My Hero Academia: Split Path

Chapter 11: Scarred Man

"Shield Meister, Bubble Girl, Match, Icicle, Ryukyu..." the sole remaining villain mulls over the current situation, never losing his rather somber expression. "The local police force..." His eyes scan the officers present, sending a chill down their spines as his sight falls on them. "Those vultures of vice and propaganda..." his eyes rise to gaze up at the helicopter above them holding a journalist and her crew inside. "And a wannabe hero with a third-rate quirk, sticking his nose where it doesn't belong." He lets out a low chuckle as Sora enters his sight. "All we're missing is the guest of honour. Oh well, I guess we can start a little early." Ryuko, exhausted and injured after her fight with the two villains with transformation quirks, steps in between the villain and Sora, cutting the two off from each other's line of sight. "Don't even think about it."

The villain smirks beneath his masks before raising his hands in a peaceful, lackadaisical manner. "Relax. I have no interest in beating children. You'd make a much better trophy to hang over the fireplace." The villain's threat sends a chill down the spines of everyone present. The ease at which the words left his masked mouth is enough for Ryukyu to let out a short growl as a scowl graces her draconic face. "Is there no chance of you surrendering before this gets any more violent?" Ryukyu's words seem to fall on deaf ears as the villain hums to himself in thought. "Sorry. I don't plan on getting locked up anytime soon. At least, not until I've payed back what I owe." Ryukyu sighs, understanding from the sudden coldness in the villain's voice that talking would get them nowhere.

In one swift motion, Ryukyu charges towards the villain with a powerful flap of her wings. She raises her right claw above her head and swipes down at the villain. The villain takes a quick step to his left, avoiding the attack and positioning himself at Ryukyu's side. Ryukyu reacts quickly, swinging her whole body around to slam him with her tail. The villain ducks beneath the swinging tail and places his hand on the ground. Positioned like an American football player, he pushes off the ground and successfully lands a powerful shoulder charge to the heroine's backside.

Ryukyu lets out a grunt as she slides back, using her claws to dig into the ground and keep herself from falling over. "You were much more impressive when you took out those guys." The villain motions with his head towards the two unconscious villains lying nearby. "Is it caution or are you really saying that just those two managed to tire you out to this extent?" Ryukyu lets out a heavy breath from her nostrils, flaring at the villain. "You've gotten a lot more talkative since your friends went down. What's wrong? It's like you're trying to bide for time." The villain gives the heroine a humming snicker in response. "Friends? We just happen to know the same people. As for biding for time...you did hear me when I said the guest of honour hasn't arrived yet, right? The longer this goes on, the more heroes show up, the more of you heroes get beaten down, the more likely that guy'll show his face." Ryukyu sighs, calming herself down. "So it's revenge, then? A hero took down someone you care about? Got in your way? What?"

As Ryukyu's question reaches the villain's ears, so too do the footsteps of someone attempting to sneak up behind him. "Now who's trying to bide for time?" The villain turns on his heels, intercepting a flaming fist with his palm, catching it with ease. "How does it feel, knowing your flames can't reach me?" The villain glares at the tired, injured and exhausted hero, Match, as he tries to push against the villain's hold. Match lets out a defiant shout as he throws his other fist towards the villain, only for it too, to be caught. Match's defiant shout is ended when the villain delivers a headbutt to the hero's forehead so powerful that the force of the blow cracks the ground beneath them.

Fading out of consciousness, the hero finally loses all motivation when he witnesses the fury in the villain's eyes. Seeing the hero unable to speak out of fear, the villain simply tosses the hero to the side with more force than necessary. The hero indents into a nearby police car. "Sorry for showing such an ugly side of me but I really do hate fire quirks. So destructive. And the wounds they leave...far more permanent than a few broken bones or bloody wounds." The villain reaches to his face, caressing the mask as he turns to face the other heroes once more.