A few weeks later,
Fire burned across an alley at a remote corner of Tokyo City.
Loud thuds rang as a massive, muscular man with flame-like hair ran, leaving behind fire in his wake. He was wearing bulky rock-like boots, gauntlets, and shoulder pads, with smoke coming out of the various tubes lined within these accessories.
As he looked over his shoulder, one could see a gas mask on his face as well, his eyes holding anger and confusion.
He was Maguma Iwata — Villain name — Volcano!
His Quirk — Eruption — could let him create incredibly hot lava-like substance by burning his fat cells.
But now, despite having a powerful Quirk, he was running.
Volcano again looked over his shoulder, but, other than the fiery footprints he had left behind, he couldn't see anything.
He knew that man was chasing him, though.
He knew it in his bones.
A few more blocks, and he would gather with his henchmen. Then, he could use them to overpower him.
Suddenly, a silhouette appeared on a building right in front of Volcano.
Then, the silhouette fell from the four-story building and landed on the ground with a grunt.
"Ah…" The silhouette took the shape of a huge, masked man, rolling his neck. "That felt good…"
Knuckleduster the Marauder cracked his knuckles, grinning at Volcano.
Unlike his usual Vigilante uniform, though, he was wearing a white greatcoat.
"You…" Volcano's eyes burned as he recognized Knuckleduster. "You are the one who stole our cash!"
Knuckleduster's lips twitched. "And donated it to charity… You should speak the full sentence, or people might get the wrong idea…"
"Haaaaaaaaa!" Volcano shouted, lifting his right hand.
A massive pillar of gelatinous pillar of lava shot toward Knuckleduster.
However, Iwao wasn't the same man as before. Even before drinking the potion, he was a man with immense power. After becoming a Marauder, his physical prowess had only increased.
Blurring out of the attack's path, Knuckleduster crossed the distance between him and Volcano in one jump.
He made a fist and plunged the brass knuckles deep into Volcano's guts, sending him flying in one punch.
The massive Villain rolled backward with loud thuds, coughing out blood.
On the other hand, Knuckleduster grinned, staring at his fist. It felt good. It felt incredible. Only if he constantly didn't feel like stealing from the Villains, then it would have felt even better.
Still, this was good as well, Iwao confirmed.
As Volcano stood up, shaking, wiping the blood, Knuckleduster pounded his right fist into the palm of his left hand, the sound echoing off the walls on their sides.
"Stand down," Iwao warned. "Tell me where Hero Killer Stain is? Where is he gathering all the runts? Then, perhaps, I will only punch you once or twice more… I swear…"
Volcano spat out blood. "Fuck you… Haha…"
Knuckleduster frowned. He looked over his shoulder and saw figures taking shape, coming out of the darkness.
One was a white-haired woman, wearing only light purple panties and a black low-cut sports bra. She also had a face mask similar to Volcano on her face.
Konako Haizono — Dusty Ash!
Her Quirk — Ash — let her produce ash from her body.
The other one was a man with an elongated face, having blue hair. His hands were thrice the size of a normal person's.
Tsumuji Kazetani — Gust Boy!
His Quirk — Fan — turned his fingers into fan blades and let him generate storm-like winds by rotating his wrists.
"Haha…" Volcano laughed again. "I knew you two would come if I didn't arrive on time… Attack!"
A massive amount of ash puffed out from Dusty Ash's body.
Then, Gust Boy generated a huge gust of wind, sending all the ash flying forward as if a volcano was spewing it out.
From the other side, Volcano put his hands together and fired another, but stronger and wider, attack of lava at the fool pinned between them.
Iwao, though stronger than ever, couldn't dodge all the attacks.
Suddenly, just as the ash storm hit Knuckleduster, dozens of tarot cards came flying and lodged themselves in Volcano's back, making him lose his footing.
The thick pillar of lava went off course and hit the wall on Knuckleduster's left, burning a hole through it.
Wincing, and in fear, Volcano looked back and found the Horror standing on top of a building.
He was also wearing a long white coat, not like that of a doctor, but like that of a magician. He had a mask on his face, not plain, but a black clown's mask. And, on the top of his head, he held a magician's white hat as well.
"Dr. Blessed…" Volcano mumbled, a chill running down his spine.
The moment Volcano uttered that name, Dr. Blessed, standing far on top of the building, snapped his fingers.
Because of Volcano's Quirk, his costume always held fire here and there.
Now, one of those fires bulged unnaturally, and Dr. Blessed walked out of it, holding his hat.
Volcano, stunned and taken over by his instincts, lifted his massive, flaming arm and punched.
To Volcano, Knuckleduster, Dusty Ash, and Gust Boy's surprise, Dr. Blessed didn't even try to dodge, the punch landing right on top of his head.
Then, right in front of their eyes, Dr. Blessed crumpled, becoming a tiny, paper figurine.
Out of thin air, Dr. Blessed reappeared next to Knuckleduster, pointing a finger gun at Dusty Ash. "Pow!"
The moment this funny noise came out of Dr. Blessed's mouth, Dusty Ash's head jerked backward as if a rubber bullet had hit her.
"Run!" Volcano roared, seeing Dr. Blessed disappearing again within flames as Knuckleduster charged at him. "Tell everyone…"
Gust Boy hesitated, but only for a moment.
Creating a monstrous tornado in front of him, he turned around and bolted.
He hadn't even gone a few dozen meters when a door materialized next to him, defying all logic.
From the door, Pop*Step, also wearing a long white coat, stepped out, holding a baseball bat.
Whistling, she planted the baseball bat's tip right into Gust Boy's head, knocking him out.
On the other side, Volcano, now prepared to do or die, raged, lava boiling out of him. He lifted his massive fists and punched the ground in front of him.
A river of lava shot toward the incoming Knuckleduster.
However, the moment the lava touched him, Iwao's entire figure blurred as if he were an illusion.
Knuckleduster appeared from Volcano's left and punched Volcano's sides, breaking the man's ribs.
Taking deep breaths, Iwao looked up and found the leader of the Apostles of Mr. Fool standing at the same spot on top of the building.
Dr. Blessed tipped the top hat toward Knuckleduster and then disappeared.
******************
AN: Original Image of Dr. Blessed with new costume is available
Up to 60 more chapters are available in advance across three Tiers. [Use the link in my webnovel profile to access all options]
You can even subscribe Trial Tier for just 1 dollar to have an experience of exclusive chapters for an entire month. I hope a few of you will consider supporting the work.
100 Power Stones: +1 Bonus Chapter