Chapter 22 - Too Late

There was silence between both of them before Theresa spat. "Who the fuck you?!" She asked, directing her anger to him.

The person ignored her question and glanced to his left. "Is this a forest?" He mumbled, glancing to his right. "That's right. It is a forest." He looked up at the sky. "Master said I should come to a forest... where?" He looked back to the ground, "Oh, no. I forgot." Stumbling, he started pounding his head. "Where. Where. Remember, stupid. It was supposed to be easy."

The constant muttering got on her nerves, but she didn't want to start a fight with some random person and get expelled, so she held herself from punching him and asked, "I doubt you are a student in Shiketsu since you don't have your uniform."

"Oh..." He glanced at her, the three vertical eyes giving her the creeps. "Right, Shiketsu." He looked to the sky. "Is this Shiketsu?" He asked before looking to the ground. "It has to be." He answered his own question, facing his right. "But I might be wrong."

"This is fucking Shiketsu!" She shouted, tired of his constant muttering and acting like she wasn't there.

"Oh..." He looked up at her as if he had forgotten her presence. "So this is Shiketsu?" He looked to the ground. "I am in Shiketsu." He glanced to his left. "But what am I doing here?" He glanced at the sky. "Master sent me here to do something." He looked to the side, "But what?..."

He paused, "...Yesterday was fun." He mumbled, looking to the sky once more. "Ahahah." He let out what sounded like a laugh but lacked any emotion to be classified as one. "But what did I do yesterday?" He looked to the ground, "I think I watched All Might?" He turned around. "No, I think this forest is beautiful..." He stopped, "...What am I doing here?"

Being ignored once more caused her to snap as Theresa roared, "Get out of here before I KILL YOU!"

"Oh..." The man turned to her, tilting his head. "Right. Haha. Kill." he said, laughing before gazing at the sky. "Master told me to kill Theresa Fernsby."

A shiver ran through Theresa's body as she took a step back. She was confident in her quirk and strength, but that tone of his voice and the fact she was the target of someone to kill made it more awful.

"If I kill her, I will prove I am strong." He grinned from ear to ear, scratching his head. "If I am strong, I can kill All Might." The scratching worsened as if he was trying to pull off the scarf that wrapped his face and started mumbling incoherently, the crazed grin never leaving his face.

'It seems like he doesn't know I am Theresa.' Theresa thought, stepping back. She wanted to run, but she pushed her fear away. She had the most effective hypnotic quirk in the WORLD. What could he do to her!? "So, why do you want to kill this Theresa?"

"Oh..." He turned to her before looking to the ground. "Right. I needed to kill Theresa." He gazed at the sky, "But how do I kill?" He turned to his right. "Isn't that how daddy reset me?" He tapped his heart. "But, where is she?" He looked behind him. "Master would be mad if I didn't kill her---"

"Fuck!" Theresa roared, seeing as she was being completely ignored. He will acknowledge her with an 'oh' and then return to spouting senseless comments. "I heard a rum---"

Before she could finish her sentence, the man suddenly appeared in front of him, his slender figure towering over her, much taller than her father. He was looking down at her with the three vertical eyes on the scarf that covered half his face, causing her to freeze. His right hand held her lower jaw, his long, thin fingers gripping it tightly.

Before she could react, he ripped her lower jaw from her face, throwing it to the ground.

The pain shot through her body like electricity, causing her to black out for a moment before regaining consciousness and experiencing a whiteout soon after. It was so all-consuming that she forgot to breathe, falling to her knees and grabbing where her jaw was supposed to be.

"I heard a rumor." The man mumbled, looking down at the girl who began screaming her lungs out in agony. "A terrible, horrible word." He asked himself, looking at the sky. "Master said I should never let them finish saying it." He then glanced to his side. "...Why am I here?"

He started scratching his head, trying to remember what he was doing while Theresa passed out on the ground. "Right..." He looked at the sky. "I was supposed to kill someone." He stares back at the girl on her feet. "I can't remember who I was supposed to kill..." He raised his feet, ready to stomp on her chest. "Will master accept her---"

*Wham* A fist suddenly slammed into his cheek, sending him flying like a ragdoll through the forest. "Huh? What's this?" He looked around him. "I am flying?"

Overtone knelt beside Theresa, looking down at her face missing her lower jaw. Flesh hung from where her lower jaw once was, blood dripping to the floor, with her tongue hanging freely from her throat. Her eyes were wide open, filled with intense agony that sent chills through his body.

Although he didn't like the way she acted, this was too much for someone to experience. Especially a child. "Who are you?" He asked, not facing the man.

"Ah. The sky is beautiful. The sun is bright." The man replied, staring at the sky from his lying position. "...Why is there a sky in my room?" He sat up, looking around. "Yes. I understand. I am supposed to kill Theresa Fernsby---"

Overtone suddenly appeared beside him, slamming his hill down on the head of the man, wanting to knock him out with one blow. "Uwaaa~~I see stars~~" The man sang before falling to the ground, blacking out.

Overtone stared coldly down at the man when a black arm with sharp claws made of bandage appeared out of thin air. This caused Overtone to jump back, expecting him to be attacked. Instead, the arm pierced the man's heart with its claw stabbing down at the man's heart, splashing blood outward.

"What the---" His sentence was cut short when the man's blood returned to his body, and he opened his eyes. Sending his confusion to the back of his mind, Overtone dashed at the man, mercilessly kicking at his head.

Before his kick could hit the man's head, a hand made of bandages appeared out of mid-air to grab his legs. Overtone stomped on the ground, sending out a wave of sound from the bottom of his feet that threw him upwards, narrowly avoiding the hand from getting a hold of his legs.

The man stood slowly, rubbing his head. "It hurts." He mumbled, scratching his head. "IT HURTS!!!" He roared, leaping up and appearing in front of Overtone in an instant.

The man reached for his head, but Overtone moved his head to the side, causing the man's arm to woosh past his ear. Clenching his fist, Overtone delivered a devastating punch to the man's abdomen, shouting, "CONCUSSIVE PUNCH!!!"

*BOOM* A massive shock wave erupted from his fist, ravaging through, causing the man to spit out a mouthful of blood, which Overtone avoided. The shock wave then sent the man flying through the air and falling into the forest many hundred meters away.

"I don't have time for this." Overtone mumbled, falling to the ground and slowing his fall with a sound wave from his foot.

Running to Theresa, he quickly picked her up before sprinting off with a sonic boom that sent a shockwave outward, casually breaking the sound barrier, while using pressurized sound around himself and Theresa to protect himself and her from the force when moving faster than the speed of sound.

He had wanted to knock out the man and turn him into the authorities while taking Theresa to the hospital on campus, but seeing how the man could 'revive(?)', he decided that his first priority should be Theresa.

They were still on campus, though the far northern edge of the island, so he was sure other heroes would be here in a minute or so. Besides, not just anyone can catch up to him---

"It hurts!" A piercing scream came from beside him as his instinct took over his body, his movement suddenly halting as the man flew past him like a bullet.

Overtone felt the wave following behind him, quickly forming a barrier of sound around him to protect Theresa in his arm.

The man slammed to the forest floor with a massive force, his neck snapping, and he tumbled through the ground, slamming into a tree, his back breaking on impact.

The cracking bones resounded in the air, and Overtone couldn't help but cringe. Just as he was about to take off running, the man stood up, completely healed. He adjusted the scarf around his face before looking at the sky.

"It hurts, you know!" The man laughed, holding his stomach. "Do you know how painful it is getting hit like that?"

"And do you know how painful it is for a child to have her jaw ripped out?" Overtone snapped, glaring at the man. "YOUR END IS HERE!"

"Scary! How scary!!" The man cried, covering his face with his hands.

Before Overtone could react, the man appeared in front of him. "Heartbeat repulsion!" He shouted as his heartbeat released a strong omnidirectional sound wave from outwards from his body, throwing the man back and through the forest. He broke through multiple trees, finally stopping after slamming one.

"I don't care who you are and what you are doing here, but stay down, or I will kill you!" Overtone vowed, looking down at the girl in his arms. 'Where the fuck are the others!? Hasn't this COMMOTION caught their attention? I heard her scream from the class, so why can't they!?'

He was holding back from using his strong attacks due to Theresa. Though he could protect her with his sound, that protection would do nothing against any of his ultimate attacks. And by the way, that man could regenerate from 'near death,' he was sure he needed at least one of his ultimate attacks to kill him for good. Fuck taking him back alive for questioning.

"That's right." The man mumbled from his seated position in front of the massive three. "I forgot I am allowed to kill you." He looked up to the sky. "But you are scary. I can't do anything to you without my friends." He looked to the side, "But Master said I can't call them out." Clenching his head, he shouted. "What do I do..."

Suddenly, the man froze. "What am I doing here?" He asked himself, looking down at his hands. "That's right. Master said I should kill Theresa Fernsby..." He looked up at the sky. "That was her name, wasn't it?"

Overtone flinched in realization, looking down at the girl on his arm. Thankfully, she ripped off her jaw and didn't cause her to bleed out, but that wasn't the point.

Someone sent this madman to kill her. He gritted his teeth, looking back at the man fixing his scarf while mumbling something. "Fuck this." He took a deep breath before using the sound of his heartbeat to protect Theresa, before yelling, "HELP YOU FUCKERS!" A sound wave carrying his voice spread outwards from his mouth, spreading through the forest like a stone dropped in calm water and kept moving outwards.

It was one of his ultimate attacks: Loud Mouth. He looked down at Theresa, clenching his teeth. Because of her quirk, her ears were not affected by the loud sound. But, he noticed that blood was dripping from her pores.

His voice had impacted her inner organs.

"Fuck." He grunted, his instinct suddenly taking over as he ducked. Standing in front of him was the man with his right arm outstretched.

The man's arm had transformed into one made of bandages with four sharp and long claws, similar to the one that stabbed his heart earlier. "Master would be mad if I didn't kill Theresa." The man muttered, looking down at Overtone squatting in front of him, his three vertical eyes sending shivers down Overtone's spine. "Master said she would try to say, 'I heard a rumor.' So, that girl is Theresa."

"Shit." Overtone released a strong shockwave from his legs, pushing himself back. Before he could regain his balance the man was in front of him again, now looking at the sky. "Whaaa~ A bunny cloud~~" He childishly said, stabbing forward with his claws like a spear.

"Heartbeat repulsion!" He shouted, sending out a strong shockwave that stopped the claw inches from Theresa's head before knocking him back. Landing on his feet, Overtone took off running, now choosing to ignore the man and get Theresa to the hospital.

"Do you know All Might has saved more than eight-nine million people?" The man's voice shouted as Overtone moved to the side, as the man shot past him like a bullet, his clawed right arm piercing through the tree behind him. "Too bad he won't be saving you and the girl~~ Hehe~" He gave a mocking laugh, that sounded more like a child's innocent laugh, dashing towards Overtone.

"Fucking bastard." Overtone roared, kicking out and slamming the bottom of his feet into the man's stomach. "CONCUSSIVE KICK!!!"

The man spat out blood as the shockwave sent him flying back through the forest. Overtone turned to continue running when the ground below him suddenly opened up as something shot out before it closed back.

The thing landed beside him with a heavy boom, dust rising up in the air. Walking out of the dust towards him was a woman who looked like a statue constructed from a single piece of carefully chiseled stone with lithophytes plants growing on some part of her body. She towered over 4.30 meters tall with a body, making the 6.5-tall Overtone look like a child with his head only reaching her thigh.

"You are finally fucking here, Gaea." Overtone glared up at the woman, who replied, "It took me a while to figure out where in the Shiketsu your voice was coming from." She looked down at the girl, her face displaying no emotion but her voice visibly disturbed. "I will be taking her."

Overtone quickly handed Theresa to Gaea. Although he was faster than her, due to her quirk, she could move without being followed by the man and while he had to worry about shattering glass or hurting the surroundings while moving at sound speed, she didn't because she 'swims' through the air.

Taking Theresa in her hand, the girl looking nothing like a toy due to their size difference, she turned to Overtone. "The others are coming." With that, the ground below her opened, and she fell into the hole, which immediately closed behind her.

Just then, the man emerged from the forest, stopping. "Where is the girl?" he asked, staring at Overtone's empty arm.

"Time to get serious, punk." Overtone said, removing his coat to reveal his bare tope. "YEAAAAH!!!!" He screamed out, his voice resounding through the forest, dashing forward and appearing immediately in front of the man. Clenching both hands, he delivered a devastating punch to the man's stomach. "Two fists concussive punch: CONCUSSIVE SPEAR!!!"

*Boom* A strong shock wave emitted outwards, creating a wide crater below them as the man was sent flying through the forest like a cannonball. Overtone stepped forward and disappeared, appearing behind the man and kneeling him on his stomach.

The knee-kick sent the man up into the air, passing the forest top and flying further up. Squatting, Overtone muttered, "Heartbeat jump."

A shockwave shot out from his feet, throwing him into the sky like a bullet as he appeared above the man. "You can regenerate from near-death. Let's see if you can revive from the FUCKING DEAD!" He roared in rage, spinning in the air and bringing the hill of his foot down on the man's back. "Twin feet concussive kick: CONCUSSIVE HAMMER!"

A soundless wave of air expanded outward on impact as the man shot to the ground. Overtone used his heartbeat jump to push himself back to the ground, slowing his descent with the same technique.

Upon landing, he froze. The man's entire body had turned into past meat on impact with the ground, which he expected AND wanted, but his head was completely untouched. As if something protected it.

The blood and body parts around the man shot towards his head, reforming his naked body with some parts too far away regenerating. "What the fuck?" Overtone mumbled, watching as the man, whose entire body was one past meat, was now whole. "What the actual fuck?!"

"I don't want to fight anymore." The man mumbled, standing up. "You are scary."

"Like I will let you go." Overtone growled, dashing at the now standing man and punching at his head. Before his fist hit the man's head, he quickly released a heartbeat repulsion, sending him and the man flying apart in different directions. Just like before, an arm made out of black bandages appeared out of thin air, and attempted to grab his arm.

Despite never appearing to protect any other part of the man's body, the arm kept defending his head, as though it were an automatic defense mechanism. Overtone had no idea what the arm was, but he did realize one thing.

'The man's head is his weakness.' He thought, staring at the man standing up. 'I assume as long as his brain remains intact, his quirk would activate and regenerate his body.'

Remembering when he first managed to hit the man's head without the arm protecting it, he concluded that it was either only because the arm 'underestimated' him or he caught it off guard.

Either way, Overtone knew he would have to hit and disintegrate the man's brain if he wanted to KILL the man.

"I wanna go home! Leave me alone!" The man shouted as he started running away, but Overtone appeared behind him, scoffing. "Like I will allow you to do that." He slammed his fist into the man's back, using concussive force, which caused the man to spit out a mouthful of blood and start flying.

Not letting him recover, he quickly chased after the man, delivering a barrage of concussive punches and kicks while trying sneakily to strike the man's head, but the arm always appeared to defend.

The idea of ignoring the arm and attacking the head crossed his mind. No. He knew letting the arm catch him would be the end. Either way, he was determined to keep the man in check, stopping him from running away whenever he wanted and waiting for the other heroes to group up.

Then, he was sure this man was going to die.

Overtone continued punching the man through the forest as if the man was a ball in a pinball machine. After ten seconds, he stopped to rest, letting the man fall to the ground.

"Why are you hurting me?!" The man shouted from his lying position in a small crater, aggressively fixing his scarf around his head, which Overtone noted. "I just wanted to kill someone!!!"

"And you think I will let that happen?" he hissed as he walked to the man. "You must be fucking delusional."

"No. NO! Don't come closer!" The man screamed in fear, crawling back. "It hurts! I don't want to get hurt." He cried, standing to run.

"Now, who is All Might planning to save?" Overtone smirked, dashing at the man.

"No. No! NO! Stay back!!!" The man cried as he let out an eerie scream that froze Overtone in his tracks. He stood up, his right arm transforming into a clawed arm made from black bandages. "I told you to LEAVE ME ALONE!" He roared, dashing to Overtone and stabbing his claws through his heart like a spear, bringing his heart out from his back.

He coughed a mouthful of blood on the man's arm, his eyes wide open in horror. "Fuck." He mumbled as the man pulled back his arm, bringing out Overtone's heart with him.

Five other heroes arrived, but it was too late. Overtone, with a hole through his chest, fell to the ground. "Hehe~" The man laughed, looking at them. "All Might didn't come to save him~~" At that moment, a purple cloud suddenly erupted from the ground below him, enveloping him.

"Get back here!" A man roared, rushing to the cloud, but it disappeared before he could reach it.

The three stared silently at the dead hero and where the man once was. "We are too late."

Chapter End~~

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Word Count: 3502

Hehe~