Tertiary Alignment

Tomura growled through his bandage-biting teeth as he wrapped another layer of medical cloth around his arm, seeing it already soaked with his blood underneath. With an awkward pull of his free hand and mouth, he managed to tighten the rather messy knot he'd assembled and felt his limb's blood flow stabilize. A row of knuckles grated into his cheek, attempting to wipe off dirt and sweat, although it accomplished little since his hand was covered in the same substances.

The lanky man groaned as he got to his feet, moving across the dilapidated shack he currently occupied to hopefully find some rest in the landfill futon across the room. The piece of furniture creaked as he settled in, Tomura breathing out as he stared down at his hands, clenching and unclenching fists. Another round without much progress. Hopefully his group's other activities were bearing greater fruit.

"Yo, Boss!"

Right on cue. Even in his somewhat battered state, Shigaraki found the sense to be positive at what news his cohort would bring. He placed his weary red eyes on the door-less doorway, through which Twice's head had popped out of from the side. "What have you got for me?" Tomura's ally gave a thumbs up.

"Just wanted to let you know one of your clones bit the dust," he replied in a chipper tone, as if discussing the weather on a glorious morning. Shigaraki's crimson orbs widened in mixed anger and shock.

"What?! Which one?" he demanded. Twice dramatically flinched, but resumed just the same.

"The one you sent to gather information on that weird quirkless deal going on. Should've just sent him to find a new TV!" He motioned to the pile of dust sitting in the corner, where once stood the League's main window into the world news, accidentally turned to dust when Tomura stumbled into the room, exhausted and nearly passing out, thinking it was a table to hold himself up. The Decay user didn't bother with Twice's snide remark, instead standing back up with renewed vigor and shoving past the masked villain.

"Where are the others?" he asked, emerging into the late evening sunset.

"Still out taking care of business. Bunch of slackers is what they are!" Tomura stopped his pace and scanned the fringes of their current hideout's perimeter. He was getting sick of the view in all honesty, stuck in a ditch, the remains of an abandoned construction site. 'Ruins' perhaps the more accurate term, with all the fighting it had been subjected to now. Unfortunately, Shigaraki wasn't exactly in a position to have his untamed opponent move before resuming their struggle. He briefly considered subtly moving the battleground during their next engagement, but reconsidered when he thought it would risk attracting attention.

"Oh yeah, there's these two punks wanting to talk to you. They were very polite."

Tomura swiveled to face Twice, face in a scowl. "You didn't mention that first?!" he hissed. His compatriot just shrugged.

"You looked like crap, so I waited until you seemed okay to move. The picture of endurance and liveliness you are!" Tomura rolled his eyes before commanding Twice to take him to the pair he'd encountered. The two villains trudged through the scarred and broken surroundings, occasionally climbing around some blasted out rubble to reach the other end of the site. Tomura noted they were heading away from Gigantomachia's vicinity, counting it as lucky in the event that their 'guests' were hoping to snoop around. A few minutes later and they came within sight of the pair Twice mentioned, Shigaraki narrowing his eyes at their rather unimpressive appearances.

Both were adult males of average stature, no physical abnormalities that would hint at a mutation type quirk, though it would be possible they were hiding something underneath their matching brick red trench coats. Keeping this in mind, the villains stopped a generous distance from the strangers. Even from there, Shigaraki could notice their facial features, recognizing them both as foreigners. One's skin tone and hair suggested Middle-Eastern, while the other perhaps European, or overseas. In either case, the two stared back at Shigaraki with unflinching, sharp eyes, making no move as a brief silence lapsed over the gathered four.

"Wow, they actually waited nicely like I asked, how chivalrous! Pfft, morons. Could've just snuck up after me and snapped my neck." The lighter-toned man shook his head.

"We regretfully need information from you directly." Tomura caught the accent. European, definitely, but he couldn't pinpoint the country. The stranger's companion eyed the league leader directly.

"We're here for the bullets, Shigaraki." At this declaration, Tomura's stance shifted, which the coated pair didn't miss.

"Your trip was wasted then," the Decay user replied with venom, unclenching his hands and spreading them out in preparation. "But at least now I know how to respond to your visit. Twice, kill them." His fellow villain didn't miss a beat, pulling out his wrist-mounted measuring tape and lashing it around a few times. The villains' opposition responded to their act of aggression by glancing at one another, but other than that remained stationary. Cautious, Shigaraki advanced upon them slowly, saving his speed for when they were in range. Twice followed his lead, inching forward as if he were approaching a rabid dog.

Eventually, Tomura realized they'd have to make the first strike. Now within reasonable range, he sprinted forward, though cursed when he found his speed not at optimum performance, still nursing injuries from his last round. Regardless, he was sure he'd be able to close the distance enough to dust the two intruders. Especially with his improvements.

The European's eyes suddenly flashed red.

Shigaraki's own widened in surprise, even as his hand touched the man's chest. The distraction, along with the lack of decay affecting his foe, unfortunately led Tomura to taking a hard knee to the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Twice, equally distracted, found his weapon of choice deflected by a bladed arm brace concealed beneath the Arab's coat sleeve, which was torn apart in the ensuing exchange. Not long after, the masked villain was floored by a follow-up punch to the jaw, throwing him back onto the dirt. Shigaraki's opponent took the opportunity to give the disoriented leader a blow to the head as well, before twisting him around into a lock, keeping his obviously strained eyes firmly on the foe as he called to his partner.

"Alim, now!" The Arabic man rushed over and reached out his gloved hand, grasping Shigaraki's while the villain struggled to clear his head. The man's expression momentarily shifted to horror, before simmering back down to stoic and releasing his grip, motioning for his partner to back off as he did the same. It was just in time, as his counterpart's eyes returned to their natural brown iris, their owners rubbing them with his forearm. Tomura and Twice managed to get back on their feet, wondering what in the world had just transpired.

"How? How do you have that power!? What did you do to me just now?" the Decay user demanded, doing his best to cover his wincing at the pain. His enemies seemed to ignore his questions, even as they cautiously kept their eyes on him.

"They're not here," the man, Alim, relayed to his partner. "Their exact location is unknown even to him." Shigaraki was understandably alarmed. The European grunted in frustration, shaking his head.

"Damn it. Alright, we'll finish here and head back." Alim nodded, grabbing at his ruined coat and throwing it aside, an act mirrored by his companion. Beneath the garb, the opposing villains were surprised to see full tactical suits, loaded with lines of utility pouches and equipment, as well as a few holsters. Tomura briefly noted a red insignia on the two's chest plates: the image of a cliff side.

"It shouldn't pose a problem for the immediate future, especially once we deal with them," Alim assured his friend. The other gave a sigh, reaching for a holster.

"Fine, but be ready, I've only got a few erasures left." Alim acknowledged, grabbing a firearm as well. Instinctually, Tomura and Twice jumped for the nearest cover, narrowly avoiding the first round of bullets coming their way. The enemies closed in on their hiding spots, reloading their pistols as they eyed the rubble concealing their targets. Suddenly, three Shigarakis sprang from where Twice was hiding, rapidly closing in on the two foes.

"You can still negate the clones' quirks," Alim shouted, unloading a few bullets into the nearest copy. As it dissolved into grey muck, the man's partner activated his power again, crimson glowing eyes keeping all the targets in sight. The two were slowed in their approach as Twice sent in more, rapidly draining their ammo supply. As they were forced to reload, they resorted to close-quarters, which proved effective since the copies were of Tomura in his current state.

Even as the mess cleared, they found they'd given the two villains an opening, the real Shigaraki having snuck around in a blind spot to grab at the mysterious Erasure user, who had been forced to blink again as his ability wore off. "Elias, his range has increased!" Following the warning from Alim, the man jumped back, though not before Shigaraki managed to catch his weapon in the decay, forcing him to ditch the crumbling firearm. Alim, having his eyes taken off Twice, suffered the same disarmament, the copying villain's tape whipping the pistol out of his hand.

The two retreated back to recover, but the foes were on them now, rushing in for the kill before they could strike back. What they didn't expect was for Elias to suddenly use Erasure again, as well as for Alim to quickly fire two dart-like devices from his wrist, each one clamping onto a villain's chest, at which point they howled at receiving a devastating shock to their nervous systems. The pair crumpled to the ground, twitching in a desperate attempt to regain mobility.

Alim and Elias stepped over to them, studying the felled villains. Elias' eyes trembled as the red glow from them faded away, the man rubbing at them vigorously while growling to himself.

"God I hate using that one. With that kind of side effect you could mistake it for one of yours." Alim grimaced at the comment, eyeing his partner carefully. Elias seemed to notice his mistake, glancing back with concern. "S-sorry." Alim just gave a small nod, accepting the apology. The two looked back down at Tomura. "Don't worry, we'll tip the cops off about your friends." While Shigaraki scowled at the taunt, Alim knelt down by Twice and grasped the man's hand. After a moment, he stood back up and shook his head.

"Nothing new of any relevance. Let's go." Elias nodded, reaching down to his belt and grabbing what Tomura could only describe as a hand grenade. The two men strolled past the paralyzed villains, Elias pulling the pin from his device as he did.

"No evidence. Nothing personal," he offered down to the league head. He dropped the item near the Decay user's head, casually exiting the blast zone with Alim. Tomura desperately struggled even now, only succeeding in moving his hand towards the explosive by his side before a bright flash drew his attention. A split second later, detonation occurred, the two assailants remaining with their backs turned until the full force of the blast ran its course, at which point they looked back at their handiwork.

The smoking crater was enough for them, the duo making their way to the edge of the site to climb back to surface level, leaving the area in deathly silence.

"Alright, alright, girls, I'm gonna have to move along."

A small gathering of female high schoolers pouted in unison, watching as a striking tan-skinned young man waved them off with a smile and wink, returning to the side of his apparent accomplice, who was patiently leaning against a nearby building, arms crossed and eyes closed. The slightly older man took notice as his friend rejoined him, opening his gaze to him and giving a brief huff as the two fell in line, walking down the fairly deserted sidewalk.

"I knew they should've sent someone else with me, you draw too much attention." The younger boy chuckled, shrugging.

"What can I say? Japan loves foreigners." He noticing an approaching semi, quickly switching sides with his companion as the massive vehicle passed them by on the adjacent street. "You'd probably get some fangirls too if you contributed to the conversation, Sasha." The man huffed again.

"I'll pass. Anyway, we've got about a block to go to the substation. Should be an alleyway running by the back gate." His companion's grin faltered into a flat line.

"You sure it's clean?" Sasha nodded.

"This is a well-maintained neighborhood. Much of the country is the same, honestly." The younger man nodded.

"Let's hope it stays that way. The thought of being useless to everyone scares me more than anything." Sasha actually grinned this time.

"Don't worry, I've got your back in case anything goes wrong." His friend didn't reply, but did smile. The two said nothing else as they traversed the remainder of the distance to their target. The younger man remained nonchalant throughout the walk, still admiring all the bright architecture and abundant vegetation of their location. So indulgent was he in his observations that he completely missed their turn.

"Romero, this way," his companion urged. The other corrected his course, following Sasha down the narrow walkway to their goal. They came upon the chain link fence not long after, plastered with 'warning' and 'city property' signs. Rather than dealing with the barricade itself, Romero waited for Sasha to step up next to him, then tapped his right foot on the ground. In an instant, a rocky platform rose from beneath, elevating the two above the fence altogether. The pillar then jutted outward, moving the pair forward past the obstruction and to their destination.

Sasha hopped off the earthen elevator as Romero lowered them back down, using his power to completely disperse the rock into a flurry of sand, which blew away in the gentle breeze. His partner immediately went to work, pulling at his gloves as he knelt to work on the nearest fuse box. The work went unhindered for much of the time, Sasha moving on to the others as Romero casually kept watch through the gate. He smiled peacefully, thankful for an objective without incident.

As if triggering the almighty karma, both young men were suddenly startled by a blast from nearby, attention drawn to a now punched-out hole in the wall by the gate. Romero backed away in anticipation, but retained a calm demeanor on the outside, his partner taking the chance to hide to conceal their numbers.

With the wall now absent for a decent length, the two watched an imposing figure stalk through, his agitated stare catching sight of Romero immediately. The young man smirked upon seeing who they were up against, considering it fortunate. Death Arms didn't seem to care what his expression was, raising a massive hand to point at the foreigner.

"We got a tip about a pair of suspicious individuals skulking about the city's power supplies. Don't think you're touching another substation." The pro hero raised both his fists in anticipation of resistance. "Come along quietly. Your buddy too, wherever he is." Romero sighed in exasperation, raising his right hand back at the man. Like a missile launcher, he began firing bowling ball-sized chunks of rock at his opposition. Although Death Arms seemed surprised at the speed at which they were approaching, he didn't break a sweat in blocking them with his forearms, grunting somewhat as they impacted.

After a moment, the pro began walking towards his foe, aiming to get in close where his power would be most effective. Romero put a stop to that quickly, using his outstretched hand to close his fist. Two slabs of earth immediately jutted from the ground on either side of Death Arms, crushing him between the two. Their creator waited for a reaction, a bit disappointed when the hero burst out of the rocky prison, his quirk on full display. "Keep it coming, I'll smash them all to bits, punk."

Romero grimaced. With a few waves of his arm, he sent additional pillars of rock at the man, hoping to dislodge him from his path. Unfortunately, despite having mediocre reaction time to the attacks, Death Arms' sheer strength was enough to bash them to splinters while still advancing. Seeing the pro prove his declaration, the young man pondered for a moment, using his earthen attacks to buy time. A smirk soon found its way to his lips, as he glanced back at the closing hero.

"If I recall, you're not too great with liquids…" Death Arms raised an eyebrow at that comment, while Romero raised his left hand.

The quirk-enhanced fighter was completely floored as a jet of pressurized water was hurled at his chest, easily pulling him off the ground a sending him spiraling into the far wall, sending bits of debris and mist everywhere. Dazed, but instinctually trying to get back up, the pro urged his superior muscles to overpower the jet pinning him down. Sadly for him, as Romero casually walked towards him, still hosing the man with the ability in his left, the force of the blast increased, making all resistance pointless. Once the young man was close enough, he finally ceased his attack, both hands now calmly at his side.

Death Arms was completely drenched, with a trickle of blood running down from the top of his head, panting heavily as his eyes struggled to stay open at the enemy before him. Seeing the battle all but concluded, Sasha emerged from his hiding spot and joined his friend, looking down at the defeated hero. Death Arms still held his gaze on Romero, a hard mixture of anger and disbelief. "D-damn it, two quirks? You'll regret this, villain!"

The tan foreigner blinked down at him, his face apathetic. "Wow. Everything you just said was wrong." Confusion became the dominant emotion on the hero's face, while Sasha surveyed the damage done.

"You guys scare me sometimes, you know," he offered to his friend. Romero scoffed with a grin, eyeing his counterpart.

"There's a reason it's called a-." Sasha cut him off with a gloved hand over his mouth.

"Not in front of them, the less leaks the better." Romero calmly pushed his hand away.

"Why bother? We've got to secure him anyway, otherwise we can't continue the operation." Sasha considered the logic, sighing at yet another task on his duties.

"Fair point." He held his wrist up to his face. "Immune 2, we need an extraction, live capture."

"Understood. ETA 45 seconds."

Death Arms wasn't a fan of what they were implying. Fighting was out of the question, and a good hero knew when it was time to get help. He had to at least try. With the last of his strength, he attempted to bolt to Sasha's open side. Unfortunately, his foe was quicker, pulling back the sleeve on his coat. "Let's not make this more difficult." Death Arms hadn't even made it fully upright before a cloud of pink mist was expelled from Sasha's exposed skin, which Romero was alert enough to avoid by covering his nose and mouth. For the man who only knew of one person with such an ability, he stood no chance, inhaling the aroma merely from his gasp of surprise, instantly beginning to lose consciousness.

Once the pro was collapsed on the ground, Sasha let his sleeve down, letting out a breath in relief. "Fortunate that there was only one of them. I'm still not sure how much of this stuff I can release before it fades." Romero put his arms behind his head, scanning the skies for their allies.

"If it makes you feel better, I think it was a better choice than Erasure. Have you seen Elias' eyes? The guy really needs to pick something different for missions more often." Sasha rolled his eyes, but had the ghost of a smile on his face, spying the inbound copter for their prisoner's retrieval.

I'm really sorry for the delay here, I was hit by some anxiety about life stuff, nothing worth mentioning though. I'm just glad I get to continue this, for those who enjoy reading. Quirk AU's are all the rage these days it seems, but I'm sure I can build up an impressionable piece given enough chapters.

For those of you sharp minds, indeed, a Star Wars reference there was, in honor of Horikoshi and his abundance of Star Wars references. Just for fun. See you all in the next one.

HankFlamion18: YUS! Primary goal success!

Sentinel07: I did promise upping the stakes quickly. Glad it paid off.

patrickthenobleman: This, this right here, this is the thought I love seeing. Beautifully said, good sir.

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for any comments/ reviews!

next chapter: Long-Term Thoughts