"Tch, after going through all the hard work of making that Nomu and it just had to go and get killed by that brat. Well at least we got the main two targets. That's why they're called 'optional quests. And since we have the wolf with us now, we can just make more by taking some of his DNA. Even if he doesn't join, he could be a great farm source for powerful Nomu. So, what happened?" After a while of the league setting down after the intense mission, the last six members of the Vanguard Action Squad were discussing the results with Shigaraki in the bar room. Just a few moments after Toga came through the portal, Spinner and Magne were dropped through by Kurogiri. Spinner was seriously injured, so he was recovering in a nearby room.
After finishing up the basic overview from just the five villains, Shigaraki directed the question to Dabi. Obviously, he was questioning the fact that he had managed to lose Shoko somehow after the end of the fight between the two wolfs.
Before answering, Dabi thought back to what happened.
It was apparent to Dabi that Toga was calming Izuku down from his rage. It was a dirty trick on the boys' end but was exactly what the villains needed to retrieve their target. From a distance away, Dabi and Twice watched the impressive acting skills from Toga as the wolf shifted into a boy; a naked one at that. After getting confirmation from the girl, Dabi turned to Twice.
"Go find Compress."
"Yes sir. Where did you go, magic man!? I want to see if you can pull a rabbit outta my ass!" Twice called out the last part while walking in the general direction when they had last seen him go flying from the explosion.
During the time, Dabi decided to go retrieve Shoko. Before Toga had changed herself by drinking some of the student's blood, she hid her behind a bush for good measure to make sure that her cover wasn't blown.
Going to that same bush, Dabi found who he was looking for... and someone else. In the middle of being picked up, Shoko was in the hands of who Dabi assumed to be another student. His bluish eyes looked to him with fear and his blond hair was slightly frizzled. He had a strange device attached around his stomach area that looked like it could project some sort of light.
The two of them just stared at one another, waiting for one to make a move.
And finally, one did.
Without giving a second glance, Dabi simply turned and walked away.
After running through the short memory, Dabi looked back to the eye that was visible behind the hand.
"When I went back, she was gone. Must have woken up at one point and ran off."
Toga once again gave a pouty face at re-hearing the news of her 'Peppy' being lost. Although, she seemed somewhat contempt on getting the wolf in the end. Her excitement was now for Izuku when she saw the state he was in; weak and covered in blood, even if it wasn't his own.
"Hmp, well like I said: she was just optional. We have the main players right here." Along with Shigaraki, everyone looked to one side of the room and met hating red eyes. "Isn't that right, Katsuki Bakugo?"
.....................................................................................................................
Izuku hated the pain. It served as a reminder that he screwed up. He wasn't exactly sure what the pain was from, but the moment he awoke, every inch of his body was sore. Immediately, he began to freak out. Although, it was all mentally as his body was weak and sluggish.
It took a magnitude of effort just to open his eyes and observe his surroundings. The first thing to notice was that it was pitch black in the room; to anyone who didn't have night-vision that is. The walls, floor, ceiling and everything else that the room consisted of was made from concrete. Besides himself, the chains that bound him, and the single door it was completely barren.
The first wasn't all that bad, but the second thing that he found was that he was strapped down. Beginning to gain his strength, he pushed and pulled against the chains that seemed to strap to every single one of his joints.
His was in such a position that he was down on his knees with large metal cuffs keeping his legs planted to the ground. Meanwhile, his arms were strung up as similar cuffs covered his entire forearms. Something he took note was that they were way heavier than they looked. The only thing keeping his arms up was the chains, otherwise, he wouldn't have the strength to do so.
The only clothing that he had was a simple pair of shorts that were not his. Around his torso was definitely not a shirt. His chest was completely covered by a sort of metal vest. Symmetrically placed all around the metal cast were even more chains that attached to every surface in the room. It was then that he finally realized the mouthguard that was tightly strapped around the bottom half of his face. It had only allowed him small jaw movements to only talk but nothing else.
'They must know about my ember breath; whoever they are.'
The only explanation that made since to explain his predicament was the League of Villains. But at the same time, it didn't make sense. That last thing he remembered was hearing the comforting words of Shoko. If he's here, then what happened to her?
Izuku was now beginning to panic even more at the possibility of danger not yet being finished. He tested himself against the chains, but he was far too tired to summon enough strength to even attempt to break them.
He would have to let his healing factor work his exhausted body, and hopefully, whoever was keeping him here was stupid enough to give him some food or leave him alone long enough to recover.
Now, all Izuku could do is wait for things to fall into place. And while he waited, he listened for anything sounds. This proved to be futile when he quickly learned that the room was soundproof. He had just as much luck when trying to identify any scents. There was a trace from someone; probably the person that chained him here. But other than that, nothing. Even the smells that traveled from the tiny vent on ceiling that he found later on was bare.
All he could do was wait.
.....................................................................................................................
"And just where are you going at this time of the night?" The voice from behind Shoko sure was a surprise to the girl. She was even more surprised to see that it was Monoma and not a teacher when she turned around and spotted the blue eyes and blond hair.
He was leaning up against the wall; just out of view if you were on the inside of the door that Shoko just came from. Said door was the exit to the building that held their dorms, so both were out in the open night.
"It is none of your concern. Go back inside and pretend that you never saw me." The girl said with the same emotionless voice. But Monoma was able to detect the trace of heat in those words.
"And what? Let you go look for Izuku by yourself?" The girl finally gave the slightest bit of emotion from the question.
"T-that's not what I'm doing. I'm just... letting of some steam. And besides, I have no idea where he is. No matter how much I want to go look for him, there's no possible way for me to do it before something happens." The lie sounded nearly solid, but no matter how good the lie, the truth will always blow it away.
"Then why don't you look at that tracker and find out?"
Shoko was definitely not expecting to hear that. Her current mood was dropped for a split second as she looked like a dear caught in headlights. It was quickly wiped away as Monoma adopted a smug look; one that was more friendly than condescending.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She said in a serious tone to try and intimidate the boy.
"Oh please, trying to act dumb is just wasting time. Izuku told me about the chip he has lodged under his collar." After Monoma explained, Shoko looked back with the same serious face, but it now had a sign of annoyed defeat.
"You said 'by yourself'. Does that mean you wanted to help me instead of stopping me?" Her only answer was a confident nod with the smug smile turning into more of a battle grin. But Shoko couldn't help but feel relieved.
'You and Izuku really have gotten close.'
"Alright then, let's go."
.....................................................................................................................
*Back in the Dorms*
"Eijiro, it's okay."
"No... it's not." The boys' voice was hardly a whisper, but it might as well have been a scream with the sheer silence that filled the room. Ashido was worried for her friend, but no matter what she did to comfort him, his guilt trudged on. "Two of us were taken. Two fellow students are gone. Midoriya and Bakugo are in the clutches of scum. And where was I when they were taken? I just sat around while they were out fighting for our lives and probably even for us." Kirishima's emotions poured with each word then let out a small snicker. "Well, maybe not Bakugo. But he still wants to be a hero, right? Either way, he was taken by villains while I just sat back on my ass as they were taken. I should have done something."
The other 17 students either looked on with sadness or the same guilt for not being of any use to help and try to prevent Izuku's and Bakugo's capture.
It was quiet one more for a moment before the silence was broken by sharp exhale. That was all it took before the attention of everyone was set on Shiozaki. With a hand placed firmly over her mouth and her expression signaling that she was holding back tears for quite some time, she shakily breathed back in.
"I let him go." The short sentence was finished with a hitch.
"What are talking about?" Sat asked while Uraraka went over to comfort her by wrapping an arm over her shoulders.
"Shoko and I encountered Bakugo in the woods just as Mandalay announced we were under attack. We tried to get him to come with us, but he wouldn't listen. And to be honest, he looked like he wasn't in his right state of mind. Before we could convince him, he ran off. It's because I stood there and did nothing is because he's been taken and possibly killed. It's my fau- "
"Hey." The commanding yet gentle voice of Yaoyorozu brought the vine-haired girl from her bubble of guilt. "You are not at fault here. No one is. No one could have possibly known that the villains would have attacked since out location was disclosed. We were unprepared, and I'm sure that a lot of us were scared. Even if Bakugo is a rambunctious jerk, I'm certain that he was too. And you're probably right about him not looking right in the head, which could have resulted in him running off like that. You and Shoko did you best. Because of that, you saved someone's life."
The reassuring speech from the girl looked to work, or at least keep Shiozaki from blaming herself on the subject any longer. But that didn't mean there wasn't something else she felt at fault for.
"I also said that I would come back for her." Her black eyes fell to the ground in shame for a second time, and everyone else listened on with curiosity. "Shoko told me to run after being spotted by the villain. And like a fool, I did. She was hurt, and on the brink of death because I turned instead of staying to help." Shiozaki so much wanted to apologize with the depths of her heart to the dual-color haired girl for going to such lengths just to nearly get killed. "I said I would come back to help her, yet I just cowered like a fool while she fought for her life."
That was when everyone knew that she was having the same storm of emotions as Kirishima. And frankly, no one knew what to do. It was difficult to process the situation let alone try to deal with it. They were attacked, danced with death, and two students were now gone.
"If you feel that bad, then I'm also sorry for making you go through that."
The expression of sorrow and guilt were turned into ones of surprise and confusion. The eyes of 17 students landed on the figures of Shoko and Monoma standing at the room entrance. Both looked like they were prepared for some unknown event; both dressed in athletic clothing and had postures like they were about to offer them an answer to all their troubles.
"But if you want, there is a way you can make it up to me." Shoko's words widened Shiozaki's eyes even further before taking a few desperate steps forward.
"How? Please, I'll do anyth- "The girl was silenced when Shoko raised a hand to gesture for her to stop.
"Before you agree to anything, we need to explain what our plans are." At that, the class grouped together in the middle of the room with the teens forming a circle around the two.
"I'm just going to beat around the bush since this needs to be done as soon as possible." Shoko's words held a heavy weight of seriousness and mystery. "We're going to find Izuku... and Bakugo."
It was understandable for the rest to burst into chaos at the announcement, but it quickly died down when Shoko raised her hand once more.
"I know where he is, and I'm going to go bring him back. I don't care if you do or don't want to help. Nor can any of you stop me. The only reason I'm asking is because Monoma insisted we did. So, will anyone come with us?"
Once again, it was understandable as the room became deathly silent. Everywhere she looked, shocked expressions looked back. Unknown to everyone there, Monoma had some trouble keeping still from the faces that were all around him. They were too similar to the faces that his old school classmates made at him. But he reassured himself that this was nothing like his old school. These students, his new classmates were good people and strived to be heroes.
He was reminded of this from the countless times that he's had friendly conversations between them all. And Izuku had solidified that resolve. That was why he didn't hesitate to go with Shoko. Also, he really couldn't help the smile he got when two people stepped forward with determined looks.
"Eijiro, Shiozaki, what!?" Ashido was the first to react to the pair stepping forward.
"I've already decided long ago. I said I would do anything, and I meant it." Everyone was taken back by the powerful words that boldly came from Shiozaki. "I didn't do anything while you faced that villain all alone. That was the second time now that I've just turned from my teammates to let them fight in my place."
There was slight confusion among the teens until they remembered they day of the final exams. While Izuku stayed to hold off All Might, she ran from the dual to cross the finish line.
"I won't let that happen again. I'm taking a stand."
Twice now, the students were taken back by the steel of her resolve.
"Whoa... that was super manly, Shiozaki." Kirishima placed a hand on her shoulder as he had an impressed look. After she returned the look with an appreciative smile, the boy used his other hand and balled it into a fist as he raised it up. "And that is exactly why I agree. I also want to help go save them, and you all know exactly why that is. "He gestured to the rest. "This is a second chance to do something. To be a hero instead of just a victim. Come one guys, what do you say?"
The ecstatic boy was answered with unsure glances between themselves. A few looked thoughtful, others stayed motionless as they looked to floor. It was a few seconds of awkward silence when someone spoke up.
"This is a bad idea." In an instant, Asui had the spotlight. "If you guys go out there without permission, you'll just get in trouble with the school, not to mention the law. We aren't heroes, and we don't have our licenses yet. It doesn't matter that you think what you're doing is heroic, going out and using your quirks -even if it's to save someone- will basically make you villains. Ribbit. You should just tell the heroes that you know where they are."
Tsu's statement brought worry amongst most of the class. Then they looked to Shoko as she began to stand.
"First: I already said that no matter what you say will convince me to stop. Second: who said anything about using quirks?"
"It shouldn't matter weather you use your quirks or not. This is foolish enough as it is." Now, Iida took his turn to talk down the four. "Not only is it dangerous but could also result in you being put in the same situation as Midoriya and Bakugo; or even worse, killed. Even if you do manage to find them, what will you do then? What if they're being guarded by villains? Will you fight them and violate the law? If they were able to capture Bakugo and the strongest student of 1-A, then what do you think you could do? Think of the consequences. If things were to go south, then how do you think that will reflect on the image of UA, and the hero society as a whole?" Iida also gave a good point, but it fell on deaf ears. Shoko looked to be turning before Iida made one last effort. "You know how hypocritical this is, right!?" Shoko finally seemed to listen to his words. "You stopped me back in Hosu because I was driven by rage and the goal to avenge my brother. It was you and Midoriya who stopped me from making that damn mistake. Looking back on it now, I feel awful for blaming the two of you for it. But now you want to do the exact same thing that you saved me from! You know how ridiculous that sounds!?"
As the final words left his mouth, Shoko looked Iida straight in the eye.
"I'm not being guided by my hatred."
From there, Shoko said nothing more and walked away; quickly followed by Monoma, Shiozaki, and Kirishima. Iida was about to call out to them but stopped when Uraraka grabbed his shoulder.
"As much as I don't want them to go, she really meant by there being nothing we can do to stop her. She's hurting, Tenya." The taller boy looked down to see her giving a sympathetic look where they had last seen them. "In one way or another, they all are."
.....................................................................................................................
"Anyway, what's the plan? From the way you talked earlier, it sounded like you have something in mind." Kirishima looked to Shoko for his answer as they continued to walk down the ally.
"I do. But of course, it's highly flawed and is limited to how well we can adapt. First; we find the building that they're located in. Second; we find any and all information that could increase our chances for step three. Third; based on the information provided from step two, we head in and grab Izuku."
"Well, you weren't lying about it being limited. Guess it doesn't really matter though. Just as long as we get them back, then I say it all worked out fine." Kirishima responded.
"Hey, come look at this." Monoma, Shoko, and Kirishima turned back to see Shiozaki looking down an ally that they just passed. After heading back to her, they followed her gaze which lead back to the main street. Just across the street was a large crowd; all of which had their heads angled upwards. After doing the same, they glanced up to see Aizawa, Nezu, and Vlad on a large screen.
They were too far to hear what they were saying since they saw Aizawa's mouth moving but no sound came of it. Deciding it was important enough, they trudged down the ally until they were now within the group. By the time they got there, Aizawa had stopped talking and could hear a voice from behind the camera.
"I don't know how you expect us to believe that you have any of this under control. Following the several villain encounters that have already happened, we would expect that it would have been dealt with. Yet, here you are, and two students are who knows where, and you're just telling us that it's being taken care of."
The group of four didn't need to see the reporter's face to know that there was disbelief in his voice. And he couldn't have said it any worse either. All around them, the crowd was commenting on the unprofessionalism of the heroes.
"I can assure you, that we are doing everything in our power to find the kidnapped students and to bring the villains to justice. This attack was a shock to us all and should have been nonexistent. However, that does not excuse the fact that we were unable to prevent the capture of Midoriya and Bakugo. And for that, I deeply apologize." Aizawa looked to be keeping it together. But that didn't mean the four students watching didn't want to punch the reporter.
"An apology is not what we need right now. Right now, we need evidence and results that you are in fact doing what you are saying you are. All the while, anything could be happening to the students this very moment. Although, it is quite alarming to find that there is a distinct similarity between these two. Bakugo had shown great aggression and violent behaviors during the Sports Festival; even brutally injuring another classmate which could have permanently damaged her hand. "Every person who watched the Sports Festival all remembered the one-sided fight between Bakugo and Uraraka. "And then there's Midoriya. While he has not shown any signs of these traits, and actually was rather liked by his classmates, does not excuse the fact that his quirk makes him extremely dangerous. I'm sure that you've seen the mall incident that took place four years ago; the boy has incredible power. The only reason they would want anything to do with such a strong individual who wants to be a hero is that they have other means to use him for their future plans. What do you say to this?"
"Yes, I can not disagree that Bakugo has some issues regarding- "
The sound of Aizawa's voice slowly became quieter until there was no longer any trace of the conversation reaching her ears as Shoko shoved her way out of the crowd and back into the ally. The others took a bit longer to follow her, but by the time they managed to catch up to her in the ally she was breathing heavily. They were able to quickly deduce that it was not from fatigue, but from anger.
After about half a minute of debating weather they should try to talk to her, Shoko took one last deep inhale before letting it back out in a much calmer motion.
"That is never going to happen. We're going to save Izuku. Even Bakugo. I'll make sure of it."
.....................................................................................................................
"What!? You brought that mutt too!?"
The boys' sudden outburst caught the villains of guard. Ever since they tried talking with him and attempting to win him over, he's stayed completely silent. Only giving a grunt or a growl every so often as Shigaraki monologued. It was only until he mentioned the capture of Izuku that he finally reacted.
"I knew it! He really is a villain! Why else would you bastards take other than because he's a fucking monster." The villains looked on as Bakugo ranted about him kicking the wolfs' ass. One after another, they looked to each other in either confusion or... well... confusion. "I swear, the next time I see him, I'll skin his dumbass and mount him on my wall!"
With the newly produced image that was produced by the boy, Magne looked over to Toga before mouthing 'whaaat the fuuuck' to the small girl. Said girl, merely shrugged as she was actually enjoying the image of torturing the wolf herself.
"Egh, you're more screwed up than I imagined." The first sentence was more to himself as Shigaraki grabbed the blonde's attention from a snap of his fingers. "Listen; Midoriya is priority to us. So, you will not be doing any kind of harm on him before we get things undergoing. But... depending on how Sensei finds use of him, and if you join, then you can do anything you want with him."
Based on the given information that Shigaraki knew, he thought that he had this in the bag. Sensei had told him a number of things that he had in store for Midoriya. A few of which were perfectly suited for Bakugo getting what he wanted. There was no possible way that he could deny-.
"Are you shitting me!? Join you lame dumb fuck villain extras!? I don't need anyone's permission to beat that dog into the ground, and you're lucky that I'm restrained otherwise I would do the same to all of you!"
"Hehehe, you're acting more feral than Wolfy." All of Bakugos ire was directed to Toga.
"What did you say you ugly bitch!? I'll knock those stupid teeth right out of that stupid smile, you hear me!?"
Once again, Bakugo went on a rant about beating them all senseless until they were drowning on their own blood. All the while, Shigaraki's head was leaning on his knuckles as his elbow was placed in the bar counter. He was beginning to think that capturing this kid was a mistake. With a final sigh of annoyance upon hearing the brat begin to stomp the ground, he stood.
By the time he had completely risen, the room went quiet.
Crimson eyes looked into bright red.
"You really are more trouble than you're worth. You're no potential ally, you're just an annoying NPC. Time to put you back to sleep."
"You stay right where you are, greasy fingers! If you so much as touch me, I'll tear you a new one! You understand- "
*Knock knock*
"Hey... uuh, pizza delivery."
"..."
"..."
*CRASH*
From the wall that was opposite of the bar came a force that broke the bricks into crumbling; forming a large hole in the room. The moment that everyone was able to process what just happened, they saw All Might crashing into the wall just as he began to open his mouth.
"SMAAAASH!"
The villains reacted by preparing to attack the hero, but just before anyone could make the first move, another man appeared in the hole. Kamui Woods came forth and used his special move to trap every villain in the bar.
Dabi made an attempt to use his flames and burn through the wood and free everyone else. The attempt ended fairly quickly when Gran Torino zipped from the second entrance and delivered a dizzying blow to his head.
"What!? But during the press conference they said they had no leads! They planned this form the beginning!" Compress exclaimed his discovery, but it did little to help the situation.
"Ahh, you're hugging me too tight, tree man! Harder!" Twice exclaimed.
"It's to be expected that if you focus too much on offence that you neglect defense. But we didn't come alone, take a look." The villains watched as Edgeshot slipped through the small space in the door and proceeded to open it; revealing dozens of soldiers.
All Might glanced around the room until Bakugo came into sight. He grimaced slightly at learning that Izuku was nowhere in sight. He rushed over and broke the restraints with ease. All the while, congratulating the boy for his bravery. Although Toshi didn't like Bakugo for obvious reasons; several of which had something to do with attacking his son in some way, he wasn't Toshinori right now. He was All Might, and he was saving one of his students.
After all the restraints were off, the boy sat up and flexed his body. After a few seconds, the tall hero grabbed onto one of his shoulders to gain his attention.
"NOW YOUNG BAKUGO, DO YOU KNOW WHERE IZUKU MIGHT BE?" His tone was full of desperation. And in the heat of the moment neither realized that All Might asked with his first name.
"Tch, what does- "Bakugo caught himself mis-sentence. He had forgotten that he was with heroes now, so he needed to play it cool. "No, I was the only one to here. They've mentioned him but haven't said anything about his location."
It was subtle, but Bakugo for sure felt the hero's grip tighten on his shoulder. After a second, he let go and turned to Shigaraki with shining blue eyes.
"TOMURA SHIGARAKI, WHERE. IS. HE?"
"Heh, hehehe. I would be more worried about myself right now. Kurogiri!"
"..."
"Kurogiri!? What are you waiting for!? Bring the Nomus!"At his command, the heroes were caught off guard by the thought of having this place being swarmed by Nomus. They all braced, and waited... and waited. "Kurogiri, what are you waiting for!? Bring them!" "I'm sorry, Master Shigaraki. But something has happened. There supposed to be in a fixed location, but they aren't there anymore." The mist man explained. "It would seem that your back-up won't be arriving any time soon." Toshi could clearly see the irritation in the villains' eye. "NOW, TELL ME WHERE IZUKU YAGI MIDORIYA IS, AND YOUR BOSS."
The man of decay said nothing as he cast his hatred at the hero before him. With enough strength and willpower, he stood against the force of Kamui's wood. They all expected him to go out on a verbal rage against the heroes, even try thrashing around in the wood while making himself look ridiculous.
What they didn't expect was the sinister smile to etch onto the villains' face.
"You seem to be close to the boy." All Might gave a slight flinch from his words. "And he wants to be a hero so bad. I'm actually impressed with some of the stuff that he's done so far. And I'm sure that he will continue to do great things." Shigaraki narrowed his eyes at the hero; knowing what is soon to come. "But who said that villains couldn't be great?"
Although they were too far to hear, there was a massive explosion somewhere else in the city
.....................................................................................................................
*10 minutes earlier*
All it took was the small a small click and Izuku was on high alert. He looked up to the door where he had heard the source of the sound. Before, the room was void of any kind of light. But now, there was a tiny slit of it peeking through the edge of the door.
With intense eyes, he watched the door slowly begin to open. The moment it did, he was met with tons of new smells. All of which were confusing and worrying. The first to register in his mind was the scent of a man; a man who smelled... ancient? There was a certain power held within the odor. That was what really worried him.
The next thing he caught scent of was the mass aroma of medicinal resources and other strange materials of which he was unfamiliar with. Before the door could even be fully opened, Izuku had gathered the scents of over 30 objects; most of which were material structures that made up common furniture and appliances.
And just as he already learned, the door fully opened to reveal a man. Before he could take in any details, he acted.
Whoever chained him down was a fool to not completely gag him.
This room was soundproof, yeah. But not when you make an opening.
With a deep breath, he raised his head to the ceiling and let out a thunderous roar.
He was met with silence.
After seconds of waiting for the sound of his call to register in his ears, he found that it did not come. Instead of releasing every bit of his lungs into the attempt, he stopped early when he heard the soft laughter.
Even though the man before him looked to be amused by the sight, Izuku felt every fiber of his being shiver and his instincts flare from the seemingly innocent chuckle. He didn't know if it was because it sounded strange or because the man had his voice while he did not.
Izuku looked back to the man with caution eyes. He was indeed laughing, and it was indeed strange as the noise was being altered by the bizarre metal contraption that encased his head. With a single hand raised up towards Izuku, the man's laughter soon began to die down.
"That was a creditable effort. Too bad that I am one step ahead." His voice still expressed that he was entertained by the attempt and also mockery because it failed. He then turned and shut the door while keeping a hand aimed at Izuku. When the sound of the door latching back in place did, he finally lower his hand.
To test his hypothesis, Izuku exhaled sharply. And sure enough, he could hear his own breath hiss against the metal mask.
'So, by aiming his hand at me, he can silence any noise I make. Damn.'
"Quite the observation. Fairly smart for someone your age." This time, the man sounded slightly impressed.
'What? He read my mind. How- '
"It's not perfect mind reading, but it gets the job done. Finding a quirk that best fits that has been rather tricky. This is more describable as an emotion reader. When I felt that you had a sudden emotion of triumph, I assumed you figured out I was cancelling your soundwaves." Izuku couldn't help but stare as the man described this mysterious power. "Now, I may already know your name, but I think it would still be polite to introduce yourself, hmm?"
For a couple seconds, Izuku thought it over. He couldn't say too much, but he also needed to say enough to keep the man talking. Getting as much intel is key here. This man was a complete stranger to him except for the few clues that he's picked up.
"Izuku Yagi Midoriya. You?"
"Ah, a piece for a piece. Smart lad considering I already knew your name. But surely there is more to your title than just your name. Isn't that right, Ragnarök?" Izuku blinked at the name.
'He knows about my quirk, too much.'
"So, you're familiar with Norse Mythology. That's surprising, especially since everyone else doesn't know about it until I tell them."
"Well, when you've been around for as long as I, you tend to pick up some interests here and there. And I must say; when I first saw you four years ago, I thought a god had truly come down from their ethereal plane. When I learned that it was in fact a boy with a god-like quirk, I was simply thrilled." The excitement in the man's voice was evident.
"And why is that? Why would a villain like you be happy about a person like me having a powerful quirk who also wants to be a hero? Shouldn't that make you worried?" Even though Izuku couldn't see his face, he could tell that he was smiling under that mask.
"Oh, but my dear child, you could not possibly understand how thrilled I really am. After years of idling by, waiting for my recovery, I could not enjoy myself to doing what I love. And now, here you are, ripe for the taking." Izuku's instincts were starting to make him impatient with the man.
"What the hell are you talking about?" At Izuku's question, the man leaned in close to his face.
"I'm talking about taking your quirk of course."
The realization dawned upon Izuku. The way his body reacted to the chilling discovery felt like he was suddenly at the bottom of the ocean; cold and constricted.
This was him. This was the villain of all villains. The one who started it all.
"I" 'You'
"Am" 'Are'
"All for One/All for One."
Izuku couldn't help the feeling of fear that crawled over his skin and the pool of dread that filled his stomach.
Before him was the villain that has ended thousands of lives and could easily do it again. He was the reason why Toshi was in such a bad state.
'What do I do?'
"Ah, so it would seem that you already know who I am. You're more involved than I initially thought. Good, that just makes this all the easier. Listen child, this doesn't have to end badly for you. There is a way that you can keep your quirk." The wolf said nothing as he glared where he thought the man's eyes would be. "Our organization is taking any chance we can get to recruit more allies. And you would be a perfect replacement for Muscular and the Nomu that you killed." Izuku's heart skipped a beat when he heard the news. "Oh, did you not know? Well, some of Shigaraki's friends said that you looked to be out of control, so I suppose you do not remember the Nomu that was genetically created from your DNA." Once again, Izuku's heart skipped a beat. Actually, it skipped several. "And since you were the one to survive, that would mean you are far stronger than any Nomu we could create. If you join us, you can keep that strength. And if not" AFO raised a hand to be only inches from the boys' forehead. "I'll just take it for myself."
For what felt like hours, forest fire eyes gazed into invisible ones.
Neither moved.
Neither made a sound.
It was only the sudden rumble in the room that either showed signs of life.
"Hmm, this is unexpected. I suppose I should have stayed back for a bit while they persuaded the Bakugo boy." Izuku was beginning to think that he was having a heart attack with the amount of times that his heart acted out. "Oh well, there are visitors that need to be treated. I trust that you will be going nowhere. And I highly suggest not trying to transform. After all, I'm sure you haven't noticed the special collar that the doctor made for you. Far well for now."
Instead of going through the door when he entered, he was engulfed in a strange sludge like substance that looked to swallow him. Before he could figure out what was happening, the sludge vanished, and so did the man.
And just like before he ever appeared, Izuku was left alone in the dark room.
There was so much going on in his head. There was confusion, anxiety, excitement, fear and all other sorts of emotions that were sending him into a turmoil. He just met the most infamous villain in all of history, and he was giving him a choice.
"Kch, yeah right. As if I'd join you."
Izuku found himself yanking against the chains again. He had regained enough strength to hear the creaking strain as the binds barely kept hold, but it still wasn't enough. But even then, he kept trying as he tested each and every angle to try and get just enough leverage to break free.
*BOOM*
The room shook once more. But this time, it wasn't just a rumble, it felt like a full-on earthquake. The vibration that coursed through his legs and the rattle of the chains did nothing to ensure that his isolated room was the only thing to be affected by whatever this was.
Harder than before, Izuku fought against the restraints. He didn't know what AFO meant by the 'specialized collar' but he had no choice. With the amount of strength that he had, Izuku began to shift into full Fenrir form.
He could feel the cuffs along his body begin to get tighter as he became bigger.
Out of nowhere, searing pain shot through his neck.
He let out a sharp grunt as he halted the transformation and de-shifted far enough for the pain to stop. Once it did, he looked down himself to find small drops of blood running down his chest.
"What did they put on me? It felt like knives were piercing my throat."
It would be best if he just shifted into Light-Form. And that was exactly what he did as just his limbs elongated and grew fur. The normal length of his black claws grew twice their length. With the extra leverage and power from his lengthened limbs, he broke the chain on his right arm.
It took a larger portion of his energy than he thought, be he didn't stop as Izuku broke his left arm free. Now with both arms, he raised them to his neck.
It took no time for him to find the foreign object. His initial plan was to just break it, but after remembered what happened when he applied pressure to it last time, he resorted to super heating his limbs and melting the secondary collar.
It took longer than what he was comfortable with, but when it finally fell form his neck, he viewed the awful design of the torture device.
It was simple, yet effective for people with transformation quirks. It was a type of tough metallic restraint that had dozens of horrific needles on the inside. That was what must have caused the pain when he tried to shift earlier.
No longer being held back by the collar, he fully transformed. The metal vest did little to keep his growing body from breaking away. Especially when the wolf dug his claws into the middle of the vest and began to tear it from the center.
When the majority of the case fell to the ground, Izuku worked on the large cuffs that were directly attached to the floor.
Just like the other restraints, they were easily ripped apart.
Now, the wolf stood fully free. The only thing holding him back was the metal door before him. Something that Izuku already took note of was that the door had no handle; not on the inside at least. But in the end, it didn't matter.
With a small percentage of OFA, he tore a massive gash into the metal. Within the deepest parts of the strike, small beams of light shown through.
It took a multitude of strikes to finally create an opening large enough for him to squeeze through. During which, his muscles were already beginning to ach again.
'Come on, just hold it together for a little longer.'
Izuku picked up the first scent of open air and waste no time following it to what he hoped to be the open sky. He had to traverse through dark hallways and past rooms that looked questionable. But he couldn't do anything about it now, he'll show this place to the heroes when he gets out.
Izuku didn't know why, but he had to stop for a moment.
He was feeling... something.
Something that he couldn't recognize where it was coming from, but it was familiar.
He couldn't stop the overwhelming sense of foreboding.
With a clawed hand, he reached up to his collar; just above the spot where he placed the tracker.
Shoko
.....................................................................................................................
*10 minutes before the first rumble*
"This is it."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely." Shoko didn't have a doubt in her mind that this was the building that Izuku was in.
"Alright then, what now?" Monoma asked. His answer was not immediate as Shoko looked over the average looking structure.
"Shiozaki." Shoko grabbed the girl's attention. "Can you lift us up onto the roof?"
"Yes."
After just a minute of lifting a person at a time on top of the building, the other three pulled Shiozaki up with them. Before anything else could be said, Shoko spotted the roof entrance and made her way over. Much to her annoyance, the door was locked.
Kirishima was about to offer his help but stopped when he saw that the door handle began to freeze. With a trained kick, Shoko shattered the handle silently and effectively. With the handle missing, the latch bolt was useless as it no longer kept the door firmly in place.
Opening the released a set of stairs, which was to be expected.
"You guys can still turn back. You don't have to go in with me." Shoko didn't look away from the doorway as she said it.
"Are you kidding? We already got this far. There's no way that I'm just going to chicken out now." Kirishima was the first to respond.
"I feel the same way." Monoma answered next.
"Me too." Then Shiozaki.
"...Thank you."
The short staircase led the group of four to an overhanging catwalk inside the building. From there, they were able to get a full view of what was on the inside. Most of which just consisted of bundles of junk and trash.
*Gasp*
The noise turned their heads to Shiozaki just in time as she cupped a hand over her mouth and recoiled away from the edge.
"Shiozaki, what is it?" Monoma asked in a hushed tone. Instead of saying anything, she simply pointed out to a corner of the room.
When everyone looked to where she was pointing, they all gave similar reactions.
All their eyes were on the isles of Nomus that were sunken in tubs of a strange liquid. There were tons of them; enough to call a full assault if these beasts were to be sent on an attack against the city.
"Wait, there's someone there." After hearing Monoma's discovery, they looked to where he was gesturing to see a more humanoid figure in a separate tub. Once glance at the light green hair and the group instantly spotted the missing hero; Ragdoll.
"She's here?" Shoko was just as surprised as the rest to find that she looked to be alive. "Come one."
The team rushed down the catwalk as quickly and quietly as possible and ran across the building to the hero. Shiozaki assisted Shoko in pulling her out while Kirishima managed to find a blanket and give it to the bare hero. Placing her against on the of the walls; the teens thought up their next move.
"We have to take her back." Shoko looked to Monoma in betrayal.
"What!? But you said yourself that we are too far in to turn back."
"Yeah, I did. But that was before we got an unconscious hero on our hands. She obviously needs help and we can't get her that help if we further endanger her and ourselves by going out to find Izuku and Bakugo." Monoma explained while the other two understood what he was saying. Although, Shoko was still refused.
"They haven't had Ragdoll any longer than they had them. If she's already like this, then who knows what they are doing to him." Shoko countered.
"They're capable of defending themselves. I hate to leave without them just as you do, but now that the situation has changed, so does that plan. You said that it was limited and was efficient based on our ability to adapt. Now that we've found this place, we can call the heroes here and save them." Before Shoko could say anything else, they heard a sigh from Kirishima as he looked to her with a defeated look.
"Yeah, sorry Todoroki, but he's right. You saw what they said on the news; they have no leads and no idea where the villains are hiding. Us just knowing that much is valuable to everyone. If we get stuck in here somehow, then things could get worse. We've got Ragdoll. Midoriya and Bakugo are still in here somewhere, but that just means that we've already done so much to help." After hearing him out, Shoko turned to Shiozaki. The black-eyed girl turned to her as she seemed to process what both have said. Finally, she looked back to Shoko.
"Whichever you decide, I will stay with you- "
"No." The other three were taken back by Shoko's sudden response. "I can't pull you into this. I knew from the start that this was dangerous. I won't make you come with me just because you feel like you owe me anything. Shiozaki, you did the right thing to run. Sometimes... it's good to run." The others couldn't help but feel bad at seeing the hurt look on Shoko's face once more. With slightly watery eyes, she stood and faced towards the door on the far side of the room. "Let's go."
Kirishima took the responsibility of carrying Ragdoll bridal style with Shiozaki at his side to ensure he didn't lose his grip. Monoma stood at the side of Shoko who was working with the door. Just as the one on the roof, it was locked. Also, like the one from the roof, it wasn't for long. Soon enough, the door was wide open as Kirishima was working his way through the exit without smacking Ragdoll's head on the frame.
Meanwhile, Monoma was on the outside watching out for anyone who might not be friendly while Shoko was doing the same on the inside.
After he got through and proceeded to power walk away, Monoma peaked back in to call for Shoko.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Shoko didn't answer Monona's call, and instead stood in front of the tubs of Nomus. "Hey, we're ready to go. So, what are you waiting for?"
"We don't know when they plan their next attack. We don't know anything about their next move at all. But if there was a block in their plan, then we can knock them off balance, make them slip up somewhere. Without these, they'll have problems." As Shoko explained, her left side began to emit steam and a small amount of fire.
"Todoroki, wait. We still have the element of surprise." Monoma tried to talk her down.
"We don't. After we leave here with Ragdoll, they will know that we were here. We have to inflict as much damage before either the villains or the heroes get here."
Before Monoma could try to say anything else, Shoko launched a massive wave of fire at the sleeping monsters. The bright orange flames erupted across the bodies of each bioengineered weapon as they laid lifelessly while being eaten away. Each tub broke form the attack as the greenish liquids spilled onto the floor, and whatever wasn't able to slip away in time was evaporated by the scorching heat.
There must have been something hidden within the small area that Shoko burned, because not long after her attack, there was an explosion that flew both Shoko and Monoma backwards.
The landing wasn't painful, but it was able to knock the breath out of them both as they each regained control of their breathing.
"A-are you d-done?" Shoko looked over to Monoma who had an unimpressed look on his face.
"Y-yeah... I'm done. Let's go."
"Hey, what happened!? We're waiting on you two and suddenly there is an explosion!" Both looked over to see a distressed Shiozaki who was visible in the doorway.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Shoko said as she got to her feet first and helped Monoma on his. "Come one, that's bound to have attracted someone unwanted attention."
"Indeed it did."
Their trek to freedom was stopped in an instant as the voice came from just behind them. Shoko's first move was an ice wall that shot up just behind her foot. As soon as she did, she grabbed Monoma's arm and swung him to the exit. Shiozaki's training at the camp had allowed her to carefully catch the boy and pull him out the door.
Shoko's next move was to shoot an ice pillar from her foot to follow close behind them and just hoped that the wall was enough to keep the unknown person at bay.
She was only able to get just airborne when everything went white.
For the longest time, there was nothing but white. Here, her body felt numb.
With each of her five senses, there was nothing.
Then... black spots began to appear.
Began to feel certain things, like a building reassure all across herself.
Soon, she was hearing ringing.
The void of white was being overtaken by the darkness.
She found that the feeling was pain.
The ringing turned into inaudible noises that mixed together.
Now, the void turned black, each part of her body was in pain, she began to make out the noises to be people talking.
And finally, she opened her eyes.
.....................................................................................................................
"What the hell is she doing here?"
AFO turned from his successor and to the child that asked the question. The boy was staring at the girl who he had killed...
"Oh... it would appear that she was able to survive that. I suppose that ice was more solid than I initially suspected." As he and rest of League of Villains watched as the girl blinked open her eyes and slowly began to move.
*Gasp* "Peppy!" At that, Toga began to run to the barely conscious girl. But just before she could get there, someone else jumped in the way and attempted to swing at the villain. Said villain dodged the attack and backed away.
"Stay back!" The red-haired boy yelled to them. Besides the fact that he looked beat up and has some blood running down the side of his head, his skin looked like it was made of rock and his teeth were similar to a sharks'. The rocky looked texture looked to be real as the blade that deflected from his arm showed no injury.
That owner of the blade that was thrown looked to be upset, and if you knew Toga, you would know exactly why.
"If you don't get away from my Peppy, then I'll be sure to carve you into many pieces." The threat was intimidating enough as the boy looked disturbed but did not move.
"No way, I'm not going to let you hurt my friend!"
"She's my friend too, you jerk! She let's me call her Peppy! What about you, huh!?"
"I'm pretty sure I've never seen you before and I've never heard anyone call her that either! Besides, you're a villain!"
"Rrrr, I'll be sure to cut you all over!" Once the threat was finished, the girl charged the boy.
"Hugh!"
Just before Toga could thrust the new dagger at the newcomer, she was suddenly thrown backwards at abnormal speeds. It was lucky for Toga that Magne was able to stop her flight. Unlucky for Magne, she took the full force of the human cannonball. The two of them fell several yards back. One groaning and the other unconscious from the invisible attack.
The attack that only AFO saw.
In the blink of an eye, a wolf burst from the rubble and backhanded the young villain right in the stomach. Now, both her and Dabi were out for the count as the fire user was knocked out in the bar by the yellow caped hero. Spinner was almost in the same boat as those two. While he was wide-awake, his injuries were still too new for him to be moving around and having to rely on Twice for support.
The rest of the villains gawked at the sudden presence of the wolf. And god, did he look pissed.
"Ah, Midoriya! You're okay! Come on man, we gotta get out of here!" Kirishima pleaded with the wolf for them to leave but saw that Izuku did not move.
"Hmm, it would seem that I underestimated your recovery rate. Even so, it was foolish of you to use your last bit of strength for just one attack."
Kirishima didn't know what the man in the mask meant, but he soon found out when the mighty wolf before him dropped to one knee.
"Midoriya!" Kirishima called out once more as the wolf began to shrink. Much faster than comfortably possible, Izuku was back into his original form; thankfully still wearing the shorts that were able to keep themselves held together through his shift.
He was breathing heavily with sweat running down his entire body. If you were one of the villains, you could see that his eyes looked exhausted, no matter how much they glared.
"Kiri...shima... why are you ... here? And why is Shoko... hurt?"
Even if the wolf looked like he was ready to drop at any moment, most of the villains shivered at the near growl of his question.
"We came after you, man. Todoroki said that she knew where you and Bakugo were, so we came to help." Kirishima explained. And for a split second, made eye-contact with Bakugo who was still frozen in place among the group of villains.
"We?" Izuku asked back.
"Yeah. Me, Monoma, and Shiozaki. We came out here to rescue the two of you, but it looks that it turned out to be the opposite in the end. We were just one our way out with Ragdoll and to notify everyone that you were here when we were attacked."
"Why... didn't you... just call them... to begin with?" There was a hint of disbelief in Izuku's voice. And honestly, Kirishima could understand why. Before he answered, he looked down in shame
"We wanted to make up for our wrongs at camp. While you and others were fighting, we stood back and did nothing. I know, it was idiotic of us and we should have just gotten help, but I just didn't want to not do anything again; to be so helpless. I'm sorry."
"As much as I... hate to admit it... I know how you feel... and I probably... would have done the same. But we aren't in the clear... just yet. Get Shoko... and run."
"What!? And just leave you here with them? Hell no, man." Kirishima brought up his fists but wasn't able to get into a stance before Izuku intercepted.
"Now! You and Shoko can't be here... they will... kill you. Go find the rest... and call for help... please." Now, Izuku's voice was full of desperation and worry. "You have to... I'm counting on you... to get her to safety."
"...Okay, I'll do it." In one foul swoop, Kirishima spun, scooped up Shoko, and ran off to where he last saw his friends.
Just as he was about to exit the devastated field, he heard Shoko speak.
"Izuku."
It sounded so weak, and Kirishima thought for sure that he was too far for Izuku to have even heard. But then again, it was only Shoko who saw the boys' ear twitch.
"Hey, what gives? How come we let them get away?" Twice asked. "And why did we give them that much time to talk?"
"Because, the one true prize is right here." AFO began to walk towards Izuku who was still down on one knee and one hand placed on the ground. "All we need is the wolf. And with him currently this weak, it's too easy to ignore. So, we will make do with what we have. Besides, heroes will be here soon so we cannot waste time fighting children." At the end of his explanation, AFO had approached Izuku. "Now then, shall we do this the easy way, or the hard way?"
Izuku only glared up at the man. But after a few seconds, the wolf looked down and he forced himself to rise. Hearing the effort in his grunts to stand, the villains watched as he finally balanced on two feet.
Slowly, he looked up to the villain. And the villain saw as lavender eyes burned into his soul.
"Plus Ultra."
In the time that it took the sound of the message to travel 30 feet to the rest of the league, a fist had launched the embodiment of evil across the field; causing a large eruption of debris from the already destroyed building.
When the villains were finally able to register what had happened, they were being threatened off their feet from the wind pressure that seemed to come from nowhere. After having to shield themselves with their arms from the flying debris for many seconds, the gust finally subsided. When it did, Shigaraki looked back to see his master embedded in the center of a massive crater as concrete tumbled like avalanches all around him. Even though there was no visible damage on the man, Shigaraki knew that his sensei was weakened.
Meanwhile, the rest of the villains who weren't unconsciousness gawked at the god-like child. Smoke was slowly rising from his body, and he was being surrounded by countless indigo embers. His eyes held nothing but hatred, and the snarl that bared all his fangs accounted for it.
"My my. This is truly unexpected." The other villains shared the gaze of Shigaraki. "I should have known that my rival would have chosen a successor by now. I just wasn't expecting it to be you of all people. It's a real shame that I can't have your quirk since it's been fused with it." Although they could hear his voice, the man had not moved from the crater. "The power that shrouded that punch. It's all too familiar to me. I've seen that same punch aimed at me for two centuries. And each time, I eliminated each holder. Let me ask you; what makes you think that you'll be any different?" This time, AFO finally moved and began to pull himself from the concrete cavity. Instead of falling from the height that he was at, he gently floated back towards Izuku.
"I couldn't tell you because I didn't know the previous holders. But you know what; it doesn't matter." Just as Izuku finished the sentence, AFO landed in between him the other villains. "You hurt so many people. You've killed even more. You hurt my friends and put them in danger several times. You threatened my mother, my father, and the people who took time out of their lives to guide me. And just now, you threatened the life of my lover. All that matters is your answer to my question."
"And what might that be?" There was a hint of amusement in his voice; just as he did when Izuku was locked in chains.
"Is that a challenge?"