Overhaul was self aware enough to realize, on some level, he might have been acting irrationally. Sure, he made sure to close up all exits so the boy couldn't leave, a phasing quirk didn't work on what you touched after all, otherwise weaponry would have been fair game. He also wasn't irrational about his attack method, a small stab wound to any organ would be easily fixable, so it didn't matter if it hit Eri or a companion. No, what was irrational was his words. They held enough spite to murder All For One.
"Eri.. everything that is happening right now is your fault." He glared at the girl in the hero's arms, trembling in fear as she should. "You break people. If you didn't exist, no one here would've gotten hurt." He reinforced it.
"She's being hurt because of you, you hypocrite!" The boy shouted. "You're turning your own daughter into bullets!"
"Oh, right, that's the story I went with didn't I?" Something he came up with on the fly. A bit uncreative, but not like it took much to fool this idiot. Then again, even if she was his daughter he would have done it regardless. "I never had a kid." The fury on the hero was almost amusing.
"What is your weakness?" Shin asked the boy as he fired off a few shots.
"I can't breathe, see, or hear when I phase!" The 'hero' grunted in anger.
"So you're not so invincible when you're untouchable." He smirked. That meant all they needed to do was throw every conceivable obstacle in his way until something hit. A few more spikes flying, hitting that cape as the answer was-a punch to the face. Right, springing through the floor.
"I'm not invincible because I'm untouchable! I'm invincible because someone needs my help!" So sick, so infected. Every second he heard babble like that he died a little on the inside. This boy's quirk made him think he had a responsibility to the community.
"Eri isn't untouchable. If she gets hurt or dies, I'm the only one who can revive her." He kept sending spikes as the idiot held the girl up high. "Of course, people aren't usually the same when they come back, but not like a cursed human has any other use!"
"Stop calling her that!" He shouted. "She's a kind and innocent soul that's just twisting to your own ends. Do you even care about the people around you!?"
"I care more about what's important than anybody in this world!" He shrieked, almost losing focus when another kick was sent towards his face. The old man, his dream…he would repay that kindness no matter what it took!
"He cares for a great cause far beyond you." Shin spoke up, shooting off a few more rounds. "A cause to help all, and remove fear." Shin, dial it back a bit. You were creeping him out. "What are you most afraid of?"
"Letting her die!" He almost threw up and slapped himself in the head. Of course, it was so obvious. Powerful or not, hero sickness ran through the idiot's blood. He would die just to keep this cursed child alive for a second longer. He would have to up the ante on this.
==
Aizawa ran with the others, grunting in response as they moved forward. "We should be getting close, we've been running for a while." Should be?
"Can't you see the future? Just check ours." Rock Lock asked what most people would do in this situation.
"Once a day, for one hour. I can put it on us, or the villain that can make people explode with a poke." The response shut the man up instantly. "I can't believe we're just going by the words of two villains. This could be a trap for all we know."
"No, they don't like Overbird like we do. As long as we have that in common, they'll probably keep helping us."
"The fact you treat villains like allies is one of the many reasons I despise you Kettei." The pro and student glared once more at each other. The kid had a mixed track record of people liking him and hating him.
"Hey, it's better than running in circles aimlessly. Take the win when you can get it!" Miriko defended her protege.
"Your constant defense of him is going to get you severly injured one day." The pro deadpanned.
"Oh please, if i'm wrong in calling the Kit smart, may god strike me where I stand." A white piece of what appeared to be a clock hand shot from a hallway, striking Miriko in the gut. "Coinceedeeeennnnceeee!!!!!"
He himself felt a prick, the world speeding up around him, but after a second it vanished, only to have himself shot in the leg. "Alright, you two are the main problems right now. As someone who's going to make sure the goal moves on without a hitch … it's my job to stop you." The bigger hand came out, once again the world speeding up as it scratched him, but it lasted longer.
"Thanks…glad I got the special treatment.." His currently only partner sarcastically groaned as she was shot in the leg as well. "Fucking…every single time!"
"You know, we've been trying to find you for quite some time." The villain got on his back and pinned him down. "A quirk erasing quirk. Talk about jackpot. If anything else, we might have something other than Eri to use if she ever becomes useless." The man jumped back, a punch from Rock Lock close to hitting him. "Right, you stayed behind didn't you, infected with heroism just like the rest of the lot." Wait, stayed behind?
"What… happened?"
"His quirk slows down the time of any of his targets. Your perception sped up by comparison." The pro explained. Damn it, that was going to get annoying real quickly.
"Kettei and Nighteye went ahead, I stayed behind cause you've been out for a minute, he tried to use an 'hour hand' on you, and I don't wanna know what that does." The hero received a small nick on his face. "He also haaasssss."
"Invisible and fastest second, middle ground minute, and short and bulky hour." The villain raised his gun, firing off a few shots he was forced to evade as Rock Lock came back to it. "I have every ground covered against you a lot."
"You know, for a group making quirk easers, you seem pretty eager to use your own." Aizawa pointed out.
"Says the society that outlawed quirks yet uses heroes against people when it happens. We're just removing the middleman of the picture and getting rid of quirks once and for all. A society without heroes or villains infecting people with notions of saving others-" The villain let out his middle hand, forcing a surprise attack of Miriko to be avoided. "-or violence for the sake of a quick buck."
"Yeah, yeah, hypocrites all around! Not the first time I've heard this speech." The rabbit hero rolled her eyes.
"Hey, we could be worse." How could you possibly be worse? "Apparently there's this group calling themselves Humanizers back in Europe, planning on killing off every quirk user through chemical warfare." … Okay, that was way worse. "As long as the boss has Eri though, Overhaul is capable of nearly anything he wants. There's nothing that's going to get in his way."
==
"Would you kindly … get out of my way!?" Chisaki screamed at the caped man, Lemillion. "You're the most annoying fly I've ever had the displeasure of trying to swat!"
"That means I'm doing my job as a hero!" Lemillion avoided every spike that was getting thrown at him when it didn't go through him without blood. "I won't let you hurt another hair on this girl, ever again!"
"So careless, always putting your life on the line for others, so willing to die for something so small!" Chisaki kept yelling. "A whole damn society filled with suicidal idiots! So much chaos, so much pointlessness!"
"We do this because we care about others! Is it wrong to care about someone?"
"If you never met them? Yes, completely!" These people…cared about her? Vampire lady, Lemillion…did Wolfman care about her? His hold was so warm and his fur was so soft. She wanted to go back to the arms. She wanted everything to be okay…but people would die if they cared about her.
She heard a click, looking at where it came from. Mr Nemoto aimed his gun at her. If Eri was hit in the head she was going to die. She was going to be free. She wouldn't be hurting anyone anymore. Please don't let this miss.
BANG
"Holy shit …" Lemillion stood in front of her with a grimace. "I actually thought you were about to destroy our key Shin!" Chisaki laughed. "But you did it, you removed the biggest obstacle we had. And now we're fighting our first cured patient!"
"Are you okay Eri?" He was asking if she was okay.
"You…you got shot…"
"Yep, gonna really bruise the cape." He gave her a smile, talking it off. "Why don't you hold onto it until then, okay?" He handed the cape over to her, like a blanket.
"Don't act like a hero now…you're quirkless!" Chisaki shouted. "Everything that made you special is gone forever!"
"Didn't you hear the boy known as Iruma Suzuki at the sports festival?" Chisaki twitched really bad, anger boiling. "You don't need a quirk to be a hero!"
"That's the absolute sickest thing i've ever heard!" The man kept firing off attacks as he was kicked by Lemillion, and then punched before the boy ran back. "How does that brat make everything harder and worse every second!?"
"Because Kettei's true power is his determination! He won't stop until he reaches his goal! So no matter what happens to me, the name Lemillion will always be a promise to save people!" He charged at Chiaski. "I am Lemillion, quirk or no quirk! No bullet can ever take that away from me!" Even when he got close to Chisaki, Lemillion was still able to dodge…he was still fighting for her … why … why did these people care about her so much!?
==
Toga ran forward. Come on lucky corner number fifteen, give her Iruma-kins! "Toga!" Oh … great, it was just Twice and her double. Not that there was anything wrong with him, he was just not Iruma-kins. "We met Iruma, we're friends!" Oh, awesome!
"He's still the same kind cutie from that license test!" Her copy blushed. "I just wish he could've given me more blood, or better yet, stayed with him."
"Why didn't you ask for it?" She whined. She deserved SOMETHING today!
"There were heroes, we couldn't do something that risky!" Her copy shouted. "The snobbing guy with the glasses was a real asshole too, more of a stick of mud than Kiriwo." Now that was a nightmare.
"We're lucky hobo man didn't stare at me, it would have been a nightmare. We would have won the staring contest! " Twice called out.
"Oh yeah, if your quirk gets negated I … vanish …" The copy stared at herself. "Because I'm not real … I'm just a figment of slime brought to life by someone else." The girl frowned.
"Hey, don't get like that. You're pretty cool, you like blood, you know how love works."
"I only know because it's what Twice knows about you. Who's to say I know exactly how you feel, how you act, how you think! Heck, do I even love Iruma-kins of my volition? If I walked out of here, would I be able to exist on my own, develop my own desires and dreams-"
Twice began choking the life out of her copy, snapping its neck as it melted on the ground. Toga could only stare, horrified at the scene in front of her. "Trust me, it's for the best." He didn't double speak. "If you killed her she would join you in your head. With the rest of us. " She needed to get him a smoothie, and a lap pillow.
==
Nighteye rushed into the hole made by Kettei, who slowly began to wiggle his finger in place, coming onto the scene in front of them. Two unconscious villains scattered around, Overhaul growling, fixing his arm, and Lemillion battered while caring Eri. Wait, that last one made little sense.
"Miro, Eri!" Kettie rushed down to them. "You saved her..you saved her…thank you…" He looked at Lemillion and the girl in his protege's arms. "You alright? You didn't get hurt?"
"I lost my quirk, but otherwise I'm fine." Mirio … lost his quirk. Fuck this was already a disaster.
"You…. Iruma Suzuki…." Overhaul growled fiercely. "Everything…everything that's wrong is all because of you!"
"IT WAS ONE CASE!" The boy shouted out, clearly frustrated.
"That case contained YEARS worth of research! I could've cleansed this society of the hero sickness months ago if you didn't meddle in my affairs!" The Yakuza head raised two spiked pillars. "I could've made the old man's dream come true…!"
"The old man had a terrible dream then!" Kettei proceeded to blow a hole through Chisaki's torso. Everyone could only stare horrified as the villain gasped for air, grabbing himself before splitting apart and reforming whole again.
"The fuck is wrong with you!?" The villain shouted, eyes wide at the level of violence Kettei was after.
"What did I tell you about excessive violence and murder!?" And here he was using lethal force in a single instant.
"It hurts." The hero watches as the boy stares down the now confused villain. "Every time you heal yourself it hurts doesn't it? Unbearably so."
"... What about it?"
"I've been in enough pain to pass out recently." The boy began sparkling brighter. "If I put enough holes in you, you'll have to keep hurting yourself to fix yourself. Eventually you'll pass out."...He…planned….something.. "So either your mind breaks or my body does." He unsheathed his costume's claws. "Let's see what goes first." And with that, the untamed wolf shot himself forward. There was a swirling mix of concern and fear for BOTH sides of the fight within him.