A/N: Hi everyone, it's me. The chapter I wrote surpasses the word limit for upload, so I'll be cutting it in half and I'll upload the other half tomorrow–shameless engagement strat, I know, but what can we do about it? See ya tomorrow, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights for any of the preexisting characters. This novel is made for entertainment purposes.
…
Class 1-A hit the forest floor in a mess of yelling, dust, and leaves. Some cursed and some groaned in discomfort, Kaminari questioned the ominous and game-like name while Midoriya muttered the name 'Beast's Forest', but soon they settled down. While some still complained, Kirishima was the first to start walking towards the forest, but then–The ground rumbled.
A deep tremor spread through the ground as a faceless beast peeked through the trees at them.
"Ah… IT'S A BEAST!" Screamed Kaminari and Sero in unison after seeing the thing.
Before anything else could be said the beast struck at the closest one, Kirishima, and in response he hardened while Koda tried to use his Quirk to calm the 'beast' down to no avail. Ready for action, Kirishima retaliated as the giant 'paw' came down on him by throwing a right cross of his own, meeting the beast halfway and blowing its front paw to bits in the process.
A beat later, Todoroki's ice caught up with them, freezing the back limbs of the now obviously non-living earth beast as Iida and Bakugo followed up with attacks of their own, each finishing off the frontal limbs before Midoriya's 'smash' finished to destroy the earth construct.
Catching up with the boys, Sato spoke to them in amazement. "You guys defeated that beast in an instant!" while Sero said to Todoroki, adding to the hype. "You guys did it!"
Yet, cutting the congratulations short, Damian spoke as he finally descended next to them. "That was cool and all, but the job's not done, guys."
And as if to second him, the tremors were felt again as everybody turned to look to their sides, noticing that more and more earth golems were popping up from seemingly nowhere.
"How many of them are there?" Muttered Kaminari.
"What should we do? Should we run away?" Asked Mina with a tone full of worry.
Responding with worry of his own, Sato spoke again. "This is no joke! If we don't make it to the facility by noon, then we don't get any lunch."
Trying to bring some clarity back to the unsettled group, Yaoyorozu spoke with certainty. "Then we have no choice but to get through here and take the shortest route."
Her words in turn gained the approval of the class but then-
*CLAP*
Damian clapped once; loud and sharp, commanding the class' attention. "Alright, everybody, LISTEN UP!" Class 1A responded by silently converging their eyes on him. "I don't know about you all, but I don't plan to spend half a day here fighting dirt monsters so let's work together because I'm not missing lunch."
His carefree attitude calmed the class down as they all got mentally ready to charge at the coming golems and then they heard Damian's voice again. "Shoto, immobilize any golem that gets too close with your ice. Kirishima, Midoriya and Iida, you three focus on finishing the trapped golems off on the left flank while Ojiro, Sato and Tokoyami deal with the right flank."
Turning to the remaining classmates, he kept giving out roles as they kept on nodding. "Jiro and Shoji, you both focus on scouting the positions of the beasts and relay the info to Momo, she knows what to do next," he said, trusting the months of tutoring he had spent on Yaoyorozu to help her become a capable hero. "Aoyama, Kaminari and Sero, you three will finish off anyone that gets past the frontline groups. Mina, Uraraka and Koda are to support the front lines where needed while Toru and Asui protect the scouts and Momo. Leave the aerial threats to the arrogant brat and me. Remember to stay close, we move together."
"Yes!" Yelled class 1A in unison as they each got in position to their own given role, though there was someone that wasn't quite happy with the arrangements.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BRATM YOU BASTAR-" Cursed Bakugo in response, but he was interrupted as a dragon-shaped golem burst through the branches in their direction.
"GODDAMMIT, WHATEVER!" Said the spiky haired boy as he was left with no option but to follow Damian's directives.
Class 1-A hit the forest floor in a messy explosion of leaves, dust, and shouting.
"WHY IS THIS ALWAYS HAPPENING TO US?!" Kaminari yelled as he tumbled across a root.
Midoriya landed on his hands and knees, muttering. "Beast's Forest…" while brushing twigs off.
Somewhere nearby, Sero groaned, "My back…!"
Kirishima, already upright, slapped dust off his arms. "Okay! Complaints later, guys, let's get moving!"
He took one step toward the treeline when.
*RUMBLE*
A deep tremor rippled beneath their feet.
Then, from the shadows between thick cedar trunks, something massive shifted, a bulky shape of hardened soil and stone. Its faceless, blunt head turned toward them. Its enormous forelimbs–shaped almost like exaggerated lion paws–dug into the ground, cracking earth as it crawled into view.
"Ah-" Kaminari squeaked. "IT'S A BEAST!!" Kaminari and Sero screamed together.
The golem lunged its huge paw toward Kirishima. "Hardening!" Kirishima braced, teeth gritted, and threw a hardened right hook straight into the construct's front limb. Stone and packed soil exploded outward, pieces scattering into foliage.
Koda tried to call out to it desperately, "W-wait!" but stopped when he saw the limb partially crumble into literal dirt.
Another tremor followed as Todoroki's ice erupted, freezing the golem's hind legs to the ground.
Iida dashed forward, engines roaring, kicking into the frozen mass with a sharp "Reciproburst!"
Bakugo blasted in from the opposite side, snarling, "MOVE IT, FOUR-EYES!" as he detonated the other limb clean off.
Midoriya leapt high and smashed down with controlled force. "SMASH!!"
The golem shattered into a collapsing heap. Then Sato jogged up with awe on his face. "You guys beat that thing instantly!"
"You guys did it!" Sero echoed, pumping a fist.
But Damian finally touched down from above, landing lightly behind them.
"That was cool and all," he said casually, brushing dust off his shoulder, "but the job's not done, guys."
*RUMBLE* *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE*
The ground shook harder.
Everyone turned… and froze.
From all directions, dozens of golems emerged. Some crawled out from under the soil, others tore free from tree trunks where they'd been camouflaged. Some were shaped like huge cats, others like bulky lizards, others like warped dragons. Each towering and faceless, each more than capable of flattening a student.
"How many of them ARE there?!" Kaminari cried.
Mina spoke with worry in her voice. "Should we run?! Can we even run?!"
"This is no joke!" Sato said, panic rising. "If we don't make it to the facility by noon we won't get lunch!"
Yaoyorozu raised her voice, steady and composed despite her tight posture. "Then we have no choice but to get through here and take the shortest route."
Her certainty calmed everyone—
Until-
*CLAP*
Damian clapped once. Loud. Sharp. Enough to cut through the chaos. "All right, everybody, listen up!"
Class 1-A instinctively snapped toward him. Months of field training, crises, and Damian's weird ability to bring order out of chaos had conditioned them well.
"I don't know about you all," he continued with a smirk, "but I'm not spending half a day fighting dirt monsters, so let's work together because I'm not missing lunch."
Their panic eased immediately, but Damian didn't wait either. "Shoto, immobilize anything that gets too close with your ice. Kirishima, Midoriya, Iida, you three are front line assault for the left flank. Break anything Shoto freezes." They nodded in near-sync.
"Ojiro, Sato, Tokoyami, you guys take the right flank. Keep Dark Shadow controlled and focused!"
Tokoyami gave a dramatic bow. "Dark Shadow shall restrain its hunger."
"DUDE, just say 'okay' like a normal person!" Sato groaned.
Damian turned. "Jiro, Shoji, you both scout everything. I want every golem in the vicinity located. Feed the intel to Momo, she will coordinate the teams."
Jiro tapped her jacks against the earth. "On it!"
Shoji extended several eyes high into the branches. "Understood."
"Momo, use everything they tell you. Obstacles, traps, gadgets; whatever helps the frontline. This is just like we've practiced time and time again."
Yaoyorozu straightened with confidence she didn't have months ago. "Leave it to me."
"Aoyama, Kaminari, Sero, you're the barrier between the frontline and the supports. Anything that slips past the front line, you blast, zap, or tape down."
Aoyama sparkled dramatically. "Très bien~! I shall shine!"
"Just… don't blind us," Kaminari groaned.
"Sero, please keep him pointed AWAY from us," Damian added.
"Already planning on it," Sero replied.
Damian pointed to the next group. "Mina, Uraraka, Koda, you are to support where needed. Uraraka, help reposition heavy hitters. Koda, use the animals to distract the monsters where necessary. Mina, melt anything that gets distracted by the frontline and Koda."
"Asui, Toru, you're guarding the scouts and Momo."
"Rabbit!" Asui said with a nod of afirmation.
"You can count on me!" Toru chimed.
Damian lifted off the ground slightly, energy shimmering subtly around his feet, unseen by all. "Leave aerial threats to the angry explosion gremlin and me."
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A GREMLIN, YOU BAS-"
*CRASH*
A dragon-shaped golem burst from the canopy, wings of stone beating the air.
Bakugo swore loudly. "GODDAMMIT–FINE! WHATEVER!"
Damian snapped his fingers. Wind pressure cracked like a whip, knocking branches out of the way. "Move out!" he shouted. "Work together and don't stray far from each other!"
"YES!" Class 1-A roared.
Then the battlefield erupted. Damian darted overhead, though he never chanted or gestured overtly, the air around Class 1-A shifted almost imperceptibly. He was using the god given months of extra time he was given and putting them to test in ways more intricate than simply blasting anything that got in the way on his own.
The ground hardened under Kirishima's feet just before he charged.
A gust of wind pushed Midoriya's trajectory ever so slightly to avoid a falling trunk.
Moisture condensed into a slippery patch where a golem was about to leap, delaying it just long enough for Todoroki's ice to catch it.
Tokoyami's shadow stretched cleaner, sharper—because Damian dimmed ambient light just a fraction.
Each manipulation was tiny, each one unnoticed yet each one amplified a classmate.
…
「Camping facility's front door, 12:06 p.m.」
Class 1-A burst out of the Beast's Forest, sweaty, panting, bruised, and completely covered in dust, leaves, and clumps of dried mud from shattered earth golems, but they were still standing.
"W-We made it…!" Kaminari gasped, hands on his knees.
"Just in… huff… just in time," Iida panted, steam practically rising from his calves after overusing his engines.
Midoriya stumbled forward, wobbling yet smiling with that earnest, exhausted brightness that somehow made everyone feel victorious. "We really… huff… we really pulled it off!"
Kirishima collapsed backward onto the dirt. "That was SO manly!"
Tokoyami stood dramatically atop a rock, cape torn at the edges. "Dark Shadow and I… are satisfied," but Dark Shadow–tiny and tired–squeaked. "I'm not…"
Sero fell flat on his back. "My EVERYTHING hurts."
Ojiro stretched his back until it cracked. "This was worse than the USJ…"
"Speak for yourself," Bakugo snarled, though even he was breathing like he'd run a marathon. "I could've done that with HALF my strength."
Damian landed lightly behind him, dusting his sleeves off like he'd just finished a morning jog. "Sure you could've, champ."
"SHUT UP!!" Bakugo yelled, but there was no heat behind it.
Mandalay and Pixie-Bob were already waiting in front of the facility.
Mandalay blinked as the battered yet unified class approached while Pixie-Bob's jaw practically dropped. "…They actually made it," Mandalay whispered.
"Not just made it," Pixie-Bob added, eyes wide. "They made it early. Did you time them? They were supposed to struggle for at LEAST a few hours before even getting through!"
She leaned forward, staring with disbelief and growing excitement. "These kids are… absolutely feral!"
Aizawa stepped out from behind the Pussycats, hands in pockets, capturing the class in a single sweeping glance. "You all survived," he said with his usual monotone.
Kaminari raised his hand weakly. "THANK YOU FOR THE VOTE OF CONFIDENCE, SENSEI!"
Aizawa continued without acknowledging him. "And you did it faster than I expected."
A collective gasp went through the class.
"W-Was that… praise?" Uraraka blinked.
"From Aizawa-sensei?" Sato added.
Aizawa sighed. "Don't make me regret it."
Pixie-Bob burst forward, sparkling with hyperactive excitement.
"WOW, WOW, WOW!! That was AMAZING! You kids handled earth beasts like seasoned pros!"
She shot finger guns at Todoroki, who stiffened. "Ice boy! You were freezing them faster than I could dig them up!"
Todoroki blinked. "…Thank you."
Midoriya bowed nervously. "I-It was because everyone worked to-"
"AND YOU!" she spun and pointed directly at him with a wide grin, "Mister Muscles-in-Training! Those coordinated smashes? ADORABLE!"
Midoriya squeaked. "A-ADOR-?!"
Iida adjusted his glasses, mortified. "Th-Thank you, Miss Pixie-Bob! Our formation efficiency was-"
"You were incredible too, Speedster-kun!" she said, leaning in with a wink. "Very reliable! Very take-charge! VERY heroic!"
Iida turned tomato-red and started vibrating. "V-V-V-VERY!!??"
Bakugo scowled as she approached him next.
"And you, my little murder star, your explosions were GORGEOUS!!"
Bakugo froze.
The class froze.
"…Gorgeous…?" he repeated, expression short-circuiting.
Pixie-Bob giggled. "So fierce! So wild! You remind me of my favorite kind of mountain cat!"
Kirishima slapped his knee laughing. "BRO, YOU GOT HIT ON!!"
"SHUT UP!!!"
Then she turned dramatically to Damian.
"And you…" she purred, hands on hips, tail swishing behind her.
Damian raised a brow, smirking already.
Pixie-Bob pointed a gloved finger up at him as she walked closer. "You were the conductor of this little orchestra. Calling shots, controlling the battle, moving like you have done this already."
Damian shrugged with faux modesty. "What can I say? Leadership looks good on me."
Pixie-Bob leaned in with bold confidence. "Oh, it looks very good on you. Skillful boys are my weakness."
Damian grinned, widening just enough to be seen as dangerous fun. "Well, lucky for you, Miss Pixie, I'm full of skills. And I've been told I make an excellent weakness."
The entire class erupted in response, though Pixie-Bob herself let out a delighted laugh in response to his words."Oh you're trouble. I like trouble."
Damian winked. "You have no idea."
[I'm telling Natasha all of this when we go back.] Said Eva half amused and half annoyed at the hormone driven behaviour of Damian.
'Ah, c'mon. It's just empty words, she might be really hot, but if I can keep it professional with Mirko, who else can make me lose my discipline?' He defended himself while internally chuckling.
Mandalay pinched the bridge of her nose but couldn't hide the smile of amusement on her face. "Good grief… Aizawa, where did you even find him?"
Aizawa stared deadpan at Damian, then at the class. "At this point, I'm still trying to figure that out. Though I don't remember Pixie-bob being this… way before."
…
Night had settled over the forest in a calm blue hush, broken only by the distant shrieks and giggles of Class 1-B ambushing the walking pairs of 1-A.
Mandalay sat at the base camp table, arms folded and ears twitching as she listened to the faint calls.
Tiger stood nearby, muscular arms crossed, posture unmoving as a statue.
Pixie-Bob stretched her legs out beside the lantern, swinging them casually.
Midoriya, Iida, and Ojiro–waiting their turn–hovered near the heroes. Damian remained beside them, leaning back against a tree, fingers lightly brushing the air in a subtle pattern only he understood.
His brows were faintly creased. 'The ward still needs some work, Ragdoll managed to see through more than what I wanted her to see, though we gave nothing important away.'
Agreeing with him, Eva offered her thoughts. [The spell was not created to function against Quirks, so all things considered it was better than expected. Still, we can use our own insights to adjust this blindspot, this should also work for any mutation that functions similarly back home.]
Pixie-Bob wrinkled her nose suddenly.
"…Do you guys smell something?"
Midoriya sniffed. "S-Something… is burning?"
Damian straightened at once, already expecting this–his gaze shifting toward the east ridge, a faint glow pulsed between the trees far away. Blue and flickering, but growing.
Mandalay's ears shot up. "Is that a-?"
"A fire," Damian finished. His tone devoid of his usual playfulness.
Tiger took a step forward, claws flexing. "Who could have-?"
*WHAM*
"AH-!?" Pixie-Bob gasped suddenly as she was lifted from the ground before shooting towards the forest inexplicably.
"PIXIE!" Screamed Tiger in alarm.
Magne's pole slammed forward to intercept the coming hero, magnetic force dragging Pixie-Bob toward them like she'd been yanked by an invisible rope.
But the impact never landed.
Damian vanished from his place, a sudden gale the only proof that he was even there to begin with. The next instant he was there, directly between Pixie-Bob and Magne.
His heel met Magne's jaw in a flash of controlled force, purposefully measured as he sent the villain flying backward, crashing on a tree.
Then another flash gust exploded as he appeared back at Pixie-Bob's side before she even hit the ground.
Her body, mid-fall, was caught effortlessly in his arms. "You okay?" Damian asked, lowering her gently to her feet.
Pixie-Bob blinked up at him, stunned, pupils wide and shaking. "…W-What-how?!"
Mandalay and Tiger rushed in, surrounding them instantly.
Midoriya, Iida, and Ojiro jumped into formation instinctively.
"VILLAINS!" Tiger roared, muscles bulging.
Mandalay's eyes glowed bright. "Class 1-A! Regroup NOW!"
Damian stepped forward, eyes sharp, expression shifting from casual to dangerously focused.
"No time," he said, voice low. "They're already here."
Pixie-Bob grabbed his sleeve, heart racing. "You… saved me."
Damian smirked sideways. "Wouldn't be the first time I've swept a lady off her feet."
She flushed at his words as she didn't have anything to say this time; her expression part anger, part flustered.
Magne's groan of pain echoed.
Tiger bared his teeth. "Whoever they are, they're not taking any of my teammates."
Damian's eyes lifted toward the rising flames licking the treetops some distance away, ignoring the lizard guy who was blabbering something about Stain.
As Spinner lunged himself at them, Mandalay spoke. "Tiger, Pixie. I've broadcasted instructions, leave the safety of the other students to Ragdoll. We will take these two down before getting to the others."
Then she turned momentarily to the students before focusing again on the villains. "You all go ahead. Listen carefully, do not fight. Iida-kun, you're in charge. Damian-kun, you take care of the fire from a safe distance."
Obeying her orders, Iida and the rest started to move but noticing Midoriya standing still, he urged the green haired boy. "Midoriya-kun!"
"Go on ahead!" Said Midoriya before turning to the heroes. "Mandalay, I know where Kota is. I'll go bring him back!"
Flinching at his words, Mandalay doubted only for a second before agreeing. "Okay, I'll leave it to you. Damian-kun, pick them up after you're done with the fire and reunite with Eraser."
Nodding at her, Damian spoke briefly before taking to the air. "Gotcha."
Far above and above the heart of the fire, Damian skimmed over the treetops, the acrid bite of burning wood thickening as he approached the eastern ridge. Blue flames licked up the trunks like living beasts.
Dabi, Damian thought, jaw tightening.
Below, hidden deep in a patch of dense undergrowth, Aoyama lay curled in a fetal position, shaking as silently as he could, hands pressed over his ears. He dared not move. Just beyond him, twice as oblivious, Dabi and Twice continued their approach toward the deeper forest, scanning aimlessly.
They hadn't noticed him. They hadn't noticed anyone.
'Good.' From above, Damian raised a hand… and the elements swayed in obedience.
Moisture condensed instantly. Vapor gathered, swirling into a tight spiral above the burning treeline. A moment later-
*FWOOSH*
A controlled sheet of water hammered downward in a sweeping arc, drenching the flames from above with precision. Fire hissed violently, guttered out, and collapsed into steam. Charred trunks smoked, but no new sparks formed.
Dabi stopped mid-step, blinking up and soaked. "…The hell?"
Twice looked around in confusion. "Rain? No-sprinklers? Forest sprinklers?!"
Damian didn't stop to listen.
The instant the flames died, he was already gone, blasting forward through the air towards one of the facilities inside of the forest, wind whispering the shape of the land beneath him.
Smoke, gas, hurried steps, fights… a monstrous roar.
There, northwest quadrant. An unusual fluctuation, two people isolated from the chaos. Fast, heavy footfalls and the familiar signature of a hero's pulse spiking in pain and adrenaline. Ragdoll.
He flew straight to her.
Ragdoll tumbled backward across the dirt, boots scraping trenches as she desperately dodged another earth-rattling punch. Her hair whipped wildly around her face, her breath shallow, her movements uneven.
"Okay, okay, still alive–still good–still conscious-ouch." she muttered to herself.
The Nomu's roar cut through the clearing as it lunged and Ragdoll's legs buckled, she wasn't fast enough this time.
The killing blow came down but a boom cracked through the air as Damian landed between them, catching the Nomu's punch with his forearm. The ground cracked slightly beneath his feet.
Ragdoll stared, stunned. "Damian-kun?!"
Damian pushed forward sharply, sending the Nomu skidding back with a point-blank burst of compressed wind.
He didn't waste a second. "Are you okay? Any injuries?"
She clutched her side but forced a painfully bright grin. "Oh, y'know, just a cute little buffet of bruises. Ribs feel crunchy, vision's doing the wobbly-wobbly–but nothing fatal! Probably! Nya-ha—ow—no laughing–laughing bad."
Her humor barely masked the pain.
Damian quickly changed his eyes before he gave her a quick once-over, using his eyes as an MRI scanner; bruising, swelling, shallow cuts. Three cracked ribs, but her organs are fine. She won't be in real danger if she stops moving.
"Stay down," Damian ordered. "You're done fighting."
"But, Damian-kun, that thing it's after me," she protested through clenched teeth. "You shouldn't-"
"You're in no condition to fight anymore and you are a bad match for this thing. I'm not letting anything take you, so just stay put." His voice left no space for argument.
The Nomu roared again, ripping a tree out of the ground and hurling it like a spear.
Damian flicked a finger, a slicing wind arc disintegrated the tree midair.
He stepped forward as the Nomu charged. Damian shot upward, letting it barrel underneath him in a blur of brute force.
'Too predictable.' He twisted midair, diving back down–heel first.
*CRACK*
His kick drove into the Nomu's temple, sending it spinning into the dirt.
It recovered instantly, regeneration flaring, muscles swelling grotesquely. With a roar, it threw a massive punch.
Damian caught the fist with both hands, wind spiraling around his arms, superstrength augmenting his muscles as he forced the limb sideways.
The Nomu shrieked as its shoulder dislocated with a sickening crack. Damian followed quickly with a wind cannon point-blank.
The gust blasted the Nomu across the clearing but it was back on its feet in seconds, regeneration knitting bone and tendon with horrifying speed.
Damian exhaled. "Haa. How persistent, I guess it'd be too much to ask a mindless golem to read the room and stay down."
He was short on time, and the Nomu was about to feel that in its own flesh.
A swirl of dust lifted as he moved, vanishing from his spot and reappearing in front of the Nomu in a heartbeat. He slammed a shockwave-enhanced uppercut into its chin, then a downward wind burst that smashed it into the earth followed by a triple volley of earth spears that pinned its legs.
With a guttural roar, the Nomu tore the spears apart, only for Damian to grab its head and drive his knee forward, snapping its jaw sideways. The monster reeled with an animal like shriek as Damian appeared behind it, his hand curled into a spear shape.
He drove a wind-drill burst directly behind the Nomu's knee.
*CRACK*
Then the other.
*CRACK*
Then its right shoulder.
*CRUNCH*
The Nomu collapsed, limbs ruined, regeneration struggling to keep up with the rapid sequence of targeted destruction.
Damian stood over it, breath steady, controlled. "Stay down." And the Nomu no longer had the ability to ignore him.
He turned immediately back toward Ragdoll, who was half-sitting, half-lying against a tree trunk, chest heaving.
She managed a weak smirk. "Okay… that was really cool. You definitely get bonus hero points for that entrance."
Damian crouched beside her to check her balance. "Save the compliments until we evacuate safely."
"Who says I can't do both?" she whispered, but the strain in her voice turned the line into a wince. "…Ow. Okay, maybe later."
Damian slipped an arm behind her back gently. "Let's move before more villains come."
And somewhere far away, the ground shook with a different roar far away up the mountain–Muscular.
Ignoring the pressing issue, he picked Ragdoll up carefully in a princess carry so as to avoid having her move in a way that would make the pain flare up again. She hissed softly when Damian adjusted his grip, more out of embarrassment than pain, but there was no time to worry about the superfluous.
He gently elevated both of them as he quickly headed for the spot where the teammates of Ragdoll were fighting the villains.
They arrived just as Mandalay dodged a blade's arc backwards, Tiger barreling in with a pivoting elbow-strike that forced Spinner to skid back. Pixie-bob, recovered and furious, was shaping compacted earth into snapping pillars that hemmed Magne in on three sides like jaws.
Even with their synergy tightening, the villains weren't fully overwhelmed yet; too slippery, too chaotic, and too early in the fight since Damian was the freakishly fast and efficient outlier.
But seeing Damian descend with Ragdoll in his arms shifted the air. Mandalay's eyes widened as fear, relief, and fury all at once shone behind her eyes. Tiger's stance sharpened. Pixie-bob's snarl cracked into stunned concern.
"RAGDOLL!" Mandalay cried, rushing forward while Pixie-bob's earth golems held the villains down.
Damian landed lightly, boots touching the dirt with barely a crunch. He lowered Ragdoll into Mandalay's open arms with the utmost care.
"She's okay for now," he said calmly, hands glowing faintly as he dismissed the stabilizing spell. "Fractured ribs. Nothing worse."
Tiger knelt beside them immediately. "Who did this?"
"A Nomu," Damian answered. "A monster similar to the one from the USJ incident, seemingly sent specifically to kidnap her."
All three Pussycats stiffened in response to his words. Pixie-bob's expression twisted–anger, dread, and something far too protective. "A Nomu… after her? Why-"
"It's useless to worry about the why right now," Damian said, voice cooling like tempered steel. "They failed."
The heroes could only nod at him. Ragdoll waved weakly from Mandalay's lap. "He came in like woosh! And totally saved me. He was super cool–ow–okay, that sentence hurt–ow–worth it."
Damian shook his head in exasperation at her insistence in talking in her state yet he couldn't help but smile at her antics. "Stop talking already," then he turned to Mandalay. "I've taken care of the fire, I'm off to pick up Midoriya and Kota."
Tiger rose, face firm. "We'll hold these two here. Go."
…
Kota's scream cracked through the air, frightened but sharp with defiance. "S–Stop… leave him alone!"
Muscular turned, annoyance crossing his face right until a shadow dropped from above like a falling thunderbolt.
*WHAM*
Damian's heel crashed into Muscular's jaw, snapping the villain's head sideways and launching him off Midoriya like a ragdoll. Muscular slammed into a boulder, carving a crater with a violent crack of breaking stone.
Damian landed between Kota and Midoriya, dust rippling away from his feet.
Midoriya gasped, coughing, body trembling from the damage already taken. Damian knelt, hooking an arm under his to lift him upright.
"You good?" Damian asked.
Midoriya winced. "Damian-kun…? Y-Yeah. I-I think so."
Before Midoriya could regain his footing, Damian turned to Kota, expression softening just enough to be seen. "That was really brave, Kota. You stepping in bought Izuku the second he needed. You're quite the lifesaver."
Kota stiffened, eyes wide, breath hitching in disbelief.
Then Damian's gaze hardened again, cutting toward the boulder Muscular was already tearing himself out of.
"Midoriya, take Kota and move. I'll deal with him."
Midoriya instantly shook his head. "N-No! Damian-kun, I can still—!"
But Muscular's laughter interrupted him, echoing across the cliffside.
"Hah! They didn't tell me YOU were here too, kid!" His muscles writhed outward, cords bulging grotesquely. "Master Shigaraki wants you alive just as much as that Bakugo! Looks like I get TWO prizes!"
Midoriya froze at his words.
But Damian didn't, he seized Midoriya by the collar and purposefully raised his voice. "Tsk. SNAP OUT OF IT, IZUKU!" And Midoriya jolted like he'd been electrocuted.
"You're in no condition to fight and there's a kid who needs to be brought to safety. Just take him and go."
Midoriya ground his teeth… then finally nodded, picking Kota up securely with his only functioning arm. "…Be careful, Damian-kun. He's strong."
Damian smirked sideways. "Worry about yourself, kid. Have you ever seen me lose? Just go."
Muscular roared in a crazed shriek. "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!"
He lunged–a living avalanche of meat and murder, yet Damian met him head-on.
The collision was like two trains slamming together, shockwaves rippling through the cliff. Muscular's momentum died instantly, his body stopped cold by Damian's unmoving frame, his shock absorption practically nullifying Muscular.
*CRACK*
Damian's knee drove into Muscular's ribs, lifting him off his feet. A spinning back kick sent him shooting across the clearing, embedding him into the cliffside in a new crater. Dust fell Muscular as groaned.
Damian spat off to the side, his lively demeanor nowhere to be seen now that there were only the two of them here. "Shut the fuck up. Your voice is irritating, like your face."
Muscular erupted from the wall with a roar, muscles surging to maximum size.
Damian walked toward him, he didn't run nor dashed at him, choosing to do a measured walk.
Pre-cognitive flashes flickered behind his eyes; attack vectors, joint break angles, kinetic stress predictions. The qualities he so often held back melding together as he decided to show no mercy, his personal hatred for people like the villain in front of him rearing its dark head.
Muscular swung a mountain of a fist but Damian dipped under it and planted three rapid blows into Muscular's ribs.
*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*
Each carried strength capable of injuring even All Might. Cracks burst along the muscle layers as Muscular howled, swinging again.
Damian's hand shot out, catching his unnaturally enlarged wrist hard enough to sink his fingers inside Muscular's flesh before he twisted.
*SNAP*
Muscular shrieked, stumbling as the limb hung limp.
"Don't cry on me now," Damian muttered with true apathy in his tone. "This is the result of the life you chose to live."
The villain tried to regenerate muscle over the break but Damian was already there, an elbow slamming into the side of his skull, feeling his own elbow crack from the unmeasured strength he was using before the super regeneration of his kicked in, shrugging off the recoil.
Muscular staggered, disoriented. Damian hammered forward, fists a blur: A jab to the throat. A hook to the liver. A knee to the sternum that cratered muscle. A hammerfist to the spine. A palm strike under the jaw that lifted Muscular off the ground.
This wasn't training, limit testing or hero duty, no. It was the pure disdain of a man seeing the thing he hated the most in front of him, he was projecting the sheer repulsion he felt through his own hands, each hit landing as though it only made him angrier to have to touch a filthy thing.
"Why-" Muscular coughed blood, shaking, "You fight like a villain… aren't you… supposed to be a hero?!"
Damian tilted his head. "Oh, I'm technically just a hero trainee, I'm still learning the ropes."
Another blow caved in Muscular's remaining functional muscle mass, his Muscle Fiber Enhancement collapsing under the relentless pummeling.
"It also doesn't matter how badly I beat you. On the record you will escape after an extraneous fight due to Kurogiri's intervention." He said with a smile that was anything but kind.
Muscular fell backward, scrambling, hand outstretched, eyes wide at the implication. "H-Hold on–wait–WAIT!"
Damian stepped on his chest, pinning him effortlessly. "Why should I wait?"
Holding Damian foot with both hands, Muscular tried to scramble for a reason. "Ple-Please just let me go, I swear I'll change my ways! I'll even go willingly to prison, so please, forgive me!"
Falling into silence, Damian lightly lifted his foot off of Muscular's chest, but before he could smile in relief.
*CRUNCH*
"GAH! S-STOP!" He screamed in pain at having his ribs and solar plexus partially cave in as Damian stomped down on him.
"But I don't wanna," he said, looking at the villain with disregard. "You killed people just because, right? I'm just doing the same. Like you said yourself, there's no resentment behind my actions, we're both just doing what we want."
Then a pulse of energy shimmered around his hand as Damian pressed it to the terrified Muscular's forehead. A white-hot spark of essence jolted through his forehead towards Damian's hand and Muscular's Quirk was gone, ripped away.
The villain gasped, whole body convulsing as his Muscle Augmentation tore itself apart.
Damian let him drop. Then punched him once–clean and final–knocking him unconscious. "I was just kidding, thank your lucky stars you're not even worthy of me getting my hands dirty. That and that you have some better uses than being a corpse."
Silence settled across the cliff. Damian exhaled, rolling his shoulders. "…Annoying bastard."
[You know, sometimes I wonder if the trial of the Self was enough to purge your demons.] Said Eva jokingly, though she was still a bit worried about his state of mind when it came to dealing with true villains like Muscular.
'Sometimes I wonder the same thing, dear. Remind me to visit that turtle island on our next trip,' he answered back, to which she only nodded in affirmation. [Mhm.]
He turned toward the direction where Midoriya and Kota had fled, his mind going over his personal plans one more time. 'You know, I always berate that prick Bakugo for being an arrogant piece of shit. Yet here I am planning to sacrifice him–even if momentarily–to the enemy for my own selfish reasons. Seems like he was not the only piece of shit in this class.'
[If it's worth anything, at least you're much more handsome than him.] Feeling the negative emotions behind his thoughts, Eva tried to cheer him up in her own silly way.
'That does make me feel better.' He said before taking flight again, making a beeline for his next and last objective for the night.