhaps this could have been avoided.

”...Quirks…” The creature muttered the word.

”I see…” The Noumu paused in contemplation, parsing the information from his mouth.

”...now, tell me. Give me a reason why I should let you live? You have defiled a warrior’s honor in your greed for useless power. I could end you right this instant, yet I will give you this chance to redeem yourself.”

Warrior’s honor? All For One quickly began attempting to think of every possible thing he could say. The fact that this… thing considered itself to have some form of honor… It also mentioned a ‘glorious battle’. Inwardly, All For One could see his plan formulate before him.

“...I could give you another ‘glorious battle.”

”You are weak. Your powers are stolen from others. I can sense it inside you. Nothing about your ability is earned. What battle could you possibly offer me?”

Shaking his head, All For One could see the opportunity before him. And he wouldn’t let this chance slip by.

“There is… one person who could challenge you. His speed, his strength… every single aspect of his power is so much above the rest of us.”

”I know.” The being replied.

“...You do? Have you already met...‘Garou’?”

All For One could barely say his name without gritting his teeth in frustration.

”Is that his name? No, I can sense him, even from inside this prison… As well as your ire for him. Your need for vengeance shines like a burning star.” The Noumu accused, his intelligence proven to be more dangerous than All For One could afford.

“It is true that he is responsible for my internment in this prison, but all I care about is seeing him gone.”

”Liar.” The creature rejected, his hot breath gracing the villain’s face.

”I can feel the hate emanating from you. Your soul screams vengeance from the very depths, despite your civil tongue.”

All For One felt like he was being laid bare by this thing before him. His deepest intentions could be read so easily. He could barely hide anything.

“........”

”You are useless to me.” The creature backed off, retracting its head as it turned, marching towards the exit.

Before it could get too far however, the voice of the imprisoned Villain called out to him.

“...May I hear your name?”

”My name is Boros. Once, I was the Dominator of the Universe. Now, I am just a warrior.” The being known as Boros left, strolling past the beaten guards strewn around him as he searched for the exit.

The blaring alarms continued to wail. Each turn Boros took only seemed to take him further and further into the facility. The fact that there were no windows made it very hard to even tell the current time. It was like a labyrinth.

Frustrated, Boros decided to escape the violent way. As he reared back his bulky fist, he punched through the metal wall as he forcefully made his path towards freedom.

The metal effortlessly caved inwards under the tremendous force. As Boros stepped through the gaping hole, the next room was full of sparking equipment. Sparks ran across his body like rain trickling his skin as he continued to punch his way through wall after wall.

However, Boros did not know that he had just punched his way through the transformer for the entire building. Immediately, every light in the prison died. All the cameras stopped recording and the turrets shut down, allowing the inmates to use their Quirks without consequence.

Immediately, the physically strongest of the prisoners all bust out of their straight jackets with ease. One by one, the villains all began the application of their Quirks to free themselves. But they were still all shackled with identical handcuffs. Each villain began unleashing their Quirks onto the shackles, hoping to break them. Those with gigantification Quirks grew and grew, snapping the metal like tissue paper. Various forms of energy from several Villains reduced their respective shackles to molten slag. One simply turned into a gaseous form and drifted free, the handcuffs falling to the ground with a heavy clank.

It wasn’t long before they all began to break their way out of their ‘cells’. The sound of glass shattering reverberated around the facility as dozens upon dozens of Villains gleefully freed themselves.

As they turned in the direction of the tremendous noise a few moments ago, the Villains could see something… quite different. Noticing the large series of consecutive holes, most of the villains began following the direction the holes led. It was like someone had driven a tank through the entire building without stopping. In the distance, the villains could still see a tall figure, smashing his way through wall after wall.

“Who the fuck is that guy?”

“Who cares? He’s punching his way to our freedom!”

“Did he take care of all of the prison guards?”

“Do you see any around you moron?”

The villains bickered as they continued clambering through hole after hole. In the distance, one more mighty crash sounded out, before all of the Villains were blinded by a bright light flash of lightning and deafened by roaring thunder. The silhouette of the mysterious figure stood in the rain for a moment, before vanishing into thin air.

The Villains all increased their pace as they hurried towards their freedom. They could hear shouting and gunshots outside, before they suddenly fell silent. Amongst the large group of escaping villains, was one particularly famous ‘villain.’

“Holy shit. It’s Stain!”

“It's the Hero Killer!”

“Shut the fuck up, or he might just kill you.”

Stain ignored the sudden murmur at the notice of his presence. He too, like the rest of the villains, desired his freedom. The Hero Killer was… interested, to see how the outside world had dealt with the ‘Hero Hunter’.

He wondered if the heroes managed to kill the seemingly unstoppable menace.

Putting any thoughts of that damned mimicry to one side, Stain set his mind back to his original goal. Nothing had changed. There were still those who took the name of ‘Hero’ in vain, and he would show them the error of their ways at the edge of a blade.

Outside the prison complex, what the villains saw could be compared with a natural disaster.

“Holy shit…” One villain cursed at the sight of the devastation.

Under the heavy rain, various heavily armed police and some heroes were strewn around the area, broken and bloody. Cracks and craters indented the metal bridge leading to the mainland, with distant gunfire and explosions still heard far out on the metal bridge. Pillars of smoke rose from the wrecked police vehicles, the metal crumpled like paper.

“Who the fuck was that guy?”

The rest of the Villains did not respond to their fellow villain, merely taking in the scene of havoc and destruction around them.

*AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH*

*SPLAT*

A body came flying out of nowhere, splatting amidst the villains in their idleness. One of the police, seemingly dead and bloody. It looked as if a cannon shot him point blank in the torso since his upper torso was haphazardly ripped from the lower one, revealing the strand of organs decoratum the metal red and pink.

All of the villains stared down at the ravaged body with shock, watching as the blood was washed by the rain. This… this was excessive, even by some of their standards. And judging by the level of death and destruction, it looked as if an entire army had swept through. But the villains knew. It was only one person.

*ROOARRRRRRRR*

A roar resounded in the distance, followed by a bright pearlescent light.

*BOOM*

Then what seemed to be like a nuke exploded on the other side of the bridge, flames so high it licked the sky and far as the eyes could see, leaving an apocalyptic wasteland on the other side despite. The flames still flickered on, despite the heavy rain drenching the world around them.

Slowly, the villains began to make their way across the single bridge leading back to civilization. However, they were not as eager now as they had been initially. Even Stain was apprehensive at the sight of the chaos before him. The level of devastation on the bridge was truly cataclysmic. Bodies were strewn around the bridge, leaking blood and organs out onto the road with thunderous rain washing the red away.

The sound of rain was the only noise now, as the sounds of destruction from the other side of the bridge had gone quiet. It all felt incredibly eerie to the villains, like the one responsible might come right back for them as well. More and more villains continued to stream out of the destroyed Tartarus as they continued their anxious march across the bridge.

“This doesn’t feel right. Was that even a man? Or some kind of thing?”

One villain, large and imposing, seemed to be equally as unsettled as the rest of the villains. It was like a scene from a horror movie.

“...it was a Noumu.” Stain answered the villains.

Another villain standing beside Stain spoke up, a look of dawning realisation on his face.

“Oh, like those things that attacked Hosu?”

“...yes. But this one is different…” Stain said as his eyes absent-mindedly focused on the carnage.

“No shit. Did you see the way it punched through all those walls? It didn’t even seem hard for it.”

The sludge villain couldn’t tear his eyes away from the trail of destruction along the bridge. Whatever that thing was, it was clearly very powerful. And extremely violent, judging by the mangled corpses of the guards and police.

As they all came to the end of the bridge, a few of the Villains realised this must have been where that huge explosion must have come from. The ground was scorched and blackened, with shrapnel littering the ground. Cars were scattered across the area, literally in pieces from the explosion.

“It doesn’t seem like it is here.”

One villain, floating in the air like a gaseous cloud, glanced around nervously. Whatever had done this didn’t seem to have slowed down at all. It had easily broke through barricade after barricade, nothing stopping it.

“What the hell did the League of Villains make…” Trapezius Headgear uttered completely astounded that the League of Villains had made something so dangerous.

Despite now standing on the other side of the bridge, now free, none of the present Villains felt safe. With the knowledge that something like that was out in the world, it made them all uneasy.

“Well I don’t know about you, but I’m actually glad that I’m free.”

One grey-skinned, grinned villain shrugged as he began to walk away from Tartarus, now completely free.

“Our escape wasn’t exactly clean. They’ll notice we’re all gone…”

The larger Villain grimaced as he knew that the Heroes and the police would come for them all. Everyone that escaped from their cell would be found again and imprisoned.

“Don't be scared. We are an army of escaped convicts. And I know the thing is drawing attention away from us even as we speak.”

“So… what do we do now?”

The gaseous villain’s eyes continued to dart around nervously, as if expecting the police or that thing to show up at any moment.

“We escape while we can, that's what!” Another villain roared.

The loud voice of the villain galvanised the rest of the villains into action. With the slightest hesitation, the villains began to all flee in differing directions. Dozens, if not hundreds, of villains had now escaped from Tartarus, free to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting populace once again.