Ch. 11

The bar had been rebuilt in a manner of speaking. The League could not obviously place it in the old location but hanging out in a warehouse was not how Tomura wanted to spend his days plotting and scheming. With the recent defeat of Overhaul, there was a gap in the criminal underbelly. Tomura decided that the League would step up but in order to do that they needed a more cozy place than a warehouse. It had been decided - wisely enough by Dabi - that it would need to be built in a small, decrepit part of Osaka. The building was secluded enough from the prying eyes of the so called heroes and authorities. It was not an exact replica but it was inviting enough to do business in and Tomura felt comfortable enough staying there for extended periods. He could sit in the same spot he had at the old bar and play cards or watch the news.

Currently, he was in his regular spot peeking at the stranger who had intruded upon their new home. He held the strangely elongated card with Izuku Midoriya's annoying picture on it. Gaol had given it to him as proof of a sorts. The old man hunched in his hooded cloak before them spoke cryptically but gave no concrete details. Tomura had learned from his past failures and knew that the more details that were ironed out, the better. He slammed the card on the glossy wooden bar surface next to him in annoyance.

"You keep talking out of your ass old man but I don't hear any actual plan here. What do you want with Midoriya?" demanded Tomura.

"Ah well," Gaol replied with his cracked voice, "I suppose I should let you know what I really want. I'm looking for certain… people with special hearts. That young man is just the first step in my plan but I thought I would offer my assistance to you while I am here. We have a sort of mutual objective: be rid of him."

"Yeah and how do you intended to do that?" asked Dabi.

"Great question. I thought I'd have the Heartless rip his heart out." The villains blinked, unsure of what he was actually talking about. With a chuckle, Gaol waved a gnarled hand in front of him. A shadow pooled on the ground and small black creature with yellow eyes rose from the spot. He explained that this was a Heartless, a dark creature that was born when a person was separated from their heart. He briefly went on to say that their only thought was to consume the others of others in order to fill the void that they experienced.

"Oh, aren't those the creatures that my dear Ochaco fought off today?" Toga asked with a wicked grin splitting her face. She poked at the shadow's antennae playfully, squealing when it turned its eyes towards her in annoyance. She asked Gaol if she could keep this one as a pet. He cleared his throat and spread his arms slightly in invitation.

He extended a hand, palm up. Toga noticeably cringed at the sight of his alabaster skin clinging tightly to the bones. Gaol began to wheeze with laughter at her reaction. After an uncomfortable silence fell on them, he leveled his gaze on Tomura with his hand extended once again.

"You and I are quite similar, Shigaraki. We share a common goal."

Tomura ignored him for a moment. His focus was locked on the cheery face of Midoriya, his wild green hair almost moving in the still of the card's surface. He considered the implications of the old man's words. He slowly turned to look at Gaol grinning wickedly with a knowing look in his eyes. Tomura ordered the league to leave him with the old man. Kourigiri began to object when Shigaraki shouted out in a flare of rage. His companions were stunned for half a second before quietly filing out of the bar. When the door's lock clicked, Tomura rushed Gaol with a snarl. He grabbed at the old man's neck and held out a pinky finger, pinning him to the wall.

"How do you know?" Shigaraki asked with a wild look in his eyes. Gaol only managed to gurgle out a small chuckle, upsetting the young man holding him up. Tomura leered at him before he dropped his pinky on the old man's flesh. There was no scream of pain or shocked look. Instead, Gaol's face began to melt and warp, large chunks of skin falling in droplets to the floor. With a quick jab to Tomura's neck Gaol broke free. He laughed harder with a wheeze in his raspy voice as he wiped away his face. Carefully grasping at his windpipe, Tomura looked up in rage which quickly faded to intrigue. Before him no longer stood the stooping ghost of Gaol but a strong, broad chested man who stood tall. His proud face had a cruel curl at the corners of his mouth, a sharp nose that pointed down, and cold blue eyes that peered out from under a jutted brow. His hair was a pale electric blue and cropped short but still fanned out at the sides like wings. With a final swipe of his bare hand, Gaol began to speak. His voice still held a cracked quality to it.

"I can read your heart, boy. I know what you want, what your goal is, who you are... what you've done. You're an open book to me."

Gaol outstretched his arms just above his waist and spread his hand open. A pale yellow bulb of light slowly formed in his palm and began to expand. It grew into a large, holography heart-shaped moon that floated to their eye level. Gaol's face had splintered into a wicked grin as he peered the through the heart.

"This," he began, "is Kingdom Hearts. The heart of all things, of all worlds. It is the start of every heart and where they all go back at the end of things."

"Am I supposed to be impressed or something?" Tomura asked with disdain. He hunched over slightly in caution of the stranger. He looked through his shaggy hair back at the hungry eyes that bore into his skull. Gaol began to laugh with gusto and clenched his hand around the holograph. The heart burst in an explosion of stars and dust. Understanding grew on Tomura's face alongside his grin.

"So that's your endgame, eh? But how does Midoriya play into it? Where do I fit in?"

"Put it to you this way, young man: I want to place a wager with you. Let's see who can reach their goal the fastest. Either you'll have burnt this world down or I will have wiped out existence. As for the child, his heart is amongst the strongest out there. Not to mention that power of his. If I can harness it, I can destroy Kingdom Hearts."

Tomura regarded him for only a moment before bursting out in a fit of desperate laughter. Here at last was a kindered spirit. He did not believe in this Kingdom Hearts for a second but the sheer lust for destruction in Gaol's greedy eyes gave Shigaraki all the proof he needed. The old man joined in the manic fit of guffaws. Eventually the calmed down and Tomura asked why Gaol wanted to destroy this Kingdom Hearts.

"As I said, it is the heart of hearts. Everything begins and ends with Kingdom Hearts. Destroying it would end existence. Let's face it: living and existence are terrible burdens that no one asked for. What I seek is a merciful end for all."

He held his head up in pride and stared off into space, his eyes glazing as he mulled over his hopes. Tomura chuckled and shook his head. He slinked back to his favorite seat and sat down, flipping over the card he had slammed down. The irritating visage of Izuku looked back at him with bright green eyes.

"So what do you need?" he asked the old man. Gaol produced three more cards like the one from before and flicked them to Tomura who caught them deftly. He looked them over carefully, his eyes burning with a hateful passion. Katsuki Bakugo's red-eyed glare broke through a cascade of spiked blond hair on one card; the other two cards were less familiar to Tomura. One held a young boy who scowled from underneath a horned red-hat, the other was a very small girl with bright red eyes, a waterfall of silver-blue hair and a small horn that poked out from her forehead.

"I need information on those three," Gaol hissed. Tomura smiled back and asked what they would get in return. The old man returned the grin and produced a final card, this one coated in red on the back. Instead of tossing it to Tomura, Gaol merely turned it over. The sinister face of Stain looked out from his red bandana and mess of matted black hair.

"I will give you an edge for your war."

Tomura stood to give him a handshake when Gaol held up an open hand. The shaggy youth squinted out from under his wall of hair as he watched the man look around as if there was another entity in the room.

"There is a loose thread that I need to warn you about, " he began, "I recently acquired a targe that is proving...difficult. As we speak he is trying to undo my plans. If you see this boy-" he flipped Stain's card over twice and the picture changed to a blue eyed boy grinning stupidly underneath his mountain of spiked brown hair "-do not allow him to interfere. He will be a thorn in your side if he succeeds in his plan."

Outside the bar, the sky bit at Toga's ears. The glints of dawn were painted in purple and orange in the far distance. She had been left alone as Dabi and Kourigiri had gone off to see to surveillance. They could not risk their leader being killed by some stranger. It was a small matter to Toga who pulled out her phone and began watching the video she had recorded from the day before. Her heart warmed as she saw the curvy form of Ochaco bouncing on the screen, catching up to the small time crook who Toga had hired as a target. Her favorite part was just about to start when she sensed someone behind her. She turned quickly and threw out a small knife. A figure cloaked in a hooded black robe like Gaol's caught it in a gloved hand with ease, as if it had been casually tossed. The figure dropped the blade and threw their hands up. They spoke with a deep but warm voice that did not suit the robes he wore.

"Whoa whoa, I'm not here to fight!" he squeaked out. Toga leered and readied another knife in her hands as he stammered through a hasty apology. Before she could cut him down though, he said something that piqued her interest.

"H-how would you like to talk to Izuku Midoriya again?"

She almost dropped the knife in her elation and began to feel the heat rise in her face. A simpering grin washed over her lips as she started to jump and squeal.

"You know my dear Izuku?! Why didn't you say so? Of course I want to talk to him again! Ahh, it's been too long since I've seen him."

"W-well I can give you a chance to talk to him. Maybe even Ochaco. But you gotta promise that you won't stab me," he said. His words fell on deaf ears as Toga began imagining talking to Ochaco and Izuku at the same time. Her eyes glazed as she daydreamed and swayed, swinging the small blade in her hand dangerously. The stranger sighed and scratched at the base of his neck.

"So I need you to do me a favor," he began, "Do you have any more of Ochaco's blood?"

Toga scoffed as if insulted and confirmed that she had a small stash hidden from the rest of the league. With a nod of his head, the stranger continued his speech.

"Great. So here's what I need you to do…"