𝙃𝙀𝙔, 𝙁𝙇𝙀𝙓 𝙏𝘼𝙋𝙀 // 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙤 𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

forty-six

"Fatgum, will Amajiki be okay? I can't help but feel worried," I said.
"Yeah..." Kirishima and Midoriya agreed.

"Come on! When a comrade shows you their back, believin' in 'em is what it means to be a man!" Fatgum yelled.

"Yeah! Amajiki'll do just fine! He's our upperclassman!" Kirishima clenched his fists.
"Wait, now it just looks like you're a guy who's easily swayed!" Midoriya squeaked.

"I'm still kinda worried... but there's nothing for it, we've just got to trust in him!" I exclaimed.
"We can't waste a single second of the time Suneater's given us to work with!" Kirishima agreed.

"Let's go back up," Nighteye's voice said.
"Take those stairs!" Fatgum shouted.

We all ran up the stairs, one by one.
"Something's not right..." Eraserhead said.
"What is it?" mom frowned.
"It's strange that the villain who was warping the basement hasn't shown any signs of movement," our teacher said.

"Now that you mention it... it's not twisting like before," Kamikaze nodded.
"We're charging ahead to no obstacles. If he's not going to come impede us now..." Aizawa continued, "then it may mean that he can't exactly grasp what's happening across the entire basement floor and warp it."

"There's also the police squad that was left behind above Suneater," Kamikaze added on, "maybe it's them... his attention is probably focused in that direction."
"So the range he's aware of is limited?" Rock Lock said.

"Your mom's pretty smart, Irezumi," Kirishima said.
"Where d'you think I get it from?" I winked.

"Ultimately, that's just my guess," Kamikaze continued, "he entered the underground and is manipulating it. He hasn't become it. If he's just moving through the walls, all the while watching and listening."

Eraserhead nodded, "when he changes things to hinder our progress, there's a possibility his real body is somewhere nearby. And then, his body may peek out, eyes and ears probing..."

A direct force came shooting out of what I assumed to be the wall - Fatgum had to slap Aizawa out of the way, but got hit himself. He went bowling away, landing on Kirishima.

"What are you, a baby chicken? What are you doin'?!" Fatgum exclaimed.
"I tried jumping to take the hit for you, sir!" Kirishima exclaimed, "I thought if it was me, I wouldn't take any damage! But I just got sucked into you..."

"Oh well, whatever," Fatgum got up, "you best be bracin' yourself..."

Standing was a large, muscular man with long hair hidden beneath a tattered, black plague mask. I hadn't a lot of time to analyse him as he was reeling up.

I could only watch in shock as Kirishima squared up to the muscled man, body hardening over and over until you could barely tell he actually had fully formed skin. The man's fist smashed straight into him in a whirl of smoke and dust and I raised an arm to protect my eyes from the fragment.

"Know what I think? I think it's unbecoming to bring a gun or blade to a fight," the masked man spoke, "any old shmuck can win with a weapon in hand, that ain't a fight. People oughta kill each other using just the power they got in their bodies — catch what I'm saying?"

"Red?!" I shouted.

The smoke cleared and he was there, awake, alive. Crushed into the wall, but alive. Some of the skin from his arms had pieced way from the force of the blow. I rushed back to him whilst Fatgum faced off.

The BMI hero threw a punch which was swiftly blocked by a golden barrier.

"Fatgum... a boy who can harden his body... and a girl," a new man appeared, "just three of them, I see... the two both possess quirks suited to defence. You won't be getting what you want out of them, Rappa."