Time continued to pass. Midoriya spends his time training at the beach while trying to come up with ideas for hero gear, as well as honing his martial skills as far as he could at the gym. 

Meanwhile, Himiko continues making contacts through the criminal world. The guy she first met, Giran, is the one who introduced her to that place. He’s also the one who put us in contact with the people who make “unofficial” support gear.

Honestly, he’s been pretty helpful in navigating the criminal world effectively. Sure, we use most of his information to hit the worst gangs, but according to him:

“It’s fine. There are unwritten rules in how those of alternate employment conduct themselves. When a group starts to break those rules, well. Then either we deal with them, or they drag the heroes into places we would prefer they don’t go.”

So as long as we don’t hit the more casual criminals, he doesn’t care what we do with the information we purchase from him. Though I say we, Himiko is the one who always deals with him. Like he always says: Information is power, and information about a future UA student associating with criminals would sell really well. I’ve no plans to be stuck hiding from the government, thank you very much.

Anyways, he’s been helping Himiko expand her contacts. Most recently he put us in contact with a cleaning crew, for when we deal with the absolute worst of the worst. The ones that won’t be making it to Tartarus.

The worst one was that bastard who was eating people. He was also the strongest person we’ve faced.

I first encountered him while grabbing food at the convenience store. Though encounter might be too strong a word. What happened was that I heard something disturbing and smelled blood, so I checked it out.

𝌡𝌡𝌡

I go behind the store, heading into the alley behind it. There I find a guy in a black straight jacket eating the flesh off of a child’s skeleton.The only reason I can tell it was a child is because of its size. The only flesh left on them is part of their left arm and their head. Their face is forever trapped in a rictus of horror and terror.

Judging by the torn clothes on the body, it was a boy.

I’m frozen for a moment at the sheer viciousness of the scene. A moment in which the monster turned to me.

Seeing the front of his head, I can’t see his face, which is mostly hidden behind the black cap covering most of his head. The only thing I can see is his mouth.

It’s stained by his terrible meal, the child’s blood flowing down his face, and pieces of flesh stuck between his jagged teeth.

Seeing him turn, I immediately summon two brawler cats and a defense cat. The brawler cats are summoned standing on two legs with their claws already extended. The defense cat, at the time, is in what I call its battle form. It has the appearance of a little soldier cat holding a greatshield, rather than the fluffy version I usually use to sleep on.

Not waiting for him to make the first move, I order my cats forward, ready to either support them or run depending on his strength. At the same time, I surreptitiously summon a spy cat and tell it to hide. It scampers off behind a dumpster while the other three approach with a determined gleam in their eyes.

The criminal stands, the motion disturbing given his bound hands. But once he’s up, he simply stares at the cats as they approach. Then he whispers to himself. “New flesh? Not flesh, but maybe? It’s pretty. So…very…pretty.”

His mouth, which was stretched wide by metal hooks, gave off the feeling of a smile. Then suddenly his teeth shot out with a screech. They moved towards my cats, making abrupt turns that made it hard to predict where exactly they would strike. But I don’t call it a defense cat for nothing.

It interposed itself between the two brawler cats and the teeth that shot out towards them. They *Clang* against the shield with the sound of metal striking metal, and the cat is pushed back! My eyes widen as I give an order to my spy cat.

“If I need to run, follow him. Find out where the bastard sleeps. Then dismiss yourself.” It’s out of sight, but I know that it will follow my orders.

I watch as the defender cat works to block the obviously enhanced teeth, protecting the brawler cats as they move closer to their target.

But it’s not enough.

One of the teeth manages to dodge the defense cat’s shield and darts towards a brawler cat. Luckily it manages to dodge, but it’s past the defense now, and it simply redirects. The brawler cat manages to dodge a couple of times, but then it’s pierced by another tooth from behind.

It struggles, trying to slash behind it to free itself, but it can’t put any force into its swings. Then it’s pierced from the front. Looking down, it raises its arm to swing as lights start to float off of it. But another tooth pierces its arm, holding it in place above it. The lights are appearing faster now, it’s form starting to vanish.

As it dissipates, it looks back to see the other brawler and defense cat charging the man, dodging or blocking the teeth. Leaving it undefended. The last thing to disappear is the scowl on its face, fading away slowly.

Meanwhile, the other two cats manage to reach the man through the deadly obstacle course coming from his mouth. The brawler cat slashes at his knees, hoping to bring him to a level where it can aim for the throat. But the man dodges.

More of his teeth shoot out, extending into the ground and propelling him upwards, out of the reach of the brawler. To give it credit, it doesn’t hesitate at this new development and strikes at the teeth supporting him.

There’s a screech and a splash of sparks as its claws try to cut through the tooth. Looking closer, it’s possible to see that it succeeded, at least partly. It did manage to cut into the tooth a bit, as the man’s groan of pain attests to. But it’s not enough.

As it pulls back to strike again, the two cats are surrounded by teeth and are perforated from every direction. Unable to take so much damage so quickly, they burst into orbs of light,

The man starts to mutter. “Not flesh. Pretty, but no flesh. No taste. I’m still hungry though…” He turns his attention to his surroundings, looking for the person who summoned the cats. But I’m long gone, having fled once he managed to destroy the first brawler cat.

Grumbling in disappointment, he lowers himself to the ground. He walks off into the network of alleys, his previous meal forgotten on the ground. 

I look at it from the roof of the building overlooking the alley. I watch as my spy cat comes out of its hiding place and follows the man. I follow, his last comment ensuring that I can’t just kill him in his sleep later. As I run and leap across buildings, I make a call.

“Himiko, I’m going to need your help. This one needs to die. Bring the catnip.”