A special series about the world of BNHA set in Musutafu begins, lasting four chapters.
All characters and story belong to Kohei Horikoshi and Masashi Kishimoto
We are in the city of Musutafu, the city where our beloved heroes study at UA Academy, at the moment when Katsuki Bakugo and Shoto Todoroki receive their provisional licenses from All Might (N/A: we are in the prologue of this story).
The two UA students separated from their sensei and former number 1 hero upon hearing an explosion a couple of kilometers away from where they were.
When they arrived at the scene of the explosion, a lizard-like being, a hairless man with a bare torso, a rather attractive redhead, and a man dressed entirely in black were robbing a bank.
"Where are the heroes?" cried an elderly woman in alarm.
"Shut up, old woman!" threatened the humanoid lizard. "One more word and I'll devour you!" he continued, moving closer to the woman. A freezing chill in his mouth made him stop.
A large block of ice erupted from Todoroki's foot, striking the lizard's mouth. Meanwhile, Bakugo flew away using his power and rescued the old woman, taking her far from the area.
"Who the hell are you, brats?" the bald man asked, annoyed.
"We're not kids. We're 16 years old," Todoroki replied.
"And most importantly... WE ARE HEROES!" Bakugo shouted, standing next to Todoroki.
"Kids playing at being heroes, this world is going to shit..." muttered the bald villain.
The lizard-man, using his superhuman strength, broke free from the ice on his jaw and went straight for Todoroki.
—Grrrrr. —He raised a claw and tried to stab Todoroki, but a wall of ice stopped his attempt.
"The real cops and heroes will be here any minute! I'm outta here!" shouted the redhead as she left the place accompanied by the man dressed in black.
"You Half-and-Half bastard! Take care of the bald guy and the lizard! I'll stop the redhead bitch and the man in black!" Bakugo yelled, chasing after the pair of villains.
"Bakugo, I don't think it's a good idea for us to split up!" Todoroki complained as he dodged a punch from the bald villain.
"The worst idea is letting that bitch and the other bastard escape!" Bakugo retorted, ignoring Todoroki and going after them.
Bakugo went after the red-haired villainess and the man in black. But we already know that story. It's time to find out what happened to Todoroki, who stayed behind at the bank robbery with the bald villain and the lizard man.
"Always so impulsive..." Todoroki muttered, staring down the pair of villains.
"Hey, Berous!" the bald villain called to the lizard man. "Matahiri and Zelonda are gone, what do we do?"
"You go with the money, Santel," Berous said. Then he shattered the block of ice that had been holding one of his claws and glared hatefully at Todoroki. "Wait for me at the meeting point. I'm not leaving here until I've devoured this meddling brat." He tossed the bag of money to his partner.
"As you wish, Berous. But I warn you, I'll only wait there for half an hour. If that time passes and you're not there, I'm leaving with the loot, and don't expect me to come looking for you to give you your share," Santel warned him.
"In less than five minutes I'll have devoured this nuisance," Berous said, keeping his gaze fixed on Todoroki. "So get lost and leave me alone with my prey."
"Pffff," Santel huffed. Immediately afterward, skeletal parts in the shape of giant hands emerged from the bald villain's back.
Todoroki watched the scene with a grimace of disgust, so unpleasant was it. Then he was astonished to see that with those bony hands on his back, he could fly. Todoroki tried to stop Santel from escaping with a large ice formation that erupted from his foot, but this distracted him from Berous's tail hurtling towards him at full speed. The young hero could only protect himself by using his arm to avoid having his ribs broken. The blow left his arm numb for a few seconds. In that brief moment, Santel was already flying away, speeding off from the scene.
"I'm going to devour you, boy-hero!" Berous announced, opening his large jaw.
—Mmm —Todoroki paused thoughtfully for a moment, devising a plan.
Once again, the lizard man lunged at Todoroki. He dodged by ducking and passing under his legs. Then he made the ground like an ice rink by placing his hand on it. This action caused him to be struck by another tail swipe from his opponent. But this time he couldn't block it and it hit him squarely in the side, breaking a couple of ribs.
Berous smirked arrogantly as he watched Todoroki writhe on the ground. But Todoroki would have the last laugh, because his freezing of the ground caused the lizard man to slip and fall flat on his face as he tried to rush toward the injured hero.
"Grrrr," growled the villain from the ground, furious with himself for looking like a fool.
Todorki, despite being in pain from his broken ribs, did not allow Berous to get up and froze him completely, except for his nostrils so that he could breathe.
"Bravo! Bravo! That's how it's done!" cheered the street crowd as they watched the villain being defeated.
Todooki ignored the praise and tried to see if the bald villain was still within reach. But he was too sore from his broken ribs, and the villain was too far away—so far away he couldn't even see him on the horizon—to catch the one who had made off with the loot.
"I was careless," Todoroki thought, wincing. "I won't be able to catch the other one. I'm going to have to put up with Bakugo's teasing for a while."
After a while, All Might arrived in his skeletal form, catching his breath from the run he had made to catch up with his apprentices.
"Young Todoroki, are you alright?" All Might asked, concerned for his student.
"Yes, although I think I have a couple of broken ribs," Todoroki replied.
"Don't worry about that. Recovery Girl will heal your wounds." Then she looked around, her head swiveling. "Where's Bakugo?"
"He's gone off to chase two villains. I don't think he'll be long," Todoroki replied.
The police took another five minutes to arrive. Todoroki told them everything that had happened, and seeing that Bakugo wasn't returning, they headed in the direction Todoroki had indicated. There was no sign of him. They took Berous away in handcuffs and called Recovery Girl to treat Todoroki's injuries. This exhausted Todoroki, so they took him to a hospital to rest.
At the police station, Berous didn't say a word about his classmates or Bakugo. Seeing that they weren't getting anywhere, they brought an artist to the hospital where Todoroki was to draw portraits of the other villains involved in the heist. It took them over four days because of Todoroki's terrible ability to describe people's appearances.
Meanwhile, Class 1-A didn't find it strange that Bakugo and Todoroki hadn't returned to the academy. Firstly, they were on their first-semester break during Christmas. And secondly, they assumed they were still in the intensive course to obtain the provisional licenses that they had already earned a month earlier.
The investigation wasn't progressing as the police had hoped. Berous still wasn't cooperating. They offered to reduce his sentence of more than 15 years in prison by half in exchange for information about his accomplices, but he still wouldn't say anything. They even promised him a pardon in exchange for information, but he remained firm in his conviction not to betray the others.
"I'm not an informant," he repeated every time the police tried to get information out of him.
A week later, at the Musutafu City Police Headquarters, Principal Nezu, All Might, the Musutafu Chief Commissioner, Detective Tsukauchi, Aizawa, and Present Mic gathered to discuss a single matter: the disappearance of Katsuki Bakugo.
"Well, gentlemen, I regret to inform you that the investigation into Katsuki Bakugo's disappearance is at a standstill. The villain Dante Kotoru, alias Berous, refuses to cooperate," announced the Musutafu police commissioner.
"But thanks to Todoroki we have the composite sketches of the rest! Doesn't that help at all?" Present Mic asked, agitated.
"Well, thanks to that and the quirk Shouto Todoroki described, we've been able to conclude that the bald villain using the nickname Santel is Tejo Tarada," Detective Tsukauchi replied. "He was released from prison nine months ago after serving a seven-year sentence for armed robbery at a jewelry store. He has no known family or friends. We've spoken with his former cellmates, but they only tell us he was a very quiet guy. Every police station in the city knows he's wanted."
"Why don't we give the photos to the press? It might help us track them down if any citizens have seen any of those villains," Present Mic suggested.
"We don't think it's a good idea," the detective replied again. "It's very likely that most of the information is false, with this new movement for the release of quirks that only wants to undermine the law and the police. Besides, we want Tejo Tarada to do something stupid and come out of hiding. If his face is revealed, he'll be wary."
"Okay, it's clear there's nothing we can do about Santel now. But what about the other two?" Aizawa asked.
"The only description of one of the two is that he was dressed entirely in black. On the other hand, the only feature that stood out from the norm about the villain was that her hair was red. No tattoos or unusual clothing. Besides, her hair might have been a wig," explained Detective Tsukauchi.
"Todoroki heard Santel and Berous referring to them as Matahiri and Zelonda. That's no use either? There might be some connection to those two names in Berous's past..." Present Mic remarked.
"No," the detective shook his head. "We've already investigated, and nothing. Santel and Berous hadn't met before, as far as we know. Besides, Berous was living in Tokyo until a month ago. We believe an outsider contacted the four guys to carry out the robbery through an ad on the dark web. That's why they hid their names under those aliases. If only we knew the girl's quirk and the guy in black's..."
"Damn it!" Present Mic slammed his hand. "We have to call Mind Reader! Have him read that bastard Dante Kotoru's mind, Berous or whatever he wants to call himself!"
"We can't break the law," said the chief commissioner. "Villains have rights too, and once they're arrested, we can't use Quirks on them."
"But one of our students is in danger!" complained Present Mic.
"The law is clear!" the chief commissioner stood firm. "Even in an exceptional situation like this, quirks cannot be used on a detainee."
"We can no longer hide such a serious situation. We have to tell the press that Bakugo has disappeared," said Detective Tsukauchi.
"You're right, Tsukauchi-san. But first, let me tell Bakugo's classmates in Class 1-A what happened. I'd rather they hear it from me than from the press," Aizawa said with a resigned sigh.
"I'll talk to the Bakugo family," All Might said in a distant and sorrowful tone, his gaze unfocused throughout the meeting.
In the following days, numerous events would unfold that would affect the entire city of Musutafu. But especially one person: Eijiro Kirishima, also known as Red Riot.