Even the woman was caught up in the sudden force of it all, but she was not in the middle of it.
She was already lowered onto the ground in a position that let her be a little more stable compared to the others.
It helped that she was not closer to it and that the others standing around her served to block a lot of what was happening.
She could only look around, dazed after pulling herself together enough to look try to figure out what had happened.
A strong stench hit her all of a sudden, causing her to cover her mouth and nose quickly. "Urk..."
The smell was terrible, and it made her realise what had taken place.
The person who had arrived had saved her, but most unpleasantly, she could have imagined.
She felt like she was about to be sick from the horrible smell that hit her.
She was not the only one to be experiencing the same thing, as the others hit by the gas were feeling the same.
They were still recovering from the impact of it all and the injuries they sustained from falling or being forced away, so they were not able to get back to their feet right away.
The moment that the strong stench hit them, they couldn't help but cover their mouth and noses while letting out curses toward their situation.
One of them covered their mouth and nose as they used their other hand to push themselves up from the ground with some difficulty.
They looked around as they were doing that, as they looked toward the figure of the person who had arrived. 'A hero?'
Their resentment was quite high in the current situation as they were motivated by their desire to get revenge for what had just happened.
They felt humiliated that they had just been caught off guard and humiliated in such a manner.
The current unpleasant experience made them even angrier as they could not let such an insult to them go without any form of payback.
They would not let themselves suffer such a loss and humiliation like that, especially when it concerned their reputation that was on the line.
They relied heavily on their reputation, and they maintained it by not letting others get the best of them.
They needed to pay back anything they suffered so that they did not look weak to others.
If they let such a thing slide so easily, then others would surely talk behind their back and laugh at them for what they had experienced.
All of them would be the butt of others' jokes for a long time, and that would affect their reputation a whole lot in a negative manner, which would affect how others would see them.
The fear and respect they had built up so far would be lowered.
If they were not feared and respected, then others would see them as someone not to be taken seriously, and they could be seen as being weak or easy targets by others.
If they were in positions of certain power, then such reputations would be needed for keeping those beneath them or those they were competing against from taking any form of action against them.
If they were seen as weak, then they would be seen as prey for such people who would want to rise higher by stepping over them to gain what they had, just as others who were their rivals would seek to take over what they had for the sake of their own benefit.
Many internal and external influences could influence their stability, especially when it concerns their rise and fall within such a chaotic area or within a gang or crime-related influence.
Reputation was one key component that could be used to influence, which was usually why they were not able to let things go so easily.
Even if they suffered a loss and had to run away, they would still feel the need to pay back those who had made them suffer such a loss at a later date.
There was a fire of vengeance in their eyes as they were about to attack the person who had interrupted their business.
They still had a job to finish, and they could not come back empty-handed.
They could not let the hero in front of them stop them from doing what they needed to do.
Heroes were small in number in their city, especially in the current area.
If a hero entered their current territory, then they would come to learn that they had made a very big mistake, just like any others that were able to live on after learning that lesson.
Any others would not have been able to survive, but their loss served as an example to any other heroes who would have any similar ideas of interfering in their territory.
Just as he was about to push himself up into a kneeling position, something else happened.
Another figure came into view of them as they moved very quickly.
The figure hit the wall before launching itself into another, causing it to move at a high speed that was not so easy to keep track of.
That figure launched itself off another wall before heading straight toward him.
They launched themselves at him and passed by with their arms pulled back and coiled.
Their arm thrust forward as they were passing by, causing the fist to connect with the face of the man.
The impact caused the man to have his head knocked aside, allowing the figure to continue passing by.
The body of the man went limp as it fell aside and down toward the ground.
They were knocked unconscious from the force of the blow, causing them to lie there motionless.
The surprise attack with the gas attack made it difficult for him to recover before another attack came, following that, which made him an easy target, unable to properly defend himself.
He was unable to make use of his Quirk, especially since he had his attention taken away by the figure who had attacked him first.
The target of his revenge distracted him from the attack that followed.