The Cosa Nostra (Part 11)

Chris had once again run ahead of the group. Despite Aizawa's pleading, despite Nighteye's shouting, and without Jason there to stop him, Chris continued his sprint forward. He knew there was only a limited amount of time before Overhaul would get away. Chris was several floors down in the massive underground facility when he saw two men: one dressed in black and one dressed in white. The man in black fired his gun. Chris used his superior speed to dodge the bullet. Then he suddenly became very dizzy. Chris fell against the wall. The man in white, who was hanging from the ceiling, laughed. "You're looking a little tipsy, hero! Don't you know you shouldn't drink on the job?!" The other thug fired his gun again. Chris barely dodged the bullet this time, now laying on the floor. The man activated his own quirk. "Why are you here?" Chris answered without a second thought. "I'm here to save Eri at any cost!" Chris tensed up. The man's quirk had made him tell the truth, even though he shouldn't have answered. The thug simply sighed and aimed his pistol at Chris. "Just another child playing hero. Welcome to the real world; without a Symbol of peace, heroes are useless."

Jason looked at the three thugs that stood before him, red energy consuming both arms. "Alright you discount henchmen. Let's rock." The largest of the thugs generated crystals that covered his arms before charging forward. The smallest sprinted forward, snapping his jaw like a wild animal. Jason rolled to the side to avoid a vicious bite, then he threw a punch at the largest guy, shattering the crystals. Before Jason could follow up with another punch, the smallest thug was on the attack again. Jason went to punch the smaller one, but his hand wouldn't move. Jason ended up ducking to avoid the bite, and then rolled once again to dodge the crystal thug. Jason turned. The third thug, their leader, laughed. Jason stood upright once again. That man's quirk had somehow stopped him from throwing a punch; almost like a magnet. Not only were their quirks powerful, but they were also a well coordinated team. Jason then smirked. "I might actually be in trouble, but I have to beat you idiots and get back to the others."

Nighteye, Aizawa, and the rest of the raiding party ran through the hallways. "Dammit! Why did he run off like that?! I thought you trained him better than that!" Aizawa glared ahead. "Chris has always been stubborn! I think he gets it from Jason!" "Either way, we need to catch up before he's killed!" "I'm not too worried about that!" Nighteye turned his head to Aizawa. "What do you mean?!" "Chris is one of the strongest students I've ever trained! If anyone can beat Overhaul, it would be him!" The group was stopped by a familiar man in a black and white body suit. "Hello everyone! I love heroes!" It was the split personality villain Twice. As Shigaraki had promised, he was here to assist the Cosa Nostra. Rappa also stood there. This wasn't the real Rappa: Twice had simply made a clone of the original. The group stopped as Twice pulled out two knives. "Now I would normally let you all go, but I'm under orders to make sure none of you pass this point. I'm going to let you through!" The Rappa clone just beat his fists together. "I'm sick of all the talk! Let's fight!" Rappa took a step forward. Nighteye reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metal object, resembling a large stamp used for paperwork. Nighteye threw it. The small object slammed into the Rappa Clone, causing it to slam into the wall. Twice's clones, after taking enough damage, disintegrate into ash, just like the Rappa Clone after falling to the floor. Twice slowly turned his head towards Nightye. All Might's former sidekick drew some more of the objects from his pocket. "These are my support items: Hyper Density Seals. Each seal weighs five kilograms. Trust me; I'm a lot stronger than I look." Twice blinked a few times from underneath his mask. "...Fuck that." The villain ran off.

Chris jumped to the side, attempting to dodge another bullet. He almost made it. The lieutenant shot right through Chris's leg. Chris fell, holding the wound. The other thug was still hanging from the ceiling, laughing at Chris. He couldn't keep this up. The longer he was kept here, the more likely it was that Overhaul would get away. Chris managed to stand up. He had to get past these goons. He had to save Eri. The lieutenant aimed for Chris's heart. "End of the road." Chris ducked down, dodging the bullet. He couldn't properly aim as long as the dizziness quirk was still active, so he had to use a technique he had come up with only a few weeks ago. "New York…" Chris slammed his hands together with 15% of One for All. "...Smash!" Such a powerful clap in such close quarters created a shockwave that knocked both thugs down and against opposite walls. Before they could recover, Chris sprinted forward and slammed their heads into the ground. He held back just a little bit so he wouldn't kill them. With that hurdle taken care of, Chris continued onward, limping as a result of his injuries.

Jason raised his guard up as he was slammed into the wall by a powerful punch. The crystal thug was much stronger than he looked. Jason then had to duck in order to avoid the biting thug. Jason kept dodging, unable to find an opening. Then the largest thug grabbed Jason and slammed him into the floor. The smallest thug made his move as well. Jason panicked and released a powerful flick, using a little bit of all of his emotions. The flick sent both thugs flying, but they landed upright. Jason jumped to his feet. The two sides were at a stalemate. Jason took a deep breath. "...You three are strong. I'll give you that much." Their leader pointed at Jason. "You know nothing about true strength!" Jason sensed some true hatred in that statement. "...Enlighten me." "You're a hero in training! You get to live the high life just because of the profession you chose!" The crystal thug dropped down to a combat stance. "While you got to live comfortably in a society protected by All Might, we were tossed to the wind, labelled as nothing more than trash. Then Master Overhaul found us." Their leader nodded. "Overhaul found us and made us better. We know we're trash, but Overhaul took us in regardless. We're making the most of our second chance! A hero like you would never understand!" Jason was silent. He remembered his upbringing. Those weren't memories he liked looking back at. He had been the same way; nothing more than trash. Until he had met Chris. Jason smirked slightly. "...Actually… I do understand…" Jason looked up at them. "...I understand all too well… but you three don't get an excuse with me. We both had a poor upbringing. The difference between us is that you let your past define you. Now you'll pay for that choice."

Jason crouched down, the red energy caused by his anger enveloping both arms. "I'm going to take you all down, and I know just how to do it." Jason's voice became strained as he began to focus. "I was saving this technique for my rematch with Impact, but you three will make perfect test dummies!" The red energy slowly creeped from Jason's arms up to his body. Then, slowly, it began to envelop his entire body. None of the thugs could move; they were too entranced by what this might be. The energy was now completely enveloping Jason. The hero in training shouted the name of his new technique. "Vengeful Full Cowling!" Jason sped forward, almost disappearing from how fast he was going. While Inner Strength normally could only manifest on his limbs, Jason had finally perfected it to a point where Inner Strength can reach through his entire body all at once. However, he could only hold it for a short amount of time, and it drained whatever emotions he was fueling it with. Jason appeared behind the trio and jumped from the back wall. He knocked out their leader with a single punch. As the crystal thug turned his head, Jason spun and kicked his knee in, bending his leg the opposite way. The smallest tried jumping away, but Jason was almost instantly behind him and punched him in the back. The trio fell to the ground at the same time: two were unconscious and the crystal thug was writhing in pain. Jason sighed and powered down his Full Cowling. He had used up all his anger. "...Now as soon as the second wave of police get here, I'll go and help Impact."

Chris finally stopped his sprint. He desperately tried to catch his breath. Overhaul stopped and turned to face him, a little surprised. "How did you get past all of my men?" Chris was too tired and in too much pain to answer. Overhaul took a step forward, putting himself between Chris and the doctor, who was still holding Eri. The young girl locked eyes with Chris. She was about to cry upon seeing the kind man once again. Overhaul turned and saw Eri's expression. Then he turned to Chris. "Don't." Chris looked back at Overhaul. "Don't what?" "Don't give her false hope." Chris lowered himself to a battle stance. Overhaul took off a single glove. "Look at that Eri; someone else is about to die because of you."

Toga walked into an empty room near the bottom of the facility. She pulled a small transmitter out of her pocket. Twice ran up. "Toga, I lost! I kicked their asses!" Toga sighed. "Oh well. I still blame these ancient mobsters. They just don't know how to do crime these days." She smiled devilishly as she activated the transmitter. "But, as Shigaraki said, their downfall will raise us up to new heights." A few seconds after she activated the transmitter, Kurogiri's purple portal appeared. Shigaraki, Dabi, and the one armed Mr. Compress all stepped through. Shigaraki looked at the four league members around him. "I want as many of their resources as possible. Cash, weapons, and a priority on any documentation about their darts. The League of Villains rises today."