This fic was a fun challenge for myself tbh. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I (mostly) enjoyed writing it!!
Eat, sleep, drink, break, medicine... take care of yourselves (:
Discord server, if you're going down, down, in an earlier round: https://discord.gg/DSBF4dP
~
"So, you're the damn people who've been stalking me," the villain growled after an age of silence.
Aya was still in his grasp. Tamashii only had eyes for her the entire time they'd been led along: he had no idea where they might be. They were in a room where the only light and air came through narrow, barred windows at the top of the walls, casting a faint, ghostly grey over the interior. There was a dark stain on the concrete floor that was probably blood.
"I knew I wasn't just paranoid," he commented with an unpleasant bark of laughter that had his hostage close her eyes, tears slipping down her freckled cheeks. "You made me waste so much time... Who are you, anyway? Dumb hero course students? You just look like some stupid kids who are in way out of your depth."
"Who are you?" Tsukina deflected, practically vibrating with fury where she stood next to Tamashii.
"Oh, you're in no place to ask things of me, girl." He tightened his hand until Aya made a choking noise.
Her girlfriend made a panicked noise, holding up her hands in surrender, yellow gaze flitting between Aya's face and her neck. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry! Don't hurt her."
"That's more like it," he said smugly, loosening his grip and eyeing them calculatingly. "You know, I'm actually glad that you're here, now that I think about it. I've been wanting to practise my Quirk on humans, but it's such a pain to get volunteers without drawing attention to yourself. What better way to practise killing heroes than to kill some kids playing hero?"
Tamashii clenched his hands into fists to hide the shaking. "Well, if we're going to die anyway, why don't you tell us your motivations?"
"Yeah, isn't that what villains do? The classic villain monologue? Telling people your tragic origin story?" Datto added, his voice audibly trembling despite the fire in his gaze.
One of Aya's hands dropped from her throat, slowly inching towards her open coat pocket. The villain grabbed her arm and wrenched it away, making her face screw up in pain.
"Ah-ah-ah, keep your hands where I can see them – and tell me your Quirks, while you're at it," he snapped, fingers digging into her neck, skin lightening under the tight touch. "You first, boy."
Datto's worried gaze flicked sideways towards his friends, before he dipped his head in submission. "Rush. It's a weak speed Quirk."
The villain snorted. "Useless. You?"
"Summon. I can summon the spirits of small animals, mostly rodents," Tamashii ground out through his teeth, mind whirring for a plan.
"Interesting, but pathetic. And you, girl?"
"Werewolf," Tsukina spat, clawed fingers tensed as if she wanted to strangle him.
"What does it do?" He asked cautiously.
She glared at him, eyes like chips of amber. "I think that's pretty obvious."
He glowered in response. "Alright. And her?"
"Masterpiece," Tamashii answered bitterly. "She can control paint."
"This is what they're accepting into the hero course nowadays?" The villain said in disbelief, letting out a derisive huff. "Truly pitiful. They'll really let in any sort of weak scum."
The three teens shared a glance. None of them went to a hero school.
He stared at them for a moment, considering. "All right, then," he said finally, "I'll share my story."
Tamashii let himself relax a little. At the very least, it would buy them some time to figure out how to escape safely. He couldn't sense spirits without activating his Quirk, which would draw attention to him, so he'd just have to hope that there was at least one thing in the probably-basement he could use to distract the villain when the time came.
"None of you would understand, blessed as you are. You haven't seen the worst of the world," the villain lamented, wincing as he shifted his feet. "With a Quirk like mine, I was destined to be hated from the start. No-one wants to be near the kid who has a Quirk that kills living things. I was forced to leave school, and the only job I could get was as a grave digger – you can't kill what's already dead, right?"
"Not with that attitude, you can't," Datto suggested helpfully, then hastily averted his eyes to the ground when everyone stared at him, hunching in on himself. "Sorry. Go on."
"It crippled me, digging graves. Some idiot dropped a coffin on my leg, and it's never been the same. The bastard just got off with a warning, and I got fired for being unable to come into work. Where were the heroes to fix those injustices, huh? That damned Deku and the rest of his classmates promised a better world. They promised equality and safety – but they're just like all the heroes before them, lying to make themselves look good!" The villain only loosened his death-grip slightly when Aya make a choking noise, trying to pry his fingers away – Tsukina stiffened, a feral growl rumbling in her chest. "But then... oh, then..."
He stopped his speech to release a delighted cackle, teeth gleaming behind his unkempt beard. A thick cough rattled within his ribcage and he silenced himself, spluttering into a fist, whole face screwed up. Aya tried her best to lean away, staring desperately at her friends.
The villain straightened up again, flecks of blood on his hand and his sallow cheeks several shades paler. "I couldn't believe it when people said Deku had finally fallen to a villain. Being called the best but letting himself fall from Number One to shirk his responsibilities... Shameful. Banisher had done the impossible and made me realise that now was the perfect time to get my revenge on everyone. All I have to do to destabilise the entirety of Japan is kill a few heroes – how pathetic is that?"
Tamashii clenched his fists. Words were piling up in his throat, threatening to flood out to defend Deku. Everything the villain said was wrong and completely biased, but if the boy didn't hold his tongue it could get Aya killed. Instead, he forced the rage to bubble just beneath his skin, clenching his jaw and glaring at the enemy.
"You're clearly a hero-worshipper," the villain sneered at him, staring at the Red Riot hat. "In the wake of Deku's death, I trained. I finally accepted myself and gave my Quirk a more fitting name – Execute. I was given a Quirk for a reason, but what's the use of a power if it gets ignored? Who cares about the opinion of those blinded by glory? The world will finally have to face the truth by the time I'm done, and if they don't accept it, then perhaps it's not a world worth saving."
"What's your plan, huh?" Tsukina asked, baring her sharp teeth, a little taunting.
"My plan?" He echoed with an ominous grin. "Well, when activated, my Quirk sends out a pulse of energy to kill anything around me."
Tamashii remembered the space in the middle of a tangle of crows. Rows of dead birds radiated out from that point, like ripples on water. That sort of range on a Quirk so deadly...
"All I need to do is enter a room of heroes, and at my will, they will fall."
"You... you can't do that," Tamashii found himself saying, visions of dark corvids replaced with bright fabric, empty eyes, and skin gone cold. "That's... that's mass-murder. You could tip the country into chaos... there would be riots. People would die. Children would die. You can't do that."
"Who are you to decide what I can and can't do?" The villain snarled, sunken eyes flashing threateningly, a note of mania laced into his tone. "They will call me Reaper. The people will rejoice in their freedom. I'll kill whoever I wish, and I'll start... with all of you."
A rush of cold swept over the room. Tamashii could see his breath. He trembled, watching the dark mist creep over the villain's body. It spilled out of his mouth, blanking over his eyes with roiling shadows, tumbling down his arm and coiling around the fingers. Aya squirmed fruitlessly in his grasp.
There was a screech, and a flurry of black slammed into the villain's face. The mist abruptly dissipated in the furious flapping of inky wings. Aya leapt away when she had the chance, lunging forwards to collapse into her girlfriend's arms, crying and shaking violently. Reaper screamed as Rasu tore her talons down his face, jabbing her beak everywhere she could reach, cawing at the top of her lungs.
"C'mon," Tsukina hissed urgently, pointing towards the door on the opposite side of the room, her other arm wrapped firmly around her girlfriend as they stumbled along together.
"We can't leave Rasu!" Tamashii whispered back, pausing by the door and staring at his companion worriedly.
"Just call her!" Datto muttered, pushing past to reach towards the handle.
"Rasu, let's go!" He exclaimed, extending a hand towards her.
She lifted her head, black and red viscera dangling from her beak. The crow flapped her wings and launched herself into the air, shooting towards him and slowing herself to carefully touch her claws to his glove, feathers spreading to balance herself and-
Rasu went still, collapsing backwards and tumbling through the air. She hit the concrete with a sickening thud. Black feathers drifted down after her.
Tamashii's horrified gaze shifted from her unmoving body to where Reaper was sprawled on the ground. He had a hand splayed out in their direction, body twisted to half-lie on his front with his other forearm propping him up. Greying onyx hair had been pulled loose, greasy and lank. His face was a bloody patchwork of scratches torn through flesh. A grim substance oozed from his shredded eyes, black and red dribbling down his face like nightmarish tears.
His lips pulled back in a manic grin.
Blue flared up across Tamashii's body, phasing upwards through his clothes. His hazel gaze filled with tears that glimmered in the soft light.
"Mashii-chan..." Aya murmured, heartbroken.
"Don't mean to disturb the tragic moment, but the door's locked," Datto cut in nervously, rattling the handle.
"You think I'd just let you go?" The villain wheezed out, covering his mauled eyes with one hand whilst propping up his torso with the other. "That stupid bird may have bought you some time, but-"
Spirits burst from the ground and charged over to him. Hundreds of small animals, both tame and wild, piled on top of him. The more solid ones bit and clawed and and snarled at their target. He tried to bat them away, yelling and panicking as his hands mostly passed harmlessly through them. Tamashii dropped to his knees, delicately cradling Rasu's limp body in his hands, cerulean tears dripping down his face and a yawning chasm of agony in his chest.
"Get a run-up and ram into the door, Datto," Tsukina advised lowly from behind.
"But-" Datto stopped himself with a resigned sigh- "Alright. Give me some room."
A small palm settled on Tamashii's hunched back and Aya lowered herself into a crouch next to him. She reached over and gently nudged Rasu's limp wing into a neater position, then smoothed her fingertip over the crow's head to fix some of the messy plumage. Datto sped by them, followed by a heavy thud as he slammed into the door, letting out a strangled yell of pain.
Reaper slammed his fist into the ground. A crackling cloud emanated from the impact. The spirits dissipated when black energy met blue, and Tamashii flinched as the connection was forcefully severed, blinking over at the villain, vision blurred with tears. Reaper was rising like a broken marionette, one hand pressed to his ruined eyes with blood oozing between his fingers and matting in his beard, straightening up until he stood crookedly on two feet, looming above them with murder in his stance.
"You damn kids," he seethed, voice as raw and ragged as his appearance. "You can't escape. Just give up. Society will be better without weaklings like you in it."
Aya's hand clenched over her friend's shoulder blade. Her face screwed up for a moment, then she shoved her hand inside her pocket, slapping her paint-covered palm against the cold concrete. Black flashed across the ground in an inky river, pooling underneath the villain's boots and rising up to encase them in a thick layer. He tried to take a step, nearly overbalancing when he didn't move an inch.
Another breeze indicated Datto sprinting past, slamming into the door and yelping again, but still retreating and trying again. Tsukina exhaled through her teeth, bending over next to Tamashii and hesitantly reaching out towards the crow. When he didn't protectively pull away, she gently scooped up the body with both her large hands, then tugged on the boy's coat hood to open it up. A heavy weight settled inside the fabric, and a second later she grabbed onto his bicep and hauled him to his feet, supporting him a little when his balance wavered.
"Come on, weenie, sharpen up," she muttered to him, patting at his cheek. "We can mourn later, if we survive this."
Tamashii forcefully wiped at his eyes, sniffing and letting out a heavy breath. She was right. If he just let himself get killed here, Rasu's sacrifice would've been for nothing.
The paint crackled around Reaper's foot, crumbling away as he yanked it upwards. Tsukina stepped in front of both of them protectively, raised to her full height, bristling with anger and a dangerous noise rumbling in her chest, a few rough notes spilling between her clenched teeth in a feral growl. Aya clutched onto Tamashii's arm, her head turning to watch as Datto flashed by, reeling back an arm and slamming it towards the solid wood of the door. It splintered to let his fist through, broken spikes tearing through his coat sleeve. He pressed his palm to the wood and dipped his head, taking in a shuddering breath.
Blood trickled down the grey paint of the door.
Aya hesitated before hurrying to her friend's side, hands fluttering uncertainly around the hole torn through the door. Tsukina growled again, regaining Tamashii's attention, panic darting across her face. Her yellow eyes widened, and she shoved a hand into his chest, throwing him backwards to the ground. He caught himself on his palms, the forgotten dull throb in his wrists exploding into searing agony before they gave way and he collapsed against the concrete on his side. The blurry sight of Tsukina throwing herself at Reaper had a faint burst of worry fill his chest, beneath all the blinding agony. Tamashii squeezed his eyes shut, hot tears burning behind his lids as he listened to her snarl.
Fists hit flesh and claws ripped through fabric. Pants for breath followed pattering paces. Wood splintered nearby him. He recognised Aya's panicked breathing and Datto's pained sobs.
Tamashii felt so useless. The weight in his hood had a fresh wave of grief rolling over him. He clenched his jaw until it hurt, squinting open his eyes and choking down a whimper as he moved his arms, every movement jarring his wrists. Tsukina passed in front of him, red and black blood coating her hands, and she whipped around with a clumsy kick to throw Reaper back, her strength making up for her inexperience. She barely spared him a glance, her face twisted into something terrifying and wild and unrecognisable, before she threw herself back into the fight, keeping the villain too distracted for him to activate his Quirk.
It was overwhelming. Panic filled the boy's body. Tamashii felt too hot despite the icy temperature of the room, like his blood was filled with fire. A droplet of sweat trickled down his temple, and before he could think better of the movement, he reached up to tear the Red Riot hat off his head. In the same motion, he yanked off both his gloves and unzipped his coat with violently trembling hands, shrugging it off and carefully letting the hood and its precious cargo rest atop the woollen hat. The pain scorched in his veins, every adjustment of his wrists sending another lance of agony up his arms.
Somehow, he managed to pull himself into a sitting position, breathing heavily and shaking and sweating. His gaze lifted back up to the fight just as Tsukina was flung into a wall, hitting it hard and crumpling to the ground, barely moving. She weakly dug her claws into the concrete, but was unable to raise herself back up to fight.
"Can't even beat a blind man," Reaper sneered down at her, then swung his head around to face the others, deep lines gouged out of his flesh and a large bite mark torn into his hand, all oozing the same red-black blood.
Tamashii threw a frantic glance over his shoulder. Aya was still desperately trying to tear away the large splinters to free Datto's arm without further injury.
They needed more time.
Tamashii hauled himself to his feet, arms hanging uselessly by his sides, balance off-kilter after his Quirk's abrupt disconnect, but hazel gaze blazing with a desperation to protect his friends. He just needed to stall enough for Datto to get the door down, then he could get help, and they could escape, and everything would be fine.
His Quirk flooded blue across the runes on his skin, humming with energy. Reaper paused cautiously, clearly remembering the danger he posed last time. Tamashii's heart dropped. Somehow, all the spirits he'd called upon previously had been severed from the world, wiped clean like a chalkboard. The room and surrounding area was completely empty, aside from one huge spirit nearby. It was far bigger than the already-huge horse had been, and it didn't even register his touch.
Reaper's lips curled into an unpleasant smile. "Quirk troubles, boy?"
Shit. Shit. Tamashii rubbed his eyes dry on his shoulders, letting his Quirk fade. He slowly raised his arms into a weak estimation of a fighting stance, mind too addled with panic to properly recall all the things Tsukina had taught them as a precaution for this exact situation. It felt like an age ago, already.
Distract and stall. That's all he needed to do. If he had to suffer some pain to protect Aya and his friends, then so be it.
He never wanted to be a hero, but it seemed like the world thought otherwise.
Tamashii lunged forwards with all his weight, managing to overbalance Reaper and tackle him to the ground. His wrists flared up until his forearms were nothing but a haze of agony, but he ignored it, clenching his hand into a loose fist and aiming a punch at the villain's face, only for him to catch it and twist. The boy let out a scream of pain, blinded for long enough to be thrown off and smack down into the concrete.
"Mashii-chan!" Aya cried.
His eyes snapped open and he rolled onto his front, hand snapping out towards the villain's ankle. Reaper merely took a step forwards, out of reach, letting out a bemused huff before continuing to move towards the girl, one foot dragging and the other thudding down. She reached into her pockets, coming out with painted fingers of various hues that shimmered across her hair, freckles, and eyes that glared fearfully at the villain. Datto wiggled his arm, black hair matted to his forehead with sweat.
"These two seemed very adamant about protecting you," Reaper said thickly, turning his head to cough some blood onto the floor. "How about you try out my Quirk first, then?"
"No," Tsukina whispered, a sob following her words, claws scraping across the ground as she tried to pull herself forwards.
"Leave her alone," Tamashii said quietly, resting his weight on his elbows, and dragging himself into a kneel, Quirk flaring up across his skin. "Leave her alone!"
Dark clouds coiled around the villain's body as he glanced over his shoulder, the same smoke spilling from his ruined eyes and misting out from every open wound. "What are you gonna do about it, huh? You know you can't stop me."
Shit. Fuck. No. Tamashii was weak and pathetic and they never should've gone on this stupid mission. He never should've dragged his friends into this in the first place. It was his fault they were here, and he couldn't even help them.
Reaper was cockily walking towards the girl. Aya backed up as far as she could, standing just in front of Datto. She pressed one hand to her thigh, making paint shoot down her body and across the floor to climb up the villain, slipping over his skin and masking the cuts until they didn't spew any more smoke. He reached up and tore flakes of paint from his skin with an irritated hiss.
Datto tensed up, then wrenched his arm free from the door with an ear-splitting scream. Half his sleeve was torn off and his skin was mangled, deep canyons dragged across his forearm, crimson blood pouring from each wound. He spun around and sped towards the villain, dodging a hit with ease and raising a knee to slam it into Reaper's crotch.
The villain let out a choked cry of pain, doubling over, only to grab at the boy's bloody arm and dig his dirty fingers in, then swung him around. He let go, and Datto tumbled into Tamashii, knocking him onto his back. Datto was knocked out, and Tamashii could feel his own consciousness wavering, body hot-cold with rapid flushes of useless adrenaline, his shuddering breaths misting up the air.
Tamashii gently shoved his friend off of him, ignoring the blood smeared across his grey jumper and the burning in his wrists and the chaos in his mind. His body felt heavy, and he didn't have the strength to stand yet he stood anyway, heart pounding in his head, and eyes seeing nothing but the smoky arm stretching out, tauntingly slow, towards his best friend.
He activated his Quirk, and dug deep.
The spirit would listen to him. His fingers sunk deep into the massive supernova glow, pushing all his power towards it until it was wrapped under his command, still pulsing and shoving against the restraints, but Tamashii's sister was going to die and he wasn't about to just give up, even if he was tired and cold and scared, and he wouldn't let her get hurt for as long as he was alive, and the spirit listened.
He opened his eyes, and the spirit burst from the ground, heaving up one massive paw after another, rising above the concrete like it was water, huge furry back hunched over and head lowered in the suddenly-too-small room. The sky-blue spectre of a giant ussuri brown bear loomed before them, casting a cerulean glow over the entire room, far outshining the natural light.
Muscles rippled under a thick pelt, and the bear lunged. Reaper didn't even get a chance to react before he was batted to the ground with a large paw and descended upon with sharp claws and glittering teeth, the bear's fury mingling with Tamashii's own, fuelled by terror and protective instincts. The villain squirmed on the concrete, screaming and yelling, and-
The door shattered. A small police squadron stormed in. Yellow torchlight flashed over the scene.
Tamashii tugged on the bear's connection, making it halt and reluctantly step away from the unconscious, gory villain. It swung around, eerily illuminated eyes fixating upon the boy and slowly padding over. A huff of breath ghosted over his face as the bear glared at him for a tense moment, before it lowered its head in submission and lightly pressed its muzzle into the hand hanging by his side. The light gradually faded until the bear was gone entirely.
Aya caught his eye from across the room, stunned and tearful.
Tamashii gave a weak smile, then passed out.
*
What an exhausting couple of days, Tamashii thought, bidding his dad a sleepy goodnight and stumbling towards his bedroom. I'm definitely not cut out to be a hero.
He flopped down on his bed. Both of his wrists were in casts, already decorated with stunning paintings courtesy of his wonderful and alive best friend. Out of all of them, Datto had it worst, his arm needing a lot of attention from various medical Quirks to heal his wounds to a safe level, and they would still leave scars. His whole arm was in a cast and a sling. Tsukina had a plethora of cuts, bruises, and sprains, as well as a concussion.
But, thanks to their efforts, Aya was unharmed, save a bruise around her throat. She had been the only one lucid enough to explain the situation to the displeased police.
Tamashii's traitorous gaze slipped over to the coiled Anima scarf on his dresser. His heart ached in response to the memories that suddenly flooded his mind. It was unlikely he'd ever see Rasu again, since spirits tended to remain where they died, and even if the police hadn't cordoned off the area for investigations, he didn't think he could ever return to that basement without freaking out.
He paused, letting his thoughts meander for a moment in the memory of Rasu flying towards him, her claws lightly closing around his fingers.
His fingers...
Tamashii bolted upright in bed, staring at his hand, mind whirring. Rasu had been killed when she was in contact with him – did that mean she could-
Going against the doctor's explicit orders to not use his Quirk for a while after having passed out from overuse, Tamashii activated Summon. He felt tears burn in his eyes as he sensed the gentle spirit curled safely in his palm. His Quirk carefully wrapped around her and guided her towards the land of the living, and he cupped his hands as the spirit splashed upwards, rising and morphing, wings spreading out and a large beak raising towards the ceiling as the ghostly crow stretched in his grasp.
Rasu shook out her feathers, then met his gaze with a caw.
Tamashii grinned.
~
Man, the amount of times I wanted one of the kiddos to pull off something badass in that fight was ridiculous. Every single time I had to reel myself back in and remind myself that these are literally just average kids and like,,, them suddenly pulling off and impossible feat would be absurd. I'm just too used to writing Izuku shdfsjks
Fun fact, I couldn't be bothered to research names when I first started this, so I initially had super western placeholder names in the first chapter, which were:
First name (surname)
Tamashii (Reijuu) - Jake
Datto (Zensoku) - Codey
Tsukina (Kenka) - Tia
Aya (Kaisen) - May
Anyway! Hope you enjoyed this mini-fic!!! It's plausible I might dip back into this side of things again in future, but I can't atm bc it's technically already beyond Ticked Off canon, and I had to keep refraining from mentioning spoilers for the next TO arc, lmao. But! Since during writing I was like "man this villain is too good to waste on only a piddly little side story," they're definitely gonna be mentioned in the main story (;
Happy early Halloween, you nerds. Stay safe, ily <33