Ren's glare locked onto the fog-man—his eyes beginning to shine with a cold, burning white light.
The black fog around the villain suddenly twisted… flickered… and then—
Dissipated.
"What?" the fog-man gasped, stepping back in shock. "Why… why can't I use my Quirk anymore?!"
Erasure.
Ren had copied Aizawa's Quirk.
As broken as he imagined. Going to U.A. had been the right choice—that place was overflowing with powerful Quirks waiting to be copied.
Ren didn't waste a second. His eyes kept glowing—painfully—maintaining Erasure as he lunged at the fog-man. Without his portal quirk, the villain was helpless, forced to stumble back on unsteady legs.
But before Ren could strike—
The hand-faced guy moved, reaching for Ren's arm.
Ren instantly retreated, instincts screaming.
That guy…
He wasn't much older than Ren—maybe four or five years—but every movement he made filled Ren with dread. He had tried touching Ren again. Not punching. Not kicking. Touching.
Ren's expression hardened.
He's trying to activate a touch-based Quirk. I can't let that happen.
He adjusted his stance, ready to counter—
And then—
"Kh—!"
A stabbing pain shot through his eyes. His vision blurred. His eyelids trembled.
Blood dripped down his cheeks.
Ren wasn't accustomed to Erasure. His eyes burned, tearing themselves apart.
The hand-faced villain lunged again—
Ren reacted instantly, redirecting Erasure toward him. The moment he focused on the attacker—
The guy's Quirk shut down.
Ren let him touch his elbow. Nothing happened.
And in that same instant—
BOOM!
A Surge-powered punch buried itself in the villain's stomach, launching him across the room like a ragdoll.
Yeah… that guy definitely has a touch-based Quirk.
Ren's suspicion turned certainty.
More blood trickled from his eyes. He had been forcing Erasure on both villains at once… too dangerous… too much strain.
But the fog-man's Quirk was lethal. He couldn't risk letting it activate.
Suddenly—
CLICK.
The door opened.
A nurse stepped inside, eyes widening at the destroyed room.
The hand-faced guy turned toward her—his lips twisting into a sick, delighted grin.
"Heh… do you wanna keep us company?"
Then he sprinted straight toward her.
"Kyaaahh!" she screamed.
Shit! Ren cursed inwardly.
He surged forward, body exploding with kinetic force and electricity. He appeared in front of the nurse, shielding her with his back—
And felt it.
A bare touch on his elbow.
His Erasure still active… but—
Whoooosh!
Ren's focus slipped from the fog-man.
A vortex of black fog opened—right beside his mother's bed.
"No—"
The fog wrapped around her.
She vanished.
"MOM!" Ren roared, turning to sprint toward her—but—
"AGHHHHHHH!"
A scream tore out of him.
His elbow—where he had been touched—began to crumble. Skin peeled away like dry earth. Muscle decayed. His arm screamed with agony.
"So your Quirk stops working when you're not looking at me, huh?" the hand-faced villain taunted, laughing.
Ren's vision blurred through the blood. His eyes felt like they were bursting—but he forced Erasure on again, glaring directly at the villain.
He threw another blow.
CRACK!
The young man flew across the room, smashing into equipment.
Doctors and nurses finally rushed into the hallway—
"VILLAINS!!"
Chaos spread. Screams echoed.
Ren ignored them. He ran toward where his mother's bed had been swallowed.
"Mom!"
He dove into the dissipating fog—
But all he hugged was empty, cold blackness.
A small, deranged chuckle filled the air.
Ren turned.
The hand-faced villain rose again, scratching at his neck with manic fervor, trembling with excitement.
His grin deepened at Ren's expression—pure hatred.
"You…" Ren growled.
Lightning burst off him. Kinetic force warped the air. His hair became white electricity.
He charged—
But the villain dissolved into fog.
"FUCK!" Ren hissed, spinning to the fog-man—
Only his fog-shrouded head remained, already fading.
"You're strong, kid…" the fog-man said calmly. "We'll surely meet again soon."
And then he vanished.
"Fuck! Fuck!"
Lightning exploded off Ren's body in wild arcs. His entire head blazed with electricity as his rage broke free.
"FUUUUUCK!"
...
Sirens wailed outside the hospital.
A second later, the doors burst open.
Mount Lady.
Kamui Woods.
Death Arms.
All three rushed in, tense and battle-ready.
Kamui—the tall, lean hero made entirely of polished, dark-brown wood, branches and joints creaking slightly as he moved—scanned the area. "Where are the villains?!" he demanded, voice sharp.
The doctors and nurses didn't point at the destruction.
They pointed at Ren.
He stood alone in the room—motionless. His hair still flickered faintly with leftover sparks. His eyes were cold and empty.
"H-He…" one of the nurses began, voice trembling.
"He is our hero! He drove them away by himself!"
Death Arms—broad-shouldered, muscled like a heavyweight boxer, wearing his yellow construction-themed gear—blinked. "Isn't he just… a student?"
But Mount Lady's eyes widened with sudden recognition.
"Wait! That's Ren Takeda! The cinema prodigy!" she exclaimed, excitement flaring. With her glamorous figure, long blonde hair, violet bodysuit and enormous confidence, she immediately struck a seductive pose. A sly smile curved her lips. Another chance to boost popularity.
He may be young, but… surely he couldn't resist her charm?
Several male doctors blushed.
But before she could take a single step forward, a hand pressed against her shoulder, stopping her.
"Stop, please," the doctor said firmly.
Mount Lady blinked in confusion. "Huh? Why?"
The doctor swallowed hard. He was Ren's mother's physician.
"Ren… those villains… they kidnapped his mother."
Mount Lady froze.
"T-They kidnapped Mimica?!" she cried, completely shaken. Her idol—the Mimica—gone? She had grown up wanting to be just like her, a beautiful, adored heroine. And now—
"Then why are you stopping us?!" she snapped, furious. "That kid needs someone right now!"
"No, please—Ren has—" the doctor tried to warn.
But Mount Lady barged into the room anyway.
BZZZT!
She was instantly zapped—her hair frizzing out like a bomb had gone off inside it.
She stumbled backwards, smoking slightly.
"...trouble controlling his power when emotionally distressed," the doctor finished flatly.
A harsh burst of electrical energy erupted inside the room. Machinery short-circuited. Light bulbs exploded. The floor cracked under the violent pulses.
"I'll take care of it," Kamui said, stepping forward.
His wooden arms shifted.
Stretched.
Multiplied.
"Lacquered Chain Prison!"
Dozens of wooden tendrils shot forward, spiraling around Ren. A cage of reinforced wood wrapped around him, containing the lightning as best as it could.
Electricity hammered at the prison like a storm trapped in a jar.
"Ghh—!"
Kamui's jaw clenched as his wooden arms began to burn and blacken, sparks scorching through the lacquer. His body trembled, fighting the raw output of Ren's power.
Minutes crawled by.
Then—finally—
It stopped.
Kamui's arms slackened. He stumbled back, nearly collapsing from fatigue, panting heavily.
Ren slowly turned to face him.
His eyes were still red, his arm painfully decayed and half-destroyed.
He walked past Kamui, the wooden prison falling away in charred fragments.
"…Thank you," Ren muttered, voice low and flat.
Then he walked out of the hospital—without another word.
To be continued...
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How was this chapter? Liked it?
I've tried to balance Ren out here a bit, to give you a fair grasp on his combat power. He would have won normally against those two, but the room is small, he didn't want to damage the hospital or hurt his mother.