Benign Malovelence

Chapter 12: Rejuvenation

'How did it go?' asked the voice from the monitor.

The villains didn't respond, out of fear of the truth or of the pain, or of both.

'We failed...' Kurogiri was able to say. 'All of the members are gone; we don't know if any made it out of capture...'

'And what of the Nomu?' asked a second voice from the monitor. 'Do you have it?' The voice sounded eager and on edge.

Shigaraki took his turn to speak.

'It was left behind...' he murmured. 'You lied to me...'

'Lied?! I gave you one of my Nomus!? And you failed to keep it, either way, failing Master in the process!'

'Enough.' the deeper, first voice said. 'Even if the numbers say it was a loss, we have taken a step forward... We know more about our enemy, and how to defeat them... Use this loss as a lesson, Shigaraki... I expect you as my successor to do so...'

'Yes...' Shigaraki replied. 'Master...'

≈ θ ≈

'Heya,' Nightmare's voice spoke out from the darkness. He had finally appeared, after Shigaraki's bitterness or waiting. 'Sorry I couldn't make the big day...'

'Where were you...' Shigaraki sounded angry. His quiet, child-rage, angry. 'You were supposed to be at the attack... Where were you...'

'Something popped up.' Nightmare simply and lazily replied. 'I hope this doesn't make you mad, or anything... I'm still all for killing All Might and showing the world and all that good stuff... Unfortunately, I have some small investments of my own that require my attention...'

Shigaraku silently fumed, trying to stay cool under the pain of his bullet wounds. He asked his second question.

'Riddle me this... Who's the kid with green hair...'

Nightmare's smuggish smile dropped. He was still smiling, only doing so in a way that looked tempered and controlled. Shigaraki couldn't tell what was going on in Nightmare's head, but whatever was going on in there, Nightmare was doing a good job of veiling it. The darkly glisten of Nightmare appeared to grow darker, or wilder. It was impossible to see in the darkness, but Shigaraki swore he saw something move behind Nightmare.

'The boy with no nose...' Shigaraki said to Nightmare, who too, had no nose. 'The boy whose quirk was almost identical to yours...'

Nightmare's secret agitation ripened almost.

'Care to explain...?' Shigaraki asked.

'That kid's connection with me is of no concern to you.' Nightmare said, a tight and threatening smile now took place of his face. 'That, I can assure of you, as he is nothing... I would not trouble yourself over him.'

'He was able to control the Nomu...' Shigaraki said. 'Even when the Nomu was designed to follow commands from me personally... He was also able to poke his mind into all three of ours...'

Nightmare's shock was minute: calm under a veiled lie of false security.

'So...?' Nightmare asked. 'He's growing, as do most...'

Shigaraki was thinking of something to say, breathing angrily at Nightmare's direction. A hand snaked to his neck, tugging at the flakey skin.

'Would this boy be related to you in any such way?' asked the deeper and more opposing of the two voices from the screen. Shigaraki stopped scratching and looked at the screen. No one had ever been spoken to by Shigaraki's master. No one to of Nightmare's position. Shigaraki's master had never been around to listen to someone and had never spoken to any of the thugs that had been in the bar. Shigaraki was enraged.