Author's note:
Yeah, sorry, it took me so long to upload this chapter. My situation in my personal life has finally begun to die down, and now I can go back to working on this story. I won't lie and say the next couple of chapters will come out in the near future; there are still some things that are keeping my full attention. However, with what little time I have to spare, I will try to devote it to releasing new chapters for you guys to enjoy.
P.S.: I'm currently away from home as of writing this chapter, so there might be a few mistakes here and there that I would normally fix before uploading. Anyway, enough of that, please enjoy the chapter.
POV: Issei Hyoudou
I didn't look back.
I'm not scared, no, that would be ridiculous. I mean, I probably just misheard Izuku. Who even uses the term Villain to describe someone? I'm sure it's just a homeless man, and he just got scared.
Yep, that's the only reason. It's totally not because I'm hearing heavy breathing behind us, no, that must be the wind.
In fact, I'm so sure that I'm willing to bet my entire collection of porno mags on it.
My confidence was at an all-time high. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, could rattle me now.
That was until an unknown voice thought it was the perfect moment to start talking.
"Lookie here, two new skin suits ripe for the taking."
"....Fuck me"
Turning around didn't help much. Before I could even lay eyes on the stranger, my body was suddenly slammed against the wall.
I felt the air leave my lungs. My back flared up in white-hot pain. I tried to scream, but instead, my body released random noises. Not too sure, I was kinda busy on the ground, enjoying the pain shooting through my back, to understand whatever the hell was coming out of my mouth.
Just in case you missed that clear sarcasm.
"MY BACK FUCKING HURTS!"
I heard my attacker speak, but try as I might, I couldn't make out what he was saying. I'm guessing that getting slammed against concrete would do that to you.
It was a struggle to think, let alone try to understand whatever the hell this guy was saying. All I could make out was Izuku shouting my name before quickly saying something to our new friend.
Fortunately, my not-so-accidental bout of dizziness began to clear. Meaning I could understand what was going on without it sounding like white noise.
Unfortunately, it seemed that my attacker wasn't satisfied with just me, because in the next second, I could hear Izuku's scream, before the sound of something heavy slamming on top of him and muffling it.
Trying to lift my head was a difficult task, but just as I managed to see what was going on, I just as quickly came to regret that decision.
Lying in front of me was what I could only describe as a gelatinous monster. The monster was dark green in color. It had a pair of manic yellow eyes that squirmed around its sludge-like body.
Followed by two rows of jagged teeth, connected to a mouth that never stayed in the same place. To top it all off, the thing smelled like it had just crawled out of the sewer.
And as if the living nightmare fuel wasn't scary enough. I spotted Izuku thrashing around in the sludge.
I could barely make out Izuku's muffled screams as the monster wrapped itself around his body. Multiple tendrils of sludge were entering his mouth and suffocating him.
"Don't worry, I'm just taking over your body. " Its voice was shaky, as if a person was trying to speak underwater. Add the creepy voice and the backdrop of muffled screams, and you get a very disturbing sight.
"Though if I am being honest, I would've preferred the older one's body. But alas, with HIM chasing me, I don't have the time to be picky."
As it spoke, I could feel its eye focus on me, or more specifically, my body, before turning back to Izuku's struggling form.
With its attention elsewhere, I was given the golden opportunity.
Tearing my eyes away from the monster was nerve-racking. It felt like the moment my eyes left its shifting body, that was when it would strike. But I did it nonetheless.
My goal is at the other end of the tunnel.
And just as I hoped, there was no sign of any moving sludge in sight.
It was as if the monster was letting me go, practically handing me my freedom on a silver platter. All I needed to do was run for it.
As the plan formed in my mind, I glanced back to see if the monster was watching.
Only to freeze in place.
The eyes that greeted me weren't the crazed eyes of a monster, but the tear-filled ones of a young boy. Izuku's emotions were clear to see. He was asking, no, he was begging for me to help him.
That's when the reality of the situation finally struck me.
"That thing is going to kill him."
I know that seems stupidly obvious, but I couldn't help it.
I'm no stranger to pain. Getting beaten almost daily by a club full of sword-wielding teenagers does that to you.
But this is different. There was real malice behind those eyes. Every time those eyes looked in my direction, I felt like prey being stalked by a predator. One wrong move and neither Izuku nor I were leaving this tunnel alive.
The weight of that realization was heavy. It was difficult to breathe, and I feared moving even an inch would bring that thing's attention back on me.
Glancing back at the other end of the tunnel was the only way to distract myself. However, I still found only an empty tunnel awaiting me, almost daring me to stand up and run for my freedom.
But running away now meant leaving Izuku behind, and going by the fact he's struggling, was starting to die down. He'll be long gone by the time I get any help to come.
I was trapped, given two seemingly impossible choices. If I chose to stay and fight that thing, I would certainly die, but if I ran, that meant leaving Izuku behind to let that monster suffocate him to death.
"What am I supposed to do?"
That question rang through my mind. No matter how you look at it, this situation was hopeless. Someone was going to die no matter which option I chose.
Even if I do help him, there's no guarantee that he won't get caught again. If that happens, I would die for nothing.
Dying?
You never really think about it all that much. But it's always there in the back of your mind, the knowledge that death is always waiting to embrace you in its cold, lifeless arms.
People would rather push those dark thoughts to the side and go about enjoying their day. After all, who would want to spend all their time thinking about death? It's so much simpler to forget about it and enjoy life.
But when you are put into a position where the option of forgetting about it is stripped away from you. There can only be one thought that crosses your mind. A single train of thought that almost every living human can agree on, no matter the race, gender, or Age.
They all came to the exact same conclusion.
"I don't wanna die."
At this point, any person with even the smallest amount of survival instinct would get up and run. After all, why should they have to die for a boy they barely even know? They don't owe him anything, I mean, sure, the boy was kind enough to lend a hand when they were down on their luck.
But did that mean they had to die for him?
If they just run fast enough, they can call for help. And at that point, it's someone else's problem.
That's probably what most people would do in this situation.
"But I wasn't most people."
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that to try to sound brave. Ok, maybe a little bit. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm scared shitless even thinking about taking that thing in a fight. If I'm being honest, a part of me does want to run away.
But every time my thoughts are swayed in that direction, the image of Izuku's smiling face flashes through my mind. The joy in his eyes as he listed off every hero and their quirks, as if it were the most fascinating thing in the entire world.
The Kindness he showed to a random stranger on the sidewalk without expecting anything in return.
If I ran away now, I could forget my dreams of being the Harem King.
Hell, I can forget even being called a man. If I left a kid behind to save my own ass, what would even be the point? Any glory or success I would achieve with the opposite sex would forever be tainted.
And if running away now meant I could never look at boobs the same, then I would rather die right here, right now.
Cause salvation is temporary, but boobies are forever.
However, that's easier said than done. It seems that the friendly little love tap from earlier messed me up more than I thought. My legs weren't responding
Now, in a normal situation, I would probably be panicking since the sudden inability to move your legs is a big red flag.
Luckily, I don't need to worry all that much, considering the fact that my legs are actively in pain. Which I think is a good sign of a steady recovery.
I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from making any noise. I didn't want to alert the monster to the fact that I was still moving around.
Standing on shaky legs, I finally manage to face down the monster. And with that came the sudden realization
"That thing's fucking huge."
While I may not be the tallest guy around, standing at a respectable five feet seven inches myself, this thing still managed to tower over me.
"Taking this thing on might be harder than I thought."
Before, I thought I could have a slight chance against it if we were around the same height, but with its height advantage, I'm going to have to think about my next moves carefully.
But time was running out, Izuku's thrashing was dying down, and I could see his eyes start to roll into the back of his head. If I am going to do something, I have to do it now.
..
"HELP, MY UNDERAGE FRIEND IS BEING ASSAULTED BY A SLIME MONSTER!!"
..
..
I know what you're thinking, Issei, you brilliant bastard, what on earth are you doing? Do you want the monster to kill you? Well, strange voices in my head, if you have to know my master plan, who am I to refuse?
You see, with my legs being in the crappy state they're in, I can't just go over there and free Izuku, no, I would get caught before I even got within arm's reach. So instead, I came up with the genius alternative, screaming until someone comes by and checks what's going on.
You see, unlike the maze of abandoned buildings from earlier, we are now located in a populated city. While we may be under a bridge on some random side street, I'm still willing to bet there are a good number of people walking around.
And there was also a good chance someone could alert the police, I mean, hearing somebody shout that an underage child is being assaulted would cause a few heads to turn.
There's just one problem with my plan: I didn't take into account what I would do after I screamed. Meaning, while I waited for someone to come and help me, I was left with a now pissed-off slime monster who was now looking dead at me.
"So… nice weather today."
It seems it didn't take too kindly to my attempt at small talk. Since, in the next moment, there was a sludge tendril wrapped around my neck.
"You know, kid, I was satisfied with just taking the other one's body. But since you just had to go and play hero, it seems I now have to show you why little snot-nosed brats should stay in their place."
If it wasn't for the fact that I was currently struggling to breathe, I probably would've made a not-so-nice remark about this thing's breath. It seems I was right about this thing crawling out of a sewer.
"Whatever happens next is your fault, kid. Remember that "
I didn't know what it meant by that. The thing already had both Izuku and me in its grasp. What more could it possibly do?
That was until it grabbed Izuku's arms and legs and began to pull.