Alrighty, then time for the new arc. I know, about time. Like I said Izuku won't be the focus of this arc and he's not really gonna be in it. Instead, we have a new temporary protagonist, Tokoyami!
Don't worry it's only temporary. Next arc Izuku will return, but I wanted the chance to look at the rest of this amalgamated world so were doing this.
Anyway, Let this mad banquet of darkness begin.
Tokoyami was in awe.
He didn't expect much of today, after all, he planned to spend it the way he normally did.
He finished up his patrol and then he went to an underground cafe, that specialized in dark poetry. The perfect place to put his dark soul at ease.
And up until now, everything had been going normally, he went up exposed his inner darkness and then sat back down to watch everyone else bare there blackened souls to him.
Then she showed up.
Her words had an elegance that was complemented by the beauty of her voice.
Each word she spoke only enraptured Tokoyami even more.
He knew it was wrong to stare at someone so intensely, but to be fair she was very easy to look at. Her short black hair, pale white skin and haunted blue eyes, made her look like some kind of princess of darkness.
Tokoyami was so captivated by her, that by the time she finished and went back down, he found himself still staring at her for a few minutes afterward.
The next two hours were difficult for the young man as he desperately tried to stop himself from looking at the girl, and failed.
Once poetry night was over, all of Tokoyami's fellow children of the dark(Edgelords.) started to depart.
Tokoyami, on the other hand, was considering whether or not he should speak to the girl.
"Go! Talk to her!" Dark Shadow whispered to him. "You might not see her again."
"But what I talk about!? You and I both know I'm not a conversationalist." Tokoyami whispered back.
"Hey." Said a feminine voice from behind him.
Tokoyami quickly recognized the voice and turned around, seeing it was the girl he was talking about.
"Oh uh...hello," Tokoyami said nervously.
"Hey there!" Dark Shadow said.
The girl's eyes went wide for a second when she saw Dark Shadow before she quickly regained her composure.
"I'm guessing that's your quirk?" The girl asked.
"Uh yes. This is Dark Shadow." Tokoyami said. "And I am Fumikage Tokoyami."
"Raven. No last name." The girl said. "I know it's weird, but that's just how it is."
It was, in fact, a strange name. While the name Raven by itself would be uncommon, not having a last name was very weird.
Deciding to just accept the strange name, Tokoyami nodded. "I suppose so."
"Your pretty!" Dark Shadow blurted out.
"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami shouted in embarrassment.
Raven smirked. "So is it sentient or just an extension of you?"
"It has a mind of its own," Tokoyami said quickly. "It's like a pet. That talks. Too much."
"Hey!" Dark Shadow said in an offended tone.
"Sounds like a pain," Raven said. "But hey at least you're never lonely."
"Hmmm," Tokoyami responded.
"Anyway, I was gonna point out that you were talking to yourself, but I think I understand now," Raven said. "Also I liked your poem. Deep."
"Thank you," Tokoyami said, attempting to hide his slight blush. "Your's was much better though. It was a brilliant display of your dark covered soul."
Raven's smirk grew a bit wider. "Thanks. I heard you were a regular here. So I'm guessing you have a lot more in you."
"I may," Tokoyami said. "Would you perhaps like me to speak them?"
"Talk normally and sure," Raven said. "I know a nice place to talk."
A few hours later
The place that Raven was talking about, turned out to be a coffee place, where the two of them talked for hours, spouting all kinds of edgy things.
Eventually, the conversation turned to more...casual.
"So what exactly his he made of?" Raven asked, pointing to Dark Shadow.
"No one knows for sure," Tokoyami said. "But it seems like some sort of shadow energy. And he has similar properties to a shadow as well."
"So he's a living shadow." Raven summed up. "So he goes away if there's too much light or something."
"No he doesn't go away but he does get weaker," Tokoyami said.
"That explains the cloak," Raven said, referring to Tokoyami's hero outfit.
"It helps preserve his power," Tokoyami said while Dark Shadow flexed in the background. "Does your cloak do something similar?"
"Nah it just looks cool," Raven said, waving around her purple cloak. "By the way, you said you needed to preserve Dark Shadow's power? Why?"
"I'm a hero student," Tokoyami revealed. "So I need to keep Dark Shadow as powerful as I can."
Raven's eyes widened for a second. "A...hero student huh."
"Yeah, we work with Hawks!" Dark Shadow boasted.
"Hawks. That's pretty...cool." Raven said hesitantly. "Must suck for him to have gone from number three to number six in the hero ranking."
"He doesn't care," Tokoyami said. "Still at least he didn't fall off like Endeavor."
"I don't think any hero could fall off like Endeavor," Raven said, slight disgust filling her voice. "I hate people like him."
"Indeed his actions were despicable. I still find it hard to believe that the number two hero, and the father of one of my classmates could have done something so atrocious to his wife and family." Tokoyami said, his voice having a similar level of disgust.
"Yeah screw that guy!" Dark Shadow said, trying to spit to show his disgust, only to realize that he didn't have any saliva.
"Wait your in the same class as his son?" Raven asked. "You seem to have an interesting life."
"Yes, it can be a bit...too interesting as times. But overall I am content with it." Tokoyami said.
"I wish I could say the same," Raven said, with a hint of sadness.
There was a short, awkward pause until Tokoyami spoke again.
"I wish I could help him in some way," Tokoyami said.
"Who?" Raven asked.
"Todoroki, Endeavor's son." Tokoyami clarified. "I can't imagine what he must be suffering through. What he had been suffering through…The worst part is he acts like nothing's wrong. He's silent about it. I just wish there was something I could do it about it. No one deserves to suffer in silence."
There was another pause, this one much less awkward, and much heavier.
Eventually Raven broke the silence.
"Talk to him," Raven said. "Try and get him to talk about his problems. Don't get too pushy but well...sometimes a bit of pushiness can be appreciated. Makes you feel less alone."
"I'm not really a great conversationalist," Tokoyami admitted.
Raven smirked at him. "I don't know. You managed to keep me entertained."
The two of them got a brief chuckle from that.
"Anyway I-Gah! AHHHH!" Raven suddenly started screaming out in pain. She clutched her head and closed her eyes as she was suddenly assaulted by a skull-splitting headache.
FREE ME! RAVEN! An almost demonic voice shouted words into her head.
"Raven!" Tokoyami shouted, immediately becoming concerned.
After a few moments the headache passed, and Raven calmed down.
"I'm ok...I'm ok," Raven said.
"What was that?" Tokoyami asked.
"Do you need to see a doctor?" Dark Shadow asked.
"No, it's just a headache," Raven said. "A really bad headache but it's still just a headache. Sorry but I need to go home and take my medicine."
"Are you sure you should be walking home alone?" Tokoyami asked. "It's rather dark out."
"It's fine. If you haven't noticed, I like the dark." Raven said.
And with that Raven departed, leaving Tokoyami with just himself and Dark Shadow.
"You should have got her number." Dark Shadow said.
"Shut up," Tokoyami responded.
Later, at the L.O.V. bar
"Young master, you should be training yourself for the upcoming breakout." Kurogiri scolded.
"Shut up I'm fighting the secret boss," Tomura said as he mashed buttons on the controller. "Secret bosses always have some bullshit things like a resurrection move, or they take no damage, OR THEY SHOOT AN UNBLOCKABLE LASER THAT DOES HALF YOUR HEALTH AND KILLS YOU! FUCK!"
Tomura threw his controller at the wall, shattering it.
Tomura turned back to Kurogiri with murderous eyes. "That was your fault! You're getting me a new controller!"
"Of course." Kurogiri sighed.
The door to the bar suddenly opened and someone walked in.
"Where were you? You were supposed to be back a while ago." Tomura said. "We can't risk a hero seeing you and following you to us, Raven."
"I know, I'm not an idiot," Raven said rolling her eyes. "I made sure no one followed me."
"Are you so sure about that?" Said a deranged voice from behind her.
Raven immediately turned around to see who had snuck up on her.
Behind her was a middle-aged bald man, wearing a white shirt and cargo pants. The only notable part about him was the fact that he was covered in scars from head to toe.
"I didn't even know you went out Zsasz," Tomura said.
"Oh, I wanted to make sure the little birdie didn't get herself hunted," Zsasz said creepily. "But what do you know she found another blackbird to flock with. A hero at that."
"You were hanging out with a hero?" Tomura asked her. "Who was it? Did you kill them afterward?"
Raven glared at Zsasz. "Fuck off."
Zsasz gave a creepy giggle.
Raven turned her head and glared at Tomura. "It was fine. It wasn't even a real hero he was a hero student. He was probably from that class you attacked a year ago."
"Oh...those guys," Tomura said bitterly. He still hated that day.
"Another blackbird from 2A you say." Suddenly the screen that All for one used to speak to them turned on, and out came the voice of the man himself.
"Sensei!" Tomura said in surprise.
"This hero student wouldn't happen to be Tokoyami Fumikage would it?" All for one asked.
"Yeah...why?" Raven asked.
"He is interning under the hero Hawks. Gaining information on him would be rather useful in breaking out your father." All for one said.
Raven didn't like where this was going. "And how would that help us exactly?
"Hawks is in the top ten. And the heroes in the top ten will take turns patrolling around Tartarus, for extra security." Tomura explained. "So no matter what if we want to break Trigon out then we'll need to deal with one of the top ten heroes."
"Correct Tomura. And if we can figure out some of Hawks' weaknesses, then we can plan our breakout at the same time he is patrolling and defeat him with ease." All for one said.
"Where is this going?" Raven asked bluntly.
"We want you to spend more time with Tokoyami." All for one answered. "See if you can get any useful information out of him."
"So you want me to go on a date in hopes that he happens just spill out his boss's weaknesses?" Raven deadpanned. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly a seductress."
"I don't know with the way he was looking at you, you could tell he was pretty seduced," Zsasz said.
Raven's eyes turned red, and Zsasz's shadow suddenly leaped out of the floor and grabbed onto him, before slamming his head into a wall.
"Please don't make so much noise," Kurogiri said as Zsasz's unconscious body fell limply to the floor. "Lest we attract the attention of the police."
"Anyway, that is your task while we prepare the breakout plan, you are to gain information from that boy." All for one said. "And you don't have to consider it a date. Just hang out with him. A boy and a girl can be together without being together if you know what I mean."
"I'll say yes if you stop trying to be relatable," Raven said. "You're the embodiment of evil, no one wants to hear your thoughts on relationships."
"Such a strong will, I wonder how your father managed to break you." All for one said.
Raven's only response was to glare at the T.V. and walk away to her room.
Meanwhile, in the Nomu lab.
"Ah, it will be good to have Trigon back." Said Doctor Daruma Ujiko, or rather just the Doctor. "He was one of my greatest creations."
"Yes, it's too bad that his pride, temper, and arrogance got him caught." Said Hugo Strange. "If you ask me this whole thing is a waste of time. I'll bet you a thousand yen that he gets himself caught right after we free him."
"I'll take that bet." All for one said walking into the room. "You forget, regardless of Trigon's faults and stupid name, he was still one of my best lieutenants and was one of the few people who could go through the Nomu process and come out with his mind fully intact. That has to account for something."
"Perhaps," Strange said dismissively. "But I think the real thing we should be looking at is Raven. The only child of a Nomu, born with multiple quirks. I would love to have a better look at her body."
"Yes but Trigon is our only way of controlling her." The Doctor said.
"Would you remind me how that works. I think I was busy when All for one explained that." Strange asked.
"Gladly." All for one said. "When Raven was born I had a feeling she would be a useful asset. However, in case she ended up not wanting to work for us, or even wanting to oppose us, I had to have something to keep her in check. So I gave Trigon another quirk, one that allows him to telepathically speak to and control people that he touches. And since Raven carries his DNA, Trigon is technically always touching her. It's a rather weak connection since he is not directly touching her, but it allows him to speak to and influence her. Thus if she doesn't do as he says, then he will force her to lose control for a few seconds, and hurt the people around her."
"Ah, I see," Strange said. "So we need Trigon in order to keep Raven. Lovely."
"Oh don't be such a downer Strange." All for one said. "I'm sure everything will go just fine."
"That's literally the best way to make sure things do not go fine." Strange sighed. "Anyway, I shall get back to planning the break-in. If you need anything you know where to find me."
Meanwhile, in Raven's room
Raven laid in her bed doing what she did best, brooding.
"First I have to be a criminal, then I have to lie to perfectly nice people." She grumbled.
"I think one of those things is worse than the other." Said a voice from outside her door.
"Go away Karlo," Raven said.
"Are you doing private lady things in there?" Clayface asked. "Because I've played ladies before I know how their bodies work."
"I didn't need to know that." Raven groaned.
There was a short pause before Clayface spoke again.
"You gonna let me in?" He asked.
"Nope," Raven said.
There was another short pause before Clayface came in from the crack under the door.
"Look I heard what they wanted you to do, and I came to see if you were ok," Clayface said.
"I'm fine," Raven said.
"You don't look fine," Clayface said.
"Why do you care?" Raven asked him. "Ever since I got here you've been weirdly nice to me. Why?"
"Well one, your the only person here who doesn't call me Clayface. And two, your the only other person here who isn't a murderer." Clayface said.
Raven looked at him but didn't say anything back.
"You and I are probably the only two people here who aren't crazy. And I wanna keep it like that." Clayface said.
"Why are you even here Karlo?" Raven asked. "It sounds like you hate these guys just as much as I do."
"I do," Clayface admitted. "But I don't have a choice. If I don't do what they say, they kill my daughter."
"You have a kid?" Raven asked with a shocked expression. "How?"
"Heh, funny story," Clayface said. "You see back when I was an actor, due to my shapeshifting ability I was often cast to play roles that would be annoying for people to deal with. Kids, animals, you name it. One day I learned how to split myself into two, so I got two roles in a movie. One as a dog and one as a little girl. I played the dog, and my clone played the little girl. But you see the director was a real perfectionist and had us redo scenes over and over again, and eventually, I noticed I lost control over my duplicate, and then my duplicate started acting like a little girl. Apparently, if I keep a part of myself separated from me for too long, it becomes a whole new person! So since I made her, she became my daughter."
"That's...quirks are weird," Raven said.
"Yup. But I'm glad, me and my little Annie spent so much time together. I could never ask for a better kid." Clayface reminisced. "But then All for one noticed me and my skills, so he took my daughter and told me if I didn't do what he said, then I would never see her again."
"So...your being forced to work with these assholes too," Raven said.
"Yup," Clayface said. "You and I are two of a kind. That's why I wanna keep looking out for ya."
There was a short pause before Raven said. "Fine, you can stay if you want."
"Thanks. Now maybe I can get you to smile a little." Clayface said.
Raven glared at him. "Don't push it."