Weeeeeeee updating this first before Stygian and See, I'm gonna get rekt.
Also to those wondering why Bakugo broke so quickly in such a short window of time, well, its not that short of a time window and there's another reason, but saying it is one way to tank the first plotwist of this story lmao. It's already been hinted at, there's like 2 foreshadowings about it.
This chapter also has foreshadowing of the second big plot twist, but I don't think you guys will pick up on it. At least not until some time near the reveal.
It's been a long time since he'd seen so many of his fellow top heroes together in one place. Faces new and old gathered around him, chatting animatedly as they debated how to best proceed. Some he recognized, others he did not.
Toshinori wished it would be under better circumstances.
At this thought, he couldn't help but let out a quiet exhale, which he tried to hide to the best of his ability to keep the other heroes from noticing.
Essentially, the trap was set. The conference with Vlad, Aizawa and Nedzu was set to grab Japan's attention and with it, hopefully, the villains' as well. The psychological profile the police had built of Shigaraki told them that the criminal wouldn't be able to resist tuning in to listen to the media tear Yuuei apart over neglecting their promise to keep the students safe.
Today, the very reason why Shigaraki had attacked the summer camp would be turned against them -the League's desire to turn the world against heroes would plant the seeds of their downfall.
Toshinori just hoped they would be able to control the fallout.
He tries to pay attention to Naomasa's speech at the forefront of the meeting room, as his friend was going over the plan for one final time. It's a plan they'd gone over several times over the past day and Toshinori could recite each step in his sleep. Still, memorizing the plan did little to quell the tension churning in his gut-
"Focus, you old fool." Endeavor suddenly growls out lowly at his side, the crown of flames flickering around him restlessly, showing his annoyance. "My time is precious. I will not have it wasted by sentiment." He wrinkles his nose at this, like he was catching a whiff of a particularly unpleasant smell.
Toshinori doesn't answer with words, throat too tight to respond. Instead he grins apologetically, as if Endeavor had made a funny joke.
In this moment, the smile had never felt more of a mask.
.
.
.
The wall gives away easily.
Voices shout out as Toshinori crashes into the bar, his yelled smash! brimming with more ferocity than it was probably necessary. Rubble and bricks crumbles all around him as he lands inside the bar, fist still extended.
He finds the villains scrambling to recover from the surprise attack, their expressions speaking of their confusion at his sudden appearance -signalling that the plan had worked.
It was time to take the next step.
Within moments Kamui Woods is darting overhead, a hand digging into the ceiling while his other arm extends, twisting roots wrapping around the League of Villains members before they could retaliate. The seven criminals trashed in their binds, yelling out their surprise and anger as they fought against Kamui's binds.
Toshinori spies the fire villain Dabi attempting to use his Quirk. He moves to intercept but Gran Torino is faster, tearing through the air like a bullet to drop kick the young man in the head. Snap. Instantly the villain went limp, sagging in his bonds.
"Don't do anything foolish, kid." The elder hero proclaimed to the dark haired man. "It's in your best interest to cooperate with us." As he says that, his eyes drifted over to the rest of the captured villains, appraising them with a narrowed gaze.
Shigaraki yells out for the Warp villain, Kurogiri, but just like Gran Torino lunged for Dabi Edgeshot was suddenly there, slicing through the mist-man's torso in a move that sent the criminal crumbling against the bar, limp and unconscious.
Amidst the chaos, Toshinori had only eyes on his student, even as he declares their presence. Bakugo was standing in front of him, wide-eyed and surprised at the sight of him like Toshinori being here was the last thing he was expecting. He looks sweaty and dirty, but relatively unharmed -it's instant relief for the Number One Hero.
We have you, Bakugo. Toshinori thinks to himself as he stands up straight, surveilling the villains as Gran Torino gruffly reads out their names and their charges.
In this moment, he felt pride in himself and his co-workers. All had gone according to plan. They had Bakugo, and soon they would be able to restore society's confidence in heroes.
"I am glad to see you safe, young Bakugo!" Striding forward, he reaches his kidnapped student. Resting a hand on the boy's shoulder, he squeezes it for comfort. "You've must've been scared, but you stayed strong. Not to worry now, my student, you're safe now." Toshinori continues, tone bright and determined as his role as the Symbol of Peace demanded him to be.
Still, he hopes that Bakugo picks up on the silent apology. If not, Toshinori had no qualms about meeting his student afterwards and giving him a clearer one.
Surprisingly, the boy doesn't pull away immediately like Toshinori expected, instead regarding him an indescribable emotion on his face. His lips were twitching, as if he was holding back a snarl at Toshinori's attempt at reassuring him.
"S-Shut up!" Bakugo bristles, glaring, taking two steps away from him. There's a small blush on his cheeks as he snaps. "I wasn't scared!" He defends himself, irate.
Toshinori chuckles good naturedly at the outraged declaration. It was reassuring in it's familiarity.
That's good. It meant that the villains hadn't gotten to his student as badly as he feared they would. In and all, Bakugo looked remarkably healthy after spending three days with the villains. Though Toshinori with anger spied a chair on his left that had fallen over during his entrance -the chains on it left little doubt what it was for. Righteous indignation burned away at him at the sight.
Then he turns his attention at the cause of all of this -Shigaraki, who was quietly steaming in Kamui's restrictive roots. The man was eerily silent, baleful red eyes staring right into Toshinori's soul.
Once, those scarlet orbs shifted to Bakugo, and the Number One Hero gritted his teeth at the small smirk the man made at his student. Shifting his body, he stepped in between to shield his charge from the villain's glare.
Bakugo had suffered enough. Toshinori would not allow the pale-haired man to make the teen even the slightest bit uncomfortable.
To do that however, they needed to secure the head of the League. Which meant...
"Shigaraki. Your League has been taken care of. You have nowhere to run or hide." Toshinori speaks lowly, keeping his tone authoritative. The villain's shivering and twitching was getting to him -the man looked like a restless beast waiting to be unleashed, a monster that was a hair's breadth from going on a rampage. The calmer Shigaraki was, the better it would be for everyone else. "It's over. For your sake you will tell us where he is right now."
Unfortunately, the pseudo leader of the League of Villains saw it differently. As if he'd been slapped, Shigaraki reels back as far as the bindings allow, snarling like a wild animal.
"Shut up, you lying cheater!" The pale-haired criminal screeches, spit flying from thin, chapped lips. "It's game over when I tell it is." He hisses lowly, lips curled back.
Gran Torino spoke up, huffing roughly. "That's not how things work, young man." The veteran interrupted, narrowing his eyes at the fuming villain.
"Shut up!"
"Shigaraki!" Toshinori demanded, taking a step forward. He tried to reign in his temper, but the longer Shigaraki held back the information they needed so desperately, the larger were the chances that the true enemy got away. "You will tell us where he is!"
"Never!" The ensuing shriek the League of Villain leader let out barely sounded human. He trashed in his binds, hands curling into fists at his sides. "I hate you!"
The air above Shigaraki's head splits open, black swirling into existence. A dark void that brings with it pale faces, exposed brains and bulging, empty eyes.
All of the heroes startle at the sight; soon there's more portals opening, more Nomu appearing than they could safely handle within the confines of the small establishment. Toshinori hears alarmed shouting behind him from the street, quickly followed by the sound of gunfire and familiar, shrill roaring.
"Damn it Edgeshot!" Gran Torino shouts over the Nomu's screeching. "I thought you-"
"It's not him!" Edgeshot replies before the older hero could finish, his voice a mixture of befuddlement and slowly creeping panic. Toshinori feels his stomach drop at his teammate's tone. "He's still out -this isn't his doing!"
And just as the Number Five Hero said that, Bakugo doubles over and starts choking.
In that split second moment, Toshinori is frozen in surprise as the same swirling slime-like substance the Nomu were crawling out of starts spilling from the blond's mouth. Bakugo's eyes were wide and panicked as he reached out towards him, fighting against the black muck swirling around him.
Through the substance, he heard him gurgle out: "A-All Might-!"
His cry snaps him out of his stupor. Toshinori lunges forward, but his hands touch nothing. Bakugo is gone, stolen once more -worse so, when his student was right in front of him.
"NO!"
The scream that tears its way out of his throat at the realization is as painful as it is full of anguish.
This wasn't meant to happen!
A series of new splashing sounds bring his attention back to the villains; Toshinori finds with horror that one by one the black muck was taking them away. Stealing them right from their grasp.
Soon the lizard, the magician, the fire-user, the warp villain, the redhead and the man in the black and white suit were gone, leaving only Shigaraki behind. Shigaraki, who was staring up at the Nomu's portal in silence, then slowly tilting his head to look at Toshinori.
Black materialized over the pale haired man's head. It swirled around him, quickly wrapping around the villain.
Toshinori felt his eyes widen. He leaps forward, hand reaching.
No-! He couldn't -not again!
The last thing he saw was Shigaraki's unnerving grin before he was gone as well. Stunned, Toshinori stands there, hand clenched in the air where the villain's head once was. He barely hears Kamui's profuse apologies over the static in his head at the utter failure their plan had devolved into.
"Toshinori!" Gran Torino's sharp bark startles him out of his state of shock. "Focus! What now?!" The elder hero yells out amidst the screams as the Nomu descend upon the police.
"Right!"
The Nomus were still here, but it wasn't Kurogiri's doing. The warp villain had still been unconscious, slumped over against the bar before a black portal had whisked him way.
He's made a move.
A single, flawless move -now the villains were gone, the Nomu were attacking, and Bakugo had been taken yet again. This time, right in front of Toshinori.
The overwhelming sense of failure burned.
He takes it and uses this shame as fuel. One for All crackles around him as he grabs a Nomu by the throat and swings around, roaring: "Oklahoma Smash!"
The creatures are blown away, unable to hold on against the violent winds All Might generated. Some are sent flying right out of the bar and into surrounding buildings.
When he steps out of the destroyed bar, he's met with an even worse scene -dozens of Nomu were attacking the policemen outside, who could only defend themselves against the bullet-proof beasts with their riot gear. Their ranks had been completely broken by the sporadic appearance of the genetically modified monsters.
Toshinori could barely hear Naomasa screaming over the chaos, desperately trying to regain control of the situation while the Nomu tore a bloody path through the crowd.
It was all to no avail; the Nomu's appearance had effectively broken the chain of command.
Amongst the horror Endeavor stood out like a sore thumb, bursts of concentrated Hellflame incinerating Nomu after Nomu, the creatures' regeneration unable to keep up with the Quirk-enhanced fire burning their cells to the point of incineration. The policemen around him were scrambling behind the Pro-Hero, ducking under the torrents of orange flames for the Nomu chasing them to take on headfirst.
Upon noticing him, Endeavor snarls. "Move it, old man!" The Number Two Hero hisses as he encinerates another Nomu. The creature's dying screech digs into Toshinori's ears as it's reduced to a smoking, burning carcass. "I'm taking care of these beasts, you focus on doing your job! If you're going after them now's the time!"
Somehow, the growled command gives him strength.
"Right. Right." Toshinori turns away, towards the plume of smoke and ash he spies in the distance of Kamino Ward. No doubt it was his doing.
Distantly, he hears Gran Torino and Edgeshot charging at the Nomu to give Endeavor some relief, the Number Two Hero struggling to incinerate the creatures without hurting the scattered policemen and avoiding getting hit himself. Toshinori wasn't needed here.
No, his duty lies elsewhere.
With a single leap he takes off, One for All shooting sparks across his weary body.
Hold on, Bakugo.
.
.
.
It takes him thirty seconds to get to Kamino.
It's thirty seconds too long; when he descends from the sky he spots All for One standing in front of his minions -in front of Bakugo, who was surrounded by the villains with no way out. The boy was standing back, hunched over and ready to fight a battle that alone, was completely hopeless from the start.
The sight fuels his rage; Toshinori pushes One for All to it's limits as he dives down from the night sky like an avenging angel, fists connecting with his nemesis' palms. All for One barely even buckles under the sudden charge.
The League, however? They scream out in surprise as they're blown away like leafs in the wind.
Over the howling winds, Toshinori calls out to his opponent, staring into the dark, expressionless medical mask the villain had covered his mangled face with. "I'll have you return my student, All for One!"
"Are you, All Might?" The monster answers in a questioning tone full of amusement, ever poised and calm despite how they were locked in combat.
Toshinori hated that tone. Suave, persuasive, like he was ten steps ahead of him and Toshinori was blissfully unaware of it. He knew he couldn't let it get to his head -it had cost him dearly last time. He would not make the same mistake again.
A quick scan of the surrounding area makes him take note of Bakugo who sprawled on the ground not even forty feet away, eyes wide as he watched the fight, body rigid. Frozen like a deer in headlights. None of the villains were around him, having been blown away at Toshinori's arrival.
It's an opportunity he takes.
Jumping back, he disengages from All for One and lunges for Bakugo. Surprisingly, his opponent doesn't charge right after him, which he thanked his lucky stars for. A single microsecond is all he needs to pick up the boy with one arm, a tiny outraged omph! leaving the explosive blond's lips at the sudden movement.
"H-hey!" Bakugo flails a bit in his grip, hands pushing against to try and pry Toshinori's arm away. "Are you serious?!"
"Apologies, young Bakugo!" Toshinori replied through gritted teeth, looking at his surroundings for signs of other heroes he could give his student to for evacuation. "But you'll have to bear it for a while longer!"
Bakugo mutters something under his breath, but Toshinori is too busy trying to spot his coworkers. He couldn't find Best Jeanist or Gang Orca, and it sent shivers down his spine.
They were supposed to be here, where were they? Where was Tiger? Did they find Ragdoll?
(What had All for One done to them?)
Those of League of Villains who still could were picking themselves up, their eyes fixed on him and his cargo. Shigaraki was one of the first to recover, coming to stand none too far from his master and regarding Toshinori with unusual calmness.
Overhead, the blades of a news helicopter blared. Toshinori doesn't look up to see how close it was to the Kamino ruins; he worries that it might be targeted, but there's no way to tear his gaze away from the villains without risking an attack. Instead, he only has eyes for Shigaraki and All for One. Faceless, motionless, only Shigaraki showed any emotion.
None of them, strangely, were anger or frustration.
If anything, the villain looked faintly satisfied. His red eyes flick upwards to the helicopter above, and then lower back on Toshinori. The Pro-Hero tenses at the flash of yellowed teeth behind the hand mask.
When Shigaraki spoke up next, his rumbled, pleased voice was loud enough to broadcast across the battlefield:
"You had your fun, it's time to stop playing."
At first, Toshinori only registers the cold.
The pain comes after.
He stumbles back, grip slackening as his hands instinctively reach for the source of pain.
Bakugo scampers out of his arms, sliding out like liquid water -dancing out of his reach with a near happy skip and Toshinori didn't understand, couldn't, torn between the biting, stinging pain in his side and reaching for his student because the villains were right there, All for One was right there-
-doing nothing, just watching.
None of them were doing anything, in fact. Toshinori's panic dimmed as he registered the League standing several feet away, half-circling him and Bakugo. Those who were conscious simply stood there, examining with sneers on their faces.
There's a wide, toothy grin on Shigaraki's face, so large it was easy to see under the hand-mask of his.
It's almost as big as the rapidly growing red blemish on his suit, courtesy of the stab wound in his side. The blow was dealt to his left flank, where his lung would be had it not been removed years prior. This didn't stop the pain.
Confused, lost, Toshinori lifts his gaze from the bleeding wound to look for his student.
The sight that greets him is one that will haunt him for months to come.
Bakugo was smiling as he stood amongst the ruins of Kamino, an unsettling grin that stretched wide across his face and showed off his pale teeth. It bears none of the familiar anger and challenge Toshinori knows to expect of the boy, none of the fury or determination he'd come to associate with his volatile student.
No, this smile was unhinged and thrilled.
The sight sends sharp cold running down his spine. Not too far away, All for One was silently gazing at the scene, unmoving and unfeeling like a great statue. Even then, Toshinori could hear the smile behind that industrial life support mask.
Stomach dropping, he turns back to the blond. Bakugo had straightened up, looking at him curiously, head tilted slightly to the left.
"What's wrong, All Might?" He giggles, giggles, and it's so wrong that the cold rises up his spine again, crawling up, digging claws into his heart. "Weren't you going to save me?" The blond continues, tone twisting high with mockery.
Toshinori watches, stunned, as Bakugo waves the knife covered in his blood in front of him, ignoring the splatters that drip onto his clothes. The smile stretched further, somehow, twisting his student's features further into alien territory.
"What are you waiting for?" The not-Bakugo pauses dramatically, breath hitching. His eyelids fall halfway, shadowing vibrant red eyes that look so much like his student's but weren't.
Then, Bakugo's face starts melting.
Toshinori takes a step back as he watches his student's skin fall off his body, melting into a pale substance that pooled at his feet. The boy -the being, because that was not Bakugo- became slightly taller and thinner, sharp waist giving away to rounder curves and svelte figure.
The smile stayed, even when the last of Bakugo Katsuki's face melted away and left Himiko Toga behind.
"Come on then, save me!"
.
.
.
Halfway across the city, Aizawa could only watch as their plan crumbled into pieces from the safety of the Yuuei conference room.
The reporters all around him were frozen still in their seats, as were the staff members they'd previously been drilling for answers. Even ever impassive and unmoving Nedzu was silent, his dark beady eyes never betraying the emotions the principal was feeling. The prickly, raised pale fur however -that told another story to someone like Aizawa, who knew the principal for years.
No one even dared to breathe, Aizawa least of all.
For the moment he saw Himiko Toga standing there in Bakugo's clothes, smiling for the whole world to see -that's when his stomach lurched and he knew, right there and then, that this would not end with a win, not even a draw.
They had lost, long before the battle ended.
.
.
.
Hand on his side, stifling the wound, Toshinori was numb to the pain. At least, the physical one, for something much worse was taking over him.
Pure, undiluted panic and terror.
Because if Himiko was here where was Bakugo?
(What had they done to him?)
Himiko Toga wasted no time, her laughter cruel and loud over the sounds All for One's wrath had brought upon Kamino. Her arms were still spread out, knife glinting in her right hand, blood steadily dripping at its tip.
"Oh god!" She howled, practically doubling over laughing. The black pants and shirt were baggy on her frame, too baggy, nearly falling off her slim figure where they did not belong- " Too busy charging forward to pay attention, Mr. Hero?!"
Fury stirs in his heart at her shrill, mocking laughter.
"Where's -"
"...you should see your face, All Might."
Toshinori freezes. The boiling rage dims and flickers.
"The fear. The confusion. The desperation." All for One continues, his suave voice just as chilling as he remembered it to be. "...you didn't even wait and contemplate why Miss Himiko wasn't at the bar." The villain tuts softly, as if he was reprimanding a child and not the man who had nearly killed him years ago. "Reckless."
Toshinori grits his teeth, but he can't say anything. The words remain lodged at the back of his throat.
All for One doesn't have that problem however, continuing on:
"...the same recklessness that brought Yuuei to station their prized students out in the middle of nowhere, with only six heroes to protect them."
The casual insult hidden behind the statement made Toshinori flinch and bristle, anger boiling under his skin at the man's amusement. Of course All for One find the situation delightful, the monster thrived on hurting others.
He practically lived off their suffering.
And it was that very knowledge is what made Toshinori straighten out and raise his fists, readying himself.
No matter how wrong things had gone, no matter his injuries, no matter what he felt -it didn't erase the screams he hears of those trapped in the rubble, or the whistle of the helicopter's blades over his head. The world was watching. People needed to be saved.
He still had an opponent to face.
.
.
.
"-oh, and Shigaraki Tomura? He's Nana Shimura's grandson!"
All for One's cruel declaration is another dagger into his body, another blow that makes him buckle and scream out and break all over again.
But something holds him back. Something, small and weak but there, keeps him from buckling further, from letting that massive fist crush him into a paste into the ruins of Kamino.
It was All for One's own words, rattling in his skull.
'Izuku Midoriya! He's the one you entrusted One for All to, correct?'
The monster knew about his student. He knew about Midoriya. He was going to come after his boy next.
He could not fail another.
The exhaustion dims, eaten away by raw, animal desperation of what the future ahead would be if Kamino became his grave. What this monster would do once he was gone.
And with that, he finds his resolve. Even the pain of the wound on his side fades from his mind.
I cannot die.
.
.
.
So he doesn't.
All for One is crumpled underneath him, sprawled on the ground like a broken doll. He's still breathing; Toshinori can hear the wheezed, pained breaths he takes while unconscious, a breathing rhythm that betrayed the villain's health.
In that moment, Toshinori looks down at the pieces that were left of this man, this monster who had taken so much and sacrificed so very little for the amount he'd stolen, and he found him unexpectedly human in his vulnerability.
Then he hears the roar of the helicopter's blades above him, and Toshinori realizes numbly that it didn't matter in the end.
This didn't change the outcome.
This was still a loss, and knowing this felt like his remaining lung was torn right out of him.
Toshinori doesn't have the strength to hold his fist to the sky, to do shout out his victory, to do anything -he can barely stand, barely hold himself up in this worn, crippled form he was now forever locked in.
Maybe in another world, he would have something left.
Maybe in that world, he would have held up a clenched fist to the sky one last time, would have addressed the world -would have warned his successor that it was his time to take the crown, that he could no longer shield him from the darkness of the world. That All Might was gone but there was still a future ahead, one Midoriya Izuku would have to protect.
Tell him, in the same breath as he reassures the world, that it was his turn.
Instead, he stands there, swaying, until the ground rushes up to meet him.
.
.
.
Toshinori wakes to a white ceiling and the beginning of a setting sun gracing his face.
His body aches with the pain he'd come to associate when he overuses his Quirk, but there was one key difference. One that made him slowly sit up on the bed and stare down at his thin, emaciated hands, a feeling of loss carving its way inside his body and settling in his heart.
He could not feel it residing within himself anymore.
One for All is truly gone, Toshinori realizes with a pang of distress.
It was all up to Midoriya Izuku now.
The sound of a door opening makes him slowly drags his gaze away from his permanently skeletal hands to the newcomer. Toshinori feels a bit of relief at the sight of a familiar worn, wrinkled face.
Gran Torino makes no sound as he walks into the room and takes a seat on the small chair next to his bed. The veteran hero looked horrible, a series of bandages covering his right eye where Toshinori's aborted punch had landed, courtesy of All for One's trickery. He was wearing a thick wool coat and a scarf; never before had Toshinori seem him look so worn, or frail.
Just like him, though better. Gran Torino carried his age with dignity; over sixty and still going strong, while Toshinori could barely push his forties without croaking. And now he was out of role permanently.
There was no way he could continue being a hero. It was over, and this knowledge made him want to scream -that is, if it didn't feel like a black hole where his stomach should be, empty and dark and so very heavy.
But not as heavy as the question that slowly surfaces in his mind, alongside memories of the battle.
The flash of a knife. A stretching, unnatural smirk that clashed with the face of its bearer. Skin rippling and melting away, revealing yellow eyes, sharp canines and feminine features.
All of the sudden, his loss of One for All seemed insignificant in the face of this memory.
Hesitant, he asks quietly. "...Bakugo?"
Gran Torino doesn't speak up, at first.
The long stretch of silence makes Toshinori's heart 't be...if his old teacher wasn't answering, a man who had seen the worst the world had to offer, then what did that mean for...
"We are scouring the remains of Kamino." The veteran begins quietly. He levels his single visible eye to meet his. "Everyone did. I'm sorry Toshinori. So far, he hasn't been found."
Hasn't been found.
Toshinori exhales, and with it what little hope that had been left in him departs at well.
"Oh." He murmurs, very quiet. "I see."
Silence.
This time when the overwhelming sense of failure washed over him, it felt more final. An inevitable door closing on a last chapter.
Nausea swam in his guts.
He should have been faster. Should have been stronger. At the bar he had One for All, he didn't have All for One to face -he only had one goal, one worry. Getting Bakugo.
But he failed.
Oh boi writing this was fun and a pain at once. Through the first scene I lay some hints that Toga wasn't there in the bar and there was something going on. Hope some of you guys noticed : D
PS: I might include it later cuz character development, but anyone want to see Kamino from Izuku's point of view?
Next Chapter:
There's a series of strange deaths that leaves the police stumped. In other news, Aizawa ponders on his students' progress despite the hardship they'd gone through.
...and halfway across Japan, Katsuki kills people and eats some cookies. In that order.
