Narration POV
Arthur ran out of the window, leaving an unconscious Mirko and a smiling Nezu behind.
The moment the vigilante disappeared into the night, Nezu's smile fell. He rummaged in his vest with his right paw, pulling out his phone. The device recognized his face immediately, unlocking with a ping that would give nightmares to college students as it sounded distinctly like an alarm.
He opened an app and began scrolling down through various names.
He stopped.
It read: Arthur.
"Aki Tadashi, huh," Nezu muttered to himself, staring at the screen. "I wonder what happened to you to make you this way."
His paw hovered over the screen, he seemed about to do something when a sound close to him made him stop dead in his tracks.
"Uh."
Mirko was waking up. Nezu quickly pocketed the phone and began walking to her side, his expression shifting to one of concern.
"Are you okay?" he asked, genuine worry filling his voice as he approached the hospital bed.
"Principal Nezu?" Mirko's voice was groggy, confusion evident as she tried to orient herself. "What are you doing here? Where am I? Last thing I remember was kicking the kid."
She didn't remember getting knocked out? Nezu had calculated Arthur would be stronger, but it seemed he had still underestimated him. Mirko, while fifth in the rankings, was actually the third strongest hero in the rankings, it was just that she didn't focus much on popularity polls or crime aside from strong villains.
So to be able to defeat her without her even noticing just how...
"Principal?" Mirko asked, already standing up from the bed, her powerful legs steady despite her recent unconsciousness.
Nezu sighed, deciding to tell her outright.
"He knocked you out and brought you here. We are at Musutafu Hospital right now."
"He knocked me out?" she asked, somewhat bewildered. Her hand instinctively went to her head, feeling for any injuries. There were none, not that she would have minded, the only thing that could slow her down was a teared off limb, and even then she didn't think she would have stopped.
Nezu nodded, watching her reaction carefully.
Then a maniac smile began to spread across her face, her red eyes gleaming with something that made even the hyper-intelligent principal slightly uncomfortable.
"That's fun."
Well, that couldn't be good.
"Mirko," Nezu began cautiously, "I hope you're not planning on-"
"Oh, I'm absolutely planning on it," she interrupted, cracking her knuckles.
Arthur POV
I stopped dead in my tracks on the ceiling of a building in Nagoya, my enhanced senses scanning the city far and wide.
My right hand went down to Excalibur's hilt and I couldn't help but smile. I remembered the first time I ever held them in my hands, six years ago when everything changed, when...
I shook my head, clearing out those thoughts. The past was the past, and dwelling on it wouldn't help anyone tonight.
"Come on then, girls," I whispered to my weapons. "We have one more year. Let's make the most of it."
At that exact moment, a police siren reached my ears, its wailing cry cutting through the night like a knife. My enhanced vision immediately locked onto the source of the disturbance. Racing through the streets below was a figure on a motorcycle.
Even from this distance, I could see the writhing mass of serpents where his hair should be, each one thick as a man's arm and apparently growing larger by the second.
Without hesitation, my back foot smashed against the concrete rooftop, propelling me into the air. The building beneath me cracked from the force of my departure, but I was already soaring through the night sky, wind whipping past my face as I adjusted my trajectory.
I appeared in front of the speeding motorcycle, my feet touching down on the asphalt with barely a sound despite the tremendous speed of my arrival. The bike was approaching fast, too fast for a normal person to react. But I wasn't normal, and neither, apparently, was the rider.
Slowly, deliberately, I drew Excalibur from its sheath. The blade emerged with its characteristic ring of steel on steel, the sound somehow audible even over the roar of the approaching engine.
The weapon shined, people would have thought it was just the street light refracting of the steel but Excalibur did shine, it was just that cool... or that sacred. However that light would be the one I would be known for, when people saw Excalibur's light it would mean they would be safe, no harm would come to them, and I would make sure that the light reached everyone.
The man on the bike, however, didn't seem inclined to stop or surrender at the light. Instead, the snakes writhing atop his head began to grow at an alarming rate.
What had been hair-like serpents moments before suddenly expanded, first to the size of pythons, then anacondas, and before long they were each the size of small cars, their scales gleaming wetly in the artificial light.
The transformation was both mesmerizing and horrifying. The man's Quirk was clearly powerful. The sheer mass of the serpents was already throwing off his balance on the motorcycle, and I could see him struggling to maintain control.
The snakes lashed out in every direction in an unscrambled mess perhaps the man just wanted to create as many distractions as possible and if that was his plan it was succeeding.
Several struck at me directly, their massive heads moving with surprising speed for their size. Others attacked the surrounding infrastructure, street lights, traffic signs, building facades, tearing them from their moorings with casual violence.
The most concerning group, however, turned their attention to the pursuing police cars, their jaws unhinging to reveal rows of gleaming fangs.
Time seemed to slow as my enhanced reflexes kicked into high gear. I could see every scale, every movement, every potential trajectory of destruction.
A street light, torn free by one of the serpent heads, was spinning through the air toward a residential building where I could sense sleeping civilians. Another snake was preparing to crush the lead police car, its occupants visible through the windshield, their faces masks of determination and fear.
I moved.
Excalibur became a blur of motion in my hands. In the span of a single second, I slashed exactly one hundred times, each strike precise and calculated. The sword moved so fast it seemed to be in multiple places at once, creating afterimages all over the wide street.
The street light and the attacking snake head were simultaneously reduced to perfect cubes, each piece exactly the same size, falling harmlessly to the ground with a series of soft thuds. The geometry was so precise it looked almost artistic, a side effect of Excalibur's otherworldly sharpness and my own supernatural precision.
But even as those pieces hit the ground, I could see the severed snake head already beginning to regenerate, new flesh and scales growing from the cleanly cut stump. The man's Quirk apparently included rapid healing, which complicated matters significantly.
I didn't have time to admire my handiwork or worry about the regeneration. More snakes were still attacking, and the motorcycle was still speeding toward me. I slashed once more, this time targeting the bike itself.
Excalibur passed through the machine like it was made of paper, bisecting it perfectly down the middle. The two halves separated cleanly, sparks flying as metal scraped against asphalt.
My back foot slammed against the concrete again, propelling me past the now-airborne rider and directly toward the police cars.
Seven serpent heads, each with their massive maws opened wide, were descending toward the vehicles like striking vipers. I could see the terror in the officers' eyes, could hear their shouts of alarm even over the chaos.
I wouldn't let them be hurt. Not on my watch.
I slashed at each head in rapid succession. Each cut was perfect, each angle calculated to maximize damage while minimizing the risk to nearby civilians and officers. The severed heads fell to the ground with wet thuds, but I knew they would regenerate soon.
In that same fluid motion, I intercepted the various street lights and debris that were still flying through the air, courtesy of the earlier serpent attacks. Each piece of potentially lethal projectile was either sliced into harmless fragments or deflected away from populated areas.
A traffic sign that had been heading for a convenience store instead embedded itself harmlessly in the street. A chunk of concrete that might have crashed through someone's window instead shattered against my blade.
The next second found me standing over the fallen rider, who had hit the pavement hard when his motorcycle was destroyed.
He was conscious but dazed, his snake-hair already beginning to regrow from the stumps I had created. Blood trickled from a cut on his forehead, but his injuries appeared to be relatively minor, more bruises and scrapes than anything serious.
I raised Excalibur's hilt and brought it down in a controlled strike against the man's temple, applying just enough force to render him unconscious without causing permanent damage. His body went limp, and the regenerating snakes immediately stopped growing, instead beginning to shrink back toward their original size.
"Sorry for this," I said softly, looking down at the unconscious criminal. "Normally I would have grabbed you and tried to talk you into giving yourself up, but I don't have the time for that tonight."
I placed my hand gently on the man's now-almost-bald head, feeling the small serpents that were still present writhing weakly beneath my palm. Even unconscious, his Quirk was still partially active, though greatly diminished. I wondered what had driven him to this.
"I do hope you find a better path in life," I whispered, meaning every word.
With that I was gone.
A/N: Sorry about the late chapter was out partying with friends and completely forgot about this lol. Either way I hope you guys enjoyed it, I won't drag this year out, at least I hope I don't. Also we will learn about Arthur's (Aki's) past, don't know exactly when but I will reveal it.
That's pretty much it for today, power stones, reviews and comments are appreciated. Author out.