Chapter 46 - Live to win or simply die!

Author's Note: Hey there everyone tomorrow is my last written exam before I have two full months to prepare a 15 Minute presentation. You could say I'm at the Finish Line and I'm most likely Skillet enough to succeed in almost every subject were I have to write my final exams. Now enjoy the 2.7 k long chapter. You'll most likely won't see this again for a long while. I'll try to write 1k chapters again in the future but I just wanted to finish this small arc today.

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Slowly Hermann snuck out of his hiding spot. Now that the villain was securely locked behind the doors of the vault he had succeeded in cutting off all methods of communication with the snakes. Before they could become frightened by their surroundings and attack everything in their close proximity he hurried towards the entrance of the bank.

The many interested passerby's, the police and several reporters of various news channels curiously watched as a small boy ran around and entered the dangerous building unsupervised. Almost instantly the reporters rushed towards police officers that were overseeing the operation to question them about this phenomenon.

Meanwhile Hermann opened the door slowly and entered the large lobby of the building. In front the villain had blocked the large entrance with what seemed to be everything he could find. Tables, chairs, pin walls and more were stacked on top of each other, leaving only one small opening at the side that could be used as a passage. Slowly and carefully Hermann maneuvered around the large pile of junk to take a look at the rest of the lobby. After a few meters of empty room he could see a small row of counters close to the back of that room that were the only thing that was left standing in the room. Perhaps they had been anchored to the floor or they simply provided additional cover for the hostages.

With small and soft steps Hermann edged closer. Now he already regretted partially that he had sent Tiamat with the rest of the snakes into the vault as she might have been able to help in this situation. The snakes were still in close proximity to the people and quick movements might cause the snakes to bite the hostages in a desperate defensive move. For now he decided it would be for the best if he simply talked to the hostages to explain the situation and tell them what to do so that they could cooperate effectively.

H: "Hello there! Please remain calm, talk quietly and most importantly don't move under any circ.u.mstances!"

Alertly many looked around, searching for the origin of the voice that just spoke to them. When they saw his small frame many sighing in disappointment, hoping for a hero to arrive quickly giving them back their freedom. A few simply sneered at him, thinking he had been captured as well while others looked around panicked, waiting for the villain to reappear who might kill them for making such a ruckus and planning an escape. With a wide smile Hermann displayed a childish image of himself that might help him to gain their trust and their cooperation.

H: "Don't worry everyone. I've locked the big bad villain in the vault so he won't come out anymore. Everyone is safe!"

After looking at everyone while flashing his brightest smile he continued with his small speech.

H: "Yes. It is true. He can not harm you anymore however we still have to take care of the snakes. For now please act according to my instructions."

Immediately a middle-aged brown haired women spoke up.

Women: "How do we know that you aren't lying? Who knows, you might even work with that villain? And why should we listen to your orders specifically? You are just a small kid, just stand over there and let us grown-ups handle this. Go home! I'm sure your mother is worried about you."

Slightly annoyed and angered Hermann replied:

H: "Just for your information my mom gave me to an orphanage right after I was born. I have nothing prove that I don't work with that villain..."

At that the woman looked up triumphantly with a sneer visible on her face.

H: "...but you don't have that either so don't interrupt me for petty reasons. And you should listen to my instructions because I'm not the one with snakes all over me and I have a bit of expertise with them. If you still have problems with my instructions you are welcome to try and escape from this room while trying not to get bitten."

With a sour expression on her face the woman lowered her face, her disgust and disdain still clearly visible and ever present on her face. Many others however now looked intrigued and seemed to at least be willing to listen to his plan.

H: "Good. Now that everyone has calmed down how about we introduce ourselves. To formulate the optimal plan please also tell me your quirks and your skill level with it if you have them. Please don't exaggerate excessively as your life depends on it now. I'll start. My name is Kaiser and I am pleased to make your acquaintance although I would have preferred to meet you under different circ.u.mstances. Now it's your turn to introduce yourselves. You over there!"

With his hand he pointed at a large, strongly built man in his fourty's.

H: "Introduce yourself!"

At this moment the middle-aged women decided it was once again time to intervene.

Women: "Why didn't you tell us about your own quirk first of all? You should be an example for others."

Now Hermann decided that he had enough and decided to give up all pretenses of friendliness towards her.

H: "And how about you shut up and leave room for intelligent people to talk that have productive thoughts and ideas to share! Stop wasting out good oxygen excessively with your useless complaints!"

Looking back up he saw everyone looking at them, seemingly enjoying their small "discussion".

H: "Now let's get back to doing something productive. Please continue with your introductions."

- - -

After everyone had introduced themselves and presented their abilities, besides the woman that was now being ignored on purpose by everyone and had seemingly no intentions to cooperate, they started their discussion. It seemed as though about three fourths of the people possessed a quirk although only about 20 percent of those had a quirk that might be useful in this situation. One had a quirk that allowed him to conjure a rather small barrier, another could control earth and rocks to a certain extent and a third one could cause a wave of repulsion in all directions. Quickly coming to a conclusion Hermann presented his plan.

H: "Ok guys! Listen here everyone! We are going to do everything in one fell swoop so listen closely. First of all James will use his control over rocks and earth to bind everyone to the ground, excluding the snakes of course. As they are located behind everyone's heels this should not be to difficult. Next Evelyn will generate a small shock wave along the ground that should knock them away from you. Once they are far away from you John over there will create a small barrier around your back splitting the snakes from us. Then James will release the bindings and we will all walk away from this place. Simple right? If any thing doesn't go according to plan I will handle it so don't worry."

As they began everything was going according to plan until that annoying woman decided to move all of the sudden because "her seating position was uncomfortable and that they shouldn't make such a big fuss about it as it was such a simple plan". Indeed it wouldn't have been a problem if she didn't kick the snake that was located directly behind her heel. Because of that they had to speed up their plans, alerting many snakes in the process. When they tried to blasted every last snake away and seal them behind the barrier a few managed to hold on causing fear and panic among their ranks. Hermann quickly ran towards them, grabbing them by their tail, throwing them across the barrier while reminding everyone of their plan. When he told them to hurry towards the barrier in front of the entrance the middle-aged woman pushed and pulled her way through the crowd to be the first one arriving outside.

When everyone finally arrived outside and gathered on the small plateau that was located in front of the bank and on the stairs that lead towards the street and everyone could see them, reporters turned their cameras towards them, filming their arrival outside. Suddenly the women turned back towards Hermann and said:

Woman: "Well...Didn't your plan work nicely. You almost killed us with that plan. I will tell everyone about your stupid plan and the almost deadly outcome caused by it. I'm sure you won't be pleased with the outcome."

Unnerved Hermann looked up at her grinning face and said:

H: "Well, without my plan you would still be inside and considering your personality possibly dead and now go out of my way before I yeet you down the stairs"

Flabbergasted the women took a step back as Hermann walked forwards, down the stairs towards the building where Allmight and the police were located. Although many reporters stepped forwards towards him to ask him about what had happened, as news about captured children that became victims of the attacks of villains always sold very well, especially when that child was the adopted son of a famous hero, he shooed them away and entered the building that had been occupied by the police. Shortly after he arrived at the conference room and entered without knocking, surprising them as they had gathered in front of a large screen that showed scenes over and over again. Him hiding in the bushes, seemingly doing nothing as Tiamat had not been visible from that angle which had probably been filmed by a drone, his seemingly random entrance into the building and shortly after the exit of the hostages. Before he could even open his mouth the older police officer sprang up from his seat and asked:

Mr.Kobayashi: "How did you do it boy? After your "espionage", of which I don't even know how you succeeded although there was no opening where you could have communicated with anyone, you entered the building without even checking for traps or even the villain and after a few minutes you simply exited the building with the hostages."

H: "Just ask the hostages. They have experienced almost everything firsthand and I have nothing to add to that. Any other questions?"

Sighing the old policeman sat down, put his hand on his forehead before leaning backwards. After a short pause he answered.

Mr.Kobayashi: "Fine. Keep your secrets! But at least tell us what happened to the villain. As long as we don't know what happened to him we can not rest easy."

Smiling Hermann replied:

H: "Don't worry about him. I've locked him inside the vault, thus disrupting his communication with the snakes outside. You should still be vary of the snakes he has inside but once you get rid of the snakes he will be rendered powerless."

With that information the police immediately requested the assistance of many hero's with the ability to either deal with poison or the power to render the snakes attacks ineffective (for example barrier types or armor materialization). Although Allmight wanted to convince Hermann to return right away he was quickly defeated when Hermann decided to use his "small kid ability" which practically meant that he begged to stay until the villain was being driven away until Allmight simply gave up to not deal with the annoyance anymore.

Allmight: [It's not that bad anyway, after all this is the first time he defeated a villain and even without any civilian casualties. I shouldn't be to harsh on him. He's still a kid after all. It might even be a good idea to let him experience more fights with many small villains, although I will not subject him to fights with to dangerous villains like this one anymore. Maybe this will awaken the true hero in him that will strive to defend the people and help our country. I'm so excited about his future. Once he wins a few more fights I think that I will grant him One for All and train him personally. He has earned it.]

Shortly after the villain was being escorted out by two young policemen that seemed to be working in that job only for a short amount of time and most likely only recently graduated from the police academy. Suddenly when they were walking down the stairs the villain freed himself from the two policemen and with a jump and an incredible display of acrobatics he managed to bring his arms that had been bound a handcuff with slightly longer chain than usual in front of his body. Before the policemen could react he put the chain of the handcuffs around the throat of one of them. Quickly turning towards the other he pulled on his cuffs, pressing the strongly against the throat of his new hostage. Quickly glancing at the entrance of the bank where no one was yet to be seen he took a relaxing deep breath before smiling at the policeman across from him. Slowly a small snake they seemed to have overlooked when they had searched him slithered out of the sleeve of the villain.

Villain: "Would you mind dropping your weapons? You see I don't like to hurt your dear friend here but you leave me no choice."

Quickly his face became stern.

Villain: "Drop your weapon now! I don't have time for your bullshit!"

Hermann who had previously walked close towards the wall behind which the vault was located to retrieve Tiamat and samples of various venomous snake species that he implanted in her body resulting in stronger poison, better camouflage and greater temperature resistance. When he turned away with her in his Soul Storage and saw this scene he noticed Orion's intent to communicate with him.

H: [What is it Orion?]

Orion: [Let me out! I want to hunt that guy! You had so much fun but I didn't get any and just had to watch! Let. Me. OUT!]

H: [Fine. I'll put your body behind that street corner behind him. Have fun!]

Shortly after he did so he looked for a nice seat. In the end he sat at a nice place in the sun between the bushes and the plateau in front of the bank. As he was seated behind the villain he hadn't been detected yet and had a great view. Opposite to him were still a few reporters that began to film this dramatic scene that could earn them a nice sum of many if they managed to broadcast this in the news. As everyone focused on that scene nobody had seen him yet. Thankfully Orion didn't let him wait long as he quickly ran around the corner, shortly after arriving next to the villain. Due to the various enhancements of his body he had grown to over a meter in height with even greater strength compared to common dogs. Still running Orion bit into the leg of the villain which caused him to loose his balance. Due to that the young policeman was pulled with them, quickly falling to the ground. Due to this the chain was freed from his throat and while he laid on the ground holding his paining throat Orion pulled the villain further away. After a few meters he began to run in a circle, ripping a deep wound in the villains calf while whirling him around. After what seemed to have been four rounds Orion finally decided to let go, effectively causing the villain to take a short flight before colliding with the wall of a house. From the looks of it he could have broken his nose or fractured his skull. He would probably find out in the evening news.

After Orion noticed that the villain didn't move after colliding with the wall he felt extremely let down and grumpily trotted towards Hermann. Filled with disappointment he laid down next to Hermann while placing his large head on Hermann's lap, demanding intensive patting for a job well done. Chuckling Hermann caressed the large almost wolf like dog's head all while small drops of blood trickled down from it's powerful jaws. Like that they stayed until the Allmight and the other heroes and policemen arrived.