Momo had thrown the smoke bomb in the room, right as she rushed out and delivered a powerful kick on the man that was on top of her classmate sending him tumbling back disoriented, his knees buckled nearly passing out as the kick had struck his jaw.
She did not wait to see the results of her attack and quickly took Mina off the ground and dragged her out the room before properly helping her stand up and then running away, pulling Mina by the wrist
"Hey.. wait!"
After a bout of coughing and spitting, Mina tried to get Momo to stop or listen. However, the girl was not going to do that, She kept her pace.
"We need to find my brother. He can handle this, I know he can"
Her words did not sound like that of a person trying to pitch an idea to someone else, but instead, they sounded like a girl that is scared and looking for safety.
Taro was stronger, the strongest person she knew, These villains were nothing to him. He could beat them up in a second before they could even register what happened. She just needed to find him.
He was her brother, not by blood, but in every way that mattered, he was reckless and annoying, but he was her brother, and he would protect her–
"Momo, please wait, I need to talk to him. I have to find out what happened"
Mina pleaded with her in urgency, and Momo did stop. However, she did not stop because of Mina's words. No, she stopped because she came to a realisation.
She hadn't thought she relied on Taro's strength to such a degree, she didn't believe that the moment things start to get really dangerous, she would immediately run into the arms of her big brother for protection.
If she truly was so pathetic, then what was even the point of attending UA university? What was the point of wanting to be a hero. A pathetic loser like that doesn't deserve to strive for things like heroism.
However, at the same time, this was life or death. It wasn't a training exercise where the match could be stopped at any moment, ensuring the safety of the students. real genuine villains invaded the school, they had an actual gun and almost killed Kirishima.
'They are here to kill us'
That thought caused a shiver to run down her spine. It hadn't clicked properly till now, but her own blood had triggered it. She was in real danger, and she was afraid. Her grip became tight on Mina's wrist, and she bit her lower lip
"Momo please! let me go!!"
Mina shouted, feeling the taste of iron in her mouth, and a strange urge to throw up made itself known to her.
"I can hear you!"
Momo snapped back at Mina but kept her grip firm as she turned to look at her classmate. The young woman removed her infrared goggles and stared straight into Mina Ashido.
"Mina this isn't a game, nor is that man your friend. He's not going to listen. He's here to kill us. He's a villain here to kill us"
"No he was my friend, I'm sure this is a misunderstanding, I know he can explain"
Mina couldn't help but feel like she was going to throw up. There was this lump in her throat, but she pushed it down, resisting spilling her guts on the floor. Unfortunately she had no choice in that and it was only a matter of time.
There was a small booming sound that Momo heard from a distance, like someone striking something with a powerful punch; however , it was a faint sound that she ignored and instead focused on Mina.
Momo recognized what was happening to her classmate, just as she herself tried to run from the situation the moment she began to bleed, Mina too was trying to run from the situation, although in a different way. Both of them had been grossly unprepared for this.
"Calm down, Mina! We need to focus. Otherwise, we might get killed, It–"
Unfortunately, her words got cut off before she could finish her sentence. The reason for that was because Mina suddenly started spitting out blood from her mouth, bending over as she did so. The red liquid dyed tar road in its color, contrasting significantly with the black of the road.
Her stomach was bruised, Shouji's punches had finally begun to show results, or rather this small reprieve had caused the adrenaline that had been suppressing the pain to subside and thus she couldn't hold it back any longer, and spilled her guts out, letting a pained groan from her mouth.
"I was going to say you can run but can't hide, but by the looks of it, you didn't even run"
Momo couldn't help but inwardly curse at herself as she heard the villain speak. He wasn't shouting and relatively within close distance. Had she continued to run or found some place to hide, she would have time to come up with a plan.
With her attention turning to the villains before her, she neglected to hold Mina upright, so as a result, she collapsed to the floor, clutching her stomach, blood still spilling out her mouth.
'Throwing up blood means she has massive organ damage and probably can't fight or do anything right now'
Momo thought to herself, the situation was terrible, and there's very little she could do.
"What kind of Hero runs from Villains?"
She said with a false bravado and confidence, choosing to ignore Mina for now while also trying to think of an escape plan. She could still feel her hands shaking, and the thought of Taro coming to her rescue was still at the back of her mind.
"The kind that understands that their life is more important than that of strangers"
Shouji answered.
"Then that's not a hero but a coward!"
"Says who? Do you really think it's good to risk your life for strangers who probably will never do the same for you?"
The words that came out of him felt like a genuine curious question, almost as if he honestly did not think there would be someone like that out there.
"Yes, that's what being a hero is about, that's what All Might is about"
"ALL MIGHT IS A PROPAGANDA PIECE!! He is used to champion ideals of heroism and selflessness, yet the society he is supposed to inspire follows none of those ideals. He is nothing but a tool designed to convince you to kill yourself for a world that doesn't care about you!"
Shouji's voice reverberated throughout the area, his words carrying their meaning to the ears of all who heard them, the tone and cadence used conveyed the palpable hatred that he felt for the society that he was forced to live in.
If the world was one of the heroes that inspired the masses with messages of heroism and selflessness, then why was he hated? Why was he abused by the same people who looked up to the symbol of peace? Did the message of heroism not have love, safety, and acceptance as part of its core principles?
So he had multiple arms like an octopus, his mouth was a little too big and he had no nose, making his face a little unsettling to look at, however did he not deserve to live in safety like everyone else? He did deserve to live in safety. However, the society he was living in was one inhabited by hypocrites that hated anything different despite championing ideals of heroism.
*BOOM!!*
Before either Momo or anyone else could say anything an earthquake struck and violently shook the entirety of the Ruins Zone, the already dilapidated buildings crumbled and a shock wave that carried dust and debris swept the entire area.
"What the hell!!"
Air gun shouted, saying what everyone was thinking. They had to cover their eyes from the dust and brace themselves as the shockwave blew through them like a passing tornado. None of them got injured, but there was a cloud of dust that had been kicked into the air. Luckily, visibility was not affected too much.
There was a moment of silence as all of them stared at the newly formed crater a few meters behind the two villains. A figure obstructed by some dust seemed to be slowly floating up. Momo only knew of one person who could fly
"This is a fucking disappointment!"
Taro's voice echoed as he floated above the crater and looked at the mangled piece of flesh that should have been a worthy opponent, Its chest had caved in thanks to that recent crash, its arms were broken with bones sticking out, ribs were piercing out of its torso, its neck twisted and its jaw shattered.
Interestingly enough, when he struck it and twisted its neck, the thing didn't die, but it didn't look like it could heal itself. He was having some fun too, but now it's over. His opponent was a disappointment.
"League of villains, my ass, they're just bums"
He whispered to himself while floating.
.....
A/N: 10 chapters ahead on patreon if you're interested and have the money.
at www. patreon. com/YoungmasterDio
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