Vigilantes Beginnings Arc

The Vigilantes Beginnings Arc is the first story arc in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes.

A college freshman named Koichi Haimawari, also known as locally in Naruhata as "Nice Guy" runs into a scenario with some thugs harassing a young teenage idol named Pop☆Step. When suddenly Knuckleduster comes to their aid saving them both from trouble which begins the start of the Naruhata Vigilantes.

Prologue
Heroes are people with Quirks who are authorized to protect society. However, there are certain heroes who protect society independently. These are the vigilantes, who illegally use their quirks to fight villains and protect defenseless people.

The story begins in the city of Naruhata, a few years before Izuku Midoriya met All Might in person.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Nice Man
Koichi Haimawari, a 19 year old college student and a huge fan of All Might, goes to his job at a convenience store. Along the way, an incident occurs in which a huge villain is terrorizing the city while eating a motorcycle. Suddenly, All Might appears and defeats the monster with ease. The public is amazed at All Might's strength. Seeing that everyone is unharmed, All Might takes his leave.

Koichi is in awe of All Might's feat, until he realizes that he is going to be late for his job. Therefore, he decides to use his Quirk, Slide and Glide, to scroll faster. Some of the passersby comment on the suitability of his Quirk although others do not have such favorable comments. However, a police officer stops Koichi and berates him for using his Quirk. Koichi regrets that he was caught by a very stickler policeman who gave him a very long lecture on the prohibition of the public usage of Quirks. After the police officer leaves, Koichi runs towards his next destination and is annoyed that he must follow the rule of unable to use Quirks in public.

When he's about to turn a corner, Koichi crashes into a group of thugs, knocks into Soga Kugizaki, which spills the juice he just bought. Soga, along with his friends Moyuru Tochi and Rapt Tokage, demands Koichi to apologize by getting down and groveling, to which Koichi obeys, causing the thugs to laugh and make fun of him. Soga wants to humiliate him even more and prepares to step on Koichi, but the boy uses his "super move" Kowtow Evasion to slides backwards, surprising Soga. Koichi slides away and escapes, being chased by Soga and his friends until they lose his track.

Koichi sees another group praising a freelance idol, Pop☆Step. Koichi notes that Pop☆Step is taking a big risk in being a freelance idol since she does not have a permit. Despite her songs not being great, the aspect that stands out is her ability to fly which is what attracts some people to become her fans. A police vehicle is passing by, so Koichi warns Pop☆Step, who decides to end her live performance and flies away while Koichi prepares to slide to his place of work.

Koichi finally arrives at his job but the manager is not pleased with him being late and deducts his pay. Customers arrive; however, they are the same group of thugs that Koichi encountered earlier. Soga becomes angry at seeing Koichi again and takes him outside. There, Soga beats Koichi up; Koichi is not able to fight back because Soga uses his Quirk Spike. Koichi ends up getting beaten and humiliated by Soga, Moyuru, and Rapt.

When it all ends and he returns home, Koichi is annoyed that the police don't do anything against guys like Soga and his buddies. Koichi changes into his "suit" which is an All Might-styled jacket with a hood and wears a mouth mask. Koichi decides to deliver justice on his own accord without being bogged down by the law. Koichi starts doing good deeds for the public such as returning dropped items, giving directions, helping people get onto trains, being a cameraman, and recycling. The citizens thank Koichi and refer to him as Nice Guy. Koichi feels overjoyed in helping people as it relieves him of stress and makes him feel warm inside.

With his good deeds done for the day, Koichi begins walking home. Suddenly, a person gives Koichi juice to drink. The person giving him the juice is Pop☆Step. She thanks him for warning her about the police and followed him in order to properly thank him, but mocks him for being weak, to which he defends himself as being poor at dealing with violence. She finds it ironic that he is wearing an All Might hoodie, and she make fun of him for being weak. Annoyed, Koichi explains that he weara the All Might hoodie because it symbolizes his ideal in being useful in his own way.

After they scrutinize each other for their objectives, Pop☆Step begins to leave but bumps into Soga and his friends. The thugs recognize her as the online idol, begin mocking her and even thinking to strip her. Koichi tries to stop them, but Soga's furious glare convinces him to stop insisting. Scared, at first Koichi thinks about leaving Pop to her fate, but seeing her scared face decides to help her without thinking.

Koichi theoretically wonders how he can handle the situation; use his Slide and Glide to trip two of the thugs and take out the leader by tackling him so that Pop☆Step can fly away. Koichi decides to put his plan into motion and slides into Moyuru Tochi, trying to trip the thug but fails. Moyuru throws Koichi to the ground and Soga turns his attention to him, recognizing him as the “annoying guy” from before. Soga attacks Koichi and scratches his face with spikes from his foot. Soga decides to finish off Koichi for annoying him and continue humiliating Pop☆Step.

As Soga prepares to strike Koichi with his spikes, someone crashes down onto the trash which stops Soga. The person gets up from the trash heap, revealing to be a muscular old man. Soga askes him what is his deal but the old man just punches him in the face, which knocks him down to the ground, surprising Koichi. Moyuru and Rapt are shocked at what transpired and ask for the old man's motivations.

The old man tells the thugs that he is called Knuckleduster and specializes in dealing with hoodlums like them. Then he asks them if they have drugs in their possession demands them to show him their tongues. Rapt tries to tell him that he doesn't know what he's talking about but Knuckleduster knocks him out for not obeying on the spot and sticks his tongue out, checking that it does not have any discoloration. After finishing him, he easily defeats Moyuru and verifies that his tongue is not discolored either.

After checking their tongues, Knuckleduster turns his attention to Koichi and praises him for his bravery, telling him that he can become a real Hero if he works with him. Koichi shows no interest, but Knuckleduster can see through his lies and knows he is someone who cannot abandon people in need like All Might. Koichi admits that his Quirk is not useful and could never pass the Pro Hero Exam. Knuckleduster does not care about whether Koichi has a powerful Quirk or license because they have absolutely nothing to do with justice. Knuckleduster believes that true Heroes take action when something rises up before them. Koichi realizes that Knuckleduster is unlicensed.

Suddenly, a beaten Soga gets up, takes Pop☆Step and threatens her. Knuckleduster tells him that he will still attack him even if he holds Pop as a hostage. Soga tells him that she is not a hostage and that he plans claw her face off with his spikes just to make amends. Unable to let him get away with, Koichi charges at the thug and knocks him down, allowing Pop☆Step to escape and Knuckleduster to punch Soga into the wall, which knocks him out. Knuckleduster sees that Soga is not in possession of the drug he is looking for and makes a copy of his ID.

Impressed by Koichi's heroic spirit, Knuckleduster informs Koichi that there are more ways to be a Hero than what the world says; Knuckleduster is a Hero because punishing evildoers is refreshing, decides to adopt Koichi as his disciple. However, Koichi finds Knuckleduster to be dangerous and urns down his offer. After defeating the thugs, Koichi, Pop and Knuckleduster and leaves the place.

Later on, Soga and his friends walk in an alley and are badly injured courtesy of Knuckleduster. Soga is annoyed and angry, promising to kill Koichi and Knuckleduster next time, although Moyuru suggests not to get involved with them. Out of nowhere, a salesman appears before the thugs and offers them "splendid" medicines.

The threat of the drug Trigger
Next morning, despite Koichi's refusal of his offer, Knuckleduster decides to invite himself to his penthouse, much to Koichi's dismay. Knuckleduster does not mind if Koichi calls him "master", but Koichi has no intention of becoming his disciple. Getting down to business, he explains that he is dedicated to hunt down dealers and users of Trigger, a drug that significantly boost the user's Quirk while simultaneously weakening their sense of reasoning; Trigger is therefore a drug that can turn normal citizens into villains.

While Knuckleduster explains this, simultaneously, elsewhere in Naruhata, Rapt Tokage and Moyuru Tochi inject the "splendid medicine" that Mario Kugutsu, the mysterious salesman they met, offered them, which turns out to be nothing other than Trigger. The drug boosts their quirks to the point that their bodies transform, with Rapt sprouting wings and taking on a more pterodactyl-like shape, and with Moyuru growing bigger and empowering his fire quirk. Having seen the enhancements, Mario insists that Soga Kugizaki inject Trigger.

Back at the penthouse, Knuckleduster refuses to let Instant Villains roam about and will not allow that to happen. However, Koichi believes that it is better to let the Police Force or the Pro Heroes handle this situation. Knuckleduster explains that the Police Force and the Heroes are one step behind because it is impossible to distinguish people who have used Trigger, which is why it is up to them to stop these "Trigger Junkies".

Knuckleduster states that their mission is to confront any suspicious person and make them stick out their tongues because Trigger is characterized by leaving on its consumers’ tongues a black discoloration, which is what he was checking for on Soga and his friends. Knuckleduster explains that they will beat them, make them talk about the dealer who gave them Trigger, and cut off the circulation of the drug. Koichi thinks that Knuckleduster is not being serious.

However, to Koichi's misfortune, Knuckleduster is dead serious, and his method of investigation consists of punch first and ask questions later. Knuckleduster tries to beat up some thugs, but Koichi manages to stop him and asks the thugs to stick their tongues out; they do so and their tongues are normal. After the thugs leave, Pop☆Step arrives and wonders what's going on.

Sitting on a park bench, Pop☆Step thanks Knuckleduster for saving her life the other day, although she does not forgive him for the fact he was willing to sacrifice her. Knuckleduster doesn't care. Pop asks Koichi what he are Knuckleduster are up to. Koichi explains that Knuckleduster is searching for people who have taken Trigger and their dealers in order to stop the circulation of Trigger, although Knuckleduster 's methods are not subtle at all, and he basically makes sure that he does not hit people at the first turn.

Pop thinks that they should use their heads instead of violence, and suggests that they should search on the internet for "sudden villain appearances" which will allow them to pinpoint the location of the Trigger Junkies making it easier and more productive to find potential Trigger Junkies.

In that moment Knuckleduster spots a salesman, Mario Kugutsu, who looks suspicious to him, and tries to interrogate him by force. Koichi tries to stop Knuckleduster, and accidentally drops the Mario’s suitcase which has Hero figures. Knuckleduster finds the salesman to be suspicious, but Pop☆Step and Koichi try to stop the old man to no avail. Mario says he works in a toy company but Knuckleduster doesn't believe him and wants to interrogate him.

Before Knuckleduster make Mario spill the beans by force, his arm is wrapped by cloth. Turning around, Knuckleduster realizes that the person who just stopped him is the hero Eraser Head, although neither Koichi nor Pop know who he is. Despite being off duty, Eraser Head believes that Knuckleduster is part of the recent "spontaneous villain" incidents. Both Koichi and Pop get nervous at the idea of ​​being considered villains by a Pro Hero, and are shocked when Knuckleduster decides to attack him, starting a fight between the two.

Knuckleduster does not take any serious damage from any of Shota's attacks and prepares to punch back. Believing that Knuckleduster possess some kind of stamina enhancing Quirk, Shota activates his Erasure. As they continue fighting, Koichi apologizes to the salesman and asks him to declare his and Pop☆Step's innocence to Shota. However, Mario leaves in a hurry. Pop☆Step realizes that she has seen the salesman before; and after seeing some pictures on the internet related to recent villain incidents, Pop☆Step finds out that he has been present in all of them. She tells Koichi to run after the salesman because he is suspicious.

In their pursuit, Koichi and Pop meet Soga,and the now transformed into Instant Villains Moyuru and Rapt. Soga prepares to take his revenge on Koichi and injects himself with Trigger, boosting and becoming too an Instant Villain. Soga and Moyuru chase Koichi while Pop continues pursuing Mario, being pursued by Rapt in turn.

While all of this is happening, Knuckleduster continues battling Eraser Head, who is impressed that the old man does not appear to have lost any strength and continues to fight back, even though he used his Erasure on him. The Pro Hero realizes the truth about Knuckleduster, and that is that he is Quirkless. Knowing this, Eraser Head stops the fight because he isn't using a Quirk for illegal activities, then he falls outside hero jurisdiction. Knuckleduster takes Shota's apology and they go their separate ways. Despite realizing that Knuckleduster is not a villain, Shota still believes that he is a suspicious character. Just in case, he's going to file a report on Knuckleduster to the Police Force to take care of him. As Shota is busy filing a report, they hears screams.

Koichi is using Slide and Glide to escape from the Trigger-enhanced thugs, causing panic in the streets. Mocking his cowardice, Soga attacks him transforming into a spiked ball. Koichi manages to dodge Soga's attack but is confronted by Moyuru. Knuckleduster appears and smashes a brick onto Moyuru's head, knocking him out. Soga attempts to attack Koichi again, but Shota uses his Quirk and his Capturing Weapon to stop the thug in his tracks. Seeing that Erasing Hero is handling the thugs, Knuckleduster and Koichi decide to go and help Pop☆Step.

Pop☆Step is chasing after Mario, but Rapt is right on her tail and kicks her, causing her to fall on the salesman, who drops his suitcase again. Mario picks up the All Might doll, pops off its head, and uses it to inject himself with Trigger, turning into a Instant Villain, growing into a colossal giant with four arms. He grabs Pop☆Step and Rapt with his hands and swinging them about, behaving like a child playing with his toys.

Knuckleduster leg drops the colossal Mario in the face, but he retaliates and smacks Knuckleduster into the ground. However, Mario's hold of Pop☆Step weakens as a result of Knuckleduster's actions and she begins falling. Koichi goes to check on Knuckleduster but sees Pop☆Step is falling to the ground and is not able to stop due to no footholds. Koichi slides up the side of a building and jumps off towards Pop☆Step. The reason Koichi decided to help her is that even though it is far too late to become a Hero, he still wants to soar through the skies like her. Instead of being caught by Koichi, Pop☆Step uses him as a platform for her Leap Quirk.

As Pop☆Step flies onto a building for safety, Koichi begins falling to the ground. The colossal salesman takes notice of Koichi and prepares to palm him. With quick thinking, Koichi decides to slam into Mario's palm and activates his Quirk, shifting the trajectory of his fall and landing onto a pile of garbage, safe and sound. However, the colossal salesman launches a punch at Koichi. Suddenly, Mario starts shrinking and returns back to normal. Shota activated his Erasure which forced the Mario's Quirk to become disabled. Shota wraps his cloth around the villanious salesman.

After this incident, the Police Force arrive and arrest the salesman and the three thugs. Shota thanks Knuckleduster for his assistance but warns him about the dangers of his vigilante activities. Knuckleduster does not mind helping since he is a "virtuous citizen" and thus it is natural to cooperate with Heroes. Knuckleduster believes that Heroes need people like him so that the incident with the colossal salesman and the three thugs will not happen again since he is free to deliver justice without restrictions. Shota finds it ridiculous that Knuckleduster believes his unlawful justice are crimes of conscience and finds him to be a troublesome old man. Knuckleduster is happy to be called a troublesome old man since he gets that all the time.

In a back alley, Pop☆Step is relieved that Koichi is alright, but he thinks that he is not cut out to be a Hero. She tells him to stop belittling himself and turns her back on him. She was going to thank him, but since he is annoying her she does not, while she blushes. Knuckleduster appears and is pleased that Koichi has learned how to land properly like him. Koichi still does not want to be Knuckleduster's disciple since he never wanted to in the first place and only called him "master" when he fell to the ground as a spur of the moment. Knuckleduster knows that Koichi's spontaneous words and actions are actually his true feelings; that he still aspires to be a Hero. Knuckleduster encourages Koichi to chase after his aspiration to be a Hero.

Thus, Koichi's life as a Vigilante began from a lonely back alley and he would eventually go on to reach for greater heights.

The beginnings of the Naruhata Vigilantes
Back at the penthouse, shortly after Koichi finally accepted Knuckleduster as his teacher, Knuckleduster asks him about the speed of his Slide and Glide Quirk. Koichi states that the speed is that of a bicycle and if he goes any faster than that, he will lose control since his Quirk does not have any brakes, displaying a scar on his arm. Knuckleduster gives Koichi protective gloves that motorcyclists use and suggests Koichi to practice the art of falling safely. Knuckleduster also tells Koichi that he needed a new name, as "Nice Guy" will cause evildoers to make light of him. Following his advice, Koichi decides to adopt the name The Crawler. After this, the three decide to go out to patrol the streets of Naruhata.

While on patrol, Kazuho sees two middle schoolers (Ichimoku Samazu and Jube Namimaru) fighting, and reports her teammates to intervene and stop the fight. Koichi is the first to arrive thanks to his Quirk. Having arrived, Koichi demands that the middle schoolers cease their fight, but he goes so fast that he ends up losing control and crashing into a pile of garbage. As Ichimoku and Jube check to see if he is alright, Koichi gets up without a scratch, thanks to the protective gear that Knuckleduster gave him.

The middle schoolers ask for Koichi's identification. Koichi tells them that he is The Crawler. However, Ichimoku and Jube know him as Nice Guy who always picks up trash, which causes Koichi to start repeating that he is now known as The Crawler and not The Cruller. Seeing that this is going nowhere, Koichi tells the middle schoolers to break up their fight, but Juubei just pushes Koichi, who laughs because his padding protects him. Annoyed by his attitude, Ichimoku shoots his Quirk, and between him and Jube they start kicking him.

As the middle schoolers start kicking Koichi, Knuckleduster comes in and prepares himself to punch them, but Koichi tries to stop him as there is no need for him to beat them up. Knuckleduster prefers to beat up on sight as it makes the evildoers cooperate instantly and above all it is refreshing. Koichi tells Knuckleduster that it is not okay to beat up someone because it is refreshing, which confuses Knuckleduster.

Annoyed that it is taking too long for them to stop the fight, Pop☆Step arrives and uses her appeal to stop the middle schoolers' fight which works since both Ichimoku and Jube are huge fans of her. Grateful for their praise, Pop offers to sign autographs. As Pop☆Step is about to give the middle schoolers her autograph, they start to hear screams of panic in the streets.

Turns out a new villain has appeared. Akira Iwako starts attacking innocent civilians with his Trigger-enhanced abilities. Enraged by his enormous strength and endurance, Akira begins to hit buildings to prove his point. The force of impact causes a baby to fall out of its carriage, Koichi manages to save the baby in the nick of time. Knuckleduster punches Akira but fails to inflict any damage, and Akira retaliates with a punch of his own, which sends Knuckleduster flying back.

As Akira admires his great defense and shows his blackened tongue in the process, Knuckleduster gets up and is happy to see that Akira is a user of Trigger. Pop☆Step informs Ichimoku and Juubei about the drug Trigger and that Koichi and Knuckleduster are two volunteers who are trying to stop Trigger from circulating through the black market. Akira kicks Koichi, who recovers quickly thanks to the protectors.

Knuckleduster criticizes the Instant Villain for not growing accustomed to his Quirk and as a result he is full of openings; one example being that his Quirk, having hardened his body too much, has caused his movements to become sluggish and that losing focus removes the hard defense. As Knuckleduster grapples Akira, Koichi slides into Akira's knee, causing the villain to fall. Due to losing focus and thus his hard defense, Knuckleduster begins beating up Akira with a flurry of punches. Seeing that violent beating scares Ichimoku and Jube.

Once his face is reduced into a pulp, Akira loses consciousness and returns to normal. Knuckleduster tries to figure out his identity, but Akira has his face so damage that does not ring a bell to him, and Koichi tells him that it's because he went overboard on him. As Koichi restrains the villain and Knuckleduster searches for identification, Pop☆Step returns the baby Koichi saved to its mother.

Knuckleduster does not find any identification, so Koichi decides to take a pictures of the villain's face and tongue. Ichimoku is confused by the latter, so Pop explains to him and Jube that people who use Trigger have blackened tongues. She adds that the middle schoolers should not take drugs, with which they agree. When they hear police sirens, Koichi and Knuckleduster scram and Pop☆Step leaps away and tells the middle schoolers that she will see them next time. Before they leave, Jube asks who they are. Koichi replies that they are mysterious new Heroes, Knuckleduster and The Crawler.

Police arrive at the crime scene and Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi identifies Akira. According to information, the villain's Quirk is a mixture of Hardening, super stregh and a bit of gigantification. The detective Naomasa notes that Akira's tongue is black, a side affect of Trigger. His assistant Sansa Tamakawa realizes that Akira is an Instant villain. Naomasa wants to know who gave the villain such severe injuries and wants to know the Heroes who responded to this villain's crime. Sansa states that there are no reports of Heroes being dispatched to the area, so Naomasa concludes that the people responsible are unapproved, illegal Heroes; Vigilantes. Sansa is glad that the Vigilantes took down the villain since it works in their favor, to which Naomasa tells Sansa to watch his words as they have something called the law and carrying out personal acts of vigilantism is a crime.

Later, at Koichi's home, Pop☆Step checks the internet and informs Koichi that Ichimoku and Jube are spreading the news of their feat on the web, which excites Koichi as they are starting to get some fame. Pop☆Step says that everyone is calling Knuckleduster and him "Freaky Fist Grandpa" and "Cruller", much to Koichi's annoyance.

Koichi's New Lifestyle
Koichi Haimawari walks in the street and thinks about his livelihood, not wanting to let his admiration of Heroes cloud his daily responsibilities such as normal life and his job. Koichi sneaks off into an alley and uses his Slide and Glide Quirk to slide up onto the roof of a building, arriving at the old beat-up penthouse he lives.

Koichi enters his apartment and is startled to find an old man sitting and eating while watching his television. Koichi is scared to see a complete stranger in his house, and thinking that it is a thief, he takes out his phone to call the police, but the old man puts on his mask, revealing himself to be Knuckleduster, much to Koichi's relief. Koichi then asks him how he could get into his house since the front door was locked, and Knuckleduster simply replies that he was able to get in through the window. Koichi is surprised to see one of the windows is broken.

As Koichi attempts to fix his window there is a knock on his door. He answers the door and sees a schoolgirl with messy hair. Kocihi asks who she is, but the school girl just enters the apartment without saying anything and fixes herself up, revealing herself to be Pop☆Step. Koichi tells Pop☆Step that is surprised by her civilian appearance, although before he finishes the sentence he is interrupted by Pop annoyed because he was about to define her as plain.

Moving along, Koichi asks if they were supposed to go patrolling this evening. Knuckleduster left work early and is waiting for nightfall while Pop☆Step has a live performance to hold. Both then proceed to bicker about the rules for the shared space, completely ignoring Koichi's protests that it's his house. Koichi prepares to go to work, leaving the spare key for Knuckleduster and telling Pop☆Step where all the toiletries and the bath are. Pop☆Step thinks Koichi has an ulterior motive, but Koichi rejects that idea and gets depressed for some reason. Pop☆Step wonders why Koichi is sad.

Koichi tells her that back in April, he rented out the beat up old penthouse on top of an old building for a cheap price. At the time, Koichi thought it was a good penthouse to live in as it would easily kick start his campus life. One night after going out with friends, Koichi invites them to his penthouse. The next day, Koichi's colleagues thank him for inviting them, but they hurry off. Rumors about Koichi's Penthouse on an old building fly around which cause Koichi to be seen as a creep, making many of his colleagues to avoid him. As a result, Koichi's campus life debut was a failure. The college life he was looking forward was not the ideal experience he was hoping for.

Pop☆Step tells Koichi that he should head to work. As Koichi heads to work, Pop☆Step gives her live performance to her fans. One of her fans, Teruo Unagisawa, tries getting closer to her, wanted to sake her hand, but he is shoved back by other fan, knocking him down. Jube Namimaru appears and tells Teruo not to jump the gun to Pop☆Step while Ichimoku Samazu informs Teruo of the proper etiquette of being a true fan. Ichimaru's passion causes him to release his Super Move Meganetic Blaster into the sky, drawing Pop's attention to him, which makes him very happy while Jube chastises him on being a man.

Desperate to touch his Idol, Teruo tells them to keep quiet and injects Trigger into his neck, causing him to transform into a Eel-like Instant Villain, causing panic between the rest of the fans and Pop, who decides to flee. Teruo starts to chase the terrified Pop☆Step through the streets of Naruhata, asking her for a handshake.

Pop and Teruo pass in front of the convenience store where Koichi works, just when he had finished his work day and he started to return home. Seeing Pop in trouble, Koichi puts on his costume and heads out while encountering Jube and Ichimaru who have been chasing after Teruo. Knuckleduster also arrives, which scares the scares the students, and after seeing how Teruo moves while he chases Pop, he suggests to Koichi to separate and get Teruo in a pincer.

As Pop continues to dodge Teruo, Koichi appears and grabs the Instant Villain while Knuckleduster attacks him from above. However, Teruo's skin is covered with slippery mucus, making any of their attacks ineffective. Knuckleduster's punch have no effect as his attack slides off while Koichi's hold slips off as well, causing them to bump into each other. Thinking about how to deal with mucus, Knuckleduster spots an udon shop, or more directly, at the flour sacks.

Meanwhile, Teruo continues chasing Pop☆Step, but loses sight of her between the alleys. Knuckleduster and Koichi meet Pop☆Step and convince her into letting the over-enthusiastic fan shake her hand, expecting that he will back off afterwards. With great displeasure, she agrees to shake his hand, however, Teruo is not satisfied and demands a hug and then a kiss as well, coiling Pop☆Step in his slime body.

Suddenly, Koichi and Knuckleduster drop large amounts of the flour they got from the udon shop, coating their bodies with the flour. The flour drains all the moisture from Teruo's slime, nullifying the slimy defense of his eel-like body. Without his protective mucus, Knuckleduster beats up Teruo until he returns to normal.

After stopping and tether Teruo, KD is disappointed to never find good clues related to Trigger again, and assumes that this is because the Instant Villains end up naked as they rip off their clothes due the transformation. The Naruhata Vigilantes decide to leave the place when they hear the sound of police sirens, and Pop☆Step, completely covered in slime and flour, decides to have a bath after all.

After stopping and tether Teruo, Pop☆Step ask Koichi to buy a decent shampoo, because the cheap stuff ruins her hair. Knuckleduster tells her to use a bar of soap, annoying Kazuho, and asks Koichi to buy beer. Seeing that Knuckleduster is only wearing his underpants, Kazuho demands a bit of decency from him when he is in the communal space, and also orders him that, if he is going to smoke, he must does it outside, because the smoke stick up her hair. Knuckleduster decides to ignore her complains, which starts another bickering over each other's living etiquette and immaturity. Koichi decides to leave to go hang the laundry out of dry.

Outside, Koichi mulls over the fact that he did not get the college life he was expecting. However, as he hangs their costumes over a line, Koichi thinks that his life is not so bad with Knuckleduster and Pop☆Step around.

The Insidious Menace of Kuin Hachisuka
The day after his defeat at the hands of Naruhata's vigilantes and his subsequent arrest by the police, Teruo is questioned at the police station to find out where he got the Trigger he used, but like almost all of the suspects who underwent villainification, he tells them that he received it from someone he does not know, who and told him to use it when things were not going his way which will make him super strong but in return he must not tell anyone about Trigger.

Detective Naomasa, who is in charge of the investigation regarding the Trigger's trafficking and the Instant Villain, watch the interrogation along his colleague Tanuma. Naomasa Tsukauchi summarizes that Mario Kugutsu, Soga Kugizaki, Moyuru Tochi, Akira Iwako, and now Teruo have been users of the drug which has caused the "Villain Out-Break Incidents" occurring in succession over the past few weeks. Each of them have been confirmed to use the drug moments before their attacks.

Tanuma believes that since Trigger has been distributed in specific places in Naruhata they could track down the dealers, however he is confused as to why the dealers would hand Trigger out for free, considering that it is a very valuable product. Naomasa ponders about the objective the dealers want to achieve. Tanuma notes that "objective" is the keyword and surmises that the dealers may want may want to make massive profit or an upheaval of public order, although he may be just overthinking this.

Aware that they can not get much more information from Teruo, the police decides to release him without any charges as he only caused minor damage and Trigger is not a controlled substance. Naomasa decides to follow him, keeping an eye on him for a short while, just in case he obtain a clue. Jube Namimaru and Ichimoku Samazu see Teruo and send a message to Pop☆Step, who is at Koichi Haimawari's house.

Koichi thinks it is polite that they sent her a message while Pop☆Step tells him not to laugh. She tells him that they ran into the over-enthusiastic fan from the other day and they are now all friends. Jube and Ichimoku might be able to get more information about the person who gave the drug to Teruo. Koichi says that they should not let Knuckleduster know as he might beat the information out of Teruo. They decide to talk it out with Teruo themselves.

On their way, they encounter a fan with an eye-patch who recognizes Pop☆Step and takes a picture with her. Koichi and Pop☆Step meet up with Ichimoku who tells them that Jube is with Teruo. Unfortunately, Knuckleduster is in the same area and and asks what're they up to. The Koichi and the other two try to play dumb because they don't want him to join Teruo's interrogation. Meanwhile, the fan that took a picture with Pop☆Step is ecstatic over the picture. Unbeknownst to her, a huge bee slips under her eye patch. While her friends point this out to her, she leaves immediately for work. Kuin Hachisuka reveals herself to be a high school junior and a part-time villain.

Kuin takes her eye-patch off and uses her Queen Bee Quirk to release a plethora of bees filled to the brim with Trigger around town. Her army of worker bees proceed to injecting drugs into innocent civilians, turning dozens of people into Instant Villains. As a result, the civilians' Quirks go out of control and start causing chaos. Due to panic and confusion caused by this sudden outbreak, both Jube and Naomasa lose sight of Teruo.

On the other side of town, Koichi and the others hear the disturbance and Pop check online that it is due to a sudden villain outbreak. Knuckleduster, however, sees one of Kuin's bees flying nearby and immediately runs after it. As civilians run away from the Instant Villains, Naomasa calls for backup. Suddenly, Heroes appear on the scene such as Ingenium, Endeavor, Midnight, Eraser Head, and several others. Even All Might himself appears to subdue the Instant Villains. In a short space of time, all the people who were transformed into Instant Villains have been suppressed by the Heroes. Once the situation has been controlled, Koichi wonders where his master went.

Knuckleduster manages to catch the bee while Jube tries to find Teruo. Knuckleduster confronts Jube in anger and informs him that someone is out there that caused the chaos earlier on. Knuckleduster crushes the worker bee, causing Kuin's eye to bleed. She is annoyed that one of her worker bees has been hurt. She tells Teruo that she is fine and they should get going, telling him that they are friends and offering to show him a picture of Pop☆Step.

Koichi, Pop☆Step, Jube, and Ichimoku sit at a cafe while Knuckleduster mulls over being unable to find the person responsible for the chaos today. Koichi's group continues enjoying the transient peace they are experiencing, blissfully unaware of the quiet malice lurking in the shadows.

A discouraged Knuckleduster
After the villain outbreak the other day, the Naruhata vigilantes continue their patrols through the streets of the city. One night, they meet the "Three Sturm und Drang Brothers", a trio of villains who the steal the women underwear by using their Glide and Slide Quirks, which causes a mob of females to chase after them. Suddenly, Koichi appears to stop theem, only to get stomped on by the angry female mob thinking that he is one of them.

After getting away from them, Koichi confronts the villain trio, who think that Koichi is one of their fans due to their Quirks being similar, which Koichi denies. The trio state that their reasoning for their crimes is to let society out of their cage so that they can let human emotions run wild. Soon, Koichi and the trio of villains start talking about female underwear, only to be interrupted by Pop☆Step who berates Koichi for mingling with perverts.

Knuckleduster suddenly appears and beats up the Three Sturm und Drang Brothers, defeating them. However, they do not have black tongues, meaning they are not connected with the Trigger incidents. Kocihi notices that his master is quieter than usual, because after verifying that there is nothing that will serve them in their mission, he just decides to leave.

Next morning, at Koichi's penthouse, Koichi is practicing boxing with Knuckleduster, punching the gloves his teacher is holding. He ask him if his aloof behavior has something to do with the Bee User from before. Knuckleduster does not respond and simply continues with the training, giving Koichi a strong blow.

Koichi says he's not suited for fistfighting, and boxing is kinda pointless to him. Knuckleduster simply tells him to just leave the punching to him, and gives Koichi the training gauntlets so he can also train. Even with the gloves, Koichi can barely take Kd's heavy punches and ends up getting knocked down. knocking him down to the ground. Pop☆Step criticizes Knuckleduster for over doing it, but Koichi sees that Knuckleduster always restrains his strength to avoid killing his enemies. Pop tells him that although Knuckleduster does that, he's still overdoing it.

Elsewhere walking on the sidewalk, Kuin Hachisuka is speaking with her employer, the person who has been giving her the Trigger drug. Kuin's employer notes that she went overboard the other day with the Trigger drug and reminds her that Trigger is still a valuable drug that mustn't be used indiscriminately. Kuin does not seem to care because her employer was able to get good data from the incident. The employer states that in order for an exceptional Quirk to manifest, a strong will is absolutely necessary. The employer desires capable individuals with explosive potencial whitin; in other words, people who are capable of pulling the "Trigger" so to speak, and commands Kuin to search for these kinds of people.

Kuin considers that assignment a pain, but she does it anyway, Kuin finds a junkie in an alley and gives him a batch of Trigger. The junkie injects the Trigger into himself as she encourages him to use his newfound power to shove it into society's face. Angry, the new Instant Villain uses his Trigger-enhanced might to smash her into the ground. However, she dodges with ease and continues encouraging him to fight and leaps away.

The Instant Villain attacks innocent civilians. Koichi and Pop☆Step are on the scene. The villain attacks Koichi, but the boy is quickly able to dodge his attacks with his. Koichi tells Pop☆Step to keep the townspeople away from the villain, which Pop☆Step does. The villain is about to attack an innocent civilian, but Koichi manages to save him in time. Suddenly, Knuckleduster arrives and kicks the villain in the face. Knuckleduster suspects that the villain gathers all of his strength and concentrates it within his fist the moment he attacks. Using this knowledge, Knuckleduster decides to fight fire with fire. Knuckleduster and the villain engage in a brutal fistfight, with Knuckleduster barely dodging the villain's blows. The villain prepares to attack with his amplified fist, but Knuckleduster lands a powerful punch to the villain's face before he can unleash the enhanced punch.

With the villain defeated, Knuckleduster states that he used the villain's charge up time, which left him defenseless, to his advantage to perform a counter attack. Knuckleduster, despite being injured and bleeding, concludes that actual villains must have huge bodies like the Instant Villain he faced. Back at Koichi's penthouse, Knuckleduster is back to his jolly old self knowing that he can go all out against huge villains until they're nearly dead since no one will complain. Knuckleduster finishes his training with Koichi while Koichi is happy that Knuckleduster is in a better mood.

Meanwhile, Kuin is talking to her employer about the Instant Villain, saying that the guy was pretty decent and notes that the trio of Vigilantes got in the way again. Kuin takes note of the old man and wonders if they should do something about them, although she does not care either way. However, Kuin's employer tells her that the Vigilantes are beneficial to them because thanks to them, they can gather practical data without having to worry about the Heroes or the Police Force and wants to preserve the current situation. Kuin states that the trio of Vigilantes are trying to get leads on them. Kuin's employer tells her that it is high time for her to display her skills as a coordinator, although Kuin wonders if that is really her job before cutting off communications with her employer.

A man appears before Kuin and asks if she is "Honey"; Kuin is impressed with the man's build while the man comments on Kuin's cuteness. Kuin and the man hold hands and walk off together.

Hero Conference
Due to the large-scale outbreak of villains in the Naruhata Ward, detective Tanuma organizes a meeting in the Police Station with some of the heroes who helped to stop the outbreak to discuss the situation and the best action to take. The attending heroes are Endeavor, Best Jeanist, Eraser Head, Midnight, Ingenium, Death Arms, Snipe, Manual, Thirteen, Gunhead and Air Jet. Endeavor asks why All Might is absent and is not pleased when Tanema explain it was impossible to schedule a meeting that would work for him due to his tendency to run off in a hurry to carry out his activities as a hero. Tanema clarifies that they have sent a representative to his agency.

Returning to the topic at hand, Tanema talks about how the villain outbreak has been a series of normal citizens who've been forcibly injected with the drug Trigger. Endeavor understands that what he means is that they are more victims than villains. Deciding how to handle this, Endeavor quickly provides a solution where both he and the rest of the heroes who helped stop the outbreak pay their hospital bills, and for the media to just make sure that they tread lightly when reporting this.

But Tanuma not only wants that but also that the heroes do not rush when it comes to facing an Instant Villain, in case it is another innocent person. Endeavor considers his request ridiculous and argues that any public use of a Quirk is illegal and that they should treat them as villains and let the police investigate the backgrounds of future captures. He says that this is the only way to protect the innocent while not risking themselves through hesitating every time they see a new enemy. Endeavor's proposal to subdue suspects of villainy and later confirm their identities, makes Eraser Head to think that there are certain gray-areas for hero to work, and recalls that when he met Knuckleduster he had a similar mindset.

Endeavor get more enraged with Tanuma's continued hesitation and tells him to go ask for All Might's opinion. Naomasa Tsukauchi arrives with a statement from All Might declaring that he will assess the situation at the scene more carefully because as heroes they should try to keep the innocent citizens out of harm's way. This is in direct opposition to Endeavor's answer, leaving the Flame Hero quite literally burning with rage once the meeting ends.

Afterward, Midnight meets up with Eraser Head]] who asks about Hizashi Yamada because he was supposed to be at the meeting. Erase Head states that he's out with a cold and could not make it. While walking down the hallway, Midnight scolds Eraser Head on his attire. In response, he teases her saying she should become a teacher or something if she likes counseling others so much. Much to his chagrin, she tells him that's exactly what she plans on doing. Continuing on she reveals that principal Nezu personally requested her and that she would be a new teacher for U.A. High School next year. She detailed in constant innuendos her beliefs on teaching. Aizawa disagreed with her methods

When she began a rebuttal, the police station is attacked by Suicide Bomber, a villain with a Suicide Bomb Quirk. He projects a great hatred towards the Police Force, and intends to blow himself up to destroy the building and kill a large number of police officers. Some of the officers comment that he has very bad luck because that day several of the best heroes of Japan are in the building, and some of them, like Best Jeanist and Ingenium, are preparing to stop him. Another officer says that his only luck is that All Might isn’t around. Despite this, the criminal continues with his intentions to make himself explode, and the presence of so many heroes does not deter him.

Endeavor, fuming over hearing All Might's name again, decides to incinerate the villain. Endeavor quickly engulfs himself in flames in preparations to burn him into ashes but Midnight realizes that doing so would still cause him to explode. Eraser Head quickly moves the suicide bomber out of Endeavor's attack right into Midnight's arms. She quickly uses her Somnambulist Quirk to subdue the bomber. The Midnight Boys come bursting in asking if Midnight is unharmed while they hand her mask and flogger-style whip. Midnight reassures her sidekicks and tells them to hand the villain over to police custody. She tells the bomber that if he acted up again, she would personally bring him to her agency and dole out punishment.

Now that the bomber has taken into custody, she continues where she left off with Eraser Head about being a teacher at U.A. because a wide variety of opinions and teaching styles is required to educate the youth. Eraser Head confesses that idea seems absurd, since he becoming a teacher would be the epitome of the irrational, and leaves the place.

The next day, after taking down another villain, he receives a message from Midnight stating that she has submitted a letter of recommendation to the principal, and informs him that he has also been accepted at the U.A.

Story Impact

 * Vigilantes are introduced.
 * They are people who voluntarily carry out duties usually done by Pro Heroes without paying attention to the law. Due to regulations and laws, however, vigilantism is illegal.
 * The drug Trigger is introduced.
 * It is revealed that Shota Aizawa did not initially intend on becoming a teacher at U.A. High School. He only became one via a letter of recommendation from Nemuri Kayama.
 * Naomasa Tsukauchi's first encounter with All Might, including how he discovered the latter's weakened form, is shown.

Quirks Introduced

 * Slide and Glide: Koichi's Quirk allows him to slide over plain surfaces by emitting a repelling force from his hands and feet, allowing him to glide just off of said surfaces.
 * Leap: Kazuho's Quirk allows her to leap very high.
 * Queen Bee: Kuin's Quirk allows her to take control of a human host, as well as allow her to keep a massive swarm of worker bees in the human host with her.
 * Spike: Soga's Quirk allows him to sprout spikes from his body.
 * Lizard: This Quirk gives Rapt Tokage a reptilian appearance.
 * Flame: Moyuru's Quirk generates a small flame from the top of his head. He can also exhale powerful flames through his mouth.
 * Glide and Slide: The Three Sturm und Drang Brothers' Quirk allows them to make their feet slide across the ground.
 * Eel: This Quirk allows Teruo to transform into an medium sized Eel.
 * Bat: Bat Villain's Quirk gives him bat features.
 * Suicide Bomb: Nothing is known about the exact functions of this Quirk. However, as its name suggests, this Quirk allows Suicide Bomber to blow himself up.
 * Control Horn: Cow Cowboy's Quirk grants him the ability to mind control cows.
 * Beams From His Eyes: Ichimoku's Quirk gives him the ability to shoot lasers from his eyes at his opponents.
 * Wooden Swords From His Hands: Jube's Quirk allows him to generate wooden swords from his wrists. They are roughly the length of his arms.