Chapter 73: Gas and Sound

While Yanagi and Tsunotori face off against thieir own issues, Kendo, Kamakiri and Midoriya need to handle 2 others, just as dangerous.

The city at night was a layered hum: neon kanji stitched across high-rises, LED billboards cycling ads, and the steady rumble of trains that never truly slept. This particular part of town, one that could be called the seedier part of town, was packed with activity as its nightlife was thriving. Pachinko parlors flickered like private constellations, many filled with clients.

Convenience stores glowed as tired and bored clerks manned them, serving those buying things before they would head home from a hard day of work. Outside, many lay vending machines that the young and impatient used to buy something cheap and quick to eat. Groups of salarymen, their ties loose and top buttons undone, walked about, some looking for a good time, others already drunk and trying to find something else to do after their bar kicked them out.

Among the row of facades and the action sat a small three-storey building, its paint scuffed and unremarkable. Only the neon sign outside declared it another bar.

Inside, however, it wasn't just another bar. While its interiors matched those of many other establishments, this place didn't have any patrons at present. Only the lone bartender and the building's second resident were present, both on Japan's wanted criminal list.

Kurogiri, Shigaraki's faithful right hand, leaned a glass until it shone. He had just finished handling one patron who left Shigaraki at the bar side. Spread out in front of him were playing cards, as the typical video game player entertained himself with solitaire.

"You're sure they'll be all right on their own?" Kurogiri asked, as while he had no qualms with taking a break from active villainy, he knew his ward wasn't the sort that would agree, and yet when he planned this raid on U.A., he hadn't included himself, nor had tried to get involved when Kurogiri had delivered the last of the group to the starting point.

Shigaraki was calm as he replied. “I’m not a playable character for this level, so they’ll make it work without me.” He shrugged, which still came off as…odd for him.

“Besides, I was going about this like a complete noob. I was trying to find arena bosses because I had a good party with great items and tools. I need to worry about first getting A and S-class characters and level them up, which means a smaller squad so I can handle all that and not bore myself to death." Shigaraki chuckled, finding amusement in his previous failures rather than stewing in rage over them, as he had done then.

Of course, Kurogiri wished he didn't regularly use gamer lingo. Still, he had known him long enough to parse what he was talking about: quality and skill over quantity and firepower. This was not a bad idea; it was most likely the more sensible option for a group like them.

Shigaraki continued, placing another card down a strip, before he reached for another, being sure not to let his pinkie touch it. "After all, all that is needed is to make sure they each have good stats and can cover for the weaknesses of the other. No point having a party of just one or two types. Besides, they went with a couple of summons, which can handle the grunt work."

Still, Kurogiri had doubts about this, as the plan had been drawn up before I-island, which seemed to mark a change in things. "And this would be enough to slay All Might? If I'm not mistaken, he's been much more active lately since I-island."

“You crazy? They’ll get curb stomped, no doubt about that.” Shigaraki scoffed, as they'd have a better chance of making Endeavour likable. Though Shigaraki smiled at the question and statement, he reached for a photo he had placed to the side.

"But funny you mention I-island. They've been tight-lipped, but not everything could be kept in the dark. One detail that seemed really important was that during All Might's fight, a giant green fireball was seen, and guess who has flames that colour."

Thrown between the two men, Shigaraki lay out a photo—one taken by a tourist on the island who managed to get a picture of it. It was too far and unclear to make out details, but one didn't need such when it was a giant emerald fireball bright enough to light up the entire island.

“Him?” Kurogiri answered, recalling the USJ, the Sports festival, and Hosu. But then the warp gate user's glowing yellow eyes blinked. "Wait, was he not the same young man Nomu ripped in half at the USJ, yet he lived?"

"Thrived, I would say, the brat's one of the most broken types of enemies devs can make, an insane DPS with a high regen rate. His little spat with Stain made it clear how quirk he can recover lost health, but I'm betting he can do more than heal himself." Shigaraki was still pissed about that, as he hated those types of bosses. Worse when they weren't stupid either and could bait and plan. Even against their Nomu, designed to kill All Might, he outpowered it and nearly roasted it alive.

“You suspect the flames seen at I-island had managed to heal All Might of his wounds?” Kurogiri asked, as that would be…concerning for them.

"I don't suspect; I know," Shigaraki affirmed, pulling out some newspapers. They were days old by now, but they proved his point: On each, All Might was on the front page for something or the other. Then there were older ones, which he had to print out as he couldn't find places selling papers that, by this point, would be months, if not years old.

They noted that All Might wasn't as active as he used to be. While they all thought he was just spending time with some unknown family or taking more time for himself, Shigaraki knew better. But none of that mattered now. “I noticed it while looking through some old stuff, but that bastard All Might had been seen less over the years, but since he returned from I-island, he’s been fighting crime all over the place.”

Kurogiri put the clean glass back on the shelf with the rest, but he was concerned about this, as if it were true, “If that is all true, then why did you continue with this assault? Are those you sent merely disposable pawns for some greater purpose?” They had waited as long as they did, partly because he young master wasn’t ready yet-yes, but also because they couldn’t hope to match All Might if he was closer to his prime.

“Come on, I’m not that heartless!” Shigaraki laughed it off, ignoring how he had done just that during the USJ. “I didn’t send them to get dunked on. Our Vanguard Action Squad won't be expected when the pros had so much trouble keeping their plans secret. All Might won't be a factor in this. In fact, it helps us if he's not."

As he explained things, he couldn’t help but get giddy over things. “We can’t just rush the final boss, we need to clear the game, and that means first achieving mini-goals, undermining All Might and the heroes by hitting them again and again, getting people scared, getting them nervous and wondering if they can truly depend on the heroes or if they can only rely on All Might who can’t be everywhere at once.”

That was the crux of it, wasn't it? All Might was why people could pretend, smile like idiots, and live without fear. This entire society, which he despised, was built on All Might's back. If he could make that clear, even before it fell, people would move, things would shift.

After that, it wouldn't matter if they took out All Might, stronger or not; the bastard was no spring chicken. Since he tied himself to U.A., he would be further hamstrung for their long-term goals before they finished the man off, but it would make their short-term goals all the sweeter when they achieve them.

"Our Vanguard is perfectly suited for this mission, one which will have even bigger impacts, as, unlike before, we're not going to leave till they've captured the target." He glanced to the side, where he had another photo showing the winner of U.A's first year Sports Festival.  “They might not share all my goals or ideals, but they’re my comrades and I should trust them to handle this quest without me micromanaging them.”

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"Ha, I didn't have permission to give these asshole villains some scars, but it would be easier if we could find them!" Kamakiri raced through the forest, slowed down only by the fact that the gas all over the place made seeing what was in front of him hard.

“Kamakiri, you understand how this gas works?” Kendo was the second reason, as he didn't wish to leave her behind, not when he had been lucky enough to run into her and find her still awake despite the surprise attack.

Stopping, he turned to his class rep, rolling his eyes as he pointed around them. "Duh, it's dangerous, and some villain is making it, so we're running to where they could be.”

“Yeah, but it’s still gas,” Kendo replied, which confused him, so she quickly explained. "Why didn't Mandalay's message have anything about it? Or why hasn't she mentioned it since?"

Kamakiri stopped to think about that, as he hadn't thought about it then, but yeah, why would she just mention villains and not the gas? He would say it was worse than villains, as class B had experience with that, but the gas? As he and Kendo saw, it knocked you out almost as fast as Midnight's quirk. That would surely be the reason to tell people to get out and return to camp.

Staying on the gas, he recalled something from science class that wasn't happening here but should be happening. "Wait, she wouldn't just leave that out, but I don't get it. Doesn't gas tend to spread? We weren't too far from the clearing when this happened, so it had plenty of time to get there. Was she knocked out?"

Kendo shook her head. She also worried about that, but didn't believe it was the reason. "I doubt it, but you're right about gas spread. It's like water and moves from spots with high concentrations to low concentrations, but that's in normal conditions. If a villain is making this gas, they must be controlling its reach."

“Why would they do that?” Kamakiri asked, as wouldn’t one want this shit spread as far as possible to knock them out in mass?

"It could be potency? We managed well enough with gas masks, but our friends didn't; we spread it too thin, and it's basically a maybe, not a sure hit. But it's thicker here, so we're probably getting close to the source." Kendo pointed out that, as she saw Honenuki pass out immediately from the staff, he had been low to the ground then, so this stuff had to be heavier than air.

However, according to Kamakiri, Kaibara had been at a regular level when she slumped over, so this staff had to spread unevenly at its outer reaches, but not now, as it seemed denser.

Kamakiri caught on quick. "So, it's like the eye of the storm. We fight through the worst and can teach that bastard a lesson for knocking out our friends!"

“Pretty much,” Kendo nodded.

“Then let’s not waste any time, I’m itching for some action!” Kamakiri took off again but paused to track the gas density before continuing.

Kendo followed behind him, bewildered by his attitude, but after a moment, she softened about it. 'He's brash and straightforward, but he can catch on quirk, and knows how to prioritise.' She had heard people call him their Bakugo, but didn't think it was a fair comparison. He might have wished to fight even before they got permission, and rushed into things, but she knew it was more because he worried for the rest. They had no idea what this gas could or was doing, so the faster it was handled, the better.

"Still, these gas masks have a limit on how much gas they can filter. Going deeper means we get closer to the villain, but it also risks our masks failing.” Kendo advised, reaching for her mask with some worry.

"Haha, that much I already know. It's a good thing Vlad put us through all that annoying physical training; it really helps you keep your breathing under control." Kamakiri chuckled, as he would make their teacher proud, and after this, he would happily continue with all that stupidly exhausting training.

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Kendo was right. At the heart of the storm stood the villain who had chastised the blonde for her complaints about their fear. He was motionless for a while, simply doing his job by providing the poison gas, but then his head rose and turned to the side. He couldn't see through the gas this thick; he could tell there was something coming.

“3…no, 2 people are heading straight for me.” He concluded, letting out a chuckle. Reaching into his jacket, he kept musing to himself. “Well, guess a few avoided my gas and realised they could use it to track me down. As expected from top students, but no matter how their quirks might be…”

“Here you are, you bastard!” Kamakiri burst out the gas moments before attacking him, his quirk active, blades sharp. The villain, though, thought his quirk was pretty good.

“They’re still human.” But there was a reason one didn’t bring a knife to a gun fight, as he pointed his revolver at the surprised Kamakiri and pulled the trigger.

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“What that…” Midoriya paused to contain the forest fire, having heard a pop and crack going off in the distance. “That sounded like a gunshot, right?” It sounded like gunshots from All Might's earlier hero work in the U.S., but he couldn't be sure, even if it was-

"No one here has weapons, maybe Yaoyorozu, but why would she…" Tsu said Yaomomo preferred cannons, and he had seen as much at I-island.

His frown deepened as he was positive it wasn't one of them. 'No, it has to be a villain. I just hope everyone is hanging on. I'm almost done here, so I can link back up with Koharu and get back into the fight.'

“You look worried,” Midoriya’s eyes shot wide open, his neck near snapping as he turned to see who spoke. Finding a man with multi-coloured bird feathers for his hair, learning against a tree, looking as relaxed as possible, yet those faded yellow eyes seemed to track every little thing he did. “Don’t you have any faith in your classmates and teachers?”

“You’re one of the villains, aren’t you?” Midoriya asked, flowing into Yellowstone mode. Glancing to the side, he saw that Koharu was nowhere to be found. She had to be too far away right now.

"Correct, and you're one of the students. In fact, it's my lucky day. You, my dear pyromaniac, are on the list." The man stood straight, cracking his neck as he did so, exposing the fact that even his neck wasn't typical, first bird and now what looked like an insectoid? What was his quirk then?

“List?” Midoriya repeated, but only got into a combative stance. Heat pooling in his core. “Doesn’t matter, we won’t let you attack our camp and get away with it. I’m going to take you down.”

His unnamed opponent chuckled. "You're welcome to try; just make this interesting before I pummel you." He rushed towards Midoriya, pulling a fist back to try to punch him.

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Well, this chapter came out a bit…rushed and smaller than I would have liked, mainly because I'm more concerned with two assignments that need to be completed. One's just about done and just needs editing, but it's the second that I'm more worried about, as it requires a crap ton of research, which, of course, I need to properly source. My professors won't accept 'I forgot' and could easily declare the entire thing fraudulent and fail me.

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I really wanted to keep this going, as I had plenty lined up for the Kendo and Kamakiri vs Mustard engagement, as well as Izuku vs this OC to serve as the sort of 2nd last chapter for the summer camp attack. Still, I looked at the time and realised I didn't have more.

Like I said earlier, I just don't have time for this. While I can handle Thursday's upload just fine, as I already make my readers wait two weeks for it, I can't in good conscience try to get something done tomorrow; otherwise, it would end up being short like this.