Chapter four incoming. My longest chapter to date for any of my stories on this site clocking in at about 4,083 words in total, not counting the header and footer. A couple of things before we start. First I'm aging up all the Pillars from Demon Slayer by four years, except for the stone pillar Gyomei Himejima. I did this because after looking into them more I found out their all really young, the youngest being the mist pillar Muichiro Tokito at age 14, and a lot of what I have planned for this story requires them to be older. The reason Gyomei is the exception is because he's the oldest at 27 and doesn't need his age to changed for it to make sense in the context of the universe or the story.

The second thing is that I'm going to be posting character profiles at the end of the chapter, one per chapter, on the various characters who appear in the story. This is to avoid bogging down the pacing of the story explaining what each person's abilities are specifically. It'll also serve as a way to compare characters to one another ability wise. As things change I'll post updated character profiles With that out of the way, let's get on with the chapter.

Chapter 4: Take the Girl and Run

Izuku forced the man back. He didn't make any moves, keeping himself between Raphtalia and their attacker.

"Ahahaha nice move kid. Let's see what else you got!" The man shouted.

He charged forward and slashed at Izuku, who deflects the attack. The man continues his assault and Izuku did his best to parry the attacks away. Out of the corner of his eye Izuku sees a blur coming at him from below on his left. He knocks it away and sees that it's a scorpion tail. He looked to see that the tail had come from the man. He must have had it wrapped around his waist that's why I didn't see it. The man thrusted his pincer blade forward. Izuku knocked it away only for another one to come right at him. He just barely knocked it way before the scorpion tail came barreling towards him. He couldn't move his sword in time so he used his arm to prevent the stinger from piercing anything vital.

"GAHHH!" He cried out in pain as the stinger pierce his flesh.

The force of the attack sent him back leaving Raphtalia exposed. Said girl could only look on in fear as Izuku seemed motionless on the ground. The man chuckled as he walked up to her, his eyes return to gold from their previous purple. She couldn't move, fear permating her very being. Izuku suddenly was in front of her sword back ready to thrust forward. The man's eyes widened in surprise. Water Breathing Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust Curve! He thrusted his blade forward with such grace that it gave off the illusion of ripples from rain drops hitting the water's surface when it hit. Being caught off guard by Izuku's ability to recover, the man was unable to deflect the attack. Izuku's sword with thrust into his gut, though it being in non-lethal mode meant it didn't pierce through him. The man stumbled back holding his stomach in pain.

Quickly, Izuku sheathed his sword and picked up Raphtalia. He rushed out of the alleyway. I got a hurry I can't stop the venom's spread but I can slow it down with total concentration breathing. Deftly he weaves his way past the pedestrians. I need to find a hero on patrol or the police station and fast. He looked up behind him on his right to see their attacker in hot pursuit.

"He's persistent." He muttered.

He looked forward to see a familiar girl right in his path also not paying attention to where she was going.

"Ruby!" He exclaimed.

"Izuku!" She exclaimed.

They crashed into each other with Izuku falling on top of Ruby.

"Sorry Ruby." Izuku groaned.

"It's okay just… LOOK OUT!" She shouted as she saw the man chasing Izuku descend on them.

Ruby burst them out of the way of his attack, leaving a trail of rose petals. She landed a little bit away, placing Izuku and Raphtalia down up right. The crowd on the street began to scatter. She glared at the man.

"Tyrian…" Ruby muttered.

"Well well well… if it isn't little red riding hood. Long time no SEE!" He exclaimed as he charged at her.

Ruby whips out crescent rose from behind her and begins firing at Tyrian. With his pincer blades he blocked the bullets. Right before he was on her, her gun transformed into a scythe and blocked his attack. They struggled against each other.

"Tell me, how's your uncle?" The now name Tyrian expressed.

"Still alive." Ruby replied with a smirk.

"gaRRRHH… WHAT?! Oh, what is with people and not dying or even being affected by my venom?! What is good for if it can't stop at least stop someone from moving for a few seconds." Tyrian grumbled.

Izuku came charging in and slashed at Tyrian, who hopped away.

"Grr.. I don't have time for this." He grumbled.

He went to grab something out of his coat. However Ruby's eyes quickly closed and shot opened a blinding light coming from them. Izuku was able to look away in time, since he was not directly in the line of fire. Raphtalia was behind them so she also wasn't affected. Tyrian however, was unaware of her ability to do this and was unable to close his eyes before the light blinded him.

"GAHHH! You little bitch!" He shouted now dazed from Ruby's attack.

The light being shot out by her eyes faded.

"Come on Izuku let's go!" Ruby shouted as she folded crescent rose back up and placed it in it's holder on her back.

"Ahh yeah right." He replied as he sheathed his sword.

He picked up Raphtalia before rushing off down the street with Ruby.

"Who was that guy?" Izuku questioned.

"His name's Tyrian Callows. He's part of a big villain organization in America. Guess their expanding out into Japan now." Ruby replied. "How'd you get involved with him?"

"He's after this girl here." Izuku explained, gesturing to Raphtalia. "I was trying to help her when he attacked us. Any ideas why he's after her?"

"Not that I can think of off the top of my head. Maybe when we're out of this we can figure that out with the police." Ruby replied. "For now let's just get as far away from him before he…"

Suddenly the earth beneath their feet shifted. Suddenly they were thrown up into the air.

"Does that." Ruby finished.

"Oh come on, he can do something like this too?!" Izuku exclaimed

Raphtalia clutch onto Izuku in fear. They land on a moving train, Izuku took the blow for Raphtalia. Tyrian watch slightly amused.

"Not what I intended but I'll make it work." He noted before launching himself forward in a similar manner to give chase.

Izuku and Ruby groaned in pain.

"Great, he can manipulate the ground too." Izuku muttered as he rose to his feet.

Raphtalia got up next to him.

"Not by himself. He needs to use a special magic item from his boss. She's an immortal witch." Ruby explained as she got back up.

"Wait, so a scorpion man who works for an immortal witch is ruthlessly hunting us down and trying to kill us for a ten year old Raccoon girl?" Izuku questioned.

"Simple put, yes." Ruby replied.

"The world really is a strange place." Izuku noted.

He drew his sword and blocked an attack from Tyrian. Using his momentum. Tyrain vaulted over Izuku, landed, and hopped back from a slash from Ruby's now unfolded crescent rose. Izuku and Ruby stood in front of Raphtalia who backed away a bit. Izuku was starting to breath heavier and sweating more. Control your breathing Izuku. If you start breathing erratically the venom will race through your system even faster.

Tyrian went on the offensive charging both Izuku and Ruby. He slashed at Izuku who blocked the attack. Ruby came in with a downward slash. However Tyrian blocked it and kicked her away. He then brought his other blade down towards Izuku who hopped away from the attack landing next to Raphtalia. He stumbled a bit from the moving train and from a bout nausea.

"Izuku?" Raphtalia began in concern.

"I'm fine, don't worry." Izuku assured her.

His poisons really starting to affect me now. We have to end this soon. Tyrian was about to continue his attack on Izuku when Ruby came flying towards him. She swung downwards firing a shot to increase its momentum. Tyrian hopped out of the way. She went on the offensive and slashed horizontally at Tyrian. He leapt over the attack. Izuku got back to his feet and rushed towards them. Water Breathing Ninth Form: Water Splash. Izuku minimized the landing time and surface needed to land as he moves allowing him to move more freely despite the moving train and his own nausea. He did so with such grace that it gave off the illusion of light splashes of water coming up from each step. Tyrian was about to attack Ruby when both he and Ruby saw this. They were mesmerized by this having not experienced the grace at which a breath user could move and swing their blade. Because of this, Tyrian's guard was not up like it would have been. Water Breathing Second Form: Water Wheel. Izuku flips in the air with such grace that the illusion of a wheel of water is visible. His sword slams into Tyrian sending him flying one train car back. Izuku lands and sheaths his sword.

"Come on, let's go that should by us a few seconds." Izuku ordered.

He rushed to get Raphtalia. Ruby was still in a daze from what she saw. After a few seconds, she realized what Izuku had stated.

"R-right," Ruby replied as she put Crescent Rose away.

Izuku bent down to pick up Raphtalia. As he did, out of the corner of the eye he sees something descending upon him. His eyes widened as he sees it's Tyrian. Raphtalia gasped. Izuku leapt out of the way off of the train as Tyrian slammed his blades down onto were he had been. Izuku had leapt with enough force to get them a good distance away from the train, but was now right over a busy street. Ruby burst down and caught the two of them. She flew downwards and directed them towards the sidewalk. Pedestrians rushed to get out of the way as they crash landed onto the sidewalk, Ruby positioning herself to take the brunt of the impact. A red energy-like barrier flicked around her.

"Are you two okay?" Ruby asked.

"I'm fine/mhm…" Izuku and Raphtalia simultaneously answered.

They all groaned in pain as they struggled to get up. However Tyrian was already flying down towards them ready to kill. However, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a girl lung at him from above. Then it appeared as though a swarm of butterflies were fluttering past him. The feeling of his flesh being pierced multiple times ripped him out of the illusion and he was knocked away from his intended target. Insect Breathing Dance of the Butterflies: Frolic. The girl who had done this to him landed in front of the trio. She had ash blond hair set up in two messy buns and bright yellow cat like eyes. She wore a white sleeveless top and reddish pink skirt. Over her top she were a brown corset with red laces. On her back attached to this were several containers with small tubes that were attached to her sword, which was a rapier. She also wore a pair of brown fingerless gloves that went up to her elbows and blood red bracers over top of them. Over her face she wore a mask, which was also hooked up to the containers on her back. She wore a pair of white boots that went up to her knees with red lines running along the front of it.

"Darn I still need to work on that form. It's still too similar to Lady Shinobu I can't quite get the blood out." She lamented. "Oh well, your blood's still a pretty color."

A purple energy field enveloped Tyrian and his wounds closed up quickly.

"Ohh… Aura users are the worst, same with Nen users. It's so hard to make them bleed." The girl noted with a pout.

"Grrr… more pests to get in my way." Tyrian muttered.

He stepped forward.

"I think that's quite far enough!" The voice of a woman shouted.

Seemingly flying onto the scene was a petite pale skinned young woman who appeared to be in her late teens to early twenties. Her hair was a short black which faded into purple at the tips done up into a yakai-maki style with a white and purple butterfly ornament. Her eyes were large, purple, and compound-like making them seem similar to those of bugs. Her outfit consisted of purple button up top, white belt around her waist, and a knee length skirt of the same color as her top. Over top of this she wore a white Haori with a butterfly wing pattern that faded into a turquoise then a pink. The sleeves and edge of her haori were trimmed black with white dots. She wore a pair of white sandals over thigh high socks which started with the same trim and pattern as her haori before fading into a dark purple at her feet. In her belt on her side was a katana with a flower pattern hilt in a white sheath. She drew it revealing it be more of a rod with a needle like tip, similar to that of insect's stinger.

"Oh wow it's the Insect Hero, Lady Shinobu." Someone noted.

"I suggest you give up and surrender villain. You wouldn't want this to get ugly." Shinobu stated.

Izuku, Ruby, and Raphtalia had slowly rose to their feet. Seeing that he was now out numbered four to one, Tyrian slowly began to back off.

"Her Majesty won't be happy with this failure but she'll be even more upset if I am captured." Tyrian muttered.

He took out an orb and crushed it. The space around him swirled and in an instant, he had vanished.

"A magic user?" The blond girl questioned.

"No I don't think so he. Used that orb thing to cast a transportation spell. That means whoever his boss is likely quite the powerful mage." Shinobu explained.

"He's gone though that means were in… the… clear… for… now…" Izuku began before falling to his knees and vomiting.

"IZUKU!" Raphtalia and Ruby both expressed in concern.

They rushed to his side. The other two on the scene rushed to check on him as well.

"The arm wound, Tyrian got you with his stinger didn't he?" Ruby asked in concern at his side.

"Yeah, I've been using total concentration breathing to keep the poison at bay it's really starting to flow through me now." Izuku replied.

"Well good job keeping it at bay for this long. Given how bad that wound, is he probably injected you with a lot of poison." Shinobu noted.

She pulled back her sword, as if ready to thrust it forward, and tightened her grip on it.

"That man had a scorpion's tail if I remember correctly. Lucky for you that means I can use my quirk to make an antivenom to counteract it." She stated. "Now hold out your arm. I'm gonna use my sword to injected it directly into your wound."

Izuku held out his arm. In a quick yet delicate motion, she thrusted her sword into his wound. Izuku hissed in pain. Immediately he could feel the antivenom reducing the effects of the poison. She pulled her sword out. She swiped her sword to her right, getting rid of the blood, before sheathing it.

"That should help. I'll bandage up your arm now." Shinobu explained as got down and took out some cloth, medical tape, and antibiotics. "We'll get you all to the Butterfly Agency after this to get you checked out and give you any other treatment you might need. Himiglobin go on ahead and get things ready."

"Yes ma'am." The girl replied with a salute before running on ahead as Shinobu treated Izuku's arm.

"The Butterfly Agency?" Ruby questioned.

"It's her hero agency. Lady Shinobu has medical training and is able to use her agency as something of a mini hospital." Izuku explained.

"Well you've certainly done your research." She noted as she quickly finish treating his wound.

She got back up. Izuku also returned to his feet, the feeling of nausea rapidly fading.

"I have some questions for all of you. First though I hope you two have the appropriate licenses. Even though it was in self defense rules are still rules and I'd rather not get you in trouble for doing the right thing." She expressed sternly.

Izuku took out his sword license and handed it to Shinobu. She took hold of it and inspected it thoroughly.

"You seem to check out Midoriya." She stated as she handed his license back. "And you young lady."

Ruby takes out a card and hands it to Shinobu. Shinobu looks to see it was a hunter's license. A license issued by the Hunter Association for those who have passed the Hunter Exam.

"You check out as well Miss Rose. I'm impressed you became a Hunter at such a young age." She praised.

"I didn't know you were a hunter that's so cool." Izuku praised

Ruby blushed.

"O-o-o-oh well it's not that impressive there were some kids younger than me who passed as well." Ruby replied.

"Even still, I heard passing that exam is insanely hard. How long have you had your license?" Izuku asked.

"It's January soooo… about a year now." Ruby answered.

"Cool… wait… if you have your Hunter License do you really need to take the entrance exam?" Izuku questioned.

"O-o-o-o-oh… uh… well…" Ruby began."

"You can save your conversion for later." Shinobu interrupted.

Ruby breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Now then, follow me and I'll take you to my agency." She ordered.

She walked on ahead of them.

"You okay to walk Izuku?" Ruby asked in concern.

"Yeah, the poison's effects have mostly worn off." Izuku assured her.

"S-s-s-so your gonna be okay?" Raphtalia asked nervously.

Izuku looked down at her with a smile.

"Yep and I kept my promise too." Izuku stated.

Raphtalia stared at him before smiling as tears welled up in her eyes, realizing what had just happened. Izuku holds out his hand.

"Let's go." Izuku stated.

Raphtalia took hold of his hand and the trio began to follow Shinobu.

Elsewhere…

Tyrian reappeared in an alleyway in a more rundown part of town. He threw his hood over his head and went out to make sure no heroes or police were looking for him. Seeing he was in the clear he went to the front door of the dilapidated building he had appeared next to. He took hold of a unique looking key and used it to unlock the door. He opened the door quickly shutting it.

The inside looked like it belonged to an entirely different building. It looked more like a control room in pristine condition. Various men and women were busy at work. A man in a uniform walked up to him as he put his hood down.

"Ah your back sir I take it…" He began.

Tyrian whipped his tail as he walked past him and it obliterated the man's head. His lifeless body fell to the ground, blood flowing freely from his decapitated body.

"That's what you get for letting her get away." He declared.

Everyone in the room saw this stopping what they were doing, for a few seconds before getting back to work. One man turned to another with his hand out.

"Pay up." He stated.

The other man rolled his eyes, took out a wade of cash and handed it to him. Tyrian walked up to a man with short black greying hair, green eyes, and a bushy mustache. He wore a grey overcoat with yellow lining which was overtop of a cordovan colored vest and yellow dress shirt with a black tie. His dress pants were the same color as his overcoat. His dress shoes and fingerless gloves were the same color as his vest and his socks were the same yellow as his dress shirt. He stood in the center of the room overseeing everyone.

"I take it things didn't go too well?" He questioned.

"I would have had her but a hero showed up. And to make matters worse that brat who nearly took my tail is here too." Tyrian stated.

"Well that certainly makes things more difficult for us. We'll have to be more careful with our movements for now. We can't have the others getting out of our hands before they're sent over to Salem." The man stated. "I'll inform Salem of this and my own findings."

He tapped a few buttons and started up a video call. On the screen was a woman who appeared to be in her early twenties with long pale platinum blond hair tied back in a half bun style and piercing light blue eyes. She wore sleeveless diagonally overlapping white pleated top over a pale blue top with a purple collared rhombus shaped gem just below the collar. She wore a long high-waisted skirt which faded from white into a light purple. She wore a purple sash around her waist. She also wore silver circular earrings and gold bracers. She sat upon a throne as though she were a queen with her head resting on her hand.

"Arthur…" She spoke with an air of dignity and grace.

"Your Grace." The now named Arthur replied with a bow.

Tyrian also bowed in reverence.

"Raise your heads." She ordered.

They complied.

"How goes things in Japan. I trust you have something important for you to call me." She expressed.

"Indeed, first off some good news. It appears as though our sources were correct and All for One's hold on Japan's underworld has in fact weakened and by a great deal I might add. From what I gathered he was likely in a battle with All Might. One that seems to have weakened the both of them." Arthur explained. "A power vacuum is slowly forming from his empire's near collapse and All Might's all powerful presence will soon vanish"

"Finally, I can start properly expanding out into Japan." Salem expressed. "No more having to go under that bastard's nose."

"Indeed, however that brings me to the bad news." Arthur replied.

Salem sighes in annoyance.

"With the good comes the bad. Go on." She ordered.

"First, a now former officer of All for One has set out on his own. Muzan Kibutsuji is his name. The details of why he betrayed his former master is currently unknown but his power has been growing in the five years since his departure. What likely happened is that he was denied the opportunity of taking over All for One's empire and decided to split off for that reason." Arthur explained. "On top of this one of the… 'slaves to be', has escaped and is now in the custody of the heroes."

"Someone escape?" Salem asked with a hint of annoyance.

"Y-y-yes, forgive me your highness. I not only failed to retrieve her but now the heroes know of our presence here." Tyrian expressed.

"To make matters worse, the girl with the red hood is here so in all likelihood they know of our connection to you." Arthur added.

"I see, that will make our expansion into Japan more difficult. Do you know who it was that escaped?" She inquired.

"Raphtalia I believe her name was. She possessed a high amount of mana but we weren't able to ascertain what form of magic she used." Arthur explained.

"I see, not the worst we could lose, for now focus on getting the others over here so I can apply the slave seal and begin their training. In the meantime avoid capture and try and find out what you can about potential allies and enemies in the area. Also don't go looking for that Raphtalia girl .The heroes are already on your trial, don't give them anymore of a scent to go off of. Do this well and I'll overlook this blunder." Salem directed.

"It shall be down." Both Tyrian and Arthur replied.

The call ended.

"Well we best get to work on what she asked." Arthur stated.

He turned around and saw the decapitated body of the man still their, a large pool of blood was now around it.

"Oh for the love of… Would somebody clean this up!" He shouted.

Shinobu Kocho

Hero Name: Lady Shinobu

Breathing Style: Breath of the Insect

Quirk: Venom
Allows her to create venom with in her body and expunge it through her skin. In order to create any type of poison she must either study and learn the chemical build or receive a direct injection from it. She is immune to any poison they are capable of making, though she will experience mild symptoms from a poison she's yet to learn. Because she can make poison in her body, she can also make antivenom to counteract the effects of any poison she knows off.

Stats:
Power: B-
Speed: SS
Technique: S
Intelligence: A+
Medical Abilities: A

Equipment:
Modified Katana: Shinobu's Katana is similar to any katana from the handle to slightly above the hilt, but above that, the weapon lost its blade and replaces it with a rod. It's end is a needle-like tip, resembling an insect's stinger in appearance and function. Her handle is augmented to allow the poison her body produces to flow from her skin into the blade.

And that wraps this chapter up. Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you want me to be able to produce more content, please consider supporting me on subscribe star. (search zmanxv and the link is on my deviantart page). Til next time.