I've hit a tough spot in my main story of interest, You Had Me At Meow, which I am slowly trudging through bit by bit. I refuse to abandon it between starting school full-time, working full-time, and having a meager personal life. I write fanfiction as a way to de-stress, and in addition to writing Meow, my mind has run with a few other story ideas as well. This one managed to get far enough that I felt it sufficient to share. It may prove to be a stand-alone chapter or maybe added to in the future according to my whim. Expect it to be written rather sparsely and quick-paced.

This is a short and random plot inspired by a simple idea: Hidan from Naruto adapted as a character into the My Hero Academia universe. Swearing ahead (Obviously. I mean, it's HIDAN).

Bleedin' Psycho's Debut

As the young heroes of Class 1-A collapsed into their beds after a vigorous day two of summer camp training, outside a sinister wind was brewing. Shadowed figures gathered on a cliff. Masked faces turned to the glow from the building below where unsuspecting teachers planned lessons late into the night. Lessons that would never come to pass on this fateful trip, as we all know…

The largest figure on the hill shifted forward, coiling with anticipation. Muscular. "I'm itching… itching to go… Let's hurry up and move!"

A much smaller figure shook his head, obscured by a mask with military stars. Mustard. "It's too soon. Besides, as I already told you, there's no need to do anything flashy."

"Yeah. But who died and made you boss?" Blue eyes and an macabre smile. Dabi. "This will just be a signal fire. We'll fill those heroes full of holes and put them in their place. All for a brighter future."

The single female of the group looked bored, unimpressed by his convictions. Himiko. "Sure, but I mean… this is no good. Not cute at all."

"Our shadowy orchestrator has planned everything. Despite appearances, there is sure to be sound reasoning behind it all," Mustard reasoned.

"Not asking about any of that. Just saying this isn't cute," Toga shot back.

"Who the hell cares? Let's get down there. My blood's pumping over here!" Muscular's knuckles cracked in growing irritation, veins in his arm popping as muscle fibers rippled and gathered uneasily beneath the skin.

"Shut up, you wackjobs. Not yet… we wait until all eleven are here." Dabi turned, alerted to a sound in the trees.

Heavy boots announced the arrival of the expected parties. "Sorry to keep you waiting." Magne's thick lips spread in a perky, if not menacing, greeting smile.

A reptilian man stepped out to her right with a smile to match, tightening his headband. Spinner.

The slim man on her left wrapped in black and restraints whined. "Job… a job…" Moonfish.

A hand patted Moonfish's back, as one might do in affection to a pet. The final member of their group presented himself, distinctive purple eyes crinkled in a manner that matched the smiling red oni mask with long white canines that obscured the lower half of his face.

"We would have been here sooner, but this guy wanted to stop for a snack on the way."

In his other hand, he carried a formidable, red triple-bladed scythe. He gave it a lazy spin and stopped it with the blades pointed at Moonfish's face beside him. The outline of dried bloodstains still on the sharp edges stood out in the moonlight. "How could I turn down a face like that?" Moonfish gave another whine.

Muscular paused in his growing impatience, eyes flicking to their final addition. His lips pulled back sharply in a smile, voice pleased. "Well, I'll be damned. They got you in on this, too. Bleedin' Psycho."

The oni-masked villain chuckled, settling the scythe on his shoulder. "Long time no see. Meat-Headed Bastard."

Muscular took the comment well with a dark chuckle.

Dabi squinted at them, on the edge of disapproval. "You weren't spotted, I hope."

The oni mask smiled at him. "Not by anyone still living."

Dabi relaxed. "Hmph… I suppose I shouldn't have worried, with this group." He turned his eyes back down to the building below. "Doesn't matter how many punks with ambition you bring. That only increases the risks. It's far better to have a small number of experienced elites."

The group smiled in collective approval, energy building in anticipation of the hunt.

"First, we'll make them understand: That their peace rests in our hands."

The students trained on the third day, sharpening their skills to face villainous threats that they never could have imagined had crept so close. As night fell, they began their test of courage. All seemed to be going well until the first trickles of smoke began seeping through the trees. The first students of Class 1-B fell unconscious to the gas. Something was wrong, they finally noticed. But it was already too late to stop what had been set in motion.

The forest burned under Dabi's smoldering fingertips, blue flames licking the skies and lighting up the danger in his eyes. "Let's begin. Put them in their places… League of Villains' Vanguard Action Squad."

A cute shadow crept through the trees, stalking two pretty little things. Holdings hands in comfort. Ochaco, Asui… so cute.

"Stay out of our way, kitty cats." One crushed beneath their heel, they grinned at the horrified students.

The largest shadow crept up to the ideal vantage point. And what should he find, but a little treat waiting for him at the top? "By the way, that hat's pretty slick, kid."

And now, for the final thread.

"In today's remedial lesson, we'll be drilling you on what to do in emergency situations."

A lesson one day too late.

"Everyone! We're under attack by two villains! And there might be more out there!"

Eraser spun out the door. "Vlad, take care of the students here. I'm heading to protect the others." His hurried footsteps echoed down the hall. How did our location get leaked?! I'd rather not imagine… His thought froze along with his feet when he stepped out into the light. Light. It was night. The forest was on fire.

"Always worrying about others, huh, Eraser Head?"

Not a student's voice. Eraser Head's head spun, eyes flashing on instinct as flames flickered to life on Dabi's hand. "VLAD!"

The flames engulfed the space where the hero stood, and Dabi smirked. "You Pro Heroes stay out of the way. You're not the ones we've got a beef with."

"Hahaha!" Oni approached from the tree line with a bared grin. "Hot damn, Dabi!" He stopped, pointing his scythe. "… But you missed."

Dabi's eyes shifted up over his dying flames to where Eraser had dodged on a mere second's notice to the door frame. "Well… guess that's a pro for ya."

Erasure coiled down on his knees, eyes laser-focused on the villain. Dabi's heated hand stretched out again. Eraser's red glare didn't leave him as he lunged down. "Not gonna work." His Capturing Weapon wrapped around Dabi, who stumbled back in surprise.

"Woah!"

Eraser tugged on the cloth, his knee racing down to meet Dabi's face with a solid jab. An expert spin and half a second later, Dabi's forehead was cracking on the dirt with Eraser keeping him there, body weight on his back and a hand firmly on the back of his head. The Pro had a mind to keep them there, too, were it not for the whistling of wind that tipped him off.

His eyes flicked up as he crouched flat against the detained villain's back, avoiding the large three-bladed scythe that whizzed by over his head. His gaze caught on the metal cable wobbling in the air, attached to the end of the scythe's handle. The cable went taut, and with a mechanical whiz, it started pulling back rapidly. Eraser's eyes widened.

A scythe on a retractable cable?!

He abandoned the villain on the ground, diving forward in a roll and spinning around. His intuition proved correct as the retracted scythe passed over the villain again, lower this time to where Eraser had been a moment before and would surely have been struck had he stayed. He tracked its path back to its wielder, observing that the mechanical whizzing of the coil emanated from a cable box on his lower back. The scythe met his hand and he gave it a light twirl as if warming up. Eraser Head stood up, eyeing him warily with the eyes of a logical tactician.

Male, early twenties, above-average height, muscular build. A ragged black jacket littered by holes with a gray fur-lined hood, no shirt, maroon pants, black boots. A reversed pentagram medallion hung around his neck on a chain: cult affiliation or style choice? A half-mask styled as a smiling oni with long canines obscured half his face, but his purple eyes and light gray, slicked-back hair could be identifiable later. Primary weapon was a red scythe with three long blades; large, impractical. Its cable box attachment was supported by a thick gray belt around his waist, and there were pouches on it, too. Secondary weapons? From the way the villain was lunging forward, perhaps Eraser would find out.

"Dabi, you weak fuck!"

Eraser unwound another loop of cloth as he moved forward. Dabi? The villain on the ground? Cloth streaked forward, but the oni-faced villain dodged with ease, throwing his scythe at Eraser. The Pro dodged with equal grace. The villain grabbed the cable and tugged making the scythe flick erratically to follow Eraser as its cable started retracting. He eyed its trajectory and dodged, launching his own attack with cloth and speed. Oni took his scythe back in hand and swiped the air, catching Eraser's coils between the tri-blades. His eyes crinkled with an unhinged laugh as he twirled the scythe, winding up the cloth in the blades then throwing it behind him, captured cloth strands traveling away with it.

"Fetch, you fucker!"

Erasure squinted and immediately loosed the Capturing Weapon from around his neck as he lost a good portion of its length to the distance. Trying to tangle me up. This guy was skilled, using a cumbersome weapon in an instant like that. I won't cut you any slack. The Pro continued forward, aiming to close the gap, but the villain leaped back. Heat and light tickled his periphery, and Erasure quickly changed his direction to the reverse also.

A wall of blue flame filled the space between them, incinerating the captured coils of the Capturing Weapon stretched between. Eraser quickly shifted his gaze to Dabi, the villain up off the ground though looking worse for wear. The flames sputtered to a stop in his hand as Eraser's eyes found him, but Dabi was smiling. The sound of the flames bursting hid the mechanical whiz of the cable and the swish of the scythe's blades as the villain retracted the weapon under the cover of the flames and flung it forward through the inferno, taking a bet as he aimed at where Eraser had been standing before the flames obscured their view of each other. The hero wasn't looking for it this time.

The topmost blade of the scythe sliced Eraser's left shoulder on its way past him; a deep slice. The unexpected assault of pain was enough to startle him, his eyelids blinking. He grimaced as his hair fell, gaze twisting forward again to the oni-faced villain already on the move towards him. Coordinating their ranged attacks like that—!

He shifted to the right being mindful of the scythe's return course to its master on his left, the cable already whizzing. But another burst of flame on his right kept him from getting too far to the side, corralling him in. He sent a quick glare at Dabi again, but it was no use. The result of his injuries from USJ, the delay between his uses of Erasure, was in effect. Two against one, with no Quirk. These guys are too dangerous.

Erasure pulled back to the front of the building, taking a defensive position. There were pillars to either side of the door and of course the railing above that offered strategic options.

"What the hell?! Dabi, you said these U.A. bastards were the best of the best! Don't go scampering off now, vermin! Not until I've exterminated you! Hahahaha!"

Oni lunged forward swiping off the remains of the tattered Capturing Weapon from his scythe with an unhinged laugh as he closed the gap. Erasure took coils of cloth in each hand, ignoring the sting of his shoulder as he prepared to meet him. And then the door burst open behind him.

Vlad King's bulk shifted past his comrade in a blur, a snarl on his face as he threw a right punch at the oni-masked villain, blood already seeping out of the holes in his glove.

The villain dodged right, swinging his scythe for Vlad's left side simultaneously. Vlad adjusted his attack, right hand opening to grab the swinging scythe with animated blood splitting into grasping fingers. The weapon came to a stop as Vlad's gloved hand took a firm hold of it by the handle just below the blades. The liquid blood tendrils coiled around the blades then hardened, securing the weapon. The villain's distinctive purple eyes locked onto the red substance, a gleam in them. "Oh, ho ho…"

Vlad squinted at the villain's apparent amusement as he smiled beneath the grinning oni mask. "There's nothing funny about this, villain!"

"He's fast, Vlad. That scythe is on a retractable cab—" Eraser's voice cut off as an ominous rumble caught all of their attentions.

BOOOooOOOoMMM…!

Eraser stiffened, eyes flicking up. "What was that…?"

"Good news for us, I bet." Eraser and Vlad moved as Dabi's blue flames burst forward again with both heroes in his path this time. Vlad liquefied his blood and pulled away. The villain's crinkled purple eyes didn't leave the sanguine substance as he swiped the scythe through it with a malicious laugh then retreated from the heat of Dabi's flames.

"Sensei!" Iida's voice. Eraser's head snapped up to the tree-line where Iida, Mineta, Ojiro, and Koda had arrived.

Dabi peered at them over his shoulder, a predatory look in his eye. "Awww, your precious students…" He raised his hand towards the children, flames flickering at his fingertips.

Eraser was locked onto him in an instant, eyes flashing red again with a vengeance and cloth lashing forward. The coils wrapped around Dabi, pinning his arms at his sides as the Pro leaped onto his back like a cat, pinning him to the ground again.

The on-looking students were stunned. "Woah! Down in three seconds, flat!" Ojiro seemed inspired.

Mineta gloated. "That's our sensei!"

"Students, get inside."

"Ah, right! Let's go, everyone!" Iida took charge, the students followed his lead and started running past the fighting.

Eraser's glare stayed focused on Dabi without concern for the other villain this time. "Vlad, the scythe-wielder is yours."

Vlad gave a gruff sound in confirmation, glaring at the villain in question as he flexed his glove, blood pumping out of the holes in short spears. "Not that it's a competition or anything, Eraser, but three seconds is all I'll need."

The villain laughed. "You must be a disappointing fuck!"

Vlad lunged forward. The villain twirled his scythe slowly up, the lowest blade passing in front of his mask. There was a slit between the oni mask's teeth, enough space allowing his tongue to slip through and lick the Blood Hero's collected blood from the blade. "I was going to kill the other guy first, but you've offered yourself up on a silver platter." He leaped back easily from Vlad's charge as his skin darkened. White skeletal markings stood out in contrast across his bare chest, face, and hands.

His Quirk? Vlad squinted. Not going to let you!

The villain's free hand slipped into a pouch on the belt and flicked outward, snapping the retractable metal spear into its full length. The hero advanced, undeterred as the villain raised the spear above himself in glee.

"I'll show you a three-second victory!"

"Your objective, numbers, and positions. Spill it." Eraser focused on the villain 'Dabi' beneath him.

Dabi peered up at him defiantly. "Why should I?"

Boom… BOOooOOmm… More rumbles in the distance and Eraser Head was out of patience. "Because of this!" Eraser snapped back Dabi's arm with an audible pop sounding as he dislocated it. "Your right arm's next. Let's do this rationally. If I get as far as your legs, it'll be a hassle for the arresting officers."

"SENSEI!" Mineta screamed.

Why aren't they moving? "Get inside!" He barked, but his irritation died when he saw the horror on the frozen students' faces. They were looking at—Eraser spun his gaze around, and then it was his turn to be startled.

The oni-masked villain was standing still with his arms spread to either side, palm up. Strange black and white markings had appeared all over his body. His eyes were blissful and half-open—euphoric, even. He seemed suddenly at peace…

Save for the spear stabbed through his chest. Right through his heart.

Vlad had frozen in front of him, stunned into abandoning his aggression with his mouth agape. "He… He just stabbed himself…!"

Eraser couldn't logically comprehend it either. Committing suicide here?! Why the hell would he—

The body under him suddenly moved, and Eraser's attention was pulled to the matter at hand. He quickly scrambled back as Dabi lurched forcibly up to his feet, throwing the hero off.

"With this much damage… I'm just about done for. Quite worthy of being an instructor at U.A. Ain't that right, hero?" Dabi sneered at Eraser.

The hero gave a firm tug on his cloth, unmoved by the villain. But then his cloth cut through the villain, his body bisected into dissolving liquid. Eraser's eyes widened. So that flame attack wasn't his Quirk?! First the other one's suicide, and now this?!

The crumbling Dabi gave one final sneer. "Hope you got what it takes to protect them… from that psycho." The villain completely crumpled into a liquid goo, disappearing for good.

"Sensei! What the heck's going on?!" Mineta's panicked voice. Eraser's eyes turned back to the bizarre scene unfolding behind him.

The self-impaled villain stirred, mirthful laughter rising up from him as he took hold of the spear and ripped it violently out of his chest with a spray of blood. "Let me share it with you… the ecstasy of death!" His voice was wild and deranged. The wound gushed blood for a moment, and then the tissues began to move, stitching themselves back together, healing.

Vlad suddenly jerked. "Gah!" He stumbled, bending forward with his hands clamping to his chest as he was struck by agonizing pain rippling through it. What is this?! My chest! Something unseen was ripping, tearing, gnawing his flesh apart. Warm liquid trickled down into his hands and Vlad pulled them away. He stared at the blood, his blood coating his fingers, and looked down at himself to the site of his chest tearing itself open, blood pulsing forth. He couldn't breathe, sinking to his knees under the paralysis of sudden weakness that took hold of his shocked nervous system as his heart was ripped open.

He could feel the blood seeping into his body cavity with his Quirk. Too quickly. The blood was already draining from his face as he folded over on himself with forehead nearly to the ground, head spinning, eyes wide, and mouth hanging open. A feeling of absolute dread crushing his senses. Damaged heart limping a panicked beat, adrenaline surging futilely, breaths turned to rapid struggling gasps, sparks creeping into his vision, brain turning to static as the oxygen supply faltered. He was dying.

"It's wonderful, isn't it?" Black boots stepped into Vlad's blurring vision. "That crescendo of sensation building to the climax of life. Every cell in your body giving everything they've got to try and keep it going. It's euphoria." He lifted the spear above Vlad's bent back, his purple eyes wild with purpose.

"Death… is the pinnacle moment of living."

"VLAAAD!"

Eraser's voice cut through the ringing filling Vlad's ears. Urgent, frantic, even. He'd never heard that tone from the man before. It was enough to jolt his dimming senses. Vlad's eyes sharpened, forcing away the blurring at the edges. Teeth clenched shut in a bared grimace as he pressed his hand flat to the chest wound. Blood Manipulation.

Blood loss. The blood pulsing into his body cavity and out onto the ground lifted, wobbled, then steadied pulling back into his emptied vessels at his command. Repair. He focused deeply into the core of his chest, surrounding his damaged heart with clotted blood. It was a clot that would never occur naturally. If he let up on the invisible, self-created wall made by his Quirk for even a second it would burst. But it would do for now. Circulation. His heart was sealed but wounded still. A damaged pump wouldn't keep him going for long. I must… keep it moving. His torso expanded with deep, steadying breaths as he turned and flattened out on his back, pushing aside the natural rise of panic at his mortal, tenuous position to focus only on manually pushing the blood forward in time with the limping gate of his heart. And now… time. There was nothing more he could do on his own. Only keep it moving until help arrived.

"Vlad King-sensei!" Hands on his shoulder.

"What do we do, Iida?!" Ojiro looked to their class rep for direction while Koda seemed frozen with his hands close to himself.

"We move him inside!"

Mineta squealed, hands raised to his head in hysteria. "But there's a hole in his chest!"

"We get him to safety!" Iida said again firmly, keeping his voice level despite the panicked looks of his classmates. "And we call for help!" The incident not so long ago with Stain had prepared him for emergencies like this.

Class 1-A. They're good kids. He didn't like to admit to Eraser Head's face, but Vlad was proud of them, too. With his eyes cracked open, Vlad watched them blurrily as Iida dictated their path then dashed ahead of them as a blur to get to the phone in the building. Ojiro and Koda lifted each end of his body, Mineta took the door, and together they took him inside. He cast a glance to the battle ongoing before it left his sights, combatants flicking about with deadly agility. Sorry… Eraser. I don't even know… what it was he did. He let his eyes slide closed. Circulate… keep it moving, until… help.

"VLAAAD!"

It was always a possibility that his colleagues would die. It came with the territory of their line of work. Eraser knew that far too well. But on his watch? Right in front of his eyes? Only over his own dead body.

His Capturing Weapon had been considerably shortened by the preceding fighting, but he had plenty left to let loose for the hand of the oni-masked villain holding the spear over Vlad. Oni looked startled by the coils of cloth that trapped his arm. He looked up in time for Eraser's kick to smash into his face, the pro's teeth bared.

Oni was knocked back several meters but rolled with it. "Fuck!" Aizawa took a low stance between him and Vlad as the students rushed forward to the fallen teacher. Whoever this villain was, he was absolutely dangerous, and Eraser wouldn't let him near anyone else.

"Vlad King-sensei!"

"What do we do, Iida?!"

"We move him inside!"

"But there's a hole in his chest!"

"We get him to safety! And we call for help!"

Iida was handy to have around. Eraser could entrust Vlad to him and focus solely on the matter at hand. He watched the villain as he seemed to get back to his feet easily enough, slicing the Capturing Weapon from his arm with a pissed swipe of his scythe and pulling at the mask on his face. "What the hell man…" Several shards scattered the ground, then it fell away from his face completely into large shards. "You almost ruined my winning smile."

Eraser's dark look didn't budge at the villain's bared, animalistic grin made all the more unsettling by the markings his skin had acquired. His Quirk? "What did you do to Vlad King?"

He cocked his head casually. "Who?"

"The hero on the ground."

"Oh, that bloody bastard! I killed him, that's what!" His eyes gleamed as he flicked his scythe up by his face. His tongue darted out along the topmost blade, across the blood collected from Eraser's shoulder near the very beginning of their fight. "And now… it's your turn."

Eraser's eyes flashed red.

The villain twitched as he felt the intangible tug of his Quirk deactivating and the markings on his skin faded. He looked down at himself in surprise. "Huh? What the hell?!" He glared at Aizawa's glowing red gaze. "You fucker, what'd you do?!"

"What is your Quirk?" Eraser said instead, ignoring him with a glare. He was certain of it now; the way the villain talked and reacted, those markings were essential to his Quirk.

The villain didn't answer his question, either, snarling instead. "Fuck you, man!"

"Moron." A third voice entered the fray, catching both of their attentions. "That's his Quirk, Erasure." Dabi stepped out of the tree-line, cocking his head. "Don't you remember the briefing? Dumbass."

Eraser's eyes widened. There was another one of him?

The scythe-wielder puffed indignantly. "How the hell am I supposed to remember every damn student and Pro's dumbass Quirk, huh Smartass?!"

"Whatever. Enough talk." Dabi sneered at Eraser. "Our mission isn't over yet."

Eraser tensed as the villains focused on him. Back to two-on-one, and there was no one to back him up this time. With a vicious smile and a flick of his scythe, the villain rushed forward, and Eraser moved forward to meet him. They moved swiftly exchanging attacks in a deadly whirl of metallic cloth, blade, and flames. Eraser's eyes couldn't stay still between trying to counter Dabi's flames and not allowing openings for the other villain. Scythe was keen on targeting his left side, sensing the slight weakening of the muscles in his shoulder from his deep slice earlier. They didn't give him a single opportunity to gain ground, moving perfectly in-sync with their ranged attacks and the scythe-wielder's close-range prowess. Elite villains. If there were others out there at this caliber…

"Man! Like catching a damn eel!" The villain laughed as he came at him again. "Just let me see more of your blood, already! I'm getting thirsty!" The, frankly insane one, wasn't slowing down at all. Eraser gritted his teeth as he dodged another combined attack of scythe and flame then paused, panting with eyes flicking continuously between them through his fallen hair.

"You're getting slower, Eraser. Tired?" Dabi sneered from his comfortable distance. "It's been a while since I've seen your eyes lit up."

Eraser didn't reply, refusing to rise to their attempts to rile him up. It didn't matter if they killed him. As long as they were here fighting him, it meant that they weren't going after the students. He was the only thing that stood between the students and Vlad in the building behind him and this danger. Even if it's over my dead body.

"Aizawa-sensei!"

His eyes widened and he turned his head. "Midori—" His voice died when he saw the state his trouble child was in. He did it again. Bloodied, battered and bruised, both his arms mangled, especially the right. Crushed your bones to dust.

Midoriya wobbled closer, speaking in wheezing breaths with Kota peering over his shoulder worriedly from on Midoriya's back. "Sensei! It's really bad! There's a lot I've gotta tell you, but—"

"Hey now, there's a face on the list."

Midoriya's eyes shifted to the villains, just noticing them for the first time through the haze of his injuries. They widened. Two more villains?!

"As a matter fact," the villain continued with a gleam in his purple eyes. "I remember your face being right at the top."

Dabi snorted. "So, you remembered something from the briefing after all."

"Midoriya, get inside!" Erasure ordered, his body tense. This was exactly what he didn't want to have happen. These men were predators, he could see it in their eyes already. They had just locked onto some very vulnerable prey.

Midoriya didn't process it, his mind still buzzing from his fight with Muscular. "There're villains here, too…?" His eyes suddenly sharpened. The list the villain mentioned. "W-Wait, Sensei, there's something Mandalay has to hear!"

"Get inside! Now!" Dammit, cooperate. Whatever it was, it could wait.

"Oh hey, now, let the brat speak," The purple-eyed villain said with a faux polite smile, leaning on his scythe casually as he eyed Midoriya's injuries up and down. "And while we're at it, I've got a question for him, too."

Midoriya looked at him warily, and Eraser tensely. He wanted to talk? That was a first beyond his excessive profanity.

Dabi looked thoroughly unimpressed. "We don't have time for this."

The villain ignored him. "Those injuries… there's only one heavy-hitter on this team who could pull that off, and he'd never let anyone escape alive." He cocked his head a little, sounding incredulous. "Don't tell me you beat Muscular?"

Midoriya's eyes widened, and Eraser tensed. Muscular was a villain name he recognized. And Midoriya had fought him? If that was true then… his fear about an elite villain squad was confirmed.

The villain judged Midoriya's expression as an affirmation of his guess and cackled. "Well, I'll be damned! I guess that makes two of us who beat that Meat-Headed Bastard!"

Midoriya nearly choked on his breath. "Y-You beat Muscular…?" The villain who nearly killed him by playing?

"It's a pretty good jaunt, eh?" The villain chuckled. "Beat the shit out of that guy the first time we met. He's of the same mind as me... goading him into doing exactly what I wanted was easy."

"Enough. Storytime is over," Dabi interjected impatiently.

"Hmph." He twirled his scythe up into a readied stance. "Yeah. Let's pay it forward for Muscular and kill this brat for real."

"Midoriya, RUN! That's an order!" Eraser's no-nonsense voice was in full effect.

The boy froze, indecision gripping his frayed mind. Run, Aizawa-sensei said so. No! Mandalay, Bakugo, so many villains! What should he do, what should he—

"Midoriya-kun!" Iida.

His eyes snapped to the front of the building where Iida had just burst through the door. "Iida-kun!" Iida looked astounded at the state of his friend's injuries.

Dabi pointed his hand at Midoriya with a smirk. "Bye-bye."

Eraser and Scythe moved at the same, the hero towards Midoriya and the villain towards the hero. Eraser didn't have eyes for him nor Erasure ready for Dabi, the interval having gotten longer and longer. Instead, he thrust his Capturing Weapon at Midoriya, hoping to intercept the flames and pull him out of the way before they reached him. He could see that the student was barely standing as it was. He might have reached him with the cloth, too, were it not for an even swifter blur that brushed his periphery.

Blue flames engulfed empty space, incinerating the ends of Eraser's empty coils. Midoriya and Kota were gathered safely in Iida's arms as he skidded on stretched legs to a halt on the other side of the blast. Eraser's lip twitched. Iida sure was handy to have around. And then his eyes flicked to the shadow on his left. He hadn't been watching him.

Eraser was forced backwards onto the ground, managing to twist far enough to avoid taking a blade through his face, but steel cut into his left arm that he had thrown up in defense with his right palm sliced on the blades from trying to push them aside. Purple eyes leered down at him. "Finally got you to bleed." His lips pulled back as he lifted the weapon. "Let's see some more—!"

A shadow the villain didn't see, but Eraser did. Iida, still carrying Midoriya and Kota in his arms, twisted mid-air with a kick aimed for the villain's left side packed with full force. The blow connected well, sending the villain flying a number of meters while Iida skidded to a halt. Midoriya looked stunned from his vantage point against Iida's chest. Iida-kun's gotten even faster!

Just in time! Thanks to our training, I've gotten faster at the sub-50 meters. Iida looked at Eraser in concern.

"Sensei! Are you alright?!"

"Don't worry about me. Get inside," Eraser rose quickly, though his feet were heavier than he'd have liked as he ignored the pain in his left arm and gathered another handful of capturing material in his left, favoring his sliced right hand.

"Don't think so," Dabi lifted his hand to stop them, but no flames came out. He jerked as metallic fabric coiled around his torso.

Eraser's hair was lifted, eyes gleaming again. "I'll handle this."

Midoriya protested. "Wait! I have to tell Mandalay! Kota, and Kachan…! Kachan!"

"I'll tell Mandalay," Iida said, looking down at his friend.

"There's no time to explain here!" Midoriya seemed to be nearly hyperventilating from the stress and adrenaline, his limbs trembling.

"Then I'll take you to her."

Midoriya quieted and looked up at him. Iida was smiling, his presence reassuring. "You can count on me."

Eraser's eyes didn't leave Dabi, but he listened. "Iida, have Mandalay tell everyone this." Iida looked up. "It's okay to fight back." The class rep's eyes widened a little as he understood the meaning, and then he nodded at his approval.

"Right. Kota, run inside, the others are there."

"O-Okay…"

Iida's eyes shifted to Eraser as he crouched for Kota. "Aizawa-sensei, I came outside to tell you—Vlad King is hanging in there, and help is on the way."

"… Good work. Now go."

Eraser leaped forward as Kota climbed out of Iida's arms behind him and ran for the safety of the door. He pulled Dabi down to the ground and stomped on his head, watching it turn to goo. Figured as much. His eyes lifted to watch Iida as he ran with Midoriya still in his arms at top speed. It was the logical choice to send him with Iida. Midoriya's in no condition to think rationally right now, and Iida's taken charge tonight. His eyes flicked in approval back to the remaining villain as he pulled himself up off the ground patting the side Iida had kicked, acting in an instant. Against villains like this, they've got no choice. This is a matter of survival!

Iida's smile was replaced by a look of serious determination as he sprinted through the woods. A hero fast enough to save everyone… I'll be that hero tonight!

The purple-eyed villain got up from the ground, watching Iida go with a sinister smirk as he patted the side where he'd been kicked.

"That brat got the drop on me."

His praise ended as metallic cloth whipped towards him. Leaping away, he shifted his attention to the hero closing in on him. "I'll be sure to savor him when I'm done with you!"

Steel cable and cloth, blades and technique, brawn and cunning. Villain and hero held their own against each other for yet another round. However, it was apparent this time that one was gaining an edge. The wound on his shoulder, his arm, and his hand were hindering Eraser. His Capturing Weapon also had been cut down to half its length from the strategies of the villains. And lastly, his endurance and speed were waning in the face of their other man's youth, muscularity, and bloodlust. Eraser knew it, but he refused to dwell on it. Even the direst of situations could be turned around with one logically-timed counter-attack.

"Students! Eraser Head says: It's okay to fight back! Protect yourselves. And also: One of the villain's targets has been identified! It's the student known as Kachan! Kachan needs to avoid battle! And don't make any move alone! Everyone get that?! Kachan!

Good, they got to Mandalay. It was a small relief to Eraser, though Midoriya's message passed through her was troubling as well.

"Why are you targeting Bakugo Katsuki?" He didn't know if the villain would bother replying, but he had surprised the hero earlier when conversing with Midoriya.

"Beats me," the villain replied flippantly, somersaulting over Eraser's coils and out of reach.

Tch. Eraser figured it had been a long shot.

"Like I'd believe that crap!"

Kirishima?! Eraser's eyes whipped around to the front of the building, confirming the voice he'd heard. Hands in fists and teeth bared angrily at the villain. And terrifyingly to the hero, he wasn't alone, either, with Ashido, Kaminari, and Sero behind him looking riled up, scared, and anxious, respectively.

"Get back inside!" Eraser snapped at them.

"But sensei, you said it was okay to fight back!" Kirishima argued back heatedly.

"This is not what I meant!" They were going to need to have a lesson on the subject after this, clearly.

"See? I told you that's what he'd say…" Sero murmured nervously earning a nod of agreement from an equally concerned-looking Kaminari

Kirishima growled, his fists tightening. "I can't hide in here while my friends are out there fighting! Not after what they did to Vlad King! Not when you're right outside fighting and getting hurt for us again! They're after Bakugo! I can't take that sitting back doing nothing!"

"Bakugo, Bakugo, Bakugo. Why's everybody so fuckin' obsessed with that guy?" The villain surprised Eraser by speaking again, pulling their attention back to him. The man looked annoyed.

"That handsy fucker, the green-headed brat, Eraserfuck, and now this other brat—I don't see why we're after him. Saying he'd kill people left and right on TV—fucking pretender. He lacked conviction." His arms spread wide; eyes gleaming. "When you say you're going to kill someone, you kill them for real. He devalues life by dishonoring death. Death is sacred. It is the pinnacle moment of living! The thing we strive to deny, to outrace all our lives! Someone who treats death so lightly cannot understand the deepest depths of life." He lifted his scythe and pointed it at Kirishima, his gaze piercing straight through the boy. "As his friend… I'll have you show him the way. With your death, he'll be enlightened to what it means to be alive!"

The four students stood paralyzed; breath choked out of them by the bloodlust in the villain's eyes aimed straight for them. This guy was nothing like the fodder villains they fought at USJ. This was what a real killer looked like; a madman.

"That's enough nonsense." Eraser broke the spell, cutting in with his coils lashing forward and moving between the villain and the children.

Kaminari took a step back, his knees feeling weak. "That freak's insane! It's not worth it!"

"Come on, Kirishima. Let's go back inside!" Sero urged.

Kirishima hesitated, his resolve weakened as he watched his sensei and the villain resume their fight. How could he even pretend to keep up with a fight like that? Was he just kidding himself with those words of bravado? His fists loosened and his foot shifted to the side, head turning to look back at his friends and the door back inside. Kaminari looked petrified, Sero panicked, and Ashido—

Ashido was looking at the battle. Her hands were in fists, her body looking almost ready to move but frozen in place. She wasn't smiling. Her eyes slid to lock with his. Questioning and uncertain. What do we do, Kirishima?

Kirishima's eyes sharpened. Ashido…!

His hands tightened again into fists and he turned straight again. "Heroes… don't turn back." His friends stiffened, looking at him sharply.

"The only direction they run… is straight ahead!" Kirishima dashed forward, his teeth bared for battle. I won't freeze this time, not with a villain right in front of me again! Not in front of Ashido! That pathetic old me is dead! A life without any regrets… That's how a real man dies!

Kaminari watched him run forward in utter disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me." Ashido slapped his shoulder, making him jump.

"Come on! He's not fighting alone!" She dashed after Kirishima with a smile she forced to her face in defiance of her fear. That's not the same-old gloomy face as before, Kirishima!

"Seriously? Ugh, fine…!" Kaminari followed with less enthusiasm. We're so gonna die.

Sero paused for a moment in deliberation of returning to the door, then sighed and followed. Nah, I can't let those idiots go alone… I hope we live long enough for sensei to kill us after.

Eraser gritted his teeth, their voices having not escaped his notice. Damn teenagers don't listen.

The villain swiped a hand into a pouch on his belt and sharply flicked it out towards Kirishima charging straight for him, smirking as the retractable spear gleamed on its path straight for the student.

Eraser wheeled around. "Move!" There was no way to stop it in time as he watched it.

Kirishima's course didn't waver, the spear aiming straight for his face. The tip struck and shattered against his hardened forehead, the body of the spear twirling up in a high arc as he passed under it without flinching.

It was a relief to Eraser, who turned his eyes back to the villain—the scythe was coming straight for him, thrown in combination with the spear but unnoticed thanks to Eraser's concern exploited. The blades stabbed into his right calf and thigh; a direct hit.

Erasure gritted his teeth and suppressed a sound of pain. The metal cable retracted making the blades ripped out of his leg violently, and his knee buckled dropping him to a crouch on the ground. The villain was already moving forward to meet his returning scythe, taking it in his hand with a gleeful laugh and heading straight for the wounded hero.

"Sensei!" The students cried out.

Erasure pulled himself up into an unbalanced stance on his good leg, staring the villain down with Capturing Weapon in his hands. The odds weren't favorable, but that didn't change the fact that he had to fight.

But Kirishima was running forward also. He adjusted his direction with the villain as he started towards his sensei, his skin hardening to the max as he intercepted him. The villain lifted his weapon and brought it down on the student.

"Die!"

Kirishima held steady, letting the scythe meet his hardened chest unharmed. His arms shot up and told hold of the scythe handle between the blades with a firm grip. Eye-to-eye, he glared fiercely at the villain pressing down with the blade. The villain looked back with his own wild intensity, teeth bared in a vicious smile.

"Hardened skin? Well, I can deal with that, too." He suddenly shifted forward, kneeing Kirishima in the abdomen. "I'll just beat the shit out you until you cough up blood!" Kirishima grimaced as the villain started to beat on him, but he refused to let go of the scythe as the two of them shifted this way and that with each of the villain's blows, the man unwilling to let go of the scythe, either. I can't let him hurt the others with this weapon! I'm the only one who can stop it like this!

"Hiya!" Corrosive liquid glittered in the air between Kirishima and the villain, splashing down on the weapon.

It hit the villain's hands and arms, and he let out a surprised growl as he let go of the weapon and scrambled back holding his arms up. "Gahhh! What the hell?!"

It hit Kirishima's arms, too, but he only blinked in surprise at the drops that splashed him; his skin softened with a sizzle, but the acid didn't hurt him through the toughened surface.

"It won't kill you, but you won't like it, either!" Ashido declared with a satisfied look on her smiling face.

"Thanks, Ashido!" Kirishima's eyes shifted to where Sero and Kaminari were with a grin. Kaminari! "Sero, catch!"

"Huh?" Sero flung his tape out as Kirishima threw the scythe back in his direction, cable wobbling in the air behind it. "Why would I need that thing?" He questioned, but still caught it with his tape and reeled it in, anyway.

Beside him, Kaminari's eyes lit up as he looked at the captured weapon pinned to the ground in front of him by Sero's tape, gaze following the metallic gleam of the cable all the way back to the cable box on the villain who was swearing loudly and trying to rub Ashino's acid off on his pants completely distracted. "The cable!" His trepidation from moments before vanished, replaced with a sudden, confident grin as his hands sparked to life. "I can go all out with metal!"

"Give it all you've got, Kaminari!" Ashido cheered as he took hold of the cable in both hands and Sero very wisely backed away.

"Heck, yeahhhhhh!" Indiscriminate Discharge 1,300,000 Volts! Electricity raced up the cable to the villain, lighting up the area with bright yellow light. It reached his body and he seized up as it coursed through him. When the light died out, the villain sunk to his knees, muscles paralyzed and twitching uncontrollably.

"Yeah~! Yeah~!" Short-circuited Kaminari gave a thumbs-up.

"We did it!" Ashido fist-pumped the air.

Sero looked stumped. "Huh. That almost went too smoothly." He shrugged and gave a relieved smile. "But I guess the three of us did work together before." And they had done pretty darn well in the cavalry battle, too.

"Uh-huh!" Kirishima smirked, softening his skin.

Their celebration was interrupted by Eraser's Capturing Weapon whipping forward and binding the villain, pinning his arms to his sides. They watched their sensei with a hint of trepidation creeping in as he studied the incapacitated villain in silence for a few moments to confirm his immobilization, then set his red eyes on them. All was silent for a moment, and then his coils lashed forward again.

"Eek!" A squeak was about all that made it out of them before he had them all bound together in a single bunch, heads conking together.

Eraser sucked in a breath and let them have it with a furious expression of stern authority. "THAT BEHAVIOR WAS ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE! WHEN I GIVE YOU AN INSTRUCTION, YOU LISTEN! NO BACKTALK! YOU DO NOT JEOPARDIZE YOUR OWN SAFETY! THE FOUR OF YOU ARE GOING TO BE BURIED IN REMEDIAL LESSONS FOR THE REST OF THE SUMMER UNTIL YOU GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULLS! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!"

Four meek voices replied, throbbing bonked heads bowed in shame. "Yes, Aizawa-sensei."

"I DIDN'T HEAR YOU!"

"YES, AIZAWA-SENSEI!"

He looked down at them sternly for another moment with his red glare, then his features relaxed with a sigh and he closed his eyes letting his hair drop and the coils loosen. It had been necessary to strike while the iron was hot before they had time to internalize their success at flaunting his authority. Their foolishness had caused him to be distracted and injured. Still, the fact that they were safe, that they had managed to work together so quickly against a formidable foe… Damn teenagers with their foolishness and ingenuity.

A dark chuckle caught his ear, and Eraser peered with narrowed eyes over his shoulder. Speaking of said foe.

"Man, if that's how you treat them when they won, I can't imagine what you'd do if they'd lost." The villain was watching them, looking highly amused as he focused on Eraser. "Would you kill them?" He asked the hero, looking absolutely pleased despite his predicament in a way that Eraser didn't trust at all. His muscles were still twitching, but the man had recovered quickly with exceptional durability.

Eraser turned and started limping towards him. "If you had things your way, they wouldn't be alive to lecture. I'm actually… rather glad that they won."

The students perked up slightly. It certainly wasn't a commendation of their actions, but it was no doubt the closest they would get to a compliment on their efforts. "Now, it's your turn. Your objective, numbers, and positions." Eraser stopped in front of the villain, glaring down at him and pulling his coils tighter while the villain just kept grinning. "Spill it. Now."

"Burn in hell," the villain shot back without skipping a beat.

Eraser was ready to punch his teeth out for real in addition to his mask, but before he could proceed to do so, blue flames erupted out of the trees and lit up the night. Eraser stumbled back on his wounded leg, resorting to leaping away from the flames that raced towards him and the villain and flat onto the ground, narrowly avoiding them. They surrounded the man kneeling on the ground in a flaming wall, incinerating the coil of fabric between him and Eraser.

"Interesting choice of words." Dabi stepped forward out of the tree line with a smirk. "Think I can oblige."

The villain looked over his shoulder with a joyful smile as Dabi walked up behind him. "Aw, hey! You're back, Smartass!"

"And you're getting your ass kicked by children." Dabi put a hand to the tied binding cloth still around the villain and combusted it by touch. "Pathetic."

The villain's smile vanished for a snarl. "You're one to talk! You've died twice while I've been holding them all alone, Smartass motherfucker!"

"Whatever." Dabi's expression turned more serious as his eyes flicked to the hero gathering himself up off the ground and the tense students. "The mission is complete. Get to the evacuation point."

Complete? Eraser and the students stiffened.

The purple-eyed villain's smile was back in an instant, looking at Dabi with sudden sweetness as he picked himself up off the ground brushing away the cinders of the capturing cloth. "Awww! Are you saying you're here to rescue me, Dabi-chan? You're the fucking best."

Dabi lifted his hand at the hero and students. "Go."

"Wait—!" Kirishima shouted, starting to rush forward with Ashido right beside him. If the mission is complete, then does that mean that Bakugo is—?!

Blue flames spilled forth again, racing for the children. Before it could it reach them, however, a strip of tape affixed to each of their backs and yanked them out of harm's way. Sero looked exasperated. Did they already forget sensei's lecture? Sheesh!

The blue flames suddenly sputtered out, and Dabi's eyes flicked to Eraser and his red eyes. The interval had been getting longer and longer, but he still had one last good Erasure in him to stop that. As for how he was going to actually immobilize Dabi again, that was trickier with his injuries and shortened Capturing Weapon.

Sero noticed it too, along with his sensei's floating hair. Sensei's got his Quirk! His eyes shifted to Dabi and he dispensed his tape. And I've got the rest of him! The tape attached to the front of Dabi's chest and he was yanked forward with Sero pulling him straight towards Eraser. "He's all yours, sensei!" I really don't need another lecture.

Eraser was happy to oblige him, moving forward and driving his elbow into Dabi's gut with everything he had left all the way to the ground, pinning the villain underneath him and then punching him repeatedly in the face until Dabi dissolved into goo beneath him. His eyes closed and he slumped a little, letting out a tight sigh. That had better damn well be the last one! Then his eyes peered over at Kirishima and Ashido, who had run forward yet again.

The two students bowed their heads guiltily while Sero rubbed the back of his head apologetically; Kaminari, still zonked, continue giving carefree thumbs-up behind them. Erasure evaluated the group for a pause then his eyes shifted to the trees where the scythe villain had disappeared to. There's no way I can catch up to that villain with my leg injured like this. His eyes shifted back to the children.

"Kirishima, Ashido, take Kaminari back into the building. The three of you, stay inside." He gave Kirishima a very pointed look, and the student gave sharp bow.

"Right, sensei!"

"Also, tell Sato and Koda to come out here. Sero, stay here." The students looked at him questioningly, but he did not elaborate further, his eyes already turning back to the burning forest.

I'd rather not have to rely on students like this, but with my injuries my ability to rescue the other students is compromised. An evacuation point… it sounds as though their assault is over. Since the scythe villain was pulled back, it's logical to reason that all of the villains received the same message and are leaving the area, making it safer. Kirishima and Ashido have proven themselves brash and untrustworthy with instructions and Kaminari is of no use like that. Sato has the strength to carry individuals, Sero has tape to help secure them and behaved reasonably just now, and Koda can call animals to help find students as well as utilize his strength. "The mission is complete"… I'd rather not assume the worst, but…

Hope wasn't necessarily a logical emotion, but hoping that all his students were well was all that Eraser had to go on right now.

"Fucking brats got my scythe!" The purple-eyed villain grumbled curses under his breath as he ran through the woods heading back to the meeting point. "At least I got that bloody bastard, but not Eraserfuck. Fuck! I wanna kill that guy! And all those damn brats, especially that red-headed twerp, and that glasses-bastard who ran off—"

He suddenly stopped running, a thought occurring to him. And that green-haired brat he ran off with… did he really beat that Meat-Headed Bastard? He lifted his eyes and searched, settling his eyes on the tall hill nearby. All that rumbling came from over that way… For a moment, he considered his options, contemplating how much time he had between settling his curiosity and the evacuation point expiring. Then, his lip twitched back in a smirk. "Ah, hell, I have to see this for myself!" He changed course, heading for the hill.

Crumbled rock above him was his first indication of the fight that had occurred as he ran up a narrow but well-worn path. When he reached the top, the numerous large craters made it clear that without a doubt Muscular had been here. "Looks like he was having a grand old time!" The villain laughed. "Let's see, now, where is he? Did he get to the meeting point already—Oh! There." He spotted the large man surprisingly well-hidden in the massive crater in the hill face. "Holy shit! Did Greenie really do this damage?"

He studied the crater, looking rather approving of the destruction. Leaning forward over Muscular's body, one look at the man's face confirmed he was out cold. The villain slapped his cheek. "Oi! Meat-Head!" He slapped him a few more times in quick succession. "Stop sleeping on the job! It's time to book it out of here! You want to get left behind, huh? They'll lock you up!" Muscular didn't even so much as twitch.

The villain pulled back and crossed his arms, looking annoyed. "Ehhh, this is no good. Meh, I should just get out of here, he's not getting up anytime soon…" He considered it for a moment, his eyes shifting back towards the meeting point direction. Then they returned to Muscular with a sigh. "Fuck, no, I can't do that, dammit."

He crouched and looked at Muscular in an almost heartfelt, friendly way. "I can't deprive the world of a true killer like you." He pulled Muscular forward by his arms, adjusting to hoist him across his back securing him in place by an arm and a leg.

"Fuck! Why are you so heavy?! Fucking deadweight!" The villain shouted complaints at the unconscious villain on his back which settled into grumbled bitching under his breath as he slow-jogged down the hill. Muscular shifted limply with each step, not waking up any time soon.

The villain huffed a little as he entered into the cover of the trees again. He was strong, no shit, but Muscular was nearly a foot taller and much heavier than him, and he had a long way to trudge yet. "Son of a bitch, eat a salad!"

By the time the villain approached the meeting point, he had slowed to a trot. "Finally, here, dammit…" He nearly walked out into the designated clearing, but movement caught his eye and he quickly pulled back into the shadows of the trees. Students. Why the fuck are there brats here? He could see Greenie and Glasses, along with a Birdbrain, Octopus, and Half'n'Half. But as for his fellow villains, and the shadowy Warp Gate—his eyes widened as realization dawned on him. His detour to the hill, his slow path back down the hill and through the woods with his deadweight cargo. He twisted around in a fury, shaking his fists as he stormed off with Muscular still slack across his back.

FUCK!

As Dabi would have said had he not already been gone: "You're late, Dumbass."

Epilogue

Back at the base, fire trucks, ambulances, and police vehicles swarmed the scene. Vlad King was loaded into an ambulance with a distraught Neito shadowing his sensei's side the whole way. Please, he prayed. Survive, Vlad-sensei.

Eraser, Sato, Koda, and Sero advanced into the forest with the students following their sensei's instructions in rescuing the scattered students and regrouping. Creatures of the night scurried ahead of them at Koda's beckoning, and Sato's sugar-enhanced back was piled high with unconscious students taped in place by Sero.

Elsewhere, Iida and Midoriya had reached Mandalay and conveyed their message. Iida had wanted to return to the base, but on Midoriya's plea he had agreed to go in search of Bakugo. They had regrouped with their classmates along the way, but alas, in the end, it was not enough to keep Bakugo from being taken from them. Iida listened to Midoriya wail with shame weighing his heart. He had run as fast as he could, but not fast enough for one.

And as for the villain carrying the unconscious Muscular, he disappeared into the forest with a string of curses under his breath to places unknown. Unidentified by the heroes, who was this dangerous foe? What was his Quirk? Just what was his relationship to Muscular? Where would they go next—What would they do next?

Perhaps, someday, the author will have the time to write it all out. To be continued…? The author certainly hopes so.