The Team Ups Arc is the sixth story arc in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes.
Koichi and Kazuho once again find themselves caught up in the middle of the ongoing investigations into the Villain Factory, inadvertently teaming up with Pro Heroes Eraser Head and Midnight.
Summary#
Old Routines and New Goals#
After his fortunes and adversities in Osaka, Koichi Haimawari returns to Naruhata to continue working as the Vigilante The Crawler and protecting the streets. During one of his patrols, he spots two big men arguing on the street and about to fight. Koichi appears to stop them, but all he gets is a slap on the face that leaves him a mark.
Later, as he walks to the Marukane for a meeting, he talks to Kazuho about how since he started using his Wall Cling, he feels like he’s getting walloped more than ever. Kazuho tells him that it is because of his tendency to meddle in the affairs of others. When he asked about Makoto, she replies that she is in the hospital visiting a familiar.
Koichi and Kazuho meet with several other members of the Featherhats for business matters. The Marukanee has decided to set up a Narufest’s Official Shop to sell merchandise of the group, so the agenda for that day is brainstorming what kind of merch they wanna see. Each one suggests several ideas.
Ichimoku, Jube and Teruo appear to advise and help them. As they are fans of Pop since she started acting on their own in the streets, they have been doing merchandising since then, so they want to use their experience and knowledge for Featherhats official products.
Koichi, who until then was asleep, suggests selling All Might Hoodies. The others telling him that that does not make sense, as there is no connection between the Marukanee and All Might. Koichi tries to explain the reasons but his logic is too absurd for the rest. Makoto arrives to the meeting, and quickly accepts several of the suggestions, including Koichi’s idea about hoodies. Then she leaves shortly after with the Captain Celebrity to another meeting.
Later, Koichi and Kazuho return home together. Koichi is happy that his idea has been accepted, but Kazuho believes that the All Might Hoodies has nothing to do with them, and thinks about trying to convince Koichi to give up. However, Koichi truly believes that All Might Hoodies will be a succeed, so Kazuho decides to leave him in his fantasy world.
Two weeks later, Makoto arrives with the official merchandising. And Koichi does not resist to open the box that contains the Hoodies, but to his displeasure, these are not All Might Hoodies but Captain Celebrity’s. Koichi is depressed because of this, which surprises Makoto, asking why he wants All Might hoodies when their operation’s got nothing to do with All Might.[1]
Days later, after resolving a series of incidents in Okinawa, Toshinori Yagi returns to the Might Tower for a meeting with Naomasa in the building’s cafeteria, only to find out the detective has his arm in a sling and several fractures.
Naomasa explains him that his injuries are the result of a confrontation he had against a villain recently. Although he tries to not give importance, Toshinori is worried and tells him that that if he had known, he would have come to help him. The detective replies that his public figure, All Might, can’t be taking jobs for personal reasons, and can't prioritizing saving certain people because they could be taken hostage or use as a diversion by villains. Toshinori can not deny that he is right.
To chill the mood, Naomasa asks what is in a bag that he carries. Toshinori says that he got some gifts of the job he wants to share. Naomasa also brought a souvenir from his operation in Osaka and exchanged bags. Toshinori’s gifs are bath salts with rose essence, and he thinks Naomasa's sister would like it. Although grateful, Naomasa informs him that lately his relationship with his sister is not in its prime.
Back on his flat, Naomasa gives All Might’s gifs to Makoto, telling her it’s just a souvenir from someone at work. Then, he reminds her a conversation they had previously. She replies that she will not give him information about Pop☆Step, and she will not let him treat her like a criminal.
Naomasa tells him that she was involved indirectly in the mission in which he was injured, also he can’t ignore she previously used her Quirk illegally to perform in the streets and play vigilante by night. Makoto replies that Pop just wants to forget the incident and she is currently engaged in legitimate events. Makoto assures her that he will take care of her and if something happens, she will warn him. Although not fully convinced, Naomasa accepts.
When examining the bag that her brother brought, Makoto verifies that the gifts are expensive bath salts, and deduces that it’s not exactly something a cop would pick up while away on a job. Then, she looks that the bag looks brand new and has an All Might logo, and asks her brother if he is working with someone from All Might’s Agency. Naomasa feels offended that his sister interrogates him so he takes away the salts to use them.
Later, Naomasa and Shota Aizawa goes to the Hotta brothers' shop to meet with Kirihito Kamachi, to talk about his kidnapping by the Villain Factory, but he, the only thing that complains is that today's society discriminates against those who are physically different, like him. The others consider that he just exaggerates too much, although the conversation soon turns to how well detective Naomasa smells.
The next day, Naomasa has another meeting with Toshinori in the Might Tower. He tells him that he didn’t give Makoto the bath salts because he had an argument with her. He complains that she has always been a rebel who break the rules and promises when it suits her and tries to talk her way out of it, and she using those tactics against him, a police officer, but Toshinori thinks that it’s because she’s not dealing with the police, but rather her older brother.
At the police station, Naomasa's companions realize how good he smells, and asks if he has found a lady friend. Annoyed, he just replies them to leave him alone.[2]
New Discoveries#
The members of the Mazinger High Karate Club demand group dates with their females classmates. Koichi arrives to dissuade them, but the only thing he gets is to make them angry and they attack him with their Quirk Rocket Thrust. While protecting himself as he can, Koichi rejects one of the attacks with his quirk, which leaves him confused and seems to notice a new skill of his Slide and Glide Quirk, before being knocked out.
Meanwhile, at the Police Station, Naomasa Tsukauchi, along with Eizo Tanuma, analyzes a security cam tape about the failed attempt to arrest the speedster villain in Osaka. As he thought, the suspect used his quirk to defeat all the policemen in barely a second. Eizo suggests that, having an acceleration Quirk, the villain may be one of those people who can see, hear and think at hyper speed, and are so fast that for them the rest of the world seems like frozen in time. This gives Naomasa an idea.
Naomasa has a meeting with Shota in the Recycle Shop: Hoppers, where he talk about a hero called O'Clock. Said hero was speedster-type one from the previous generation. O'Clock’s Quirk is very similar to the criminal that Naomasa tried to arrest in Osaka. Shota asks him if he thinks that O'Clock turned villain, but Naomasa doubts it because the age between the two does not coincide. However he is sure that there is some kind of connection between both, like a familial connection or being master and pupil.
Besides being only a hunch, Naomasa is confident in his assumption. The problem is he can’t seem to locate O’Clock. The Hotta brothers suggest that he has probably hidden himself, since it is not strange that many heroes go into to hiding after retiring, especially those who have made many enemies.
In a flat, the Osaka criminal, known as Number 6, is training his Quirk hard, to bring it to its limits. From an earpiece, a voice tells him that his training is unnecessary, that he only needs to use firearms, like the other day, but the speedster villain replies that he more partial to punching power. The voice tells him to do what he wants, that at least they get data about his physical state while accelerated. The call ends, and the speedster villain talks to himself that he only uses firearms when he is get backed into a corner because guns are unheroic, as he contemplates a large O'Clock poster, who he calls master.
Back to Koichi, when he returns to his penthouse, he tells Kazuho that he manages to learn a new ability he can pull off with his Quirk: the ability to shoot repulsion force blasts. Naming this new power as Scrappy Thrust Style, Koichi explains the process to execute it and starts throwing blasts until he accidentally breaks a windowpane. This angers Kazuho who reminds him that there are things he can not do, and break windowpanes is one of them.[3]
The Hazardous Octoid#
Koichi tries to practice his Scrappy Thrust Style, but Kazuho surprises him. She scolds him by saying that he can not shoot projectiles without a license or qualifications, and even if his shots are not dangerous, if he gets caught by a policeman or a hero, he will get into a good mess. After recognizing that she is right, Koichi goes patrolling, but Kazuho can not go with him because she is busy with school matters.
During his patrol, Koichi encounters Octoid, a Next-Level Villain with an Octopus (Squid) Quirk. At first, Koichi tries to stop him, but because he did not have any support and the villain has an enormous strength, he decides to warn people to run away while he tries to distract him as he can, while waiting for the authorities to arrive. Koichi tries to stay at a safe distance from the villain, but soon he is forced to escape when Octoid begins to throw rocks at him .
Elsewhere, in the Recycle Shop: Hoppers, Jiro and Ichiro Hotta are making a deal to sell an illegal drug against baldness to a customer. Suddenly, Shota arrives the store, canceling the transaction and the customer hurries away. The Hotta brothers are upset by his presence and they ask him why he does not stop coming to his shop. Aizawa responds to them because he has to keep his ear to the ground about Naruhata black market, to find out about any news or rumors about Trigger, and also because stopping in the shop before patrolling puts him just the right mood, plus they make good cup of coffee. This last response annoys the brothers.
Suddenly a stone breaks the glass of the storefront and causes damage inside the store, which puts the three on guard. When they get out, they find The Crawler, who is warning everyone to take cover. Koichi comes face to face with Shota, and both recognize each other from the struggle that Shota had with Knuckleduster several months ago. Koichi tries to play dumb and acts as though he isn't the one who Shota thinks he is, but before Eraser Head can ask him anything, they hear a scream.
Octoid had decided to attack a couple of girls, but is stopped by Shota. The hero uses his Erasure Quirk on him but checks that it does not work, so he deduces that the villain is another of the subjects modified by the Villain Factory. Shota uses his bidding cloth to hold him, and when he thinks that he has already subdued him, at that moment Octoid pulls two tentacles from his torso and attacks Shota with them, leaving him severely wounded.
When the villain is about to finish Eraser Head, Koichi stands between them[4] and shoots Octoid a repulsion beam, hitting him in the face, saving Shota. Knowing that he has used his Quirk without a license in front of a hero, Koichi tries to play dumb, but before it continues, Octoid has already recovered, irritated by Koichi's attack.
The Hotta brothers transform themselves by injecting Trigger and decide to attack Octoid too. Koichi tries to excuse himself for his earlier attack by saying he did it in self-defense. The Hotta Brothers say the same and that the Trigger they used is a legal version. Shota decides to leave details for later and accept their help, while putting his left arm in a sling using his bidding cloth.
Their attacks do not seem to have much effect on Octoid, so Shota asks Koichi to keep shooting him. Koichi says it's too dangerous standing still and holding his ground against the villain, but Shota tells him that the idea is to draw his attention, he just has to keep the distance and pepper it with light shots. Then, he ask the brothers if they know an area where there are no civilians. One of Hotta Brother says he know an area, and everyone goes to the place while Koichi keeps shooting Octoid to make him chase them.
Meanwhile, in the Hotta Brothers warehouse, Kirihito Kamachi is enjoying his tea time and listening music. Jiro Hotta suddenly arrives and suggests him to leave the place, but Kirihito is upset and admonishes him for invading his privacy without being announced. Then, Koichi arrives and is surprised to find there the Mantis Villain against whom he fought weeks ago. His attitude annoys Kamachi and reproaches him that he can not judge people and treat them as villains because of their appearance. And then Shota and Ichiro arrive.
Kirihito thinks that what the four of them are doing doesn’t seem like his business, and he continues with his teatime. Then, Octoid arrives and causes great mess in the place. This makes Kirihito mad and attacks the villain. However, Octoid proves to be too strong even for the former Next-Level Villain, so the rest decide to intervene.
Shota and the Hotta Brothers distract Octoid, while Koichi prepares to shoot him a more powerful version of his repulsion beam.[5] Koichi shoots a Crawler's SGB at point-blank range to Octoid. However, the shot does nothing but piss off the villain even more, who sets out to chase Koichi through the warehouse. Shota uses his bidding cloth as a net and captures Octoid, hanging on one of the supports of the warehouse.
The group tries to recover from the fight, and they ask Kirihito to call the police. He sets out to do it, but he gets too close to Octoid, who despite being entangled, attacks him, initiating a new fight between them. The confrontation makes the warehouse collapse, and Octoid is free by accident. The villain decides to take advantage of the confusion to run away. Kirihito says that what happened is not his fault, but the others tell him to shut up and everyone go after Octoid.
Following the trail of blood left by the Next-Level Villain in his escape, Number 6 encounters Octoid in an alley, who charges against him. However, he defeats him easily using his Quirk, and extracts a blood sample from his body. When he was about to leave, Octoid throws him a stone that causes a slight scratch on his face, but that greatly angers the speedster villain, because he thinks it might distract from the "cool, character-defining scar" he gave himself as an homage to someone he admires.
Number 6 gives Octoid a brutal beating, but he can not kill him due to the limit of his Quirk, so he stops for a few seconds to cool down before using his it again. During that waiting time, he tells Octoid how he intends to kill him. When he is ready to finish him, Koichi and the rest arrive at the place, which forces the villain to leave. Everyone is surprised to see Octoid very badly hurt, and Koichi is sure he has seen someone.
The next morning, Shota is talking with Naomasa about Octoid. the detective asking him if he suspects who might have left Octoid in such bad shape. Based on the modus operandi, Naomasa believes it could be the work of Knuckleduster. Shota tells him that it is not probable, although he does suggest him let The Crawler road free for a time.
At that moment, Koichi appears with Kazuho and greets Eraserhead, assuring her that they kinda became friends the other day. Shota simply looks at him menacingly, causing Koichi to back away. Naomasa asks Shota if he is acquaintance of his, to which Shota responds that he simply confuse him with another one.[6]
A Crazy and Wacky Mixer#
A few days later, the members of the Mad Hatters band (Akira, Hiroto and Daiki), invited Koichi to a Mixer with some sophomore girls from Naruhata Women's College, since the leader had refused to participate because he did not want to feel like he was betraying the girl he loves. Koichi accepted the invitation, much to Kazuho's disgust.
Moved by jealousy, Kazuho follows Koichi on his way to the mixer, casually meeting the hero Midnight, who recognizes her as Pop☆Step who she had met at the first Narufest. Midnight is on a mission to root out groups who are distributing Trigger at mixers, with the culprits usually being those who organized them, who are precisely members of Naruhata Women's College. This mission was originally intended by Naomasa Tsukauchi to be a task handled by Shota Aizawa but the latter refused, saying he did not take on assignments that required high-energy and instead recommended Midnight to tackle the task.
Midnight sees the main suspect of the incidents, Rin Yaritezawa, accompanied by her friend Hina, and outlines plan to also participate in the Mixer together with Kazuho. Midnight telephones the Midnight Boys to distract the other two girls who would join the Mixer, getting them to cancel their participation, and so she and Kazuho take their places as "substitutes". Disguised and with fake names of “Kaori” and “Kazuha” respectively, Midnight and Kazuho join Rin and Hina to participate in the mixer with Koichi's group.
They start chatting and having some drinks with Koichi acting awkwardly all the while. “Kaori” leaves to fix her makeup and asks “Kazuha” to come along with her. In the restroom, Midnight tells Kazuho that the band members are free of suspicion as they knew them from Narufest, leaving only Rin and Hina as their suspects. She tasks Kazuho with keeping Hina's attention while she herself would monitor Rin and they return to the mixer to begin with their mission. “Kazuha” strikes up a conversation with Hina and finds out that she is one of Rin's friends and is always with her.
Meanwhile, Rin starts becoming resentful of the entire situation, being forced to organize the mixer with a band she didn't think highly of, accompanied by an awkward Koichi on top of having to be with two girls she had never met in her life, with “Kaori” having taken charge of the festivities.
She gets up to leave but collapses and throws up on the floor, Koichi rushes to her aid and she is touched by his concern. Hina snatches away the towel they used to clean the mess and runs to the bathroom to lick on it, becoming insanely jealous at the others fussing over Rin, especially Koichi, and prepares to use some Trigger.[7]
The Mixer continues. Rin begins to show too close to Koichi, and begins to flirt with him. This annoys “Kazuha” and also approaches Koichi. Meanwhile “Kaori” egging them on. The Mad Hatters wonder why Koichi gets all the love, who feels a bit awkward.
Hina returns from the bathroom and at first it is difficult to recognize her because she has made up her makeup and changes into a more cutesy outfit. She sits between Rin and Koichi, and by her words seems to feel interested on him. This generates jealousy in Kazuho, who takes Midnight and asks her when she is going to arrest the suspects. Midnight tells her that she can not arrest them because at the moment they have not done anything wrong.
The waiter arrives with another round of drinks, although nobody knows who ordered another round but they decide just roll with it. At that moment, to get revenge on Koichi for attracting Rin's attention, Hina sneaks a few drops of a substance into the drink she intends to give him.
Meanwhile, at the Hotta Brother's Shop, Naomasa informs Eraser Head of the existence of another type of Trigger, connected to the instant villains who attended the Mixers. This new variant only needs to be ingested to work. The Police Force suspect the drug is mixed into the drinks, and the victims are getting roofied.
Back at the bar, Hina offers a jar of beer with Trigger to Koichi, but he rejects it because he is underage and can not drink alcohol. One of the Mad Hatters decides to take the jar. Then, Hina tries to offer him other drinks, like cola or ginger ale, but “Kazuha” says that Koichi can’t handle bubbly drinks. Koichi's partners decide to take the drinks that Hina offered. Desperate, Hina drug more drinks to make sure that Koichi drinks at least one, but the waiter takes them apologizing because they were for other table.
Soon, the Quirks of several customers begin to get out of control. Koichi tries to keep the situation under control, and this makes Rin feel more attracted to him. Without being able to stand it anymore, Hina tries to force Koichi to drink.
Due to the resulting chaos by the out-of-control Quirks and the panic generated, Midnight decides to act. She uses her Somnambulist Quirk that makes everyone sleep (except Kazuho, Rin and Hina), stopping the rampage. Then, Midnight is faced with Hina, who confesses that she hates seeing Rin hanging out with boys. Although Midnight understand her feelings and shows sympathy towards her, she apprehends Hina.
The next morning, Midnight is congratulated by Naomasa for the work done, and Eraser Head could not agree more. Meanwhile, in his Penthouse, Koichi tells Kazuho everything about the incident with the uncontrolled Quirks, the presence of Midnight and the fact that someone drugged the drinks. He also tells her that the girls he was hanging with were all strange characters, and kinda scary. Kazuho asks him nervously if there wasn’t at least one respectable girl, to which Koichi replies no, all terrifying.[8]
The Return of an Old Acquaintance#
While performing hero work, Midnight receives a call from Kazuho, who tells her that an Instant Villain with a Locomotive head is charging after someone she knows (Koichi Haimawari). She had tried to call Captain Celebrity but at the time he was busy on another job.
Midnight calls Eraser Head, who is in the Hotta brothers' shop at that time. Eraser Head tells her at that time he can not take care of the villain, because he has an important meeting. Midnight simply tells him that it doesn't matter, because the villain is heading his way. When he leaves the store, he sees Koichi being chased by the Locomotive Villain. Koichi shoots several repulsion blasts to the villain, which does nothing but make him angrier, so he let Eraser Head take care of him.
The villain is defeated easily, and the Hotta brothers ask Koichi why he brings criminals near to their shop. He tells them because he had heard that is an offshoot of Eraser Head's office is there. Eraser Head says that is more or less true, but the Hotta brothers deny it. Shortly after, detective Naomasa arrives and Koichi leaves, but not before asking Shota to say nothing about he used his Scrappy Thrust Style, as it would bring him problems, although Shota replies that he does not care about that.
During the meeting, Naomasa tells Eraser Head about the new orally administered Trigger. It is less effective that the old form but lacks the psychotropic element. As this new drug does not turn people into full-blown villains, it makes it easier to distribute on the street, and therefore, it benefits the Villain Factory, because it makes easier for them to showcase potential candidates to kidnap and transform into Next-Level Villains.
The Hotta brothers ask Naomasa if it isn't more logical to think that another group is in charge of distributing this new Trigger. He denies it, arguing that after interrogating Hina, the one distributing the oral Trigger is the same villain from Osaka. The investigation led the Police Force to the place where the deals were happening, but they’d already cleared out. Naomasa reports that, due to the chemical composition, the new trigger came from China, so the Japanese police and heroes would have problems to do anything about it. Eraser Head jokes about deal with it secretly.
Meanwhile in Hong Kong, a bearded traveler with his face hidden under a hood enters an apothecary, and after changing a few words with the shopkeeper, he tells him a kind of password. The shopkeeper asks him to follow him to the back room and asks what he wants. The mysterious traveler says he doesn’t want drugs, just information. The clerk replies that it is not possible, and also he can’t trust him because he had used an old password, so he calls three thugs to deal with him.
One of the thugs approaches him threateningly with a knife in his hand, but the traveler defends himself and breaks the thug’s arm. The other two quickly draw their weapons and ask him who he is. he replies that he is only a traveler. Then, the seller is surprised to recognize him as the hero Hyper Quadfist, known in Japan as O'Clock.
The traffickers can not believe he could be him because Hyper Quadfist is supposed to be dead, after he got his face split and his quirk was stolen. The traveler tells them they are right, that guy died long time ago, but the dead don't matter, because now he is here. After taking off the hood, the mysterious traveler turns out to be Knuckleduster.[9]
A few days later, in a hospital, Soga and his friends Moyuru and Rapt take care of Tamao Oguro. Rapt play the fool with Tamao's guitar, which makes her laugh, and Moyuru asks her to play. She confesses that she just played the guitar to piss off her father.
Soga grabs the guitar and tunes it. Moyuru did not know that Soga knew about music and Rapt tells him that Soga had a guitar, but he smashes it in a fight. Soga returns the instrument to Tamao, telling her that she has the privilege of being able to play music, something that many other people do not have.
At that moment, Knuckleduster enters the room. Tamao only says that his beard is gross and Soga criticizes him for being away a long time. Knuckleduster cannot deny it, but he asks Soga to stay a while longer, since he has to catch up with an old pal, but promises that as soon as he finishes he will visit her again. His daughter only asks him to shave his beard.
When Knuckleduster leaves, Soga asks Tamao to make some noise with the guitar, just to annoy her old man. Tamao agrees and Rapt and Moyuru make fun of Soga for being a sweetheart.
In a secluded spot, Knuckleduster meets Detective Eizo Tanuma, who turns out to be aware of Knuckleduster's past as the hero O'Clock, and now he calls himself “Mr. Kuroiwa”. Knuckleduster secretly gives him a memory card with all the information he could get in Hong Kong about Trigger traffic, with the names of some Japanese importers.
When Knuckleduster is about to leave, Eizo tells him that the police have had an encounter with a villain who has an acceleration Quirk, very similar to O'Clock’s. Eizo asks him if he knows who he is, but Knuckleduster says no, but he advises him that, if they come across the villain again, they'll shoot him down immediately.
The detective says they can gunning people like that, because it would give a bad image to the Police Force. Knuckleduster tells him that then he will take down that evildoer. After this, they separate.
In another area of Naruhata, Koichi is running away from a train-headed villain near the Hotta brothers' shop, although on that occasion Shota Aizawa is not there to help him. Kazuho has the idea of calling Midnight to help, the Hotta brothers are happy about the possibility of seeing the R-18 Hero again. Ichiro Hotta yells to Koichi to leading the villain around in circles until help arrives. Sitting on the rooftop of a near building, Knuckleduster observes proudly how Koichi gets on alone.
Knuckleduster leaves the place without contacting Koichi. In his escape, the young vigilante passes close to his master, believing he has seen him, but he does not recognize him completely and soon attributes it to his imagination.[10]
Story Impact#
- Knuckleduster is revealed to have been the former Pro Hero O'Clock, until his Quirk was stolen.
Characters Introduced#
Quirks Introduced#
- Octopus (Squid): Ikajiro's Quirk gives him the attributes and characteristics of a cephalopod creature.
- Rocket Thrust: The Mazinger Brothers' Quirk allows them to shoot their right fist at people at very high speeds.
- Spear Hand Missiles
- Tank Engine: Tommy S. Gordon's Quirk.
- Diesel Engine: Willy Wanda's Quirk.
Battles & Events#
The Crawler, Eraser Head, the Hotta Brothers & Kirihito vs. Octoid Number 6 vs. Octoid