Episode 2 (Vigilantes)

Takeoff is the second episode of the My Hero Academia: Vigilantes anime.

Summary#

Knuckleduster and Eraser Head start fighting it out in the street, after the Hero assumes the Vigilante was engaging in villainous activity. Eraser Head is able to keep the older man on the ropes with his Binding Cloth and quick maneuvering, but Knuckleduster's raw strength and durability keeps the playing field even. Assuming the Vigilante has an endurance Quirk of some kind, the Hero uses his Erasure on him to try and disable the ability but is shocked to realize it has no effect on him. The battle soon begins to draw out, as both men begin focusing on simple hand-to-hand maneuvers.

During the scuffle, the salaryman, Mario, begins to nervously run away from the group. Koichi doesn't blame him for getting spooked, but Pop☆Step sees the escape differently. After scrolling through her search results when trying to get some more information on potential Trigger users, she notices that Mario was present in every single photo featuring an appearance of an Instant Villain.

The girl Leaps away in pursuit of Mario and asks Koichi to help her catch their supposed person of interest. Koichi starts jogging after the salaryman while yelling for him to stop, but the boy is then approached by the newly transformed Rapt, Moyuru, and Soga, who are seeking revenge for the beating he and Knuckleduster gave them yesterday.

Eraser Head eventually ceases his fighting with Knuckleduster and apologizes to him, saying that since he's not misusing his Quirk or doing anything criminal, the Hero has no cause to put the Vigilante under arrest. Before leaving, Eraser Head tells Knuckleduster that his demeanor gave him the impression that he was a Villain, to which the older man replies that he gets that a lot. The Hero noticed that Erasure didn't work because Knuckleduster is apparently Quirkless and is shocked that he's this dangerous without any ability to back him up. Eraser Head then decides to send a tip to the Police since the man is acting suspicious but stops as he hears terrified shouting at the inner city.

While Rapt goes after Pop, Soga and Moyuru are chasing Koichi around while scaring the other civilians, with the boy trying his hardest to get away. They finally manage to corner him, but Knuckleduster approaches from behind and conks Moyuru on the head with a brick, and throws another one in Soga's face, before the two run off to try and catch up to Pop. Eraser Head then comes in and binds the downed Soga, springing into action as a Pro Hero despite it being his day off.

Pop☆Step almost catches up to Mario, before Rapt swoops down and kicks her in the back, knocking her into the businessman and once again popping open his briefcase with the Hero figurines. Mario crawls towards the All Might figure, while stating with sinister demeanor and expression that he mustn't drop his precious dolls, before flashing a long tongue with a black-stained tip.

He pops off the head of the figurine, which exposes the needle of a Trigger vial that he then stabs into his neck. He then convulses on the ground and transforms into a humongous humanoid with black skin and four arms, thanks to his Playtime Quirk. He grabs Pop and Rapt and begins "playing" with them and a car around the city much like a child would with their toys, causing widespread panic.

Knuckleduster flies in with a grappling hook and kicks Mario in the face before being smacked away. However, his attack knocks the Villain off balance, causing him to drop Pop and send her plummeting to the streets below. Koichi notices the girl falling and knows that she can't save herself without a surface to Leap off from. As he slides along the ground in her direction, he remembers her asking him why he's hanging around Knuckleduster.

The boy then hops and clings to a nearby surface of a building and admits to himself that he's not doing this to keep the Vigilante out of trouble, but because deep down he does want to be a Hero. Although Koichi believes he doesn't have the skill to be a licensed one, he still wants at least once chance to fly and take action just like them. The boy jumps off the side of the building and catches Pop, giving her a surface to Leap off from to safety.

Unfortunately, this sends Koichi tumbling down in her place, which Mario notices and coaxes him to start grabbing the college student with his massive hand. Koichi positions himself on the Instant Villain's giant palm, which reactivates Slide and Glide and allows him to drift off and land safely in a pile of trash, much like Knuckleduster did the other day. Mario then has his Trigger-boosted Playtime deactivated by Eraser Head just before he steps on Koichi, with the Hero shortly binding him up and ending the shady man's childish display. Soon after, the four Instant Villains are taken into custody, but the Hero once again stops Knuckleduster as the man starts to walk away into an alleyway.

Eraser Head thanks Knuckleduster for his help but warns him that this type of intervention doesn't end well if he gets carried way. The man proudly says that they both want same thing at the end of the day, and states that people like him are only trying to clean up the messes the Pro Heroes can't deal with. Eraser Head asks for clarification, with Knuckleduster pointing to the Instant Villains that were just arrested and pitching the idea of taking them out before they have a chance to commit a crime.

The Hero says assaulting someone before they do anything bad is a crime in of itself, which Knuckleduster accepts since by that logic Heroes can't incriminate Vigilantes like him until they actually go through with those acts too. Eraser Head thinks his personality sucks, which Knuckleduster gleefully brushes off as another familiar comment before walking off.

In the same pathway, Pop☆Step goes to check on Koichi after the scuffle. The student says he's fine but believes the actual fighting should be left to actual Heroes instead of someone like him. Pop tells him to stop with the overanalyzing and excessive modesty, and states with a blush on her cheeks that she's not going to thank him for saving her anymore now that his behavior got on her nerves.

Knuckleduster comes in and commends Koichi for his help and learning how to land safely in trash bags, and states that it's only the start of his training. Koichi once again tries to deny his acceptance of the Vigilante's offer, but Knuckleduster notes how he jumped into action and called him "Master" during the battle, saying that's the "real him" leaking out. He asks Koichi to think it over, as the boy says the man is coming on a bit too strong even if he means well.

The following afternoon, a fight is breaking out near a train station between two middle schoolers: Jube Namimaru and Ichimoku Samazu. Pop☆Step alerts Koichi using an earpiece, as the boy, now wearing body armor and protective biker gear Knuckleduster gave him, slides on to the scene. However, Koichi slips and stumbles into a nearby garbage pile, but he shakes it off as he's excited that his new gear makes him brush off minor injuries so easily.

The middle schoolers ask who he is, with Koichi calling himself "The Crawler", as Knuckleduster advised him to adopt a more striking and heroic name instead of "Nice Guy". The boys only recognize him by his old name, and Ichimoku mishears his new name as "The Cruller". Still in high spirits, The Crawler restates his name and asks for the boys to deescalate their brawl and try and find a different way to settle things. This only angers the middle schoolers and turn their pent-up aggression on the young man but are quickly interrupted by Knuckleduster hopping down and threatening to beat them up.

The pair then get into another argument about Knuckleduster's methodology when dealing with people, as Pop☆Step floats down to quell the argument herself. The middle schoolers' attitudes do a complete flip as they're huge fans of hers, and Pop☆Step gives them autographs while telling them that The Crawler and Knuckleduster aren't as bad as they seem.

The group then hears screaming in the open street, as a large, grey man with a Hardening Quirk runs wild and begins punching buildings. A woman falls and drops a stroller with her baby in it, which The Crawler quickly saves from any lethal injury. The giant man begins whipping his blackened tongue around, confirming to The Crawler and Knuckleduster that the thug is an Instant Villain going crazy from a dosage of Trigger.

With the two working together, The Crawler and Knuckleduster knock the Villain off balance and send him tumbling to the pavement. Due to the Trigger artificially boosting the Villain's Hardening Quirk, and the strength not being a result of proper training and focus, Knuckleduster is able to easily knock him down and defeat him with a flurry of punches. Unfortunately, the trio of Vigilantes can't identify the man since Knuckleduster beat him so bad that the Villain's face has swollen to unrecognizable degrees.

After receiving thanks from the woman whose baby Koichi rescued, and Pop warning Ichimoku and Jube about the dangers and signs of Trigger usage, the trio depart as they hear police sirens wailing in the distance. Though not before The Crawler restates his and Knuckleduster's codenames to the middle school students and declaring themselves as the mysterious new Heroes on the scene.

Late in the evening, Naomasa and Sansa are trying to identify the Instant Villain themselves but are also coming up empty. The cat-faced officer notices how impressive and diverse of a Quirk the man had according to accounts from the Police and gets a feeling that they might uncover his identity soon due to the rarity of the ability set. The detective disagrees, due to the fact that the Villain's Quirk was modified by Trigger, specifically "Ideo Trigger". Noting the poor condition of his face, Naomasa asks Sansa which Hero dealt with him since they could be suspended for using excess force to deal with criminals.

Sansa says there weren't any Heroes dispatched to the crime scene, but eyewitness testimonies did say there were two Heroes who took down the thug. Naomasa surmises that the two do-gooders are Vigilantes, though Sansa asks if they should even complain since they stopped a Villain for them. The detective reprimands the officer for saying that, as simple civilians taking the law into their own hands, no matter their intentions, demands punishment.

Later that night, at Koichi's Penthouse, Pop☆Step tells the men that Koichi and Knuckleduster's actions are getting some traction on social media. However, the online buzz is referring to the pair of covert Heroes by "Freaky Fist Grandpa" and "The Cruller", which Koichi takes in stark disappointment.

Characters in Order of Appearance#

Eraser Head Knuckleduster Nice Guy/The Crawler Pop☆Step Mario Kugutsu Rapt Tokage Moyuru Tochi Soga Kugisaki Naomasa Tsukauchi Sansa Tamagawa Ichimoku Samazu Jube Namimaru Akira Iwako All Might (Pictured)

Quirks#

• Erasure
• Lizard
• Ignition
• Spike
• Slide and Glide
• Leap
• Playtime
• Beams From His Eyes
• Wooden Swords From His Hands
• Hardening

Locations#

• Naruhata

Battles & Events#

• Knuckleduster vs. Eraser Head (Concluded)
• Naruhata Vigilantes & Eraser Head vs. Instant Villains
• The Crawler & Knuckleduster vs. Akira Iwako

Anime & Manga Differences#

• In the manga, Koichi tries to talk to Mario before he runs off, while in the anime he runs off while they're distracted.
• The anime does not show Soga injecting Trigger in front of Koichi, since he already injected it in the previous episode.
• In the manga, Soga's crew interrupts Koichi on the street, by Rapt blocking him with his newly transformed wings. In the anime, they block Koichi by Rapt flying down at him, with Soga and Moyuri hanging on to his feet and later jumping down.
• In the anime, after knocking out Moyuru with a brick, Knuckleduster uses another brick to attack Soga.
• The anime slightly extends the scene of Mario "playing" in the city.
• The anime omits the scene of Koichi, Knuckleduster, and Pop leaving after Mario was defeated, along with the former alluding to his Vigilante work growing more intense afterward.
• Some of Koichi's inner monologues are omitted from the anime, including:
• Regretting his instinctive move to save Pop and learning to expand his usage of Slide and Glide on Mario's giant hand.
• Thinking about the difference between Pro Heroes and regular people like him.
• This scene would later be used in the opening for Episode 14.
• Commending his new body armor and safe fall moves while he and Knuckleduster fight Akira.
• Explaining how other people use their Quirks outside of official Hero work, following Akira's defeat.
• Izuku Midoriya's cameo during this monologue is also cut by extension.
• In the manga, before Knuckleduster gives Koichi his new protective gear, Koichi shows off his scars and talks about his Quirk, which doesn't occur in the anime.
• Pop is also present during this in the manga.
• Akira's Hardening is shown deactivating after he was knocked out in the anime.
• When Pop is receiving thanks from the woman caught in Akira's rampage, the anime shows her cooing at the woman's baby who Koichi saved.