Misadventures at the Dojo Part 2.5: Aftermath
-Following the sudden wildfire, and the rush to deliver Chihiro, Hoge, Orochi, and Sally to the nearest hospital, their role in the story was over. What remained was the fate of villain that caused the wildfire in the first place.

...

Heading deeper and deeper into the mountains, Karma continued to carry the unconscious Drekus with her tail. As the last rays of the sun slip over the treetops, she paused briefly and looked over her shoulder- she saw nothing but an endless sea of pine trees. A smile hung on her face, but her eyes betrayed an unusually foul mood.

With a click of her tongue, Karma tossed Drekus aside: "That's enough, you silly oaf. They didn't want to follow. Get up."

Drekus continued to lie on the dirt, lifeless: "..."

Karma wasn't convinced- she gave him a solid kick to his shin: "I WILL leave you here, you know? Tch, and here I thought I could trick that fool, Seiryu, into following after me. The way he gets all angry never grows old."

Drekus continued to lay on the dirt, lifeless. A soft murmur escaped his throat: "...Drekus is not here right now. Drekus was defeated by blurry child."

With her hands on her hips, Karma leaned forward and her tongue flickered in frustration: "Like Hell! A little poison like that won't do anything to you... You practically bath in nastier stuff than that."

Drekus continued to lay on the dirt, pretending to be lifeless: "... What? No, no, no. Drekus was defeated. Drekus in no way felt bad for sword wielding girl, nor was Drekus getting sleepy."

Karma paused as the gears turned in her head... Suddenly, she narrowed her gaze and hissed in displeasure: "You... You actually feel asleep!? Were you trying to get captured!?"

Finally showing some signs of life, Drekus turned his head away and grumbled: "N-no. Drekus did not sleep. Drekus... Merely... Closed his eyes for a moment..."

Under the weight of Karma's glare, Drekus let loose a soft growl: "Gagh. Fine. Drekus was tired, and the warm fire made Drekus too comfortable. Drekus decided to play dead, and then fell asleep..."

Karma grumbled to herself: 'Argh! Why are both of those two like this? If they weren't so handy I'd have ditched them by now... Though their antics ARE kind of refreshing, in a frustrating way... Ah... Is that it? Have they finally driven me insane?'

As Karma was caught in her head, Drekus had suddenly rushed to his feet and shoved her! As her eyes widened in anger, she saw something that made her blood run cold- Drekus's arm had been cut down to the bone, with blood flying everywhere! Out of the corner of her eye, she had barely spotted a blur of something flying through the air. Whatever it was, it had the power to slice into Drekus's arm...

Drekus warily sized up the assassin as he once again activated his newest quirk, covering his body in rocky black coal. His wound sizzled and set itself ablaze, searing the wound shut. His goal accomplished, her canceled the quirk. As comfy as the fire was, it was hard for Drekus to switch out of the coal body quirk once it got out of hand, making it difficult for him to fight properly. His fight with the students from earlier taught him that much.

Meanwhile, Karma had already ducked behind the adjacent blue colored meat wall that was Drekus- an attack that could do that much damage to Drekus would probably slice straight through her. Peering out from behind him, she saw the assassin clearly. It was a figure clad in feminine, two meter tall armor and holding a small bladeless hilt in 'her' right hand. Karma clicked her tongue- this kind of fully body armor was a bad match up for her.

Seeing no sense in risking her neck, Karma whispered to Drekus: "Hold on OK? I'll go get some help. Hitomi-chan is just a bit further in."

Drekus grunted in assent as Karma had already fled. He switched to another of his quirks, causing steel feathers to cover his body. The woman, a murderous vigilante by the name of Aquarius, slashed out at Karma, but Drekus was ready. He flew over and intercepted the attack- a highly pressurized burst of acid. Unlike before, the attack failed to harm him. The acid slipped off his steel feathers.

Wasting no time, Drekus took to the air, rushing towards Aquarius as he roared: "Your opponent is Drekus!"

...

Karma hurried off to find 'Hitomi', the villain known as Feral. She weaved through the forest of pine trees with a belly full of fire. Whoever was in that oversized tin can, she couldn't wait for Feral and Drekus to rip their armor off of them so she could give them a good stab. Yet even in her anger, she was on full alert. The moment she heard the sound of something cutting through the wind she leapt to the side- just in time for a heavy scythe to pass through where she stood a split second earlier.

Following the scythe with her eyes, she soon spotted her newest attacker. A woman in a black dress not unlike a witch from a play. If looks could kill, Karma's glare might have achieved that. Not once, but twice. Twice in a row, someone had had tried to kill her. Did they think she was an easy target? Unlike the armored behemoth from earlier, this woman looked like a much more fitting opponent- Karma narrowed her eyes and decided to play around a bit before looking for Feral. She felt the need to vent. She wasn't sure what it was. Constantly playing babysitter for Drekus and Feral? The sudden wildfire? Or just the lack of any good jobs in weeks? Maybe it was all of it combined. Whatever the case, Karma simply wasn't having a good day.

With a playful and cruel grin, Karma zigzagged and rushed towards Walpurgis, leaping into the witch's blind spot and stabbing out towards her kidney with a small dagger. Walpurgis turned to swipe out at Karma with her scythe, but seemed to be a step to late. Karma's dagger pierced towards Walpurgis, only to stop inches short!

The dagger refused to budge, as if locked in place. As Walpurgis's scythe closed in on Karma, she flicked out with her tail and knocked the scythe off course. In the next moment, she struck out with her leg, driving her shin into Walpurgis's back and sending her tumbling away.

After this exchange Karma had a better idea of her opponents quirk- something to do with controlling metal. With nimble fingers she tossed the dagger into the woods, hopefully out of range of her opponents quirk- leaving it on her person was a liability. Meanwhile, Walpurgis had also learned her lesson- Karma was far too fast to fight in close quarters. She couldn't keep up. Instead, she had taken to the air, riding on her scythe like a witch's broomstick.

Both of the villainous women eyed the other, planning how to strike down their enemy....

...

Meanwhile, even deeper in the forest another battle had long since begun. Amidst the wreckage of broken trees stood 'Hitomi'- the villain known as Feral. Her torso was covered in blood than ran down from her mouth and a large gash tore through he left side over to her stomach from which her intestines hung out. In spite of it all, her face only showed pure ecstasy- simply put she was on an adrenaline high. The object of her mania stood not far away- a stoic woman clad in a wreath of crimson flames and bearing a burning eye, and one of the leading figures of the revolutionist group 'Legion'. She was the Momotaro Tachibana, the Nebulous Storm. Her left arm hung limply at her side, a product of the claw-like wound that tore through her left shoulder and pierced down into her lung. A few centimeters more and Feral's claw would have claimed Momo's heart.

Regardless of her injuries, Momo couldn't help but marvel at the tenacity of her enemy. This psychopath of a crocodile woman faced her strongest move head on, and traded flesh for bone instead of bothering to dodge... That was a first for her- most people would at least try to block. When the fight started, they had clashed a dozen times. Her prized blades against a pair of chainsaws. As soon as the chainsaws broke, she moved in for the kill. The result? She was down an arm and a lung, and her body ached from overusing her own quirk. Meanwhile, her opponent that shouldn't even be standing seemed stronger than ever. Momo had an inkling that her opponent was the exact opposite of her- someone that got stronger as a fight dragged on.

The only reason she hadn't rushed in to finish things was the sound of footsteps. She couldn't quite explain it herself- it was a such a simple sound. Yet there was something to the rhythm of it. Like something terrible was coming. It was then that she saw 'him'. An old man, dressed in robes equally gaudy and sinister. His face showed a wide, almost amused smile, as if he were an old man watching two kids playing and not two of the strongest villains in town fighting to the death.

With a cheery voice that grated the ears, the old man called out: "That's enough Hitomi. Play time is over".

Without even looking back, Feral roared out: "NO FUCKING WAY! We just got to the good part! There's no stopping until I rip her damn spine out!"

This time, the old man wasn't smiling: "Hi-to-mi."

It was just one word, but the tone was chilling. Feral's hair stood on end, and her face betrayed... fear? Could this maniac still feel fear? Whatever the case, Momo knew who this was. The old man was a living legend- the lord of the Night Parade, Okane 'King' Midas. Even the leader of Legion acknowledged that this old freak was trouble- to the point of saying that it's better to cross paths with Endeavor than Midas. She decisively withdrew before the old thing changed his mind. She didn't even know if she was ready to fight Midas normally, let alone in her current condition or when he has a helper.

Seeing Momo slip away, a soft chuckle sounded out from Midas: "Lucky for you, this one isn't a member of my group. Be sure to tell the head of your 'Legion' that I said hello."

Bitter to see her prey slip away, Feral quietly whined: "Next time I'll catch you and skin you alive... Gramps won't be there to save you again."

With Feral in tow carrying her damaged chainsaws, Midas journeyed on. Before long he found the person he actually came here for, and a member of his Night Parade- Karma. She was covered in shallow cuts, the product of Walpurgis creating a miniature sandstorm of fine iron pulled from the dirt. Other than that, she seemed to be doing well- happy even. At her feet was the theatrical witch herself. When it came down to it, the thrill seeking thief just wasn't ready to fight an S-Rank villain like Karma. Walpurgis's only consolation was that she was only badly injured and not dead.

Feral boo'd in displeasure: "Damn. Big sis got to finish her fight but I didn't... What gives, Gramps?"

Amused by Feral's nickname for the dreaded Midas, Karma's eyes flicked between her boss and her 'little sister'. Seeing no displeasure, she replied: "Hehe, no need to feel jealous Hitomi, 'Gramps' and I will help you find a good fight before long."

Midas simply chuckled in amusement as he continued on with Feral and Karma following shortly after. Walpurgis took this chance to climb back atop her broom and leave. She mused to herself that the Night Parade members were no joke. Hearing how a student had clashed with a villain named 'Bogey', she thought they weren't that strong... But clearly that was an outlier. In any event, she played her part rightly. She knew first hand what kind of monster that armored woman was. A few broken bones was a small price to let Aquarius fight that wildfire starting scoundrel alone...

...And Walpurgis wasn't wrong- the fight between Drekus and Aquarius didn't favor Drekus. Perhaps on any other day, it would be different. But Drekus was already in terrible condition- his breathing was ragged before the fight even began, a product of his stamina being drained in his earlier fight. He could barely even feel his limbs, a product of the poison delivered to his system in that same fight. Even the quirk he relied on to fight, his steel feathered quirk, was no longer as reliable- the dozens of scars wounds covering his body made for weakpoints. His feathers in those spots easily breaking loose and falling off.

However, he did manage to hold on until reinforcements came. Aquarius wasted no time retreating the moment she saw Midas's cheery and equally bloodthirsty smile. Like most villains in Kyoto, she knew exactly who that was and the terror he represented. She wasn't yet angry enough to die in an attempt to take Drekus down with her.

As odd as his head works, even Drekus knew he was going to die if things kept up. He wanted to offer his thanks, at the very least, but Midas beat him to the punch. The old man slammed the side of his cane down on Drekus's head (Drekus barely felt it) and scolded: "You brat. You've caused a big mess this time. After the damage you caused, the heroes are up in arms. A bunch of agencies were already heading over in case the fire spread, and now they've formed a net to catch you lot. Hearing that two high profile villains were hiding out in the same forest, they've decided not to pull any punches. It won't be long before half of the top ten heroes arrive to lynch you."

Despite that bombastic declaration, none of those present seemed bothered. Feral was excited. Drekus was calm- and possibly didn't really understand the threat. Karma knew full well that since Midas made an appearance, he was confident in retreating safely.

Satisfied with his scolding, Midas changed his tune yet again: "Well, enough of that. Let's head out already. No matter how many of those fools group together, it's not enough to stop me. Kekeke- when we get back, Grandpa will treat you kids to a nice meal."

...

To say that the news outlets had a field day was an understatement. An entire agency of heroes was slaughtered- victims of Midas tearing a hole in the encirclement. The fact that the villains knew exactly what the weakest point of the encirclement was and confidently charged through led to speculations about turncoats among the heroes. Most importantly, even with such a massive gathering of heroes, they failed to catch even a single of the four villains. Like a hot knife through butter, Midas led his group directly out of danger and shook off any and all pursuit- the strongest heroes didn't even have a chance to enter combat. To say the event was a humiliating disgrace didn't do it justice.