Chapter 65: For the Kid

(Previously)

“Shut up!” Pyre's amusement cracked when he heard this madman rant and rave as if he was the only sane person in the world, and he was anything but. Chisaki, in his elevated position and having spent most of his resources, was ill-equipped to handle the barrage assault, blocking just half of the fireballs, the rest hitting near to him, subjecting him to concussive force from their explosive impacts or direct hits which burned through his clothing and left him with horrible burns.

“Don’t you dare talk about her like that!” Lemillion didn't let that be the only thing he would need to deal with, as again he moved through the firestorm without so much as a mild burn on him or his costume as he shot out from the platform, delivering a jaw shutting uppercut, Chisaki biting his tongue hard enough for the man to taste copper as he knocked all the way down, crashing into the uneven and uncaring ground with a hard thud.

He didn't speak but snarled like a beast as he slapped both his bodies to overhaul his body and repair the worst of his burns, cuts, and broken bones and another to the ground, sending a wave of spikes towards Pyre, who tossed one of his fans up and used his now free hand to grab the biggest spike.

His hand gripped it, but the rest sheared it apart. Before they could reach the rest of his body, he sent a surge of heat and flames through his ruined limb, blasting apart the spikes and rocky wave.

“So, I lost an arm, so what?” He caught the now fallen fan in his other hand, carrying both. He regenerated the limb as Chisaki got up. His posture was terrible, his eyes wild with malice and rage, and he snarled like a rabid dog.

Pyre found it fitting that when stripped of his calm and controlled veneer, Chisaki was nothing but the beast before them. Tossing his second fan back into his hand, Lemillion took a position. Koharu wrapped around Eri for her safety, and he made his declaration. “You might be able to put yourself back together, but it’s only a matter of time, Chisaki,”

“Before there’s nothing left to reassemble!” With that, the cavern was once more lit by his roaring emerald flames.

Line Break

With the rest, they didn’t need to travel long before they found Pyre’s handiwork in the form of the two badly burnt bodies left lying in the path. “Are they?” Uravity asked as Nighteye went ahead and checked for a pulse in both.

"They're alive…barely," he replied, weak but present. Nodding to some of the police, they quickly came forward to render some much-needed medical attention. Off to the sight, the man made out a small green scale. "Safe to say we're on the right track."

“But there’s Lemillion?" Eraser asked as they hadn't found any sign of him yet.

"Probably where this trail of destruction stops," Nighteye replied as his protegee had gone ahead to save Eri and stop Overhaul, and with neither here, that could only mean he had found them both up ahead.

His theory would be proven true when they came across a hastily made dead-end which Uravity had managed to smash through using One for All, revealing a ruined and charred cavern, where an already wounded Overhaul was battling against Lemillion and…Pyre? So this was where he went?

“You!” Overhaul screamed upon seeing yet another familiar face in Uravity, the girl who had tried to take Eri from him, who thought she could fight him! Him! If not for her, if she hadn't seen Eri that day, if she had just minded her own damn business, none of this would have happened!

Uravity was similarly happy to see him and didn't respond with words. Instead, she sent him flying with a slap to the face; the force of One for All and Zero gravity didn't just send Chisaki flying but fired him into the wall like a cannonball. The Yakuza smashed through several of his own spikes before he cracked into the wall, a dust cloud kicked up by the painful trip to the other side of the room.

"Looks like the calvary's arrived," Pyre commented, only to feel his flames die out. "Oh?" A glance to the side showed that he, along with Koharu, was in Eraser's line of sight, and the underground hero was already standing, ready for a fight from him.

Pyre would have rolled his eyes if he were a lesser villain, but he could see the silver lining in that. Eraser hadn't moved to immediately arrest him and probably wouldn't unless he acted out or Chisaki was handled.

‘We passed two of Chisaki’s inner circle on the way here, and there’s the third.’ Nighteye frowned as he took in the scene and how nothing terrible had happened. His protégé was injured, and so was Eri. It just seemed like Chisaki was the only one worse for wear. Also, despite being rendered quirkless, Pyre didn't seem interested in a fight.

No, he doubted he would be when he had been fighting alongside his intern. ‘Chisaki’s already on his last legs, but he’s sealed off the room.’ Uravity’s opening strike might have done some damage, but with the dust and debris, it would be hard for Eraser to see him.

“Lemillion!" He called out as he rushed to his and Eri's side, trusting that Eraser could keep an eye on both other criminals. Uravity was at her teacher's side, ready to handle Pyre once and for all should he so much as twitch.

“I’m fine, we’re fine…” Lemillion took a breath, as the last few minutes had been intense, as he gestured towards Eri. "It was tough, but Eri doesn't have a scratch on her."

Nighteye embraced them both. "Rest, you did a fantastic job, Mirio. I’m proud.”

Coughing, Chisaki let out a furious, labored breath as he healed himself, deconstructing and reconstructing his body to repair the damage inflicted on him. Still, despite the fact he was physically well, he was drawing tired, his patience well and truly ended, and his body in ungodly amounts of pain from such an extensive repair job.

No…Eri was right there. He could still escape, and as luck would have it, he spied Chrono's badly burnt, unconscious body to the side. With the dust still in the air, it would take a few more moments for the pests to see him. Even if they did, they couldn't know about this neat little trick as he was loathed to use it, but desperate times, they say.

“What’s happening? Why are you here?” Eraser didn't mince his words. With Nighteye covering Eri and Chisaki momentarily down, they had to handle the arguable biggest threat present.

“I was paid for a job; I'm just handling it," Pyre replied as he knelt, allowing Koharu to slither back into his hands as he smiled towards Eraser and Uravity, a gesture neither returned. “But personally, I can’t stand this monster being anywhere near the girl. So, on my honor as a legitimate villain, I'm on your side, at least for this battle."

"Do you realize we're arresting you when this is over?" Eraser asked him, to which the flame-based villain shrugged.

"You can try, but let's focus on this one," Pyre called out as Koharu picked up different.

“I…I won’t fall here. I refuse to fall to the diseased!” Chisaki roared as he touched his assistant and right-hand man. Chronos's body cracked before exploding along with Chisaki's, the two having their pieces contort, twist, and combine, creating something new.

Focusing Erasure on him didn't change as Chisaki stepped out into view. The man is standing taller and bulkier than before. The man had two new arms, both wrapping up in Chono's clock hair strands, while his mask, which had been limp and close to falling fall, had been repaired…no, it had been attached to his face like a twisted recreation of a bird's beak.

"I'm going to slaughter all of you and have you return Eri to me!" Chisaki screeched, more beast than man at this point.

“Lemillion, get Eri out of here," Nighteye called out, pulling out 2 seals. “We’ll handle this fight.”

“Right.” Lemillion gently picked up Eri and bolted out of the hole that Uravity had made.

"Are you not going to just have me or Uraraka handle that?" Pyre asked as Chisaki, focused entirely on Eri, who was being taken away, charged. Pyre, even powerless, raced to meet Chisaki.

“I’m no fool.” Nighteye retorted as he threw both seals, lagging the time for the second so that Chisaki dodging the first put him right in the line of fire of the second. The seal smashed into his shoulder, throwing him off his balance as his 2 hands reached for the ground to right himself, only for Pyre to appear and slash at his newly gained arms with his fan, dodging the mad counterattack and slashing at his chest.

Chisaki then tried to reach him with the second set of hands, only for Uravity to come behind him, touching his shoulder and rendering him weight-less again, throwing his balance and aim off as Pyre took the chance to punch Chisaki in the gut as hard as he could in his non-powered form, a strike which Nighteye added to with another 2 seals, one to the other shoulder, causing him to spin as he flew back, and the second to the head, knocking him for a loop.

“No, I would suspect nothing less from the only hero All Might took on as a sidekick.” Pyre smiled despite the situation, as he might never get to fight alongside the Symbol of Peace. Still, he was standing with his sidekicks…well, the one that hadn't turned to crime, which was a real win in his book.

Chisaki punched his way out of the debris he had been buried in, looking like he wanted to slowly, painfully, and thoroughly skin them alive and feed their scalps to them, only making him smile as he waved at the Yakuza, feeling no fear for him. "Either way, if you must cancel out quirks, could you try to release it should we take damage? We won't be worth much to you if you're missing limbs and bleeding all over the darn place."

Line Break

Up on the surface, things were in a stalemate. Their opponent, Rikiya, if those other Yakuza were to be believed, was still up and fighting. Only Ryukyu and Nejire-Chan were left in the fight, the rest having been zapped of their strength. ‘He’s drained them so completely they can’t even move,’ she blocked another of his strikes, but she could feel she was getting weaker with each exchange. Was his quirk stronger on contact?

She looked to her protégé, who, despite looking sick, was still flying through the air. “Nejire!”

“Going to a full charge!” Nejire-Chan charged up a full-powered blast and fired it, but it hardly moved the man, who laughed off the blow.

However, both student and hero noticed he hadn't grown any further for a couple minutes, and it seemed like Rikiya realized that as well as he turned towards Nejire-Chan. “Looks like the boaster’s worn off, so I’ll need to get a little handsy with you if I want more energy.”

Her face might have already been sick from fighting with so little in the tank, but she paled as her expression twisted in disgust at the perverted comment.

"Stay away, you creep!" She fired off another full-charge attack, but outside, moving him back, he was hardly hurt by him. He was just too energised by his stolen vitality that they'd need something bigger than she could manage right now.

“Damn yakuza…loser,” Bakugo forced himself to stand, glaring at the bastard who had put him on his ass not through skill or power but by stealing his energy for himself like a leech. “I’m not about to go down here, not to you!”

Bakugo stretched out one of his hands and used his other to form a circle on his palm. Feeling the heat build-up, he aimed right for Rikiya’s stupid back.

“AP Shot!” Bakugo yelled as he fired a concentrated blast of explosive force right, his aim true as the blast slammed into his target like a speeding truck, knocking him off balance with a shout of pain as his shirt was burnt clean off, along with leaving a nasty burn on his back.

 “What that, how you” Rikiya, to his credit, was quirk to get back up and turn to the threat, only for Bakugo to switch from single to AP: Auto Cannon, which wasn’t nearly as strong but enough to get the Yakuza to cover his face or risk being blinded by a stray shot.

"Fun fact, you moron, just because I'm tired doesn't mean I'm not sweating." Bakugo smiled as he upped the firepower.

“That doesn’t make any sense!” The Yakuza yelled back as he charged him, deciding to crush this kid and be done with it.

"It's my body, loser, and it works to make sure that I always blast assholes like you into next week," Bakugo yelled back, only for Froppy to find her second wind, wrap her tongue around his waist and pull him to safety.

“(Kero) You’re a real odd one?" Froppy told him, looking as sick and sleepy as he did.

Bakugo didn't fight her rescue attempt, working with her to keep mobile and continue to pepper Rikiya's with explosions. “Says the frog girl.”

“Touche, but we should focus on this guy. He’s not going to stop.” Froppy remarked as they saw how the rest of the Yakuza up top had thrown their arms and surrendered, claiming they had only fought under duress.

Ryukyu came up behind Rikiya, slamming him front-first into the ground and trying to use her bulk to restrain him. "Why don't you just give up? You heard the announcement; Overhaul's reign is over; he's a man with no gang to call his own and will be going to prison."

“I ain’t loyal to no-one but Overhaul. The rest of the traitors be damned!” Rikiya forced her off, only to get another AP shot to the chest, burning more of his shirt till he was near topless and leaving a second nasty burn. Still, he didn't let it push him down again. "Keep it coming; I have enough vitality to take on 100 of you!"

“Bakugo, Tsu!” Both looked to the side, spotting Uravity back on the surface. As she continued, their classmate and fellow hero in training did not waste time. "We need some back-up, quirk. Overhaul's putting up a fight, and we need people to get there and help." She pointed towards an intersection that had been left untouched by the fighting. "Smash that intersection, and you'll end up right where we need you.”

Bakugo, even feeling like absolute shit, thought that Round Cheeks being here was weird as hell. She was with the party that raced deep into the compound, which felt like half an hour ago, maybe more, maybe less. “How the hell did you get back up here so fast?” He yelled back, as she had been worse off than Tin-tin when they learned about Eri's fate. He would have sooner claimed Iida the second Mineta than ever think Uraraka would have returned without Eri if not on a stretcher.

But she looked fine, not a scratch on her…

Uravity looked offended that he was asking that but didn't get into a pointless screaming match about it and replied, “Nighteye sent me up earlier. I was the fastest one!" Okay, that made…some sense. With that fancy quirk she got from All Might, she was pretty damn fast.

“Nighteye?” Froppy asked, agreeing with the request. "Got it. We'll just need a big blast. Do you think you can handle it?" Froppy turned to Bakugo.

“….Who do you think you’re talking to?” He smirked, tapping the side of his gauntlets, which had been charged up, ready to be used. "Just line him up, and I'll send him to kingdom come." Ryukyu heard this loud and clear. Putting her faith in her interns and the remaining fighting, she summoned as much strength as she had left and charged Rikiya.

Crashing into the man, she managed to push him back, but not much. Bakugo and Froppy came in and handled it, Bakugo setting off a Stun Grenade right in the Yakuza's face, blinding him. At the same time, Froppy wrapped her tongue around his leg, pulling it out from under him.

With a bark of surprise, he wasn’t tumbling, but he didn’t remain on the floor as Ryukyu didn’t waste this chance and kept forcing him forward. As she reached the point, Uravity called out, and Ryukyu yelled to Nejire-Chan and Bakugo. “Hit us with everything you got!”

"How the hell are you stupid brats still moving?" Rikiya yelled, sure they were down for the count and couldn't keep fighting any longer. But then they just back up—with what energy?!

“Because no matter what,” Froppy started as she jumped back to avoid the coming attack.

“We always go Plus Ultra!” Nejire-Chan pumped as much as she could into this next strike, as it’ll need to be strong enough to send this creep crashing through the street to where Nighteye needed them

"Because a hero never loses!" Bakugo finished it, aiming his gauntlet right for a spot on Rikiya that would leave the least amount of damage on Ryukyu. Before Nejire-Chan fired her Nejire Wave, Bakugo pulled his pin and unleashed a supercharged explosion on Rikiya. The force of the two attacks sent the pinned villain straight into and then through the street, shattering through meters of concrete and stone until they reached a ruined, rubble-covered cavern.

“The Dragoon Hero: Ryukyu? And…Kacchan?” Pyre looked up at the new sunroof and their guests.

"What the hell, Round Cheeks, how'd you…wait." Bakugo blinked as Uravity looked like she had been through it, but the one up top was clean; now that he thought about it, she was impossibly clean.

"If you're down here, then who was?" Froppy asked as this made no sense.

Line Break

"Go beyond plus ultra? I prefer confusion plus chaos." It didn't make sense, not for those who didn't know what Toga's quirk was, as now she, Twice, and a copy of Mr. Compress watched things from the newly made hole up top, the pros and cops too occupied with the rest of things to notice them.

“Clothe yourself, Toga. You’re going to give this old man a heart attack.” Mr. Compress looked away as Toga's quirk, while effective, had the unfortunate side effect of the nude thing.

“You made a duplicate of me so I could extract you?” So he turned to Twice, hoping Toga would find something to cover herself up.

“Yup! No way, Jose!” He twice gave a thumbs-up, as he had made the clone of Mr. marble them and then dig their way to the service with his quirk. Once up top, he could release the quirk on himself and thus them.

"Things are going pretty sweet; now we just gotta wait for Pyre to get outta there," Toga added as she could spot him down there, looking really cute. She could spy blood on his fans if her eyes weren't tricking her. Oh, she hoped it was Chisaki's.

"You think he'll leave something unfinished? It seems unprofessional." Compress commented, as unlike them, Pyre was a hired villain who seemed to put a lot of pride into his work.

"Nope, he was just told to have fun with Overhaul, and I bet he's already got plenty done. But it's time we up and leave." Toga replied.

“And the kid?” Compress asked, having heard the gist of things when he had been made on how Overhaul's entire operation, which saw the original Mr. Compress lose his arm, centered around some little girl.

"I don't see her down there; the heroes are probably already moving her out. Too risky to try and grab her too." Twice replied, which was probably for the best. Using that girl like Overhaul had done was gross, but they couldn't be sure that the others would feel the same way, so it was best not to bring it up.

Line Break

“Is that Pyre?!” Down below, the trio spotted the wanted and incredibly dangerous villain to the side.

At Froppy’s call, both Ryukyu and Bakugo turned towards the villain. “What?”

Pyre, for his part, only smiled as he saw the two. He wasn’t too excited about seeing Kacchan, but seeing Ryukyu in person? Oh, this was his lucky day. Shame he wasn't carrying his notebook, but then again, not like he could just ask for an autograph. "Just my luck, I get the chance to see so many cool heroes, and I can't even stop to ask for an autograph, but,"

With how much dust had been kicked up, Eraser's quirk couldn't reach him, and he could feel the flames of his core burst to life with Chisaki still open. “Since you’re all here, and Eri’s safe, I can leave but not without-!” Without warning, he turned on his heel and sprinted towards Chisaki, his body transforming. As he reached, the Yakuza, dazed from Ryukyu's rough entrance, couldn't react in time to Pyre tearing his arm clean off.

Chisaki roared in fury and pain but was far too slow to do anything about it as Pyre dashed out of the way and jumped up towards the hole, landing on a ledge of sorts, Chisaki's arm held in his.

“A parting gift, something to remember Mr. Compress by Chisaki.” Pyre's eyes glowed with malice as he dropped the limb and stomped on it; Erasure once more locked onto him, but he didn't need to crash the limb, just stomp on it repeatedly before he kicked it as hard as he could into the other side of the room.

“Stop him!” Eraserhead called out.

“I’m on it!” Uravity took off, using both One for All and Zero Gravity to get up to where Pyre was, only for the villain to prove that he wasn’t incapable with his quirk, dodging her attempt to grab him as he quickly ascended through the opening.

Uravity wasn't about to give up and gave chase, so Pyre turned his gaze back to her. "Should you really be worried about me? You came here for a reason, didn't you? The girl won't be safe, not as long as Chisaki's a free man." As he cleared the top, he was once more out of Erasure's sight. When Uravity followed him up, she was met with a fireball, which she instinctively handled by flicking her finger, creating a blast of air that dissipated the attack.

But it did its job as with the flames gone, so was Pyre, who would have the chance to dash into someone's yard or the alleys between homes.

Line Break

With so many heroes present and Chisaki largely powerless under Eraserhead's quirk, it was almost embarrassingly easy for them to apprehend him. The man, long since pushed off the edge, put up a fight, and even as he was restrained, struggled like a feral animal, but they got him.

With Chisaki, who had merged with Chrono down, that ended the last of the fighting as his loyalists had all already been defeated. They had some injuries, but Amajiki could walk out under his own power; Lock Rock needed help but seemed in good spirits, while Kirishima was badly injured from his encounter with Rappa and Tengai. Eri was also safe, as Lemillion managed to meet up with the rest of the police and pros underground, who helped escort the girl to the surface.

For some, things were a success. No deaths, no serious injuries, and they had managed to arrest their target, put a stop to his drug operations, and rescued his hostage but for others. It was incomplete.

Yes, they managed all that, but the coup was started because of the Toga, Twice, and Pyre-all 3 managing to escape without a sign of where they went. When it came to 2 bullets, Nemoto and Sakaki both had to be transported out for immediate medical attention after what Pyre did to them.

Most distressing was that they couldn't locate the finished product of the quirk deleters, which could only mean one thing: Pyre's last attack wasn't just meant to hurt Chisaki; he also picked his pockets.

“It’s not ideal,” Nighteye seemed to see what Uravity was thinking. "It could spell trouble for us, especially when considering who we're dealing with."

“But,” Nighteye turned his gaze towards her, a small smile stretching across his lips. "You shouldn't worry so much. It might be humoring to hear that from me, but if there's one thing All Might never seem to get, it is to just stop to smell the roses."

"We did a good thing here today. Just take even just the moment to appreciate that. We'll get them next time, and there will be a next time," Nighteye told her, patting her shoulder before he was called away to speak with the police about something.

“Wait, you fought with him?” Bakugo asked as he and Froppy were to the side discussing things with Lemillion and Nejie-Chan.

“Well, it seemed like the best idea at the time.” Lemillion laughed awkwardly at being called out about that little tidbit.

“What made you do that?” Froppy asked though one wouldn't find judgment in her tone; it was just confusion and a desire for clarification.

“Well,” Miri appreciated the faith in his judgement from his underclassman, but he wasn't sure it would be as easy to voice this in the official record later. "He had this look in his eye, and when he offered his help, I knew it was being legit."

Hado seemed skeptical, but Bakugo, who might have been most likely to explode about it, didn't. Instead, he seemed to sit on that response for a minute, as it might have sounded insane and moronic, but…the thing was, he couldn't say it was. That pyro was many things but not a liar, at least not when directly asked about something.

Besides, with news that Twice and Toga had also turned on Overhaul, it would have made sense to at least see Pyre as the lesser of 2 evils, considering what they were there for.

“…Tintin.” Bakugo, of course, would never say he agreed with that choice.

So Froppy would for him. "What he means is that he agrees with your judgment. Still, I wish he stayed long enough for us to confront him. With this many heroes present, we might have been able to take him.”

Lemillion nodded as he had thought the very same. Even with Chisaki combining with Rikiya to augment himself and regain the last limb, they could still handle him and could have even sparred people if the need arose. "No doubt, but he would have known that too, which explains why he bounced."

Line Break

And with this, another part of the story comes to an end, as I wanted to make the fight against Overhaul as bombastic as cannon, with the same level of stakes…but let's face it, he was getting jumped so bad by Lemillion and Pyre that Itadori and Todo would be proud. Throwing in Uraraka, Eraser, and Nighteye just seemed unfair…but fuck Chisaki; he's about to get his ass beat.