Three months came and went in what felt like a blink of the eye.
If they were pitted against anyone else, Nana would have felt their efforts were more harmful than good, at least for their long term capacity in keeping this up.
They were practically running themselves ragged.
Eighteen more hits.
Not bases, obviously, she doubted even All For One would have needed that much fixed real estate. But street level crimes, pushers, dealers, contacts. Nana had hit them all over the last three months and that was just on her end of the spectrum.
According to both Gran and the Bat, the ground level operations around three city districts were completely crippled. To the point that their names were actually starting to circle around the local underworld, even the Mainstream media and wider hero circles had started reporting on the decrease in crime and who was responsible.
The media didn't have their names. Or even their quirks. Not yet. Thank god. But they knew enough to know there were three of them at work.
So the press gave them a name. Because, of course, they did.
"The Triumvirate."
It was a bit pretentious, but it was a bit too late to worry about that now. The increased media attention was strange, even a little worrying, but she had to admit it was nice to have a name. Recognition. To know that their efforts had caused some glimmer of hope to break through, if only for a bit.
Even the Bat smiled, and not one of his infuriatingly cokcy smirks either, an honest 'I had a good day' kind of smile. It was strange now that she thought about it. If she had to peg it, she'd say it was almost nostalgic.
But still, increased efforts or not, the moment of truth was rapidly approaching. The Bat had even told them to stop operations for two weeks, in order to give themselves plenty of time to rest, recover, and ease away injuries. They all needed to be in top form just in case one megalomaniacal overlord suddenly showed up.
Even if they didn't fight All For One, she didn't doubt taking on his lieutenants was going to be a fight. Likely harder than any she'd had in a long time.
The Bat had managed to narrow down his list of suspects and now felt he'd confirmed the four targets ID's; so that was a bonus, they'd be fighting four people instead of five.
And with the identity of those four, Sorahiko was even able to get records on their quirks. At least their baseline, registered quirks anyway. Who knew what All For One may have given them as extra.
But hey, better than nothing.
The first was Ginjiro Tachibana, a 'beast' type quirk; it turned him into a half lion, half human fighter. He was twelve feet tall, strong enough to up end a truck, with a strong sense of smell, damn near perfect night vision, a pain tolerance that was through the roof seeing as how one video had caught the man fighting while being completely on fire from an exploding gas tank without so much as a flinch.
Actually, now that she thought of it, that might be the secondary quirk, increased durability?
Could be.
Either way, that big boy was hers to deal with.
So was Honoka Kobayakawa. The only female on their list. Her quirk could increase gravity on any one target. Not too bad, at least until you considered that the act that put her on the map was increasing the gravity on an arresting officer until he was a runny paste on the pavement.
No indication on how she did it. Conventional wisdom said 'touch' but there was no confirmation on record.
She hoped it was touch. With One for All she was pretty sure she could take the amount of force Kobayakawa could level on her, but she knew Bat and Gran likely couldn't and even if they could, they'd be completely crippled by that kind of quirk and left to be easy pickings for the rest of them.
So those two were hers to deal with.
The next two were Keitaro Inabayama and Taichi Shoyo.
Keitaro had a speed quirk, the man could move almost as fast as Gran, but ground based, he couldn't fly.
Taichi was another strength type quirk, but a strange sort of one. Based around weaponry. Something to strengthen them, or make em lighter, or both. When he was arrested he had average strength but plenty of footage had him wielding some pretty massive iron rods as weapons, easily twenty pounds each and not even looking like he was winded.
The preliminary plan, for now, had the Bat taking on Taichi and Gran fighting Keitaro.
If she finished with hers before them, then she'd help, if they finished with theirs they'd help each other before moving on to her, or they'd help her first if she was really in a bind.
That was the plan anyway.
…
It would be soon, a day. Maybe two more before-
Her phone rang.
Nana didn't jump, not this time. She looked at the cellphone resting on her coffee table with a sense of something else. Not fear, not determination or even something in between. If she had to liken the emotion resting in her chest she could only liken it to one word.
Purpose.
She answered it, not even needing to look on the caller ID.
"Yeah?"
The Bat's voice answered her.
'Get ready to move.'
(X)(X)(X)
Less than an hour later, she was in the sky flying with all her speed towards the designated meeting zone.
When Sorahiko fell in line beside her, she wasn't surprised, but she was relieved. It was good to have him watching her back the way they used to work before all this insanity started.
By the time, they reached the abandoned construction site, the Bat, by some minor miracle, wasn't hiding and was simply standing on a metal beam overlooking the innermost courtyard, plainly visible to both of them.
She and Sorahiko floated down to hover beside him. "They here yet?" She found herself asking.
"Almost, the trackers put them at just a few blocks away." He said before reaching into his belt, pulling something free and holding it out to her. "Here."
It was two earpieces Nana blinked, staring at them before reaching, they were fancy, heavy even.
"Highly encrypted local transmitters. No one can hack into them."
She looked at them, plucking one and then holding out the other to Sorahiko.
"Press down once to use it on local bandwidth, tap three times rapidly to call in local emergency responders." He explained. "Also-" Something else, Nana held out her palm as Sorahiko held out his.
Two pills were dropped in their hands.
She blinked. "The hell is this?"
"I have a plan if things go south, but I have to make sure neither of you are caught in it if it turns out to be necessary."
She eyed him, then the pill, then back to him. "My momma told me not to take pills from pointy eared people."
"Smart lady." He drily answered. "You don't have to take it, but the side effects if you don't would be… unpleasant."
"You're being awfully vague about this." Sorahiko said, he hadn't taken the pill yet either.
"By necessity," He stated flatly. "Like I said, use it or don't; your choice."
It was clear he wasn't going to elaborate, but before they could demand answers the sound of cars driving close brought them up short.
"Oh to hell with it." She threw the pill into her mouth, dry swallowing the thing with a grimace.
She heard the sound of car doors opening and slamming shut.
The Bat looked away. "Spread out. Hit them hard and fast. If possible take them out before they activate their quirks.
She nodded, Sorahiko shot into the sky.
(X)(X)(X)
Taichi stepped out of the car into the crisp night air. Breathing deeply, the top lieutenant of the north western sector of Japan eyed his newly arrived contemporaries.
"I thought the fish markets smelled like shit around here but I was giving them too much credit." The voice made him turn, finding Kobayakawa staring at him, a taunting smirk on her face.
"Kobayakawa." He greeted with a nod. "You've aged."
Her sneer was almost a snarl and oh so satisfying to see. She had two goons at her side.
Not a surprise. Standard fare really. Everyone brought two with them. Unless you were the boss… or Machia. Anyone who thought they could take on that monster with 'two goons' behind them was crazy, or stupid, or both.
"I don't see Hasegawa or Ashina's cars." Another voice grumbled, and Taichi turned to see Tachibana snarling into the air as he sniffed, all twelve monstrous feet of him lumbering out of an equally monstrous car. "Those fools dare to run late! Our master deserves more respect than this!"
"Maybe they're already inside." Taichi ventured, pulling a cigarette free and lighting it in short order.
"Do not insult me!" Tachibana snarled. "I could have smelt them already if they were here!"
"Everybody relax, calm down." The fourth and last member of the present group of crime bosses, Keitaro Soyo said, waving a hand as he stepped out of the car and straightened his suit. "I'm sure they'll be right behind us. We all know what happens when you disrespect the boss. They'll be here. In the meantime I'd rather not offend the boss by hanging out here gossiping like school kids, so how's about we all go inside eh? I'm sure it's better if we all sit down and pretend to like each other when he arrives."
Taichi couldn't disagree with that. He still heard stories of the last time one of the lieutenants did something wrong at one of these gatherings.
There was a reason why it was a story, and rightly titled "The last time"
Stepping inside, they found a table waiting for them under an open roof. On it was a covered, silver platter and he wondered, stupidly, what would have happened if it'd been raining today?
Could the boss change the weather?
Stupid question.
Of course, he could.
They each sat at the table in their respective spots, their guards taking up their usual positions behind them.
Taichi thought they'd simply settle for what they usually did, subtly eying up the others, taking a measure of what had changed, what had stayed the same, and what new lies were being said; because that's what would always be new. The lies.
But it wasn't long before Tachibana was growing restless, moreso than usual.
"Something's wrong."
"Relax Tachibana."
"No Keitaro I can't smell-"
A phone rang.
The noise was so startling all of them jumped. They knew better than to bring any kind of phone or any recording device of any kind to these meetings, ever at the absolute best if the boss was feeling extremely happy. They'd be destroyed and the metal shards shoved down someone's throat.
They'd live. The boss would make certain of it.
Then, as everyone's eyes passed to everyone else, they looked at the little covered platter on the table.
Kobayakawa stood from her chair, reaching forward and pulling it free-
"No don'-" Keitaro's warning was too late.
Taichi only had enough time for his brain to fully register the sight of a phone hooked up to what he most certainly identified as explosives, with a message on the tray beside it.
None of you are safe.
Then the world went white.
He felt like a sledgehammer smashed into his chest. He flew back, hit something hard. His shoulder smashed into the concrete floor, burning as the rock scraped his skin and tore his jacket.
He finished his roll by smashing into a wall hard enough to knock the wind out of him, it hurt, badly.
He sucked down a breath, and coughed, hacking his lungs out.
His eyes burned, his ears rang, everything hurt and Taichi screamed, long and loud, but still couldn't hear his own voice over the ringing in his ears.
He activated his quirk, an iron rod hard enough to crack a diamond appearing in his hand.
He swung, almost drunkenly, as he tried to stumble to his feet only to crash down on his knees, almost flat on his face before he stopped himself, still struggling to breathe.
There was a rumble, a quaking beneath him, and it was with a sudden realization that he realized what it was.
Impacts.
Taichi forced himself to open his eyes, forced himself to blink and squint and cry away the blindness and see what the hell was going on!
It was dark. Darker than it should be. The lights had been shut off or blown out or something, the shadows now cast through the old construction site were long, dark, tenebrous things, cast by a pale moon that hung overhead. It made seeing anything all the more difficult.
But after a moment, he did manage to see at least the blurred shapes his mind could identify.
Tachibana was fighting- someone, a Hero, the white cape gave it away, a woman? The Man beast roared and snarled, grappling with her as they tore through concrete walls and iron beams, in the woman's grasp he recognized Kobayakawa, gasping and choking as the lady held her by the scruff of her jacket while fighting Tachibana.
Taichi forced himself to his feet, taking a moment to steady his legs under him. No sign of Keitaro. Had he run? His men were still here but-
Something moved, and Taichi whirled to his left just in time to see something reach out from the shadows, grabbing his own personal guard Hingenori by the throat, pulling him into the dark.
He dropped one of the rods, pulling his gun and shooting.
The shot went wide, the spark of a ricochet giving him a flash of white eyes glaring from the dark. He shot again and they were gone.
He stared into the dark.
The fuck kinda quirk was that? A beast quirk? Maybe.
Hadn't they been talking about a Bat tearing up Kobayakawa's districts around here recently?
Fuck! Had she really let this problem get this out of hand that this fucker was trying this shit! On the Boss' own meeting!
She was dead, and so was he when the boss got here!
The men were groaning and moaning in pain. Taichi didn't have the time or patience for any of it.
"Get up!"
When only a few stumbled to their feet he whirled the gun on one of the guys, Kobayakawa's if he remembered.
He pulled the trigger and the man howled in pain as the bullet went straight through his foot.
"I SAID GET THE FUCK UP! ANYONE WHO'S STILL ON THE GROUND IN FIVE SECONDS GETS ONE BETWEEN THEIR GODDA-"
His command was cut off, there was a sound above, the snap of a steel cable and his eyes shot straight up in time to see a platform of powdered cement mix falling from above.
He dove out of the way as dried, packed mix cracked against the ground, someone else got hit, screaming in pain. Another went down to a sack falling almost directly on top of him, knocked out at the very least.
Then the thing came out of the shadows again.
It swooped down, black wings spread out, it slammed into one of the guys like a truck, smashing him to the ground before the wings fell around him.
Then, it flew straight up, with a man that must've weighed almost two hundred pounds screaming as he was carried into the gloom above.
Taichi heard the crack of bones, screams growing loud, desperate, afraid.
Then dying into sudden silence.
They all started shooting above them, and Taichi didn't realize he didn't stop until he registered the gun clicking empty in his hand.
(X)(X)(X)
The lion man was strong.
She was stronger.
Nana smiled. One for All burned under her skin, feeling like lightning dancing on her bones. Her muscle's ached, like they would after a damn good stretch. She felt powerful, she felt like she could tackle the whole world and then some.
She felt like she was using the One for All, truly using it for the first time in years.
How long had it been since she had to go past thirty percent?
At sixty, she felt unstoppable and it was an active struggle to keep Bruce's advice in mind of keeping her full strength in check, not showing her full hand.
Let him underestimate you.
Her grip on the woman with the gravity quirk was firm, and the beast was trying to tear her arm free, going into a greater frenzy the longer she didn't let go. The woman was actually in more danger from his thrashing than Nana's grip at this point and it became obvious that the man would crush her larynx in an effort to get her loose if she didn't let go soon.
She relented.
The woman crashed into the ground, gasping for desperate, greedy breaths of air, and Nana devoted the full measure of her strength onto the enemy in front of her.
She planted her feet firmly on the ground carving trenches into solid concrete.
And then she did not move.
Her momentum came to a stop, muscles bunching under her skin as the lion man's arms tried to wrap around her, his claws looking to rip and tear as she held them away.
Eyes burning like white hot pins of pain, spittle and froth at his lips, his jaws snapped shut close to her face as she pulled away.
She smiled.
With a heave and a roar she brought him down, lifting all god knows how many hundred pounds of muscle, flesh and fur and *smashing* it into the concrete.
Spiderwebbing cracks spread through the floor, the whole building shaking around her.
The monster came back, uncaring, enraged.
Her fist smashed into his, and she felt the *crack* of his bones under the force of her blow, his whole arm rippling before he howled in pain; each snap of his skeleton sounding like a sickening gunshot.
Then he was on fire.
Nana jerked back, startled. The Lion's fur burned with orange flames that lit up the construction site and she saw his whole body bulk up at once, eyes now glowing yellow as his baleful gaze fell on her.
So he had given them multiple quirks…
The bones in his arm snapped again, cracking and breaking before straightening forcefully. Something crude. Not healing, just enough to brute force through it.
He swung, and her arms came up to block the blow.
It was stronger than before, three times as strong easily.
She was still stronger.
She shoved him back, forcing him away, he was off balance and she brought her own fist up to slam into his gut. She felt the air rush out of his body, harshly enough to ruffle her hair even as the force of her own blow thrummed up her arm.
Then something slammed into her.
It was like the full weight of a truck had suddenly smashed over her head.
She grunted, knees almost buckling under her weight before she found her strength to lock them in place; her feet, quite literally caving in the ground beneath her.
She turned her head, and the gravity girl was staring at her with wide, disbelieving eyes.
"How the fuck are you still standing!?"
Nana found it in herself to smile. A smirk really.
"Honey; You wish you were good enough to get me on my knees."
The girl seemed to try to increase her efforts, the force on Nana increasing, but barely. Grinning to herself, Nana guessed that she usually trusted her quirk's full power to do the work in one shot. Looks like she hadn't learned to keep a few tricks in reserve.
Too bad. Nana was a shit teacher, but she'd be willing to teach this girl the value of having a few hidden tricks. If she wasn't a villain anyway.
Nana pulled one foot out of the ground and stomped closer with another echoing crash.
Now the expression shifted, surprise giving way to incredulous fear.
There was a warning growl, and Nana turned as the burning monster came roaring back, lit up like a bonfire, as he slammed into her like an oncoming train.
(X)(X)(X)
Keitaro was fast.
Faster than him.
But he was slow in a different way.
He had to think too damn much.
Gran Torino didn't need that luxury, after so many years, so many fights, so much training and conditioning his body moved before he had time to think, instinct saving him when wit was too slow.
He didn't need to stop, his feet barely ghosting over one wall before his quirk activated, ricocheting him off the surface to keep slowly, inexorably closing the distance as Keitaro struggled to navigate the sharp turns of the half constructed hallways.
Gran could see him looking back, a worry on his face. The man wasn't used to a fight. Didn't realize looking back naturally made you slower.
It would happen soon.
It took three more bursts from his jets, but as predicted…
Keitaro whirled, a black spike growing out of his palm as he thrust it forward, ready to drive it straight into Sorahiko's face.
The hero twisted mid air, his whole body contorting and bending, avoiding the thrust by a hair, then his fist smashed into the speedster with a wet crunch and a spurt of dark red blood.
The villain fell flat on his back with a scream.
"You weren't born with that speed quirk." Gran drawls, straightening where he lands, looming over the man with the now broken nose and rapidly bruising face. "Too slow even with all that raw speed. It's unnatural for you. That black spike though. That's how you got your victims. A little handshake here, a touch of the shoulder there they'd barely even notice the poisoned prick. Then they were dead."
The villain snarled, shambling back, trying to get away.
He turned to run, body blurring almost out of existence before Gran was infront of him again, cutting him off.
He thrust his hand out, the spike gleaming in the low light.
Dodging the thrust, Gran caught his arm by the wrist, his grip like iron when he punched the bastard's face again, the agony that flared up across the villain's broken nose was likely teetering on the edge of making him throw up as he hit the ground.
There was a sound overhead, a helicopter, a floodlight now bathing the construction site. Cops? Media?
He didn't have time for distractions; the veins under the villain's skin bulged, the surface of his body gaining an almost coppery sheen.
Gran punched him again, but this time the villain's head jerked back to place lightning fast, even though he was now bleeding from the mouth and when he struck it was with renewed intent, the spike growing even longer.
Gran pulled away, shooting to the ceiling of the hall and then back down again a meter away.
And the bastard was already on him.
He's focused on the spike His mind supplied, wit finally catching up with instinct to help him plan.
He couldn't match him in speed. But he didn't have to.
The man's tactics were basic. By putting so much effort into stabbing him he was forgoing all other weapons, elbows, knees, punches, kicks.
Gran didn't have his problem.
A thrust, a slash, another thrust and there was the opening.
He swerved to avoid a lunge and countered with an uppercut, using that same motion to sharply angle his elbow and smash it again into the bastard's broken nose.
His skin felt harder that time, and the bones shifted but not as much as they should have.
Even so, the pain must've been blinding. The guy lurched forward, stumbled and fell. He moved his arms to catch himself before Gran's foot snaked out, kicking one away, leaving the other too weak to stop him, especially when Gran's hand came crashing down onto the back of his head to slam his broken nose into the concrete.
His body went completely slack like a puppet with its strings cut.
Gran twisted his arms, handcuffing him quickly. He didn't have a strength quirk from what he could tell. Two twisted arms and equally bound legs later Gran stood up hand going to his earpiece.
"Mine's down, who needs help!?"
(X)(X)(X)
The Helicopter was fanning the flames.
It wasn't out of control yet, but it was getting there.
The lion quirk user was stubborn, she'd already broken his bones multiple times, sometimes in the same place but he kept getting back up, kept forcing his body to snap back into place.
He was slow, bleeding, weaker, but he kept muttering about 'The Master' and how he couldn't let him down.
Nana hated when they were fanatically loyal.
It was barely a fight anymore and Nana kept hitting him harder hoping that this time he'd just stay down. But he didn't. He kept coming back, weaker but more desperately than before,a speed given to him by that desperation, that fanaticism that… frankly made him a little scarier than his state should warrant.
Her costume was half burnt, her cape in tatters. His claws had scratched up her arms, he'd even managed to get one good swipe across her face but it was nothing major.
The gravity quirk user had a range limit. She'd tried to escape, Nana hadn't let her. The second the gravitic pressure fell off of her she rushed past the lion and straight at her, nearly catching her again before gravity had taken hold and the quirk girl realized she wasn't going anywhere today.
Desperation was setting in now, for both of them. The Lion user had already activated his quirks in the fight but now Gravity girl was trying to contribute. Pushing, pulling and slamming other objects into her. A field of debris, concrete, cinderblocks, cement mix and rebars was beginning to orbit around the crime boss, like a solar system around the sun.
She kept trying to push Nana back too, but it barely budged the One for All wielder.
The spotlight fell on her, its harsh light a garishly bright thing that was nearly blinding in its sudden intensity.
The Lion came back and his claws left trails of fire in the air, footsteps melted rock under his feet, something exploded nearby and Nana ducked under the swing to smash her fist into his ribs.
She felt something break.
Her arm came up, stopping a backhand that would have taken her head off before her fist cracked into his shoulder. She felt it give, the arm going limp before she reached up, grabbing him by the mane before leaping because fuck gravity and smashed her knee directly between his eyes.
He yowled in pain, stumbling like a drunk. Her feet hit the ground and the kick that smashed into his chest must have shattered god knows how many ribs.
He hit a wall, hard enough to crack it and tried to get up again, wheezing, coughing up blood.
Just a bit more.
Nana jumped, she didn't fly, dropping down with a double kick that cracked into the beast-quirk man's face, finishing the job of putting him through the wall he'd already cracked behind him.
He didn't get back up.
She turned, and she saw the Gravity user staring at her like a deer caught in the headlights.
Nana stepped forward, and the girl thrust both her hands forward.
Every bit of debris and orbiting projectile hurled towards her. Nana felt the need to roll her shoulder before her punches started flying, smashing aside each and every one as she ground forward step by step, bit by bit.
The girl was bleeding from the nose now, the strain of multiple quirks showing.
Suddenly, Nana felt sorry for her.
Most human bodies weren't meant to handle more than one quirk at a time.
All for One knew that.
And he didn't care, giving them away as if they were candy instead of the long, slow death sentences they actually were.
Bought their loyalty on a lie, and they fell for it hook line and sinker.
The last of the debris was smashed to dust under her fist, concrete remains now coating her hair, face and costume, her knuckles bleeding a bit where the rough material had scratched up her skin.
But she was fine and still moving forward.
Then, the pressure let up, not long, just for a second as whatever limit the girl had on her quirk was reached.
It's all she needed.
She shot forward like a bullet, her fist cracking along the girl's jaw and she went down like a sack of bricks.
(X)(X)(X)
He was the only one left.
He didn't know how this freak moved the way he did, what kind of quirk he used, but Taichi felt his heart beating strongly under his ribs, palms sweaty where he gripped his weapons.
It'd been years since he needed to activate his second and tertiary quirks, but he activated them now, the tips of his weapons lit up, like giant candle sticks, the flames swirling and corruscating around the hardened iron rod.
Something brushed across his hair and there was a sound, a clank of metal against metal at his side, Taichi whirled at the noise, weapons swinging, the rod passed through nothing but air but the blast bellowed out of the weapon shattered the cinderblock wall, tearing through metal grates and pipes.
His skin soaked up the heat, and he felt it sink into his muscles, deep beneath. Sounds came a bit sharper a bit clearer.
His own breathing was loud in his ears. Heart pumping so much blood any benefit to his hearing was drowned out by the sound of his own panic.
Get it together, get it together.
There was a flash of red, and again Taichi turned, weapon swinging, too late he noticed what it was.
Fire extinguisher.
The blast shattered the metal casing the cold contents spilling over him, his weapons were snuffed out, the flame disappearing under a cloud of white and cold.
He reeled, pulling away, half blind half shocked at the sudden drop in temperature, trying to reignite his weapons.
Then there was a fist to his face, crackling with lighting. His whole body seized up, what little heat fueled strength he'd managed to gain in his body barely managed to shrug off the volts that ran through him.
It kept him conscious, kept him moving but only just.
His hand swung and the spark fizzled out under the still hovering cloud of extinguisher foam. The Black thing caught his wrist, twisted he barely had time to feel the pain before something in his wrist gave with a crack that sent agony racing up and down his arm.
He screamed, tried to pull away, it didn't let him.
It pulled him forward, the broken wrist dislocating with a sick crunch, his elbow snapped, bending the wrong way and it was only pure adrenaline that gave him enough presence of mind to swing his remaining weapon in a wild, upwards swing to try and get the thing off of him.
A foot cracked into the iron, stomping it down under a boot that ripped the weapon right out of his grasp.
The broken, mangled arm was twisted further and the pain made his vision go blurry, white hot torture ripping through every muscle in his body before he an iron toed boot smash into his head.
He hit the ground, dazed, eyes swimming in his skull as the thing loomed over him.
Then there was a light overhead, the buffeting winds of a helicopter distant to his senses, the light made it impossible to see.
And then it was gone, disappearing into the shadows as the sirens howled, drawing closer.