Collector Hero: Synthesis Chapter 42 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Collector Hero: Synthesis! The rigorous summer training camp continues on! The students are being put through hard training to strengthen their Quirks, but they’re also given a bit of time afterwards each day to relax. On the third night of training it’s the classic ‘Test of Courage’! 1-A and 1-B will take turns trying to scare each other on a path through the forest! Fun for everyone! Well, except Bakugo and Monoma, they have their remedial lessons instead. Kek! Surely nothing would go wrong tonight, right?

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 42 – Vanguard Action Squad

“GyAaAaAaAhH!!!” Kaminari cried out as his body was flooded with high voltage electricity from a generator. Part of his training to increase the power and control of his Quirk was to intake and safely redirect a large influx of electricity. This also had the bonus effect of forcefully increasing his body’s ability to store a larger ‘battery’ of electrical potential energy.

BOOM

“GAAAAHHHH!!!” Bakugo roared as he dunked his hands back in hot water to further expand the sweat glands on his palms. With the glands expanded, he could release more of his nitroglycerin-like sweat with each explosion, thereby increasing the power of each blast. After this portion of his training would come his control training, learning to focus his explosive force to be able to precisely target and not cause excessive collateral damage. “DIE!!!” He yanked his hands from the hot water and pointed his palms at the sky.

BOOM

“Hah…hah…” Todoroki was sitting chest deep in a barrel of water with a fire lit under it. Steam wafted off the exceedingly hot water and Todoroki was sweating heavily. He slapped the barrel and ice exploded from his body, freezing the water and extinguishing the fire below instantly. For a moment Todoroki dealt with the subzero temperatures before slapping the barrel with his opposite hand and unleashing a blast of fire that melted the water in the barrel and reignited the flames beneath, the water once more almost bubbling hot. His training was focused on rapidly switching between ice and fire, while also boosting his natural resistance to both extreme heat and extreme cold. The end goal was to be able to use both fire and ice simultaneously, but that was proving incredibly hard for Todoroki to do at the moment.

“I’m… Gonna… Hurl…” Ochako’s face was green as she bounced down the side of a dirt hill that Pixie-bob had created. Ochako was currently inside a Zorb and bouncing around to strengthen her inner ear canal to help prevent nausea while using her Quirk for long periods of time. The vertigo she experienced by removing gravity from objects or herself was her most limiting factor right now, and working to mitigate it by learning to deal with the nausea would make her better with her Quirk. After resistance training would come strengthening training as she was forced to remove the gravity of larger and large amounts of weight, breaking her three ton limit.

“Come on!” Kirishima and Tetsutetsu both called out as they activated their Quirks again. Both boys were struck by one of their classmates a second later.

Kaibara grimaced as his spinning fist, like a drill, grinded against Kirishima’s hardened skin. “The hell’re you made out of?!”

“Ngh!” Sato barely stifled a curse as his fist slammed into Tetsutetsu’s steel-like body.

“Guh…” Tetsutetsu grunted from the super-strength punch from Sato as his feet skidded backwards across the ground. “That all you got?!”

His answer was another punch.

For Kirishima and Tetsutetsu this was endurance and Quirk strengthening training at the same time. With their similar Quirks, it only made sense to toughen them up further while increasing the length of time that they could maintain their transformed states.

Sato was working on building up his strength and resistance to his Quirks side-effect. Efficiency in the rate of converting sugar into strength was the name of the game for him during this training. The more boost he could get from every grain of sugar the better off he’d be.

Kaibara was working on the rotational speed and power of his Gyrate Quirk. He could drill through rock without too much trouble, but metal was currently impossible. He was now finding out that whatever properties that Kirishima’s Quirk imparted was also stopping him dead at the moment.

RMMMBBBLLLLEEE

One of the dirt hills visibly shook before breaking apart into a miniature landslide. Jiro was panting as she looked at the progress of her Quirk strengthening training. She could more easily hit resonant frequencies now, but it still took so much out of her without her support gear. “The dirt is still easier than the metal…” Jiro knew exactly what was coming next, eyeing the blocks of steel, iron, and other metals that Momo was making as part of her own training.

Momo ate more calorie dense foods as she continued to produce everything on the list that Aizawa had given her. Various metals, fibers, plastics, chemical compounds, the list went on and on and forced Momo to strain her Quirk and her mind to correctly make each item on the list.

“Where am I?!” Monoma questioned as he looked around, not seeing anyone, not hearing anything, just silence and a strangely empty mall. He’d been practicing with that 1-A girl, Camie, and then she’d breathed out a cloud of chromatic mist and the next thing Monoma knew, he was here. Just a second ago he’d been able to see and hear the training of the other students…now he was just alone with only his voice to hear.

Camie grinned as she saw Monoma walking around in a thick cloud of her Glamor mist. “I’m totes getting better with my illusions.” She grinned as Monoma called out for anyone that could hear him. “I hope you like liminal space, you annoying prick.” She might’ve been more than a little ‘done’ with Monoma’s stupid rivalry with her class.

Tsuyu was having a tough time right now as she climbed up a cliff, only to have to hop away from her position as three objects slammed into where she’d just been. The Frog girl safely landed on a different outcropping of hardened dirt as she lashed out with her long, prehensile tongue, trying to smack down the floating objects from the air that were attacking her. “Kero.”

“Not bad, Tsu-chan!” Setsuna laughed as she floated around in dozens of pieces with her Quirk. “But you’ve gotta be faster than that!” She launched another four pieces of herself at Tsuyu, preventing the other girl from reaching the top of the cliff.

Their dual training was to strengthen Tsuyu’s body and increase her situational awareness while working towards a goal. Id she made it to the top of the cliff, she won. If Setsuna could prevent her from reaching the top of the cliff, then Setsuna would win. For Setsuna, she was improving the speed at which she could divide her body and her precise control over all her separated parts. Her current goal was also to increase the number of splits that she could do, making her separated parts smaller and smaller, while still retaining precise control over all of them.

“Hup!” Itsuka punched forward with her enlarged fist, looking to put Shoji on the ground. Shoji grunted as he blocked the blow with his Dupli-Bone Shield. Itsuka’s huge fists packed a proportionate amount of power behind them, only further reinforced by the girl’s martial arts background and proper training.

“Dupli-Muscle Whip!” Shoji lashed out with three tendrils from his right side and was stunned when Itsuka grabbed them with her enlarged left hand.

“Got you!” Itsuka pulled as hard as she could to drag Shoji closer and punch him with her free hand. “Ow!” She grimaced as she felt multiple sharp things stab into her palm. Reflexively letting go of the three tendrils, Shoji pulled them back to his side, revealing that they were now covered in multiple bone spikes. “Clever.”

Shoji gave Itsuka a nod of thanks. “I didn’t expect you to catch my whips…”

Itsuka grinned at him. “You need to move them way faster if you don’t want them to be caught!” She launched herself at him, closing the distance and slamming another punch into his shield, making Shoji stagger.

-Hilltop overlooking the training area-

“Can you sense them, Midoriya?” Ragdoll asked as she gave Izuku instruction on using her Search Quirk.

“Yeah…” Izuku nodded, his eyes closed as he dealt with the rapid influx of information. He knew where all thirty-nine other students were at the moment, had a good idea of their current conditions (most of them were tired or had light injuries), and was following their movements in real time. “There’s so much information.”

Ragdoll nodded, even if Izuku couldn’t see it with his eyes closed. “There is, but as you practice, you’ll get better at parsing it all out and making sense of it quickly.”

Izuku didn’t just have the other students’ information coming to him. He had information coming from Ragdoll, Pixie-bob, Mandalay, Tiger, Aizawa, Vlad, Kota, probably a couple of random people he’d seen on his way to U.A. the day they’d left for the summer training camp, and both of his parents as well. The distance mattered to a point, as he felt that some of the people were very far away, and the information on their conditions only came occasionally. But he did know where they were and it was more information that he had to take in and understand.

“Once you’ve gotten some practice in with the overall function of Search, then we’ll move on to pinpointing specific people with it!” Ragdoll exclaimed with a bright grin. “That’s how I use it to find lost people in the mountains, or the occasional Villain that’s on the run!” The energetic woman laughed.

“Yes, Miss Ragdoll!” Izuku opened his eyes and smiled at the Pro Hero, happy to have gained a copy of her Quirk and being able to learn directly from her on how best to use it.

-Dusk ~ Edge of the Wild, Wild Pussycats’ private land-

The stars were beginning to show themselves as the last rays of sunlight slowly sank behind the horizon. A group of four people stood on a cliff overlooking the large forest spanning below.

One of them was completely covered in a large black cloak, his face hidden behind a white mask with a few holes in it, completely obscuring his appearance. Another was wearing a male Junior High School Uniform and an old school helmet and gas mask, with a backpack on his back as well. The third was a girl, wearing a sailor fuku with a beige sweater over it. She had on black support gear (black market made) consisting of a black mask covered in vertical rows of cords, a large black scarf with a design like teeth at the front, six syringe-like devices where on her sides in black boxes, each needle connected to a small pump on her back via a clear plastic tube. The final person was a man with black hair, wearing a ragged black trench coat and pants, a white shirt beneath the coat as well, but his most notable feature was the patches of purple skin on his body, seemingly burned and dead and held on to his still healthy skin by multitudes of gray piercings that acted like surgical staples.

“I’m itching… Itching to go… Let’s hurry up and move!” The large cloaked man said as a summer breeze lightly rustled the leaves in the forest.

“It’s too soon.” The youngest of them in the gas mask spoke up. “Besides, I already told you… There’s no need to do anything flashy.”

“Yeah. But who died and made you boss?” The burned man in the black coat questioned. He stared out over the forest, able to see the point of light where the ‘Catnip Inn’ resided among the expansive property. “This will just be a signal fire. We’ll fill those heroes full of holes and put them in their place. All for a brighter future.” He grinned, but it was far from warm or mirthful. It was a grin of madness for the coming violence.

“But this… This is no good. Not cute at all.” The blonde girl, her hair in two messy buns, lamented as she touched the mask over the lower half of her face.

The Junior High boy in the gas mask turned to look at the girl. “Our shadowy orchestrator has planned everything. Despite appearances there is sure to be sound reasoning behind it all.”

“Not asking about any of that. Just saying that this isn’t cute.” The girl moved her arms up and down at her sides as she complained about the gear that she was given.

“Who the hell cares?” The large cloaked man demanded, his left hand appearing from beneath the cloak and clenching into a fist, his knuckles cracking loudly from the force. “Let’s get down there. My blood’s pumping over here.”

“Shut up, you wackjobs.” The burned man looked over his shoulder at the other three. “Not yet… We wait…” The sound of footsteps approaching made the other three Villains turn to look at the group approaching them. “Until all ten of us are here.”

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” A large, rather muscular man with semi-long red hair, sunglasses over his eyes, and thick lips apologized. He was dressed in what appeared to be regular, everyday casual wear, but held a large wrapped object in his left hand.

“Job… A job…” A man straight out of some people’s nightmares spoke oddly. He was dressed in what appeared to be a rather extreme BDSM gimp suit, with metal spike coming from leather straps all over his leather-clad body. His head, barring his mouth, was completely covered, even his eyes, and his arms even seemed pinned to his body beneath the leather bodysuit. The freakiest thing, however, was the fact that his lips were pulled back by an odd device around his head, revealing all of his teeth and making the man slobber on himself.

The final person of the three-man group looked like an anthropomorphic gecko, with green, scaly skin, purple hair, and red eyes. He wore an outfit very reminiscent of Hero Killer: Stain’s before the serial killer had been captured. He even had a ‘sword’ made from various knives, sickles, hatchets and other such common blades, all held together by belts and chains.

“Doesn’t matter how many punks with ambition you bring along. That only increases the risks. It’s far better to have a small number of experienced elites.” The burned man said as he looked back towards the light where the ‘Catnip Inn’ was located. “First, we’ll make them understand that their peace rests in our hands.”

They only needed to wait for three more now.

-Forest Path-

“Mew mew mew!” Pixie-bob laughed as she and the other Pussycats revealed the path for the Test of Courage that they’d set up for the students. “Listen, everyone! Tonight the two classes are going head-to-head in a classic Test of Courage! Your reward for intense training is intense fun! It’s the carrot-and-stick approach!”

Jiro shivered a little and didn’t look very pleased. “Ugh, I hate scary things.”

“A banquet of darkness.” Tokoyami said quietly as he looked out into the dark forest.

“It’s nice to get something for all of our training.” Rin from Class 1-B looked hopeful that they could have some fun.

Ragdoll spun in place before beaming at the students. “Alright then, kittens! Class B will be on the offensive first! Class A will head into the forest in teams of two, one team every three minutes. It should only take you about fifteen minutes to make the lap of the path through the forest. At the halfway point there’s name cards! Pick up the one with your name on it and bring it back here!”

“The scarers aren’t allowed to make direct contact. “Mandalay assured the students that no one would be harmed during the test of courage. “They’ll just be using their Quirks to startle you as best they can.”

Tiger pointed at the students and spoke loudly. “So get creative! Whichever class makes the other wet their pants more wins!”

“Please don’t. That’s gross…” Jiro deadpanned at the three Pussycats (Tiger, Pixie-bob, and Ragdoll) that seemed the most excited about that last part.

Izuku looked over both classes, noting that both had a single missing student in either Bakugo or Monoma. “That means both classes will have a member going solo.” A box was passed around between Class A as Class B headed into the forest to set up their scares. Everyone randomly paired up with whoever had their matching number. Izuku could only sigh as he pulled the sole ‘10’ that was in the box. “Yeah, I guess I should’ve expected that…”

“Group 1, head in!” Ragdoll called out a few minutes later before prancing off into the dark woods towards the halfway point. She would make sure that nothing happened to the students and would provide aid in case of something unexpected, like a small injury from being startled, happened.

Several minutes later and a short scream came from the forest as Tsuyu and Ochako approached the start of the path.

“You’re up, Team 5!” Pixie-bob smiled brightly at the girls. “Do your best, froggy kitty and gravity kitty!”

Ochako and Tsuyu entered the forest, just as another loud scream came from the darkness.

“I’m scared, Tsu-chan…” Ochako admitted as they walked in the darkness. “You hear all of those screams?”

“It’s gotta be Kyoka and Toru ahead of us.” Tsuyu reasoned, knowing that Jiro didn’t like scary stuff and Toru was liable to scream if the scare was good enough. “Hold hands and we’ll be fine. I’m not scared.” Tsuyu took Ochako’s hand in her own with a small smile.

Further in the forest, the first group of Class B were snickering to themselves for successfully scaring every pair that had passed them so far. The first group was made of Honenuki, Yui, and Itsuka, and their trick was to use Honenuki’s Softening on one part of the ground to sink Yui below the surface. Itsuka would use her enlarged hands to rustle the trees and bushes in the dark of the forest to distract the pair walking the path. Then Yui would pop her head up from the ground, looking like a severed head as the Class A pair refocused on the path.

“Kodai. That scare tactic of yours is sending them all running!” Honenuki snickered at his classmate.

Itsuka gave her friend a bright smile along with a thumbs up. “You’re really putting yourself into the act, Yui!”

“Mm.” Yui nodded to both of them, her normal cool gaze not wavering in the slightest.

Honenuki shook his head once and gave a shrug. “I was kind of expecting more than an ‘Oh’ from Todoroki though.” The two-toned boy had barely reacted at all to coming upon what looked to be a severed head when his pair had passed by a little while back. “Hey… Does something smell like it’s burning?” Honenuki looked around and noticed what appeared to be smoke spreading through the forest.

“Do you think one of the others freaked out Todoroki so much that he accidentally released his fire?” Itsuka asked, worried that they might have to deal with a forest fire with how much smoke there already was.

“Where’s the smoke coming from?” Yui asked as she noticed the direction the purple-tinted smoke was coming from was the opposite direction the path would’ve led Todoroki.

Honenuki realized what Yui was saying and took a whiff of the ‘smoke’. “Hey, you’re right, that’s…not…smoke…” He hit the ground unconscious.

“Honenuki?” Itsuka blinked at seeing her classmate fall. In just a split-second she realized the danger and reacted. “Yui!” Itsuka’s hand expanded to a massive size and quickly wrapped Yui up safely in a gentle hold that would keep her safe from the smoke. “Don’t breathe this stuff in! It’s poisonous!” She quickly covered her own mouth and nose, using her enlarged pinky on the hand that was holding Yui to scoop up Honenuki and run away from the cloud that was filling the forest.

Outside of the forest both Mandalay and Pixie-bob looked up and saw a towering cloud of black smoke rising into the air.

“Something’s on fire!” Pixie-bob exclaimed in shock.

“A forest fire?” Mandalay gave her best guess, though it seemed unlikely to her as they weren’t in a drought at all.

Izuku looked at the strange blue glow that he could just barely see in the distance before it was completely swallowed up by the bright yellow-orange glow of spreading flames.

-In the forest-

“Let’s begin.” The burned man had his right hand pressed against a tree, blue flames engulfing the wood and leaves a second later. The entire forest could burn for all he cared, as long as it helped them in their mission. “Put them in their places, League of Villains’ Vanguard Action Squad.”

-Ochako and Tsuyu-

On the path through the forest, neither Ochako nor Tsuyu knew anything was wrong yet. The poisonous cloud hadn’t spread this far yet, and they couldn’t see the flames or smell the smoke that was slowly filling the forest.

The blonde Villain girl eyed the two other girls up with interest, her golden eyes almost flashing with delight. From her hiding place among the trees and brush, she stalked after the two girls.

-Entrance to the forest-

“Stay out of our way, kitty cats.” The tall man with the sunglasses and wrapped object in hand snagged Pixie-bob with a strange pink glow that drew her towards him.

A translucent green barrier appeared between the flying Pixie-bob and the pair of Villains.

“Oof!” Pixie-bob let out as she hit the barrier and stopped moving, even though the pink glow around her body was clearly still trying to pull her in.

“How? Even with all of our precautions… How can there be Villains here?!” Iida demanded while looking at the two men that had just tried to surprise attack Pixie-bob.

“Miss Pixie-bob!” Izuku called out, having used his Barrier Quirk to prevent her from being dragged in by surprise.

Tiger stepped between Izuku and the Villains, clearly preparing to fight to keep the students safe.

“Damn…!” Mandalay bit out. “If only Ragdoll was here.”

Izuku realized that he hadn’t seen Kota with the Pussycats when they’d all gathered for the Test of Courage. ‘If there are Villains here…and in the forest…’ He briefly glanced back at the towering black cloud of smoke still rising into the air. ‘Then they’re probably coming from every direction!’ Without a second of hesitation, Izuku spoke up. “Miss Mandalay, I’ll find Kota and get him back to the inn!”

Mandalay chanced a quick look at Izuku and saw the teen’s eyes get the slightly faraway look that Ragdoll’s did when she was looking for one specific person out of the hundred that her Quirk kept track of.

“Kota!” Izuku’s sudden exclamation and the way he instantly vanished into a swirling portal of black mist made Mandalay’s heartrate skyrocket in concern.

“Let go of me!” Pixie-bob managed to touch the ground with her hand and the earth nearly erupted as she launched a wave of fast moving dirt at the two Villains a fraction of a second before Izuku’s barrier disappeared without him there to maintain it.

“Damn it!” The red-haired man grimaced as he disengaged his Quirk to dodge the massive wall of soil coming at them.

“Let’s go!” The gecko-looking man declared as he pulled his monstrosity of a ‘sword’ off his back and ran to the side of the rushing earth.

-Catnip Inn ~ Remedial Lessons-

‘Everyone! We’re under attack by two Villains at the entrance to the forest! There are definitely more, but the number is unknown!’ Mandalay’s voice rang out in everyone’s heads.

“The hell?” Bakugo blinked at the sudden loud voice in his head.

“Did she say Villains?” Monoma questioned.

“Pipe down.” Aizawa ordered and listened closely.

‘We don’t know the number of Villains attacking or where they’re coming from! Everyone that can should return to the inn immediately! If you encounter an enemy, don’t engage! Just retreat!’ Mandalay instructed through her one-way telepathy.

“Villains?!” Vlad’s face became a rictus of steely determination. “How did they find out about our location?”

“Vlad, I’m leaving these two to you!” Aizawa was already rushing out the door. “Protect them and any other students that make it here! I’m going out to protect the ones in the forest!”

“You two, stay put!” Vlad’s loud voice was heard as Aizawa bolted down the hallway.

“How’d our location get leaked?!” Monoma’s voice was the last that Aizawa heard as he dashed straight towards the front door of the inn.

‘I’d rather not imagine.’ Aizawa thought about all the potential ways the information could’ve been leaked and how many Nezu would’ve been able to block.  He stopped as soon as he was out of the Catnip Inn and stared at the roaring flames burning one part of the forest. “This is bad…” He nearly missed the figure that was suddenly standing barely two meters away from him.

“Always worrying about others, huh, Eraser Head?” The patchwork-faced man mocked, his hand extended towards Aizawa, palm out.

“VLAD!” Aizawa roared out the warning as his eyes glowed red with his Quirk.

BOOM

A large blast of blue flames engulfed Aizawa from the Villain’s palm.

“You Pro Heroes, stay out of our way.” The pyrokinetic Villain said with a sneer. “You’re not the ones we’re here for.”

-Entrance to the Forest-

“Pleased to meet you, U.A. students! We’re the League of Villains’ Vanguard Action Squad!” The gecko man with the junk heap of a sword declared. “We’re here to eliminate some fake Heroes. In accordance with Stain’s tenets.”

Iida felt his hackles raise in anger. “Stain?! So you’re his followers!”

“Yep! We sure are!” The Stain follower pointed the mess of blades at Iida. “And we know about you too, four-eyes!” He smirked at Iida, clearly seeing the teen’s anger at Stain’s name. “You’re Ingenium’s little brother, right? Let me introduce myself, I’m Spinner!” A wide and demented smile crossed his face. “And I intend to make his dreams come true!”

“That’s all well and good…” Tiger loomed forward, glaring at the two Villains. “But you’re threatening students right in front of us. Don’t think we’ll let you get your way!”

“Why don’t you try and stop us then, you fakes!” Spinner roared as he rushed towards the three Pussycats members with his mess of a weapon.

“Tiger, Pixie-bob! I’ve sent out the order! Ragdoll will make sure the other students are safe! Our job is to hold these guys here!” Mandalay gave orders as team leader.

“Right!” Pixie-bob slammed her hands on the ground and a wave of earth rose up to split the two Villains up.

Tiger immediately rushed towards the larger man with the strange attraction Quirk, recognizing him from criminal reports.

“Get going everyone! And remember…no fighting!” Mandalay told the students that were still at the entrance to the forest. “Iida! You lead them!”

“Understood! Let’s move!” Iida quickly had the remainder of Class 1-A moving towards the Catnip Inn.

-In the Forest-

Itsuka ran as fast as she could while carrying Honenuki and Yui in her one enlarged hand, keeping her mouth and nose covered with her free hand and only taking in small breaths wherever the poisonous smoke was thinnest.

“Kendo!” Tetsutetsu emerged from the forest with and unconscious Shiozaki in his arms, both of them wearing gas masks.

“Tetsutetsu? Ibara!” Itsuka quickly rushed over to her classmates to check on them. “What’s with the gas masks?”

Tetsutetsu quickly pulled off more gas masks from a string tying them to his hip. “Class A’s Yaoyorozu made them for us! She gave us plenty! Awase is taking her towards the other groups from our class that’re in the forest to make sure they get masks too!”

In just a few moments, Itsuka, Yui, and the unconscious Honenuki had gas masks on to block the poisonous fog that was still spreading throughout the forest.

“We need to get back to the inn! There’s no telling where the other Villains are!” Itsuka said as she made sure the gas mask was secure on the unconscious Honenuki.

Tetsutetsu shook his head once. “No, we know where one is.” He pointed in the direction that the poison was coming from. “There’s a Villain causing this, and I’m going to go beat the snot out of them! You and Kodai take care of Shiozaki and Honenuki!”

Itsuka stood to her feet and stared Tetsutetsu down. “That’s the exact opposite of what Mandalay told us to do! We need to return to the inn!”

“Heroes shouldn’t be running from bad guys like this!” Tetsutetsu declared, clenching his fist in front of himself. “Class A were faced with Villains just like this back at the USJ. They didn’t run away, they fought and they won!” He looked at Itsuka firmly. “There’s no telling how far this poison is going to spread, and if it gets to the inn then everyone’s going to be in trouble! Don’t try to stop me, Kendo!”

Itsuka clenched her hands into fists, wanting to follow the instructions they’d been given, but also knowing that Tetsutetsu made a good point. She’d been running from this poison fog for a while, but it just kept spreading. If it filled the entire forest and even got to the inn where everyone was supposed to be gathering…then. ‘Damn it…’

-Kota ~ Minutes earlier-

‘Kota!’ Mandalay’s voice filled the young boy’s head. ‘You hear me, Kota?! Get back to the inn! I’m sorry I don’t know where you’re always running off too… I’m sorry, Kota! I can’t come for you! So, get back here!’

Kota was sweating in fear and panic as the forest below the cliff that was his ‘secret base’ was ablaze. That was the least of his problems though as a towering figure in a black cloak and a white mask with multiple holes in it slowly approached him.

“I just came up here for the view, and what do I find?” The large cloaked man said as he took another step towards Kota. “A face that wasn’t on the list.” He took another step towards the clearly terrified boy. “By the way, that hat’s pretty slick, kid.” He gave Kota a thumbs up for the hat with the two horns on the front. “Why don’tcha trade me for this lame mask? I’m a newbie to this operation, so they made me wear this dumb toy.”

“Wah!” Kota turned and ran away.

“Hey!” The Villain puled off the white mask and his left foot, even from within his black boot, seemed to bulge noticeably. He kicked off the ground, cracking the stone, and then kicked off the rocky wall once more to get ahead of the fleeing Kota. “I’m gonna have fun with you!” The Villain declared; his mouth now visible in a demented smile as he cocked back his left arm.

Kota watched in terror as muscle fibers covered the limb, bulking it up to unnatural proportions. Memories flashed through his mind as he saw the Quirk in action.

“Water Hose…a fantastic pair of Heroes. But their wonderful lives were tragically cut short by one heartless criminal.” The news story that had shattered young Kota’s world replayed in his head. “The suspect is still on the run as police and Heroes attempt to ascertain his whereabouts.”

“You…” Kota’s eyes widened as tears poured from them.

“His Quirk is a simple power-up type, making him highly dangerous. If you see this man, call the police or contact a Hero immediately. At present his left eye is…”

The hood of the black cloak flew off as the Villain came at the boy, revealing a massive scar on the left side of his face and a false eye replacing his missing one.

“Should be scarred from his encounter with Water Hose.”

“Mom… Dad…!” Kota was bawling now, tears running down his cheeks as he came face-to-face with his parents’ murderer.

A swirling black mist appeared and a blur shot out, grabbing Kota and pulling him away from the incoming fist.

CRACK

The stone of the ground shattered into chunks from the missed punch. “Huh?” The Villain blinked in surprise at the sudden interruption.

“Y-You…” Kota looked up at who was holding him safely in their arms and saw Izuku’s face. “Why…?”

“It’s gonna be okay, Kota.” Izuku gave the boy a reassuring smile, one filled with promise and strength. “I’m going to save you.”

The Villain cracked a wide grin upon seeing Izuku. “Oh? Look here, Mister number one on the list showed up!”

Izuku filed that information away for later. “Kota, I’m going to send you back to the inn, okay? You’ll be safe there with our teachers.”

“He… He…” Kota sniffled and clung to Izuku as tears continued to fall. “My mom and dad…”

Izuku stiffened up and gently squeezed Kota a little tighter. He knew the face of the Villain in front of him. As an A-Rank Villain how could Izuku NOT know of him? Imasuji Goto, Villain name: Muscular, one of Japan’s Most Wanted for a series of grisly murders. Known to brutally crush and beat his victims to death to sate his bloodlust. The man’s last well-known victims being the Hero Duo: Water Hose. Izuku had felt like Kota and Mandalay looked vaguely similar to people he’d seen before on the news, and now, as horrible as it was, he knew why.

“I’ll take care of him, Kota.” Izuku looked into Kota’s teary eyes and promised him. “I’m going to save you, now and in the future, you’ll never have to worry about him again.”

Kota’s eyes widened at the promise before Izuku gently pushed him through a Warp Gate that disappeared as soon as the little boy was through it.

-Catnip Inn-

“Huh?” Kota gently landed on the tatami mats in the room that was set aside for the boys of Class 1-A to sleep in. “M-Midoriya?!” The little boy shot to his feet and ran out of the room, only to be scooped up by Vlad King as he was rushing past the room for remedial lessons. “You have to go help him!”

“Who needs help?” Vlad asked Kota calmly, seeing the emotional state the boy was in.

“Midoriya!” Kota cried out as a fresh wave of tears poured from his eyes. “He’s fighting the Villain that killed my parents!”

Bakugo’s eyes went wide at hearing that Izuku was fighting a murderer. He shot to his feet so fast that his chair clattered to the ground. He would’ve been out the door, but Vlad’s free hand clamped down onto his shoulder and prevented him from leaving.

“You’ll stay right here, Bakugo!” Vlad ordered, his grip almost vice-like on the student.

“You’re just gonna leave him out there?!” Bakugo snarled at what he perceived as cowardice. Had he been in a logical state of mind, he’d have known exactly why Vlad was making them stay here, and he did know deep down, but his naturally short fuse wasn’t helping him here.

-Izuku and Muscular-

“You ruined my fun, Mr. Number one.” Muscular declared as he threw the black cloak off his body. He was wearing a red tank top that strained against his large pectorals, dark green pants, and black boots. “Midoriya, right? You’re first on our kill list! I’m gonna torment you real bad! Now show me some blood!” Muscle fibers formed all over Muscular’s arms and chest, bulking him up considerably.

Izuku quickly compiled all the Quirks he needed while also analyzing Muscular’s Quirk. Mental Boost, Half Giant,Efficiency, Physicality Boost, Force Multiplier, Kinetic Boost, Amplification, Enhance Function, Durability Up. Izuku’s height shot up to 249cm, beating Muscular’s 200cm and forcing the Villain to look up to meet Izuku’s eyes. Izuku’s body was brimming with power from the many Quirks he was using simultaneously.

“What’s this?!” Muscular questioned with a wide, deranged smile and a cackling laugh. “You think being bigger than me is going to save you?!”

“Stop.” Izuku used Voice Casting, empowered further by his various boosting Quirks. Muscular’s body jerked and his lone eye widened as he realized that he couldn’t move. Izuku’s left hand was suddenly around Muscular’s throat and lifting the man off the ground. The order from Voice Casting ended and Muscular could move, only to realize that his Quirk wasn’t working. All of his muscle fibers had returned to their normal state.

“Wh-What the fuck did you do to my Quirk?!” Muscular demanded an he grabbed at Izuku’s wrist and started hitting the arm that was holding him off the ground. He might as well have been a toddler punching a bodybuilder for all the good it did.

Quirk Nullification had rendered Muscular’s Transformation Quirk unusable so long as Izuku maintained physical contact with the Villain.

“Your Quirk?” Izuku had already felt the sensation of copying the Quirk as he’d taken some blood with his microtubules the instant that he’d grabbed Muscular’s throat. Collector had already parsed through the DNA and found the Quirk Factor it needed and rapidly reproduced it, adding it to Izuku’s collection. “Huh, it is really simple, isn’t it?” Izuku’s mental analysis of Muscle Augmentation was already complete in just a few seconds. He cocked back his right arm and muscle fibers rapidly covered the limb, shredding his U.A. PE uniform as the muscles on his torso were also transformed and covered by the muscle fibers.

Muscular’s eye widened even further, if possible, and panic started to set in. “No… No way! That’s not possible! That’s MY Quirk!”

The devastating punch that Izuku slammed into the Villain’s face drove him from hanging in the air to straight into the stone beneath their feet. Izuku’s fist was ridiculously huge right now from the powerful combination of Half Giant, Muscle Augmentation, and his various boosting Quirks.

BOOM

The entire rocky hillside exploded from the force of the blow. Chunks of stone rained down over the nearby parts of the burning forest. The small cave that was Kota’s ‘secret base’ collapsed into rubble as the entire hillside shattered and fell into a landslide that buried part of the burning forest and snuffed out the flames there.

As the dust slowly began to clear, Izuku looked down into the crater that he’d buried Muscular into dispassionately. The Villain’s broken body was already one massive black-purple bruise. Compound fractures jutted out of his mangled arms and legs the exposed bones broken jaggedly. The man’s body was likely riddled with bones that had not been broken, but pulverized into pieces as well. His face was nearly unrecognizable and it looked like he’d lost his right eye now too, leaving him blind. If he was just unconscious, and not fading into an actual coma, it was unlikely that he’d be waking up for a long time.

“Now, where are the others?” Izuku activated Search and let it be boosted by his various Quirks. He suddenly knew everything about the one-hundred people the Quirk was currently tracking. Muscular would live, his vital organs weren’t damaged beyond some (severe) bruising, and he had a bad concussion. Mental Boost (also empowered at the moment) was allowing Izuku to take in all of the rapidly incoming information without being overwhelmed. “Those two are with Mandalay, Pixie-bob, and Tiger…” The Mutant Gecko Quirk and the Emitter Magnetism Quirk would be dealt with just fine for now. “Aizawa-sensei’s vitals are elevated, so he’s probably in battle right now too.” Izuku continued to look through everyone as fast as he could. “Shoji and Tokoyami are in a panicked state, their heartrates are incredibly high.”

With his body still transformed and running off his multitude of boosting Quirks he plotted out his course. Pairing Search with Warp Gate was a match made in heaven. By linking the two, Search automatically filled in the coordinate information for Warp Gate and Izuku could make a gate directly to any of the one-hundred people the Quirk was keeping track of.

‘It’s a Quirk buffet!’

It wasn’t a thought, nothing so put together, it was almost like an instinct. Something that Izuku didn’t consciously register at all. But it was a part of his lineage. The same lineage that long ago had seen a mother give birth to two sons that could both move Quirks around between people as if they were physical things.

Izuku vanished into a Warp Gate towards his friends that seemed to be in danger.

-Shoji and Tokoyami-

“Who is this guy?!” Shoji had just blocked a barrage of super sharp and grotesquely grown teeth that were coming from the mouth of a Villain that was hanging in the air by said teeth. His Dupli-Bone Shield was holding up, for now, but Shoji didn’t know how long before the Villain figured out a way around it.

“I’m not sure…” Tokoyami didn’t recognize the Villain at all. “I’m afraid that I can’t let Dark Shadow out right now without risking losing complete control near instantly.” He apologized, wishing that he’d thought to bring the bright LED light that he’d incorporated into his Hero Costume.

“Flesh…” The Villain uttered out, drool falling from his spread open lips. “Want it… So pretty… Job. Need to do…the job. But so pretty…”

Shoji and Tokoyami both felt their skin crawl at what the obvious lunatic was uttering as he came after them.

A swirling black mist opened up right beside the two, starling them. What emerged from the mist sent both teens scrambling away until they recognized it as their Class Rep and friend.

“M-Midoriya…?” Shoji looked up at Izuku’s transformed appearance.

“What strange darkness have you unleashed?” Tokoyami questioned as he took in the height and muscle fibers over Izuku’s torso and arms.

Izuku looked at them, his green eyes seeming to scan them, before he gave them a slight smile. “It’s okay, I’ll deal with this.” He jumped and was beside the Villain in the air in an instant. ‘Tooth lengthening and sharpening… Only effective on the teeth. Side-effect of mental instability, perhaps?’ The analysis was completed in the same time it took Izuku to slam his fist into the Villain’s face and shatter his super strong teeth into fragments.

BAM

A dust cloud was thrown up into the air as the Villain’s body hit the ground with thunderous force.

“Mi-Midoriya…?” Shoji gaped behind his mask at how quickly the Villain had been taken down.

“An unstoppable, dark beast of justice.” Tokoyami eyed Izuku as their friend landed beside the depression the Villain’s body was laid out in.

‘Blade-like Teeth… Comparing with my current collection… Not worth copying.’ Izuku decided in a systematic way, not unlike a machine running down a checklist. He kneeled down next to the broken, unconscious Villain. “Sleep.” The order sank into the Villain’s ears only because it was currently boosted. Izuku felt some blood in his throat, but a glow of light-green light from Healing Aura fixed the damage from using Voice Casting.

“Are you two okay?” Izuku asked Tokoyami and Shoji.

“We’re fine, Midoriya.’ Tokoyami nodded to Izuku.

Shoji gave a nod of confirmation too. “We’re not hurt.”

“I’m glad.” Izuku gave them a quick smile. “Return to the inn as fast as you can. Carry anyone that can’t make it there themselves, please.”

“Right.” Shoji agreed only to watch Izuku vanish into another portal of black mist.

Tokoyami watched the void disperse a second later. “We know what we’re supposed to do. Let’s go.”

Shoji didn’t say anything, he just took off down the path heading back for the Catnip Inn. Tokoyami was running right beside him a second later.

The Summer Training Camp had just gone straight to hell, but with Izuku on their side, neither Tokoyami or Shoji felt like they could lose.

-End Chapter-

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Another day of training was completed. Unfortunately the reward in the evening has been ruined.

How did the Villains find out where the summer camp was taking place?

Part of the forest is burning, part of it is filled with poisonous fog, Villains are seemingly popping up all over the place, and the students are in disarray!

Izuku rushes to save Kota! Warp Gate and Search make that easy!

But after meeting Muscular, hearing Kota’s cries about his murdered parents, and seeing Muscular’s sick nature, Izuku is done being kind.

Much like an angry Canadian, he’s about to stop saying ‘Sorry’…

We see what a completely serious Hero ‘Synthesis’ can be and the power is overwhelming. His lineage happens to play a bit of a factor in that as well! One doesn’t develop a Quirk like Collector without having at least a few similar attributes to the two that started it all.

Muscular and Moonfish quickly find out what it’s like to face a Multiple Quirk user…and it’s not good for either of them.

They might as well try to fight All for One while they’re at it.

Bright side, Izuku’s has an entire BUFFET of Quirks to go through and find the ones that will further compliment his collection! He’s already copied Muscle Augmentation…so which Quirk of the Vanguard Action Squad will be collected next?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!