Chapter 10: Tennyson's Offensive
"No!"
N. 13 flung her hand out, reaching for the students trapped in the black mist, but it was too late. Panicked cries rang out, then silenced, as the mists slunk back towards the shadowy figure. Eight students were gone, just like that.
"Where did they go? What did you do to them?" N. 13 demanded as she kept her hand outstretched, using it to ward off the advances of the villain.
"I would be much less concerned about the students, and much more with yourself N. 13." Came a calm reply.
"Do not test me! Where did you send the children?" N. 13's voice gave no indications of weakness, despite the displays of power before her.
"You will find them where I will send the others." N. 13 made to reply, but was immediately besieged by black mist! The hero flung her hands out, but the mist simply parted past. N. 13 wasn't the true target after all. After brushing past the space hero, the mist once more began surrounding the remaining students. This time, they were much less prepared. Specific students seemed to be targeted; the ones that dodged out of the way of the mist before. Bakugo, Todoroki, and those near them found themselves completely covered, and desperately acted to free themselves, but to no avail.
Curses, cries for help, ice and explosions emanated from the mist, but soon, they too were silenced. N. 13 balled her fists up in frustration as the mists slunk back towards their master.
"Your years of rescue operations must have dulled your combat senses N. 13, if you had any at all. Just because I used my quirk before does not mean I can not just use it again, for why would I not? But, now you can prove yourself to me. I have gotten rid of most of the students, particularly the ones that seem combat inclined and that insolent brown-haired one. Now, shall we begin?" The villain then raised his 'arms,' seemingly becoming the hero to come and attack.
N. 13's helmet hid her emotions well, and that kept her pure anger from showing. N. 13 had lives depending on her. Over half the students were gone! She had already messed up, but this is where she drew the line in the imaginary sand. No more would be taken away, not one more! N. 13 slowly raised her right hand, and pointed her index finger at the shadowy mass. She then raised her left, and started unscrewing the finger-part of the glove. In a sudden change of pace, the space hero darted forward and thrusted her finger forward!
"Black Hole!"
Unknown Location with Ben
"AHHHHHHHHHHFFFFFFFAAA!"
Ben couldn't help but scream as he tumbled through what appeared to be a sea of black and grey. Was this what it was like being teleported by a quirk? It was crazy! Ben couldn't tell what was up, what was down, where he was or where he was going. All he could tell was that he was tumbling down(?), screaming, and in mid-air(?).
Then everything cleared! Ben was heading towards a large mass of blue! Wait... were those currents? Small waves? Was that water? Ben's eyes bulged at the sudden realization and his mind started to go haywire. His lungs were out from the screaming, and his legs were useless in the air. His arms- wait, that's right! He's got the solution on his left arm! Pivoting his body weight in order to turn his body around so he was in a general upright position, Ben brought up the Omnitrix and started to dial it up. It proved to be just a little too late as the moment his fingers touched the cold metal plating, his feet hit the water.
Do you know the saying that hitting water at high speeds is just as bad as hitting concrete? Well, thankfully Ben wasn't falling at speeds that would result in damage, but it still hurt like hell. He breached the water like a faulty knife through cold butter, and his legs went numb from the thighs down. His eyes and mouth were open, and if he wasn't underwater, one could see the tears that escaped as Ben fought through the pain. His body went limp, but thankfully that just meant he slowly floated towards the surface. There he lay, motionless, trying to bite back the pain.
Slowly the numbness subsided and Ben no longer felt like his legs were fractured. He forced his legs down and spread his arms apart. Slowly arcing his arms through the water and starting to move and test his legs again, Ben surveyed his environment. Looking around, he definitely was still in the USJ, that much he could determine. From the looks of things, Ben was in a zone simulating oceans or floods. He was in the middle of a large man-made lake, with the only other object in the water being a double decked ship. It was about the same distance from the 'shore' where he could go back to the main plaza and the ship.
'No point in going to the ship. Also no point in transforming. I gotta save a transformation for when I need it, and besides, there's no one here. Swimming isn't so hard anyhow.' Ben elected to swim to shore, taking care not to stress his legs too much. Ben slowly got a rhythm going, and his legs were feeling better by the moment. However, unbeknownst to Ben, his swimming was sending changes in the water's current. These changes were unrecognizable to Ben, but not the others that were in the water.
Ben kept his pace nice and steady. Slowly paddling through the water was not very heroic-looking, but it took little energy and got the job done. Ben was lost in thought on how he was going to deal with the villains outside, so deep in thought that he didn't see the three objects breaking the water's surface behind him, closing in. But Ben did feel a scaly hide brush pass his leg.
Ben instantly paused and started frantically looking around him, trying to peer into the dark depths of the water below. Did UA have real ocean predators in this lake? Ben wanted to say no, but if the entrance exam involved fighting weaponized robots, then sharks wouldn't be that big of a stretch.
Then a hand closed around his ankle and yanked him down!
"WHAT THE-GRGRGRGRGUBUB!" Ben's shout was cut short as water flooded his mouth. Ben kicked with all his might, but whatever grabbed his leg was powerful! The force of the pull was such that his hands were forced up as his body went down, and he didn't have time to take a deep breath before going under!
Ben's struggles halted when he finally saw what had pulled him, or in this case, the group. Three hideous villains with obvious aquatic based mutation quirks were staring back at him. Their beady eyes lacked pupils, their mouths were shaped like sharks with teeth to match and their hands and feet were webbed. Two of them had large harpoons in their clutches and all of them had large tanks attached to their backs with pipes leading into their mouths.
"This one's a small fry! Sic'em boys!" The furthest figure gurgled out as he pointed a crooked clawed finger at Ben. The fish-man next to him and the one that had previously held his leg gave feral grins and darted forward with murderous intent! Ben floundered in the water, panic flooding his system. He didn't have time to do anything, his oxygen was running out, and these guys wanted him dead!
As luck would have it, Ben was saved by a long, sticky, pink angel. Just as a harpoon was about to skewer him and a pair of jaws about to crush, Ben's middle was suddenly wrapped by a... tongue? Whatever it was, Ben was yanked back up so fast that his head flung back, straining his neck. Ben broke the surface, and the pink-rope appendage around him pulled diagonal up. Ben greedily gulped in the air as he sailed up and landed with a dull thud on the deck of a ship. Ben didn't land gracefully, and he was now dry heaving, getting on his arms and knees, letting the water drip from his costume as he struggled to get his biorhythm back. A pair of arms then started to help him up.
"A-are you alright Tennyson? It was a good thing that Asui saw you get pulled under when she did, it was looking bad for you! Take deep breaths, but you need to sit upright. Get the blood flowing properly." Midoriya's worried voice broke through Ben's foggy consciousness and he let his body go limp, letting the bigger boy adjust him to a better position. Ben's senses slowly came back to him. He could now properly see the worried grenettes on either side of him. Ben cracked a weak smile.
"Yeah. I'm good. They just caught me by surprise is all. Not gonna lie, wasn't expecting a trio of fish villains." Ben started to push himself up. Midoriya tried to help him, but Ben held out a hand. Midoriya pulled back, and Ben slowly fought his way back to his feet. A little unsteady, but standing and ready. Seeing Ben was fine, Asui walked to the edge of the ship and gripped the railing. Ben and Midoriya followed.
"The first week of school. Threats of expulsion, real combat trials and now a dangerous villain attack, ribbit. Not how I envisioned week one going." Remarked Asui as she flipped her gaze from the ship's edge to the shore. Ben and Midoriya nodded. Not much to disagree with there.
"What about the others? Not everyone got teleported by the portal quirk. Some must still be in the main plaza, where all the villains are!" Midoriya fretted. Ben looked up to him with a puzzled look.
"What are you so worried about?" Seeing Midoriya's expression not changing, Ben rolled his eyes and continued his explanation.
"They got two pro heroes with them! We saw Aizawa-sensei kick ass and N. 13 is pretty famous based on what you guys told me. They'll be fine!"
Back with N. 13 in the Main Plaza
"N. 13 no!" Uraraka cried out, her hands covering her mouth in horror. Her remaining classmates watched on in similar disbelief and terror at the carnage before them.
N. 13 was caught between two portals, her right arms still outstretched and index finger cap off. Her body was paralyzed, and it was easy to see why. The powerful suction of Black Hole was being redirected through the portal in front of N. 13 to her back, catching her in a trap. Unable to move, N. 13 could no longer restrain her quirk, and her entire back was slowly being ripped away. Her body was twitching, from struggling to break free or from the pain she was enduring, no one could tell. It was probably both.
"N. 13. You really can't compare to even the most basic heroes in a fight. You couldn't protect your students when I first attacked, and now you find yourself being torn apart by your own power." The shadow figure shook his head in disappointment. "If you are somehow still conscious and can hear me, allow me to bestow upon you one last piece of advice. When entering combat, do not run forward, make blatantly obvious moves to attack, and then shout out the name of what you are doing! At least try to think before you act in a fight, it may just save your life. You know, if you survive today. My, what is with my attitude today? Perhaps that small student's snarkiness rubbed off on me."
During the shadow figure's mumbling, the remaining students sprung into action. Ida led the charge, clearly aiming to get past the villain and get through the gate and escape. The shadow figure snapped out of his trance immediately and took a combat stance once more.
"Trying to escape? I can not let that happen!"
Flood Zone with Ben
"I guess you're right." Midoriya rubbed his arm and looked down. "I should have more faith in our senseis. N. 13 should have the situation under control."
"We have bigger things to worry about." Croaked Asui, who was now tensed up as her nervous gaze swept the waters surrounding the boat. "We're surrounded!"
Ben and Midoriya jerked their heads around and surveyed their situation. Indeed, a small band of villains had formed a perimeter around the ship. All with water-based quirks, aquatic equipment, weaponry and bloodthirst to boot. It was not a favorable position. Although, there was one thing that stood out to the three students.
"Yikes, there's a lot more than three of them." Ben commented aloud, as he took a good look at some of the villains he hadn't seen. "But why aren't they doing anything? They know we're here. I assume they have a way to scale the boat. What's going on?"
As he spoke Ben leaned over the railings just a bit, and a strange response was observed by Midoriya. As Ben extended his body a bit off the railings, instead of the villains surging forward in an aggressive way, they actually swam back a bit. While their fish-like mutations didn't give away much in the way of emotions, their actions spoke loudly enough. With a snap of his fingers, Midoriya realized what was going on.
"Of course! They are hesitating because they don't know what they are getting into! They don't know our combat abilities! They don't know our quirks!" Proclaimed Midoriya.
A pause. "Cool." Ben deadpanned in response. "And that helps us how?"
"Well, you know, if they knew our quirks, they would have sent us to locations where we would be at a disadvantage. Asui excels in the water, so this situation probably would be something they would have liked to have avoided." Midoriya attempted to explain, while Asui nodded along in agreement.
"It does make sense, ribbit. I would be a liability if put in a cold or dry and hot environment. But I do agree with Tennyson here Midoriya: how does that help us now?"
"Well, lets go over our quirks and see if we can come up with a plan! As you guys probably know, my quirk is a strength-modifier, that allows me to..." As Midoriya started to strategize with Asui listening attentively, Ben was counting the villains and making realizations of his own. They were all aquatic fighters based on their quirks, but there was a weakness they all shared. An obvious one, and one that Ben could easily exploit.
'Lets see. There's about 20 of them? I didn't check behind the boat, but if there's the same amount on the other side as this one, it's a generous estimate. Still, if Midoriya is right, then they won't see this coming!' Ben planned out as he gripped the railings tightly. He could still hear Midoriya strategizing with Asui adding something in now and then behind him. While he didn't doubt their fighting capabilities, they were greenhornes. This was likely the first dangerous situation in their hero careers. Why put them in danger if they didn't have to be?
"Hup!" Ben pushed himself up, now with his boots gripping the railing. Now teetering dangerously off balance, Ben felt his center of gravity slowly begin to pull him down to the water. The villain took notice of this immediately, and while they had no idea what Ben was doing, this was an opportunity they could not miss. They began to gather around the area where Ben was, and they must have sent out a signal over their radio, if they had one, because more villains swam out from the sides to join them. This is what Ben wanted. All the villains in one place.
"And away we go!" Ben let his hands go and pushed off with his legs using all the strength he could muster! Ben managed to push himself a couple of feet out from the boat before he began to fall. This did not go unnoticed by his fellow students behind him, who had just realized that Ben was not in their discussion.
"What are you doing Tennyson!" Midoriya screamed out, bursting into an all out sprint to the boat's edge with his hands outstretched. Despite his speed, he was too late as his hands gripped air and he watched helplessly as Ben started his descent into the pack of eagerly waiting villains below.
"No!" Asui threw herself onto the railing as well and shot her tongue out, trying desperately to reel Ben back in.
"Yes!" The villains roared, their biological and steel weapons brandished, ready to tear this student to pieces!
Suddenly, a piercing green light!
"Ack!" Asui and Midoirya were caught off guard, and their hands flew up to cover their eyes. Midoriya retreated from the edge with Asui close behind. The sudden burst of light had caused her to miss with her tongue, but that also meant that the villains were blinded as well.
The villains were rubbing their eyes and muttering amongst themselves. Then, they realized what had happened and began to look around frantically. The same thing was being done by the students onboard the ship. Ben had just leapt off the ship, into the maws of death! Where had he gone?
"That green light means he transformed, right? So is he flying? Invisible? Underwater?" Midoriya asked as he once more looked at the water around the boat, searching for his classmate.
"I don't know. Whatever he's doing, I hope it works. We aren't in a position to assist anymore." Asui replied.
The villains below were not doing any better. "Where is that kid?" Demanded their leader, the one who instructed two others to attack Ben earlier.
"I don't know sir! It's like he vanished into thin air!" A lackey hollered back.
"I don't want excuses, I want results! We got hired for one job and we get paid on how well we do it! If we don't have proof of these kills, we don't get paid!" Snarled the boss, his mood worsening. "If I don't have that kid's head on a pike in a minute, I'm going to bash your skulls in myself!"
Fwoosh.
The boss froze. He then dived, ignoring the questions of his crew. He peered around, his aquatic-augamentic eyes easily piercing through the murky depths. But he saw nothing. Resurfacing, he pondered if he just imaginged that feeling against his thigh. It was just too real. However, there was nothing else in the water besides him and his crew. The boss shook his head. He just needed to secure the kid that suicided into them, then he could get the two on the ship, then get paid.
"Gah! What the hell was that!" One of his crew suddenly yelled out, thrashing about. As his crewmates and boss turned to him, they could see his eyes wide with panic.
"Something brushed against my leg! There's something in the water, something- GYEAHHH!" The lackey's explanation was cut short and he suddenly threw his head back and cried out in pain! Then, his body shot under the water's surface in the blink of an eye! The other villains readied their weapons once more and started to bunch together. Even the stupidest of them now realized they were under attack.
"Captain, what's going on? What do we do?" A nervous crewmate asked, his voice quivering in fear.
CRRRRCH!
The sudden sound of metal being crushed caused the tension among the villains to rise even more. A single crunch of metal rang out, even Midoriya and Asui could hear it from their view of the situation from above. The villains then saw a bunch of debris rising to the surface. If one were to look closely, they would see that it was pieces of the villain's standard oxygen tank and mask attachment along with the lackey's harpoon. The thing that was bone-chilling however was the state they were in. Jagged rips, not clean ones. Like something had ripped them apart with teeth.
"GAHH HUHH!" Suddenly the lackey surfaced as well! It appeared that he was unharmed, but he looked awful. His skin was pale and clammy, his eyes wide with tears running down his cheeks and his body was shaking like a leaf in the wind. Some of the braver crew members started to swim their way towards their comrade. Seeing his crewmates swimming towards him, the lackey threw his hands out.
"No, stay away!" His shaky voice weakly cried. "It's close, it'll get you too!"
"What thing? In the debrief they said this lake was man-made, and it was incapable of supporting life! Stop your blubbering and start getting ready to breach that ship!" Snapped the boss, turning his head to see two green-haired students looking at them, with puzzled expressions on their faces.
"GAYAHH!" The boss twisted back to see another of his crew pulled under the surface! CRCUNK! The sound of metal being torn again! The captain looked on in horror as it happened to another! Then another! And then a third!
"Alright you bastard!" The boss unhooked his own harpoon and swept it out. Pointing it's deadly point at the collection of torn oxygen tanks, masks and the quivering bodies of his shaken crew, the boss let out a battlecry. "I know you're there you little shit! Come out and face me like a man!"
"If you insist!" Behind him! The boss whirled around at the raspy voice, moving to impale the offender with his harpoon! As he finally completed his turn, he realized that there was nothing behind him! He faltered for a moment, his harpoon's tip lowering beneath the water's surface. Then the unmistakable sound of a body breaching the water erupted from behind him! Cursing his moment of weakness, the villain spun back around.
The moment he laid his eyes on the monster that was before him, the villain, for the first time in his life, was paralyzed with fear. It was not the body of a high school student like he was promised. It was something otherworldly. Something one would expect to hear about in old fisherman's tales by a campfire.
The upper half of the body was like that of a man, but covered in scales as white as the moon. Gills ran down it's collarbones and ribs, and a strange black shoulder guard was attached to it's left shoulder with a mysterious grey symbol. Small fins extended from it's elbows and it's four dagger-like fingers were webbed with thin dark green skin. It's lower half was like that of a mermaid, with alternating black and green stripes leading down to a massive tail fin. All this was immediately forgotten when the villain laid his eyes on the face. Pale milky white eyes, an anglerfish light on its forehead and another fin on the back of it's head was strange enough. But the jaws! So full of teeth! And that maw was wide open, and heading straight for him!
"FWAHHHH!" Ben slammed his weight into the villain, quickly swam beneath him, got a firm hold on his leg, and yanked him down. The villain's arms were thrashing around in a panic, and his precious oxygen burst out of his mouth in involuntary horror as Ben swam around to see him face-to-face.
"Well, here I am." Ben growled out. "But not as a man. As Ripjaws!"
Omnitrix Form #7 - Species: Piscciss Volann, Hero Name: Ripjaws
Strengths: Ripjaws is an amphibious Piscciss Volann, a species that has evolved to dominate the water-dominant planet Piscciss. What you see is what you get with this transformation: incredible agility in the water and crushing jaws. Ripjaws can swim at tremendous speeds, withstand incredible levels of water pressure and can navigate even the darkest of trenches. Ben named his form after it's most powerful weapon and feature: it's crushing jaws. Capable of shredding apart biological and mechanical foes alike, once Ripjaws has you in it's maw, it's over. Ripjaws also has incredible durability and general strength. While Ripjaws is Ben's only aquatic alien, he's the only one he will ever need.
Weaknesses: Unfortunately, Ben is a terrestrial-based human. This means that most of his fights happen on land, where Ripjaws is unable to perform well. While Piscciss Volann eventually reach the point where they can breathe on land just as well as in the water, that is only when they finish puberty and enter adulthood. At 11 years old, Ben does not have that luxury and must take care not to suffocate above water. As with most aquatic species, Ripjaws is also vulnerable to drying out in hot environments, and is weak to electric attacks, and being frozen. While not a form that can be used often, Ripjaws still proves indispensable when the time comes for his unique strengths to save the day.
The boss let out a gargling scream, his flailing increasing in intensity and his face full of fear. His attempts to swim up to the surface were denied instantly as Ben just grabbed his leg again and yanked him down. Ben couldn't help but chuckle at how the situation was now, compared to just a few moments ago. The boss, once full of vigor and confidence, was shaking and desperately fighting for his life.
Ben glanced up to see the boss' hand grasp his harpoon and brought it to bear. Ben let go, easily gaining distance between him and his now armed target. The boss was still panicking, so his blows were easily dodgeable. He was jabbing fast, but his earlier flailing had worn him out considerably. His chest heaved with labored breaths and he started kicking with all his might to reach the surface. No matter. Ben arced his body and swam in the other direction. This was just a test afterall. Ben wanted to gauge how dependent these villains were on their aquatic gear and how powerful their water quirks were. Turns out, they were only just a smidge above the average human in the water.
Ripjaws effortlessly pushed his body through the dead waters of the Flood Zone, making no noise or currents. Deep enough so that the villains could not see him, but high enough to strike in mere seconds, Ben circled around for his second attack. He gave the villain a minute to regroup, but they were still in shambles. The boss was not barking orders, the lackeys Ben had already attacked were in full retreat and the remaining goons that still had some fight in them were jabbing the water with their harpoons. They had gathered in a tight circle, with a wall of harpoon tips pointing out from the perimeter. A solid defence if they were on land. Ben attempted to roll his eyes, then remembered Ripjaws didn't have true eyelids so he couldn't roll his eyes, and moved to attack.
The obvious weakness with the villain's defensive formation was the fact that they were in the water; Ben could just swim under them and attack there. And that was exactly what he did! He first made a demonstration of his form, to instigate terror in their ranks. He pushed his powerful tail down, and shot up into the middle of the villains like a torpedo, and broke the surface. The shouts and screams were instantaneous, and the formation was broken! Every villain for themselves, as most swam back, but a few moved in to jab at Ben. Easily twisting and turning, they couldn't land a hit on Ripjaws, and Ben attacked each of them in kind. Ripping their oxygen tanks and weapons out of their hands and crushing them in his jaws before their very eyes extinguished any fire left in their eyes.
"So, who's next?" Ripjaw's raspy voice called out. Raising his hands in victory as he gazed upon the beaten and the retreating, he turned his neck this way and that. "Over all ready? Where was all that bravado?"
Ben swam towards the boss, who was motionless with fear. The sight of Ripjaws approaching was enough to spark his mind into trying to gain some distance, but to no avail. Ben grabbed the collar of his dive suit and pulled him under once more. His sharp fingers easily cut through the mesh material of the dive suit and the villain was trying to pry his fingers off as he held his breath. Ben raised his other hand and clasped it atop the villain's head and pulled it towards his own. The villain let out a few bubbles of precious air as his forehead met with Ripjaws, their eyes millimeters apart.
"Listen here you dirtbag. I'm going to let you go. You are going to be able to go back up. You will get your men. You will go back to whatever gutter you crawled out of. You will never come back. You will never threaten anyone ever again. If you don't!" Ben unhooked his hand from the collar and grabbed the harpoon from the villain's limp hand and raised it to his mouth.
CRCH! CRCH! CRCH!
The villain's eyes shot down to see Ripjaws' maw moving up and down, the whaling weapon tearing like styrofoam. His eyes shot back up to Ripjaws and his head nodded up and down frantically, indicating the message was received.
"Good. Now scram!" Ben let go of the man and pushed him away. He arched his tail back and forth to maintain his position and crossed his arm. Ben watched as the villain broke the water and started swimming to his men. After a couple seconds, Ben saw many pairs of legs start kicking as they started making their way to the shore. Ben waited as the group grew smaller and smaller, until he could no longer sense bodies making currents in the dead water.
'Mission, complete! I just hope a few weren't sneaky and tried to scale the boat. Better check on them.' Ben uncrossed his arms and pushed his powerful tail to the large object in the water. Breaking the surface, Ben readied his claws and punctured the boat's hull. With a grunt, Ben started to scale the boat, and as his lower torso also exited the water, his tail fin morphed into two terrestrial legs. Holding his breath all the while, Ben scaled the boat with little other issues.
"Oh god, what is that? Wait, that symbol! Tennyson? Is that you?" Midoriya called out, rushing out from his hiding spot with Asui close behind. They had heard Ben's climb and had set an ambush, but upon seeing the Omnitrix symbol, they had rushed to their classmate's side.
"Yup, wheeze. Just wanted, wheeze, to check on you guys. Oh god, I can't take it!" Ben brought up a hand and slammed it down on the Omnitrix dial. Asui and Midoriya covered their eyes as the green flash dyed down. In that monstrous fish's place stood Ben once more, if a little wet.
"Alright! The villain problem is gone, now we just need to get out of here!" Ben clapped his hands together and gave the two a big smile. The others just had flabbergasted expressions on their faces as they stared down the very-not-traumatized Ben.
"There were over twenty of them. Genuine villains, out to kill. You just- and you just- took them on single handedly?" Midoriya slowly got out.
"Yup!" Ben gave a nod. "Don't know how they got in, but I know they're getting out! Don't worry, I just gave them a scare, I didn't actually hurt any of them."
"How did you solve this without harming them?" Asui asked.
"Oh, I noticed that they all had aquatic gear in one form or another." Ben explained. "I just pulled them under and broke all their stuff with Ripjaws. Ripjaws can breath underwater, but I guess none of them could. Once it was obvious they couldn't win I just scared 'em off, like I said."
"Well... I suppose we should make good use of this opportunity. If we aren't under any threat, might as well get to solid ground again. Tennyson, can you turn back into that fish-man again?" Midoriya turned to ask Ben.
"I could, but I don't want to. Who knows what else is waiting for us? I want to be ready. Besides, I think getting to shore should be relatively quick and easy, right?" At this, Asui gave a nod.
"Yes, ribbit, I can easily help you guys get to shore. After clearing a way for us, it's the least I could do." Asui then shot out her tongue and wrapped it around Midoriya's waist. Ignoring his startled cry, Asui hopped onto the railing, then shot off with another powerful leap arcing through the air. She landed in the water, still pulling Midoriya behind, and made her way to the shore. Depositing her first passenger in the shallows, Asui quickly swam back to the ship and scaled up it's hull. Ben marveled at her speed as she hopped back onto the deck.
"I don't suppose you can be a bit more gentle with me?" Ben started to speak but a sudden tension around his stomach cut him off. Asui's expression never changed, but Ben could swear there was a glint of something in her eyes. Anger? Frustration? Fear? Ben couldn't really tell. Frogs apparently had one hell of a poker face.
"Nope." With a single word, Asui leapt once more, with Ben as her hapless passenger. In the same fashion as Midoirya, but even faster due to Ben's smaller size and weight, Asui dragged herself and her luggage to the shallows where Midoriya had regained his footing and stood hunched over.
"Geez, any other time and I would have thought you had something against me Asui." Ben grumbled as he shook off his hands. His quick glance at his costume also confirmed his suspicion. "Aw man! Now my jacket is all wet! Now I smell like Ripjaws!"
"You can order a new one back at school." Midoriya spoke up as he started wading through the shallows. "I put in an order for a new costume myself after Kacchan, well, blew it up."
"You know, I've been meaning to ask you about that." Ben asked as he and Asui followed behind him. "You treat Bakugo like a friend, but he treats you like trash. Heck, you even have a nickname for him that he tolerates. Thinking about it, he does for you too, but it's less of a nickname and more of a swear. What's going on?" Asui's poker face faltered just a little as she turned her deadpan stare towards Ben.
"Really? You want to ask something that personal? Here and now?" She gave a small ribbit afterwards.
"Well, anything to take our minds off the fighting and obvious possibility that I, my teachers, and my newly made friends could die any second." Ben tried to joke. Unfortunately, this had the opposite effect than what he hoped as both Midoirya and Asui stiffened a bit more. The group sloshed through the muddy shallows a bit more, starting to feel less give beneath their feet and more concrete.
It was at this time that Midoriya noticed something odd. "Do you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" Ben and Asui immediately went on guard, looking around, behind and even below them. Then they went still and strained their ears. Asui gave Midoriya a concerned look.
"Ribbit, nothing? What, is there something wrong Midoriya?" The boy in question was starting to shake.
"It's just that! The silence! Aizawa sensei, N. 13, they should be fighting right now! If there is no noise, then that means two things! Either they defied all odds and beat every villain there, or-!" Midoriya broke off and started moving forward at an urgent pace. Ignoring Asui's attempts to call them back, Midoriya pushed forward with Ben close behind. Ben was so intent on keeping up with the older kid that he didn't notice the abrupt stop.
"Omph!" Ben gently collided with Midoriya's back, and looked up to crossly ask why the sudden stop. But Midoriya was completely still, all the previous shaking was gone and he was now as still as a statue. Ben and Asui moved to either side of him and were met with a bone-chilling sight.
Turns out the large black figure with the exposed brain was more than just for show. Maybe it was the distance in which Ben had first laid eyes on him that had made it's sheer statute less imposing than what it truly was. It was a giant, with grotesque muscles bulging under it's skin, and it's mouth was now open, revealing large blunt teeth. Maybe it was the animalistic behavior of the thing, with it panting like a dog, or the thin line of drool on it's left cheek.
Or maybe it was the fact that it was pinning their teacher face-down on the concrete. Aziawa's goggles lay broken beside his face, his body covered in blood and sweat. The capture scarf that effortlessly held Bakugo was torn and pieces of it surrounded the impact sight. His right arm was being held by the beast at an unnatural angle, hanging limp in its grasp. Near his elbow crouched another figure, more humanoid, with his back towards Ben. His hand was on Aizawa's elbow, talking to him all the while. Ben watched in horror as the flesh near the bone, and slowly the bone itself started to disintegrate before his very eyes.
Tearing his eyes from the sight, Ben started scanning the area, looking for signs of any others. His heart sank when he saw Uraraka and several others pulling the motionless figure of N. 13 away from the battle, her suit once a pristine white now torn and bloody. Another scan told Ben that either the other students that had been teleported away had either not arrived yet, were hiding, or were fighting.
UA had lost this battle.
"Tomura." A familiar voice shook Ben, Asui and Midoirya out of their respective shock and they took cover behind a small concrete ledge that divided the standard grounds and the flood zone. Uncomfortably close, the three made as little noise as possible as the shadowy figure apperated next to the villain behind the beast.
"Kurogiri." The villain made his appearance. It was the one that first exited the portal, the one covered in hands. "Is N. 13 taken care of?"
"N. 13 is incapacitated, yes." The shadow figure gave a small pause. "However, I was unable to warp away every student. A small group remained in the main plaza. They combined their efforts, and one with a speed quirk managed to get past the gates. With his speed, he can ignore our jamming and just run back to the main campus. Help is on the way."
'Nice one Ida! Always depend on the class pres!' Ben mentally cheered. Now they were just on a time limit! It was only a matter of time before Ida arrived with the small army that made up UA's staff!
"Oh? Is that so." The hand-villain muttered to himself. He started muttering more, and started to scratch the skin that was not covered by his hands. "Kurogiri, I would reduce you to dust if you weren't the escape rope. We fared well against Eraserhead because we greatly outnumbered them. N. 13 didn't spec into combat, so she didn't even put up a fight. We'll get stomped if all the pros come running. Game over!"
In a sudden surge of emotions, Tomura threw himself back and groaned aloud. "We gotta retreat. Grab all the cannon fodder and prepare to escape."
Suddenly, Tomura turned his body and turned his head towards the flood zone. "Before we go though, let's leave a couple dead kids for them to find."
Ben wasn't sure if it was adrenaline or his instincts that kicked in, but he knew that this villain had spotted them. He also could easily tell that this was no run-of-the-mill schmuck either. This guy was deadly, able to melt away flesh and bone with his bare hands. If that was his quirk or not was up for debate, as he was currently sprinting at a blistering pace towards Ben and his two classmates!
The intent was obvious based on what he had just said: kill students. Kill Midoriya. Kill Asui. Kill Ben! Ben snapped his left wrist down and his right instinctually dialed up the Omnitrix. He needed to act fast, and there was only one alien for that!
Tomura knew he had caught these kids off guard. Their faces showed no change in emotions, and they were not moving. He started moving towards the girl with the large eyes and green hair.
'Killing girls usually leaves more of an impact than boys. Guess I'll take this one!' He was a step away from the water, starting to crouch down, and reaching his hand out towards the girl's face. It was over!
Then a blinding burst of green! Tomura managed to remain unfazed, he simply shut his eyes and angled his head away, but kept his hand on it's original course. Anything to wound the symbol of peace! How he would weep when he saw the corpse of a student that he swore to protect!
Suddenly, a blow to his chest!
"Ugh!" Tomura staggered back. He turned his head around violently. Who had hit him?
Another blow, to the back of his knee!
"Gehck!" Tomura slumped over, his left leg buckling. The hand aimed for the girl's face now hit the ground, keeping his balance. He started to stagger up, his fury building.
The third blow smashed into his side!
"Who dares!" Tomura roared, regaining his breath and standing back up. Asui and Midoriya backed up, but they were the last things of Tomura's mind. He looked around once more, sensing the confusion of Kurogiri and the minions Eraserhead hadn't taken out. Were there more heroes that they had missed?
Then a storm of black and blue! Something moving at impossibly high speeds started to slam blows into Tomura, one after the other! It was little more than a blue and blackish blur, crossing his right, then his left! The villain struggled to raise his arms to counter attack, but it was just too fast. His body jerked to the right with the impact of one blow, but then the blur came back and hit him on the left. His body was being thrown around, and he had no way to stop it.
A figure then slowed long enough for him to get a good look at the newcomer's figure. A figure that matched nothing he had seen in real life, only in the video games that he had played. Some sort of armored blue velociraptor! With a screech, Tomura flung his body forward, hands outstretched. No matter the speed, if he got his hands on this thing just once, it was his victory!
His hands got closer and closer, and were hairs away! With an eager smile, Tomura shoved his hands forward, urging his quirk to activate. But then his hands encountered nothing, and he stumbled forwards from his own momentum.
'An afterimage! Sensei told me that only the fastest speed quirks could produce one!' He felt the wind rush past his right side. It got behind him! A powerful kick to his spine nearly split him in two, as his body bent painfully due to the force behind the blow. The attack sent him flying forward, closer to the ignored students from earlier.
The blur then raced ahead of the still-flying Tomura to stand between the villain and the student. With another powerful blow, Tomura's trajectory was changed towards the enclosed downpour zone. The blur once more flew past the villain's body and started racing up the downpour zone's wall. Running up the wall, once at sufficient height, the figure switched it's direction to head down, and at the right moment, leapt off.
The blur's feet collided with Tomura's stomach, and reversed his momentum instantly! With a sickening crunch, two ball-like feet sunk deep into Tomura's belly, and he hit the ground. The speed of the crash caused the villain to slide across the ground, all the while being forced down by the weight of a mysterious hero. When Tomura's body started to slow, the figure crouched down and pushed hard. He gracefully landed on solid ground while Tomura tumbled and rolled. Eventually Tomura's body grinded to a halt, the back of his costume torn to bits and his skin that was already dry and peeling now bleeding bullets. Tomura took large, wheezing breaths as he pushed himself off the ground.
"Hands off bucko." XLR8 spat out, talons outstretched. Tomura slowly forced himself to his feet, one hand clutching his side and the other covering his face. The villain was grumbling something, and was slowly increasing in volume.
"A new hero? A speedster... related to Hawks? Ingenium? So inhuman though. Well, none of this matters. You've made this personal!" The hand villain raised his head, though he was still hunched over. Turning his head so that a single red pupil bore into XLR8.
"Listen to me now hero! I am Tomura, of the League of Villains!" Raising his hands, the villain started to monologue, with a look in his eyes. Ben was having none of that!
"Shut up!" Ben surged forward and drove his armored head right into Tomura's in a crushing headbutt. That certainly got the job done, as the villain's voice switched from words to screams of pain. Ben then leapt up and started pummeling Tomura's torso with a flurry of kicks.
"Save your breath. Are you here to talk or to fight?" With one last kick, Tomura was sent flying back and crashed near the base of the shadow figure, who stood stunned. "For all your posturing you still haven't landed a single hit on me! So bring it on before I end this early!"
"Oh, there will be a fight, but not just me!" Tomura turned around and crooked a finger towards the stewing group of henchmen behind him. They were hanging back, obviously afraid of what XLR8 could do. "Kill this one! Anyone seen not fighting will be disintegrated on the spot!"
Either fight an untouchable speed demon or get literally dusted. The villains chose to fight. With a roar, the group surged forward, trying to stay close together. The only advantage they had was their superior numbers. Clinging onto that hope, the villains attacked!
"Well, a fight's a fight. Come get some!" Ben cried out as he lunged forwards. XLR8's enhanced speed and reflexes made the villain's appear to be moving in slow motion. Ben just had to pick them off one at a time while watching his back. No problem!
A female villain with a hair quirk whipped her head around to spin her hair like a whip. Snapping forward, she sent it forward and it expanded into a large net. XLR8 easily sidestepped to the left and sped towards the lady, with his right elbow crooked. Crack! The villainess was sent tumbling into another zone as Ben smashed his elbow into her nose. He definitely felt bones break with that.
"Take this!" A massive villain with a spiky shell on his back swiped at Ben with a meaty claw. XLR8's enhanced reflexes let him duck, letting the blow harmlessly pass over his head. A split-second later, XLR8 jumped up, letting his face touch the villain's nose even as he reared back in shock. Crunch! XLR8 flicked his right leg up and caught the villain's chin with his foot in a brutal kick. The villain was down and out like a light!
XLR8 became a literal tornado of moving limbs as he systematically dismantled the villains. Weapons were swung, punches were thrown and quirks were used, but nothing seemed to come even close to the speedster. Either they missed by a mile, were aimed at an afterimage, or the villain was taken out before the blow could go through. Nothing could stop XLR8 in this rampage, and the spectators could clearly see this.
"Enough is enough!" Tomura, like everyone else, was caught in a trance as he watched the almost beautiful motions of XLR8, but he shook himself out of it. Turning to the massive hulking beast beside him, the villain started issuing commands. "Nomu! Release Eraserhead, he is of no threat to us anymore. Take out that new hero!"
The beast nodded and raised the hand pushing down on Aizawa's back and let go of his arm with the other. It pivoted and locked onto the figure that it was supposed to attack. XLR8 was finishing off the last standing villain, smashing his knee into her chest and forcing her to double over in pain. The beast crouched low, angling itself to it's right shoulder pointed forward, and then charged.
Ben heard the charging beast long before he could see it. Zipping back a few steps, the beast's charge stormed past him, and impacted with a building off to the side. The structure was undoubtedly well made, but the beast was stronger. The structure's wall now had a gaping holl in it, and the beast looked no worse-for-wear despite smashing a metal wall down. With a roar, the Nomu flung itself at XLR8 for another assault!
'This guy is intense! Good thing he's as dumb as bricks.' Ben thought to himself as he ducked under a swipe. The beast clasped both its hands together and raised them high into the air, and started to bring it down. XLR8 darted back, easily dodging the telegraphed attack. The ground quaked and the concrete shattered, but the beast was vulnerable! Ben grinned. Time for the counter attack!
"Here's something special, just for you!" Ben actually put effort into this attack. To prevent permanently maiming or outright killing all those villains earlier, Ben had to actively reel in XLR8's true speed. It made the fight much harder than it had to be, but Ben followed his moral compass no matter the situation. But this guy? He seemed big and tough, able to take a full-powered assault. XLR8 surged forward, raising his right arm, and flung it forward in a decisive strike!
Thunk
"H-huh?" Ben was flabbergasted at what just happened. His blow, one that had actual power behind it just bounced off the thing's skin! What's more is that his momentum completely stopped! It was like he tried to punch a glob of honey, his blow's momentum was sponged and the attack had no power behind it. The beast made no indication that Ben had attacked, and merely brought his hands out of the pit he had caused and started to turn around.
Ben leapt back to gain some distance, still shocked at what happened. If that blow didn't work, what would? Ben took a breath to calm himself. He took on villains worse than this, he would figure something out. XLR8 took a runner's pose. The first attempt went south, but he wasn't out of the game, not by a long shot! He hadn't been transformed for long, and he was still untouched. He'll just hit this guy like he did the hand-guy.
"Let's go!" XLR8 darted forward, moving at blur speeds again as he began his second attack! XLR8 dodged past one arm, and then leapt on the other. Using the Nomu's own arm as a springboard, XLR8 brought his legs up and let loose a thundering storm of kicks, all directly at the beast's chest!
ThudThudThudThudThud
Nothing! Undeterred, XLR8 let himself fall down and slid between the beast's legs. Nomu bent his back, trying to grab the alien, but in doing so left himself in a completely vulnerable position once more. Ben allowed himself a smirk of satisfaction seeing the creature unable to learn from it's own mistakes and position himself behind a thick leg. XLR8 swung his left leg back before sending it flying towards the back of the thing's knee in a devastating roundhouse!
Thump
'Not even a flinch! What is this thing made out of?' Now frustrated beyond belief, XLR8 zoomed back to avoid the stomp made in retaliation. Now focused with narrowed eyes and determination set, XLR8 moved in for the last blow! Weaving to and from, XLR8 maneuvered himself through the onslaught of blows the beast sent at him. It seems like the Nomu also was starting to break it's emotional facade as it seemed to be annoyed that it couldn't hit the annoying blue blur. These blows would be just as useless as the others as XLR8 dodged this way and that, before spotting his opening.
XLR8 pushed himself forward into a jump, spinning his body in a tight spiral to avoid the grasping hands and clumsy kicks flung his way. Landing with both talons on the ground, XLR8 looked up to see the beast struggling to regain it's balance after such a clumsy attack. XLR8 sprinted, reaching his max speed and jumped into the air again! This time, halfway through his jump, he raised his knee and prepared to slam it into the thing's side. Ben braced himself for impact.
Fump
The impact never came. His knee hit the beat alright, Ben could see his own skin making contact. It was just that the blows never seemed to make any impact! XLR8 ducked down and rolled back, the beast furiously spinning around and flinging it's arms and legs every which way. It was a stalemate. The Nomu had something that prevented XLR8's attacks from doing real damage, but XLR8's speed was too much for the Nomu to handle.
Panting a little from the increasingly intense battle, XLR8 managed to peer out of the corner of his eye that the crater where the Nomu stood previously was now completely empty. Tomura and Kurogiri had moved, viewing the fight from a safe distance. Aizawa was being carried by Midoriya with Asui's tongue wrapped around him as they were making their way towards the other group that had N. 13. Speaking of that group, they were huddled together, staring openly at the spectacle before them without even trying to hide their awe. They had only got a little taste of XLR8 on the first day. To see him in real action, it was something else.
'Alright, as long as I got everyone's attention, the others are safe. I guess that's good. But how am I gonna take this thing down? Not even Vilgax was this durable.' What else could XLR8 do? Ben quickly ran through his options while carefully monitoring the Nomu. Regular attacks obviously didn't work. Dodging was working, but that wasn't getting him closer to victory. Making a cyclone could work by lifting the thing off the ground, but Ben had no idea how heavy the thing actually was. As much as Ben hated to admit it, he was in a pickle. XLR8 was a good choice against the human villains, but not good against this thing. And with how things usually turned out, if he tried to transform back to base to choose a new alien, he would die.
The Nomu flung his head back and let out a bellow before charging forward once more. XLR8 sucked in a breath and readied himself. He spread out his arms and pushed one leg back in preparation to dodge. Now imagine Ben's surprise when his foot didn't encounter the usual ground, but started to fall into a hole instead!
"The heck!" XLR8 flung his head back to see his foot falling into an inky black hole. The shadow villain! Of course, Ben had completely forgotten about him! XLR8 dragged his foot back up and noticed more holes being formed all around him. Cursing, XLR8 began evasive maneuvers, ducking and dodging the beast's crushing blows while making sure he didn't fall into an increasing number of holes. With two strenuous tasks, XLR8 was starting to get overwhelmed. He saw the beast throwing it's left arm in a powerful haymaker, and he just barely didn't move his legs in time to avoid a hole. Stumbling ever so slightly, and seeing impending doom before him, XLR8 made a crucial mistake. He jumped.
Now, one might not think jumping is a weakness for XLR8. Heck, Ben had jumped several times during the fight with the Nomu. What separates that jumping from this panicked jump is the intent. When XLR8 was jumping before, it was a short jump with purpose. To land on an arm to springboard off of. A short hop to avoid a blow. Never spending too much time in the air and always having a plan for when he hit a surface. That's what Ben was doing before. This was different. Jumping high into the air to buy time in a moment of panic left XLR8 in the most vulnerable state possible. Kineceleran's needed to be on a surface to use their speed powers. Suspended in midair? A floating duck.
It was unclear just how smart the black hulking beast was, but it knew an opportunity when it saw one. It flung out a hand, and got a solid grab onto XLR8's tail. Tightening its grip, the Nomu slowly brought the hanging alien close. Now hanging in the clutches of a brutal villain, XLR8 knew he was in trouble.
"I don't suppose this is where you let me go?" XLR8 quipped, but the thing made no response. In fact, despite having XLR8 in its hands, it was not doing much of anything.
"Nomu! Finish him!" Came a cry.
"Ah beans." XLR8 sighed as he realized he was being raised up. This was going to hurt.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
"AHHHHH!" XLR8 cried out as he was flung into the concrete. Nomu relentlessly raised XLR8 in his fist again and again as he swung the lithe figure by its tail into the ground repeatedly! XLR8 had a faceguard, but even that wasn't helping much when something with gargantuan strength was smashing you into the ground again and again and again!
Eventually the slamming stopped and the Nomu arced his arm back into a throwing position. XLR8 realized what he was doing a second before and braced himself the best he could. The beast took a second to collect its strength before heaving it's arm around throwing XLR8 as hard as it could!
XLR8 was sent flying, and hit the ground tumbling like a ragdoll! Skidding painfully across the concrete, XLR8 started catching some air with how hard he was thrown. He came to a halt when his left side slammed into the edge of the hole the Nomu made in the first shed-structure it had barged into when the fight first began. With only half of his body slowing down, XLR8 was sent into a spin as he crashed into the shed and hit the other side. Hard. Villains and heroes-in-training alike looked at the shed's new entrance.
A flash of red light burst from the interior.
Nothing came out.
"What a surprise that one was." Tomura uttered as he scratched his neck. "I don't recognize that hero. A new one? Maybe a student? Either way, he never stood a chance against this Nomu. He was created to fight All Might after all. No way some random spawns in and stands a chance."
The hand-villain aimed his gaze towards the gathering of students near the gate. They were all looking at the shed, but seeing that red light must have been something bad for them because they were looking even more panicked than before. Arms over mouths, shaking, hands over heads, they were clearly in distress. Tomura let his smirk grow. There was no medic nearby, so Eraserhead and N. 13 were still down. The new hero had made a valiant effort, but was now disposed of. The students now looked like they couldn't fight even if their lives depended on it. Which it would in a minute.
"Do not forget." Reminded Kurogiri from his side. "The pro heroes are on their way. I estimate we have about ten minutes maximum before they arrive."
"Ah, right. It is unfortunate we lost the cannon fodder, but Nomu is still in excellent condition and all enemies have been disposed of. Let's finish what we started. Nomu!" The black beast turned it's head around at its master's call.
"Finish them." Pointing his finger at the small group, the message was clear. The Nomu started moving forward, raising its arms for another assault. Then a voice pierced the air.
"Hey, we aren't done yet!"
Tomura spun around in disbelief. That voice, it sounded like that new hero! But how? Nomu had pulverized him against the ground and flung him against a steel wall! Most heroes would have just died from that amount of damage, let alone get back up for round two! However, as Tomura turned his gaze towards the shed where the mysterious warrior was thrown a minute before, his eyes widened even further. Beside him, Kurogiri let out a gasp of astonishment. This was not the same hero!
Climbing out of the shed's hole was a massive red giant with a powerful build that rivaled even that of All Might. Four narrow yellow eyes locked onto the Nomu and four muscular arms gripped the edges of the hole to hoist him out. As this new figure climbed out, he finally unveiled his true height, straightening his back and rolling his neck.
"The warm-up is over!" The giant called out as a confident smile grew on his face. The new hero started moving forward, towards the Nomu that responded to the challenge by also approaching. Cracking his knuckles, Four Arms let out a chuckle.
"The real fight begins now!"