Chapter 64: Overhaul’s Overwhelmed

At that moment, both Pyre and Lemillion watched as the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling above them seemed to disintegrate into millions of tiny pieces as they spread toward them. For Pyre, he had heard about Overhaul's power in action from Toga and Twice, who had watched this monster slaughter Magne and take Mr. Compress' arm with but a touch. For Lemillion, he recalled their briefing over Overhaul and how Nighteye had explained as much as they knew about his quirk, which Chisaki had named his villain alias for.

There was a benefit to this wide area attack, as with Overhaul ripping apart the hallway around them, they found themselves with much more space to move, and thus, Pyre bent his knees, felt his muscle bulge with steam before kicking off, evading the attack as he got closer to Lemillion who also jumped, but lacked the same power as he did, and was holding Eri as high as he could as the millions of pieces of debris and pebbles near instantly reformed into misshapen jaws filled with spikes and thorns.

Lemillion had a look in his eye that Pyre only needed the moment to recognize. As he didn't fear for himself, he was terrified for the little girl in his arms, praying that his efforts to keep her safe would not be in vain.

That look was enough for Pyre to latch onto Eri, pulling her out of his hands and into his own. Lemilllion’s surprise and terror faded instantly when he saw who had just grabbed Eri. Regardless of his misgivings about working with a villain of his calibre, he could at least see in his eyes that he, too, wished to protect Eri.

Finally landing, Pyre protectively held Eri in his arms, a precious bundle as Lemillion landed next to him. “He could have killed her with that attack. But he didn’t care.” Lemillion cursed Chisaki for his callousness.

“Yeah, it wouldn’t have been a big deal if she got hurt,” Overhaul didn't even pretend to deny such, enraging both villain and hero. “If I put her back together immediately, I can revive her even if she’s not quite the way she was before.”

“Eri already knows what I can do.” Eri shivered in terror at the memories of all the times he did just that when she was barely awake after one of the times he had her taken from her room and strapped into the cold thing, unable to move. She often fell asleep during or afterward, and a part of her knew it wouldn't be like the typical sleep that she would wake up from.

And yet, each time, Overhaul brought her back, dragging her back from the brink for more. Lemillion could feel her shivering in his arms, his rage reaching levels he had never thought possible. At the same time, Koharu smelled the girl's fear and relayed that to her human, who responded to Chisaki's evil with a giant fireball.

Overhaul blocked it, not with a single wall but three, which had plenty of holes in them so he could keep an eye on them. The fire passed through those holes, losing power until all that hit him was a gust of hot air. To counter, he launched another wave of spikes, reforming the space further. In doing so, he blocked the only exit and forced the duo to play a high-stress game of tag.

Lemillion had nothing to fear from the spikes. Pyre was fast enough to evade the worst of it while being resilient enough to regenerate any damage he took. Eri was not; thus, they had to toss the girl between them whenever they couldn't evade a rolling wave of death.

Seeing one such instance, with Pyre using his flames to destroy Overhaul's attempt to grab the still airborne Eri at the cost of losing an arm, Overhaul asked. “What would you do if Eri gets injured? You have no way out, and I’m the only one who can heal her.” Lemillion didn't answer, as Chisaki had sealed the only means out, which wouldn't stop him, but he couldn't take Eri with him, and while he was trusting Pyre now, he didn't trust him enough to leave her with him.

Did they try and break out? Pyre should have the firepower, but Chisaki surely knew that; no doubt why he wasn't letting them group up. Even if he could burn an exit for them, Chisaki would close it as soon as he saw it. Their best bet was to distract him, buy Pyre time to blow a way out, and then leave the villain to keep Chisaki distracted while he escaped with Eri. The rest of the heroes had to be close; if he could meet up with them, they could take Eri to safety and return in force.

"I think you've already forgotten that I'm here, Chisaki," Pyre reminded the man as his arm reformed out of fire, smoke, and smoke. But more than that, she won’t get injured, not as long as we’re standing.” Pyre saw a glint to the side and raised his hand without thinking.

A gunshot rang out a moment later, along with blood splattering across his arm as the shot tore through his forearm and bicep, his arm dropping a little to expose his chest, which got hit twice. Chrono ceased after putting 4 bullets into Pyre, hoping Overhaul would finally use the distraction to end him. Still, while he did act by firing off a spike of stone towards the shot Pyre, the boy raised his leg at the knee, allowing the spike to piece into his flesh, which set loose a burst of steam, sending him back and out of real harm's way.

‘He’s still up? I thought that I knocked him out.’ Lemillion thought, protectively holding Eri now that Chrono was armed with a gun back in the fray.

‘Figures that the right-hand man would be mad of tougher stuff, but if he’s relying on a gun, it means he’s nowhere near as capable against us as Overhaul.’ Pyre was hardly affected by the two attacks, only flexing his arm to expel the bullet lodged in his bicep. At the same time, those in his chest that hadn't passed through were also spat out, his body repairing itself back to full working order.

"Pyre, I knew you were nothing but a dirty rat. The same for Toga and Twice." Chrono spoke, the man nursing a bruised jaw from that earlier hit. His arm focused on the pyromancer, ready to see if a shot to the head would be enough to put him down.

Pyre only smiled at him, exuding a thick layer of targeted malice towards both Yakuza. “Well, we made it no secret from the jump how much we hated you. But seeing how so many of your Yakuza group hate you, you probably thought nothing of it.” His eyes seemed to glow brighter as he shifted his arms and legs to fire and stone. “That was no mistake, overestimating your control of things, and now look at you now.”

Neither reacted to the reminder of how things were going. Instead, Chisaki just cleared the spikes between them and Lemillion. ‘He’s clearing a path so the bullet can hit me.’ The hero student realized but gave Eri as comforting a smile as possible. “Sorry about this.” He pulled his cape off and swung it in front of them, blocking them from view.

'I don't know what he's doing, but I can trust those eyes; he's the real deal,' Pyre glanced their way before refocusing on Chisaki and Chrono, dashing towards both, his fingers lengthening, growing sharper. ‘So I’ll keep my eyes on these masked monsters.’ He concluded as Chrono fired, but his bullets struck nothing as they passed through the cape while Chisaki focused on handling Pyre.

He created a wall of spikes on either side of the villain and sent them towards him, aiming to crash and skewer the brat.

“He hid his body to obscure my aim, and here I thought heroes only wore capes to look cool," Chrono commented as Pyre kept Chisaki busy. Spinning on his heel, he clawed at the spikes on either side of him, carving them up so that when he was hit by both walls, outside minor damage, he came out of it ready to keep going, a fact proven when he launched another, larger fireball, which Chisaki had to block again.

‘Predictable,’ Overhaul grunted as he felt the blast of hot air on his skin, which was already started to break out in hives from this unclean environment, from being touched by the unclean, and now having been forced to endure his putid, tainted flame’s hot breath. ‘Wait, he’s running right at me, which means-!’

He created an impromptu springboard for his right-hand man. “Chrono!” And not a moment too soon as, Lemillion came shooting out of the floor, having nearly landed what was sure to be a knockout blow on the white-haired man. He couldn't follow up as his attention was drawn by another steam of fire, which left Lemillion untouched but forced Chisaki to create a curved wall, redirecting the flames to the side.

He ticked his teeth, as the two were not ideal opponents for him, but he saw an opening. Pyre hadn’t taken the girl with him, and with Lemillion here, it meant that the lump in the cape had to be Eri! "But they put Eri down if I can break her then-!" Another fireball forced him back towards Lemillion, who had dived back into the floor and out behind him.

"Of course, you do that, monster!" Lemillion yelled as Overhaul turned, seeing the hero already trying to punch him. Reaching out, he meant to counter by turning him into nothing but a bloody puddle. Still, instead of touching Lemillion’s clenched fist, it passed through his arm and stuck him across his cheek, knocking his head to the side.

As he was sent rolling through the dirt from the attack, Lemillion kept up the verbal assault. "You want to know a hero wears a cape? It's so they can use it to comfort someone suffering; that's why!" Eri listened to this, silent and scared, but she didn't close her eyes or ears to this fight. Seeing as these strangers, both so scary looking with how angry they were, fought for her. Why? Why would they…

Chrono tried to counter this, as with a clear line of sight of Eri, if he could threaten her-

He screamed in pain when Koharu was transformed. However, still, her regular size snuck up on him and bit down on his shoulder, her burning bony fangs searing his flesh as she quickly whipped his hand with his tail, making him drop his pistol. “People always forget about the snake, even when she’s right there,” Pyre chuckled as it was a risk, but one that paid off as it seemed like neither Chisaki nor his right hand had noticed Pyre and Koharu splitting moments prior.

Chrono tried to counter, a strand of his hair piercing his hood and trying to tag Pyre, only for the villain to grab onto his hair, stopping the assault. “Not sure about the details of your quirk, but I’m guessing it’s like Slice and is reliant on your hair,” Pyre bathed the man’s head in flames, Chrono crying out in agony as his scalp was burned away before Pyre put him out of his misery by kicking the side of his head, knocking him out. "Shame, unlike her, you don't have access to flame-resistant hair products." He shrugged as he dropped the now useless hair.

“Stay away from him!” Chisaki roared, enraged as he slapped his hands onto the floor; uncaring for how dirty it all was, he sent a spiraling, rolling way of spikes against both parties. Lemillion was forced to back off without a clear sight of his target. At the same time, Pyre used Serpent’s Fireball in a stream to burn through the attack, buying time for Koharu to slither up his leg so they could dip as Chisaki had the now molten hot stone and concrete crash down on where they had just been like a wave out at sea.

'He's incredibly strong; it's hard to believe he's just some Yakuza thug, but' Lemillion couldn’t deny Overhaul’s strength, both in body and his quirk, but that won’t stop him. “Make no mistake, I’m stronger!” As Chisaki was about to place his hand on the ground again, Lemillion shot toward and punched him, sending him back into a wall he made.

“Serpent’s Fireball!” He looked up in time to spot the wave of emerald fire streaking towards him, forcing him to tap the wall and create another curved barrier, diverting the blast to either of his sides only for Lemillion to pop out of the flames and wall and land a heavy blow to the masked man's gut, making him near vomit his breakfast into his beaked mask.

‘Through the fire? Just how good are they working together? They couldn’t have, but-was this planned from the state?!’ Overhaul’s mind worked a mile a minute, trying to figure this out as he tried to swipe at Lemillion, who dodged out of the way, his barrier failing at that moment and forcing Overhaul to dive to the side to avoid being burned alive. Still, his arm and his jacket's sleeve weren't so lucky.

'With a quirk like that, I don't need to worry about friendly fire, and he can take full advantage of my flames to increase his potency.' Pyre smiled as he watched how furious and beastly Chisaki was growing. He ripped the burnt sleeve off his jacket with his other hand, tapping his pink and red burned flesh, which busted into floating goop before reforming his arm, good as new. ‘What an odd combo we are, but one that’ll see this failed Yakuza boss humbled, blackened, and beaten.'

Off to the side, Koharu let out her own blast of flames, Pyre adding to it as Chisaki was forced back, Lemillion nipping at him all the while.

Phasing through a giant spike that could have torn him in two, Lemillion struck the man across his other cheek. One of the straps holding his mask in place snapped, exposing more of his face. "You won't lay another finger on her or anyone else, you hear me, Chisaki? You lost, and now it's time you answer for all of it!"

Eri couldn't help but think back to that day when she had run into this man and this woman. She couldn't remember their names, but she remembered how it felt when the lady in pink held her. Now, she felt the same thing watching the sight. She grasped at the cape around her, as it was nothing like the blanket she had been given. That was big, heavy, and hot.

But this was lighter, freer, and warm. She couldn't help but snuggle into it as she hoped Kai wouldn't kill them. No…that they'd beat him, that she wouldn't go back to that room or back to the cold chair ever again.

"Don't you use that name so casually, fool! I've abandoned it!" Chisaki's furious screech and the fact she could see just a little more of his face nearly killed that newfound hope as the familiar and viscous terror near choked it out as she saw him reshape the very space itself to his will, creating weapons, spikes and so much else around him that he indiscriminately sent everywhere.

Lemillion was at her side in a flash. Again, he had that smile on his face as he scooped her up and dashed out of the way.

“Boa Flame!” Pyre unleashed a spiral vortex of green flames that ate away at the omnidirectional attack from Chisaki, not just around Pyre. Still, he willed the flames to travel around Chisaki, blocking his attack and limiting its reach as the intense heat and winds of the vortex tore apart anything that tried to get through.

He wasn’t done as he rushed through his own flames, his own body seared but with a fusion of blood lust and joy in his eyes. As he pulled out one of his fans, opening it up, and with a sound that Eri had never heard before, the chimes sounded; Pyre swiped at Overhaul, cutting off the other strap, causing his mask to droop on his face, exposing more. His skin had already started to break out in hives.

Like a mad animal, Overhaul lashed out at Pyre, who all the while smiled with nothing but violent intent as he bent and leaned to the other side, evading the blow and striking back with another swipe of his second fan, its metallic blade cutting into Overhaul’s flesh with a beautiful chime and peal, with Midoriya finishing off the attack with by reaching for the floor, using Chisaki as a jumping board to retreat, putting distance between them.

Seeing his opponent, disheveled, cut up with his mask drooping so low it might as well not exist, and his face breaking out in hives-like he was physically sickened by his pathetic state had Pyre giggling, only adding fuel onto the fires that was Chisaki’s wrath and desire to see him not just killed, but slowly and painfully slaughtered.

Standing in a pose, one fan opened to mask his mouth and nose, and the other held out, its edges to Chisaki, Pyre only continued verbally tormenting his foe. "That, along with whatever respect and humanity you had as well. You're a monster, and like all monsters, you'll be put into a cage or submit to the flames!" As he finished, he lowered his second fan to blast another stream of flames.

"Enough! I've worked too hard for too long to be stopped here!" Chisaki roared as he slammed a hand into the dirt, creating another barrier to divert the flames to the sides. Simultaneously, he created an elevated platform, evading Lemillion’s attempt to land another blow on him. "You two, that girl…this entire society is diseased, sick to the bone! Infected by quirks and making you all dream of grandeur and power, I'll stop it!"

“The pot calls the kettle black, or maybe you’re so twisted you can’t even tell what you are!” Lemillion challenged, as now it sounded like the yakuza was as delusional as he was cruel.

“I’m the one offering the world a cure!” From his perch, he created dozens of spikes, some as small as a finger, some as large as their arms, and sent them raining down the entire area.

"You're no doctor, and what you offer is nothing but suffering built off the pain of others!" Lemillion shot back, having grabbed onto Eri, and rushed through the field to evade the deadly storm of pierced stone. Pyre and Koharu were working to blast anything close to them to make things easier for them.

“As all major breakthroughs are! So, what if I had to harvest samples from Eri? She's as diseased as the rest of you, even worse, as all her powers can do is harm those around her. She's a curse!" Overhaul's mask fell off his face right as a fireball streaked into the air before it exploded, and several smaller ones came racing toward him.

“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

A few minutes earlier, the rest of the heroes took a moment to assess the situation. "The walls have stopped moving, but it's hard to hell where we are, " the detective commented, as the area's layout was all over the place after all the shenanigans the now restrained Irinaka had pulled.

“Eri’s room should be in that direction.” Nighteye, his shirt torn and exposing his surprisingly ripped abs, pointed in a direction.

The detective nodded as one of his men worked on Lock Rock. The pro had been separated briefly from the rest and attacked by Toga, who managed to give him a pretty nasty stab. “Irinaka, I want you to straighten out these hallways again, understand?"

For his part, Irinaka just kept on growling and rambling under his breath, his eyes red with veins bulging across his face. Whether that was due to rage or the trigger he took, who could say?

"Looks like the drug's worn off," Eraser commented. "His power's back to normal, so he can't help us even if we force him."

The detective frowned, as the route Nighteye pointed to was more or less clear, but their way out was still blocked. “Still, that’s some good news now. No more surprises from the damn place shifting and changing around us.” His frown grew as he recalled why they managed to capture Irinaka. "I'm more worried about Toga and Twice. It's complex enough having to handle the Shie Hassaikai, but now the League as well?"

“Toga,” Hearing the man seemed to be the only thing that pierced through whatever rambling the restrained man was going through. Before he started to yell so much, spit flowed all over the place. “Toga and Twice…I won’t forgive you! You traitors will die!”

"Tell us where the other League members are hiding," Nighteye ordered, not particularly interested in the schism between the League and the Shie Hassaikai.

“I don’t know! But I’ll find them, I’ll find and make them pay, them and that damned pyromaniac! I won’t stop till I’ve smashed every one of their skulls to dust!” Irinaka yelled in fury.

“Pyromaniac? Do you mean Dabi?” Nighteye asked him.

"I'll know it; that brat was never respectful, always full of himself! I'll kill him; I'll kill him and that stupid snake of his!" Irinaka both didn't answer the question and did at once. However, that only worried the gathered heroes as one villain they knew fit that description.

“Pyre.” Eraser frowned, recalling his encounters with him and the fact that he had been chosen for the task force that would handle him. This was not good timing, as aside from Sir Nighteye, who might not even know about the task force, he was the only one here.

“We had suspicions that the League would be here, but the Thunder as well? Why?” The detective asked.

"They're an anomaly, and it's hard to guess why they do anything, but they're also hired guns. So either the League paid them, or Chisaki did.” Nighteye replied as he kept current on them and their little…operations.

"Considering this madman's ranting and raving, I would guess they're here under the League's payroll," Eraser concluded as he knew how much those in the underworld valued contracts and trust. Once a deal was made, it wasn't easily broken. But if the League had turned on the Shie Hassaikai as well, that meant that the odds of an encounter with Pyre going violent were low, still, if he had the chance to capture him.

"But I can't see them anymore; you think they're gonna attack us next?" One of the cops asked, their eyes looking all over the place for wherever Toga or Twice could pop out.

“Maybe, but I wouldn’t bet on it. They ain’t on our side just because they betrayed this guy. Looks like Chisaki and his loyalists don't have that many friends." Another reminded him.

“It doesn’t matter why they’re here. The League and the Thunder are wanted criminals, some of the most dangerous our country has faced in years.” Their superior in the detective pointed out, his gun held at the ready, he added. "As law officers, it's our job to apprehend them."

“Eraserhead, we should keep going.” Eraser turned to Uravity, the girl in hero mode, as with the rest. “Lemillion’s been out of contact for a while now; he might need our support. We can't afford to think about the League and the Thunder right now, not when we're already split as is."

“The kid’s right,” The wounded Lock Rock spoke, the man holding at his side even after it had been bandaged up as Toga hadn't just done a quick stab and retreat but had wiggled the damn thing to ensure as she pulled out, it did maximum damage.

“Thunder, League-it doesn't matter. Our mission's top priority is rescuing that little girl and bringing that bastard Chisaki's entire operation down. So get going! Finish what we came here to do before all our hard work goes to waste!" He yelled at them, and the adults nodded before Eraser and Nighteye took off running, leading the rest toward their goal.

“Lock Rock…” Uravity was caught off guard by his support, but she nodded at him before heading off to follow the others. "Right, we won't forget them; we'll complete the mission!"

‘You better, kid…you better.’ Lock Rock thought to himself, resting against the wall as that little speech took a lot out of him. Truth be told, he hoped those students didn't take his criticism too badly; it wasn't that they didn't think them capable, but…well, they were far too young. 4 of them were first years, for crying out loud, and as a man who had recently been blessed with a healthy newborn son, he just couldn't stop that newfound parental worry when he looked at those kids.

'But you don't you bite off more than you can chew. You still got your whole lives ahead of you; don't bring your families nothing but grief if we gotta return you in a coffin.’ He tried to keep his breath under control and hoped that all the students they had to leave behind were handling themselves and would leave this stupid compound alive.

Line Break

“And there they go.” Up above, Twice and Toga watched the rest of the heroes and cops rushing off where Pyre and Chisaki should be. "This wasn't part of the plan, but it's the best we got, all according to keikaku!”

Toga didn't reply momentarily, choosing to crawl away in silence with Twice following after her. When she spoke, she seemed disappointed in how things turned out. "Yeah, it's a little lame that things went sideways, and now I won't be able to see Ochaco getting all bloody." Twice heard the shift in the air as her mood drooped, lover. “But more than that…”

“I don’t get to see Overhaul crying like a little baby.” He would have been surprised if she wasn't angry about that, especially when their plans had been made to allow them all to get their pound of flesh out of the Yakuza boss.

"Hmm, well, if you really want to see that, I have an idea. I have no clue, sorry!" Toga stopped and let Twice approach her to whisper something into her ear. Hearing it made her smile and clap her hands in joy.

“Oh, that's just perfect, Jin! You're a real genius!" she complimented him as Twice soaked it right up. Toga smiled like a cat who had found the canary as she saw it all play out in her head. “And it’ll make Tomura and Pyre really happy.”

Line Break

I am so far behind on MHA Vigilantes, as I'm hearing that season 1 is finished!! So when I finish this, I'm going to try and watch another three episodes and get to Episode 10. I would binge the rest, but I do want to get to bed early.

However, with this chapter, well, I will say that things didn't turn out exactly how I planned, but not for any bad reasons. I just made changes leading up to this point that made my original plans infeasible if I wanted things to make sense.