Hunter Amongst Villains Draft - Experimental Liberation Army
Added 2021-01-21 20:00:34 +0000 UTCI am very tired for some reason. I am worried about my sleep schedule as I now take four hour long naps during the day. As for you guys, I hope I'm not boring you lot too much. I really wanted to do a Hunter Amongst Villains chapter but I wanted to finish the From Beyond the World Tree chapter. I might put From Beyond the World Tree chapter on hiatus as I do not have any ideas or my head is too filled with the need for action in my stories. Yeesh, I don't know how the big time writers manage themselves to write as their fans desire. I still have a lot to learn in terms of discipline and stuff, but burnout isn't something one could resist. I do not want my writing style to degrade in the meanwhile, I wish to write in top quality form.
Sorry for the rant, here is your dose of goodness. This is before I had an idea what the Quirk Liberation Army is all about honestly so yeah. Also, what you think of Garou's son? I didn't expect to show the child so soon lol.
Quirk Liberation Army Introduction
“Banzai for the emancipation of Quirks! Banzai!” A group of terrorists chanted in unison as they wreaked havoc around the city. The heroes were attempting to quell the disturbance, but were overwhelmed by the sheer number of as they were bombarded by Quirks one after another, forcing them into a hasty retreat behind a cordon of heavy duty SAT officers.
Cars were destroyed, burning as a result of the terrorist’s actions. Smoke rose into the sky, forming huge plumes of charcoal black. Helicopters overhead tried avoiding the pillars of smoke, observing the ground below. It looked like a true riot.
The cordon that the SAT officers had formed was slowly being forced back. With the liberal use of their Quirks, the rioters had easily overpowered the police. They were still awaiting backup, in the form of a Hero.
A nearby rioter jumped on top of a wrecked car. His appearance was that of a mutant. From his back, came a huge snake tail that seemed to coil around the car he was stood on. In his hand, he held a megaphone.
“You can’t ignore us now huh? With the laws against the usage of Quirks in public, we’ve been beaten down and forced to act against our will! Even when the Hero Hunter himself took down our Symbol of Peace, the politicians did not change the laws.”
Pausing for a moment, the mutant glanced around from his position. The rest of the rioters had begun to congregate around the car, all shouting in agreement, forming a chorus of voices. Raising his hand once again, he continued talking into the megaphone.
“Do we need to take everything into our own hands? Will it be left to us to defend this country against the Hero Hunter? Even when we are not allowed to?”
““““NO!!””””
A huge number of voices all shouted out at once, in response. His words had begun to rile the crowd to even further aggression. Staring down at the police blockade, the air was full of shouting and screaming.
Suddenly, the sound of a police speaker crackled to life, momentarily drowning out the shouting.
“[This is your final warning. If you do not disperse, there will be violence. Please return to your homes.]”
The crowd of incensed rioters did not seem to pay much attention to the demands of the police. They began slowly marching towards the police barricade, chanting as they did so.
“““Liberation For Quirks! No More Restrictions!”””
As the crowd grew closer and closer, the officer on the megaphone could suddenly feel a presence behind him. Whirling around with one hand on his gun, he came face to face with the Fifth ranked Hero, Mirko. However, she did not seem to be too pleased. In fact, she looked downright frustrated.
“Oh! Mirko! Glad for you to join us. Are you the backup we’ve been sent?”
In response, Mirko merely rubbed her temples, glaring over at the crowd. If looks could kill, the entire crowd would be dead.
“...Can’t they just shut up? They’re making my headache worse. I’ve already had to take care of the kid…”
The officer didn’t catch the last part of her mumbling, but he was a little concerned to see the sour attitude that their ‘backup’ was in. Quickly dismissing his concerns, the officer gestured towards the approaching crowd.
“Can you please get them to disperse?”
Mirko, still annoyed, quickly moved past the officer, deftly leaping over the barricade. All while muttering to herself.
“I’ll get them to disperse all right…”
If anyone who knew Mirko looked at her, they’d immediately know something was off. However, only she and one other person knew the exact reason.
The stress from her son had been building up. The fact that Garou would only occasionally pop by was enough. But it seemed like raising a child needed a more delicate touch. Something Mirko wasn’t exactly the best at.
Stopping in front of the approaching crowd, Mirko faced down the rioters. She glared at them with a furious, annoyed glare. The mutant on the top of the car had noticed the Hero that had stopped in front of the mob.
“Ah. We are joined by one of those ‘Heroes’ who so willingly bows to the laws that restrict the rest of us!”
Raising his voice in a crescendo, he pointed towards the rabbit Heroine, who still hadn’t moved. The crowd seemed to swell with anger, almost surging towards her like a wave.
Seeing the mutant raising the speaker back to his lips, Mirko crouched down, and leapt straight towards him. The speaker had only just noticed that she was heading right for him, before her fist collided with the megaphone. It easily broke apart in a shower of sparks and plastic. The next punch connected directly with his jaw, knocking him out cold.
The crowd took a moment to parse what had just happened. Mirko stood on the top of the car that the ‘leader’ had just been stood on. At her feet was the body of the mutant, clearly knocked unconscious. Turning to the rest of the crowd, everyone could see exactly how annoyed the Pro Hero was.
“Alright. I’ll give you all about thirty seconds to shut up and get out of here. Or else I’ll make you. You’re all making my headache worse.”
Despite the threats, the crowd surged in anger at seeing their speaker taken down so callously. None of them recognised the actual threat that she posed. After all, there was no way they could have known that Garou had been training her. Mirko allowed a small smile to creep onto her face as she remembered both her and Garou’s first ‘training’ in the woods. Good memories.
Turning her gaze to the crowd, she knew that they wouldn’t be leaving easily. Chaos then erupted, followed by cries of pain one after another in a hellish choir.
The police could only watch in muted shock as Mirko began quelling the rioters. From what they’d heard, they didn’t remember her being so strong. Or so irritable. But she was making relatively quick work of the large crowd. Bodies fell one after another as the rabbit beat them up black and blue with punches and kicks, bones broken underneath their skins with each and every strike.
As a wave of realisation passed through the crowd, they all now grasped the reality of the situation. Mirko was weaving and dodging strike after strike as she gradually made her way through the crowd, leaving a trail of groaning, beaten bodies behind her.
As she continued lashing out one after the other she allowed her mind to wander slightly. She could perhaps be a little more gentle. But she kind of wanted to impress Garou as well. As she grinned at the thought of her silver-haired ‘acquaintance’, her pace increased slightly. The chorus of groans and screaming only increased in both volume and frequency.
In panicked desperation, numerous Quirks were sent at her. Scales, streams of water and many other kind of Quirk attacks were sent at Mirko. Noticing the numerous attacks shooting towards her, Mirko quickly began flipping backwards.
Landing a safe distance away, Mirko stared back up at the crowd, Tensing herself, she leapt back into the crowd. Ducking and weaving, Mirko once again began striking out at the crowd.
Allowing her body to move on ‘autopilot’ she fell into her own thoughts once again. She certainly hadn’t been expecting to see Garou on the news. And in a Hero outfit as well! Thinking of the outfit, she had to say, she did appreciate whoever chose the design. It showed the perfect amount of skin. She grinned even wider, ducking to avoid a wayward scaled tail that flew over her head. And Fenrir? Trust Garou to pick such a thematic name.
Now that she thought about it, Garou hadn’t actually told her about his ‘Hero’ activities. And he hadn’t even shown up for ‘internship’ with her yet. Frowning, she made a mental note to question him the next time she saw him.
Eventually, the entire crowd had either dispersed, or was lying on the ground in pain. Standing amongst the field of bodies, Mirko sighed as she wiped her brow. She felt like some of the stress had been relieved from her. However, she could still feel the niggling headache remaining. Glancing around, Mirko could see the rest of the rioters fleeing. The ‘protest’ had clearly been quashed.
Wiping her hands, Mirko turned back to face the police. As she approached them, every single police gaped at her as she casually left the battlegrounds. Quickly strolling past the officer, Mirko pointed her thumb at the dozens upon dozens of groaning, broken rioters.
“Alright. I softened them up for you.”
As she began to leave, the SAT officers and police quickly pulled themselves out of their stupor. They began to rush into the scene of the beatdown, glancing around at the innumerable rioters, now all reduced to moaning, writhing wrecks. As the police secured the area and the ambulances moved in, Mirko was already on her way home.
She had been absolutely confident that she could have cleared the riot in a few minutes at most. Pulling out her phone as she turned down a nearby street, she checked the time. Widening her eyes, she realised that she had taken longer than she was supposed to. Worry began to well up inside of her as her walk turned into a jog.
As she jogged down the street, she gained a few stares from civilians. She simply continued jogging down the street, taking a sudden left turn at the end of the street. She could still feel the stress slowly creeping up on her. She needed to have Garou to take care of his son. She wasn’t capable of taking care of everything by herself.
She was lucky that the scene of the riot was only about 20-30 minutes away from her house. Still, she couldn’t have had anyone to look after her son. Only she and Garou were supposed to know about it. If she hired any form of nanny or babysitter, rumours could start to spread. And she didn't want to pester Garou too much after all. The idea that he could potentially abandon the both of them… Quickly dismissing the idea as something he would never do, her jog turned into a full on sprint as she neared her house.
Reaching her front door, she burst through the front door. As she ran through her house, she quickly could hear the familiar, childish laughter. Slowly down, she sighed heavily and turned a corner. Behind the corner, sat on the ground and playing with a Garou plushie, was her son. The entire image just made her smile as she kneeled down in front of him.
Looking up, her son began smiling widely at her. His two small arms reached out towards Mirko, one hand still clutching the Garou doll. Scooping her son up in her arms, Mirko smiled back at him. Relief washed over her as she held him. The entire battle she partook was put to the back of her mind as she began walking through the house, holding her smiling boy. He really did look like Garou.
Meanwhile…
“Aniki, it seemed that terrorists made the news.” Ghin said as he pointed at his fifteen inch plasma screen TV. On the news, Garou, reading a book in his beanbag couch, looked at the screen with little interest.
“[-rioters have been spreading chaos around the streets, wreaking havoc in the public in a protest for the liberation of Quirks. But recently, one of the top five heroes, Mirko the Rabbit Heroine had taken down one of the rioters. The group is now being arrested as we speak.]”
The screen transitioned to a live feed of police apprehending the rioters, transporting them into hospitals. Most of the rioters were injured in some respect. Some rioters had large, purple bruises covering their faces. Most weren’t even conscious. There were dozens upon dozens of rioters being ferried away, all in similarly injured states.
“[And here is the live recording of her in action.]”
The scene then cut to what looked like live footage of the rabbit heroine fighting the entire crowd by herself. The rioters stood little to no chance. The rioters were sent flying, strike after strike all apparently missing the dark-skinned Hero. Even though he couldn’t see her face in the footage, Garou could tell that she was grinning as she quelled the crowd.
“So… how goes her training?” Ghin asked. Ghin almost never sees the woman training with him. Usually Garou trains with her alone for some reason for a week or so.
“...”
*Ring ring*
And speak of the devil. Garou rummaged into his pocket and pulled up his smart phone to his ear.
“...what is it now?” Garou asked. He didn't need to look at the screen to tell who was calling.
Mirko’s familiar voice came to life from the phone. She didn’t even sound out of breath in the slightest.
“[Heyyyy Garou.]”
Over the phone Garou could hear the happy noises of what sounded like a baby. His son. As she continued speaking, he could hear the grin on her face.
“[...Did you see me on the news?]”
Despite how she sounded, Mirko was also kind of hoping that Garou was impressed by her methods. After all, she had tried. She’d attempted to implement all of Garou’s actual training in the battle against the rioters. And it wasn’t the ‘training’ that she enjoyed.
“...”
“[You did. Don't need to answer.]” The voice chimed happily.
“...what is it this time?” Garou asked wanting to get to the point.
Silence came from the phone, as Mirko paused.
“[...I’m coming over. With the baby. You need to look after him sometime.]”
Almost in response, the sound of a laughing, happy child came from the phone. The all too familiar noise of a squeak then came from the phone.
“…”
Ghin blinked. His Sensei was actually sweating with fear.
“…now?” He asked with great reluctance.
“[Yes. Now.]”
Her tone showed that she was completely dead set on this choice. Much to Garou’s displeasure. The gurgling of the baby continued over the phone.
“…”
The Incarnation of Death And Fear took an audible breath, as if mentally preparing himself.
“How long?”
“[About… four or five days? I’ve got some Hero things I need to do. And I can’t hire a babysitter. You don’t want anyone to know about this after all.]”
A warning was hidden in her words. If he didn’t actually take care of the kid, then the news might spread.
“…there is a few I can trust…” Garou’s lips quivered. He turned to Ghin, who was gazing at him as if he found a new creature.
“[Oh yeah? Like who?]”
She didn’t sound too impressed that Garou was trying to shirk his responsibility.
A half hour later…
*ahahahehehe*
The first disciple of Garou was holding a baby. A giggling baby with bunny ears and dark skin. One of his eyes had black sclera and golden iris.
“...…” Ghin stared at Mirko, his eyes pure white and his jaw dropped with absolute, abject shock. So much his entire world shattered like glass.
“…shrimp. Meet your newest little brother…” Covering his eyes with his hand, Garou reluctantly introduced the giggling baby in his arms.
“...huh?” Ghin uttered the one word that expressed all of his emotions and turmoil.
Mirko grinned widely at Garou, seeing his displeasure and reluctance. Glancing down at Ghin, she smiled at him.
“Yep! He’s your sensei’s son!”
*Thump*
“…”
Garou grimaced even more when Ghin fainted, back down flat on the floor with Kariko still giggling away in his arms unharmed.
Pointing over at the fainted Ghin, Mirko looked to Garou with a confused expression on her face. The fact that the young boy had fainted had taken her completely by surprise. She’d been expecting a more… tame reaction.
“...Did I say something wrong?”
“…I misjudged him. He was not ready.” Garou sighed.
Sighing, Mirko turned her attention to the bag of miscellaneous supplies she had brought along with her. If Garou was to look after the baby for at least a few days, he had to be properly supplied. The idea of Garou having to perform all these ‘fatherly’ duties made Mirko smile the widest she had all day. Extending her arm with the bag in her hand, she gestured for Garou to take it.
“It’s got everything you’ll need for at least a few days. Food, toys and clothes. You know, the kind of stuff you’ll need.”
“…” Garou grabbed the bag from her hands. He dug his other hand into the bag and took out… a jar of organic baby food. ‘Highly nutritious’ said the label with the cartoon baby etched.
“…anything I should know?” Garou does not know anything about their kid. In detail.
“Well… he does have one specific toy that he really seems to love...”
Pointing to the bag, she gestured for Garou to continue digging through the bag of supplies. She watched him as he continued searching, a grin clear on her face. Slowly, Garou pulled his hand out of the bag, holding a Garou plushie. His hand seemed to shake ever so slightly as he held it.
“Youuuu…” Garou gritted his teeth at the sight of his arch nemesis.
Raising both eyebrows, she turned to look at her son. The small baby seemed to have noticed Garou’s displeasure towards the toy, and was reaching out for it.
*plusha*
The little bundle of joy babbled, mispronouncing the word ‘plushie’.
“I think he wants the plushie.”
Mirko continued smiling at Garou, who seemed to be seething. She was glad that she’d found one of these stuffed Garou toys. She’d even bought one for herself.
“…I am considering breaking it. Or throwing it to the sun.” Garou inflamed with great trepidation.
Mirko merely shrugged in response. Truthfully, she was also interested to see how Garou would handle the whole thing. He didn’t seem like the ‘fatherly’ type. And he was still quite young.
“Go ahead. But if you do, be prepared. He won’t be happy. And that might make your job even worse!”
She wasn’t sure if Garou knew exactly what to expect when it came to his son. But she had been surprised herself. Just like his dad, he was a trouble to deal with.
Garou hissed at the plushie held headfirst in his hand.
“…fine.” He tossed it to his son, who happily received the plush doll with innocent laughter.
“Is. That. All?” From the look of things, Garou looked like a supervolcano about to blow.
Glancing around, Mirko nodded once.
“Yeah. I think that’s all.”
She turned around and began to head towards the door. Stopping just before the door, she turned her head to focus on Garou.
“Good luck! And have fun! You know where to find me.”
In her hand she held her phone, drawing Garou’s eyes to it.
She winked once at Garou as she turned to leave, waving her hips as she did so.
Garou’s left eye twitched in response in angst.
Ten minutes later…
Ghin looked at Garou, his jaw figuratively dropped to the floor, completely and utterly speechless.
“…how?”
The boy had so many questions, the only word he could say was this.
“…it’s a long story…”
“Is it?” Ghin questioned. The baby in his arms giggled, enjoying the face the older boy was making.
“I-I thought it would’ve taken months for… since when did you call the stork?!” Ghin demanded, pointing his finger at Garou accusingly.
“…a month or two…”
“Eh?! Impossible!” Ghin shouted. The baby in his arms giggled even louder.
“...…Aniki is a lady slayer.”
Of all the names he was called, this one was the most damaging. Never had so many veins popped in his skull ever since his debut.
“Aniki just slayed a heroine…”
That was the last straw.
“Not. One. Word.” For every word coming out of Ghin’s mouth, blood figuratively splurged from Garou’s lips, his dignity bleeding from the verbal daggers.
“Aniki is a lady killer.” Ghin dropped to his knees, as he executed the remnants of Garou’s dignity, a massive amount of blood now figuratively leaking from his lips. If it was a real life wound, he would’ve bled out by now, but this time the wound was in a place where the pain never goes away.
Garou felt like killing himself for the first time in years. Kariko continued giggling in Ghin’s arms, pointing his finger at Garou as if to add more salt to his wounds. If there was a day Garou would cry… today was that day. And it felt so horrible. The only solace in this debacle was that the landlord was away in her fight against the Quirk Liberation Army. If she saw this, Garou will never hear the end of it.
“Ughh…” Today was a horrible day. His disciple found a new way to torment him. If the others found out, all of his dignity will go down the drain. He almost missed his Hero Hunting days. Almost. He would rather go hunting heroes than deal with the bundle of giggles that was his son.
On a bright high noon, out in the busy streets of Hosu, Garou mingled with the crowd as he strolled through the bustling streets, on his way to the supermarket for groceries. And takeouts. Lots and lots of takeouts. He made a huge order from a particular restaurant, and have them lend him a shopping cart to transport his food home. He needed to take care of the baby, and worse, his schedule was thrown out of whack. He wondered how he should patrol Hosu with that kid in his house? He was unsure if Ghin could take care of the baby in the first place, but the kid was smart. He should figure it out in the end.
As Garou strolled down the street, pushing the cart along, he noticed a commotion from up ahead. Craning his neck, he began to approach. As he neared the commotion, he noticed about a dozen people, all stood in front of what looked like a banner. Draping down behind them, the banner had large, bold text that said ‘Can the authorities protect you from Garou?”
‘No.’ Garou immediately responded. They have no way of protecting the public from him now that he thought about it.
A small table was in front of the group of people. Numerous fliers were laid out of the table, each one depicting a dark, horned shape reaching out. As Garou got even nearer, he could begin to hear what the demonstrators were asking passersby.
“How do you feel about the liberation of Quirks?”
“With All Might defeated, how can you be sure that the Hero-Hunter won’t target you next?”
“We know that Garou has been taking down villains more than Heroes recently. But what would happen if he chose to target civilians instead?”
They were handing out leaflets and fliers, all information about the Quirk Liberation movement. Each and every flier and leaflet had the demonic image of a horned Garou on the front, as if to scare people.
A small crowd had gathered, watching the ‘demonstration’. None of the people present knew how close they were to the ‘danger’ they were talking about so much. It seemed like they were trying to use the Hero-Hunter to try and advocate for the ‘liberation’ of Quirks. Whatever that meant to Garou.
“The hell is this?” Garou murmured as he opened the pamphlet. The next five seconds he closed it and frowned upon reading the contents, then started to rip it up into many halves until it turned into confetti, and threw it up into the air to allow the wind to spread it to the four corners of the Earth. Garou had never been this angry ever since the reveal of his Quirk enhancing blood.
One of the male demonstrators had noticed the strange, silver-haired man ripping up one of their pamphlets. Frowning at him, he approached him.
“Excuse me sir? What do you think you’re doing? We’re trying to inform people about how their Quirks need to be freed! And you aren’t exactly helping with behaviour like that.”
He gestured around at the dispersing cloud of confetti that had once been a pamphlet.
“Word of advice. Give up while you still can.” Garou warned the man with an ominous tone.
The demonstrator furrowed his brow in confusion, his frown deepening. Quickly glancing down at a flier he held in his hand, he seemed to reaffirm his own belief, turned back to the silver-haired man.
“I don’t know about you… but I’m not willing to let the authorities just roll over whenever the Hero-Hunter is involved.”
“You're just using the scariest man on Earth as an excuse to indulge in violence.” Garou retorted.
The man took a step back, clearly shocked by the series of events.
“Are you defending the Hero Hunter? If there’s anyone who indulges in violence, it’s him.”
“No. I hate Quirks. A lot. For good reason.” Garou replied.
However, the demonstrator wasn’t repelled, yet still unaware of the potential danger of the situation he was in.
“Well… surely you should wish for your fellow citizen to live a free and unrestricted life?”
“You are still using a man who had not taken an innocent life and rudely painted him as a Symbol of your propaganda. That is something that would send you to your graves.” Garou was not amused.
At this point, a few of the other demonstrators had noticed the discussion going on between the two. Glancing over, they continued to watch.
“How do we even know he hasn’t taken a life? Someone of his power should be easily capable of hiding it.”
The demonstrating man had now been incensed. Glaring at the silver-haired man, he was determined to show him the light.
“Hah. That is big words coming from a man in a group who consists of Quirk addicts. I mean, seriously? It really looks more like a group of junkies than free men.” Garou replied smirking.
Now, even a few of the passersby had stopped. Hearing the insults coming from the mouth of the silver-haired man, every single demonstrator stopped what they were doing as they all glared at him. The tension in the air rose dramatically.
“Are you likening freedom to drug addiction? I think you are biased my friend.”
Shaking his head, the male demonstrator felt a twinge of pity for the misguided man before him.
“I read the pamphlet. It really is a group of drug addicts. There is nothing to stop other men from hurting other men. I mean, hahahaha, you are like trying to ask the people to allow free use of guns onto the streets. No one does that unless they're addicted to it. You don't care about the people. Only your own selves. That is why you are all drug addicts.” Garou smirk grew even wider upon seeing the man trembling.
The reactions of the demonstrators were either ones of shock, or ones of fury. However, one protestor narrowed her eyes at the silver-haired man, seeing something familiar about him. Pointing at him, she broke the silence.
“Hey. Aren’t you that new Hero? The one who was at the bank. Fenrir was it?”
Upon hearing the name, a wave of murmurs began to spread throughout the demonstrators and the nearby bystanders. Looking at him, realisation began to dawn on most of them. This was the Hero Fenrir.
The male demonstrator was obviously taken aback. He stared at ‘Fenrir’, blatantly shocked at the reveal.
“You’re… a Hero? And you’re still defending the Hero Hunter anyway?”
“I never said I defended him. Stop switching the topic to accusation to bolster your point. I can see it. And it is getting old. Or are you too afraid of defending your own beliefs on your two feet, coward?” Garou accused as he narrowed his eyes.
Clenching his fists, the demonstrator felt the urge to strike out at this Hero. But his hand remained still, still clutching the now-crumpled pamphlet.
“Ohhh, the eyes. I know them! So many eyes the villains make when they want to let loose. You really are nothing more than an addict. Just like every other villain.” Garou continued as he watched to his revel.
Gritting his teeth, he pointed one of his fingers squarely at the Hero. His head turned to address the rest of the crowd.
“See? This is another puppet of the law. Another one who just wants to restrict our individual freedoms!”
“You are really trying that? Let me tell you something. You are trying to cover the fact that Quirks are like guns. Some Quirks no one can control, some that harms everyone’s way of life. There are rules placed on Quirks in the first place, yet you make it seem that Quirks are one hundred percent risk-free and completely controllable. Stop it. You are convincing no one. Unless they are retards like you.” Garou lectured.
The crowd gathering around them nodded at Garou’s point, disillusioned by whatever words the demonstrators were doing and dispersed. At this point, the rest of the demonstrators had stopped whatever they were doing and had also approached ‘Fenrir’, attempting to back up their colleague. One woman glared at him, clearly annoyed with his words.
“If you don’t like what we’re saying, then go ahead and leave. Continue chaining yourself.”
“Ohhhh. But doing so meant you are losers. Wait, you are all already losers.” Garou said with drama in his voice.
Every single one of the protestors glared at Fenrir, hate in their eyes. The once-large crowd they had, was now completely gone. He had simply shown up and undone all of their work. They all felt the frustration and anger.
“Go back to fighting more ‘monsters’”
One of the other male demonstrators gestured widely, clearly exaggerating and mocking the Hero in front of them.
“Oh, but this is so much more entertaining. A bunch of nobodies demanding the right to do evil. Looking ready to explode,” Garou continued.
“I didn’t know that the Hero Fenrir was so petty.”
The female demonstrator crossed her arms as she glared at him. The entire air was filled with tension as the group and the Hero faced off.
“I didn't know retards like you existed until now. That just shows how insignificant you all are,” Garou retorted back.
The initial male demonstrator turned away from the Hero, huffing dismissively. He was attempting to hide his frustration with him and his colleagues being embarrassed so thoroughly in public.
“Anyways, it was fun chatting with you. Oh, but before I leave… why are you all doing this?” Garou asked as his tone turned severe.
“If ‘Garou’ hears about this, your group might be destroyed, end up like the villains he sent. Why even dare using his name at his worse interest?”
All sharing a glance, the group of demonstrators turned back to the Hero, seemingly exuding ‘confidence’.
“If the Hero-Hunter targets us, we will become martyrs for the public who will take up the torch!”
“So you're planning to drag the whole world to hell?” Garou asked, raising an eyebrow.
“He may have take down All Might, but he still is only one man. In the end, the world will prevail.”
The male demonstrator seemed now engrossed in his own little world, one of arbitrary morals.
“.......wow.” Garou blinked.
“You really have no idea what you're up against, do you?” Garou said before turning away, no longer interested in them.
Seeing the Hero turn to leave, the group began to head back to their table. They began again, attempting to hand out fliers and leaflets to passing civilians.
Meanwhile…
“Ughhhh…” Tsukihana Shinjitsu was exhausted to the bone. Resting in her office with a few assistants aiding her work. The reason? Making sure that Garou never heard of the Quirk Liberation Army using him as propaganda. She really hopes that he did not hear about them… and proceed to destroy them. Their infectious ideology would drag the whole world to hell if he did so. Garou won't hesitate to destroy all challengers, and send them lining up to the hospital to the point of flooding, lines set up outside the hospital full of patients in need of healing.
“Miss Shinjitsu.” Knocking on the door, was the skeletal figure of All Might. One of her spies for Garou lookout.
“Hello… how's the situation on the other side?” Tsukihana asked, behind mountains of paperwork covering her side.
Strolling in, All Might closed the door gently behind him. Turning to face Tsukihana, his skeletal features bore his usual smile.
“Well… we have had an… ‘incident’ recently.”
Judging from his tone, All Might could only be talking about one person. It was blatantly clear that Garou had done something.
“Oh god. Please tell me it isn't what I think it is?” Tsukihana asked pleadingly.
Merely chuckling in response, All Might approached her desk.
“It’s nothing as bad as you might think.”
He gestured towards a nearby chair with one of his thin arms.
“...May I?”
“Go ahead. No one's stopping you,” She dismissed.
Nodding once, All Might seated himself. Releasing a heavy sigh, he turned his gaze to fix on Tsukihana.
“My thanks. Onto the topic at hand. The ‘incident’ in question occurred not too long ago. On the same day that Young Ghin was… taken by the monster, Garou had encountered several foreign Heroes.”
“Are they all alive?” She asked, her tone apprehensive.
Allowing his eyes to travel around the office he was in, seeing the assistants listening in with curiosity, All Might nodded.
“Yes. They all suffered rather minimal injuries. I believe that they were quite eager to leave the country afterwards!”
All Might chuckled as he recalled how desperate the foreign students were to go back to their home country.
“Thank god he is growing more lenient… anything else? From ‘you know who’?” Tsukihana asked.
Rubbing his chin in thought, the former Symbol of Peace began recalling all of the information that had been learned from Young Ghin. The silver-haired youth may have impeccable combat senses, but he was too easily bribed. Usually with food or Garou merch.
“Hmm… where to begin… I believe the most important piece of information is that Garou is building his own dojo. It's quite far from the city, and the trek is just as far. They’ve been using the ‘assistance’ of the former ‘Big Three’ at UA. Now ‘Big Four’ including Young Garou.”
Ghin had seemed unusually secretive when it came to the unknown project he and Garou were both working on. But they had managed to grease the wheels with more offers and bribes.
“I see… where did he get the money for that I wonder?” Tsukihana had a few ideas. She wanted to give Garou a piece of her mind for smuggling a diamond or two, but she couldn't. Else she would lose the trust of her only nephew.
However, All Might did not stop there. There was still a load of information to get through.
“Also, whilst out in the wilds, both Garou and Ghin found two wild wolves! Young Ghin seemed quite excited when he was talking about ‘Skoll’ and ‘Hati.’”
“Awwww…” Tsukihana was happy for Ghin. He found a pet to care and love.
“And apparently, Garou chose to feed the wolves his own blood. Which has empowered them. They now both possess gigantification Quirks. Alongside the fact that one can breathe fire, and the other, ice.”
The sheer thought of such a gigantic wolf was almost enough to send shivers through All Might’s spine.
“...how big are they? No, how dangerous are they?” Tsukihana asked now afraid of the answer.
Furrowing his brow in thought, the former Symbol of Peace attempted to recall what Ghin had told. Being such a young child, it was entirely possible he was exaggerating.
“According to Ghin? Seventy feet tall. And he made a specific mention of how dangerous they are. He seemed quite proud.”
“Oh my god.” Tsukihana now slammed her head to the table.
“...will they be in my apartment?” She asked terrified of the wolves already.
All Might’s lips formed a thin smile as he looked at the despairing homeowner. He was surprised that she hadn’t had a heart attack from stress yet. Dealing with the silver-haired duo must require an iron will. Or a lot of patience.
“...They can also shrink in size, becoming puppy-sized.”
“Oh thank god.” She was relieved.
All Might cast his glance to the ceiling, as he attempted to remember everything else. Young Ghin was quite the fountain of Garou-related information. Eyes widening, All Might turned back to face Tsukihana. A knowing grin was on his face.
“Oh yes… also according to Ghin, Garou has been training, alone, with the Hero Mirko.”
“Eh?” Tsukihana blinked.
“...why?”
“I do not know. However, I also have information from several other sources. Information that says how… ‘bold,’ Mirko is in regards to Garou.”
All Might placed specific mention on the word ‘bold’ as if to imply something. Silently, All Might sent an apology to both Mirio and Snipe. He hoped Garou would never know about what was transpiring in this room. Otherwise, all three of them would suffer quite considerably.
“...define ‘bold.’”
All Might fought to keep the grin on his face from growing any further. He needed to be serious when discussing such matters, but the mere thought was just so amusing.
“...Repeated advances on him. Apparently, near constant flirting.”
“...him?” She asked.
All Might nodded once, as if to reinforce the fact. If All Might hadn’t been told so by trusted colleagues and friends, then he wouldn’t believe it either. The sheer idea was ludicrous.
“Yes him. While Garou was visiting some fellow students in the hospital after a monster attack, she ambushed him and proceeded to kiss him. Much to the shock of everyone else, might I add.”
“...oh my god.” This was probably the only day she called out God’s name so many times. She placed her hand to her mouth, a blush on her face.
“Ever since this little… connection, became known, Garou has appeared to be quite defensive about the fact. One teacher of his even used contacting her as a threat, after which Garou backed down.”
Still making very specifically to not use Snipe’s name, he sent another silent apology. Everytime he retold a story that the gunslinger had told him, he felt like Snipe was being put in even more danger.
“......” The lawyer made a mental note of that.
“Thank you for your time, All Might.” She lowered her head before the former Symbol of Peace.
“...hah… it is only a matter of time before he founds out about the Liberation Army…” Tsukihana sighed.
All Might grimaced as she mentioned that group. With their blatant fear mongering, using Garou as a ‘boogieman’ to scare the public, the man himself was bound to come across the group eventually. And that would be a busy day for the hospitals.
Nodding in response to her thanks, All Might lowered his own head, smiling as he did so.
“No. Thank you. It is because of you that Young Garou has made such steps on the road to reformation. The fact we even got him in a costume is sign enough.”
“It is nothing more than looking after another kid besides Ghin… only this one is infectiously worse.” She slumped in her chair exhausted.
Rising from his seat, All Might lowered his head once again.
“If any new information comes to my attention, or the attention of my colleagues, I’ll be sure to let you know.”
If there was one person who could properly utilize all of the information when it came to Garou, it was this woman.
“Hahhhhh…” The woman only sighed. How she wished she had Garou’s power right now. It would’ve helped in dealing with so much paperwork…
Meanwhile…
“Some group is using your name, Aniki.” Ghin called when Garou returned. With a shopping cart of food.
“...I know. I just met one of their protesting groups.” Garou said as he rolled the cart over to the kitchen.
“Eh? Are you going to hunt them?” Ghin pointed over to the TV, which was now showing more protests and riots of the Quirk Liberation Army making trouble across Japan.
“They're not worth my time. Though I will make it hell for them.” Garou replied.
“Ehh, how?” Ghin tilted his head in confusion.
“There are other ways than sending them to the hospital. Many other ways.”
“But I thought you enjoyed sending people into the hospitals.” Ghin pointed out.
“Not funny.” Garou replied as the giggling baby chimed from Ghin’s arms.
“........how did you make something this cute?” Ghin asked as he cradled the laughing baby. Comparing Kariko with Garou, one couldn't believe that the little bundle of joy was sired by the scariest man on the planet. Usually, one would expect a demon to come out when Garou mated, albeit a true demon, not an adorable angel of giggles.
“...shut up.” Garou does not want to talk about Kariko anymore. Right now, he was his biggest weakness, and he plans to let no one know about it.
“I think he wants to play with you.” Ghin said as the baby now sputtered ‘baba’ again and again.
“Tell him I'm not here.” Garou grimaced as he prepared the baby food, a bowl and a small plastic spoon. All of his combat experience hadn’t exactly trained him for this.
Seeing that Garou wasn’t coming over, Kariko’s face twisted into a frown. Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, he burst into tears. As he did so, his entire body changed. The two small horns grew from his head and his skin darkened as he continued to wail and cry. The sound was almost deafening.
“Alright, alright! Damn it!” This was the first time a one-year-old was his opponent, an opponent he could not defeat with his two hands. Marching over to the baby, Garou set down the bowl of baby food on the table between the TV and sofa and picked the little rascal up in his arms, holding him by the shoulders as he stared into his son’s pitch black eyes.
“.......”
Slowly, both of Kariko’s eyes opened. Seeing Garou standing in front of him, the wailing stopped. It was quickly replaced by the usual happy gurgling. Kariko then began to change back to normal, skin lightening and horns receding. The two small rabbit ears on his head bounced up and down happily, the fluffy appendages tickling Garou’s face.
“...he sure likes you, Aniki.” Ghin commented with an impish smile on his face. The amount of affection the baby had for his young father was comedic.
“Shut up and help me feed him. And prepare to change his diapers.” Garou seethed as the baby giggled louder, before Garou suddenly felt a presence outside his home.
Outside the building that currently housed Garou, his disciple and his son, a group of masked, hooded figures all gathered. Despite the masks attempting to hide their identities, a few of the group were very clearly mutant-type Quirk users. A few of them held canisters of gasoline, whilst a few others held lit torches and bottles with rags draping out of the neck. They had absolutely no idea who was currently inside the building.
Slowly, they began to approach the building, tools in hand. Luckily, there were no potential witnesses around. They all remained silent as they ominously approached. It wasn’t hard to tell what they were there for. Noticing a window on the ground floor, one of the masked figures threw a rock straight through. The pane of glass shattered easily.
One of the masked figures began gesturing to the rest of the group, as they all began to split up into groups of two. Stepping through the broken window frame, one of the hooded figures entered the empty ground floor room. Glancing around, it looked like any regular house. The crunching of glass sounded out as a second figure entered the room via window.
All over the ground floor of the building, the individual groups of two were all breaking into the rooms. They were all moving with some hurry. If they didn’t perform their task fast enough, the police might arrive.
Standing inside one of the apartments, two of the thugs prepared their tools. With gasoline can in hand, they began spraying the flammable liquid all over the room. The floor, walls and even the ceiling were all sprayed. Once the can had been emptied, both of the thugs made their way out of the same window they came in. Now standing outside with a lit torch in hand, the other masked figure casually tossed the burning torch towards the room, now full of flammable liquid.
Yet, the room was not lit aflame. Confusion spread amongst the thugs as they blinked, unsure why the room was not on fire, lit ablaze like the morning sun.
“What do you think you're doing?” A voice called out behind them.
Whipping around, the two masked thugs turned to see the source of the voice. There were supposed to be no witnesses.
“Are you trying to light my home on fire?” The man asked, a silver-haired man. With the same torch the other man just threw into the building in his right hand.
Both of the masked figures didn’t move. The fact that all of the groups had now split up was working to their detriment. And they couldn’t use their Quirks. It would leave too much potential evidence.
“........”
“You are asking for a beating.” The man said as the torch broke in his hand, the flame dropping to the concrete.
Slowly, both of the would-be arsonists reached behind their backs. Both of them had stashed away knives, since they couldn’t use their Quirks. Eventually, they both grasped their own individual knife by the handle, staring over at the silver-haired man before them. No witnesses.
“Ohhh, oh ho ho. Are you sure about that?” The man asked as if daring them to attack him.
The two arsonist’s respective grip on the handle of their knives tightened. Slowly, they both began to pull their arms up, wielding the knives...
*Boom*
Suddenly, one of them was sent flying as if shot at point blank by a rocket launcher. His body bent in a > when he crashed into the same window they used to sneak in.
The other thug barely had time to parse what had happened. From his point of view, his colleague had been there one moment, and gone the next. Turning to the silver-haired man, the remaining arsonist pulled out his knife, wielding it in the direction of the strange man. Slowly, sweat began to build up on the arsonist’s body.
“You have one chance to back away. No, had. I’m going to break you like a twig anyways. No one burns my home and gets away with it.” The man said as he held… a metal blade between his fingers. The blade of a knife. Looking down on his own knife, he saw that it was missing a blade.
Underneath the mask, the arsonist was dumbfounded. His eyes stuck to the bladeless hilt of what used to be a knife. Glancing back up at the man, the thug tightened their grip on the bladeless knife, now wielding it as a small bludgeoning weapon. They couldn’t leave any witnesses.
*Bam*
Then he felt an inexplicable pain from his groin after something precious within shattered like glass.
“Yeah, now I’m bored.” The man then took out a smart phone and started calling someone.
The pathetic sound of the whimpering arsonist came from nearby, writhing slowly on the ground. The pain he felt was unimaginable. So unimaginable in fact, that a large amount of vomit issued forth from his mouth.
“Yeah. Police? This is the Hero Fenrir, and there are arsonists trying to burn my home down. Please come.” The man who called himself a Hero than placed his phone back into his pocket before he casually strolled past his broken form, heading to the others.
The rest of the arsonists had heard the loud ‘bang’ initially. Sensing danger, they all prepared their own weapons as they stepped out of their respective rooms. Some wielding chains, some wearing brass knuckles.
Coming into view from around the corner of the building, a silver-haired man with sharp, wolf-like features emerged, walking towards them with a casual gait.
“Greetings. And farewell. Trespassers will be met with death. Prepare to die.” The man threatened immediately.
Seeing the silver-haired man, a few of the arsonists recognised the Hero Fenrir. Regardless of who he was, they all readied their weapons, slowly approaching the Hero. The Hero didn’t even seem to react as they slowly drew closer, still brandishing their weaponry.
It only took twenty minutes before the area was littered with broken bodies. The state that most of the thugs were in stung the eyes. Limbs twisted the wrong way, bones jutting from the skin. There was still one conscious arsonist, still writhing and groaning in unbearable pain, a large pool of vomit beside him. The police stared at the scene, wondering what kind of massacre could have possibly occurred here. It looked like a scene from a Hero Hunter case.
“Hello, officer. Please take them in. I am very, very upset. Haul them away before I lose myself.” The Hero Fenrir asked the officer with a forced calm in his tone.
Nodding quickly, the police and the nearby medical staff all began whisking the broken, brutalized bodies of the ‘victims’ away. Blood stained the ground as they quickly moved the criminals. Most of the police had heard the name of Fenrir. And no one wanted to be the one responsible for pissing him off after seeing the carnage left in his wake.
As he was loaded onto a stretcher and carried away, the one conscious arsonist stared at Garou’s direction. A silent question in his eyes. ‘Why?’ Eventually even he was placed into an ambulance, his moans of pain no longer audible.
A few moments later, he returned to the lobby, with a mop and cleaning liquid. He sighed. He would have to clean the gasoline before some asshole had the wrong idea.
Broken glass was all over the place, both on the inside and the outside of the ground floor rooms. Large shards covered the ground, threatening to stab those who would walk on them. Overall, the area was a total mess. The smell of blood and gasoline had mixed in the air, creating a disgusting odour. Large, red stains dotted the environment.
Garou swore pain and misery to the ones behind this. And he will deliver.
“Who was responsible for the arson?” Garou called Sir Nighteye wanting names. He does not have the phone number of the upper echelons of the police, thus he relied on him.
“[...You said that they were masked?]”
Nighteye seemed to be thinking heavily. An arson attack on Garou’s home was indeed noteworthy. Very daring in fact.
“You know the police. I want the head of their boss on a platter.”
“[Hmmm… Well thanks to your ‘methods’, the arsonists are currently revealing every single one of their secrets. Apparently, they work for a group known as the Quirk Liberation Army. I believe they’ve even used you on their fliers.]”
It had barely taken a few hours after the first criminal had woken up, before they started spilling their guts. ‘So long as I don’t have to meet him again’ were some of the words used.
“…and I genuinely just decided to leave them be.” Garou was considering on hunting them to the last.
“[Apparently, they weren’t even after you. They had been ordered to torch the home of Miss Shinjitsu. It would seem she has been making her own enemies.]”
“…” Garou blinked. It was the first time he had to deal with her troubles. His landlord…
“…is she giving them hell at least?” Garou asked with great expectations.
“[Absolutely. Currently with all of the recent confessions, the Quirk Liberation Army has now been accused of domestic terrorism, arson and attempted murder. Miss Shinjitsu seems to be leading the charge on all fronts.]”
On his end, Sir Nighteye adjusted his glasses.
“Oh. Alright then. I’ll leave the hunt to her from now on.” Garou’s need for vengeance was sated.
The stern voice of Sir Nighteye quickly spoke up, attempting to get Garou’s attention before he could hang up.
“[Oh yes. I have something to request of you Garou. Perhaps you would be capable of taking on a few more ‘disciples’?]”
“…why?” Garou blinked at the sudden question.
“[After seeing the progress that your other ‘disciples’ have made, a program has been established. It is to train Heroes in the ways of the Hero Hunter. It is voluntary, before you ask.]”
The dramatic growth of the Pussycats, Mirio, Hado and Tamaki had been incredible and had opened everyone’s eyes to the true potential of Garou’s training.
“...” Garou pondered his request.
“What's in it for me?” Garou asked. Anymore would take too much of his time.
“[For one… each of the voluntary disciples would be expected to pay for your food. An incentive. For two, you could bestow upon more Heroes your own methods.]”
The list of volunteers for the ‘Garou Training Program’ was full of somewhat familiar names. Garou would need to veto them first.
“Hmmm…” Garou smiled.
“I could use more slaves to work on my dojo… and my pets need some playmates. The food is an added bonus.”
“[And we would provide you with a list of the names of those who have volunteered. To veto any choices.]”
Unknown to Garou, Sir Nighteye was really trying to sell this program to Garou. It was of the utmost importance.
“Alright. Lay it on me, Glasses. I will test their worth when they come.”
The sound of a pen writing against paper came from the phone. Finishing up, Sir Nighteye’s voice came through once again.
“[Of course. And do expect a few familiar faces.]”
Comments
Yeah, I am attempting something like that.
I4MD347H
2021-01-21 22:19:57 +0000 UTC