What looked like a big brolic guy carrying a pole and a lizard man stood over the beaten body of one of the Pussy-cats.
Everyone got into a battle-ready stance and the lizard one announced, "Greetings, UA! We are the League of Villains' first strike team!"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, 'The league? Did they teleport here? Were we followed? There are probably a lot more villains around the forest just like USJ. I bet they might be getting attacked.'
"Hey, Is Kurogiri with you?"
The big one stared at Sasuke through his shades, "No, but we can take you to see him if you come with us quietly."
The only male member of the pussy-cats stood in front of Sasuke, "You won't be taking any of these kids anywhere... That girl, Pixie-Bob, unconscious over there; she's been really manic about marriage lately and experiencing a 'happiness'... Even at her tender age, she's been putting her best foot forward." His face contorted into a snarl, "As a man, your attitude and disregard for scarring the face of a woman in that predicament is reprehensible!"
Spinner dawned a crazy smile and pulled out something that was too big to be called a sword. Massive, thick, heavy, and far too roughly put together. Indeed it was a heap of Spinner's own stupidity.
Kirishima smiled and hardened, "That thing will break as soon as it touches me!"
The adults got in front of them; Madalay shouted, "Tiger, I've given out the instructions, let's leave the safety of the rest of the students to Ragdoll! You and I can and will hold this position together! Go, everyone, combat is to be avoided at all costs. Do I make myself clear? Class president, take the lead!"
Sasuke scoffed, "Leave? If we all fought them together we could easily take them out!"
Iida responded, "Not now, Sasuke! Let's just listen instead of arguing!"
The rest of the students ran off with Midoriya looking back at Sasuke with a tense expression. Sasuke gritted his teeth and followed after as they left. He and Midoriya hung in the back and Midoriya said, "Sasuke, you should try to find Kota and bring him to safety. You're the only one that knows where he is."
Sasuke thought back to the kid he talked to the day before, "Yeah, you're right. Just tell Iida that in case he asks why I'm gone... Actually, can you do a favor for me?"
Midoriya blinked, "A favor? Uh, I could try."
"Can you run through the loop we were gonna go through earlier? If there were villains there, I'm sure there are a lot more throughout the forest... Mina and a bunch of other students are still back there, you could do something. I doubt Ragdoll will be enough."
Midoriya smiled and nodded, "Definitely! I don't wanna stand by while villains might be attacking the rest of the class."
"It's settled then, see ya," they split paths running off into the trees.
On the other side of the forest at the midpoint of the loop, Momo and Mina walked and strolled along together, "So like, Momo, did you make your own hero outfit?"
"Yes."
"Can you make... Stuff like toxins and gasses?"
"Yes, but it's illegal."
"Can you make... A goat?"
"I can make anything besides living things."
"Can you make... The last season of Game Of Thrones really good?"
Momo scoffed, "Well that's a new thing my creation quirk can't do."
Mina put a hand under her chin, "Hmmmmm, can you make... A nuclear bomb?"
Momo looked at her with comical surprise, "Why would you ask me that?!"
They both heard growls from behind and they tensed up. Mina slowly turned around, "Wow, whoever that is you're really good at"
She made eye contact with a horrifying creature. It had a bar in its mouth it bit connected to its cheeks, its eyes were covered by a metal headband as its brain was exposed, and worst of all it had multiple weapons such as chainsaws, knives, and drills shooting out of its back. Mina and Momo shrieked and started running away.
Up at Kota's secret base, the surrounding area was being destroyed by a cloaked man in a mask toying with Kota as he tried to run away. "Do you see how stupid this mask is they gave me?! Sit still so I can take it all out on you haha!"
As Kota ran he got a glance at the masked man's face, and froze with a torn expression. His palms got sweaty as he remembered the news report, "You are..."
"His quirk is very simple and straightforward, enhanced, augmented strength. Within that belies his ferocity. If anyone recognizes this mugshot, contact 911 and inform the heroes. One defining feature of his is a deep scar across his left eye, left by the water horse duo."
The dam broke loose in Kota's eyes, "Dad! Mom!!!"
Muscular brought down his fist to slam Kota into paste, but a huge purple arm sucker punched him into the rocks nearby. Sasuke landed in front of Kota with a smile. "Hey, Kota. Don't give this freak the satisfaction of seeing you cry, he's the type that'll feed off that."
Kota didn't say a word, but he tried to wipe away some of his tears; Sasuke turned back after hearing rubble move as the villain came out unscathed, laughing maniacally. 'I got lucky getting here when I did. Kota isn't a stain on the ground, and I get to fight a villain. How did that not faze him though?'
"Heh, you pack a mean punch kid, but your hits are too inferior to put me down," he took his hood off, "Wait a minute... You're one of the kids we gotta capture. Heh, how lucky can I get?! Alright kid, how about this? If you tell me where that other kid Bakugo is, I'll just break one of your arms instead of two?"
Sasuke thought, 'He wants to capture me and Bakugo? What could the villains want with me and Bakugo? To steal our quirks? I doubt it... Whatever, they aren't getting us.'
Sasuke sweated and a smirk crept up his face as his eyes spun red and purple energy surrounded him. 'I'm alone here with this villain... This won't be a repeat of last time.'
"Sorry, but no deal. I'm gonna make it so you have to eat through a straw."
Muscular's face contorted to a sadistic grin, "I'm so glad you don't give up easily. This is gonna be fun! Show me some blood!"
Muscular blitzed towards Sasuke in the blink of an eye and threw a hook, Sasuke reacted with a ribcage that was blown through completely as he was sent flying into the rocks. 'Damn! He's way stronger and faster than Midoriya! Just—'
—Sasuke's thoughts were cut off by Muscular pouncing right on him and attempting to land an uppercut. However, the punch only hit the air as Sasuke leaned back onto the rocks with his hands and kicked Muscular with both legs.
He quickly gave chase and exploded some firecrackers in Muscular's face. While he was blinded, he manifested a fist above Muscular while preparing a Susanoo uppercut from below. The two fists collided at the same time, making Muscular's eyes go white as he crushed some of his own teeth.
'This is my chance!' Sasuke pulled out his sword, 'Now I just have to—'
"—AHHH!" Sasuke's head jolted in Kota's direction and saw boulders coming down ready to crush him.
In an instant, Sasuke grabbed Kota and ran away just before the boulders crushed the spot Kota stood in a moment prior.
Kota opened his clenched eyes and saw Sasuke, "T-thank you...."
"Kahahaha! To think... You actually made me black out for a moment there. Oh man, I'm getting fired up now, time to put on my serious face."
He blitzed Sasuke again; In response, Sasuke manifested bones and muscle, but Muscular blew through this completely and hit Sasuke in the side. Something cracked and Sasuke coughed up blood as he rolled over the ground. Sasuke cringed and grabbed his side, but Muscular kicked him in the side, sending him into the rocks. 'There's no time to take any breaks with this guy, if I can't recover I'm finished!'
As Muscular charged, Sasuke tried a drop kick again, but Muscular sidestepped and punched his stomach, slamming him into the ground. Sasuke started gasping for air as Muscular laughed maniacally. "Oh come on that can't be all you have hahaha. Get up, c'mon, if you don't I'll just break your legs since it seems like you don't wanna use them."
Muscular felt water hit the back of his neck and he turned around. Kota shouted with water in his eyes, "Stop it! Did you torment my mom and dad like that before you killed them?"
Muscular had a blank stare for a moment before walking towards him, "What's this? Seriously you're those heroes kid? This must be fate," he smiled, "Waterhorse. Those were the two that gave me this artificial left eye."
"It's all your fault! If you didn't kill my parents I... They..."
Muscular stuck his chin up, "Little snot-nosed punks like you are always looking to pass the blame. That's no good. For example, I'm not holding any grudges about my eye. I simply wanted to kill, and those two wanted to stop me. Our paths intersected and what happened was the result of that. If anyone is at fault it's the ones that try to act even though they can't do anything meaningful. That pretty much sums up your pathetic mom and dad!" Muscular went to slam Kota again, but Kota disappeared in a purple blur.
Muscular turned around to see a big ball of energy right in front of his face that exploded and sent him flying into the mountain.
Sasuke kneeled beside Kota. "Thanks for buying me time, Kota. I've got the rest covered." Sasuke turned back to Muscular and caused a huge gust of wind as he manifested his armored Susanoo. It wore a mix of armor plates and clothing, its face was covered by what looked like a twisted bird's beak, and inside the mouth were two glowing eyes.
Sasuke stood at the center of it all with blood running down his face. He saw Muscular's hand grip the rock as he slowly came out of the crater. 'He got up that soon after being hit with a magatama bead?' He stepped forward, but Kota asked, "Why are you doing all this for me?! You hardly know me! He threw you around like a toy! He'll kill you!"
Sasuke turned back to the child and saw himself when he was nine. "More than anyone, I understand the void of loneliness you have caused by a lack of parents, and the catalyst of that loneliness is right here... If I can't avenge your parent's deaths by dealing with this grunt of a villain, then my ambition is meaningless. Does that work for you?"
Muscular cracked his neck, "Good job! Man you're fun to play with, but you haven't spilled enough blood yet!"
Tears ran down Kota's eyes as he looked at the back of Sasuke. 'Can he really understand me?...' "Sasuke, please... Don't let him kill anyone else!"
Sasuke smirked and Muscular charged at him, throwing a punch. Sasuke blocked it with a forearm, then went to punch him. The hit landed and Muscular's feet skidded across the ground, but he smiled, "If that inferior punch is the best you got, then you should start praying!"
They had a back-and-forth with Muscular tanking Sasuke's hits while Sasuke blocked with his arms. 'He can't get through my defense, but I'm not doing any better either. Blunt strikes aren't the way to go with this.'
Sasuke manifested a sword, and swung it, making Muscular jump above it. Sasuke snickered, "What happened? Thought my attacks were inferior, right? Why don't you stand there and take it then."
Muscular snarled, but quickly recovered with a sinister laugh, "Hehehe, hahahaha! Screw the mission, I definitely have to kill you now, you're really asking for it, kid!"
Muscular covered himself in more muscles than ever and charged toward Sasuke. Sasuke brought both Susanoo's arms above his head getting ready to slam him; Muscular looked up and got ready to charge right through, but before he could go through with it he suddenly noticed his legs stopped running as he fell.
A pain as sharp as obsidian erupted throughout his body and he let out a shriek and jolted his head to his now absent legs. Sasuke stood over his legs he cut right at the kneecaps and swiped the blood off the blade. "I noticed that you put almost no extra muscles on your legs, so I figured you would rather not have them."
Muscular grunted and cried out, "You... You... What the fuck! No no no... This is no good. I can't kill you efficiently like this!"
The edge of Sasuke's mouth stuck up in revulsion, "You're really nothing but an animal." His eyes veered over to Kota's wide eyes. 'He's really gonna bleed out and die at this rate. I can't ask a five-year-old to...' "Kota, go to the bottom of the hill, I'll meet you there. Everything is under control now."
Kota opened his mouth, but quickly closed it and ran away. Muscular laughed and Sasuke asked, "Are you going crazy now? Don't try begging."
"Hehehehehe... Like hell, I will... As I said, our paths intersected... And what's happening now is simply the result of that."
Sasuke glared and sighed, "Where's AFO?"
"Ha! Hell if I know. Why don't you just—"
—A blade pointed at his one good eye shut him up, "Don't try anything, with your legs gone I can easily kill you any second."
The smell of iron from all of Muscular's blood loss filled their nostrils and Muscular sneered, "You're a pretty messed up kid, you know that?"
"... Yeah, but look who's talking. You killed—"
"Yeah yeah yeah... I killed the kid's parents, so what?"
"His name is Kota." Sasuke stabbed the blade into his chest.
Muscular wheezed, but went right back to cackling, "I don't care what his name is! I'd do it all over again. And if it weren't for you, I would have helped him reunite with his parents! Hehe kah ugh..." *cough.* blood poured out of Muscular's mouth. "Now that I think about it, aren't your parents dead too? Drop the blade and I can give you guys a 2 for 1 de—"
—the blade cleanly cut his throat open and he sheathed it. Muscular started gargling as he choked on his blood and it was as if Sasuke broke out of a trance as he blinked and stumbled back. ‘Woah! He's…’
After a few moments, Muscular became silent and motionless. Sasuke’s eyes were wide as he got back up to his feet, staring at him. He nudged his body with his foot and broke out into a small chuckle, “Hehehehe…” He shook his head and thought, ‘Calm down, Sasuke. He's really dead. I killed him... They say it only gets easier from here. I'll have to do the same to a few other people.’ He took a deep breath, ‘I can't just leave him up there. Someone is gonna find this eventually if I do...' He manifested a shovel.
Elsewhere in a bar, Kurogiri and Shigaraki conversed, "Do you really think it'll be alright with just them?"
Shigsraki stared at photos of Sasuke and Bakugo, "Yeah, it's not my time to make an appearance yet. The game has changed. I've been playing things like an RPG trying to fight the final boss at level 1. What I should have been doing was playing it like a SIM. I should manage what I can. Using what pawns I have available to take down those who are high up. For that reason, first I have to make a crack in the superhuman society. It doesn't matter if the first strike team succeeds or not, their attack alone is already a blow to the heroes."
"So... They're just sacrificial pawns?"
Shigaraki waved a hand, "Don't be ridiculous! Do I look like that heartless of a guy to you? Their strength is the real deal. We have our differences, but they're the real deal. In this society with all these rules, you and I aren't the only ones that are oppressed. I want them to succeed."
Sasuke met Kota at the bottom of the mountain. Kota asked, "Is he..."
Sasuke kneeled beside him, "Yeah. He won't kill anyone anymore. Hop on, I'm taking you to safety."
Kota hopped on his back and Sasuke winced as he stood up. He took a deep breath, then ran at top speed to where Aizawa was. "What are you gonna do once we're at a safe spot?"
"I'm going right back out there."
"You can't! You still have a bunch of blood pouring out of you! You're probably exhausted!"
More blood leaked out of Sasuke's face, "I have a lot of stamina, I'll be fine. Besides, if I don't go back out there, then someone might die, and Bakugo might get captured... And speaking of that, don't tell anyone about what happened here. I could get in a lot of trouble. It'll be our little secret, ok?"
"Ok..."
Sasuke met eyes with Aizawa and sat Kota beside him, "Sensei, I need you to take care of Kota. I've gotta go back out there to Mandalay and the rest."
Sasuke turned around, but Aizawa called out, "Wait. Those injuries, you fought a villain, didn't you?"
They stared at each other for a minute until Aizawa broke the silence, "Fine. If you're going back out there, then tell Mandalay to tell all the students they're authorized for quirk-use."
Sasuke smirked, "Got it, Sensei."
On the other side of the forest, Momo and Mina were still being chased by the Nomu. Mina tried to throw some globs of acid behind her, but the Nomu just healed through it. 'How long are we gonna have to run from it?! Somethings gotta happen eventually, maybe we could meet up with the teachers?'
The Nomu swiped a chainsaw that they both ducked under, but they lost their balance and rolled. The Nomu caught up and raised all of its arms, but Midoriya drop-kicked it away through a tree.
"Are you two ok?" Midoriya ran to help them stand.
Momo rubbed her now bleeding head, "Yeah... We're fine now."
"You're bleeding."
Momo stared at her red dripping hand and quickly produced bandages to wrap around her head.
As she did that, the Nomu stood back up and made rabid sounds before running towards them again. Midoriya reeled. "That attack did nothing?!"
Mina held her hands together and shot a jet of acid at its visors, melting it into its head. Its blindness made it shriek and run into a tree as it looked around for them.
Momo smiled, "Smart thinking, that might have bypassed its regeneration since it can't do anything about the visor."
The Nomu turned in their direction, and started wildly swinging weapons. 'He's tracking our sounds now? No choice. I gotta do it! 100% Detroit Smash!' He sent the Nomu flying away and bit his lip to stop himself from making any noises. He turned back to the two with a finger on his mouth. He whispered, "It's trying to track us by sound now. We gotta be quiet."
They nodded and stared at the Nomu as it slowly stood up and regenerated. Suddenly rustling in the bushes turned their attention away from it. Out from the bushes emerged Awase. He tried to say something, but Mina ran at him and put a hand on his mouth, and pointed at the Nomu. She whispered, "It'll hear us."
Momo added, "If it's blind, then it should no longer be a threat to anyone unless it goes near a place with a big battle going on. It might be optimal to put a tracker on it to see where ever it goes back to. Awase, isn't your quirk welding? Can you put this tracker on him quietly?"
He blinked and looked between them and the Nomu, "Y-yeah I can do that... But I'm gonna have to touch it for my quirk to work, won't he attack me?"
"Me and Midoriya could back you up, it'll be fine."
Awase stared at the Nomu again and gulped, "... Alright." He slowly approached the Nomu on his toes and as he did so, Mina whispered to Midoriya and he brought them both up to the trees above. Awase got within arms reach of the Nomu and pressed his hand on its back, activating his quirk. As he did so, the Nomu growled, turning around and swinging his arms at Awase. As he did so, Mina spilled a ton of acid on its arms, and Midoriya did an axe-kick from above, decapitating all of them and kicking away the Nomu again. He grabbed Awase and ran back to Momo as Mina followed after.
Awase felt his heart, "Aw man I'm alive..."
Momo smiled, "Good job everyone, but now what?"
In the middle of the forest, Spinner's makeshift bundle of blades was destroyed by a kick from Sasuke as he landed beside Mandalay. "It's you."
"Mandalay, Kota is safe, and there are a couple of messages you have to relay to everyone with your quirk. One is from Aizawa, he's authorized all students for quirk-use! And the other message is that the villain's targets are to capture Sasuke and Bakugo."
Mandalay kicked away a charging spinner, "Thanks for the message, but you should try to help some of your fellow students. We have things covered here."
"Got it." Sasuke covered himself in his Savitar attire and got ready to run, but had to catch himself from falling. 'Some of my ribs are definitely broken right now... But whatever, I can worry about that later.'
He dashed out of sight and Mag thought, "All that rumbling earlier. . Only two of us could fight with that much brute strength, and if they revealed that info it must have been him... This kid managed to beat him in brute strength? He doesn't even look that injured. We're lucky he's going somewhere else.'
Not long after running around, Sasuke found Shoji running from a giant Tokoyami. He ran to Shoji's side, "Brief me on what's going on."
"We were ambushed by a villain and Tokoyami tried to use his quirk, but he lost control when I lost an arm. The darker it is, the stronger and harder to control Dark Shadow becomes.” Sasuke looked back and peered into the dark mass, seeing Tokoyami, "Get away from me! I'll kill you!"
Sasuke turned back to Tokoyami as he got closer. Shoji's eyes went wide, "Sasuke! What are you doing!?"
Sasuke smirked, 'The firecrackers will be perfect for this. Hopefully, his current size doesn't mess with their effectiveness.'
Sasuke braced himself as Dark Shadow tried to slam him. He jumped above the attack and ran up his arm. Although, the arm moved like a tentacle, making Sasuke hop off as it tried to hit him again in mid-air. Sasuke stabbed the hand with a manifested blade and used the handle to fling himself out of the now-crushed ground. 'Jeez, his hand is surprisingly hard to cut through. Just gotta get to Tokoyami quickly.'
"Don't... Worry about me... Just find the others!"
Sasuke charged in again and dodged all of its whip-like strikes. It tried to go for a slam again, but Sasuke dove through the gap between the claws of the hand, and reached its beak. It opened wide, ready to bite him, but he held its mouth open with two Susanoo arms and let off the firecrackers point-blank in front of Tokoyami. Making him shrink in an instant. Dark Shadow receded into Tokoyami's body.
Tokoyami sweated and tried to stand. Sasuke offered him a hand, which he accepted. "Thank you... I'm saved. When Shoji's arm went flying I...—"
Shoji cut in, "Save it for later, I know that's what you would say."
"Agreed, besides we have bigger problems. I hear more fighting nearby, we should check it out."
Sasuke hid his labored breaths and started walking away, but Shoji called out, "Wait. Aren't you one of their targets? Shouldn't you get to safety?"
"Bakugo is also a target, and considering that we're two of the best fighters I think it'll be smarter if we're together first. Then we can worry about getting to safety."
"Makes enough sense, alright." They all ran together towards the sounds of fighting and soon enough saw a weird freak with a teeth quirk fighting Bakugo and Todoroki.
"Flesh... More flesh? Good good!"
The freak shot his teeth at the three arriving teens and they promptly dodged.
Todoroki said, "Tokoyami, Shoji, and Sasuke? Watch out for his teeth, they cleave through my ice with ease!"
Sasuke replied, "Got it! I'll get his attention," Sasuke manifested his armored Susanoo, and the villain shot an array of teeth at him. The susanoo clapped the teeth together and held them in place like a rope. "Bakugo! Hit him with everything you got!"
"Don't tell me what to do asshole!" Bakugo twisted himself and propelled towards the freak with a bunch of mini explosions.
“Mhheyouu wwuuulll geee nnyyy eeAll,” He tried to increase the number of teeth to break through Sasuke's grasp, 'He's gonna break out... Do I have enough energy for another bead?' Sasuke built up energy and groaned as he manifested Yasaka Magatama beads in his hands and destroyed the teeth as he grabbed the ends.
"Howitzer Impact!" Bakugo made contact and engulfed the villain in explosions.
"Gruhhhh..." the villain fell to the ground covered in burn scars. The students all got together and Sasuke stated, "He's not getting back up, so we know that the villain's targets are me and Bakugo."
Todoroki asked, "Anyone have any idea why?"
Everyone shook their heads and Shoji said, "In any case, with all of us together we shouldn't have any issues with any villain."
Tokoyami narrowed his eyes at Sasuke, "Sasuke. You're injured, aren't you?"
He waved him off, "It's fine..."
"No, the way you move. You must have broken something."
Everyone stared at him and Sasuke sighed, "Alright yeah... I got multiple ribs broken earlier by a villain before I met any of you... Honestly, I'm pretty burnt out... but I can still fight!"
Todoroki said, "At this rate, you'll end up being a liability. We should get you back to the lodge where you can be taken care of. A couple of pro heroes should be there too."
Sasuke glared and closed his eyes, "Yeah, Aizawa and Vlad King are there."
Bakugo smirked, "It's settled then, looks like we'll have to babysit you on the way there, dweeb."
Sasuke gritted his teeth, “You're a target just like me.”
He stuck his chin up, “Yeah, but I'm not the one with broken bones and out of stamina.”
“You idiot… I—”
“—Now is really not the time for this guys!” Todoroki shouted and they both stopped as they moved as a group.
A little later, Midoriya was running through the forest, 'Where's Sasuke and Kaachan at?! If I can just find them, I could help make sure they don't get captured!'
Midoriya made his way into a clearing and saw Uraraka and Asui fighting a villain, along with Shoji, Todoroki, and some unconscious guy coming out of the forest.
The villain backed off, "There are too many now, and I don't feel like dying. Bye-bye." She paused momentarily after locking eyes with Midoriya, but blushed and left right after.
Uraraka shouted, "Wait!"
Asui added, "We still have no idea what her quirk is!"
Midoriya approached them, "Who was that? Also, you're hurt. Will you be okay?"
"It was a villain. I'll be fine, but look at your arm and leg... It's broken again."
Todoroki stated, "This is no time for us to stand around. We have to keep moving. We have to get Bakugo and Sasuke to the lodge."
Uraraka raised a brow, "Huh? Then where are they?"
"They're right behind—"
His eyes went wide as he saw nothing but trees behind him.
Up in a tree, a man in a tophat, mask, and cloak spoke, "I've taken them with my magic. These resources don't belong on the side of heroes. They'll shine on a much better stage," he held three marbles in his hands.
Midoriya shouted, "GIVE THEM BACK!"
"What an odd thing to say. As if they belong to you, what an egotist!"
"Give them back!" Midoriya tried to blitz toward the villain, and he naturally jumped out of the way.
"We're a bit fanatical in our ways, but all we wish to do is show them that there is a different path. All you kids nowadays get your values chosen for you!"
Shoji looked around, "Tokoyami's gone too!"
Todoroki sweated, "He took them without making a single sound... He didn't even have to confront us, he's just mocking us."
He rolled the marbles between his fingers, "Sorry for my bad habit, I'm an entertainer at heart. Taking Tokoyami was a bit of ad-libbing. After hearing about what he did to a Nomu and seeing the rampaging he did tonight, I figured I'd take him too!"
Tododoki shot off a huge glacier at him, but it was avoided and he announced to his allies the mission was complete.
"They're done here?"
"No way! Not gonna happen. We're not letting you get away!"
Midoriya tried to chase after him, although he evaded every swipe and grab attempt. Everyone else gave chase through the forest. Midoriya thought, 'If only I could go higher with OFA!... No, I can. Even if it breaks my other leg! I can't let them be captured!'
Mr. Compress caught up to the rest of the strike team, but before he could land on the ground, Midoriya slammed him into the dirt. Todoroki and Shoji caught up right behind him and pounced on Compress, "Mr. Compress, dodge." Dabi attempted to engulf them all in blue flames, making them retreat.
The rest of the league tried to capitalize on the separated students. As they fought, Mr. Compress brushed himself off and Dabi asked, "You have those kids, right?"
"Naturally." He reached into his pocket and shuffled around in it, but stiffened up.
Shoji shouted, "Time to run, you two! That just now, I'm not sure what your quirk is, but I'm sure that these marbles are Tokoyami, Bakugo, and Sasuke. Right, entertainer?" He opened his hand to reveal three marbles.
Midoriya's face brightened up, "Shoji!"
Mr. Compress clapped, "Well done! And so quick, I suppose there's no better pickpocket than one with six arms."
Todoroki blocked off twice with ice, "Great, we're done here."
Dabi said, "You fool."
Mr. Compress replied, "No, wait."
Kurogiri appeared in the form of a portal, and Toga and Twice stepped in. "Well come now Dabi, let's be off."
Dabi stepped towards the students, "Hang on, the targets still—"
"—Yes, as you all appear so pleased with yourselves ready to run off, let me leave you with a little reward. Yes, it's a bad habit of mine... But one of the tenets of magic states that flaunting a particular object... Is part of the trick."
He pulled off his mask to reveal three marbles right on his tongue.
"Huh?!" The Marbles Shoji held turned into ice.
He put the mask back on, "All those ice attacks were the perfect decoy, and I just knew that if I put something in my pocket you wouldn't be able to resist thinking they're all there. Well, this is where I leave you."
He receded into the portal, but before he went in all the way, a laser beam out of the bushes destroyed his mask. No words were shared as the golden opportunity was presented. Shoji, Todoroki, and Midoriya all tried to grab the marbles as fast as they could. Midoriya, with both of his legs broken, fell behind, Todoroki's marble was snatched from his grasp, and Shoji barely managed to get a marble as Compress grabbed the last one.
"It's them. Go ahead and release them."
"Where did that laser come from? It's made a mess of my show!"
He snapped his fingers and all the marbles released the people contained in them. Dabi grabbed the necks of Sasuke and Bakugo as they were slowly enveloped by the darkness. Midoriya screamed, "KAACHAN! SASUKE!" He tried to run toward them, but tripped and fell.
Bakugo replied, "Stay back, Deku."
The portal vanished and they were all left there with nothing but the knowledge that this was a complete and utter loss.
Sweat poured down Midoriya's face and his breathing became increasingly heavy as the portal vanished; after it disappeared, he curled into a ball and screamed, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
There was no longer any chance of saving Sasuke or Bakugo, all they were left with was nothing but the feeling of complete and utter loss.
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Sorry for being gone almost the whole month. Been dealing with addiction problems that have made it hard to write. I'll persevere through, made this the longest chapter so far to try and make up for it. Tell me if you think this chapter is too long though. Instead of the normal 2-4k range it was 5.5k words