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Chapter 47: Thunder Strikes Twice
🕑 Added 2025-02-05 19:19:39 +0000 UTCBakugo was in a bad mood, which didn't mean much; as people and extras would say, he was always in a bad mood. Idiots, just because he didn't smile and act like they did, didn't mean he was pissed…well, all the time. Unlike then, who whined and complained about their training, he took to it like a fish to water as if there was one thing he loved: training to improve.
Recently, that had changed, if only a little, as training, also meant that he didn't need to think about some stuff, like how Ts…frog face was ignoring him, even when they prepped dinner. Oh sure, she interacted with him, but you'll need to be as clueless as Kaminari to not notice that she was doing the bare minimum. And what was more frustrating was that he had no clue why.
What, was he supposed to let that pyromaniac act out? He just didn't get it, and training meant that he could focus on that, something he understood over their falling out, whose root cause still alluded him.
With that in mind, he hadn't been too excited for their little 'treat' as the pussycats put it, especially as he just knew that loud-mouth Monoma would take the chance to be even more annoying that man's hands probably wouldn't be close enough to knock his ass out. But at least there was the promise that when their turn came up, he could scare them so hard that they all left the forest with browner pants.
'That was the plan, at least, till this shit happened!' Bakugo growled as he walked through the path, now covered in patches of a strange purple-like sleeping gas with one of class B's extras on his back as Tokoyami's skinny ass sure wasn't going to be able to carry him. His quirk was acting up with how dark it was. "Dammit, this better by a villain attack 'cause if some idiot pulled a stunt…"
"If this was some supposedly fun prank, it was both in poor taste and horribly timed." Tokoyami had to pause mid-sentence, grinding his teeth as he took slow, measured breaths to keep Dark Shadow from bursting out. “But considering who’s present, the odds are incredibly low. For now, we should follow Mandalay's instructions and return to camp."
"What, you an addict or something? You've been acting off, bird-brain." Bakugo asked, as it was one thing for that bird to get stronger when darkness came; Bakugo figured that out as they fought at the festival, and his quirk rendered the Dark Shadow nearly useless. But why was Bird brain acting like he was about to crash out?
“I’m…not,” Tokoyami's irritation at Bakugo's incessant use of stupid nicknames only made it harder to handle Dark Shadow fighting to be unleashed. "It's my quirk; it gets stronger in the dark but harder…to control…"
“Just make sure-look out!” Bakugo hardly saw it; it was just a flash in the distance, a glint, but his instincts reacted all the same as he shoved Tokoyami to the side, in doing so, took a thin, jagged-looking blade to the side of his arm, the steel cutting deep into him as he dived to the side, keeping the extra on his back safe. “Shit, that asshole!”
The blade retracted back to the villain who sent it. Still, if Bakugo was angry before, he was perplexed and angry now as the blade didn't come from their arms but from their mouths, along with others that shot out into the ground, lifting the restrained villain up into the air.
“So pretty…tasty…delectable flesh.” The villain's ramblings only made him seem all the more insane. Was he some sort of cannibal? Great, those League fucks really were scraping the bottom of the barrel. “No…No! You…target…can’t eat you…”
"Eat? You moron, do I look like your dinner? You want to try that, and I'll blast you to kingdom come!" Bakugo yelled back at him, but it was just an empty threat. He couldn't fight without his hands, and while he could drop the extra, that meant leaving him to get impaled by one of those tooth blades.
“Bakugo…!” Tokoyami looked close to bursting, so Bakugo leaned to one side, freeing up a hand he faced towards bird brain before he gathered sweat and set off a weak stun grenade. It knocked his classmate on his ass, but he wasn't going all monster on him, so he'll take it.
"I remember our match at the festival; I'm the worst kind of opponent you could fight," Bakugo told him as he kept his attention on the threat before them, who hadn't moved, but he wouldn't bet he'll just let them by. “But that means I can keep your dumb-ass in check while we fight this guy.”
“My thanks, but remember what Mandalay said.” Tokoyami got up, allowing Dark Shadow to form, but much smaller now.
“No fighting, what a loud of bull,” Bakugo ticked his teeth before he went against his instincts, just as he had been forced to against All Might in the finals and turned and dashed into the forest. “Then let’s run like hell!”
Tokoyami was quick on the uptake, following him into the brush, and while it was darker here than on the path, emotions ran high, and Dark Shadow didn't grow as large as he could have.
“I need your flesh!” Good thing, too, as the villain gave chase, his teeth shooting off as bladed, jagged tendrils that quickly cut through the branches and trees.
A few got too close for comfort, but Dark Shadow could act as a barrier, and it wouldn't last forever. “The forest will keep us out of sight, but it isn’t slowing him down!” Tokoyami yelled as they ran as fast as they could, trying to avoid the villain chasing them and the gas around them that they knew could knock them out.
“Well, what is it then? We get to fight, or we don’t!” Bakugo yelled at him, his anger boiling, but he would just need to keep a lid on it. Hopefully, Eraser was still at camp. If they could just avoid this bastard long enough to make it back, the forever-tired pro could handle him with a single look and kick to his crazy face.
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Having unleashed a wave of blue flames, Dabi was confident that Eraser would have been burned so badly that it would be a miracle if he could still stay up, but while she could smell burned flesh, she had enough of an acquaintance to tell the difference between her burning flesh and others.
A faint shadow on the ground told her all she needed as she looked up, impressed. "Nice move, Eraser. Guess it was pretty ballsy to think I could get you in one strike!" Dabi raised her hand to send another burst of flames deluge, but nothing happened. With the loss of the element of surprise, Eraser could activate his quirk, suppressing hers.
“It was, and it was the mistake that did you in!” He replied as his binding cloth shot out, wrapping around her and dragging her forward at the same time, he jumped, kneeing her in the face to daze her before flipping her around so she landed on her front, Aizawa landing on top of her, painfully as he grabbed her left arm to restrain the villain, his erasure still active. "What do you want, and where are your friends hiding?"
"Well, I was thinking about getting a smoke. Do you have a cigarette I can bum?" Dabi replied, as snarky as ever, over to bite back a curse when Eraser broke her arm without blinking.
"Your right arm's next, " he warned, with little compassion for the villain he had at his mercy. "Be logical about this. I don't want to carry you, but if I have to break your legs as well, I will to protect my students."
Dabi didn't mind the pain much; you got used to it when you had a quirk like hers. Besides, she wasn't called a bitch for nothing and couldn't help but keep poking the bear. "Well, I can't say I'm against spending time with you, so take your sweet time, Eraserhead." Eraser didn't appreciate her humor as he broke her other arm in short order, the man moving to grab one of her legs when someone called out.
“Mr. Aizawa!” They looked to the side, in the direction of the forest, where a couple of brats had appeared, out of breath and looking as terrified as she would expect. She would be lying if she said she recognized any of them, as they weren't on the list Mr. Moisturiser drew up for them.
“Stay back!” Eraser called out to his students. How cute of him, but she wouldn't take the distraction for granted, as she could feel it. His erasure lost its effect even just for a moment, but it was plenty of time. Setting off a blast of flames from her head and neck, the pro had to jump back as she pulled herself to her feet, even with both her arms being useless twigs.
‘Damn, he’s good. That’s just about my limit.’ Dabi thought as the man kept the binding cloth around her, though why he still had her arms wrapped up, she didn't know as he had made sure they were useless.
Turning to the man, she smiled as she saw his face clearly, with her flames burning in the distance on one side and the light from their little safe house to the other side. "Just what I was expecting out of a U.A. graduate and teacher. Effective, but oh so ruthless…" She teased him as the man pulled on the cloth, probably to pull her close for another strike.
“But I wonder, will that be enough?” Shame for him; when he did so, it passed right through her, her form losing structural integrity as she revered to the goop from which she was created, much to Eraser's shock.
‘The fire from earlier wasn’t her quirk?’ The pro asked, but that didn’t make sense! What did her collapsing body have to do with flames?
“See you soon, Eraserhead." Dabi could see the question in his gaze, but she wouldn't share their secrets so quickly, as before his and the student's eyes, she was reduced to a puddle of brown muck.
“What was that? Did she just melt?” Mineta asked, only for Eraser to rush past them and into the forest. Although there were only three of his students, six were unaccounted for, and just about all of class B.
“Everyone get inside, I’ll be back!” He yelled, but it didn't slow him down; if anything, he sped up. His experience as an underground hero meant he worked primarily at night, so even in the dark forest, he was accustomed to the low-light environment.
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Somewhere within that same forest, close to where bright blue flames burned everything in their way, the real Dabi leaned against a tree as a man in black and white spandex reported what had just happened with her clone. “Come on, Dabi, you got your ass handed to you!”
"Not my fault your clones are weak as hell. I at least thought it'd last a couple of minutes." She replied. Her clone was sent after Eraser, who handled night classes for the brats. If she was dead, that meant she failed…but it also meant that Eraser had probably rushed into the woods to find them and rescue his little students, leaving their main building without its arguable best protector.
"Don't say it like that. It's better to frame it as the hobo with the scarf being too strong." The man, Twice, replied. "Minding your self-esteem, even if you had a perilous mission, is important."
Dabi wondered about Twice, but at least he wasn't murderous like 2 other group members. "Shut up and make another one. We got hired help, but it'll help spread chaos if we throw in more flames."
“You got it! Don’t tell me what to do!” Twice yelled contradictory responses before he got to work.
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Uraraka didn't run through the forest so much as she jumped through it. Her two quirks provided her with ample power to jump longer distances than she could otherwise move, giving her and Kota a greater view of the area. For that reason, Kota managed to spot something moving in the forest, something with a white scarf he remembered seeing. “Look, it’s a hero!”
“Eraser-sensei!” The pro stopped, his eyes alert and ready to act as he spotted Uraraka, who had Kota on her back. Landing close, she ran the rest of the distance to him, huffing but not as exhausted as she looked. “Oh, great…I managed to run into you.”
“Uraraka?” he asked before glancing her over and seeing that she wasn't without battle damage. It wasn't much, but if she had been in a fight…“What happened?”
"Not much time to explain, but I went to where Kota was and found a villain attacking him; oh, that was after some strange girl who could vanish attacked me and Todoroki." Uraraka shook her head as she explained things.
“Uraraka.”
It was like she didn’t hear him as she kept going, her words getting faster and harder to understand. "Another villain, the one with Kota, tried to attack him, so I fought him. I didn't have a choice there, but I didn't get hurt too badly. I left him knocked out near the mountains; I couldn't tie him or anything, though."
“Uraraka!” This time, Aizawa yelled to get her attention. The girl clamped her mouth shut, still on edge, but he could work with her. “Slow down, you’re babbling.”
"Sorry…Long story short, they're villains attacking the camp. I had to leave Todoroki fighting one, but he wasn't too badly hurt when I last saw him. Kota's here is safe; we were trying to return to camp. Also, the two villains I saw mentioned something about a list and said I was on it. The girl that attacked Todoroki and me said I was supposed to be killed." Uraraka explained clearly, which got Aizawa's brain to jump into overdrive.
'How she's describing it, it can't just be something like the class registry or the list of students that stuck out at the festival. Her being one mentioned to have a kill order means that Shigaraki has plans for the rest that don't call for their deaths.' Aizawa thought, trying to piece together the puzzle, but while he could make guesses, he didn't have all the pieces to create the complete image.
“Who else was on the list?” He asked, but Uraraka only shook her head.
"I don't know. They never said, and well…I forgot to ask. Things were really intense." She apologized, as that Toga girl might have talked if she played along with her delusions. Muscular also seemed like the type that would blurt out just about anything during a fight.
Aizawa wished that she did, but considering the situation and her lack of experience, it was easily forgiven. Right now, they should focus on what they can do. "Get Kota back to camp. After that, by my permission, you and the rest of the students have full permission to use your quirks and training to defend yourselves and each other, understood?" he told her.
“Yes, sir!” Uraraka nodded as she powered up and took off. He knew she would be able to get back with Kota faster than he could, but there was another reason why he didn't just take the kid off her hands.
Turning to rush back to the clearing where the students were, he couldn’t help but worry. ‘That girl wouldn’t stay put even if I told her to. She’s far too much like All Might.’ When this was over, he was going to strangle that man; he just knew he had something to do with Uraraka's reckless behavior.
That was for later; it was only logical to focus on the present and what clues he had, starting with that villainess' final words. She was mocking him but didn't seem to be lying about it. Uraraka's testimony only makes him surer of it. ‘But that villain's words made it clear they're here to attack the students. It's not ideal, but with the students scattered like this, they should defend themselves and each other till help can arrive.'
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“Just what’s going on out there?” Sato asked as they had been forced to remain in class since the action stated.
"I can't call anyone; we all leave our phones here," Ashido complained.
“It wouldn’t be smart to call them anyway,” Monoma said. We don't know what situation they could be in. If they're hiding, do you want to be the reason they get caught?" Ashido would have called him out for what had to be another insult…if he wasn't tightly holding his own phone. His contacts opened, but the boy refused to fall to the temptation to push any of the other buttons.
“All the more reason to head out and help! You heard Mandalay’s message; it’s nut’s out there!” Kirishima tried to convince Vlad, but the man remained unmoved, blocking the door with his body to ensure they didn't try to force themselves out.
“Her message was to retreat her and avoid fights. You getting back out there will only undermine that.” He replied.
“Still, just sitting here feels…” Jiro didn't want to say she was the bravest of her classmates. She liked to think she was in the middle of the road, but even then, she just sat there, safe and sound, while her friends and others didn't feel dirty.
"I'm not asking you to like it, but to understand why you have to remain here," Vlad added. Truthfully, he too wished to rush out to help, but a hero's duty was to protect people first and foremost. He'll have to leave the combat to Eraser and the Pussycats.
There was a click as a door opened; from how close it was, it had to be the one that typically closed off the hallway outside. “Was that the door?” Sato asked.
"Eraser must be back, but that was fast," Asui noted, but Vlad wasn't sure it was him. The steps didn't line up, and they hit the ground not with the thud of a boot but with the click of heels.
No one who was supposed to be at the camp brought any.
“Hold on…” As he approached, the hairs on the back of his head went stiff. “Move!” He grabbed Shoji and Kirishima, the closest students, and pushed them back further. Not a moment too soon as right where they stood, it was torn apart by a whirlwind of red tendrils. The door and wall, even the floor, being cut to ribbons.
“What the heck?!” Jiro cried out as the source of the attack walked in, their tendrils revealing themselves to be little more than her hair.
"Wait, I recognize this!" Asui yelled.
"No way, I recognise her…" Kirishima pointed at the woman, who looked at the assembled and scared students with a smile that only spelled trouble. "She's from the USJ; she's a member of the Thunder!"
Slice didn't reply with words but action as one of her tendrils shot towards Kirishima, aiming to take out the walking tank before he could become a problem. Still, Vlad intercepted it with a gauntlet made from his blood.
“That was too slow!” Vlad stated as he created a battle axe from his blood in his off-hand, which he used to counter her follow-up attacks. He moved closer to her and kept her attention firmly on him. Seeing that she wasn't having luck, Slice paused her attacks and pulled her hair into a defensive stance.
“Blood control, it can even withstand her attacks?” Sero asked, amazed as he had heard that Kirishima was durable enough to hold up, but that was his entire thing.
“Just the kind of thing I would expect from our teacher!” Monoma cheered as Vlad kept his attention on the threat before him.
“You dare walk into my classroom with so much as a plan? Well, your little reign of terror ends tonight.” Vlad took a step forward, ready for her to so much as flinch and give her next move away. She and the rest might be powerful villains, but they lacked the years of training and experience he had.
Slice, however, didn't move. "I'm used to spilling blood, but it's terrible for your hair; lucky for me, I'm not alone.” She didn't have to when the wall to their student's rear was blown to pieces, surprising them and leading to a few crying out as debris hit them. Walking through the hole in the wall, Chimera cracked his neck as he smirked down at the gathered students.
“Another one?” Kaminari jumped back, unsure which one to focus on, while Vlad cursed his luck as he realized the villain's game. They wanted Eraser gone, as he could easily handle Slice, but why also send Chimera here?
“I have to hand it to Dabi, she figured that you'll stash as many baby heroes here as possible." Chimera complimented, as that woman was annoying as hell but competent and with a good head for foresight. "Let's see. Do you recognize any of them, Slice?"
Slice hummed, keeping one eye on her opponent and the other scanning over the students, more than a few flinching under her gaze before she returned her full attention to Vlad. "Afraid not, I don't see any targets among them."
“Targets?” Vlad asked.
“Doesn’t really concern you, does it?” Slice’s hair shot out, forcing the man to react. “Make this entertaining, won’t you?” Vlad grunted but didn't falter. Even so, the other villain looked ready to jump in…but wasn't. Why?
"Students, by my authority, you may defend yourselves and each other to the best of your ability!" He didn't have the luxury to think about it. It wasn't ideal, but it would have to do. With that permission, the students who looked ready to try and flee sprung into action. Most turned towards the bigger of the two, but Ashido tossed some acid at Slice, who blocked it with her hair.
Hair which started to melt, bringing the damaged tendril close to observe it as the rest kept Vlad back; Slice frowned. “What a nuisance…” Seeing that her quirk was effective, Ashido joined Vlad to try and fight her, as the woman was now forced to move through in a cramped space like their classroom; there wasn't much space for her as the two managed to keep her contained through their assault.
The others weren't having nearly as much luck, but Chimera lived up to that name, shrugging off their attacks with ease and hitting them just as hard. Shoji had tried to overwhelm him with his many limbs, but the larger villain was also fast and grabbed him by his face.
Shoji grunted through the pain as Chimera lifted him. "I bet you've heard this before, but you don't look like the others, kid?" Chimera asked, not expecting an answer. “You ever blame your parents for that? Or maybe you blame others? Well, it doesn't matter, not now!” Ojiro and Kirishima came in to strike him, one with a tail strike to the head and the other a hardened punch to the side.
Chimera blocked the punch easily enough, but Ojiro's tail strike managed to connect through to his frustration; all it did was make the villain's head move slightly.
“That tickles.” Chimera mocked as he tossed Shoji to the side, the boy tumbling through several desks but getting back up quickly.
"Slice, let's give ourselves some room," Chimera noted, seeing that his teammate was on the back foot, with only half her tendrils left, which infuriated her.
“Like we’ll just let you!” Sato yelled as he charged him, eating the last of his sugar to power up, while Kirishima came at him for another strike.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep!” Chimera bashed them aside, only to spasm out as Kaminari jumped into his back and let him over it, flooding his body with tens of thousands of volts.
“Gotta love a human taser.” Sero wrapped them up, keeping Kaminari close to Chimera, only for the villain to growl as his body seemed to grow larger, his claw ripping through Sero’s tape and throwing himself back first into the wall, crushing Kaminari between it and his back.
The impact didn’t kill the blonde, but it knocked the wind out of his sails, making it easy for Chimera to grab him and pull him off his back.
"I train with some that can bring down literal lightning; you'll need more power than that!" He tossed the dazed electric user towards Vlad, who turned in time to see and catch up. This, however, meant less focus on Slice, who turned her focus to Mina. Her tendrils, whatever was left of them anyway, shifted into fine needles that fired across the room, forcing the students to dive or take cover. At the same time, Kirishima crossed his arms, allowing his hardened body to tank it.
“Kids or not, if you wanna square up, you best have the power to back it up, little heroes.” Chimera lifted his foot with a smirk before bringing it down.
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Well, this was a bit of a struggle to write, mainly because I woke up with a killer headache, which left him unable to do anything for most of the day. My Roommate guessed my blood sugar was low, which it was, but neither of us could tell why as I did my typical routine last night, and before I went to bed, my sugar levels were at the regular spot. So, the chapter suffered from it as it's about a thousand words shorter, but I'll try to add a thousand words to the next. But I’m…content with what I got as a final product; I would have revised it more, but time wasn't my friend.
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Yes, I know Twice’s quirk is only supposed to be able to make 2 copies at any given time, but this isn't a rule always followed as during the second movie, which takes place BEFORE the League fought the MLA, the truck transporting Nine's capsule had 3 clones in it, a Dabi, Spinner, and Compress. So, either he made another clone of himself who then made two clones while he made one, or it was ignored. How he explains it in the Yakuza arc, at least in the dub, could be read to mean that he can only make 2 things at a time, but he's not limited to 2 things, but that kinda feels like something he would do if he could. For during the forest, they could have made several Dabis and had them run to burn the place to the ground, but he only made 2, the second after the first was destroyed.
